im afraid so |✓| finn wolfhard

² { was }

it was a warm diner, the air clashing against their skin from the walk through the parking lot.

violet follows behind finn, the rest following behind her.

this was the very moment that violet cage felt vulnerable for the first time in her life. up until this very moment, she had done everything for herself. and now she had four strangers kneeling at her feet to buy her a meal that she felt she didn't deserve.

despite it, she followed them into a booth, placing herself at the end across from the only one she felt unjudged by, the one that got out of his warm vehicle to offer her something he didn't have to. she didn't know any better.

"violet, is it?" a girl speaks up from the other side of the table, taking violet back at the unexpected.
"im ayla. and this is jack, malcolm, and, well you already know finn."

violet nods her head at them, unsure of how to properly say hello. she wasnt shy, but rather outgoing. every moment except for this very one.

"tell us about you" finn speaks, pressing his lips together in a smile, making her feel rather welcomed.

"like what?" violet shrugs.

"did you grow up here?"

"yeah. ive lived here my whole life."

"what was that like with such a small town? i mean i didnt know they had diners like this in canada still. we're from the city so this is so new."

"wouldn't know. i grew up in an orphanage, we weren't allowed to go out much."

"whats it like in an orphanage?" jack blurts.

almost immediately everyone turns to glare at him. ayla gasping his name under her breath. he looks down embarrassed.

"no, thats okay" violet laughs, slowly breaking out of the shell she had decided to build.
"its smelly"

everyone exchanges light chuckles, dying down as violet speaks up again.
"no but really, it wasn't bad" she lied.

"why don't you live there anymore?" finn asks through curiosity.

"they kicked me out on my eighteenth birthday. it was all so unexpected, i quit school and didn't have a job. i'm on my feet now. really, i'm doing okay."

she just couldn't stop lying.

"well, violet. you can get as many hotdogs as you'd like. since i owe you for that favor" finn winks at the girl. her heart fluttered with gratefulness. not for the food, no, but for not making it look like it was a charity exchange in front of the others.

she smiles him a thank you. taking the decision to order only one when it came time. she was starving. starving she could down three, easy. she didn't want them to see just how hungry she was. no more pity she would take.

they wait in that cheap diner for twenty minutes. before their food came. twenty minutes of silence from violet as she listened the the joking conversations from the others. the laughs exchanged, she felt comfortable. despite knowing she'd be walking home in the snow in about an hour after this very moment, she was warm and safe.

for the first time, she was cared about. she recognized that like a foreign language. but she was internally grateful for this very second that they all shared.

she stayed silent as her food was placed in front of her. immediately she picked it up, reminding herself to pace it. there wasn't a chance.

"so violet," finn pulls a slice of pizza from a shared one the rest had gotten. violet was forever grateful they didn't make her eat that instead.
"i was thinking you could come back to the hotel with us for a couple of nights? we're here through the weekend?"