Love In Brooklyn - A Finn Wolfhard X Reader Novel

One

I made a sacred promise to myself to never make a sacred promise to another. To put it simply, I swore to never get married. Or fall in love at all.

Did you know that forty-one percent of all marriages end in divorce? My parents, of course, happened to be one of the lucky couples in this statistic. I'd spent a big portion of my life resenting them for splitting. It wasn't fair, and it sure as hell didn't make me want to find my prince charming.

Because no matter how many Disney movies I watched, or fantasy books my mother read me, I still didn't buy into it. Love, in my mind, was bullshit.

I did wind up making one big commitment, though—to my career. At twenty-four years old, I was working as a successful musician, the front woman of indie rock band The Skyscrapers. I'd toured the world twice and was preparing to embark on another global adventure soon, once we'd finally finished our third record. My band and I had been nominated for two Grammys and won a Billboard Music Award. My Brooklyn apartment was sick, I lived with my best friend, I could afford all the things I dreamt of buying as a little girl, I made a ton of money from the one thing I'd do for free... What else could I possibly want?

Aforementioned best friend Jessie was sitting on the sofa in our living room when I ventured to the kitchen for a cup of afternoon tea on that spring day. From our place in Williamsburg, we had a gorgeous view of the East River and the Manhattan skyline. The blue sky was dotted with cotton candy clouds.

"I don't know what I'm going to wear tonight," Jessie complained.

"Well, what vibe are you going for?" I asked from the kitchen counter, pouring boiling water over Earl Grey into my Royal Albert tea pot.

"This is my first public appearance since coming out, so I don't know. Androgynous chic?" Jessie shrugged, ruffling their short brown curls.

They had come out as non-binary about six months ago, though I suspected for years.

My band was nominated for VMAs in two categories and tonight was the ceremony. I was bringing Jessie as my date.

"Francis will bring a bunch of options, he knows what you like. And you'll look hot no matter what," I insisted.

Jessie rolled their eyes. "Well what are you wearing?"

"There's a couple looks I'm choosing between, we'll decide tonight. At the fitting last week I tried on this black Dior mesh dress, which was cool but I wasn't crazy about it. And then there's a Versace pantsuit, but it's encrusted in Swarovski crystals."

"But? Typically one doesn't put a 'but' in the same sentence 'encrusted in crystals'," Jessie furrowed their eyebrows.

"Jess, there are starving children in this world!" I told them.

"And they're hungry for rhinestones?"

I rolled my eyes and poured my tea into a teacup, adding a splash of oat milk. "Speaking of hunger, want some afternoon tea?"

"Don't mind if I do," Jessie nodded, rolling off the back of the couch and joining me at the counter.

They sliced off two pieces of lemon pound cake I'd picked up at Martha's Country Bakery on Bedford, sliding each slice carefully onto our favorite vintage plates. I poured Jessie a cup of tea, too.

"To you," Jessie raised their cup in a toast. "And the band, winning tonight."

I humbly smiled and clinked our cups. "And to being the most bloated bitches on the runway."

Jessie's eyebrows furrowed, confused.

"Come on," I explained. "You know how tea gives me the trots."

"Well thank God we made a whole pot of it, then," they groaned sarcastically.