FINE LINE

“i have. and i love them.” wyatt smiled, cheeky. he knew he was absolutely, positively biased and everything, but still. sue him; he loved his boyfriend’s legs. he slid his torso off of the couch, hanging onto finn’s waist as the rest of him followed, landing in a heap that he maneuvered into finn’s lap. “you and a bunch of hormonal teenagers is a recipe for secret admirer notes. i wanna hear all about them.” finn, with his dark curly hair and bright eyes, was about to be the talk of every single lunch table filled with girls and gays. wyatt understood, though. he was in the same predicament. if they lived in an alternate universe where they’d both grown up in the same area and finn was at his school, teacher or student, he’d be one of the kids at that table daydreaming about him. “cute and hot. and smart. you’re a triple threat. they’re done for.” wyatt stayed put there, his cheek pressed against finn’s chest. it wasn’t lost on him, that finn wasn’t immediately on-board with the thought of getting them a dog. if it was something that wyatt wanted, he knew that finn would put up with it regardless. it didn’t really make him feel any better, knowing that. but he’d been sitting on the idea for a while and the longer time went on the more he was thinking that it was probably something that should happen. he could easily pay for pet insurance, he could easily pay for training, they owned a house with a yard where they didn’t have to worry about a pet deposit because it was theirs. he was his own boss and could bring a dog with him to work. hesitant, he nodded his head. “i’ve been thinking about it.” he admitted seriously, since this had gone from an idea about dog toy theft to literally getting a dog. “i think having a reason to get up and do stuff that isn’t for myself would be good for me.” he tried to stick to a schedule - he tried to give himself as little room as possible to fuck things up, but that didn’t negate the fact that sometimes he’d go a week or longer actually forcing himself to get up even just to go to the bathroom. he’d slump his way to the kitchen to pack finn lunch before he left only to give into the desire to crawl back into bed once finn was gone. it was why he was excited for his shop to open, to have something to do and things to handle. wyatt felt like sometimes he was wasting away and finn could only feed him his medication and watch, waiting for some kind of lightbulb to turn on that wyatt wasn’t entirely sure wasn’t burnt to a crisp. “i think the phantom of the opera would be much happier if hyland went out of commission. they should default on their loan.” he yawned.

wyatt snorted, tilting his head to the side in thought. “i feel like a lot of my teachers just wore polo shirts and jeans or cargo shorts.” when he thought about it, a fair majority of them had been women and well, unless finn wanted to wear a skirt to his school wyatt didn’t have that much advice. although he’d look great in a skirt, it would either make him really cool or get made fun of more than he would if he wore cargo shorts. it really just depended on the kids. “they’ll love you no matter what you’re wearing because you’re gonna be the cute young hot teacher.” he shrugged, knowing it was the truth. any and every teacher in their twenties was under the watchful eye of every student that had a crush on them when he was in school, and wyatt could admit he’d been one of those students crushing on his younger teachers. with all of the money he had he could’ve persuaded them into some real trouble if they had the inclination. “not just to commit mail theft. i just like dogs. they’re sweet.” he danced around the concept for a moment longer before finally releasing the kraken; “dr. van pelt recommended that i get one. since my anxiety is always worse when i’m alone with my thoughts for too long. but, i dunno.” the thought of having a dog was nice, and if they trained it he could literally go anywhere with it with a license. but if finn wasn’t a dog person, or any kind of pet person, he wouldn’t be upset about it. somehow, even if finn didn’t like pets, he didn’t know if finn would say no, especially considering the circumstances. wyatt rolled his eyes. “the last thing hyland needs is your money. for what? to update their near nonexistent electricity bill?” 

wyatt gave a weak smile, shrugging his shoulders. it definitely was, except a jack-in-the-box was usually at least a little bit pleasant. usually, if it wasn’t junk, everything he got in the mail was just stressful. he’d rather not open mail, but he at least wanted to make sure he wasn’t being officially subpoenaed or something. however the fuck any of that worked. his expression turned soft, leaning his cheek on his hand and watching finn crumple up the receipt. “make sure to leave some brain-space for your studies.” he joked. it wasn’t much of a joke, though; sometimes he worried that he was going to be too much, distract finn too much from studying. the whole reason he was in california in the first place was to go to school, and sure it was nice that everything worked out, but wyatt didn’t want to jeopardize what finn had worked so hard for. wyatt knew he was a lot, knew that sometimes he was time-consuming, that finn woke up every morning to make sure he got his medication, and only went to bed after dutifully checking to make sure wyatt hadn’t gotten into it while he was gone. “what makes it nice is you being here. you don’t have to think about me so much.” he’d, of course, take it. but truthfully he felt like a fish drying out in the sun when finn ignored him for too long. “we should get a dog and steal their package.” his eyes fluttered shut at the feeling of finn’s hand in his hair, lulled into comfort. “i love junk mail.” he decided. “i get to just toss it out.” 

wyatt hummed, tearing his eyes from the television screen to look at where finn was sitting on the hardwood floor. he’d never been much of a television person - not really into video games, not into books either. escapism through media hadn’t really been his thing, except now it was. he’d had one relapse, when they had first moved into the house. it’d been building up for a while, the settlement of his inheritance somehow making him feel more stressed than less, the calls from various attorneys in the case against mario asking if he’d be a witness if he wasn’t going to show up. wyatt had to state they’d have to formally subpoena him if they wanted him to talk and it made him freak out every time he checked his mailbox. he had more money than he knew what to do with and people constantly talking in his ear about what to do with it, and wyatt couldn’t hear any of it. it was like his brain turned to static. he’d stayed up for hours while finn snored quietly on his side of their mattress, and then had gotten up to go for a run to soothe his panic. he’d run hard and fast, and when he stopped at a gas station to buy a chilled water the alcohol had taunted him from a single refrigerator down. he’d grabbed a party pack of white claw and had downed it during the walk back home like a cretin. he’d had his first restful sleep since they’d moved in, no dreams or anything. he’d paid for it with a huge hangover and projectile vomiting bright and early, though. finn didn’t even seem disappointed or upset, which was the worst part. he’d just seemed worried.

so wyatt had resorted to numbing his brain with television; no thoughts, head empty. just gun-slinging, whiskey-drinking bigotry with cowboy hats and spurs. if his obsession with westerns had been bad before it was worse now. “nuh-uh.” he shook his head, turning onto his side to watch finn open the package. “opening mail gives me anxiety.” he smiled wryly. it was true, though. people ringing the doorbell made him similarly anxious. if they placed an order for pizza he would always just go pick it up instead of having it delivered. he sighed, reaching for the blanket and prying it out of finn’s hands to curl up under it. it was almost too-warm considering he was wearing a pair of sweats, but his eyes were tempted to start fluttering shut regardless. “only you would worry about how much i would like a blanket that you bought.” he pulled it off of himself to drape it over finn, shifting around on the couch. “but yeah, i like it.” he nudged finn’s head playfully. “did we get anything else?” he asked. 

“bien sûr si tu veux.” wyatt shrugged his shoulders, though he wasn’t entirely sure what the fuss was all about. he could speak french to finn fine; it wasn’t like he’d gone out of his way to speak it to finn specifically. and it was nice, that finn would do that for him. but it wasn’t really needed. they could already communicate fine in two languages, which was more than the average american, probably. realizing the way finn was looking at him like he hadn’t just made a joke made his cheeks go red. and look… sometimes when wyatt joked it was more of a promise. but they’d just started talking again the day previous. sometimes the smell of cologne triggered his fight or flight. “je ne suis pas sérieux, chérie. à moins que vous ne vouliez mais… seulement peut-être.” it was never easy for him to deny finn of anything he wanted. it was like pulling teeth. this was no different. 

wyatt pulled a face, skeptical. “it’s not a big deal, finn.” it wasn’t like when he was living in chicago with hardly twenty dollars to his name on any given day. “i hardly even go outside. i have a pretty good chunk of change i’m more than happy to spend on you.” his smile was a little wobbly, a little weak. 

finn loved his life. a few months after reuniting with wyatt the two boys moved in together, just shy of a full year of dating. finn had to break his apartment lease, which sucked because he’d spent so much money and time furnishing the tiny space, and his credit score definitely took a ding from the broken contract, but it was hard to worry or even care about the little things like that when he was now living in a gigantic california house with his very rich boyfriend, the person he’d been wanting a real future with for ages. and finn had been nervous at first, agreeing to something so huge when it constantly felt like he still needed to know more about wyatt, about what happened to him because everything still looked dark and unknown and far away ( but maybe wyatt wanted it like that ), but it was easy to get over when he turned the key into his new front door.

finn’s smile always made wyatt feel weak in the knees, like his heart was going to drop into his stomach. “i’d sure hope so. they’re neighbors.” and look, wyatt was a simple guy - he was smart, sure, but mostly good at numbers, good at art, but reading? not so much. part of the problem as that it was hard for wyatt to sit still - sometimes he’d listen to audiobooks when he worked out but he’d have to rewind them because he wasn’t paying attention. his attention span wasn’t made for reading. “i know, i know. i’m the worst. you can punish me for it later.” his smirk was accompanied by a wink. 

wyatt linked his fingers with finn’s, resting his chin on his boyfriend’s shoulder. the rim of his hat bumped into finn’s curls. “it’s okay, i’ll cover the benjamins.” he whispered, smile amused. he snooped on finn’s phone, looking at the venue for the drag show. it was pretty nice, and wyatt knew exactly where he wanted to sit, but it was probably going to be an event considering the parade was during the day. but oh well. he turned to smile into finn’s neck, shrugging his shoulders. “tu sais que je reviendrais te donner à boire, non? mais ok.” wyatt stayed put, staring out the window.

“ ...can you teach me italian ? ” finn asked suddenly, the idea falling on him. “ i wanna’ be able to speak to you the way you speak to me. ” and sure, wyatt had mentioned that he wasn’t an expert at it, but finn thought he was good, that he sounded good. it might be tough to learn--italian was closer to spanish than french and finn didn’t know a single lick of spanish, or how the language worked, but, like. he understood conjugations and shit. he could learn italian with a few months’ time and a good duolingo subscription. you can punish me for it later. the smirk. the wink. was wyatt alluding to...? no. no, there was no way. he couldn’t possibly want to--not so soon after getting back from what he got back from, surely. they were barely even kissing, hesitance and slight unfamiliarity on both sides still in the way of them completely falling back to normal. so finn’s eyes flicked between wyatt’s, trying to gauge where his head was at, what he meant. God, he was going to be embarrassed if he’d just overthought this whole thing. “ punish you ? ”

his eyebrows, seemingly, went further up into his hairline as finn’s question. because you know, that wasn’t typically a question one asked when they were learning about someone’s ethnicity. since when? it wasn’t how flabbergasted he was, rather the question itself which made him laugh. “no. i know.” he reassured, smile small. they hadn’t really ever gotten to that part. finn being french was the main point of conversation when that kind of stuff came up, and it’d been easier to indulge than divulge at that point. wyatt hadn’t deliberately kept it from him, it just really hadn’t been very relevant. “it’s really not. i talk like a yank.” his mom often told him that, but to be fair he was lacking years of practice. his siblings were probably better at it than he was, and they were turning four years old. he pulled a look at finn’s question. “finnegan, when have i ever read an obscure book that you mention?” the answer was never, but if finn wanted to talk about it wyatt would always listen. he blinked, owlishly, at the mention of park. park hadn’t even mentioned having any of his old stuff, probably because wyatt had expressed that he didn’t know what he wanted to do about the situation with finn. “hm…” he was hardly hearing what finn was saying, going in one ear and out the other as he got lost in thought. it wasn’t until silence descended between them that it even registered that finn had stopped talking, that there were no more words for wyatt to clue himself in on after following his runaway train of a thought. “maybe.” he allowed. 

“illinois? did blondie bring you all the way here?” audi asked, a perfectly covered and redrawn eyebrow raising, throwing a look at wyatt that could only be described as shade. “a typical bunch of gays. never looking around you and always having your eyes on someone you gotta jerk off with on facetime. sad.” 

wyatt had to snort and put his hand over his mouth to cover it, face beat red even though the assumption was far from the truth. he didn’t even get a chance to rebuttal before the drag queen was continuing to reply to finn’s question. “it’s less of a straight up vote and more of a tip based score, so. make sure to drop be a benjamin.” she grinned, veneers straight like something out of toddlers and tiaras. 

“noted.” wyatt stated as audi took her phone back and then promptly sent finn the address to the venue. “tu veux un verre, chérie?” he questioned, leaning out of the way of a group of teens who were eager to get a photo with audi.

“ a yank, ” finn repeated around an amused laugh. he didn’t even know what that meant—was it yankee ?—but it sounded funny either way. “ you know, france and italy really get along with each other, ” he hummed, smiling syrupy at wyatt. “ there’s this old as fuck quote that’s like, seule paris est digne de rome; seule rome est digne de paris. ” he didn’t remember where he read it from but it took on a whole new meaning for him now that he knew his boyfriend was italian. if finn ever decided to take wyatt to meet the french side of his family, he knew there wouldn’t be political and geographic beef, and thank God, because his grandfather could get really mean to foreigners. ...of course, though, finn didn’t even think that was something worth pondering about; he and wyatt had just gotten back together, and their futures were still so uncertain. they might actually break up for real, as terrible as that sounded. finn feigned offense at wyatt’s question, but he was close to laughing. “ you’re telling me you haven’t been reading all the eighteenth century hymnal books i subliminally recommend you ? dick. ” he noticed it, the way wyatt almost seemed zoned out as he brought that park might still have his old stuff, and finn bit at the inside of his cheek, unsure. he hoped he hadn’t accidentally stirred up bad memories by mentioning it.

still not used to having wyatt back, finn subconsciously reached for his hand and laced their fingers together because he missed touching him, while audi spoke. and God, did she roast them. finn immediately turned a deep pink, and he fishmouthed, clearly embarrassed. “ we do not j— ” but it was futile to try and defend themselves, and he was left feeling absolutely read. but maybe that just came with talking to a drag queen; behind the redness, finn was amused.

wyatt shrugged casually, smile soft and smitten. one of his dark eyebrows raised at finn’s question, amusement coloring his features. “finn, i’m italian.” god, how long did they know each other and finn didn’t know he was italian? it’d never come up, wyatt supposed. there was no reason for finn to know that, honestly. but still, it was a little silly. they sure went head deep into things with finn knowing next to nothing about him. it was kind of wild, when he thought about it. “yeah, my mom likes color on me, too. she took me shopping when i got here because she’d donated my clothes and she kept picking color so. i took the hint.” it was probably for the best, anyway, since wyatt knew that it got warmer in california than in chicago. it was better for his health and sanity to not live his life in black. “yeah. it’s nice, right?” it was why he’d picked the ferry to get to the parade, aside from the god-awful traffic. he placed his backpack on a table right by the window, leaning back on the booth and sticking his hands into his pockets as he watched finn with his face practically stuck to the glass. “yeah, baby.” he willingly took finn’s phone, stepping back and leveling the camera to snap a few shots, ducking around people and bending and squatting so that he could get the golden gate bridge in the shot. “vous êtes si mignon.” he said as he wandered back over, handing finn’s phone back and pressing a couple kisses to his cheek. 

“oh my god, i love your makeup.” they were interrupted by a man in full drag and his gruff and quiet (presumable) boyfriend. the only indication that he was associated was that his anime shirt had men kissing on the front. “did you do it yourself?” 

“that was me.” wyatt offered, taking a seat but half turned to where they were speaking at the table right next to them. 

“werk. happy pride!” she gave jazz hands that jingled with heavy bracelets. “you two locals?” 

“i am. it’s finn’s first time here.” wyatt turned to give finn a sneaky wink, removing his hat from his head. 

“you’re gonna have so much fun.” she leaned forward, hovering over wyatt and the quiet boyfriend as she spoke excitedly. “babe. baby, give me my phone.” the boyfriend was already handing her her phone before she could finish her sentence. “there’s a drag contest tonight and yours truly will be there - i’m audi, by the way. audi lingerie - and it’s gonna be so good you have to come, finn.” she handed her phone to him like she fully expected him to input his number.  

finn’s face immediately creased, his eyes widened slightly. “ since when ? ” and then promptly he was squeezing his eyes shut tight in embarrassment, pursing his lips in pain before continuing, “ sorry, that was so, so dumb. ” because obviously if this man was italian it came with his fucking birth. “ i’m just—i had no idea. ” the irony of them being this far along with each other yet they hadn’t once talked wyatt’s background. this was still a healthy relationship, right ? finn pushed a hand through his hair, neck slowly losing its ashamed pink tint. “ but that’s really cool. and it explains why you’re so good at speaking it. ” wyatt was trilingual. God, was he smart. “ —have you ever read confessions of an italian ? it’s a really good book. ” and finn had a copy of it in his apartment. buried under a hundred other books in one of his still unpacked boxes, yes, but he had it. “ park, um. he might still have some of your old clothes, ” finn spoke up. “ when i was moving out of my dorm i returned back all the stuff you gave me, ‘cause. you know. i thought you dumped me, so i didn’t want to keep it. and like, i don’t even know if he kept it or not. i just put everything in a box and dropped it off at your old place’s door. but in there were a lot of your clothes—hoodies, shirts, whatnot. ” a few pairs of underwear from the early days of finn spending the night and not yet having his own clothes in wyatt’s drawers. “ and there was other stuff too that he might have. art that you made me, the skateboard... —i kept the little prince copy, though, ” he admitted sheepishly. but come on, finn had one of the last few remaining signed books of the little prince, all thanks to wyatt. finn wouldn’t give that shit up even if wyatt cheated on him then dumped him. “ but yeah. point is that he might have some of your old stuff, if you want any of it. ” and maybe they were too tied to what wyatt got up to in chicago, but maybe it wasn’t that deep, either, and wyatt might want them back for the sole reason that they were some comfortable-ass hoodies. of course, though, this was all under the assumption that park didn’t throw out the box. 

finn was smiling warmly against the kisses to his cheek, wondering if he was brave enough and if he was even allowed to tip his chin up and capture wyatt’s lips in a full kiss, when they were interrupted. he looked curiously at the two people, at first confused about who’s fucking makeup she was talking about before he remembered he even had it on. makeup was scary like that: you couldn’t even feel it. 

he was quiet and initially shy as his boyfriend and the drag queen conversed, sitting next to wyatt and digging through his backpack to grab a water bottle ( california was hot ) before lifting his head up when his name was mentioned. 

“ i—yeah. i’m from illinois, so, ” he offered with a small grin, messing with the flimsy label on the bottle. 

-wyatt’s eyes shined in excitement. “that’s a good idea.” it really was, and san francisco had really fresh fish for sushi, too. he tilted his head to the side, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “of course. don’t need to thank me for that.” while he hadn’t been planning on talking to finn yet, he wasn’t going to leave him high and dry now that they were talking. maybe it would be good for him, to have someone other than park, especially considering park was going to be moving to philedelphia soon. he snorted, eyebrow going up in amusement. “well, i’d sure hope so.” did finn not realize that he was italian? truth be told, his italian wasn’t even that good. not when compared with his family who actually lived in italy and spoke italian as their first language. though he supposed that when you didn’t really know anyone that actually spoke italian it was difficult to tell. it definitely didn’t sound like it was his first language, he’d say that much. he pulled a dry look at finn’s joke, rolling his eyes playfully. to be honest though, he was used to finn stealing things out of his closet. it was hard to tell before, since most of his wardrobe had been all black and finn stealing his clothing had been like a guessing game when it came to what exactly he’d taken. “yeah… i dunno. i’m just trying to be different.” that much was true. he didn’t know how to explain it in any other way. this era was new, and he was trying to embrace the newness of it - the new nature of his life without dragging along things that reminded him too much of where he used to be at. plus, his mom liked color on him and it was hard to deny her anything when he felt guilty over everything he’d put her through over the last four years. “je t'ai chérie, ne t'inquiète pas pour ça.” he waved finn’s money away, letting the person at the gate scan his phone and dragging finn onto the dock and onboard the ferry. it was pretty packed, everyone trying to get into the city for weekend festivities. there was a little snack bar set up with people getting wine for the trip, kids getting soda and snacks. “let’s sit upstairs.” he pulled finn up the steep staircase, so that he could have a good view of the bridge as they rode across the bay. 

“today can be whatever you want it to be. it’s about you.” wyatt had already been to pride multiple times - had lived in san francisco his whole life, been handed everything he’d ever wanted on a silver platter. it wasn’t a big deal to him to put himself aside for one day and cater to whatever finn wanted. if finn decided he didn’t even want to go to the parade he wouldn’t bother. he’d take him somewhere whole in the wall, to his favorite ramen shop in japan town, to the flower conservatory, to the san francisco art institute. it didn’t matter. “no they’re not. it’s just me being silly.” hence, you know, the rootin’ tootin’ part. it was all lost on finn. wyatt was pretty sure he’d have an aneurism if he took him to a country line-dancing bar. “il tuo italiano è molto buono. dovresti fare la pasta per vivere.” he joked, even though he knew finn wouldn’t know what the fuck he was saying. he peeked out of the corner of his eye as finn stumbled over his compliment, smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “yeah?” his mom had tried to put more pink into his closet, said it would bring color to his cheeks, but he’d denied it even though she was probably right. “i like it on you, too.” they were kind of matching - it looked like they’d mixed outfits, though to be fair everything was straight from wyatt’s closet. when they pulled up to a red light he leaned over to kiss finn’s cheek, fingers going up to futilely fix finn’s windswept hair. he only turned away from looking at finn when the light turned green, whipping into the parking lot of the ferry station and rounding it to get a too-big spot for his tiny car. “prêt à partir, champignon?” he leaned back to grab his hat, placing it on his head as he stepped out of the car and grabbed his backpack from the backseat. the line to board the ferry was already moving, so he was quick to put the top of his car up and lock it, swiping through his phone as he held his hand out for finn to take. 

wyatt blinked in curiosity, peeking over finn’s shoulder to see the list. it was pretty long and he scrolled too fast for wyatt to really read any, but he got the point anyway. “well if there’s any others you see we can do while we’re out let me know.” there were at least twenty-eight items on finn’s list. he snorted, removing his hat from his head to scratch at his scalp before placing it under his seat so it wouldn’t fly off with the top of his car open. “i feel like you’ve told me that before.” wyatt couldn’t remember if the people working that bakery were really french, or if they were nice, but in the grande scheme of things they saw so many different people every day it probably didn’t really matter to them. “i’m a cowboy lookin’ for a good time, sweet thing.” the accent stuck, if only because finn’s face told everything and nothing about how he felt about it. “his name is luigi? hanno chiamato una fiat luigi anche se non è verde? l'audacia assoluta.” he did his best imitation of his extended family, italian hands and all. “it’s fucking small but it’s easy to park in the city, so.” he wasn’t too upset about it. he turned the engine on, reaching over finn’s lap to move the seat back as far as it could go before looping his arm around finn’s seat so he could look back and pull out of the drive, leaving it there as he took his shades out of the center compartment and placing them on his face before taking off down the street towards the ferry station. 

wyatt felt like he couldn’t breathe for a moment, finn’s excitement making him feel elated. this is the version of his life he’d wanted since meeting finn; nothing about chicago constantly hanging over their heads, able to do something to make finn happy that wasn’t just a good fuck and a bar of chocolate. granted, finn had seemed perfectly content with those things and hadn’t asked for anything more from him, but still. this new brand of happiness on finn’s face made his cheeks feel hot, made him eager. “it’s fun. i think you’ll like it.” the ferry was a little novel, yeah, but finn deserved to see the bay, and the golden gate bridge with a view from the water. 

wyatt snorted, nose scrunched up in amusement. “guess we’ll be speaking french when we get there and see what happens.” not that wyatt had any problem buying stuff for finn, but it’d still be pretty funny - that finn actively wanted to get free stuff. but it was alright; the shops on market street were always bustling and busy, they wouldn’t miss anything from giving finn a free chocolate croissant or something. “bien sûr chéri.” he waited for finn to leave before closing the door and rummaging through his many keys, eyebrows high as he fumbled before finally locking it, smile tickled. “nah. i’m just a rootin’ tootin’ cowboy looking for a rollicking time, darlin’.” his imitation of a country accent was incredibly pristine in a way that made it obvious that he’d been watching way too many westerns. he unlocked his car, watching finn pause to take a photo of the way the sun was rising on the other side of the bay. he leaned in to stick his key into the ignition and roll the top down, turning to look back at his tiny car. “yeah. my parents gifted it to me so i can go to my appointments and stuff.” they thought it’d be inconspicuous, but it didn’t even matter anymore because the press knew his license plate. 

“yeah.” wyatt was very busily throwing things into his backpack without much thought or organization; sunscreen, more makeup, makeup remover, chapstick, antibacterial wipes, more sunscreen, a change of clothes… “they close down streets for the parade so it’s gonna be fucking awful driving into the city right now.” and it was already pretty bad during the working day and during an event like this it was going to be ten times worse. they didn’t need to sit in 3 hour traffic for a thirty minute drive. he hauled his backpack over his shoulders, about to make his way down the steps before backtracking and grabbing his phone, struggling to get the case off and putting one on that charged his phone. and then he grabbed finn’s hand and pulled him downstairs, a frenzy as he packed water and some of the twins snacks into the backpack. “we’ll get you all the ice cream you want, baby. and there’s this french bakery we can stop at right when we get off the ferry that you might like.” his parents had, quite frankly, given him way too much money for him to be a glorified babysitter that was on the mend from a binge. but he wasn’t going to question it too much - part of telling finn about that was to keep himself accountable, because if finn didn’t know he probably wouldn’t stop him from doing anything for the sake of having fun. he pushed the train of thought out of his head faster than it had entered - he was in a good mood, he didn’t need to ruin it by thinking about any of that. “if we follow the end of the parade there’s usually a party, and it crosses the sidewalk you’re talking about. we can stop and take pictures if you want.” he smiled, grabbing his vape and his keys from the keyring, and placing his cowboy hat on his head. “allons-y, champignon.” he peeked through the peephole in the door before opening it for his boyfriend. 

a ferry. they were going to be taking a ferry because the streets were closed for the parade. what the fuck. “ wyatt, ” finn chuckled at his boyfriend in wonder, his eyes wide and sparkly with newfound excitement and anticipation, “ you’re saying all of this too casually. we’re going on a ferry ! ” and maybe the other boy had done this song and dance before and that’s why he was able to talk about it like they were getting an uber, but finn had never been on a ferry, he’d never been to any sort of parade, and he was experiencing all of this in a new state he’d just moved to. was he still nervous and anxious as hell ? absolutely, but the nerves were starting to meet the butterflies. he watched wyatt move about in a rush, and for a moment, finn smiled to himself.

wyatt was back. he was with wyatt again. and now they were going to spend the day together.

wyatt didn’t really know how to feel, didn’t really know how to begin processing any of these new developments. he was overwhelmed, which was the long and the short of it. his eyes began to drift shut as finn’s fingers ran through his hair, and god he’d missed this. he’d missed finn’s hands in his hair, the baritone of his humming vibrating against wyatt’s ear, the feeling of his curls tickling his forehead. he felt at home, and safe, and the fear of finn’s rejection was, for now at least, gone from his mind. he was too tired to cry hard, but his eyes were wet as he fell asleep. 

it was a sunny, clear day in san francisco, and wyatt was feeling inspired. his parents had left with the twins to get away from the city for the weekend, because pride always made the traffic ten times worse than it already was, and wyatt had forced himself and finn up early so that they could make the parade. at the current moment, he was perched on top of finn’s lap, leaning over him on the bed so that he could do his rainbow makeup as promised. he was just finishing up the eyeshadow on his last eye when he pulled back to survey his work, using his pinky to straighten out the lines on the edges before smiling down at finn. “there.” he picked up a small fluffy brush and dug into the highlighter, using it to make the highs of finn’s already high cheekbones more prominent, as if he hadn’t done so already, getting a little overzealous. the look was very contrasting the rough southern accents of jeff bridges and matt damon on screen, true grit truly not doing anything to set the mood. but wyatt was happy anyway. “we have to get going,” he took finn’s cheeks in his hands, kissing all over his face, over the colors, “or we’re gonna miss the ferry…” and then he kissed finn on the lips, light and lingering at first, and then full of everything - before rolling off of the bed and pulling on the blue button down he’d taken the time to iron when he woke up. that was the problem with wearing light colors; it was especially obvious when there were wrinkles in them. he rolled the sleeves but hardly, most of his tattoos hidden, and jammed his feet into his sneakers as he peered out the window. “you sure your converse will be okay? we’re mostly walking today.” he might pack a pair of filas in his backpack just in case. in fact, he was doing so even as he was talking to finn. unlike the day prior he took his meds as soon as he’d woken up, had some espresso from marc’s fancy machine. he was on cloud nine, elated on an upswing and feeling none of the weird energy he’d been sucking up the day before.

the corner of wyatt’s lips quirked upwards. “nah. our noses are pretty similar.” it was their mom’s nose, even if you couldn’t tell anymore because of the work she’d had done. he could see it in photos of her from when she was younger, before she’d gotten scouted for modeling and even through her first few print jobs. “they definitely have their dad’s brows though.” wyatt’s were full and intense like his own dad’s, ironically enough. he was glad for them, though - blessed without the curse of a blonde with see-through eyebrows, no matter how much they reminded him of kane brady. “well, i’m going to apologize anyways.” he was probably going to keep apologizing because he didn’t really know what else to do. wyatt didn’t know if he even had the capacity to break it all down for finn and he didn’t want to put it on him all at once, either. it was too much for wyatt, it would be too much for finn. he knew he’d have to say some of it at some point, sooner rather than later. but he just wanted to enjoy being in finn’s company without all of that, at least for a little while. it was obvious to him, as it always was, that finn was anxious. wyatt didn’t really blame him, because he was a little bit, too. but it wasn’t a bad kind of anxious. forcing himself through it, searching through the comfort of the familiarity, he rolled over onto his side and scooted in closer, lifting finn’s arm so that he could press into his side and tuck his head up into finn’s armpit. he smelled sweaty like a game day, the tell-tale smell of his deodorant filling his nose as he looped finn’s arm around him and held on. he was unwilling to let go. “ ‘ts okay.” he reassured, already groggy.