run faster.

      Finn wasn’t exactly comfortable with the whole Ibiza trip. Mostly because he couldn’t take his shirt off without people staring at his scars. So he was sitting there, sweating through his black shirt whenever he didn’t manage to get a seat in the shadow. Right now he did though, while munching on some fruit she had ordered for them. “Yeah, it tastes much better.” He caught the berry she threw at him, a grin on his lips as he ate it. “Is that your idea? Truth or dare? Are we sixteen again?” He shook his head a little, still grinning. “Dare.”

      “I know that. But I want to.” There wasn’t much joy in Finn’s life anymore. He felt lost, without his dream and pursuing an education he never wanted. The only thing he did have was more money than he could spend, so why not invite a friend out for coffee? it was the least he could do, and it made him a little bit happier, and if only for a short while. His order was a black tea with lemon -- he’d given up on coffee during his racing days. It had been energy drinks all the way, but he was trying to cut down on those now too. He also ordered a cheesecake cupcake, his guilty pleasure. Then he let his eyes travel through the café while he waited for his card to register the payment. “Should we take a seat by the window over there?” He gestured towards a free table before accepting their order, handing the chai and scone over to Lane before picking up his own. “This smells delicious, by the way.”

      “It’s just a phone. You can get a new one.” Finn wasn’t particularly attached to his phone. It was just a materialistic piece of technology. And lately it had held nothing but bad news for him anyway, maybe he’d be better off without a phone altogether. At least for a little while. Her words caused him to roll his eyes, but there was a small smirk on his lips before he took a step closer. “Has anyone ever tol. dyouthat you’re a bit dramatic?” It was a joke, spoken light-heartedly before he cast a look at the phone in the palm of her hand. And he had to admit -- he was almost a bit disappointed. “Well, you can look. It’s fine. Not even a smudge on the display.”

      Finn forced a laugh to fall from his lips at those words. He couldn’t show that something was wrong, he never could. He’d been raised to hold a perfect facade, and it wasn’t about to crumble now that he had to give up on his dream and return to Rye. “Yeah, right?” A phrase that was said just to say something, not to entice an answer or express anything but uncertainty. “I’m sure. 100% sure. You can have it.” He held the pizza out again and grinned. “Come on, take it off my hands before the rats come and get it.”

      Finn knew how to model for someone. He’d been in front of a camera before, more than once, mostly for photos for the sport he’d participated in so passionately, but there had been one or two campaigns for fashion as well. This was not that though, he couldn’t help but just stare in confusion, unsure what the guy actually wanted from him. That he cast a shadow? Or that he was actually part of whatever he was doing there? “I looked perfect? Not the first time I’ve heard that but not in this sort of situation,” he clarified, the question mark still written all over his face. “Don’t really have anywhere to go.” He did have a class to go to actually, but he wasn’t in the mood. “But are you going to tell me what you’re doing there first?”

    “Who cares about the case?” Finn had to laugh about her comment. It was a sleek black case, something one could find in any store or online shop. He folded his arms in front of his chest, then shrugged his shoulders. “Well, since you bet it’s fine, I have to bet it’s not, right? I say the screen is broken.” Gesturing with one hand towards the phone, he smiled at her. “Do you want to do the honors of picking it up?”

    He wasn’t as quick as her, but Lane’s enthusiasm was enough to put a smile on Finn’s lips and make him laugh. It was a rarity these days. He had turned from a positive, constantly grinning man into a grumpy pessimist. Smiling wasn’t his daily business anymore. “I’m sure we can get one of those things for you, if not both.” Finn winked at her before he followed her lead, the short way towards the café was quickly conquered. He pushed the door open, gesturing door Lane to go inside first. “It’s my treat, you can get what you want.”

      Finn was incredibly competitive. Maybe not as much as he used to be, but it was in the DNA of every race driver. You couldn’t compete in motorsports if you didn’t want to win, and that sort of just outstretched to the rest of his life. Every single aspect of it. And that was why he couldn’t really say no to the offer of a bet either, no matter how stupid it all was. Any outstanding person would think they were crazy -- and hey, maybe they were. But wasn’t everyone a little bit crazy? “Alright, I’m in. Loser pays for lunch.”

    Finn shrugged his shoulders, not really in the mood to explain why he didn’t want the pizza. It just happened sometimes, ever since his accident. Maybe because of the meds. Halfway through a meal he lost al his appetite. It happened all the time. “None of that. It’s a perfectly good pizza,” he pointed out with a crooked smile. “Guess I’ve already eaten too much today, I just can’t eat anymore.”

      There were very few things that could bring Finn joy now that he had returned to Rye despite thinking he‘d never have to step another foot onto this campus ever again. But seeing his former roommate was definitely one of them. A small smile bloomed on his lips — nothing compared to the smile he used to wear, but close enough. He was pulled into a hug he hadn‘t fully expected, and the clap on his shoulder rippled through his whole body, caused a stinging pain in his lower back that he smiled away. Finn returned the hug before pulling sway slightly. “You and me both man,” he agreed, his smile now more forced. “But I guess now I need a proper education.” A lame, almost bitter, joke. “How’ve you been?”

     “You want pizza instead?” Most days, Finn didn’t actually have a proper appetite. Not anymore. He figured it came with the whole losing his dream, but today he had been starving for once. And then he would not satiate his hunger with the bad dining hall food. He’d ordered pizza, but halfway through, he felt stuffed. Now he offered the pizza box, lid open to reveal the inside. “I don’t want it anymore but I don’t want to throw it away.”

     “Yeah,” Finn simply said, because he thought it was kind of her fault. Maybe it was better if the phone was broken — it would mean he could catch a break. Affording a new one wouldn’t be a problem, so her offer was one he waved off with a shake of his head. “It’s fine, I can get a new one if it’s broken.” What were the chances? The stupid glass display was as vulnerable as a dream. “A bet?” And now he had to laugh, because that was so damn surreal. “You want to bet whether it’s broken or not? What would the winner get?”

    Lane’s reply was enough to put a crooked smile on Finn’s lips. His appetite was a funky thing ever since his accident, but letting that show to his surroundings was not something he could do — people would notice, then worry, and annoy him in the end. “You’re right, why did I even ask?”, he teased. “Coffee sounds amazing right now.” Getting up from his seat, Finn offered her a hand to pull her up. “Let’s go before the best pastries are gone.”

     “Are you kiddin--” Finn didn’t get to finish the sentence. His body collided with a lighter one, his hand didn’t manage to grasp his phone tighter in time, and it shattered to the floor with the display down. “For fuck’s sake,” he cursed under his breath, before looking up at the young woman standing before him who he had just managed to run into. Maybe if he hadn’t been so wrapped up in being told what his archenemy on the track was up to, he would have actually looked where he was going. But he couldn’t bring himself to do more than groan. “Sorry,” he mumbled, before staring down at his phone once more. Maybe he should just let it lie there. “Hope you didn’t drop anything.”

      “I hate having to sit in that stupid classroom all day. It makes you all stiff.” Finn dropped down onto the seat next to Lane, crossing his arms over his chest. Of course, it was quite the change -- from sculpting his body to the extreme of driving a motor race to this. And the leftovers of his injuries didn’t exactly help with the general stiffness that seemed to sit in his muscles. But if Finn was one thing nowadays, it was pessimistic, and spiteful of the life he now had to lead in contrast to the one he dreamt of. Turning his head in Lane’s direction, he tried a smile. “Are you hungry? Do you want to go somewhere to eat?”

      Finn had promised himself not to do this again. It was hard enough to return to Rye and pretend as if he hadn‘t lived another, much better, life. But to read up on the successes of his worst enemies just made it all so much worse. Phone in hand, he balled his hand into a fist without realizing that he‘d stopped dead in his tracks. Not until a voice cut through to him. Confused, he looked up and at the other. “What? So should I stay or go? Make up your mind man.”