17. Sweet & Tedious Sonya

-finley pov-

"Kaeden!"

I quickly let go of Kae as the crew walks through the doors.

In tears, Noell rushes up and roughly grabs his best friend, pushing him back onto the hospital bed with excess force.

"Noell you're going to crush him!" Sonya and Cassie yell at the same time when Kaeden lets out a small pain filled squeal. I protectively yank at Noell's collar and he steps back.

"Ah! Sorry, I was just so worried about you," he chokes out before he falls to the floor and starts to weep. Vahn quietly picks him back up and pulls him back into the hallway. We all watch them leave with pity.

"He's been having a hard time with it, that's all," Cassie tries to explain as she lays a large plate of cookies on the bedside table.

"It's understandable considering he was there," I add and an almost mournful demeanor floods the room.

"He was there?" I turn to Kaeden and nod.

"Yeah, he was there to open the door for me," I decide to tell him the truth and his mouth opens in awe. "What?"

Sonya suddenly perks up and points to the cookies.

"Look Kaeden! We made your favorites!" She says to bring the excitement back into the room.

"Sonya also packed your duffle bag with all of your favorite comfy clothes and jumpers. I grabbed all your favorite candies from Waitrose and stuffed them in here with a few other surprises. Don't show Sonya though, you know how she's trying to force the family to go on a veggie healthy diet. Bleck," Cassie giggles.

Maisie stands beside me while the two fuss over the stern father of their group.

"How is he really doing?" She asks and I cross my arms.

"I think it was just a passing moment. He'll get better as long as he has someone here 24/7 to encourage him." I tell her straight up without bullshit and she nods in agreement.

"Well thank you for staying with him while we regroup. We can take care of him from here." She says as more of a statement than asking me if I want to leave or not.

"I'm not going anywhere," I say back and she turns to me.

"What are you talking about. Of course,e you are," She huffs and I look down at the pouting woman whose a foot shorter than me yet feels the need to give me a disgusted glare.

"I'm not leaving," I repeat myself but she shakes her head and giggles before looking up at me.

"I'm sorry but if I remember correctly, you're Finley Grayson right? The man who fucks anything that moves including Noell. Haven't you hurt Kaeden enough? He's fragile right now, he doesn't need some heartless fuck boy like you stomping into his kind soul and messing everything up again. Leave before I make you leave," she almost growls but I only smirk back. Watching the anger on her face grow with my defiance.

"I would love to see you try," I whisper back.

"Hey! What's going on with you two?" Kaeden calls out to us and we both turn to him and pretend nothing ever happened.

"Uh, nothing we were just catching up on the theatre is all, right Finney?" Maisie asks as she swings her arm around my shoulder in an effort to show good friendship. I never wanted to hit a woman before in my life but she was really pushing the limits with her snake-like hands caressing my shoulder.

"Yeah, that's it," I lie but Kaeden sees right through me and tilts his head just a little to the left to let me know he's skeptical.

"Hey, guys why don't you join us. We're filling in this 50 things we like about our precious Kaeden. Come on Fin." Sonya goes to hand me a crayon but Maisie quickly snatches it away before I can even grasp it.

"He doesn't need one. We know him better because we've known him longer. Sorry Finney boy, seniority first. Don't worry though. I'll try to save you a bubble," Maisie giggles sweetly as she goes to write in the bubble.

"It's Finley," I correct her. Annoyed by the stupid nickname.

"Yeah, sure," She waves me off before continuing to fill in the bubbles with Cassie. Sonya stands next to me and gently pats me on the shoulder.

"Hey, why don't you have a cookie. Let me know if they're any good," She smiles as she hands me a small mask shaped sugar cookie with beautiful frosting designed to look like a drama mask you would see above a stage.

"These are almost too pretty to eat," I compliment her and she smiles.

"Oh thank you. I worked really hard on the little designs. I'm a little bit of a perfectionist, it's a problem I can't seem to shake," She sighs and I take a bite.

"It's not a problem if it's productive," I add while chewing the soft lightly sweet but deliciously buttery cookie.

"So? What do you think?" She asks and the more I chew, the more I recognize the familiar taste while staring down at the floor.

It reminded me of the events that took place just one year ago.

Back when she was alive.

A month before I killed them both in the accident.

"Wow Finley, this is beautiful!" Ari had exclaimed as she got her first look inside the small apartment I had bought for the three us.

"I knew you would like it," I said confidently as I started to take off my itchy university sweatshirt.

Ari rolled her eyes before wandering over to the kitchen counter, looking out of the clock tower window and staring at the starry night sky.

"You okay?" I asked and she only nodded before looking at the small pastry box on the counter. Reaching in she grabbed a single sugar cookie and took a bite.

"Mmm yeah, babe, I'm fine but not I won't be once I eat all these cookies. Where are they from?" she asked and I swiftly move to join my pregnant girlfriend before she took them all.

"They're from this bakery I use to love to go to when I was little. My dad would take me to the Hesse's bookshop to pick up a new book every time. I finished one and then we would go to the bakery and I had to tell him five things I learned from the book before I could earn my pastry," I explain and Ari giggled softly.

God, she was so beautiful at that moment, she was glowing in a such a way it softened all her sharpest features and defied all beauty standards.

"I was hoping to do the same with our little girl," I add before she got all teary eyed and emotional.

"Oh Fin, I love you," She sighed before kissing me.

I never did tell her I loved her back.

And I would live with that regret for the rest of my life.

"Finley? Hey, you still there?" Sonya laughs as she flicks my forehead.

"Huh? Oh yeah, it's really good. It reminds me of childhood. I guess that's why I zoned out," I laugh it off while scratching the back of my head.

"Oh, that's so good to hear. He likes the guys," She announces just as Vahn and Noell come back into the room.

Noell's eyes looked puffy from crying but he had calmed down significantly. He walks up to me and gives me a long hug.

I hug him back in a friendly way and he sighs. Vahn goes join Cassie and Maisie in filling in the bubbles while Kaeden just watches them.

Kae smiles as he sees them all talking and even laughs with them. That is until he sees me hugging Noell. His face seems to tell it all and we make eye contact.

As we do the hurt shows and now I was finally sure of myself.

"Hey, it's okay," I tell Noell and gently push him away.

He stands back and nods before going to Kaeden and gently hugging him this time instead of attacking him.

While they were all surrounding Kaeden and filling in bubbles with adjectives, I walk over to the couch and decide to finally take a nap.