temper, temper || irwin a.u

seven

Finn bolted as soon as she could, the very thought of her and Ashton together made her feel physically sick. She didn't understand why the mention of a relationship had such an affect on her. Maybe she was still reeling from her incident with Michael earlier. Yeah, that was it, Michael knew how to get to her, and it definitely worked. Finn made her way to the bathroom and pushed past the girls that were fixing their make up, they gave her a dirty look but moved out of her way. She glared at them until they left, which was swiftly, they didn't want to mess with Finn, they obviously knew her 'angry' face. Once they'd left she splashed water and face and checked the time, it was too late to even bother going to her first lesson of the day, was the day even worth it? She could just go home, she'd get an earful from her mum but did she really care? Her next lesson was English, that meant facing Mrs. Dray again, and Ashton, luckily that was a lesson she didn't share with Michael, thank God.

Finn had a lot of anger, people just dismissed it for teenage angst, but there was sadness embedded within the anger, she'd read somewhere that the root of all anger was sadness, Finn had wondered if that was true. Finn exited the bathroom and made her way to an empty classroom, there was quite a few in this side of the building, it was the part of the school mainly used for the sixth form, they couldn't afford an entirely knew building so cornered of a small part to use for the older students. She entered the classroom and threw her bag on the closest table, her hands covering her eyes.

"Um, are you... okay?" Finn jumped and spun around to see Ashton sat at the table where she'd thrown her bag.

"Perfectly fine, isn't it obvious?" She laughed but the tears she was holding back got caught up in her throat, making the laugh sound even more forced. Ashton stood up and walked over to where Finn stood, once he got there he didn't know what to do, he was pretty awkward with affection.

"What are you doing here anyway?" She said, pushing back the tears and removing the hair from her face.

"Studying, I had a free period."

"In an empty classroom?" He nodded as they both sat down at the table he'd just been occupying.

"I do this often, it's quiet, unless you have an infuriated female bursting into the room." He chuckled slightly before he saw the expression on Finn's face, he stopped right away. He cleared his throat and spoke again.

"So why are you here? Looking like you're about to cry." Finn frowned at him, didn't he know it was rude to ask people why they were crying? Or in her case, just looked as such.

"You don't care." He raised his eyebrows at her comment.

"Try me." He smiled warmly at her, trying to get her to open up. 

Finn thought for a moment, did Ashton really care or was he just trying to find something he could use against her? Was he actually concerned about her feeling or was he just going to blab to Michael and his dumb-ass friends about how the schools 'angry girl' was upset? She knew she couldn't trust Ashton, as long as he was friends with Michael anyway.

"Whatever." She replied, flipping her hair away from her face and picking up her bag. She stood up, ready to leave but Ashton grabbed her hand lightly. She looked down at his gesture then back up to his face. It was like he was pleading with her, begging her to tell him what was wrong, Finn sat back down with a sigh.

"Look, you can't say anything to anyone. Okay?" He nodded quickly. "It's Michael."

"Mikey? What happened?" He immediately looked angry, she wasn't sure whether it was for her sake or Michael's.

"He said some shit to me earlier, which made me angry, then I had to speak to Mrs Dray, and then she made me upset. So that's why I looked like I was about to burst into tears, because I was." She said, hoping she didn't give away too much information.

"But what did Michael do?"

"Ash-"

"Tell me, Finn. Please." He interrupted her, his face had softened, a concerned look now in place of the angry one.

"He told me to stay away from you." She replied quietly, looking down at her beat-up converse.

"Why would he say that? We don't even speak." He laughed a little, it sounded nervous.

"I don't fucking know Ashton, he's your psycho best friend?" Finn shouted, making Ashton let go of her hand.

"I just find it weird, like he just came up to you and said it? You didn't have an argument?" Finn shook her head.

"No, it was out of the blue, I didn't even look at him the wrong way." Ashton laughed again, his laugh for some reason was really comforting to Finn, it had a warmth that reminded her of home, just not her home. The bell rang, signalling the end of the free period, Finn groaned inwardly when she realised she had English with the curly haired boy sat in front of her, who was now gazing into her eyes, lost in the sea of grey.

"Um, Ashton." His eyes sparkled when she said his name but she dismissed it, instead she picked up her bag and walked towards the door.

"Don't listen to Michael." Ashton said as he packed away his books, causing Finn to stop in her tracks.

"Just, forget I ever said anything?" She said it more as a question, almost pleading with him not to mention it.

"I won't talk to Michael about it, I just don't want anything to happen between you two. I know how he gets when he's angry." Ashton said quietly, remembering the times Michael lost his temper and it never ended well.

"I think I can deal with whatever Michael has to offer." Finn laughed nervously.

"Just be careful, Finn." She nodded at Ashton's kindness and walked off to their lesson. Ashton a few paces behind, she walked quickly and he took the hint not to keep up with her.

Ashton had been so caring, why? Finn thought. It wasn't as if they were friends, they went to school together and that was it. He didn't even seem concerned about Michael, considering they were best friends. He seemed genuinely distressed by the situation and how it had affected Finn. She just wanted to know why.