Finney smiled softly at Robin, as he opened his front door.
Robin had insisted on walking Finney home, especially after the boy mentioned that Gwen was with Suzie.

"As if I would let you go home alone after this.. incident." he meant, and to be honest Finney had only argued for so long because he didn't want to come across as desperate.

The tanned boy was what Finney considered safe, someone he could always count on, no matter the moment. So he didn't see it as a problem that they ran to him together.

"And you really don't want to come in?" Robin looked at him apologetically, shaking her head with a sigh.

"I still have something important to do." he shrugged, really not looking too enthusiastic.

Finney rolled her eyes and grinned slightly.
"You have detention, don't you?" he teased, causing Robin to cross his arms in disgust.

"For my best friend to jump straight to such accusations." he sniffled, but Finney could clearly tell he was playing it.

Robin always had that twinkle in his eye when he was acting or joking. That broad, luminous sparkle made his heart beat faster.

"So what have you done?" Finney couldn't help but smirk.

The long-haired one snorted indignantly.
"Tragic how you think of me."

"Mrs. Smith heard you curse about her." it was more than a joke, but Robin laughed. He would have had more wild theories but was carried away by the laughter. Robin just had a laugh that made you laugh too.

"It's because of a fight a few days ago. So don't worry, I can always curse the old hag. I'd be surprised if she spoke Spanish." Robin stretched his arms and crossed them over his head while Finney could only shake his head.

Oh yes, Robin had that sparkle even while he was fighting.

"Moose?"

"Moose."

Finney snorted in amusement.
He knew he wouldn't react that way to others.
Often he had heard how he and Vance were compared.

But Finney felt the two were different sides of the same coin. Robin was.. different. Vance was scary, even if Finney wouldn't admit it. He didn't want to give other people more reasons to dislike or bully him.
For a few moments the both of them just stood there.
The air was still a bit cool, but not as acrid as it used to be in months like November, so it wasn't too uncomfortable.
Even in November he wouldn't have gotten cold. Not in such a situation. Robin was warm.

Robin was alive.

However, their moment of comfortable silence and occasional stifled giggles was cut short when a noise came from the street.

Finney felt himself tense, unconsciously taking a step toward the front door, his eyes torn away from Robin.

And the tan boy reacted in a similar way.
With a big leap he took himself further away from the street, although he was already standing on the sidewalk.

“¡Maldito hijo de puta!" he screamed out, looking angrily at what made him jump.
His eyes widened as a car drove past them.
Only a car. Noting else.

No van.

Finney looked at Robin, then back at the road and the slowly retreating car.
However, the tight grip around his entire body, the burning and trembling of his hands could not calm down until the car had completely disappeared.

Maybe he should get himself some water inside..
Robin was the first to pull himself together.
"Are you all right?"

Finney was silent for a moment, taking a deep breath.
He didn't want to panic again in a way that made him run away.

No, not again.

"I think so. How about you? Are you sure you want to go to detention by yourself? I-I wouldn't have a problem waiting for you at school." the thought of Robin walking somewhere alone made his stomach churn.
And while he felt absolutely uncomfortable, the thought of being alone in a public place was sickening. However, the thought of Robin being alone at one was even worse.

It was stupid to think like that.
Nothing would ever happen to Robin.
Why was he even thinking about this right now?

It was just detention.

Robin nodded, grinning at Finney with an encouraging smirk, but Finney noticed the lack of the sparkle. He didn’t to talk about it. He didn’t want to worry him.
And Finney accepted that.

Maybe because he was afraid of what he would tell him, maybe because he would understand what he was talking about.

The sparkle that made him feel so secure.

"I'm no chicken. Second, Vance will pick me up in a minute. Don't worry, I didn't give him your address. We'll just meet at the intersection over there." Finney sighed.
Why did Robin start hanging out with this boy now?
Why at this time?
Why after this nightmare?

Inwardly he had to pull himself together not to show anything. Just because he was having a stupid nightmare didn't allow him to think that way about his only friend and criticize his choice of contacts.

"I really don't understand why you have to befriend him." He murmured offended and crossed his arms looking at Robin.
It was only an act, an attempt to lift the mood, which had just taken an unpleasant direction.

Unconsciously, Finney had decided to wait for Vance to show up.
Something inside him said he couldn't leave Robin alone. At least not here.

Whatever that stupid thought meant, he couldn't bring himself to go inside while Robin was still outside.

"Is there someone jealous?" Robin teased back, making Finney snort.

"My best friend just replaced me with Vance Hopper, amazing." he decided to continue the game, his voice full of irony and betrayal.

He leaned against the front door, but regretted this decision after a few seconds because the door was unlocked.

With a short squeak, he lost his footing for a moment, but still managed to catch himself in the door frame.

From Robin's peals of laughter, he could only imagine how silly it must have looked. And after he had briefly recovered from the shock, he laughed along.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eventually Robin was picked up. Finney stayed at his door, watching as the taller boy disappeared with Robin in direction of the school.

He sighed.
Why the hell did this dream mess him up so bad?

He stepped inside.
It wasn’t like he really felt safe here.

It was where he lived.

Gwenny lived here.

He had all of his things, all of his memories in this house, and still he felt heavy when entering it.

It was like a dark cloud that first settled on his shoulders, then across his chest and finally took over his head.

It felt like it was filled with heavy black wool, which was trying to untangle wildly but never managed to, only causing more chaos.

He looked around, the hallway was relatively orderly.

Maybe he should clean up a bit, get his mind off things.
As he knew his father, there must have been empty bottles lying around somewhere, or some with the remains of alcohol.

And if these were still lying around when his father came home, there would be trouble.
Their dad wasn’t always like this.
He was just.. Finney didn’t know what to believe.

Maybe he was hurt, but this was no excuse to hurt his children.

But Finney still loved him. Though it made everything so difficult.

He was his father, he remembered how he was before. How loving he could be, if he wanted to and was sober.
He gave them gifts, he said them how much he loved them.

And he still hit them.

He still told them how annoying they were and how they could never do anything right.

And then, after he sobered up enough to realize what he said, he’d tell them how he loved them. Or tried to make them happy.

All of this made it so difficult to stay mad.

It made it feel wrong to be angry and not wanting to talk to him.
It made him feel so guilty
As if he didn’t have a reason to do so.

His dad said he cared about them. Said he loved them.
So Finney was at fault for thinking like this, although he was hurt.
His dad loved him, so he wasn’t allowed to feel like this.

He walked the rooms, first the hallway, then the kitchen.

He'd have to do the dishes here.
His eyes fell on the clock.

Gwen would take advantage of every minute she didn't have to be here, Finney knew that. And he didn't blame her.

If he were more confident, he might be with Robin more often. Might even stay the night with him just to not be here.

It was suffocating. tired.

He gathered the empty bottles from the living room, threw them all into a bag in the kitchen.

Everything was silent. The clinking of the glass bottles had stopped, the only sound that got through to him was the melodious and steady ticking of the kitchen clock.

For Finney it felt like seconds he just spent staring at the bottles in the bag, inhaling the alcoholic smell that reminded him so much of his father lately. But when he looked up again, looking at the clock, he had to realize that he had just stared at the bottles for almost ten minutes.

He shook his head, closed the bag of bottles again and then walked to the sink with firm steps.

He turned on the faucet, grimacing briefly in disgust when he touched it and a slightly sticky crust clung to it before pouring the warm water into a pot to soak it briefly.

Then he looked for the plug for the drain, closed it with it when he found it and let the water run into the sink.

They had a dishwasher, but it wasn't enough to just run the machine, and it sort of reassured Finney.
The warm water on his hands, the smooth movements of the sponge.
The only thing he hated was the disgusting bits of leftover food that sometimes touched his hands and made him gag in disgust.
He just felt like he needed something to clam him down, to take his mind off of the events from today.
It actually started working, for a little bit at least.
Then he again felt the burning glance on his neck.
No.
It felt like something was breathing onto his neck.

He froze, letting a plate drop right into the soapy water of the sink, making little bubbles flow through the air.

He didn’t want to look behind him.
He had seen enough horror movies to not be that stupid.

But again. He wasn’t in a horror movie.
He was tired. Just so tired. His tired mind was playing tricks on him. It was just this.

He felt awfully small. He felt like he was trapped, like a mouse in a trap.
Against his better judgment, he took a deep breath. The breathing against his neck was hot, angry.
He felt like whatever was staring right at him wanted to snap his neck.

This wasn’t real, so why should he be afraid.

“It was just a stupid fucking nightmare..” he whispered to himself, breaking the awful silence. Then he turned around, felling sick to his stomach while doing it. He squeezed his eyes shout as he did, a sign for his fear.
Of course he was afraid. He was alone and just felt something breathing on his neck.

Nothing happened.
No impact, no breathing.

Just the feeling like someone was staring at him.
He slowly opened his left eye first, then his right eye.
Nothing. Just the kitchen around him.
He stared for a moment at the point right next to him, where he believed that something was standing.
It was nothing but a dream.
But he still felt the staring.
-----------------------------------------------------------
After finishing with the chores, Finney went into the bathroom.
He decided to go early to bed, taking a hot shower before.

He did everything and more than he needed to do, and also Gwen would be home soon. So he surely had time to spent on himself, right?

He closed the door behind him shut, again it was rather unknowingly than knowingly.

He walked to the shower, taking off his shirt in the process. Then he looked at their tub.
Maybe it’d be nicer for him to take a bath rather than showering.

---------------------------------------------------------------
The hot water around him made it almost seem like he was floating. But he was uncomfortable.
The burning stare was back again, making it almost impossible to relax.

Nope, definitely not almost, it made it impossible.
It felt like someone was watching him, catching each movement of his body, no matter how tiny it was.
Closing his eyes didn’t help and neither did whispering to himself that it wasn’t real.
The burning didn’t stop.

For a moment he just

Finney groaned in annoyance.
He couldn't just have nice things, could he?
For a moment Finney just dove under the water, his eyes closed. The warmth of the water slowly faded away.

He felt the skin on his fingers begin to wrinkle, a clear sign that he had been lying here for quite a while.

As he emerged from the water, he shook his head briefly, causing water to spill across the room.

He sat up, goosebumps covering his body. The cold air hit his skin, making him shiver briefly.
Then he pulled the plug out of the tub, but remained seated until the water had gone down the drain.

He got up and wrapped himself in a towel. The burning gaze was still there.

With a shake of his head, he took a second towel and dried his hair with a rubbing motion.

He put down the towel he had used on his hair and looked at the mirror. It was fogged with a thin layer of water vapor.
Not wanting his father to yell at him for leaving the mirror like this, he briefly ran a hand over the surface in one quick motion.

The thin layer of water immediately wet his fingers and he looked into his own face. Or rather his eyes. He still had those thick circles under his eyes. His father certainly wouldn't notice, but Gwen would bombard him with questions. He could only be glad that she hadn't noticed the incident at school.

Biting his lip, he just continued cleaning the mirror.

For a moment he thought he saw movement.
a shadow. Taller than him.

Was this a mask?

He swallowed, feeling himself tense up.
As he looked around nothing was there.

He should just go to sleep..
Exactly.
He was tired. The day had been exhausting and the nightmare had only made things worse.

Finney stepped out of the bathroom - luckily the door didn't get stuck sometimes - hands clenched in fists. It was a small way of calming himself down as he went into his room.

He felt haunted, even when he slammed the door to his room it didn't go away.

"I must have really slept very little… and shitty." he whispered to himself before changing his clothes. He didn’t want to acknowledge his dream having the slightest chance of being something real.
He wasn’t special.
Gwen was.
He wasn’t a fighter.
Robin was.

He didn’t get Visions.
He just had normal dreams.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.
Finney looked up, confused for a second.

A phone was ringing.

He looked around his room, searching for a clock or something like hat.
For a moment he looked outside of his window which was facing the street.
It was empty, but he could swear he saw something black pass by.

Ring.

Ring.
Riiiinnnnnnnggg.
Robin said he’d call Finney as soon as he got home from detention.

It had to be Robin.
He felt a warm feeling spread inside him, one that made his heart beat faster and brought a faint smile to his lips despite his gloomy mood.

He walked quickly towards the phone in the kitchen, which luckily was still ringing.

He quickly picked up the receiver, about to ask what the detention would have been like, but something stopped him.

He was petrified. That wasn't Robin.

"Hello who is there?" he asked cautiously, his voice strained and low.

His stomach sank, as if a large knot was forming inside him.

Nobody said anything.
Was that a stupid prank?

Naturally. Someone of his bullies must have gotten his number and had the brilliant idea that it would be great to scare Finney.

"Listen, which one of you is on the other end of the phone? Are you laughing your ass off now?" Finney didn't know why, but the fact that they weren't just attacking him at school but were now invading his home made him angry.

It was almost ironic, Finney didn't feel at home here, but as soon as someone who didn't belong here intruded, he felt like he had to defend what little he had.

After all, he had some good memories here. So maybe because of that he felt this way.

Again, only the crackling came through the phone, almost as if the person on the other end was having trouble breathing.

The idea that it was just his bullies had gotten stuck in his head, so he just hung up angrily.

What annoying idiots..

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

The renewed ringing of the telephone made him wince.
The feeling as if his intestines were contracting intensified.
He hesitated. Would those idiots call him again, this time to make fun of him?

He sighed. You could finish him off at school, but he drew the line at his house.

After taking a deep breath, he picked up the phone again.

That breathing again. That crackle.

"You're not alone, Finney." a voice reached him. A voice that almost made him vomit.

He knew that voice. But at that moment he couldn't say exactly from where.

He didn't want to see where from.

"W-what? Who is that? What's this crap about?" his voice was confused, but he couldn't hide how scared he was.

"You're not alone. We-" Before the voice could speak another word, Finney slammed down the phone again.

His heart was racing. That was just a complete stupid joke by Matt, Matty and Buzz.
The three of them must have gotten his number somehow, surely through the phone book.

Suddenly that horrible ringing sounded again, sending Finney into a kind of rage.

He grabbed the receiver angrily. And this time, before the other person on the other end could say anything, Finney spoke.

"Leave the fuck alone! I'm not interested in your stupid games! Just leave my home out of it!"

There was silence for a moment, Finney heard how heavily he was breathing, trying to pull himself together.

"Finn? You good?"

Robin.
"Oh shit! Robin, I'm so sorry! II just thought you were someone else." Finney felt the heat spread in his cheeks. a thousand apologies were on his tongue. He didn't want to snap at him like that.
“It’s alright, so who made you this angry?” Robin sounded kinda concerned.
Finney snorted.
“I think Matty and his “followers” found my phone-number. They just called and tried to freak me out.” he explained calming down with the sound pf Robins voice, though it was a bit distorted because of the phone.

Robin scoffed.
“Alright, I am dealing with these assholes tomorrow.” his tone made it clear that this wasn’t something to be discussed.

And honestly, Finney felt better because of this. He wouldn’t talk him out of it again.
“Anyways.. how was detention?”

“The same as always, teachers being annoying. Though I wasn’t alone.” Robin told him, actually sounding kinda happy.

“The others? Don’t say they put you in the same room as Moose.” Finney joked, not noticing how the front door was unlocked.
He was too focused on Robin.
He got home safely, that was good.

“Vance beat up some guy in school, remember? And Pa- Billy Showalter, the paperboy y’know? Apparently he was too many times late for class, so they gave him detention.”

Paperboy. Finney felt his throat dry out.
Robin wanted to say paperboy.
No- no. Robin had a tendency to put words in the wrong order, especially when he was excited.

As far as Finney could tell, Billy was a pretty okay boy. He was well known throughout Denver, although not as popular as others. He'd seen him in the mornings sometimes, though that wasn't the case today. Maybe his route just took longer.

"Finneey! Stop talking to Robin and help me make dinner." Finney squeaked in surprise, nearly dropping the phone.

"Gwen!" Finney turned around only to see his younger sister standing there with her arms crossed and grinning cheekily at him.
He heard muffled laughter coming from the phone.
He held the phone back against his ear, smiling slightly at Robins laugh.

“I think I better hang up. Hey you don’t have a problem with me picking you up tomorrow, do you?” he cut himself off before he said goodbye.

“No?” was he worried because of the incident in school? He bit his lip. He didn’t want Robin to think he needed to protect him more than he already did.

“Awesome! See you tomorrow Finn.”

“ ‘Till tomorrow Robin.” then he hang up, looking back at Gwen.

“I’ve already done the chores, so we can eat right away.” he explained, Gwen nodding.

“So what was up with you in the morning?” she asked as she walked over to the fridge, opening it and eyeing everything they had in there.

“I was just tired. Nothing to worry about.” he said, choosing his words wisely. He didn’t want to worry her and at the same time didn’t want to tell her what was going on.

She’d tell him that it was more than a dream. It was a warning. But after he meet with Robin nothing was the same as in his dream.
It proved that it was nothing to worry about.

Gwen snorted, taking out of the fridge some leftovers from yesterday.
“You normally don’t study so late, so this was just weird.” she sighed, walking to the desk where they always ate Dinner.
While she did this, Finney got them forks.

“Don’t worry about it. It really was just me forgetting the time. Wont happen again, I promise.” he smiled slightly at her, watching as he put down the two plates at their places.

“I’ll tell Robin to hit you if you don’t.” she looked at him, a mischievous grin on her lips.
Finney was glad that she just left it at this, though he knew, she just waited for a better moment to strike again.
This moment would never come.

Finney didn’t want to believe his dream was anything but a dream.
The siblings sat down to eat, being rather silent while doing so.
Finally, Gwen put her fork down, looking directly at Finney.

She looked like she knew he was hiding something, betrayal shining in her dark eyes.
Did she know?

“W-what is wrong, Gwen?” he asked, trying to keep his cool.

“You are hiding something.”

He flinched.
Did she have a dream?
He felt his hands grow cold and sweaty, as he avoided her gaze.

“Why didn’t you tell me you had lunch with Vance Hopper!” she exclaimed offended, looking at Finney with big eyes.
Finney felt like the weigh of the world was lifted from his shoulders.

“Well it wasn’t planned! Robin just sat at our desk waiting with him for me. How do you even know about this?” he forced a laugh out his throat. He knew words about Vance got around fast, but he never expected it to be that fast.
Gwen chuckled.
“You looked like I gave you a good scare.” she smirked.
“Well you are the first to talk to me about it.” he again clenched his hands into fists, looking away nervously.

“Probably ‘cause their all scared of him. How was he?” Finney could only shake his head. His little sister kind of admired the guy.
She’d often say he’d be strong enough to beat up grown men or teachers.
Her brother knew, she wanted to be strong like him.
She admired and envied people who could fight for themselves, the ones strong enough no one would mess with them or their loved ones.
Finney laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. His hair was still kinda damp.
“I know why most people just get out of his way. He really IS kinda scary.”
Gwen snorted.
“Chicken.”

“Hey! I’m not!”
“You are!”
“’M not!”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day was better, as Finney immediately noticed.
He had slept better than yesterday. It wasn’t a deep sleep, though.
Whenever his dad would put down one of his bottles to loudly he’d nearly fall out of his bed.
But he didn’t have a dream again.

He smiled proudly at the thought of it, as he was brushing his teeth.
It was only a dream. And the nightmare was over as soon as he had woken up.
The only thing that hadn’t left him alone was the gaze, but he didn’t even know if he really noticed it anymore. Maybe if it was away he’d really notice it. But it wasn’t away and Finney had a felt like this wasn’t going to happen for a while.
As he stepped into the kitchen, he saw his father siting at the dining-table, looking at a newspaper.
Billy must have already delivered it.

Finney decided to only eat a piece of bread this morning. Gwen had offered to make eggs, but he felt himself gagging again at the sole thought of eating eggs.
He just wasn’t in the mood for eggs right now.

Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
Finney looked at the phone, not knowing if he should answer it. It could be for his father or Gwen, though who would call at this time?

“You alright Finney?” Gwen tilted her head, pulling Finney back to her.

“What?”
“You were staring at the phone. Are you expecting a call?” she asked. Finney felt like he was a fish out of water. She didn’t hear it.
Again it rang, and by now, if their father would be able to hear it, he would have already picked up and screamed at whoever made the mistake of calling Terence Blake this early in the morning.
“No..I just spaced out. Sorry.” he said, smiling at her.

Gwen sighed and nodded.
“Alright.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robin really came to pick the two of them up, talking most of the time while walking right next to Finney.
Gwen was sometimes chirping in, asking him something about his fights and how he became so good at it. Then how he meet Vance “Pinball” Hopper and so on.

Most people would have found Gwenny annoying, but Robin wasn’t like them.
He was as passionate about fighting as he was about horror movies. He loved them and often talked with Finney about them or asked him to watch them with him.
And so was he with Gwen. He explained to her how she could land a good hit, though she should be careful because the knuckles got hurt easily.
Finney could only shake his head.
“Stop telling her about this stuff, Rob. In the end I'll have to patch up not only you but also my sister." He said, which got an indignant look from his sister and an amused look from his friend.
He grinned, but kept glancing cautiously towards the road. Nobody was to be seen.
---------------------------------

After taking Gwen to her school, Robin and Finney walked side by side to hers.

In front of the school Finney noticed this van again.
He felt unwell.

He hadn't noticed it before this dream.

"Just ignore the fucking van." Robin whispered to him, and Finney nodded.

He didn't want to tell Robin why he felt so uncomfortable around the vehicle. But how Robin behaved, he didn't even want to know. All he cared about was that Finney was comfortable. So why that wasn't the case didn't interest him in the slightest.
And that made Finney happy.

Robin would always be there for him.

“Hey Finn? Sorry for not asking you yesterday before bringing Vance there.” Robin said to him, while the both of them sat down on a bench near the entry of the school.

“It’s alright. I haven’t asked you about Griffin either, so I think we are even.” he shrugged. He appreciated Robins apology. He, Robin, knew he had upset him.
Finney smiled at him, making the tan boy also smile back.

“What I wanted to ask was, would it be fine by you if we would be having lunch with Vance again? Not in the cafeteria of course, god I hated all the people staring at us, but behind the school? It’s just.. we got along just fine yesterday so he invited us two-” Robin started talking extremely fast, showing how nervous he really was asking the question.

Finney knew, Robin was afraid of losing him as a friend. He once had told him after they had a fight.
“Us two?”

“We’re a package deal.. Well if you are alright with it.” Robin explained and Finney noticed the blush on his best friends cheeks.

He was unsure about Vance, but Robin trusted him.
He wasn’t unsure because of Vance’s reputation, if this really was the case, Finney would also be unsure of Robin. Well, not entirely because of his reputation, Finney admitted to himself. It just freaked him out because of his dream.

“Are we alone with him then?" Robin shook his head, doing it so fast that Finney suspected he thought Finney would say no if he didn't.

"You could ask Griffin to come with you, and P-Billy will be there too. Vance said he's bringing someone else, so there' ll be six of us." he explained.

A cold filled Finney, making his stomach knot again.
If things went on like this he would have a problem really soon, because then his stomach would really be a knot.

"So you just find a whole new group of friends in detention? Maybe I should do detention as well." Finn joked, something that came naturally and at the same time was meant to calm himself down.

Robin smiled.
"Are you trying to replace me?"

"Maybe." Finney grinned back provocatively. Robin snorted.

"Hey, you replaced me for Vance yesterday." Finney mocked indignantly, which made Robin grin even wider.

"I hate to disturb you lovebirds, but we should get to our classes. And yes, I wouldn't have a problem coming along." out of nowhere Griffin suddenly appeared next to Finney, made him look at him in surprise, while Robin finally squeaked in surprise.
Finney felt his cheeks glow red, as he realized what Griffin just said, but Robin didn’t seem to have heard it.
He sure as hell wasn’t in love with anyone right now.

“¡Maldita perra estúpida! ¿No puedes actuar como una persona normal?" Robin cursed at the smaller boy, who just responded with a small chuckle.
“It’s not my fault you two can’t see me. I was walking straight towards you guys.” Griffin shrugged as Finney helped Robin up.

“Estúpido imbécil. Actúa como si fuera un fantasma cuando no lo es".
Finney didn’t understand much of what Robin was saying, and maybe it was for the better that Griffin looked like he understand nothing, Finney only knew that Robin had called someone, Griffin in this case, stupid.
“We really should head to class. See you later Rob.”
As he walked away with Griffin, Finney felt the burning glance get even stronger, angrier.
He swallowed the lump in his throat.
It wasn’t as bad as it was at home alone though.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The day went by surprisingly quickly, even if Mr. Black spoke to him briefly. Griffin had been waiting for him meanwhile.

It hadn't been a long conversation, just how Finney was feeling as Mr. Black said he seemed very distant at times.
Finney's only reply was that he was just giving the subject so much thought.
His teacher replied that he should continue to think about the subject, but that he should perhaps also be a little more attentive.

As the two boys then went on their own separate ways, Finney Griffin heard some "bullshit" babble.

And Finney had to admit that lately, since his nightmare to be precise, he always felt like he was being cornered when he was alone with Mr. Black.

The other hours passed quickly too, even if the one that wasn't Robin or Griffin was the worst. Again Finney felt like someone was breathing down his neck, words whispering too softly to hear.

Donna tried to distract Finney, at least she seemed to sense that something was wrong.

"You sure you don't want to go to the nurse? You look pale." once she started talking to him, she just expressed her concern for him again.
It almost felt like they were something like friends. But outside of school, they didn't really interact.

"It's okay, don't worry." he hated it when others worried about him. He felt guilty and couldn't stand the attention.

Donna nodded, smiling at him.

--------------------

Finney's journey to the "new" meeting point turned out to be more complicated than he had expected.

Not only was Griffin no where to be found, the burning sensation on his neck only increasing, but there were three figures following him.
Three figures much harder to ignore than simple shadows or the feeling of being followed because they were real.
Finney felt his skin prickle with fear.
Surely they were angry because he told them off yesterday.

And before he could really realize it, the three had cornered him. Literally, he was squeezed into the space between a locker and a wall.

As brave as he had seemed at home -if you could have called it brave at all, desperate was more appropriate- he was now insecure.

"If that's not little Finney. Where's your buddy, little fag? Or did Arellano realize you're a fag?" Buzz began, earning him laughter from his friends.

Finney felt his fingers grow colder, he trembled slightly.

"I-I have to go somewhere. Please, I know you're upset, but-" Finney wanted to talk his way out, but was ultimately silenced when Matty lashed out at him. Somehow Finney just managed to duck down.

It was like a reflex, and if he had had a chance to escape the three of them at that moment, he would have definitely done it.
Then another reflex kicked in.

He went back the last few centimeters that lay between him and the wall, took a step forward, then back again and took a swing.

He hit Matty, who staggered back, but before Finney could celebrate his triumph, Matt charged at him, pinning him painfully against the wall.

Although the boy released him after Finney hit his head, he was unable to escape when he was backed into a corner, one side blocked by a locker, the other by a wall and the way forward speared by a group of bullies.

"Oh, we want to play smart? And you still have to go somewhere? A date with your little boyfriend? Or are you going to blow Vance Hopper's dick-"

"Do you want to finish that sentence and I'll smash your skull in, or shall we do it now?" a dark growl sounded from behind Buzz, who couldn't even finish the comment.
The three boys, who had just acted as if they had the biggest balls, almost seemed to shrink when they realized who was standing directly behind them.

Vance 'Pinball' Hopper and Robin.

Robin.
Finney felt relief immediately.

"Dipshits move." commanded the boy with the bandanna on his forehead. He always wore it, never took it off. At least never voluntarily.

In fact, the three backed away, giving Finney the opportunity to break free. Of course he did so immediately.

When Finney joined Robin, his bullies wanted to flee as quickly as possible, but Robin stopped them.

"Wait. Fuck with Finn again, I fuck with you."

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally behind the school, Finney slid down the wall of the school.

That Robin had repeated the words from his dream made Finney nervous.

But did it suit Robin.
He had gotten upset with the three of them often enough, so it was only a matter of time before he caught them in such a moment and threatened them. It was just a coincidence.

"Thanks again." Finney sighed, opening his eyes and looking at the two boys.

Robin gave him an encouraging grin while Vance crossed his arms and snorted.

"The assholes had it coming. Griffin saw the three of you chasing you and warned us." Vance really wasn't the emotional type, or didn't want to show it when he was. But that didn't really bother Finney.

While he didn't really feel comfortable around the older one, he couldn't deny that he was starting to feel a little more sympathy towards Vance.

"You can always count on me, Finn. I will never leave you alone."

After the two let him rest for a few minutes, they ran to the other boys.

Finney immediately recognized Griffin, who came running towards him.

"Are you alright? I saw you being followed." Finney really didn't know how Griffin managed to be so invisible. Then he realized. Somewhere in the crowd he had seen a gray t-shirt, the same as Griffin was wearing.

Robin grinned.
"Finn punched Matty! That was almost perfect, you should have seen that!" he proudly proclaimed.
Bruce grinned at Finney.

The other two, Billy Showalter and... Finney took a deep breath. Okay now everyone was just kidding him.. Bruce Yamada.

Bruce just looked at Finney for a moment before smiling.
"You're on the baseball team that my team occasionally plays." he nodded looking at Billy.

He also just started him before he finally asked: "What's your name again?"

"Finney Blake, didn't the others mention that?"

Robin stepped up to Finney, putting an arm over his shoulder.
"Sorry Billy.. He's at the moment-"

"That's not my name." hissed Billy, and Finney felt himself getting uncomfortable.

no.

no!

No!

He looked at Robin, who seemed a lot more tense than before.

"Sorry PB.. Finney, sorry PB, he's a little bad with names at the moment."

Vance snorted and Bruce avoided everyone's eyes. '
Griffin joined Bi-PB.

PB paperboy.

Finney looked back and forth between the five boys.
Robin remembered something he shouldn't have had a clue about at this point.

Vance Hopper, the nightmare of so many youngsters and children, has come to his rescue. Him. Finney Blake.

Griffin, the boy who had remained invisible and unnoticed for so long, had walked up to him with his head held high and had planted himself in his circle of friends.

Billy, or Paperboy, didn't want to go by the name he had in the basement—a place Finney had hoped was nothing more than a dream—and now had trouble remembering the others, too.

And then there was Bruce.
He looked at Finney like they knew each other.

The van from his nightmare was in front of the school every day.

Finney felt his breakfast threatening to come back up.

The dream was more than just a dream, wasn't it?

Notes:
Translation:

¡Maldito hijo de puta!-Damn son of a bitch!

¡Maldita perra estúpida! ¿No puedes actuar como una persona normal?- Damn son of a bitch!

Estúpido imbécil. Actúa como si fuera un fantasma cuando no lo es.- Stupid jerk. He acts like he's a ghost when he's not.

So I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please tell me if it feels rushed, I just had so many ideas for this and for the next chapter, which will be written in different povs. ^^"