Hello Everyone!

First of all I want to apologize all of you for not updating for almost two and a half months now. I know it's really stupid of me to announce the new chapter and then not update it at all but trust me, I am kinda disturbed for some reason and nothing in the world can make it right but me. 

I am genuinely sorry.

Thank you so much for being there :)

P.S above song: Work by Rihanna and Drake. Cover by Emma Heesters and Shaun Reynolds.

THIRD-PERSON POV

The warmth ablazing off the setting sun dwindled with the fading blue of the typical seven pm sky of a dry summer evening. It looked as if someone had deliberately smudged a shade of purple along with small tinges of pink, over the infinite blue, adorned by white clouds, as if a replica of sweet cotton candy, drifting off with the breeze.

Unleashing her imagination, Charlotte had her gaze fixed on the beautiful sky. With her head rested against the window of the car, she tried to have a word with her fickle- mind. To say, that she was nervous or a little bit perplexed, would be a big understatement. She had one question oscillating in her head like a pendulum that she couldn't help but ask.

"Finn?"

Finn Walker, to his own surprise, was feeling lighter and much happier today. After so many moments- the merry ones and even the worst ones, which stirred a good number of inexperienced feelings in his heart, sadly including heart break at one point of time, he was successfully able to officially mark the beginning of a new-found friendship between him and his ex- arch enemy. He couldn't help but think that even the sky was dressed up so well in their honor.

"Hmm....?" Pursing his lips together, he hummed through them gently leaving tiny vibrations over his lips.

All of his attention was devoted to the steering of the car. Even though, he wasn't ready to accept it but his heart knew how grateful he was to Blake and for the moment when he called him up about an hour ago begging for his help, which was to escort 'Cherry' to the place they were supposed to meet for their big date. As ridiculous as he thought the name 'Cherry' sounded (to him), Finn knew he couldn't afford to give much thoughts about it because if he did, he knew he'd start sounding like his best friend, Jaxon, which would certainly jeopardize his newly established friendship with the only girl he had in his life.

"You are a guy, right?"

Having his eyebrows drawn together in a matter of seconds, he snapped his head to look at Char's face to make sure if she was joking or not, before the realization dawned upon him that he was supposed to escort her with all her body parts intact and not with a limb or two missing, owing to an accident, and he averted his gaze back to the road.

"What kind of question was that, love?"

Fueling his bafflement, she shrugged.

"You're a guy....so I want to know about the things you like."

He had no idea where the conversation was heading but still, he tilted his head for a moment before digging deep into thoughts. 

"Well, for the starters, I love books, green tea, sports, space, and...." And my time with you, he mentally added. His Adam's apple bobbled, going up and then resting back to its initial position, when he realized what he had just thought of. He felt restlessness sinking in, so he looked away, not wanting to be caught by her.

"Oh." She said quietly. "I shouldn't have asked."

Turning his head, to face her again rather robotic-ally, he arched an eyebrow.

"I think it's better if we keep our thoughts at an under eighteen level."

Finn frowned.

"It's okay. It's your personal choice but I was asking about the things in general not about the things you do behind a closed-"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"Well, no. I don't"

"You do."

"Tell me. I don't"

"Wait," To her own embarrassment, Char said. "Never mind."

Finn squinted his eyes at the brunette besides him. He didn't even want to know what she had thought of inside her head.

"Ew, Char." Mockery was quite distinct in his tone. "You have a weird mind."

She just ended up smacking his arm, making him chuckle.

The two of them fell quite.

"Wait, Finn, stop the car." Char exclaimed when her gaze fell over the big board that read 'Florist'

"Flowers!"

"Flowers?"

"Yes dumbass, flowers!" Charlotte's enthusiasm didn't go unnoticed by Finn. "I'm going get flowers for Blake!"

"Isn't always the other way round?"

"Don't be a sexist." Charlotte said rolling her eyes. "I don't care if it's the guy giving flowers to the girl usually. I can get him flowers too. I'm sure he'd love them. He's a romantic by heart."

Finn made a face.

"See, I asked you because you obviously went on too many dates. So you'd have experience."

"Obviously?" The blue-eyed boy beside her scoffed. "What do you mean by ObViOUsLy?"

Charlotte shrugged nervously. "Well, obviously when you look like this."

"Are you, by any chance, hitting on me, love?" He replied, with smugness audible in his voice.

"Honestly speaking, at this point, I don't even know neither did I intended to."

"Of course you didn't"

Glaring at him, she smacked his side. "Never mind." She said clapping her hands together. "It's done. I will get him flowers and I am one hundred percent sure he'd like them."

He had no idea why Charlotte started beaming with joy, flashing him her greatest smile and he definitely had no clue why he was getting annoyed by it.

"You know him too well, don't you?" He asked with a coldness in his voice that he tried his best to suppress.

"Blake?" She grinned. "That I do. His favorite color is grey. No, actually his favorite color is yellow but his favorite shade is grey which an irony is because his middle name is also grey. He loves to play football. Actually....."

"I'm least bothered to learn about Blake's Wikipedia page, Char-"

"Actually he might even be better at it, Finn."

"Yeah, I bet." He scoffed looking away. The irritation was crawling upon his skin, growing even more prominent with each word that escaped his mouth.

What the hell is even wrong with me? He asked himself repeatedly. Why am I getting so agitated?

He knew Jaxon would definitely have an answer to his query. In fact, he knew the answer himself. He didn't want to give in in much to his absurd thoughts.

Anyway, for the sake of the moment, he didn't like the way Char had memorized every single detail about Blake and how she had sided with him.

He wondered if he and she would've shared the same equation if he never left.

Even if they had never been friends and even if he did not know things like her favorite color or her favorite movie but he did know that she loved chocolates, would've married the owner of the Burger King for free burgers, would always choose juice over aerated drinks and couldn't tolerate deodorants and fragrances. In fact, this was the reason due to which he had even removed the air freshener of his car when he was on the way to pick her up!

He wondered if she had remembered anything about him the same way.

"Do you know my favorite song? Or anything about me?"

"Don't challenge me. I know you too."

"You do?" He arched an eyebrow. His lips were adorned by a sly smile.

"Mhmm....You are a good liar." She teased.

His expressions grew stone cold, while his smile dropped.

"You....I am not talking to you, now." He said looking away, making her chuckle. "Don't laugh. I am not going to."

Char extended to reach for his arm, still laughing a bit when he jerked her arm away, making her realize that she shouldn't have said what she did.

"I am sorry, okay?" She said. "I was just teasing you. I know many more things about you."

He looked at her with a dead face.

"I......I know you are a neat freak with a mild OCD."

"I am NOT a neat-freak."

"You sure?" She asked. With a little smirk hanging over her lips, she raised her arm to the level of his neck. Pressing the collars of his blue denim jacket between her fingers, she made it stand from his left.

"Yeah....." Finn's gaze briefly dropped  to his jacket. "Guess what? You're right." He couldn't keep himself from reaching out and plaining his collar.

She just ended up chuckling in response. "Of course, I am. You tore our physics assignment last September because you said my handwriting looked like some incomprehensive language that existed pre-stone age."

Charlotte turned her head to face him, thinking about the question he asked her. How much did she really know about him? She didn't know what his favorite song was but she had a fair idea, tracing back to the day when the two of them where at Anna's place for 'work' last year. 

"And I don't exactly know your favorite song, but I'm going with Work by Rihanna and Drake?"

Finn nodded. "I don't have a favorite song but this might be on my top ten."

At this moment, he didn't even know that he had decided to ignore her a few seconds ago.

"Why do you even like that song? Work?"

"I don't know. It helps me study."

Charlotte's jaw dropped. She stared at this rare specimen seated beside her, in horror, confusion- a set of mixed emotions!

There was an awkward silence between the two of them.

"Study?" Charlotte was the one to begin talking once again.

"Yeah.......the chorus compels me to keep working. It inspires me"

"Inspires you for what? To do dirt, dirt, dirt, dirt?" Char arched an eyebrow. "And what dirt do you do? Are you hiding something, Walker?"

Finn was rather grumpy by now.

"I'm stopping by the florist. Get your Blakey boy some flowers or whatever."

*****

"You two look nice together."

Finn lifted his gaze off the tip of his shoes, only to look right back into an old woman's puckered yet gentle face.

"I'm sorry?"

The woman shook her head. 

As she smiled, Finn could notice the prominent wrinkles forming by her eyes. "I talked to her a second ago. I assumed you were the one taking her out."

The last thing that Finn had wished for at the moment was someone to remind him that he was missing on a big opportunity with his so-called 'Friend'.

He remembered how about an hour ago, when his own father got to know that Char was going out, through Jaxon, he pointed to his son and asked, 'what is he still doing here then?'

Standing just where he was, he glanced sideways at Char who was busy picking 'yellow' flowers which he bet she didn't even know the name of.

He never knew how much he really hated yellow. Until, now.

Charlotte's turned her head and found Finn looking at her, studying her actions. Her lips curled up into a big smile, making him to return one involuntarily.

Finn parted his lips to ask her something but he knew how terrible she was in picking up someone's mouthing. So, he just pointed at the flowers, with a questioning look whereas, Charlotte on the hand, sheepishly shrugged, implying she had no idea about what flowers they were.

He chuckled.

"Aren't you going to buy her something too?" The old woman asked, breaking his trance.

"Me?"

For some reason, Finn didn't want to tell her that she wasn't the one taking her out.

"How many times have you gone on a date, kid?"

He fell quite.

"Oh" She said, glancing at Charlotte. "So, you haven't."

"I haven't." Finn admitted, looking away.

He was being honest with this old lady. However, he didn't correct Char's assumption back in the car when she thought that he might've been with many people.

He didn't want her to know. Especially when she was the one going out with another person.

"It's okay. I met my husband on our first date too." She just laughed, making redness crawl up Finn's neck in a matter of seconds.

Why the hell am I behaving like that?

But wait.

Oh no.

His heart started pounding erratically as the realization dawned upon him. He wasn't the one who was actually on a date with her. He was just a friend who was just supposed give her a stupid lift. 

It was Blake Vector.

Damn it.

"What do people even do on dates?" Before he even knew, the words were out of his mouth.

"You seem to speak less, boy" The woman said, "So my reply is going to be straightforward. On dates, people talk- whether it's about the life or about themselves. They find a way to relax. Maybe have food or coffee together and bond? Hold hands and you know-"

"That's it." Finn horrifically interrupted the lady. He didn't want him to imagine Char and Blake in his head anymore. On the topic of that, he didn't want himself to realize something which would make it impossible for him to let go of her.

"How long do you two know each other?"

"Since the first year of high-" He paused, reminiscing the very first time he saw her, stomping and jumping over his paper boat, crushing it into a mushy pulp of paper. "Since primary school. I was seven when I first met this girl and she's been the havoc of my life since then." A small smile ambled on his lips as he thought.

The girl had wrecked his thoughts. And it wasn't just lately.

"Oh boy, you are in love, aren't you?"

Finn looked at her face to inspect whether she was being serious or not and deadpanned, "No. Absolutely not."

"Oh you're just shy." The woman scoffed, rather playfully.

"Shy?" He arched an eyebrow. "Me? Trust me, shyness and I don't go in the same sentence."

"I'm sure." She rolled her eyes in sarcasm.

"Don't believe me."

"I'm not going to." She paused, turning to look at his face. "Not unless you go there and hold her hand."

Blinking a couple of times, he finally squinted at her. Reverse psychology was his best friend. It wouldn't work on him, now would it?

"No thank you."

"Oh you're such a shy little boy."

"I am not-" before he could complete his sentence, his phone rang, causing his brows to furrow as he read the name on the screen.

Why was Kyle calling him?

"Hello?"

"Sir?" Kyle said urgently. "I know where Dave is."

Finn's ears stood up as his brain registered Kyle's words. Kyle Herron was a guy who worked for Christian under his father's orders. He was the same guy who helped Charlote escape the latter's den two weeks ago.

"What? That's brillian-"

"But-" He paused, "Christian, he knows it too. We have to be quick."

Rolling his eyes, Finn took a deep breath. "Bloody hell."

There was just one person Finn was back for, Dave, his foster brother whom he couldn't afford to lose at any cost. He wanted to escape. He wanted to go far-far away from this city. He never wanted to be near Christian ever again. The man had ruined his life.

"Don't worry, Kyle. I'd be right there in a little while. Where are we going to meet?"

"At Plank's in twenty minutes?"

"Sure." Finn said nodding. "Try to find out as much as you can."

"Thanks to Charlotte, we know that Dave had escaped from Westland. It's a code for Christian's base. I worked my sources and traced it to 841-A North Block, Novolem."

"Novolem?" Finn frowned. He had been to the city to visit a friend a couple of times. It was approximately fifty six kilometres away!

"Yeah." Kyle confirmed, "Hey and Mr. Walker, if you don't mind, can you just let me talk to Charlotte? Or maybe talk to her yourself? Just dig up for more information. Code words-"

"No."

"But why? She-"

"I said no, Kyle." He lowered his voice, "We aren't going to drag her in this mess, alright? I can't have her getting hurt because of me."

"Finn!" He heard Char calling out for him. He diverted his attention to her, smiling. "Let's go."

"I'll see you." He mumbled, shoving his phone back into his pocket.

"This isn't over yet, kid." Old woman, he had absolutely forgot about, chuckled, making Charlotte return the gesture for no reason at all.

She didn't need a reason to stay happy. That's what he liked the most about her.

"Why were you laughing back there?" He asked, buckling the seat belt around him, inside his car.

"I don't know." She said sheepishly. A chuckled followed her words.

He blinked a couple of times before a grin dawned upon his lips. "Dumb-ass."

"That was offending, Walker." Char complained, folding her arms back to her chest. "But, I will let it go, if you'll tell me something."

"I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

"Okay then, it may sound a little weird but...." She paused to look at him, his fingers tapping on the steering only fueled her suspicion "But I saw you talking over the phone and you looked rather tensed. Is everything okay?"

He blinked a couple of times. He didn't think she'd suspect anything at all.

"There's nothing."

"Finn Walker doesn't frowns. He makes people frown."

He sighed. "Okay Sherlock, I was frowning." Pursing his lips, he continued, "I got a call from dad. You know how I get with him?"

"What did he say?"

"Nothing. It was me. I told him that I want him to stay with Jax, Kev and I at home because a certain someone asked me to."

A smile ambled upon her lips in response. "You're a good son, Finn and a good friend too."

He returned the smile. He had to be good. He had to be a good friend to her.

"I don't deserve a friend like you." His blue-green eyes sparkled earnestly.

"Ah, don't worry.Even if you had a twin, I'd still choose you."

The way she quoted a lyric out of one of his favorite song, which, ironically fit so well with their lives, made the two chuckle.

"Promise me, you'll always tell me if there's something wrong. I'd always be there to help you out." She extended her hand towards him, waiting anxiously for his response.

His mouth was dry as his Adam's apple bobbled. Reluctantly, he found himself placing his hand, back in hers, his trembling fingers relaxed against her touch.

"I promise." He lied.

*****

"I loved the flowers." Blake's brown eyes sparkled in amazement as he admired the gift he received from Charlotte, for the fifth time now.

"See, I remembered you like yellow." She lifted her gaze off her plate to look at Blake's expression. He was happy. She felt relieved. Passing him a smile in return, she let her gaze wander and assess the place they were currently at.

The place was at about a twenty-minute drive from her place and to be honest, nothing like the image of a first date she had framed in her head. 

The place was grand. Sitting under the indigo sky with the wind sweeping by and a sheath of greenery running as far as her gaze could trace, adorned with pretty little fairy lights twinkling, was nothing less than a dream come true for her.

If only I wasn't feeling awkward. She thought.

Yes, it was true. As fun as this 'grand date' may sound, Char couldn't help but raise questions in her head. She was super cautious. Not wanting to do or say something which would ruin their friendship.

No matter how occupied she had been with the thoughts regarding this day, her stupidly stubborn brain had refused to replace the tiny little moments she had just spent with the blue-eyed devil.

With her head still low, she shook her head and sighed.

Going along with stupid small talks sounded like the 'it-talk' to her.

"No, but seriously, Cherry, yellow irises? Even my mom loves them."

"Your mom has yellow eyes?" She was being genuinely stupid at the moment. Even she knew that.

Taking a pause to let the confusion completely sink in, he said, "Yellow what? I was talking about the flowers you bought me. Those are called Irises!" Chuckled, fueling her embarrassment.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, trying to prove her point. "I didn't know the flowers are called irises. I just went to the store and bought them for ya."

"So you just went in there and said 'I want anything yellow'?'" Char rolled her eyes at his comment.

Placing her spoon back over the plate, she spoke. "I told her that I want the best yellow flowers since it's my best friend's favorite color."

Blake flashed his teeth. His smile widened from one ear to another.

"I know I'm your best-friend, Cherry." He said cockily.

"And so is El."

"So is El but I'm the bestest."

"Pft." Char said, "That's not even a word."

"Whatever." He leaned back to this chair and replied. The smugness in his smile disappeared. "But I want to let you know that you're my best friend too and this?" He gestured his hand to and fro between them. "This date? Honestly, it has made me just as uncomfortable as it has made you."

Did I acted in some way I shouldn't have?

Her eyes widened in shock. She never wanted to hurt her friend.

"Don't worry." He continued, "You did nothing wrong. It's just we've been here for almost an hour and all we've talked about is-"

"Yellow flowers?" She added sheepishly.

"Ah-Exactly." He chuckled. "Yellow flowers."

"We are idiots."

"That we are and honestly, I can't end up ruining our friendship for this awkward date." His words made Char chuckle too.

With a huge smile hovering over his lips, he picked up his canned coke, raising it to the level of their eyes, he offered a toast. "To us being idiots."

She arched an eyebrow suggestively, before giving in. Gripping her glass of sweet lemon juice she clicked their glasses together, applying a little too much force, causing the glass to shatter against the metallic can, spilling its contents over their food.

"Oops."

*****

A/N

I know this chapter can make it up for all the lost time but I wrote it with a dead mind and heart so I don't really know how it turned out to be. This chapter took me over a week to write, god knows why.

Hope you can let me know your opinions and suggestions or whatever comes to your mind. Feel free to answer some of the questions below :)

1. What are your opinions on Charlotte? Do you think she was right on accepting Blake's offer for a date?

2.  What about Finn? what do you think is going inside his head?

3. Finn hears work while studying. which song do ya'll listen to?

4. Favorite scene/line from the chapter?

5. What are  your opinions on Blake Vector?

6. Is there anyone who's rooting/switching to Blake's side?

7. Do you think Finn was being an idiot by lying to Char, again? 

8. Since now he's on a quest to rescue Dave, what do you think could happen next?

TYSM for reading this. Love ya all :)

ANDDDD Let's wish a belated Happy Birthday to Niall Horan and stream Heartbreak Weather and Flicker!