Childhood Memory (Finn Shelby)

Part 35

Finn waited until Elsie had left before he went to see his brothers, he needed advice. He found them at the Garrison, like usual, he went into the private booth with them.

"I thought you'd be at your house, Tommy" Finn told Thomas as he sat down with them.

"I have to finalise a few things before I go on holiday" Thomas informed him, "I thought you'd be with Elsie"

"I was" his face morphed into a frown.

"That doesn't look good, Finn-boy. What did you do?" Arthur said, sounding like he was joking.

"I found out who Elsie slept with" he grumbled, pouring himself a drink and then sipping it.

"Who was it?" Thomas asked, Arthur nodded, also wanting to know who as well.

"Isaiah" he slammed his glass on the table, the liquid sloshing around, almost spilling onto the table.

"Really?" Arthur replied, "our Isaiah?"

"Yep" he nodded, gripping the glass causing his knuckles to turn white.

"Damn" Thomas leaned back in his seat. "Are you going to do anything about it?" He then questioned his youngest brother.

"I can't, I promised Elsie I wouldn't" Finn released his grip on the glass, rubbing his face. "It's frustrating to know it was him"

"He's your best friend, talk to him" Arthur said and both Tommy and Finn scoffed.

"You really do sound like Linda" Thomas said, "but you're right. Finn, you should talk to him. Just make sure he doesn't do it again"

"Easier said than done" he grumbled once more.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

Finn had managed to avoid Isaiah for a grand total of four days before he showed up at his house asking to speak with him. Finn went to close the door but Isaiah held it open. "Hey, man. Please, you can't keep ignoring me"

"I've got nothing to say" Finn said blankly, showing him no emotion.

"Come on, Finn. Look, I'm so sorry I slept with Elsie. We both were drunk, we didn't know what we were doing" Isaiah tried to reason with him.

"There must have been some sort of attraction if you both fucked" He said bitterly, "drunk or not"

"Finn, you're my best friend. You know I won't sleep with her again especially since she's your girlfriend" Isaiah told him seriously, "I don't like Elsie like that, I've actually found a girl I like"

"You have?" Finn questioned, looking slightly more relaxed.

"Yeah, I have, so you don't have to worry about me stealing your girl" he chuckled lightly, "can we go back to being friends?"

"Yeah" Finn gave in, it wasn't like him to stay super angry towards any of his friends or family. "Alright"

Isaiah smiled and bro-hugged Finn. "Thanks, man." He stepped back, "I better go, I'll see you soon, yeah?"

"Yeah" Finn nodded, Isaiah said bye once more before leaving Finn alone. "I think I'd feel better if I did punch him" he said to himself, shaking his head.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

"Hey, Pol." Elsie said into the telephone, leaning on the small table in which the phone sat atop.

"Elsie, are you all right?" Polly's voice replied.

"Yeah...yeah. I'm fine. I was just wondering about that cup of tea we were going to have the other day. Is now a good time?" Elsie questioned, gnawing on her bottom lip. She had found out via Ada what Polly meant by a "cup of tea" when Ada asked her whether or not she was pregnant.

"Yeah, come by my house whenever you are ready" Polly said softly, the girl had grown on her slightly.

"Okay, I'll leave now. I'll see you soon" Elsie put down the phone and quickly pulled on some shoes and grabbed her purse. Before she climbed into her vehicle, she told Roland that she was going to Small Heath but told him she should be back that same night.

The drive seemed longer than it usually was, it seemed to drag until she pulled up to Polly's big house. Polly greeted the girl at the door, guiding her inside the house. Ada waved from the sofa. "Ada!" Elsie said happily, both women hugging each other.

"It's good to see you, Elsie" Ada told her, "Polly said you've come round for a cup of tea"

"Yeah, I just need to know if I am pregnant with Isaiah's baby" Elsie said.

Ada gasped while Polly accidentally dropped a cup she was holding, thankfully it landed and managed not to break. "What?"

"Oh" Elsie turned red, she forgot she hadn't told them, "I found out it was Isaiah that I slept with"

"How did Finn take it?" Polly asked, putting the kettle onto the heat.

"I think he took it well. At the start he was angry but I told him nothing was going on between him and me and that we both regret what happened. He then calmed down afterwards"

"Sounds like Finn" Ada said, "he doesn't do what Tommy or Arthur does and beat the shit out of people, he's more the type who glares at people or remove himself from the situation"

"I'm glad he's not like that" Elsie told them, "he doesn't suit being like his brothers"

The women all fell into a silence, listening to the whistle of the kettle boiling. Eventually it was ready and Polly prepared the tea.

"Now just follow my instructions" Polly told the girl. Elsie nodded and followed what Polly told her to do. Polly was now holding Elsie's cup with the chunks of tea leaves at the bottom of it.

Both Elsie and Ada watched Polly curiously, anxious of what she was going to find in the leaves. "You're not pregnant" Polly announced and Elsie sighed in relief.

"Thank fuck" Elsie exclaimed. "Is there anything else in the leaves?" She then asked.

"Nothing important" Polly informed her.

"Right. Thanks a lot, Pol, for doing this." Elsie told her, "I think I'll quickly go over to Finn's to tell him that I'm not pregnant."

"I hope you come visit soon" Polly said and Ada agreed.

"I'll see you both soon" Elsie smiled as she waved to them both before she left the house and towards her car.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~

"Finn! Finn! I've got news" Elsie shouted as she walked into Finn's house. She froze when she spotted Finn and all of his friends around the table playing cards, she flushed in embarrassment as all eyes were on her.

"Mate, you said no girls allowed today" one of his friends groaned.

"Shut up" Finn told him, standing up and going to Elsie, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "Hey, what are you going here?" He asked her quietly.

"I had something to tell you but you're busy so I can come back later" Elsie went to turn around and open the front door again but Finn held her back.

"No, it's fine." He told her, "guys play this round without me" he told them all before guiding Elsie to their bedroom. "What's the news?" He asked once they were seated on the bed.

"I'm not pregnant" Elsie told him, "Polly confirmed it. I'm not pregnant with Isaiah's baby or yours I guess"

"That's great" Finn told her, looking quite relieved that she wasn't pregnant with his best friend's baby. "Do you want to stay around tonight?" Finn questioned, pulling her onto his lap and kissing her.

She smiled into the kiss before pulling back, "I can't, I told Roland I'd be back tonight. Besides, you still haven't came round mine since you all killed the Changretta's, it should be you staying around mine"

Finn just hummed against hers lips, once he captured them again.