Jethro waded through the rain, shivering as he cornered into a street that would eventually lead him home. Countless claps of thunder occupied the night, the breeze coming strong, and nothing that could be moved remained still.

Jethro sniffed and gave a small smile when he finally saw the familiar wattle fence. He rubbed a palm over his wet face and then his eyes caught something else. A red BMW was parked in front of the fence, and if he was not mistaken, the owner should be...

The front door of the car opened and the blond boy stepped out. Jethro froze and gazed at him. Finn.

"What're you doing in my house?" He challenged from his distance.

Finn did not say a word back. He just smiled and put his hands in his pocket.

Jethro sighed and moved closer to him before repeating his harsh question, "What are you doing here?"

Finn maintained his facial glow and wiped his soaked golden hair with a palm, "I'm here to talk." He said calmly.

"Talk?" Jethro scoffed, "With who?"

"Certainly not the rain or the fence." Finn smiled and added sharply, "I had expected this yunno, it would always be a tough time talking with you." He shrugged.

Jethro smirked at his statement, "Crazy you're giving yourself false hope. Who said I'm ready to talk with you, tough or not." He croaked and turned immediately to enter into the fence but Finn's quiet voice stopped him.

"I know you're mad with all that happened between us the previous time. But I'm here to say I'm sorry."

Jethro's legs halted when he heard that and the first thing that came to his head was to yell at Finn and tell him he should be begging Ava instead. But then he remembered Ava had told him Finn had already apologized to her. He gulped and turned back to face the boy.

"Is that all you want to say?" He asked in a nicer tone.

"No," Finn sighed, "I want us to talk."

"But I have nothing to discuss with you." Jethro rasped, the impatience evident in his voice. He had to get into the house quickly and ease Mother T and Rose of their worries. They would certainly be anxious that he had not returned home at this late hour.

"I do." Finn said, "I have a lot we have to discuss."

"A lot." A snort flew out of Jethro, "I'm sorry I don't time for that now." He made another spin toward the fence but Finn's frantic voice stopped him again.

"What of a few minutes? We should just say something."

Jethro sighed and his shoulders dropped as he turned back, "Okay." He agreed. He wrapped his arms across his chest, waiting for the boy to start talking.

Finn chuckled at that and then gestured, "We can leave the rain. The car would be more warm and comfortable." He suggested, the soughing of a wild wind emphasizing his point.

Jethro looked at him warily and hesitated before taking his offer, "Okay."

"Thanks." Finn breathed and waited for him to reach the car. They both opened the doors and slid in simultaneously.

Jethro took in relief as he was temporarily out of the cold rain after a long time.

"I called Ava yesterday and apologized," Finn informed after a short silence.

"I know." Jethro mouthed, watching the lines of water trickling down the windscreen.

"She told you already," Finn chuckled and then waited for a few seconds before speaking again, "You know, I'm sorry for all the fights we had. What you said to me the last time you came to my house hit me hard. It brought me back to my senses and I realized one thing..." He paused and let Jethro's sight wander to his face before continuing, "That we both like Ava and should be on the same side."

Jethro sniggered on hearing that. He rested back on his seat and shut his eyes, "We can't be on the same side. You don't know what I already know."

"I know a couple of things that could help." Finn said hastily, causing Jethro to open an eye, and smiled flippantly at him, "I suspect Katie for what happened to Ava that night."

Jethro opened his eyes fully when he heard that but did not say a word.

"See, Katie is my sister but I don't want to hide the truth now. " Finn said and paused, wiping his hair with a palm again, "Yes, the party was for Emma's fortieth birthday. Normally, I would invite Ava, wouldn't I ?" He said rhetorically but the look on his face showed that he still wanted some response.

Jethro did that with some blunt nodding of his head.

"Yeah," Finn continued, "But I started smelling something fishy when Katie would always ask me to invite Ava. She would say she want to see Ava at the party. I was amazed because Katie doesn't like Ava. Why then would she want to see her at the party? I became suspicious." He stopped again.

Jethro squinted at him and decided to finally offer some words, "So, you then warned Ava not to come to the party?"

"Yes, smart." Finn said in a high tone, "I told Ava not to come but she would always question that. Then I decided to avoid her for some time. I stopped talking to her and hoped that would be enough to deter her from coming to the party."

Everything lulled after Finn's vehement narration. The rain had also reduced outside, gradually turning to spit from the dark sky.

"Since you know all these, why then still get mad at Ava?" Jethro broke the silence.

"Because I saw Stan in the pictures too. I thought she came to the party to meet with Stan." Finn said in a voice that echoed regret.

"Do you ever think of who invited Stan to your Mum's birthday party?" Jethro asked, his eyes narrowing at the boy.

"Foolish me. My mind was always set on blaming Ava. I never thought of that." Finn whined.

"Well, Katie did." Jethro said with a shrug and Finn goggled at him, "You're right with your suspicion. Katie was behind all that happened to Ava that night."

"Really?" Finn shifted frantically in his seat.

"And she's not the only one," Jethro quickly added, "And Jessy too."

"Jessy!" Finn gaped in astonishment but Jethro rather chuckled at his expression.

"Acting like you don't know why Jessy would be involved in that," Jethro said scornfully and Finn's brows arched at him.

"I don't. How would I know?" The blond boy said in a whispering, throaty voice.

"What relationship did you have with Jessy before meeting with Ava?" Jethro asked when their faces had looked at each other.

Finn's eyes faltered within a minute and he wiped invisible sweat from his forehead, "We're friends." He said glumly, staring weirdly at the windscreen like he had seen something strange outside.

"Friends?" Jethro scoffed, "You know, you have to specify what type of friendship. The one in which you ditch her to have her best friend?"

Finn's palms gripped at the steering wheel as he listened to Jethro's harsh words. He took some seconds to steady his rough exhalation before speaking again, "That's not it, dude. That's not it." He yelled rather to the windscreen.

"Then tell me what it is." Jethro sneered, folding his arms and staring moronically at the boy.

Finn sighed at the contemptuous reaction, he loosened his grip on the steering wheel, and with a calm voice, he said his explanation, "See, dude. I let Jessy know what it was all about from scratch. I let her know I just wanted to be her friend but..." He paused and wiped his hair again, "But we made some mistakes."

"Oh, mistakes like?" Jethro drawled mockingly.

"We shared something but..." Another short pause as Finn inhaled in frustration, "But I told her I was sorry those things ever happened between us. "

"And after being sorry, you proceeded to have her friend?" Jethro huffed.

"No, it's not..." Finn said tiredly, his shoulders dropping. He certainly did not know what to say again.

"Do you know how much that hurts a person?" Jethro rasped, watching as the boy hit his head wildly on the unfortunate steering wheel.

"But it shouldn't lead to her hurting her best friend." Finn muttered and sharply raised his head for his next words, "She should come for me instead. I was the one who hurt her."

"But she likes you. She wouldn't hurt someone she likes, would she?" Jethro said with indignation, his eyes wandering to the window to see the rain coming back in full force.

"So, you're taking sides with Jessy now?" Finn snorted at him and he snickered, not looking away from the window.

"No way." He mouthed to the droplets of water on the glass.

"Then why are you sounding like you find it right that she betrayed her friend all because of envy." Finn's voice was already rising to a furious level but Jethro rather took it calmly with a smirk.

"You don't have to play smart and twist things up, dude." Jethro laughed harshly, "You should instead learn not to take advantage of girls and mess with them. That thing hurts." He slammed.

"I never took advantage of Jessy." Finn yelled, "What happened between us, she forced it. She would always come to my house, she would..." He had to stop and clasped his palms around his head. The cells in there are burning right now. He was raged and frustrated.

"But you know you shouldn't be mad at Jessy now, your sister was the main one behind all that happened to Ava," Jethro remarked after a lull.

"I'm mad at the two of them. I'm going for the two of them, swears." Finn bellowed, clutching the steering wheel again in his anger.

Jethro gave a crooked smile, watching his wild actions. He took a palm up and laid it on the blond boy's shoulder, "Hey, if we'll ever be in the same team. You'll have to take things more calmly." He whispered.

Finn gazed into his smiling face and nodded stiffly in understanding.

"If you want to go for Katie, I'm not against that." Jethro continued with a shrug, "But Jessy?" He said and intentionally took a pause, gritting his teeth, "I don't want to tell you what had happened to her." He sighed.

"What had happened to her?" Finn's eyes widened at him as he noticed the suspense in his last statement.

"I wouldn't be the one to tell you that. You'll hear about it very soon." Jethro dismissed, "Your phone?" He asked, ignoring the keen look on Finn. The boy dug a palm into his pocket and brought out a cell phone.

"Shouldn't you be the one getting my number instead?" Finn said as Jethro dialed some numbers into his phone.

"Anyhow." Jethro only said and returned the phone, "Call me tomorrow. I'll let you know of my next move."

"Alright." Finn breathed and threw the cell phone into a nearby box.

"Good night." Jethro smiled, unlocking the door.

"Good night." Finn smiled back, "Thanks for your time."

Jethro looked at the boy with a smirk. He bobbed his head and got down from the car. He walked to the wattle fence and waited in the pouring rain to see the car speed down the wet road before moving in.