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Chapter 10: Fully Empty

Finn's POV

Oliver and I walked through the almost empty school grounds in complete and surprisingly unawkward silence. It was Friday and school was finished. I haven't told Oliver what we were about to do but I did tell him to come with me and thankfully, he did. I didn't expect him to, especially since he tend to stay away from me recently for obvious reasons, but this was one time we had to stray from the usual.

"So... Are you gonna give me a hint on where we're going?" He asked out of the blue.

"Well..." I trailed off once we reached the gates of the school. I looked around and my dad's car was nowhere to be seen.

"Well?"

I bit my lip absentmindedly before looking at him again.

"Uh... You're meeting my dad." I admitted sheepishly.

His eyebrows shot up and his cheeks turned pink for a moment.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? You know, the first interaction we had wasn't really the best." 

"He's actually the one who suggested it." 

He gripped the strap of his backpack and fiddled with it for a second, his blond hair playing in the wind before nodding with a smile. Just as we finished talking, I saw my dad's car in the distance.

"Oh, he's here." I announced which made Oliver look at where my dad has pulled over. 

I could sense Oliver's nervousness from the way he was fiddling with a lint on his shirt and from how he was fiddling with his bag straps.

"Don't be nervous, he doesn't bite... I think." I joked to which he laughed.

The driver's door opened and my dad came out, wearing his usual work attire, long sleeved-polo shirt and a black tie. I gave him a one armed hug as he looked over at Oliver.

"Hello, Mr. Vasco. I'm Oliver." He introduced himself with a polite nod.

My dad looked at me again, his eyes squinted before he looked at Oliver again.

"I'm Rick." He said simply, his stern look slowly dissipating. "I want you to join us dine, Oliver, I hope that's alright with your schedule." 

"Totally! That's no problem." 

My dad smiled slightly before getting in the car.

. . .

After we were seated in the restaurant my dad picked and ordering, we started talking about whatever topic had its chance to come across our conversation until it was finally about me.

"So. How did you and Finn meet?"

"It was actually-"

"I wasn't talking to you, Finn. Let him speak."

I mimed zipping my mouth and looked out the window that was near our seats but my ears were still listening to what Oliver will answer to that question.

"Uh. I actually introduced myself to him during lunch and then we just clicked after." Oliver said carefully, his voice surprisingly gentle.

My dad nodded silently, he looked at me which made me look at him and before it got unnecessarily awkward, I raised my eyebrows curiously at him.

"Mhm, and you two have spent a lot of time together?"

"Yes, sir." Oliver answered.

The atmosphere was, dare I say, awkward, so I just looked out the window to distract myself. 

"So, what do you do?" My dad asked as he stared Oliver down.

"I, uh, play football, but in my free time, I play the piano." 

My eyebrows shot up from that, I can't believe I'd learn something about Oliver from this little meeting my dad arranged. I thought he would just be interrogating him but in a way, he still is. 

My dad gave me a side eye to which I returned curiously. 

"Hm... What do you think about my son?" He suddenly asked Oliver.

My eyes widened, as I fully turned my head to face my dad who just asked, undeniably, the most embarrassing question of all time. Now I'm gonna look like the most self important person by just being there.

"Dad, why would you ask that..."

"I just wanna hear what he thinks about you. I can't ask that now?"

"No, it's... embarrassing." I grimaced, sinking back into my seat painfully.

My dad miraculously noticed the discomfort on my face which caused him to clear his throat.

"Uh, excuse me, I'll be right back." He said, standing up and leaving Oliver and I at the table in an awkward silence.

Our eyes met and it urged me to say something. "I'm so sorry about my dad, I know he's giving you a hard time..." I said sympathetically.

He shook his head with a slight chuckle. "No, it's fine. It's nothing I can't handle. I'm just confused... why he suggested to meet me, he doesn't like me, last I remember." 

From his question, my mind suddenly raced faster than it already was before. I had told my dad about my infatuation with him. So did he deserve to know? Did he deserve to know that I told my dad about our complicated situation?

I looked at Oliver and realized that he had been staring at me. The moment I caught him, he looked away subtly. I was about to tell him the real reason when my dad came back. He sat back down, adjusting his glasses.

"Uh, I would just like to apologize to you, Oliver. I know I have been incredibly harsh and that's only because I'm overprotective of Finn. But I didn't realize I've been affecting both of you." 

I was completely surprised by my dad's sudden apology. He wasn't the type to apologize in public and especially, to anyone he didn't know. I couldn't help but smile proudly at him, like I was the dad. 

"No! It's totally fine, sir. I'm fine with opening up about myself. Even... what I think about Finn." 

I felt heat crawl up my cheeks from his statement. I hid my face with the collar of my jacket subtly to hide the furious tomato situation that was occurring on my face. Oliver smirked at me while my dad looked back and forth between us.

"Well?" My dad asked, gesturing for Oliver to continue. 

"Finn is... to put it poetically, he's like a breathe of fresh air after being enclosed in a water tank, not only that but also the key to that said tank, I know it seems cheesy and it is, but it's true. But, basically, he's not like other people I've met, he's very very different... and I mean it in a good way." 

He's right, that was so cheesy. But that had no business being so damn cute.

My eyebrows were up my forehead from that little speech of his for me.

"You really think that?" I asked in disbelief. 

He nodded with a genuine smile, not the usual flirty or mischievous smirk that he had.

My dad sat back in his chair, a satisfied look on his face. "Well, that's good. Thank you for being honest." He said before the waitress interrupted us by serving our food.

. . .

"I don't think I could look at another plate of food or I will throw up." I said, my head on the table as I rubbed my full stomach. 

"Well, mind if I talk to Oliver for a while more?" My dad asked.

"I have a feeling my answer doesn't matter." I joked which caused him to chuckle.

Oliver finally came back from the bathroom, his hair slicked back and wet, making him look more attractive. 

"Hey, Finn. I think you need to go to the bathroom." My dad said, nudging me with his elbow.

I gave him a confused look. "Huh, but I-" I stopped once I saw his face. I looked at Oliver who was also looking back and forth between us, then back to my dad... before standing up and leaving the two of them alone. 

Once I was done with my business, I washed my hands through the running water, looking at myself in the mirror as people passed by behind me. My thoughts ran miles and miles as I wondered what my dad and Oliver might be talking about. Guy stuff? Straight stuff? Oliver's not straight though. Me? My dad liked to bring me up a lot, especially since he knows that I liked Oliver. Just hopefully, he isn't embarrassing me.

Just as I looked up at the mirror, I suddenly saw a familiar guy beside me.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The guy asked all of a sudden as if he had forgotten we were in a public restroom.

"This is a public bathroom, Chad. You know, every single time we interact, you prove to me your brain is smaller than what I think it is. Peanut head." I said, mocking him daringly as if I had also forgotten that he did have the ability to just kill me right then and there.

He took a step forward when he suddenly realized that we were, in fact, in a public restroom and he can't hurt me without being seen by anyone. But still, that didn't stop him from grabbing my wrist tightly.

"Don't you get witty with me, f-g. You're dead once you step foot tomorrow at school."

I leaned towards him, catching him off guard. "Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try, I know you're gay too. I can practically smell the gayness off of you. Don't you think the Lancaster News would eat that up?" I teased, smirking in the process.

I didn't know where I got my confidence from, and I knew I was gonna regret it. 

Chad let me go, awkwardly clearing his throat.

"You better fucking stay away from me and Oliver or else, I won't hold back next time." He threatened before leaving the bathroom."

I reiterated his statement with a deep and mocking voice as I finished wiping my hands. But to be frank, I was scared. I mocked him to death. Men hate being bested at anything, and a verbal battle isn't anything different. Sometimes I just wish my mouth had a zip, it often puts me into predicaments that I can't even defend myself from. 

One unanswered question was 'Why was he at the same restaurant with us?'. It might very well be a possibility that he saw Oliver enter our car and he might have followed us into the restaurant, or he just happened to be in the same place as us at the same time. Regardless, I knew he wasn't gonna hold back the next time he gets me alone. So I was truly debating of telling Oliver that Chad and I had an interaction and he had threatened to basically ruin me the next time he sees me, so that he can be around me and Chad can't do whatever he promised anymore or if I should just simply stay silent. 

I arrived at our table again to see Oliver and my dad locked in a conversation. I sat back down and cleared my throat, gaining both of their attention.

"Perfect, we can leave now." My dad announced, standing up in the process.

"Actually, sir. I kind of want to talk to Finn first." 

He narrowed his eyes at Oliver, then to me, before nodding reluctantly. "Well, if you're done, meet me outside." 

Before he left, he spent the effort to ruffle my hair and give me a one-armed hug. Once he was absent, I looked at Oliver just to see him smiling at me.

"What?" 

"Nothing. It's just you and your dad's relationship is adorable." He said with a chuckle before it quickly faded. "Anyway, how would you explain that." He pointed at my wrist.

I looked down, confused but then I suddenly wasn't confused anymore as my eyes glided across my wrist that was reddening.

"Uh... well, I-"

"Finn, please, don't lie to me. I want to know the truth." He said, before unexpectedly grabbing my hand. 

I sighed dejectedly, but Oliver's hands holding mine were enough to calm me down.

"It's Chad, we saw each other in the bathroom?"

His eyebrows shot up. He then quickly led the two of us into the corner of the restaurant where there were less people. 

"He's here?" He started looking around the restaurant... which was full of people minding their own business.

"Well, hopefully not. He'll see us holding hands, you know that guy hates Chromatica Oreo infested males." I joked but Oliver was not amused. 

"I'll kill him." He said in such a low voice, almost a growl and it honestly surprised me.

"Oh my God. Calm down. It's not that serious." I whispered urgently to him, acting like we were in a movie.  

He furrowed his brows at me. "But it is serious, Finn. You're getting harassed, and I'm not allowing that to happen." He vowed, his eyes softening for a moment.

"Maybe we should just stay out of it and report it to the school if it happens at school again."

He sighed. "I guess... but I still wanna make sure you're fine."

"Oliver, I..." I trailed of as I realized how close we've become, his face inches from mine. I cleared my throat and shook off his hold on my hand. 

"Oh, I'm sorry." He said as he realized the position we were in.

"Um... It's fine." I said, looking away to avoid eye contact with him.

I heard him sigh before breaking the awkward silence that have decided to place itself between us. "Well, I'm sure your dad is waiting, so I think we should go."

I nodded simply as a response before following him out of the restaurant. Feeling full of food...

But feeling empty inside. 

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