Craft Beer & Roses

BONUS: Finn POV 2

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack~ the winter months are always some of the busiest times of the year for me. I took a much-needed vacation from work and am sad to say I'll be away again the second week of January.

SO! I'm throwing out more chapters than usual to hopefully make up for my absence - thanks for sticking around, and I hope you enjoy <3**

When Finn was two years old, he met Aislin Doyle. She was the only child of his parents' best mates from uni. He didn't like her at first. He thought she was annoying, a whiny, snot-covered little girl who always followed him around. He used to love exploiting her deep hatred of frogs by playing in the creek behind their house and handing her slimy, croaking 'surprises' so she'd leave him alone.

When they were ten, he saw her being bullied by one of their classmates. Finn stood up for her and punched the living shite out of the kid. Got himself his own beating from his ma back at home, but he still felt like he did the right thing. Being the youngest, Finn never had the opportunity to care for or protect anyone else, so even though she still cried like a banshee, Aislin naturally came under his wing.

Time went by, and she became less and less of a nuisance and more and more of a dear friend. By the time they were fourteen, puberty had worked its cruel magic, and Finn had stretched into a lanky, pimple-covered teenager. For Aislin, however, it was much kinder. She'd grown into a beautiful girl. She was smart, and she didn't cry as much. Everything about her changed. Well, not everything. Finn was still her dedicated guardian. And she still hated frogs. He couldn't remember exactly when their families started planting ideas of romance in their heads, but once they took root in Finn's adolescent brain, they blossomed into a full-blown crush.

Aislin never seemed interested in anything other than a platonic friendship. So, Finn chose to love her quietly, afraid to ruin the close relationship they had already shared. At age fifteen, she started dating one of his friends, and for the next three years, they formed an unshakeable bond. Finn's acne eventually faded, and he grew into his handsome features, earning himself a never-ending stream of admirers. Despite all that, his feelings for Aislin never left, and Finn continued to pine for her, hoping one day she'd look at him the way she looked at her boyfriend.

On his eighteenth birthday, Finn got blackout drunk. Even with a raging hangover, the first thing he did the next morning was check his phone. There were so many notifications he wondered if someone had died. But then he opened Instagram and saw a shaky video of himself kneeling in front of Aislin, encircled by their equally plastered friends. He was holding her hands, and in a slurred, crackly timbre, he said, "Aislin Doyle, you're the love of my fuckin' life."

He vowed never to play Truth or Dare again.

Aislin rejected his declaration of love. She had a boyfriend. And Finn was Finn. Finn, the best mate. Finn, the protector. It took him a while to recover from the pain, and their friendship never quite felt the same.

When they were twenty, Aislin came to Finn's flat one night blubbering like she used to. She and his friend broke up and she needed Finn because he always made her feel better. So, they talked through the night, and they drank some whiskey. And then they were kissing. And then they were taking off each other's clothes. And then Finn was fumbling with the condom because he'd never done it before. And then, she looked at him the way she used to look at her ex-boyfriend.

For the next year, Aislin and Finn fucked.

A lot.

In her dorm room. In his car. That one time in the pub.

They couldn't get enough of each other, and Finn thought that things were finally falling into place. He still loved her so much. So one day, he told her that after they'd finished another round in his bed.

"Aislin Doyle," He said, "you're the love of my fuckin' life."

"Are you joking?" She said.

And once again, Aislin rejected his declaration of love, but this time, it was final.

She had been messing around with her ex while she was messing around with Finn. And what was even worse was that they were planning to get back together. She'd been waiting for the right time to tell him, but there never seemed to be one. It would never work between them because he was Finn. Finn was easy. Finn was fun. Just fun.

Aislin Doyle is now Aislin O'Brian. She and Finn's friend tied the knot two years before he joined Love Island. He wished he could be happy for them, but he actually couldn't feel anything. After his heart hurt less, Finn felt lost. He wasted so much time longing for one person who didn't even want him.

So he said fuck it.

He stopped caring so much and started living freely. Meaningless hookups were easy and fun. Because that's what he was, easy and fun. Joining Love Island was just another chance to do what he did best, but this time, he might get paid.

When Aislin left, Finn told himself he'd never feel the way he did for anyone else again. It would only end in heartache.

But when green eyes met hazel, he knew he was in trouble.