Grey

Thirty-Five

[FINN]

"You're so annoying."

I glanced to my right where the familiar voice was coming from, seeing Bryce walking up the street towards me. I gave a wave with one hand, took a drag from the dwindling cigarette with the other, choosing to ignore his weird comment. He looked good, wearing a navy suit, bouquet of roses in one hand.

"Hey man."

"I'm just going to go fucking home," he groaned melodramatically, flailing his arms at me. "I thought I looked decent then here you are, leaning against your classic car smoking a cigarette in black silk like you're straight out of a John Hughes film."

I laughed, flushing and shaking my head. "You make me sound cooler than I am."

"I have eyes," he sighed in disagreement. I caught him eyeing my cigarette, offering it to him. He thought about it and somehow, by the look on his face, I knew he'd never smoked before. "Yeah okay, just one hit."

I bit my lip to stifle the smirk, his comment confirming my suspicions as he took it from me and put it between his lips. He barely inhaled, coughing up a storm and immediately handing it back.

"Yeah, cool."

"It's a bad habit, good thing you don't like it," I stomped it out on the ground, clapping my hands together. "Right, shall we?"

I was a few steps behind Bryce as he made his way up the stairs out front of Rory and Em's place, stalling when I glanced over and saw an overgrown bush with random flowers in the neighbor's yard. I took a quick detour, jogging over and grabbing a few of the most colorful ones before heading inside without knocking.

Bryce had already made his way into the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of wine. Rory was nowhere to be found and Em was putting her earrings in, glancing over when I walked in.

"Oh my god."

"Hi, you look lovely," I kissed her cheek as she hugged me, seeing her eyes glued to what was in my hand. I flushed, laughing as I played with my hair. "A bit cheesy, I know."

"No, that's so cute. Did you pick those?"

"Yeah, just now."

"Oh my god, Bryce," she sighed, swatting his arm playfully. "Take notes, I want handpicked flowers."

Bryce was less than thrilled, swallowing the sip of wine in his mouth and motioning to the red roses that had clearly been discarded on the counter. "You're serious?"

"Yours are pretty too," she giggled, going in to kiss his cheek - and hovering near his neck. "Hang on, have you been smoking?"

"I took a single hit."

"Bryce, no. No," she scolded, scrunching up her nose and shaking her head. "That's not a thing, that won't be a thing."

"Okay right, but when Finn does it, it's fine?"

"You aren't Finn."

I could sense that the playful conversation was taking a turn, slowly backing out of the room and sneaking towards Rory's. I tiptoed down the hall, peeking into the bathroom - no success. When I got to her room, I saw that the door was cracked and could hear the faint sounds of AC/DC, smirking to myself.

"Hello."

When I pressed the door open, I was nearly knocked off my feet. Rory was unfazed by my presence, per usual - playing with her hair in the mirror. I was shameless, my heart rate picking up steadily as I raked my eyes all over her body. I'd never seen her in anything like that, the dress long, black and slim fitting. I couldn't pull my eyes away from her curves, following them up and down.