Love By Another Name

Chance Meeting with Disaster

Finn laughed as she pushed the cart down the aisles, listening as Katie ranted about some of the players she worked with. While she didn't recognize any of the names she was throwing out - seriously she needed to attempt to look up the team at some point just to show she was invested in learning more about her roommate - Katie's stories never ceased to entertain her.

"Oh, god, and then the git is like, 'Uh... I thought it was supposed to do that,'" Katie said with a laugh. "I seriously worry what would happen to them without a full medic team on hand."

"I never realized football was so dangerous," Finn said as she stopped and looked at a display of tomatoes, completely missing grimace that flashed over Katie's face.

"I mean, not usually. But it can be. Most sports are to an extent," she explained quickly.

Finn glanced over at her and chuckled then turned back to put a few tomatoes in a plastic bag. She tossed them in the cart and pushed forward.

"Either way, I can tell you care about them. Even if they drive you crazy," she replied with a smile.

"I do. They make me barmy half the time, but at the end of the day, they're good blokes," Katie said with a happy sigh. Finn just chuckled.

"Now... to the wine..." Finn replied.

The two women continued on, chatting about this and that as they walked, occasionally stopping to grab things and put them in the cart. Katie had to admit that she was enjoying it. She had always tried to get Roger to go shopping with her but he never did, claiming he was too tired from practice.

They had just gotten to the wine aisle when suddenly Finn froze, staring straight ahead with a stunned look on her face.

"Finn, you okay?" Katie asked.

Finn didn't respond, so Katie looked ahead, seeing a tall, handsome man with dark hair standing a few feet away, studying the wine bottles. He was dressed rather trendily with hair that looked effortlessly styled, but probably took an hour. Before Finn could say anything he looked over and saw the two, freezing a moment with a look of complete shock on his face. He then looked to the ground and grimaced, before looking back up and starting towards them, a tense smile on his face. Finn seemed to come out of her trance, though her jaw was clenched tightly.

"Finn... good to see you," the man said. "You look... amazing."

"Didn't know you were back, Ryan," Finn said curtly.

Katie's eyes widened as she looked back at the man. This was the fiancé. Well, ex-fiancé. He glanced at Katie and then focused back on Finn.

"Yea... got back a few weeks ago," he said.

"How's Gwen?" Finn asked, shifting her weight to the other foot. Ryan sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"She's alright," he said. "We're, well, we're engaged, actually."

Finn didn't react, save for the clenching of her jaw yet again. She then offered a strained smile.

"Good for you," she replied. "Well, we just... we're getting wine." She turned and started grabbing random bottles, putting them quickly in the cart. "And yea, got things to do. Good to see you."

She then started pushing the cart back down the aisle, not looking at Ryan. Katie studied him a moment before quietly following Finn, who was now going straight for the check-out, the list shoved into her pocket even though Katie knew they still had a few more things left to get.

"Finn... you alright?" Katie asked.

"Perfect. Fine," Finn said tersely, tapping her foot impatiently as they waited in a queue. She kept her eyes trained forward.