“I know.” Hank released his shoulder, crossing his arms in front of his chest, tipping his chin challengingly. “That’s why you might as well stay.” He raised a bushy eyebrow at the younger man. “Willingly, that is.” A loud huff escaped Finn’s lips, a spark of half-hearted rebellion blooming in his eyes. Then, he seemedto have a change of heart and shrugged, the air of leftover agitation around him dissipating.
“Sorry about freaking out like that…” He worried his bottom lip, white teeth glistening in the sparse light.
“It’s okay. We all lose our heads from time to time. No harm done, kid. No broken lamps.” Hank winked. “I guess if you wanna freak out, Nebraska is as good a place as any. Neighbors are few and far away.” Finn nodded.
“I’m sorry about Eugene, too.”
“Yeah, I know.” Hank nodded. “Me too, kid. Now, enough of this. Almost feels like we’re in one of them daytime soap operas. What’re they called now?Days of Our Livesor some shit like that.”
“How do you kno—” Finn looked up, amusement dancing in his eyes.
“Let’s eat.” That crappy show was all he’d watched in those bleak months following Eugene’s death. It was the only thing he’d been able to stomach. The mindless repetitiveness of the excessive drama. The ridiculous expressions on the faces of the mediocre actors. Nothing happened on that show. You could miss three episodes because you were howling out in the woods, cursing Him, and when you turned it back on, Marlena was still possessed by the devil and John Black was still suffering from amnesia. If time was standing still in Salem, why couldn’t it just stand still in Hayley’s too?
“Like sands through the hourglass…”Finn crooned.Shit.Of course, he knew that goddamn show.“So are the days of our lives…”He smirked.
“Shut it, you pest. Let’s eat. I made your favorite.”
“What? How do you know my favorite?” Finn scrunched his nose, his upper lip curling in surprise.
“A free meal? I thought that was your favorite. Was I wrong?” Hank smirked back.Touché.
“Ha ha, very funny.” Finn pushed lightly at his shoulder, a laugh leaving his mouth.
“It’s true, ain’t it?” Hank challenged, his own low chuckle now intermingling with Finn’s lofty laughter.
“Hank?” Finn’s face sobered, a shadow moving across his face.
“Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“No worries,” Hank said, noticing the awkwardness in his voice. Why did this kid continue to thank him?
“No, I mean it.” Finn tilted his head, his eyes solemn as he took a step towards Hank, their chests almost touching, just a small space between them. “Thank you. Truly.” Then he closed the small gap, leaning in against Hank, resting his heavy head on his shoulder. Sucking in a breath, Hank froze. The scent of frost and faint sweat wafted towards him, tickling his nostrils, the contrast between sweet and tart nearly unbearable, reminding him eerily ofhim. Instinctively, he was about to take a step back when Finn’s arms snaked around him, tentatively at first, until they met at the bottom of Hank’s spine, locking him securely in place.
Confusion washed over him like a massive wave and if Finn hadn’t been holding on to him so fiercely, he surely would’ve stumbled to the floor, swept away into a spiral of memories. And new sensations, too. Because as familiar as the embrace felt, there was also something new and fresh about it. Finn felt different as he leaned against him. The softthump, thump, thumpof his heart sounded different, too, as it beat against Hank’s own. And although slightly similar at first, Hank realized that hedidsmell different, as he buried his face against the crook of Hank’s neck. Where Eugene had had this underlying scent of innocence, no matter how old he got, there was nothing innocent about the way Finn felt or smelled. Instead, he smelled like something that could easily turn dangerously addictive.
Unsure if he should hug Finn back, Hank just stood there a while, but when Finn made no attempt at releasing him from his iron grip, he wrapped his own arms loosely around his narrow waist. The moment he felt the warmth of the other man seeping through the worn flannel of his shirt, a deep sigh broke through the silence. At first, he thought that it’d been Finn, eliciting that strangled sigh of… relief, but when the aftertaste hit his tongue, he realized his own body was the origin of that sigh.
“Thank you, Hank,” Finn repeated against his neck, his featherlight breath stirring feelings inside Hank that were borderline inappropriate. Placing his hands against Finn’s obliques, he carefully pushed him away, and Finn reluctantly disentangling himself from Hank’s solid form.
“Sorry,” he sniffed, an apologetic smile tugging at the right corner of his mouth, that galaxy of freckles threatening to spin Hank out of control and suck him into a black hole.
Clearing his throat, he managed to rasp, “Yeah, you’re good, kid.”
“Why do you always call mekid?” Finn frowned.
“That’s what you are, aren’t you?”Yes, don’t forgetthat, Hank. He’s a kid.
“I just turned thirty-six in October,” Finn countered, the pout returning, and Hank wanted to lick it away or, even better yet, suck it into his mouth and just devour it and swallow it up.Goddamnit.
“Like I said, a kid,” Hank spoke, not sure who he was trying to convince at this point. Objectively speaking, Finn wasn’t a kid, of course. He was a man. No doubt about it. But compared to Hank’s almost sixty, he was a kid.
“How old areyouthen?” Finn challenged, that defiant glimmer back in his eyes.
“Fifty-nine.” And Hank groaned when Finn’s response was a cheeky whistle. “What?” The word came out harsher than he’d intended, but Finn didn’t seem to notice, just smiling playfully.
“Nothin’. It’s just…” He bit his bottom lip, a coy smile battling to spread to the rest of his face. Then he seemed to come to some sort of decision. “You look pretty fucking good, Hank. For an older guy.” he winked. That goddamnkid.He actually winked at him.
