In the four minutes that it takes for him to walk from the girls' dormitory building to the boys' to get ready for breakfast and class, it occurs to Yvo that he'd do anything if it means waking up with his face pressed between Finch's shoulder blades.

He sits down beside Graham at their usual table in the dining hall. Finch isn't here yet.

"Good night?" Jayden asks pointedly, raising his eyebrows at his seemingly good mood.

Good night, indeed. Yvo lets a smile creep up to his lips as he looks down at his plate when he remembers what they'd done last night.

Fucking amazing Finch. God. She's ruined him for anyone else.

When she sits down at her usual table beside Kallhoff, her eyes raise up to meet his, and the corners of her lips pull up into a smile before she looks away and tucks her hair behind her ear to fill her plate with breakfast.

Her hair is down. Good.

If Yvo finds himself resisting a smile as he finishes his breakfast, Finch is to blame.

He doesn't see her for the rest of the day. They don't have first period together (he hates Tuesdays) and he knows she's going to be at dance rehearsal after class.

Still. Yvo paces his room and waits for her to message.

"Can you just fucking sit down," Jayden snaps, turning around in his desk chair, glaring at him. "Jesus, you're making my head spin and I'm supposed to be studying."

"Shut up." Yvo paces some more, fumbling with his phone.

He drops down on his bed when it finally lights up and buzzes, his heart racing. no time to fit you in today, sorry!

What the fuck.

Yvo grits his teeth. She said she was going to see him today! She knows he hates being ignored!

"Are you finally going to see Finch?" Jayden asks tiredly.

"No, she's fucking ignoring me. She said she doesn't have time for me!" Yvo says angrily, slamming his phone on the mattress.

His roommate turns around to face him again, blinking. "What the fuck. Did she poison you or some shit?"

Yvo scoffs and kicks his phone.

"You're having a tantrum. Over not seeing Finch."

"Shut the fuck up." He picks up his phone and calls her.

Finch answers in two rings. "Yeah?" She sounds out of breath. Why the fuck does she sound out of breath.

"You said you were going to see me today," Yvo hisses. He tries really, really hard not to sound he's having a tantrum but that's what it fucking feels like. Hates this, hates this, hates this—"Where are you?"

"I'm really sorry," Finch mutters, still panting heavily, and what the fuck is sorry going to do if he can't see her—"I just came from practice, and Dane told me he can only drive me today—"

"Drive you where?" Yvo demands, blood boiling.

Finch pauses. And then slowly, she answers, "To the mall, I need to buy my little sister's gift—"

"I'll drive you." Yvo hangs up and picks up his keys, phone, and wallet. He also brings his jacket in case Finch is wearing one of her fucking small tops or shorts that she likes wearing so much.

Jayden grins at him while he puts on his shoes. "I can't fucking believe you're letting Finch ride in your car. I'd be offended, being your friend for four fucking years, but I'm having too much fun watching you be wrapped around her little finger."

Yvo merely sends him his middle finger before he's out the door.

No one tries to stop him as he hurries through the common room and into her floor.  After two sharp knocks, the door opens.

"Sandejas." Kallhoff fucking grins.

Yvo's jaw tightens. He pushes past him, hitting his shoulder, and steps inside her room. Finch is nowhere to be found, but the water in the shower is running. Good, she's getting ready.

"You can go," Yvo says, sitting down on her bed and spreading his legs. "I said I'll drive her."

"You can stop pissing all over her like you own her, we're just best friends."

"And why you let go of her, I'll never understand, but I'll fucking thank you for it." Yvo pointedly tips his chin up towards the door.

Kallhoff laughs easily and knocks on the bathroom door to shout, "Babe, I'm leaving!"

"Love you, bye!" Finch shouts back against the water.

Kallhoff looks straight at him, smiling, when he answers, "Love you too." He gives him a salute before closing the door behind him.

Yvo fists his hands against the bedsheets, then he straightens them and rolls over the mattress in case Kallhoff fucking lied down here again.

He hates that. Fucking hates it.

The water shuts off, and after a few moments, Finch opens the door and nearly screams when she finds Yvo on her bed. "San—God, you scared me!"

Her hair is wet and she's only wearing a towel.

"I said I was going to drive you," Yvo says lowly, unabashedly running his eyes from her flushed face to her chest and legs. "Go dress up."

"Don't tell me what to do," Finch says, but it's more because she's flustered and less because she's annoyed, and hurriedly grabs her clothes off from her chair. She holds her towel tightly to her chest and scurries back inside the bathroom.

Finch smells so good as she walks ahead of him down to the common room and to the parking lot. Yvo stares at her hand, wanting to grab it, but he shoves his hands inside his pockets and grits his teeth and stares at the back of her neck (her hair is up) and her legs instead. Fucking—he knew it. He knew she was going to wear something small—offensive shorts with only a baggy gray shirt over it. The shirt was fucking longer than the shorts.

Finch walks past his car. Yvo lets her walk a few more seconds to stare at her ass before he calls, "Finch. Over here."

The corner of Yvo's mouth keeps twitching as she settles in the passenger side, eyes wide, jaw dropped. Yvo twists the key into the engine and clicks his tongue when he notices she still hasn't put on her seatbelt.

He leans over and pulls it harshly to strap her in, pressing himself to her, and Finch barely even notices because she's still in awe of his fucking car and Yvo doesn't like that. He frowns, annoyed, and kisses her.

His stomach drops and flips upside-down. Ah, fuck.

Finch finally blinks at him, surprised, lips parted.

"Stop ignoring me," Yvo snaps before strapping himself in and backing out of the parking space.

"This is an Aston Martin Victor."

Shit. She's so hot for knowing that, but Yvo doesn't say anything. He's very much aware that it is.

Finch shifts in her seat. "I'm scared to even breathe in here."

"Fucking breathe, I don't want you dead. And relax, it's just a car."

A car that no one else has ridden except for her. He's had it since he was eighteen.

Finch doesn't relax.

A laugh escapes him. She looks like she's going to shit herself any second. "Calm down!"

"I can't!" She scowls at him. Fucking adorable.

He takes one of his hands off the wheel and snatches her hand, placing them both on her thigh. Yvo fits his fingers in between hers, staring straight ahead.

Finch shuts up and looks out the window.

Miraculously, she takes it again once inside the mall, and she drags him to the toy store, rambling about dance practice today.

Yvo scowls, fingers instinctively tightening when she mentions those girls in her team were still giving her dirty looks. "The fuck. Smash their heads in."

Finch stops and looks at him, horrified. "You—that's—why the hell is that your first reaction?"

"Why not?" he demands, furrowing his eyebrows. "You're obviously fucking better than them."

She rolls her eyes and pulls him along. Yvo stares down at their intertwined hands and scolds his heart and stomach for feeling fucking funny. "You haven't even seen me dance."

That's a lie. He saw her at the opening show at the start of the term and almost fucking juiced his pants and drooled all over himself.

Yvo doesn't say anything and just watches her pick out her sister's gift at the dolls aisle of the store.

Finch picks up one Disney princess dollhouse castle and inspects it before declaring, "I think this is good."

Yvo shakes his head and grabs the one on the floor. It's purple and pink with stairs.

Finch blinks at him. "That's bigger, but this one already has two stories—"

"This has three, a terrace, and fucking stairs. That's what a castle should look like." Yvo shakes the castle in front of her. "Seven dolls. Yours only has six. What, the other one was beheaded?"

She rubs the back of her neck and looks it over. "Well, yeah, and it has fifty play pieces which I'm sure my sister would love—"

Yvo slaps the dollhouse she's holding out of her hand and drags her to the cashier.

"Wait!" Finch tries to pull her hand free to stop him. "Sandejas, I don't have enough—"

"The dolls are sold separately," the saleslady tells them with a smile.

Yvo catches the flush on Finch's face. "Let's go back—"

"If I pay half and the dolls, will you let me come to Saylor's party? It would be our gift."

Finch looks at him like he grew two extra heads. "You're—no, you haven't even met her—"

"I will." He tosses the toy on the counter. "I helped with the invitations after all. Got finger cramps from it and fucking paper cuts."

Finch covers her face with her free hand and groans. "Are you always this demanding?"

Yvo shakes his wallet in front of her.

Finch purses her lips. "Fine."

Yvo slaps the bills down and triumphantly leaves the store with the dollhouse castle.

They get dinner somewhere and hold hands again all the way back to the car. Finch shivers and Yvo rolls his eyes before tossing his jacket on her lap, and then she pulls him inside her dorm room and kisses him until she's lying down on the bed.

Yvo groans in her mouth and squeezes her hips, pressing himself against her, and he feels her fingernails scratching along his nape and under his shirt, along his torso and back. God, he fucking loves that.

He pulls off his shirt and hers and kisses her everywhere. Can't get enough of it, of her.

"I don't want you to come to Saylor's party," Finch whispers out of the blue, and Yvo raises his head from where he's about to dive in between her legs.

He ignores the sting and says, "Then I won't."

Finch catches his hand and pulls harshly, and Yvo lands flat with his back against the headboard. She kneels over his hips and sits down on his lap, fingers in his hair. She purses her lips, and Yvo tries to read her face. He can't fucking tell what she's thinking. "I...I have an older sister."

Yvo stares at her.

Finch swallows thickly. "And...I don't want you to meet her. That's the only reason I don't want you to come."

He raises an eyebrow.

"But I'll give you the address." She kisses him. Yvo's arms snake around her waist. "And you can see for yourself why."

Yvo grabs the back of her neck and presses their mouths together. Whatever the fuck she's worrying about, she'll do it with his face between her legs. If she can still think about it.

*

Finch's home is small, but the backyard is noisy and full of food and children dressed up, giggling and running around.

As soon as he steps out of his car, holding the gift (Finch left it with him so they can give it together), he spots her near the buffet table, squatting down and talking to some devil with a sweet smile.

Yvo watches her, leaning against his car, welcoming the fucking butterflies in his stomach until she stands up, sees him, and hurries over.

God, Jesus fucking Christ. She's dressed up, too—a flimsy purple dress ending mid-thigh with gold along the straps and a red belt around her pretty little waist.

Her hair is up in a high ponytail and Yvo has half a mind to suck her fucking neck.

"Hi," she breathes, smiling widely.

Yvo grabs her face and kisses her.

Finch tiptoes to reach him—God, he loves that—and her hands go around his waist.

She smiles in his mouth and says, "That's not how this works."

"Tell me what you fucking want." Yvo kisses her again and she gasps when his tongue slips in.

Finch pulls back and smacks him, then she turns around to show him her costume. "What do you think?"

His mouth twitches. "Megara?"

She nods.

"Lucky Hercules," Yvo mutters.

Finch's cheeks redden. "Are you flirting with me, Sandejas?"

"I'm fucking trying to." He leans close to kiss her again, but she shakes her head.

"Keep your lips to yourself. Come on, I'll introduce you to Saylor."

The kid fucking jumps on him with a yell, clearly happy with their gift. She's dressed in blue with a wig that resembles his hair color. What the fuck kind of princess is that.

Yvo carries her and Finch fucking squeaks like she's afraid he's going to drag the kid to the pits of hell, but she relaxes when Yvo just props her up against his hip. "You like it?"

Saylor nods eagerly, big brown eyes shining and crooked teeth showing. "They're going to be so jealous," she singsongs, bragging, dragging out the word so.

"Make them jealous, then." Yvo sets her down and she runs away with a kiss to his cheek, taking her new dollhouse castle with her.

"You Finches like kissing me a lot."

Finch rolls her eyes and doesn't move away when Yvo slides a hand to her hip. "Shut up."

"Blaise!"

Finch turns around, her smile tightening. She moves away from Yvo and says quietly, "Wren."

This one's dressed in yellow, complete with gloves and sandals and a fucking rose. "Parents are on the way back from the bakery with the cake." Her eyes dart to Yvo, smiling. "And who is this?"

"Um, he's from Croyden, too," Finch mutters, still keeping her distance from him. "We bought Say's gift together."

"Oh. Hi!" She reaches her hand out with a wide smile. "I'm Wren. Well, I'm Beauty today—you know. Belle. Beauty and the Beast."

Yvo shakes it once and presses against Finch, looking bored.

She blinks, taken aback, and forces herself to laugh. "Well, Blaise, just a heads up—Oliver is here."

Her jaw is tight. "Okay."

"I'll go see our little sister!" She skips away with one last smile at him.

Yvo turns to Finch. "I don't fucking get it."

Finch huffs and walks away from him. "How we're sisters? Yeah, I get it. Leave."

What the fuck! Yvo grabs her wrist and pushes her against the wall. "I meant I don't understand why you were worried. Dumbass."

She blinks up at him. "Oh. Well. You met her."

Yvo stares at her, growing impatient. His face must look angry, because Finch sighs and explains, "I...well, we have a bad history of...being compared to each other. And I don't...um, I lose. Oliver—I had a crush on him in high school. He turned me down because he liked her. Said she was more beautiful and just...you know. More."

Yvo stares at her, one palm still flat against the wall beside her head.

Finch frowns at him. "Say something."

He doesn't know how. He's never been good with words.

But there's one thing he's always found beautiful, and Finch is...Finch doesn't lose. "I think the moon should be fucking jealous of you."

Her smile is the reason he told the fucking moon about her.

*

Without thinking, Yvo stands up from his seat as soon as her cinnamon smell hits his nose to kiss her good morning.

He stops near her row when his brain catches up.

Then he leaves, grabbing his bag and ignoring Graham's call.

Jayden is just getting out of the shower when he steps inside their dorm room. "Yvo?" His eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What—?"

"I have a problem," he says. "She's five five, annoying, and addicting. I'm fucked."

*

yvo, my little soft-boiled egg. i love you.