All Alone

Chapter 21

"Took y'all long enough! The kids are waiting to take care of your little angel inside, they have missed her," Logan is in front of us as soon as we enter the garage, and I laugh at his enthusiasm, deciding to not put up a fight when he plucks the now giggling child from my arms. Logan exits the garage to find the children, and I notice my little Finch swaying side to side, and it was plain to see that she was uncomfortable. I wish she wasn't uncomfortable.

"Hey Stingray, we are gonna work on the car, do you want to help?" Her head snapped up at the sound of Luke's voice, and I felt a spark of jealousy as a smile pops up on her face and she nods at Luke, joining him at the front of the car. Trying to shake off the weird feelings, I follow her only to be met with the guys hunched over the car and the engine block sitting on the workbench.

"What the heck am I looking at right now?"

The guys look up and scratch the back of their necks in sync.

"Well, you see..." Aiden begins.

"IT WAS AIDEN'S FAULT!" Jacob points at Aiden before bolting, getting a headstart on a now furious Aiden.

"How dare you try to pin this on me "Mr. I wonder if we could take this out of the car"?" Aiden's accusation begins a shouting match and I can't help but roll my eyes at their stupidity and Avianna holds a hand out of her mouth, stifling giggles that we wouldn't be able to hear anyways.

"Chill guys, there is no chance of me fixing it if I keep getting distracted by your sexual tension!" I yell at them ten minutes and two failed attempts later, effectively shutting them up.

"Excuse me! Even if I were gay I would never stoop so low as to be with Aiden!" Jacob scrunches his nose in disgust and huffs before stomping away to sit on one of the chairs.

"And here I thought we truly had something special!" Aiden held his chest dramatically and feigned offense.

Jacob quickly caught on and scoffed, "you were no more special than the rest of them, leave my presence for it is no fun to gaze upon a reject." Jacob shooed Aiden away like a fly and the boy began the waterworks.

"How could you! After everything that we have been through you are leaving me behind?!"

"We all need a fresh start at some point, and mine will be without you!"

Another shouting match begins and I sigh, I just made it worse. Luke finally emerges from the underside of the car where he had sought refuge and patted my back, understanding that I had failed. His acknowledgment just added to the embarrassment of my failure. My little Finch had not moved from the corner, but I watched her eyes and followed them to the engine block that had taken residence on the workbench.

Brushing off Luke's demeaning attempts at comforting me, I walk over to my Finch, eager to bug her.

"Hey there Finch, do you want to know how this thing works?" She lifts one eyebrow as if reminding me that she already knows how everything works, but I am well-aware of this minor detail which just makes my goal easier. She grabs her whiteboard and writes a response, rolling her eyes at me.

'I know more about that engine block than Moody and Ginger, so I think I will be just fine.'

"If they are your standard then I am starting to worry, a seven-year-old would probably know more about cars than those two," my words obviously made sense to Avianna and she nodded her head in agreement.

'You right' Jacob and Aiden paused from their argument to read what my Finch had written and scoffed, "Hey, we know plenty about cars!"

"You may know the make and model but you know nothing about what goes on inside the hood or underneath," I guffawed at their claim.

"How dare you insult us like that! We are very knowledgeable and competent when it comes to cars!" Aiden was still shouting and I was surprised that Mrs. Stock hadn't yelled at us yet.

Avianna lifted an eyebrow at his venting and I knew that if she could she would be roasting the heck out of him.

After we finally calmed the two dunces down, Luke, Finch, and I fixed the car while the others stood to the side in what seemed like awe, watching us work. Although we are basically brothers, some of my friends lack quite a few brain cells. 

Once a few hours had passed, we had completed several small projects on the engine and interior of the car and Finch wiped away the leftover oil and grease from her hair, though it blended in with her natural inky color. 

"Are you guys done yet, it gets so annoying waiting for y'all to finish off this stupid car," Aiden and Jacob had decided to huddle in a corner with hopes that by combining their saltiness, the trio that was doing something productive would pay attention to them.

Logan was in the house somewhere getting some drinks and Finch was paying a lot of attention to one spot on the hood of the Stingray. Eager to annoy her, I made my way over and wiped a greasy finger on the hood before putting my arm on her head. I found her height endearing, but she hated it whenever we made her feel short. She made a squeak of indignation and slapped my arm away before furiously wiping away at the hood again. 

Luke watched in amusement and a stupid feeling of envy took residence in my chest, why was I feeling jealous of Luke? Finch was doing her breathy laugh at something he said and my chest tightened a bit. Oh, that's why.

*********

Ack, I need to finish this, and the fact that I am so close is annoying as heck. I have lost inspiration for this story, but I still enjoy reading it and just want to finish. Cruel world help me conquer writer's block.

Love y'all!

~Experiment51