"Should I stay or should I go?"

[truthrunswild]

Who: Finlay Bennett and Reecy Chester
What: Probably should be an awkward moment
Where: Walker's home, Brooklyn
When: Wednesday afternoon

Fin hated his new school. It was big and had very quickly felt like it was full of assholes. He didn't think it was because it was a private school, but he seemed to have rubbed up a group of rich kids the wrong way by just existing and probably being basic. Monday had been his first day, and it had sucked. These kids had zeroed him out, teasing him, taunting him, calling him names ('Cletus, the Slack-Jawed Yokel', thanks to The Simpsons). When he got home that night and his dad asked him how school went, he had just said 'Fine'. He ate dinner, took a shower and went to bed, saying he was tired because it was a big day.

Tuesday, he was dreading going back. He hoped Monday had just been an isolated incident because it was his first day and they might get tired of picking on him. No such luck, and he had more classes with them... and his favourite subject, he was with them and no one else he had made friends with was in the class with him. He was miserable and ended up trying to fight back tears on the train ride home. He was so badly homesick and he wanted his mom. He felt useless and stupid for feeling any of that too. He just wanted to go home, back to Arkansas but he was stuck here.

Now, Wednesday and gym class had been the worst of all. The guys, all football and basketball players, cornered him in the locker room. Fin tried his best to get them to tell him what their problem with him was, but what it culminated in was them pranking him by yanking his gym pants and boxers down, being left standing there half naked in front of everyone. In his hurry to try to pull the back up, the leader of the asshole pack kicked the back of his knee and cause Fin to fall over with his pants down around his ankles. It was awful. Fin just grabbed his stuff (after getting his pants pulled back up) and bolted out of class... and out of the school. He ditched the rest of his classes and found himself seriously considering running away from home just get away from this horrible place.

In the end, after sitting in the subway bawling his eyes out, he tried to call his dad. It went straight to voicemail. His dad and Walker had managed to get the afternoon off together and were going to have a date or something. The home phone number didn't pick up either. He took a chance and found the note his dad had put on his phone with some emergency contact information for people in New York if he ever needed help, and Walker's name, phone number, and address were at the top. That was how Fin came to be standing at Walker's front door ringing the doorbell. It was a brownstone house and not an apartment, in a really nice street too. Fin hoped like hell his dad was here so he could talk to him, before the school realised he ditched and tried to contact him.

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If there was one thing Reecy loved to do for her dad, it was cook for him. Sometimes, on her days off, she would come over and cook up a storm of meals for him to freeze for the days he was run off his feet being a doctor. When you were alone, you didn't always feel like cooking for one. She knew her dad far from lived on takeout, but she used to love cooking for him when she still lived at home and that hadn't changed just because she had moved out. She was happy for him that he had taken the huge leap of faith and put his heart on the line to try dating again. It was what she had wanted for him. But she was still worried he was going to get hurt, especially not knowing much about Sawyer. Other than the obvious things of course. But it was rarely the obvious things that hurt people in relationships. Her dad had been hurt far too much in the past, and she might just turn into a scary bitch if anyone hurt him again.

She had just popped a casserole in the oven and was giving a pot of soup a stir when the doorbell rang. It wasn't her place, so of course she wasn't expecting anyone. But she went to answer it in case it was a package. Her dad was having a love affair with The Book Depository, after all. When she opened the front door, it wasn't a delivery guy standing there, though. It was a young guy who was looking pretty miserable... and obviously so. She didn't know who he was, but she kind of wanted to rub his back and ask him if he needed a hug. "Hey, sweetie. Can I help you with something?"

[truthrunswild]

Fin wasn't expecting this. He knew Walker had a daughter, and she was apparently pretty awesome in a lead Broadway role. She got it after working on Footloose with Justin. He just hadn't been sure how he felt about his dad dating Walker to figure out how he felt about the extensions from that... being meeting Walker's daughter. And it had to be her. He had checked this address before ringing the doorbell, and she looked like him. Fin could see the resemblance. She was the right age, too. Still, he balked. He wanted his dad, not more strangers. He didn't want to be a snot to her, though. She was being friendly, but it felt strange. She didn't know who he was, but he realised she wouldn't have any way of knowing unless her dad showed him a picture or she Facebook stalked. Even then, Fin had his profile locked up as tight as it could be since the drug thing, and his profile picture was of his horse.

"I... um... I'm Fin. Is my dad here?" he asked, just getting straight to the point because he was feeling too upset to really make pleasantries. It might be rude, but he was still feeling close to tears again that it was hard to make more polite conversation. He had his school bag - a messenger bag - over his shoulder and he was gripping the strap in his hands tightly. Inside, he was telling himself over and over not to start crying in front of her, and to keep his shit together.

[headingforsomething]

Now, that made a little sense. But only a little. Reecy knew what day it was (you don't forget your days off) and she knew what time of day it was. She also knew about Fin, of course. She was very close to her dad and he had been open with her. He had given into her prodding about coming to the show with Sawyer and she got to meet Sawyer, albeit briefly and in full costume because her job was nuts now she got a lead. She had always admired Justin for what he did, whilst still having an incapacity. Now, she appreciated all he had achieved about a hundred times more experiencing it for herself. Even then, his lead was a lot more demanding than hers was.

"Hi, Fin. I'm Reecy. I'm Walker's daughter," she introduced herself and was putting her hand gently on his shoulder. She didn't know what it was, maybe spending so much time with Justin, but she could tell something was up. "C'mon on in, honey. Your dad's not here. I got a note here left on the fridge saying they've gone to catch a movie. Are you okay? Did you have to come home sick from school? Come in, darling. It's okay. You can wait for your dad here."

[truthrunswild]

Fin followed Reecy into the house. He was feeling awkward and a bit stupid, but she seemed really nice. She was so pretty too. No wonder she was on Broadway. She must be pretty and talented. The house was just as nice inside as it was out. He offered just inside and tried not to get too upset that his dad wasn't there. Chances were, he would come back here and in the meantime, Fin hoped if his dad saw the missed calls on his phone, he would call him back when he could. If he was in a movie, it made sense that his phone was turned down.

"Um, no. I didn't come home sick. I just... I didn't, but I kind of feel a bit sick now..." His stomach was upset, but he had been severely mortified earlier that day, and upset ever since. He was stressing out and getting himself worked up. This didn't feel like the dizzy thing, though. He wasn't dizzy, and his ears weren't ringing. He just felt sick to his stomach, and maybe this was that homesickness actually making you feel sick thing. "I just really want to talk to my dad. Or not. I don't know, he might get pissed that I ditched school..." he worried in hindsight, rubbing a hand over his face when the words came out with an edge of anxiety.

[headingforsomething]

Now that Fin was closer to her, Reecy put her hand on his back with a soft pat. He did look pale, and without his father or her dad around there, there was no doubt in her mind that it was her job to take care of him while he was there with her. She had always been a very caring person, and that was why her over-protectiveness had gotten her into trouble in the past. But this boy was Justin's age, and in a way, that made her feel even more protective towards him than if he was just a random teenager she didn't know. No, she didn't know him, but they had a connection and being the older party here, it was her job to nurture that. Especially if he wasn't feeling well.

"He won't be pissed, sweetheart. If you're not feeling well and upset, he'll be okay. Let me take your bag. You can come inside and sit down. Do you have an upset tummy? I can get you some ginger ale if you like. Or I can make you a cup of tea," she offered. Now he was closer, she could see that he was adorable. He had beautiful eyes and a face full of freckles. He was very slender, though. She could see that in the skinny jeans and tight t-shirt he had on under his coat. She was pretty sure this boy could land a modelling gig, easy as pie.

[truthrunswild]

Fin obediently gave her his bag, watching her intently as he did. This was a weird as fuck situation to be in. Just meeting his dad, who had sex with his doctor that he only met, and now meeting said doctor's daughter. He was just so throw off kilter with everything but he wasn't a shit of a kid. He wasn't a delinquent or a petulant brat. He had no reason to shove off her kindness. He had only spent some time recently getting angry and pissed off at people because they hadn't been listening to him, but it had been quite out-of-character for how he was normally. He just still felt very wary here because it was strange. Inside, he was wondering if he could talk his dad into letting him go to another school. Or maybe he should just quit all together. What if all schools in New York had kids who wanted to be awful to him?

Walker's house was comfortable and homey. He sat on the sofa, still feeling awkward. It felt good to sit, though. He didn't know if his upset stomach was some sort of warning that he could be about to have a dizziness thing again. He really hoped not. He didn't want to do that around anymore strangers. "I've never really had ginger ale," he admitted, but once he said it, it sounded stupid out loud. He didn't want her to think he was stupid. "I'm sorry. I don't want to be a pain in the ass. I just thought my dad would be here."

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"You're not a pain in the ass, sweetie. It's okay," Reecy assured him. She took his bag and put it down on one of the armchairs in the living room, and then led him to the sofa to sit down and get comfortable. "Are you cold? I can get you a blanket to put over you if you are. It's not nice weather out there to be out and about in if you're feeling poorly. You can try the ginger ale, and if you don't like it, that's okay. What does your mom give you when you're feeling sick?" she asked. Her dad had told her a little about Sawyer and Fin. Fin was a tried and true country boy, and it ran strong through his blood. She could understand that coming to New York had to be a strong culture shock for him.

She was back with the bottle of ginger ale and poured some into a glass for him. She was raised on this when she had an upset stomach. She knew her dad always had the doctor mojo in him. She couldn't have been more prouder of him when he made the huge step to go to medical school later in his life than most. Even if he hadn't yet told her if he was feeling cold from this winter weather, she got him a blanket to tuck around his legs. "How are you handling the big change, honey? It can't be easy for you. Everything here so different and strange."