Finding Finley ✔

13

"Ellie, you have to promise you won't do anything crazy." I say as she takes a seat next to Kit on the couch and I stand before them, my expression and tone one hundred percent serious as I wait for her to promise. 

"Why do you think I'll do something crazy?" She crosses her arms over her chest.

"Because you tend to be a little crazy in situations like I'm about to tell you."

"I never act crazy, Finn." She gives me a defiant look before turning towards my brother, "Back me up, Kit." 

Kit shrugs his shoulders, "Sometimes you can be a bit of a little mama bear when it comes to Finn."

She glares at the both of us now, her arms still crossed over her chest. "Whatever, just tell us what happened. I won't be crazy." She uncrosses her arms to make air quotations around the words crazy. 

I know this is as much of a promise I am going to get out of her, so I begin to tell them about my night and morning with Darby. "So, last night when you guys didn't answer my calls I ended up calling Darby." Ellie's clapping interrupts me and I give her an annoyed look.

"Sorry." She apologizes with a smile on her face as she sits on her hands and nods for me to continue. I roll my eyes at her. Funny how she's always saying that I'm the one that acts like a child. 

"Darby came over and we - we kinda said that we like each other and -" I look from my brother to my best friend, both of whom are staring at me expectantly. Averting my gaze to the floor, I continue " - and then we had sex and she spent the night. But this morning I accidentally grabbed her phone instead of mine and I saw a text from this guy Josh, who is apparently her boyfriend, and today is their three year anniversary so I kinda yelled at her and made her leave." 

I'm talking so fast and they're being so quiet, that I'm not sure they heard everything I just said. I was looking at the floor when I was talking so now I raise my head to look at them. They're still sitting on the couch, but they're looking at each other and I can't decipher the look they're giving each other. It's like they're having a silent conversation, one like Kit and I have at times. 

Suddenly ,Ellie is on her feet and making her way towards the door.

"Ellie, where are you going?" I ask as she pulls on her shoes.

"I'm going to go kick her ass." She says it so seriously and straight faced that it's hard to not laugh at her.

"El, get back here. You said you wouldn't be crazy."

"I don't think this is crazy, Finn. I think this is a totally rational thing to do. She lied to you and I can tell you're hurt by it, so I'm not going to just sit here while she's downstairs living happily ever after with some other guy." 

Kit walks over to Ellie and steers her back to the couch. "Calm down, tiger."  

"I'm not crazy." She crosses her arms once more and looks up at Kit, who seems amused by her outburst. 

"Of course not. Just, sit." 

While Kit pushes Ellie back onto the couch, I think about what Darby said before I told her to leave. Once she had admitted that Josh was her boyfriend, she said some things that didn't make sense. Things that I was too angry in the moment to really think about. "I don't think she's living happily ever after, El. She told me that he's her boyfriend but she also said that he shouldn't be. She said she can't break up with him yet, whatever that means."

"Please tell me you didn't fall for that excuse." Kit's tone is hard, and in a way he sounds like Ellie. She said something similar a few years ago when I went to visit my dad and he identified me by a scar. It's a tone that is full of fierce protectiveness over my emotions, like they can't stand to see someone toy with my heart - and while I'm thankful that they love me so much, I can handle myself. Even if it doesn't seem like it at times.  

"No. I told her to leave. I didn't want to hear whatever excuses she was going to make up." 

They both sigh and we all remain silent for a moment, absorbing and thinking over all the information I had just given them. Then Kit asks, "So what now?"

"Now everything goes back to before Darby." It hurts to say it, because I don't want to go back to life before Darby, but I can't trust her and I can't be her friend after last night.