TNS Oneshots

Bet

Finn walked down the crowded streets that were bustling with people, his eyes wandering around the various shops. He was lost in thought until his phone rang, her name flashing on the screen and instantly bringing a smile to his face.

"Hey Pipes!"

"Finn...it's happening again" She choked out in between breathless sobs. Her voice was raspy on the other side but Finn knew her well enough to tell it was a panic attack

"Hold on Piper I'll be right there"

He got to the apartment to find her sitting on the floor with tears streaming down her face, harshly biting her lip while struggling to remove the ring from her finger that had turned red. Finn approached her, gently removing the engagement ring and taking her in his arms, murmuring soothing words in her ear and stroking her hair until her breathing returned to a normal pattern. She sniffled, her cocoa eyes still holding a hint of sadness and sorrow.

"I'm sorry" She muttered, looking at the floor in embarrassment

"Hey, don't apologize"

She looked up at him, flashing a small smile

"I just...didn't know what to do. This was happening and I was overwhelmed and you're the only person I could think of calling-"

His eyes flitted to her phone that was lying on the floor, and noticed the numerous times she called Josh that went unanswered

"He didn't reply?" Finn asked, although he already knew the answer

"No. I-I shouldn't have called him anyways. He told me to get these panic attacks under control because they were stupid. And here I go having another one" She said, her voice laced with guilt.

Finn bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from voicing his thoughts. Josh didn't deserve her.

"Piper" His eyes scanned hers, every bit of him aching to make her feel better "never apologize. Not to me, not to Josh, not to anyone, you hear me? You haven't done anything wrong, and you shouldn't feel guilty"

She curtly nodded, looking at the engagement ring that was on the coffee table where Finn had placed it. But she didn't look at it with happiness, eagerness or longing, she looked at it with...sorrow and regret in her eyes. And that broke Finn's heart. And before he knew it he was asking the question he promised himself he'd never ask her

"Pipes why did you say yes to Josh? If the engagement is making you this upset..."

"I love him" She replied. The answer itself seemed sincere, but when Piper uttered the words the truthfulness wasn't there. It seemed as if this was an automatic answer she had rehearsed.

Finn took her in his arms again, a serene silence taking over them. And that was how they stayed all afternoon. Her cuddled into his chest, overjoyed to be in his warm embrace. While he was glad to have her, even if she wasn't truly his.

Flashback

The brunette lay on her front on the blue covers, humming as she crossed off answers on some test she was doing in a magazine. Her best friend sat on the chair facing her, playing a game on his phone to try and distract himself until Piper finished what she was doing. The voices of his younger sisters, Emma and Claire,carried down the hall to his room.

"It says here that I'm going to end up with my best friend" Piper said, apparently done with the test

Finn looked up from his phone, shutting it off and raising his eyebrows. "well, I did tell you we were meant to be"