Finn Lynch lives a quiet, tranquil life in a rural village in the mountains. Her life may lack spontaneity and excitement, but at least it's peaceful. And if it's a little lonely too, then she can't complain too much - she's still happy, after all.
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i wrote this whole chapter while listening to slow dancing by aly and aj, and i would highly recommend lmao. the song is the vibe of this chapter
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By the time Finn pulls up to the copse of trees that she usually parks at, the tension in the car is stifling. Evan's legs are bouncing restlessly in the back of the car — Finn thinks he must be biting his tongue hard to keep from saying anything stupid. When she switches the engine off and everything goes quiet, the abrupt silence is almost agonising.
For a moment, no one makes any move to get out of the car. Finn darts a look at Regulus; his jaw is still clenched tight, his expression stormy as he stares out at the yellowing leaves on the trees outside.
"Evan," Regulus breaks the silence at last. "Myself and Finn will follow you to the house in a moment."
Evan makes a sound of unmistakable relief, before practically lunging his way out of the car. He pauses just long enough to gather up the bags of shopping before slamming the door shut and unabashedly fleeing up the hill towards the house.
Left along in the car with Regulus, Finn abruptly feels nervous.
"Are you angry with me?" She asks tentatively, uncertain who his ire is directed at. She doesn't think she's done anything wrong, but it doesn't hurt to check.
Regulus closes his eyes and takes a deep, slow breath. For a moment, he's completely silent. Then, finally, his eyes open back up again. He's much calmer now, and Finn recognises the tell-tale signs of him Occluding almost instantly.
"No, Finn." He says quietly. "Not at you."
"Okay." Finn goes quiet, and tries to wait for him to gather himself enough to begin explaining. A beat passes, and she loses her motivation to wait almost immediately — she's never been very patient. "So, what the fuck is this mood about, then? You got the chance to threaten Dermot and I didn't even try to stop you. I thought you'd be delighted about that."
Regulus inhales through his nose, then yanks the door of the car open and pulls himself out. Bewildered, Finn scrambles to follow him. It seems like he just needs the space to pace, because he doesn't make any effort to head up the hill; instead, he just strides away from the car.
"What is your problem?" Finn complains, shutting the car door behind her.
Finally, Regulus turns and looks at her properly. His expression is calmer than expected, though his eyes are stony.
"Why would you let him treat you like that?" He asks eventually.
It's not what she had expected him to say at all, and Finn slows to a stop as she approaches him. She doesn't quite know how to respond. She had known that his dislike of Dermot had grown exponentially after she had started to open up to him about their past relationship, but they had never actually talked about it. Not properly, at least.
