Lovely Hues | Fillie AU

Chapter Twenty Nine

Over the weekend, Duke and Priscilla took Caleb and Finn to their church and introduced them to some other people that were using their talents to try and fight the divisional power of racism. They even met a mixed-race couple that lived in DC who travelled to other cities around the country to talk to friends of the cause. Finn saw Caleb talking with them for nearly an hour, and the couple looked happy to be talking with him. Encouraging smiles on their faces the whole time.

Finn spent most of the fellowship time after the service, sipping his coffee and talking with a gentleman named Harrison who worked with the man that Duke mentioned before, Mr A.D. Black. Harrison and Mr. Black were associates of the NAACP and Finn could feel an energy emanating from Harrison that showed him how invigorated he was to work with him and made him equally as excited to finally meet Mr. Black the following day.

Monday morning, bright and early, Finn and Caleb made their way from the bustling streets of Baltimore to the humming highways and byways of Washington D.C.

The two cities had two distinctly different vibes to them. Baltimore seemed older somehow while D.C was made of more crisp lines with Greek and Roman influence in the architecture. And even though Baltimore had a massive harbour, it seemed like D.C. had more veins of water running through it, and with the bright blue sky they were blessed with this morning, the air here felt cleaner too.

"How you feelin'?" Caleb asked Finn after parking on the street outside the NAACP office. They sat in the car, staring at the large, round logo on the sign outside the glass front doors.

"Nervous." Finn laughed apprehensively, "We're going to get our first real answers here. What if he says there's nothing we can do?"

"Then he'd suck at his job." Caleb scoffed, "Maybe today isn't even about finding out what it is we can do, but about finding out what is already being done. You know, what the baseline is. Maybe it'll give us a better idea of what is actually going on."

Finn nodded, encouraged by Caleb and looked out the window again, swallowing a lump in his throat, "We'd better get in there before we miss our meeting time."

Caleb looked at his watch, "We've got close to thirty minutes, Finn, I think we're fine."

Looking back at his friend, Finn smiled, "Thanks for coming with me and doing all this. . .I know it's not something you've always been comfortable with."

Caleb sat quietly for a few seconds, staring at his hands in his lap, then raised his hands to rest on the bottom lip of the steering wheel, "That couple I was talking to yesterday," he said, "I think seeing them has helped me see how it could really be for me and Sadie. Sure, they face some hardships—a lot of hardships—but they've got kids, and a life together. They've got love. . . and I want that with Sadie."

Seeing the hope on Caleb's face brought more of it into Finn's heart, "Have you talked with her about marriage, kids, the whole shabang?"

Caleb chuckled, "Not exactly. It always seemed like a pipe dream."

"Now that you know it's not. . .you want to go back?"

Caleb looked sideways at him, "And leave you here?"

Finn shrugged.

"I tell you what, you ask me that again when we're done talking with Mr.Black, and I might have a good answer for you. . .deal?"

Despite his inkling that these next couple of hours couldn't possibly produce any substantial changes, Finn agreed with a nod and then got out of the truck. Caleb followed suit.

The wind surprised Finn when it whipped him as he reached for the handle to pull open the NAACP offices door and he had to struggle a bit before it actually opened for him. It was a cold wind but as soon as he stepped into the building, he felt a wave of pure warmth pour over him. Warmth from both the heat pumping from the building, but also from the many smiling faces that greeted the two out-of-towners.