Hi everyone!

I am back after like one month and some days and I am sorry. I was really caught up with stuff. (yk procrastination and all) Phew! I have a busy life.

First of all, it was Shawn's birthday two days back and I had initially to update that day but I fell asleep *ahem*

Happiest (Belated) Birthday to this guy because he's helped me so much while writing. I just love his songs and his voice so yeah.

I remember I updated the 29th chapter of my first book last year on his birthday. I am in tears.

Anyway, here's a little flashback of the last chapter-

It is quite funny how sometimes we spend a huge fragment of our time in the anticipation of something. We invest so much of ourselves into the possibilities that when those things start to kiss the reality, they seem too unreal. The reality the situations behold is much diverging from what we had thought of, sometimes even making us question why we wanted it in the first place.

That's what happened to me when my gaze met his.

I didn't know how many hours in the past few months I had spent wishing for him to come back home which all vanished, as if some spell undone, within the seven second- duration he held my hand. I had no clue why the warm feelings nesting in my chest flickered away all of a sudden. There was no thrill, no spark. Just a weird and unsafe fear I summoned under his burning gaze.

The water that pooled my eyes a couple of moments ago, when I read that one foreign look within his crystal-blue eyes that once used to hide behind emerald green lenses, evaporated. Something about his eyes warned me. They didn't look exuberant, just alarming. Alarming me of something that might've been waiting for me.

And who was I to even complain?

My heart once again started pounding eccentrically as I glanced at his well-defined jaw, that didn't look any well. Or when I looked just below his eyes where the dark-circles sat indicating how many sleepless nights he might've spent just because I couldn't keep my mouth shut. Or when I looked at his scars or those cuts over the pale skin of his hands, that warmed up my own a moment ago, indicating the pain he went through just because I couldn't suppress my stupid zeal of revenge.

Who was I even to complain?

"Finn Alex Walker." The sound of his hoarse voice, drew all my withered attention towards him. My gaze flickered and settled on Blake; whose presence went unnoticed until now as he shook hands with the guy standing in front of us.

"Blake Vector." A huge grin spread over his lips as he replied. Amidst stolen glances at Finn, not even once he made the mistake of looking back at me which somehow signaled me about the turn of the events. I noticed how perfectly the cobalt blue suit hugged his well-defined frame, almost overpowering the blue-ness his eyes constrained. The top two buttons of his jet-black shirt were undone and his tousled brown hair sat over his head just as if someone had been running their fingers through them. That someone being him. It was one of those things he frequently did, as far as I remembered. A heavy-silver watch sat on the top of his wrist, almost same as the one I had back at home. The one he left at the park back on that day.

I tried my best to keep myself from brushing the strands of his hair falling on his forehead, almost reaching his eyes. I tried my best to keep myself away from tracing my fingers all over those awful scars resting on his flawless skin or from wrapping my hands around his neck, ensuring to protect him from anything I was capable to face.

But why make a hollow promise?

Why pretending to be the savior while pushing them off a cliff at the first place?

Why even try when the look in his eyes was enough to scare me? Or to trigger the guilt I had buried inside my heart?

But there was one thing I could do, if not comfort him. I could apologize for all the bad things I had ever done.

I made up my mind to apologize to him right there. A forced smiled faltered over the curves of my lips but just as I made up my mind, he interrupted.

"So, Blake, Charlotte is Cherry?" His words sounded more like a statement than a question. A tiny lopsided grin appeared over his lips.

"Yeah." Blake let out a nervous chuckle.

"So, it's nice to finally meet you, Ms. Cherry. It was kind of nice talking to you over the phone."

And it was then my eyes shot wide open, fixated on his chiseled face. I gulped when the realization hit the back of my head hard.

That day on the phone!

That day with the spam calls.....

That day when I lashed out on a guy who just wanted to talk to Blake.....

Holy.....

I.....Didn't recognize him?

"I am sorry, Walker, but it's a name just reserved for her by me." He joked. "Besides, she hates the name." he half whispered making everyone except me let out a chuckle. It was when I acknowledged Olivia's presence behind me.

"It's okay. I understand if you stand too possessive of your girlfriend." His tongue rolled off at the word 'girlfriend', making me feel cold all of a sudden. It was the first time his eyes met mine after that handshake.

I fell quiet, swallowing the words of apology that almost slipped off my tongue a while ago.

Why wasn't he lashing out on me?

Why was he pretending to not know me?

Why was he pretending as if none of it ever happened?

"I am liking where this conversation is heading." I heard Blake say making Finn to let out a chuckle and break the moment we just shared. He just looked down at his shoes for a fraction of second. Licking his bottom lip as he parted them, he faced us again. "By the way, I heard you went to Rockwood High until a few months. You must know Char already!"

"No, I don't" His words hurt me worse than being stabbed right into the heart did. "In fact, I am seeing her for the first time."

Ouch.

I guess I earned it.

"I am so happy to have you back, Finn!" his mother's quivery voice interrupted our small talk. She was far worse than me at hiding her tears. A sense of repulsion rushed through me for Olivia. She was the one who left him alone with a father like Arthur at the tender age of seven! She left him and had a whole new family for herself. "I hope you're going to stay back here."

I watched Olivia take a step forward, closing the distance between them. Soon, she wrapped her arms around her son who never returned the gesture. He stood still on his spot, muttering something under his breath. The embrace was short-lived and it wasn't long before Olivia pulled herself back.

"You don't know how much I have missed you. Look at your face, son."

"Finn Walker for you and I'm fine." Olivia's face went pale as his words registered her brain. She tried to mask all her expressions with a small smile, failing.

"I talked to Dave. How could you be fine? I heard what that girl did to you! You don't deserve any of this!"

It was my chance to turn pale. She definitely knew about what 'that girl' did to him but definitely didn't have a clue about 'that girl' being me.

An amused look appeared on Finn's face followed by a small hint of smirk that he didn't try hide. He titled his head a little, as if analyzing the situation.

"Oh, come on, mother" the mockery in his words was clear, "Insecurities take away the best in us. You are worried that a random, irrelevant girl, that I probably used and threw off, broke my heart? Well, then don't worry 'mom' because you still top the list of all those people who ruined my life."

Random? Irrelevant?

Is that what you thought of me, Walker?

Just before Blake cleared his throat to cut- half the tension, I felt a drop of water on my cheek. To my surprise, I wasn't crying. When I looked up at the evening sky, I realized, it had begun raining.

What kind of ugly coincidence was that?

Every time I stand in front of this guy, it starts raining.

Come on mother earth, be a little lest dramatic!

"Why don't we go in, Finn?" I heard Blake suggest, "We'll talk. You must've been tired. It's raining already, lets rush in."

"Thanks for the offer, but I guess, I'll pass. My dad is waiting for me. I am sorry that I'll have to leave this early."

"You should stay here for a little longer, son but I don't understand why would you bring Arthur here? You still living with that man?"

"Well, not everyone has the guts of leaving their family, now do they?"

He looked his mother dead in the eyes for a fraction of second before making his way. Before he could take another step, without sparing a single thought, I wrapped an arm around his, causing the material of his blue blazer to crease, making him freeze at his spot.

"I won't let you go." I heard myself say. "I won't let you go this time."

I felt Olivia's teary and Blake's confused gaze affixed at me that made me choke on my own words.

Did I have to pick those words?

In an apprehensive manner, I let my eyes meet his. I wasn't surprise when I spotted a tiniest of smirk forming at the corner of his thin lips. A light shade of pink kissed his ears, causing them to lift upwards a little, at the same time with his smirk, making my eyes notice the piercing on his left earlobe that was never there before, adorned by a small silver earring.

That jerk.

I withdrew my hand from his and pushed a strand of my loose brown hair, behind my ear. Unable synchronize with the intensity his eyes offered, I averted my gaze to the ground, as I felt tiny drops of water falling on my neck, making some hair stand.

"What I meant, was that you're behaving like a jerk for treating your mother like that in front of the people you just met-" if he was fine playing pretend then so was I, "-and you should talk it through. It's raining anyway. We all should get inside. For the sake of your mother."

He scratched his ear as if he wasn't even interested in my words. "Oh, done already?" he said, letting his wrinkled forehead rest. The arch formed by his eyebrow couldn't have been any better.

"I guess I'll stay for a while then-" Even if his new attitude didn't impress me, his words lit my eyes up without fail.

"-For the sake of my mother."

"Perfect!" The enthusiastic clap of Olivia's hands was sufficient to break the tiny moment me and him shared. No one noticed it though. No one did, except for us. "So, it's settled. You're staying a little longer. If you want to change or have some rest, son, you can gladly take the room we booked for dressing. That one on the fifth floor. Charlotte will show you-"

"No thank you." A cold voice commented. "I guess I'll find my way." Without sparing a single look at us, I watched him stalking away from us. I had to talk to him.

"I think, I will show him the way." I informed Olivia, before rushing after the six feet tall figure. I managed to make my way through the people, without tripping on the cloth of my dress or letting Finn disappear from my view for once.

That was a progress.

I quickened my pace, cutting through the shortest distance, only to block his way. His footsteps came to a halt as he lifted his gaze off the floor and fixated them on me. He rolled his eyes and shook his head in disbelief before changing his direction. Before he could take a single step forward, I stood in front of him, once again, with my palm raised and brushing the lapel of his suit, just over his chest.

"Wait." I said, still uncertain of how I could've begun. He realized how close we stood and ended up taking a step back. "We need to talk."

"No, we don't. It's just you. Now if you'll excuse me."

"Where the hell are you going?" he shot me a glare.

Words sounded unclear coming out of his mouth through his gritted teeth. "Why the hell do you care?"

His attitude was enough to press the wrong nerve in my body. "Because I do and I don't think I need to explain it any further." I retorted, by forcefully clenching his wrist in the palm of my hand. His hand was too big for me to get a grip on. Despite it, I pulled his along with me and kept walking.

"Leave me."

When I didn't reply, he raised his voice, reflecting the anger he had contained within himself. I caught a bunch of the guests staring at us and probably he did too because he stopped resisting.

"I don't want to create a scene."

"Well, too bad because if you didn't, you would've just agreed."

I finally, stopped in front of the elevators and pressed the down head arrow button making it turn green.

"I am not getting on that." He remarked. I turned back to look at him only to find his face stoned. "with you."

"I don't like to hear no. I learned that from you."

"I said I am not going to ride that-"

The elevator binged, notifying us of its arrival at the floor we were on. The metallic doors slid open and without uttering a single word I dragged the two of us inside the small room which was thankfully empty. Thumbing the button which read '5th', I waited for the elevator door to close behind us.

Not until then had I realized that I was still gripping his hand like my life depended on it despite the slipperiness offered by his hands. He caught me staring at our linked hands and immediately freed his from my hold.

I looked at him for what seemed longer than a few seconds. His bright blue eyes that I always found appealing, bore into mine. A strange but familiar expression flashed within them. Strange because it was something, I didn't think this new Finn was capable to reflect and familiar because it was something housed in my memories.

"How are you?" I found it very difficult to initiate a talk but in reality, I was longing to talk to him, to let those heaving feelings out of my heart, to listen him speak. Even though, the question I asked seemed unnecessary. I very much knew that he wasn't fine.

"I asked you something."

"Just shut up." His voice was cold enough to dishearten me. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I took a step forward.

It was really brave of me.

"Get away from me." He warned.

My eyes once again settled on over the scars on his beautiful face.

Why did I ever do that to him?

At some moments his voice seemed almost inaudible to me as my eyes, drenched in sadness inspected that look in his, now bloodshot, blue ones. A heaviness developed at the bottom of my stomach. Without giving much though about my actions, my hand reached to touch the side of his face. In a wasted effort to blink back my tears, a single drop rolled down my cheek along with the newfound irritation for his new behavior that persisted until a few moments. The fear for him that built within me, drained down my body as my heart broke a little, every time my fingers carefully grazed the uneven scars on his skin.

"I missed you."

It didn't even take him a proper minute to slap my hand away with all his force. I didn't even bother to flinch however the intensity of the slap was enough to have left a redness behind. I jumped backwards, increasing the gap.

He burst into a chuckle that confused me. The sound of his laughter echoed in the small room.

He snapped his eyes open and abruptly brought his laugh to a permanent pause that made him look like a psychopath. I took a step back every time he took one forward. My back hit the wall of the elevator and he stopped at a considerable distance.

"Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me thrice? That's not going to work. This time you'll pay the price." I looked at him with my eyes wide open ad he dramatically took steps backwards slowly with his hands buried in the pockets of his jeans.

"You are really one little bundle of hypocrisy, aren't you?" I snapped, making him look at me with an amused look driving his face. He shot up an eyebrow as if waiting for me to continue. "As per the last time I checked, Mr Walker-" I deliberately mocked, "-or Barconn, whatever you like to be called, you were the one who had been lying since the beginning. I have tones of things to rub on your face too but I want us to work things out this time. I don't want any of us to land up doing something that we'd bother regret later. So, it's better that we talk."

"Talk? Oh man!" he said, throwing back his head, looking up at the ceiling before turning back to me. "I am just waiting for the moment your face disappears from my sight. I am just waiting to get out."

His harsh words were like bricks, that hurt me bad still, I stood confidently in front of him. The conversation was not going as I expected it to go.

"Well then put that thought of yours into the gutter for a while, Finn because, neither of us is going out." Confusion flashed on his face till before I pressed the emergency stop button on the elevator. Horror gleamed in his blue-green eyes, now turning darker.

The lift hitched, bringing us to a halt all of a sudden. Soon the faint sound of an alarm echoed around us while Finn gaped at me in horror.

"What the hell was that? Why isn't this thing moving?"

"Because I don't want it to." I said folding my arms to my chest, as a matter of fact.

"Make it move!" he spat. "Do something. Make it move!"

"Not until to you calm down and talk."

He rolled his eyes and muttered something inaudible. He let a hand pass through his soft hair, messing them even more. The back of his hand wiped off the droplets of sweat on his forehead.

I shielded the navigation panel as son as he inched forward to reach out for the buttons.

"See, I am sorry that I have to do it like this." I spoke as I detached my back from the walls and walked a little further. "But have you left any option for me, Finn? I am sorry for not waiting for you to tell me everything like you promised. I am sorry that I couldn't keep-" emotions overwhelmed me by this time as I wasn't even able to get a few simple words out of my mouth. My lips quivered as my vision blurred. The lump in my throat made it impossible for me to continue without breaking down. "-Keep my mouth s-shut. I am sorry that-"

"You're sorry that you hated me enough to push me into a death hole?" he completed for me quietly. His jaw was still clenched. Thankfully, he wasn't looking at me otherwise it would've been really difficult for me even say that. I was too embarrassed to even apologize even though we both knew that I wasn't the only one who made a mistake. However, I was the one who made a bigger one.

"Trust me, I don't hate you!" even if I spent past few years thinking that I did. I mentally added.

"Well then, love-" the calmness in his voice was like the silence before a storm, somehow making tiny bumps to arise on my skin. He leaned his face closer to mine, making me uncomfortable at our proximity. "-Trust me, I don't trust you."

"You ran to Christian, spilling all my secrets and then you say you never hated me. You brought those guys to my house that night and then you say you never hated me. You forced me to flee, Charlotte Evans and even then, you have the audacity of letting those words out of your mouth?!" He stared down at his hands that had cuts. His chest rose up and down abnormally as if he was struggling to breathe. After inspecting them for a while he spoke, "I shot someone."

The shock on my face would've had been more evident than the mixture of terror and guilt in his eyes.

"I shot someone not once not twice! I-" he looked at me with the same terrified expression, "-I-You made me do this. I never meant to lie to you. All I had asked you for a little time!"

We can never see our reflection in a pot of boiling water. Likewise, it is also true that the truth can't be ever figured out in the state of anger.

That day at Arthur's office, when I got to know what Sam or Finn, had been weaving behind me, I lost my senses. Despite being aware of Arthur's proprietorial behavior towards his son or his hatred towards me made me believe what all he said. I was aware how egoistic the mighty Finn Barconn was and how many times had he hinted about 'two people playing the same game' and made the wrong decisions.

He said the exact words I was afraid to hear him say. Somewhere at the back of my mind, I knew that the kind of bond 'we' shared a few months back was much more than just an infatuation. I knew he would've told me sooner or later.

"I am sorry." My words were more like a whisper.

"I am sorry too." His words perplexed me. "Not for anything that I have done but for what I am going to do."

"I hate the mere sight for your face so much that I will make sure to destroy you and everything that you've ever cared for."

Surprisingly my throat mustered enough courage to push some words out, against the resistance offered by my crumpled heart that ached every single time he announced how shallow I had become before his eyes.

"You know it includes you right?" the look he offered was incomprehensible to me. Maybe he was amused hearing that I cared for him. "I care for you, Finn. Would you spoil everything for yourself too?" I demanded an answer.

"Now what else can destroy a broken soul?" a corner of his mouth quirked up. "Now if you'll excuse, it's hard for me to breathe in here." Silently he moved his arms out of the blazer he wore, pulling it off his torso. He folded it into a half vertically, before wrapping it around an arm., leaving behind a black shirt that brought out his pretty feature well. I wanted to reach out to him so bad. I wanted to repeat a dozen thousand times about how sorry I was. I wanted him to believe me. I wanted to throw my arms around him and hug him and cry.

That was the second time you said the same thing, Char.

Why don't you just do it!

But I couldn't. With my head down and eyes fixed on my feet, I plainly nodded in his direction, deliberately not meeting his eyes and turned towards the navigation panel. Without uttering another word, I pressed the button, making the lift move again.

"What kind of fucking joke is this now, Evans?" he panicked as the lights on the tiny space went off, terminating the lift's motion.

"I swear I didn't do anything."

He gripped my either arms so harshly that I could feel his fingers, pressing on my skin. He was hurting me. Even in the very little light that illuminated the room, was enough for me to notice the paleness of his skin. He was sweating as if he'd melt anytime.

"You're lying again, aren't you?" he spat, finally pushing me away. "You are doing it on purpose! You know what they did to me, don't you? You know it all-"

"What Finn? Who are you talking about?"

"Shut up. Oh lord, just shut up please!" with this he pushed me away and squeezed his eyes shut, causing the skin between his eyebrows crease up. His hand reached out to massage his forehead, roughly.

"Finn-"

"Just shut up!"

"Stay away from me!"

His screams turned weaker and he choked upon his own words, coughing like a madman. The sound of his coughing echoed everywhere. Blood rushed over his ears, evenly spreading over his forehead too. A visible nerve twitched over the edge of his forehead, just where his temple was.

Unable to comprehend the sudden turn of events, I motionlessly saw him suffer. His eyes were bulgy and were welled with pool of water and darkened. I reached out to him and placed a shaky arm around him. Internally, I was losing it. The panic became so much and I felt so helpless that I felt like crying.

None of it would've happened if I hadn't force him to come in here.

Why do I always end up messing things up?

"Nothing's going to happen to you. Everything's going to be fine, Finn. I am with you." He jerked his body a little to free himself off my touch. Letting his back rest on the chilled metallic walls, he sank down and sat on the floor numbly with his hands wrapped around his knees.

"That's what I am afraid of."

A/N

I am really sorry if this chapter was a nuisance because I felt it wasn't up to my expectations. I wrote entire Let's Lie and this sequel only because I wanted to write this scene, LMAO.

Like every time, I've still got you all some questions. Feel free to acknowledge.

1. How many of you are actually flipping out on Charlotte's mood swings? Aren't her feelings messed up?

2. Finn Alex Walker is back and he is bad, well, he's even more bad. Anyone who doesn't want to punch the A-hole square on jaw?

3. Whose side are you on at the moment?

4. Am I the only one whose worried about Blakey boy, Lmao?

5. Isn't Mr. Walker a ball of hypocrisy?

6. Anything for Olivia?

7. What's wrong with Walker? Any theories? Speculations about what would happen next?

And a special question for the person to whom this chapter is dedicated- "Le khush ab?"

Thank you so much for all your love and support.

I love you all.

-Rectilinear