|| Second Book! Can not be read as a stand-alone || Read The Secrets Of Finnley first!
"Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire."
After getting in a lot of trouble, Cristian tried to pick up his carefree life again. He focusses on...
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- Friday, November 17th -
I watch in Finnley's direction while he's leaning with his head against the foggy window of the car. He's nervously fiddling with his fingers while he stares at the house he called home for little over 18 years. The same home he fled over a year and a half ago because he simply couldn't be himself. It reminded him of his past and every day he was confronted with the fact his parents did not tolerate gay people.
While he was once his parents' pride, he degraded to nearly nothing for them, for they would not speak of him and they ignored his presence whenever he was near. Now he's back, and obviously struggling to go inside to get Charlie to believe him.
To prove he's not a liar.
Oliver is tapping the steering wheel, softly – casually – humming a tune to a song, every so often sending Finnley a worried look.
We've been in this spot for about half an hour; Finnley moving to go inside twice, both of the times failing because he simply couldn't move out of fear for whatever is waiting behind that door.
He convinced Oliver in no time to drive us here since Finnley had too much to drink – although he is sobering up right now – and I'm not allowed to drive due to the painkillers.
In the time we've been sitting here, it went from cold but sunny to stormy weather; rain pouring down from the sky and thunderclouds collecting above our heads.
"If you want to do it some other time, we can go home." Oliver suggests, now also staring towards the house. His eyes hold a lot of anger whenever he stares at it. I wonder if he's ever been here. I wonder if he's ever seen Finnley's parents or either of his brothers. He knows enough about them, but he doesn't know them himself.
"No, today's the perfect day." Finnley murmurs, slumping down in his seat. "I'm just a bit..." He shrugs, not finishing his sentence.
"Afraid?" I try to fill in the blank.
"No... Or yes, that too. I don't know." He turns around to look at me. "I think I'm not angry enough anymore." He sends me an accusing look, causing me to frown. "You calmed me down too much."
Oliver and I frown in exactly the same time. He did calm down a lot in the last hour. But I figured he would still feel angry and abandoned.
"Honestly, Finn, I think you'll be angry enough when Charlie calls you a liar again." I tell him without sugar coating the truth. He will probably call him a liar.
"Why today?" Oliver asks when Finnley didn't react to my honesty.
"I think it's a suiting birthday-gift for my mom to be presented with the cold hard truth." Finnley shrugs. "It's her I hate the most. Not even Sydney, but mom. She's... the one that broke me."
"And it's her birthday today?"
Finnley nods, taking in a breath. "Let's do this. But you guys have to stay with me. You have to prevent me from walking out before Charlie knows the truth."
