Wanna get married?
Finn P.O.V
I wake up with a jolt and sit up as fast as possible. I scramble around, panic when I can’t open my eyes, go to touch them, and hiss at the resulting stabbing pain from the right one.
There’s hands on my shoulders when I try to get up out of the bed that’s too soft to be mine and I struggle against them until something cold and damp gets placed over my eyes. I freeze as it soothes the headache I didn’t even register at first, then relax as memories from last night fill my head while the smell of Darren’s house fills my nose.
“Woah, chill out kid,” Alexus’s voice comes from in front of me, but I ignore the flames I’m sure dance around my face as I do my best to feel out my surroundings.
I’m in a soft, full-size bed with what feels like way too many pillows behind me. The two in direct contact with my back and head as Alexus pushes me back are firm while the other four are so soft they’re practically just bags half-filled with fluff. Alexus’s jacket is still around my torso but there’s now a t-shirt under it and I’m dressed in a different pair of sweatpants. The flames increase in intensity as I realize whoever helped me change out of my soaked clothes would have seen all my scars, but I push that thought aside.
There’s a light blanket draped over my legs that I had thrown away from me when I woke up, but I’m grateful it’s not that heavy thanks to the embarrassment boiling in my stomach.
I guess Alexus is the only person in the room, because I can only feel one pair of eyes on me. My hands reach up and replace hers on the cold washcloth and I pull my knees up to my chest after a few moments of tense silence.
She sighs and I feel the mattress dip down by sockless feet still under the mattress.
“What do you remember?” Her voice is quiet, cautious.
I can’t bring myself to answer as the boiling in my stomach turns into a lump in my throat.
“Kid?”
Silence.
“C’mon Finn, what’s wrong?” She sounds in pain and it’s enough for the lump to loosen.
I cringe as memories from last night get sharper and I reach under the washcloth to feel my swollen eye and the other puffy one - probably from crying. “‘S embarrassing.”
Lex is silent until she’s falling back on the bed with a loud sigh. I jump at the action and take the washcloth off my face in order to open my ‘good’ eye at her. Though it’s still hard thanks to my dumb body not being accustomed to crying.
It opens to let me see Lex in all her glory giving me a half-hearted glare from her reclined place in front of me. Her curls are splayed out all around her head and she’s dressed in an oversized deadpool shirt and some flannel pants that go past her ankles. I glance down at the floor, see an air mattress with a bunch of messed up blankets and two pillows, and feel a pang go through my stomach.
She follows my gaze and taps my calf. “Relax, I like sleeping on the floor, it’s warmer down there.” A part of me wanted to tell her she could have slept with me but I shove that deep deep down as the exasperated look returns to her. “Is that really what’s wrong? You’re embarrassed?” I don’t answer and place the washcloth over my bruised eye before I turn away.
Alexus cranes her neck, trying to force me to make eye contact, but when I refuse, she sits up.
“... Well why are you embarrassed?” She doesn’t seem to know what to say but settles on that before reaching for the washcloth. I hold it out but she doesn’t take it and instead gently prods at my eye, tilting my head left and right in order to look at it. She pulls a first aid kit out of nowhere and starts dabbing some sort of gel on my eye.
I tap my fingers quickly against my thigh, a nervous tic, as I think. “I don’t like crying. It’s a sign of weakness.
“No it isn’t.” Lex’s rebuttal is immediate.
“Yes it is,” I huff. “I should’ve been able to handle it without breaking down. I was just running down the street a-and there was lots of p-people and sounds and smells and they were everywhere and people were touching me and--” I cut off and force myself to breathe deeply, the tapping getting faster against my thigh to the point where it starts to hurt.
“Okay, okay.” Alexus manages to stay calm and tries to keep eye contact with me. “Is this okay?” She gestures to her hand placing the gel on my bruise and I wave her off.
“Y-yeah.” I curse the stutter I thought I grew out of it. “I just - I hate strangers touching me. And I hate certain sounds and smells.”
“Oh okay,” Lex says, going back to my eye, hers flickering to my good one. “What sounds and smells - if you don’t mind me asking.” I shrug, face beginning to burn, but Lex catches on quickly. “Relax Finn, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about, trust me. I’m pretty sure you’ve picked up on the fact that I have no qualms teasing people, and the fact that I’m not picking on you right now has to mean something.”
I nod. “O-okay. Well, um, they usually aren’t that bad unless I’m overwhelmed. I like the smell of cigarettes because they’re familiar, but I hate the smell of alcohol. It’s really random, the things that bother me when I’m freaked out. Any loud talking or arguing is usually pretty bad. Um, I don’t like sneakers squeaking on pavement or the sound of fabric rubbing together. I can’t stand the sound of someone brushing their teeth, it’s really gross. I don’t like the fabric that sacks are made of, that scratchy stuff. Hay and plastic over cushions are also terrible…” I rack my brain as Lex hangs on to my every word. “Um, yeah that’s pretty much it. Sweet Satan now that I hear it all out loud it sounds like I’m insane--”
“Nah, that makes sense, actually.” Lex says, then continues when I give her a confused look. “Well listen because I’m not trying to be offensive at all, but you’re really smart, and geniuses tend to have Aspergers or something similar.”
I freeze, brain comprehending this, before my jaw drops. “Holy shit that makes so much sense.” My hand stops it’s taps and both of them go to grasp at my face. “Fuck that actually really makes sense, shit.”
Les gently peels my nails away from my face and makes eye contact. “What do you mean? Are you panicking right now?”
“What? No - I don’t think so, just--” I go grab my face again but she keeps my hands firmly in her grasp and I almost melt as she starts to rub her thumb over my knuckles. “A lot of things are starting to make sense.”
“... Wanna explain?”
I nod. “Yeah, I need to say all this aloud anyways.” I glance at her. “I’m assuming Darren told you about that day on the roof?”
Her grip tightens, but not painfully. “Yes. Please never do that again.”
“I have no plans to. Anyways, so I have depression and a lot of anxiety, right?”
“I’ve picked up on that, yeah.”
“Well those are two symptoms of Aspergers. Other symptoms are fidgeting--”
“The tapping.”
“Impulsivity--”
“Running to our house last night.”
“Social isolation--”
“I heard from Darren it took weeks for you to actually talk to them.”
“Tics - my hands shake, my leg bounces, and on really bad days my head snaps back,” I explain at her confused look. “Holy shit, seriously, how did I not notice this sooner.”
She keeps a grounding hold on my hands and I take a deep breath. “Intense interest in a number of things--”
“Yeah that checks.”
“Artistic interests,” I say, but she looks confused. “Music.”
“No way, you sing?”
“And play guitar.”
“Wanna get married?”
I choke on air and she bursts into laughter as I try desperately to get my breath back. “Lex!”
“Kidding, kidding!” She giggles. “Sorry! Please continue.”
I give her a half-assed glare. “Poor social skills.” Alexus looks abashed and doesn’t say anything, but I give her a look. “Oh come on it’s a miracle my face hasn’t caught on fire
yet.”
She snorts and we look at each other before both collapsing into giggles. Lex manages to tumble off the bed and faceplant into the floor and a roar of laughter escapes me before I join her.
We stay on the floor for a bit, calming down, before she turns her head to look at me.
“Well my parents and brothers are all out of the house.”
“So…?” I ask, nerves exploding in my chest.
She grins. “Wanna make hot chocolate, check in with your dad, and watch some Sherlock?”
“I’m starting to reconsider that marriage thing."
She grins, and before I can do anything, soft lips make contact with the tip of my nose and she jumps to her feet. Going to start the hot cocoa and leaving me red-faced on her bedroom floor.
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