Chapter Text
Finney glared up at the building like it personally did him something wrong. Bruce still kept a tight grip on him as if he was going to make a run for it.
Arellano's Books and Charms
"Shouldn't you be..I don't know ..holding your boyfriends hand?" Finney questioned Bruce.
Bruce turned to him and gave him one of his golden smiles. "Just tryna make sure you don't run off."
He only did that one time! And he had a good reason for it anyway. (He didn't)
Finney thought that they were just gonna hang out at the park. But Bruce brought up the new book store that just opened nearby and of course Vance agreed. And Griffin wanted to go for some reason too.
Finney on the other hand...he did not.
He didn't feel like wasting his Saturday at some book store. Finney wasn't a reader. He hated reading. The only thing that piqued his interests was space books, and that hardly counted honestly.
Finney didn't like sitting around flipping through pages of words. He thought most books were boring and none really caught his eye.
So what the hell was he supposed to do at a book store. He might as well be home. They could just swap him out with Gwen honestly.
Finney huffed and whined as Bruce started dragging him towards the door. Griffin was just dying of laughter the whole time.
"It's not like the books are gonna fucking eat you." Vance spoke up because of course he had to.
"Shut up! You only agreed because you're like a massive simp."
Vance definitely looked unimpressed. He quickly opened the door and held his hand out. Finney got flashbacks back to when he held that door open for the cops back in the eighth grade.
Bruce had finally let go of him when they all made it inside. Vance let the door close and a bell sound rung out. R&B music was playing and Griffin started moving his head to it as he made his way to a certain section.
Even though he didn't want to be here, Finney had to admit that the vibe of the place was pretty nice. The look of the place was the typical brown look of most book places. There were shelves with labels aligned with many books. And there were some shelves with jewelry on it. Earrings, rings, bracelets, and necklaces.
"Guess that's where the charm part comes from." Finney mumbled.
"What?"
Finney jumped. "Nothing. How long are we gonna be here for?"
Vance rolled his eyes. "As ever long as we fucking want."
Bruce gave a warning look to Vance before turning back to Finney. "Look just..try to find something. You never know Finney. And plus, I think they have a science section. "
Once Bruce finished he grabbed Vance's hand and lead the two to another section. Finney sighed before looking around for the science section and heading over there.
He tried browsing it but he really didn't want to be here so he didn't put that much heart into it. Finney put a book back down and moved his attention to the shelves decorated with jewelry.
Finney was actually really impressed. A lot of the jewelry looked really well made and was actually really pretty. There was a bracelet with different constellations on it. And not just the basic ones either. Finney considered buying it and this other one for Gwen. He wonders where the store got it from.
Finney continued humming to the music. He decided to look up to where the counter was and nearly dropped the bracelets in his hands.
The man that was standing there was gone, now replaced with a boy his age. Long hair, bandana holding it back, and one singular earring dangling from his ear of a knife.
Finney thought he was the prettiest boy ever. No, the prettiest person ever. He didn't even realize he was staring until a small hand waved back and forth infront of his face.
"Helllloooour? Earth to Finney Blake?"
Griffin then began snapping his fingers and Finney snapped out of it and slapped the boys hand away. "What the heck?"
"What the heck to you! What the hell are you staring at?" Griffin asked before turning around to the same direction Finney was just looking at. The boy squinted before letting out a loud gasp.
"You're so fucking gay! Oh my fucking GOD!"
Finney quickly turned Griffin around and put a hand on his mouth. "SHUT up Griffin. Jesus Christ."
Griffin smirked and Finney quickly retracted his hand before the shorter could strike. "You like him oh my god. You were totally staring at him"
"No I wasn't!"
"Was too!"
Finney shook his head. "I was..I was looking at the jewelry display on the counter." He explained.
Griffin blinked before giving a innocent smile. "Oh really? Well since you're sooo interested in them, let's go look at them!"
Before Finney could protest, the boy was dragging him over to the counter. Finney had no chance to run before the pretty boy looked up from a book.
"Yes? Need anything?" Pretty boy asked.
Griffin cleared his throat. "My friend here had some questions about the charms in here." The pretty boy behind the counter seemed to perk up at this.
"Um..yeah." Finney said awkwardly. He internally facepalmed.
"Well! I'll just leave yall to it." Grififn says before walking off quickly.
Finney watched him leave with a glare on his face before turning back to the pretty boy. He hoped he didn't look like a mess. Wait did he look like a mess? Did he look alright or-
"So you had a question?" Pretty boy spoke up.
"Uh yeah um I was just wondering where do they come from? They're beautifully made." Finney decided to ask. He was wondering that. Might as well ask it.
Pretty boy gave him a smile and Finney swore he fell in love right then and there. "Actually I made them."
Finney looked surprised. "Really?" He questioned with a bit of aw in his voice. Pretty boy nodded and seemed a little flustered.
"Yeah I make them all. It's one of my big hobbies."
"Really?" Okay now Finney was really starting to sound like a broken record. He spoke up again. "That's just so cool. They all look so nice and expensive honestly."
Pretty boy laughed. "Gracias por los cumplidos. If it wasn't for my uncle you probably wouldn't even be seeing them."
"So he owns the store?"
"Yep. And I'm lucky enough he supports my hobby because he allows me to sell them here. As long as I help out though." Pretty boy explained.
Finney smiled. "That's really nice of him. I'm glad he did it anyway. Your work is too beautiful to not be in a store."
"Eres demasiado amable." Pretty boy said ducking his head. "You're too kind. Did any of them catch your eye?"
With a nod, Finney held out his hand to show the two bracelets. The one with the rare constellations and another one that spelt out lesbian.
"Stars and lesbian huh?"
Finney laughed. "The stars are for me and the lesbian one is for my sister. She is definitely gonna love it."
"So did you pick it because it was pretty or do you know the constellations?"
"Because of the constellations. I'm a big space nerd. The rare ones definitely caught my eye. You'll usually see ones with the big dipper on it or something."
Pretty boy laughed and Finney couldn't help the smile that grew on his face. "Well I'm glad you liked that little detail. I honestly had to search them up and I still can't remeber half the ones on there."
"Well I can tell you about them if you like?" Finney hesitantly asked. He didn't wanna go all space nerd and make a fool of himself but he couldn't pass up the opportunity.
Pretty boy grinned before leaning across the counter. The knife earring moving with him and Finney couldn't help but watch.
"Sure. Tell me about the stars."
And so Finney did. The other boy listening along attentively. Asking questions and nodding. In return, pretty boy explained to him how he came up with the idea and the process of it. There were pauses in between when pretty boy had to ring up some costumers stuff. Other than that, conversation went smoothly between them.
Finney didn't even realize when his friends appeared at the counter.
And they all had shit eating grins on their faces.
"My bad guys let me ring those up for you." Pretty boy says as he moved back to the center of the counter.
"So..Finney..are you ready to go?" Bruce asked amused.
"I mean..you guys are my ride." Finney said slowly. Vance coughed and Griffin looked seconds away from laughing.
Pretty boy finished ringing the stuff up and told Bruce his total. It was then Griffins turn, and once that was finished pretty boy turned towards him.
"Huh?"
Pretty boy laughed. "The bracelets?"
"Oh! Yeah um yeah I totally forgot." Finney said as he scooted over to be right in front. He heard Griffin snort so he threw his foot back and kicked him in the knee.
Or at least he thinks he kicked Griffin in the knee. He heard Bruce say ow.
"That will be eight dollars and twenty-five cents." Pretty boy said. Finney quickly pulled his money out and handed it over. He listened as the other boy hummed along as he got Finneys change together.
"Here ya go. Hopefully next time you'll get a book too?"
Finney snorted. "Very unlikely. But maybe you can help me out with that? Next time?"
Pretty boy smiled. "Definitely. Have a good day Finn."
Finney smiled and he hoped it didn't look too dopey. "Yeah." He said breathlessly. "You too."
Finney walked off with a giant ass smile on his face. He had nearly forgotten about his friends.
Nearly though.
"Finney fucking Blake has fucking rizz?" Vance teased before basically cackling.
Bruce giggled. "Seems you did find someone you liked in there Finney."
"Don't you mean Finn." Griffin cooed. "Finney and book boy sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes-"
"Can you guys shut up we're not even two feet away from the door!" Finney yelled.
The other three just laughed.
"Sorry Finn. We'll be more quiet."
Vance snorted. " Yeah. Finn."
Finney groaned before gasping. He paused and the other three boys did too.
"What?" Griffin asked.
"I didn't even get his name!"