Chapter 22 - But, Babe

"MADAME VIVI? Seriously?"

I'd been explinaining to Finn about all the crimes that had happened to me since the morning. "Yes! She called herself Madame Vivi, and it was so weird and strange and surreal but I promise I'm not high."

Finn shot me a look sideways. Amusement danced behind his eyes as he scrunched his eyebrows, shaking his head. "Only you, Almond. Only you."

I sighed. "I know, right?"

"No, left."

"What?"

Finn smirked. "We have to turn left here, Sherlock."

I blushed, nodding like I knew the way as we turned a corner.  I could feel Finn's eyes on me, amused and knowing, and I didn't need to look at his pretty face to know that he was no doubt enjoying every second of my embarrassment. I crossed my eyes and elbowed him half heartedly, to which he just grinned.

We stayed close together as we walked down the hallway. Close. Too close. Not close enough. The back of his hand brushed mine, our arms just barely touching, and my pulse sped up, breath catching in my throat. I mean, it hurt the tiniest bit knowing that my feelings — these butterflies, these pterodactyls, whatever — were all one sided and that the touch probably wasn't even intentional. But still it was a sweet pain. I could handle the way my heart hurt, I could.

Or maybe I couldn't because as soon as his hand found mine again, leading me around another corner, my face was heating up like I was some fricking Bunsen burner or something. And unfortunately, Finn caught sight of me casually turning pink in the background.

"Are you blushing?" Finn asked, amused, stating the obvious.

"No, I'm not," I retorted, appalled, denying the obvious.

Finn laughed silently, a soft smile on his face. The sound of his chuckle was low and warm and did absolutely nothing to help my composure. I was melting, and I knew it.

I mustered up a glare. "Can you just focus on, like, where we're going?"

"I am focused, Miss A.B.," he insisted, but his eyes weren't on the hallway ahead, nope. Ohhh my gosh. My hormones were all tap dancing inside my veins, I could feel it.

We walked down the hallway, and before long, we found ourselves doing this crazy hop-skip-jump routine and seeing who could do it for a longer time without stumbling. We pushed through a set of doors, continuing down a winding hallway.

"Wait," Finn suddenly said. I didn't stop, knowing that he was just trying to win, but after a few solo hops, I tripped to a stop.  And then I looked up and had no clue where we were.

The place was an extra room of sorts, a storage or prep kitchen, maybe, and it must have been from the main hotel. I turned and saw Finn looking around, eyes slightly wide. "This isn't it," he muttered, face scrunching up as he stared at a painting near a large steel refrigerator of Napoleon on horseback.

I walked back and stood next to him, staring at the painting as well. "Yeah," I coughed. "This definitely isn't it."

"Where— What is this place?" he muttered, almost to himself, and he absently started to look around, running a hand through his hair, when he caught sight of me again. I must have had some wide-eyed, shocked- still look on my face or something because as soon as he saw me his expression softened. "Almond— Cora. We'll get out of here. Trust me."

Suddenly I felt myself magically transported back to just over a month ago, when those words had first etched themselves into my heart, in that train station at four o'clock in the morning. Now, in that strange room we were lost in, those words washed over me like the smoothest honey, and a new but wholesome feeling settled in my chest.

"I trust you, Finn," I said back softly, so softly I didn't know if he'd even heard, but I was shocked at how much my words echoed with the truth. And that truth was that I'd trusted him since the very first time I'd met him.

How strange, abnormal, peculiar, erratic, and I'm running out of words, and okay, I get that you get the point.

Someone dump a bucket of ice water on me, please. Something was happening to me, and, unrequited crush aside, I genuinely was nervous at how I was starting to feel like a whale was Zumba dancing inside my spleen... but in a really, really good way? Okay, I'm sorry, where is that bucket of ice water?

I tried to act casual as Finn looked at me again. I started to whistle a jolly tune before I realized I was being a bit too nonchalant for someone who was inside a random prep room in a random route in a random shortcut.

"Um," I stammered. "Yeah, like, where is this place? Jeez, Finn," I coughed, trying to change the topic, "are you sure we're actually lost, or did you purposely lure me in here because you've fallen for my humor, wit, and charm? Hmm? Hmmm?" I batted my eyelashes at him dramatically, and when he did it back extravagantly to mock me, I shoved him, but the laughter that lit up his face seconds later spread across my face too.

Keeping my laughter down, I crossed my arms and gave him a teasing smile, but to my utter surprise, Finn blushed.

His ears flushed a cute pink that spread to his neck, and as he looked away for a moment, his lashes dipped, shielding his eyes from mine. The faintest curve of a smile tugged at his lips, and I suddenly wanted so desperately to kiss that smile and keep it with me. I faltered for a second, wondering how I could control such disarming thoughts, when he ran a hand through his hair as if trying to steady himself. And my mind went off again, and then it was intrusive thoughts galore.

"We really are kind of lost, but... uh- I was... distracted," he muttered, dark eyes flashing to mine, and he turned back to me. "Sorry."

Oh?

While I stood there, frozen like the statue-guy that scare-pranked me from before, Finn looked around and spotted the doorway. "Okay, it's okay. We'll just walk back out—"

I couldn't even keep my shock up for long because then, to our horror, there were noises coming from outside that sounded like people talking. And said voices were getting closer.

And it would be best if they didn't find us here. As in, that was the only option.

As in, my world was ending—

"Come on, Almond," Finn said quickly, and, grabbing my hand, he led me towards the other side, towards what was hopefully an exit that we could leave through without triggering any alarm or any humans. I followed him (read: I tripped along behind him), and I practically froze as the voices no doubt entered the kitchen.

Finn cursed under his breath, his eyes darting around and finally landing on a door off to the side. It looked random and forlorn, but I knew his plan as soon as he looked back at me with raised eyebrows. We could hide there until the people decided to have their little chat somewhere else.

Just in time, we whizzed past the white walls and steel trolleys, the hard punch of our footsteps mostly quiet against the tiled ground. Finn grabbed a hold of the steel doorknob and flung the door open, and we threw ourselves inside the dark space just as the voices were loud enough that I could make out the sentences and even reply to them. Obviously, that would be a very dumb and unnecessary move, so I bit my lip and kept quiet.

There were small lights lined along one corner of the space, so our eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness. And perhaps this makes it seem like it was some secretly huge area disguised by a small shabby door, and that we quickly had a burst of adrenaline which allowed us to find a trap door or something that let us out.

Nope.

None of that, because that would have been too easy, of course.

Instead, the space was fairly small (read: nanoscopic), and so Finn was pressed up against the side wall and I was pressed up against him.

Finn's breath caught for a moment before he relaxed, and I could feel the hard planes of his body against mine. We fumbled for a second, because his arm was near my face and my elbow to his chest, but then he slid a hand near my waist and my arms came down automatically to rest on his.

He looked at me. "Is this... okay, Cora?" he murmured softly, almost hesitantly.

He didn't know how many times, in the past week, that my brain had treacherously fed me this exact moment, under different circumstances and locations.

But in this strange situation, in a random closet in a random room in this strange hotel, the real heat of Finn's fingers against my waist and the warmth radiating from all over him was better than even the best of my dreams.

I nodded, biting my lip. "This is perfect."

He gave me a short nod back, blinking, before he furrowed his brows and turned his head to the door again. I stared at the side of his head for a second before I looked to the door as well.

"Hey, Matt," one of them grunted, voice low, "did you see where the spare broomsticks are?"

The other dude replied with excitement in his slightly nasally voice that sounded like he was healing from a cold. "Leave that, Gandalf, check this out. I think— I believe— I'm fairly sure, actually, that there's Black Forest cake in this fridge. Holy— are those white chocolate shavings? I've never even seen chocolate shavings in real life before—"

"Oh, shut up," the one seemingly named Gandalf said back, but I heard footsteps and a thud like a large hand landing on something, perhaps the fridge. "Wait, move— Ah, yes. That is that Black Swamp stuff—"

"Black Forest," Matt corrected, and then I heard the clatter of something that sounded like plastic. I pulled my ear away from the door and looked at Finn with confusion, but his eyes were wide at the conversation, and it was evident that he'd picked up something that I hadn't.

"What?" I whispered to him excitedly.

His huge eyes met mine, and then he whispered back in awe, a big grin on his face, "Black Forest cake."

My shoulders dropped and I gave him a wordless look.

"..."

He kept smiling obliviously.

"..."

Well, two could play this game.

"..."

His smile fell just a bit and he looked at me guiltily. "What?"

"You're not real," I sighed to him, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Sorry," he whispered back, eyes baffled yet remorseful, and my breath caught. I smiled a bit to myself, because his expression made me want to hug him senseless. It was also a strange feeling, because I never, ever had wanted to hug someone senseless before.

Finn had already turned to the closet door, but then he looked back at me and gave me a small smile that held nothing back.

I thought I was melting before. Well, now, I was about to evaporate.

Gandalf's voice startled me out of my reverie.

"It ain't nothing but an ol' cake," he seemed to argue.

Then Matt cursed. "We have to get the spare handles. Alright, go on now."

"Me?" Gandalf said grumpily, but I could hear heavier footsteps walking now.

"Why is he stomping?" I snort-whispered to Finn, but he had a shocked look on his face that had some panic rising like an escalator on steroids.

I frowned. "What, do you have a fear of giants or something?" I raised an eyebrow, before wiggling them both up and down at him.

A beat of humiliating silence.

And then I heard it.

Good ol' Gandalf was storming his way to our side of the kitchen, it seemed.

If they actually found us in here, it would be very tough to imagine what they would do, and not to mention the fact that this would go back to Stacey and her soon-to-be husband, and we didn't want to ruin anything for them or add to their load right now.

I freaked out.

"Holy— Ohmigosh, Finn! Finn!" I whisper-screamed. "He's coming here! He's coming here!"

"I can hear that, Almond," Finn said calmly. "I can hear Gordon—"

"It's Gandalf—"

"—stomping his way to us, but just don't—"

"I'm going to puke."

"You are not going to—"

"Okay, fine, I'm not." I paused thoughtfully. "But should I start preparing that as a line of defense for us? In case they reveal us and get us thrown out of here, so that we can just, like, barf and run?" I tapped my chin.

Finn stared at me.

Gandalf stomped around.

Matt clattered around near the fridge.

I shut my mouth.

I put a finger over my lips as Finn put his ear to the door once more. Gandalf muttered something, but it sounded louder now, closer, and I felt Finn's body stiffen a bit at the unexpected proximity. Specifically, his hand by my waist that was as light as a feather before now tightened a bit, and I shouldn't have gasped. But I did.

And Gandalf's stomping stopped.

Finn whipped around to face me and our eyes widened at the same time.

"Wait," Gandalf muttered. "What... Did you hear—"

Finn and I stared at each other, holding our breath. But Gandalf seemed to be holding his breath too.

And then I did the dumbest, most dense, half-baked, and doltish thing ever.

Like, it was so strange it almost proved why I could easily be accepted into the country's top mental facilities under the patient name of 'Almond Baba'.

I looked up at Finn in a panic, grasped his shoulder in a vise grip, and then whined, in my most Kardashian-esque tone, "Baaaaabe."

Finn's eyes got even wider and his jaw dropped in slow motion. Then he started shaking his head so fast I thought he was trying to communicate via vibrations before I realized he was just trying to signal a big fat no.

Gandalf seemed to freeze. Matt's clattering stopped. Finn also was playing statue all of a sudden except his wide eyes blinked at me.

I kept going.

"Babe," I continued, "what is this place? You promised me a romantic date. A romantic one, emphasis on romance. "

Finn slid down a bit against the wall. "Oh, great. My funeral is about to be held in a tiny utility closet. As I watch," he muttered, shutting his eyes and sliding down a bit more.

"Like, you promised this would be a romantic getaway. But no!" I huffed, continuing. I paused, racking my brain for ideas. "Now," I blurted, "we're hiding in a janitor's closet because you couldn't control yourself."

Finn looked at me, horrified.

I choked on my spit a bit.

Finn finally covered for me. "I- um. It's not that I couldn't control myself—" he blushed so hard here I could practically hear it "—babe, but I just thought I could return a favour."

I caught my breath again. "Favour?" I snorted loudly. "When have I ever kidnapped you inside a closet and then pretended to be romantic about it? Babe."

"Oh, you know. Not a closet, fine, but during our... date, that day. By the mountainside. Remember what happened?"

"Mountainside," I echoed in what hopefully sounded like a cheerful way, but I knew my face resembled a scrunchie with wide-eyes at the confused look I was giving Finn. I shot him a desperate look then before tossing out a not-so-casual laugh. "Excuses, excuses," I sighed, waving a hand and almost smacking Finn across the face, "Babe, think of something better." I glared at him.

But Finn didn't falter. Instead, he looked more sure of his words, and I was even more confused. "'Think of something better'? I didn't conjure that up, babe." His lips curved into a smirk, one that made him look subtly but delightfully evil in the dim light. "What, you don't remember?"

I wondered if Gandalf and Matt were truly buying this. "No," I said slowly. "I don't remember...?"

His eyes didn't leave mine, and his next words shocked me. "Oh, you know," he said. "That night, by the mountain...When you'd asked about fourth helpings and I'd said that I was planning my fifth? Do you... remember that?"

"Wha—" Wait— Hold on a minute—

Because, oh no he didn't.

Except he just did.

My eyes bulged and my mouth fell open. I stared at Finn, at a complete loss of words and thoughts and emotions except for spleen-wrenching shock and vomit-inducing embarrassment.

Because this no doubt meant that Finn remembered that little scene in the kitchen during our trek, in which I had no doubt stared at his lips like a hypnotized wombat while wondering what Chapstick he'd used... and how it would be to kiss him. But since I knew that Finn very much knew that I had been having such unsettling thoughts, it made me want to cartwheel out the door and go have a picnic with Gandalf and Matt instead.

Still, I had to confirm. "In A-Anaril?" I gasped (read: choked).

"Yes, in Anaril."

I almost fell.

Like, I literally started to slide downwards because I couldn't stand, but thankfully I didn't crash-land since Finn held me up, watching me with amusement.

I closed my mouth, swallowing almost guiltily, and looked back up at Finn again.

This was not about fooling Gandalf and Matt anymore. And we both knew it.

"At Amaranth's house," I questioned back on a squeak before I cleared my throat, "babe?"

"Yes, at Amaranth's house."

"And you want to return the favour?" I gulped.

"Mhm. Just like you'd kissed me that day," he said casually.

We both knew that we actually had not. Even though I kind of had wanted to.

"Wouldn't it be right to?" Finn continued. "When you randomly ambushed me, the innocent face of innocent innocence, in that kitchen while I was calmly piling on my fourth serving of fondue, I didn't say a word in complaint, did I?"

"Of course not."

"So..." Finn drawled, shrugging. "It's only fair, yeah?"

And then I imagined it. A world where this exact situation that we were faking had played out. I imagined myself kissing Finn that day during the trek, surprising him in that kitchen at Amaranth's house. And then I imagined how a week later, he in turn would pull me into some random closet so that he could surprise me and return this... favour. I imagined this so vividly that it kind of hurt because reality was sitting on my shoulder and swinging its feet and guess what? Finn's lips and tongue were very much not touching my own. So there.

Sigh.

At this point, who even were Matt and Gandalf?

The thought startled me and I jumped like an electrocuted cockroach.

"Um, well," I continued loudly, suddenly coughing like I'd stuck my head in a vat of crushed chalk, "Still! This puny closet is so not it! I deserve much better than to be the girl who gets kissed in a closet under the stairs—"

"...There are no stairs...?"

"You. Know. What. I. Mean!" I screeched.

"Babe," he said loudly, "it's not a big deal! How about— Just— Calm down—"

This was followed by radio silence, because those are the magical words that always work in any lovers' spat (or, um, as I'd imagine to be so, since I had exactly zero-point-zero hours of experience in that field).

"Uh-oh," Matt whispered, "Rookie mistake."

"Son, you are done for," Gandalf muttered.

I bit my lip to keep from giggling out loud and instead listened closely, and to my delight, the sound of footsteps leaving (read: sprinting away) in a hurry were heard.

Well, they hadn't gotten the brooms they'd come in here for, but I wasn't about to chase them down and give it to them.

As soon as they were gone, I turned to Finn and smacked his arm, to which he just grinned. He opened his mouth to say something, but I put my hand in the air to cut him off. "Nuh-uh," I said as my face started to heat up, and I scrambled to open the closet door. We stumbled out, and we walked off together— well, Finn started laughing his head off and I trudged along beside him, rolling my eyes and huffing.

It turned out the hallway was indeed a shortcut after all. Instead of having had to walk around the entire hotel, we walked on and soon reached a spot that backed out of the guys' rooms and into the side entrance of the main hotel. A short distance ahead, I could see the girls' side flag waving in the wind.

"Alright, Almond," Finn said as we stopped outside. "This is your stop."

I turned to him and saluted. "Yes, sir."

He gave me a soft smile. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it, and then he shoved his hands in his pockets, looking away. I kind of wanted to ask him to come with me for a bit, too, but I know it'd be a lot to explain if the girls or guys or relatives found us. I knew that that wouldn't stop Finn, but that made me feel kind of nervous, and I could tell he was keeping his mouth closed right now for that exact reason. For me.

I stepped away and gave him a short wave that he didn't even have time to react to before I whirled around and hurried to the girl's side.

I walked a few steps ahead to a curve that led to a set of doors with the, ahem, correct flag of the girls' house. I subtly turned my head and saw Finn still there, hands in his pockets and the slight wind ruffling his hair.

I smiled to myself before heading inside. The hallway was identical to the guys' one, but as I walked further along to where I could hear voices, I carefully took note that were no erotic paintings of any sort, anywhere. Phew.

__

A/N: It took two months of procrastinating to write and fix this chapter, gosh. I've changed the cover about seven times and finally finalized the rest of the plot and the ending. All that's left there is to write it all out, which (hopefully) won't take two months, lol.

Also in the process rn of making a playlist chapter of songs that would suit Synonyms For Better, so if you have any suggestions that you think would perfectly suit this shenanigan-show we have going on, then please lemme know!!! c:

Anddddd I gotta mention that we also won first place for HUMOR in the Visions of Grandeur Awards 2024, which is very nice (^///^)

P.S. I hope you enjoyed this chapter  <33

Stay tuned!!

🧋