Rediscovered Ch. 01

"You home, bro?" I asked as soon as he picked up the phone.

"Yeah, what's up man?" I heard his ever joyous voice.

"Can I crash at your place tonight?"

He went silent for a while, as if he knew exactly what was going on.

"Sure thing."

I was there fifteen minutes later. The sun had just set, shrouding the apartment with an eerie glow that coincidentally mirrored my mood at that very moment. Finn must have noticed my long face and gave me a silent pat on the shoulder. The genuine smile didn't leave his face, but I noticed he was worried. I must admit his reassurance made me feel slightly better.

"Come on in, sorry for the mess, but you kinda surprised me." He broke the silence, scooping me into his room with his outstretched arm. And boy, he meant it.

"The fuck... devil went through here or what? " I teased him, trying hard not to step on the clothes scattered all over the floor.

"Shut up" he laughed. I sat down on a chair by the desk, which also had a mound of junk on top of it, while Finn started picking up his stuff and shoving it into the wardrobe. I decided not to comment on that cleaning method and just watched him in silence.

I met Finn five years ago when I moved from my hometown to the big city. I didn't really know anyone at that time and due to my own mental issues didn't really feel like making friends either. Fate, however, decided to cross our paths when one cold morning I got hit by a car on my way to work. The jerk who caused the accident just drove away and Finn was the only one who actually bothered to help me. I was lucky enough to get away with a concussion only.

And that's how my friendship with Finn started. Later I learned that he lived pretty close to me, so we hanged out every once in a while and I must say that if not for him, I'd probably be locked up in my room alone for the past five years. Because of him, I started to go out more, made some more friends and eventually a girlfriend...

"So, it's Amy, isn't it?" his voice snapped me out of my reverie. And at the sound of that name I felt needles in my chest.

"Yah. You were right." I replied, looking down.

"Fucking slut... Hey, you can stay here as long as you want to, bro." He came closer to pat me on the shoulder again. I looked at him.

"Thanks, Finn... although I don't think James would appreciate me hogging your couch."

"Bro, have you seen my bed?" he laughed "I bet all three of us could fit in there together and there would still be some room left. Besides, James is in Seattle and he isn't coming back today, so you don't need to worry about him now."

Finn stormed out of the room suddenly, only to return with two glasses and a bottle of whiskey, some irish brand I didn't recognize.

"So, what do you say, sir? A sip and a little talk shall make you feel better." he said.

I smiled at how dorky he was.

Soon, I told him the whole story of how my relationship with Amy had been falling apart for the last three months. We grew cold towards each other and even though we lived together, I felt like she was miles away from me. And this morning she straight up told me that her boss had been banging her for a year now and that she wanted me to fuck off. I knew our relationship was over for some time now, but somehow I couldn't bring myself to finally end it. And in the end it hurt me anyway.

I didn't realize how much time has passed, but we emptied the bottle and I exhausted my words on the topic of Amy, interrupted only by Finn's furious "bitches" and "sluts" every once in a while. Then, I went silent for a moment. I was sitting on the bed, my back against the wall and Finn was lying on the other side, facing me. I looked at him, but he was looking down.

"Hope we are not done drinking for tonight..." I asked hopefully, shaking the empty glass in my hand. "I think I need more of that."

Ha stared at me, his face full of concern and lingered in that state for a while, as if thinking if he should let me get wasted. But then he grinned and got up to fetch some more booze.

-

I woke up in the morning with a major headache, but fortunately enough I didn't feel nauseous at all. It took me a while to realize where I was and what happened last night. I looked around to notice that I was still in Finn's bed, him sleeping beside. I felt guilty for hogging his bed, but then again it was big enough to accommodate us no problem. I tried to concentrate, but the headache left me in lethargy. I brought myself to a more comfortable position and looked at Finn. He was sleeping peacefully with only his underwear on. I challenged my mind to stabilize by focusing on his features. His shiny, auburn hair, tanned face and visible freckles on his nose and under his eyes. I noticed he also had some on his shoulders. His body was quite skinny and I didn't notice much hair on him. Then, a thought stroke me. What the fuck was I doing?

I decided to stop checking my friend out and get out of bed to take a piss and maybe drink some water. A shower would be nice, too. My side of the bed was by the wall, so I had to step over Finn to get out, full ninja mode, not wanting to wake him up. Of course though, I tripped over the blanket and crashed right onto him.

"The fuck-" he blurted out in a funny way, gasping for air I just knocked out of his lungs. Fighting back laughter, I got out of the bed.

"I'm so sorry Finn, I swear I tried to get out of bed quietly..."

"Oh it sure fucking worked" he smiled, still not fully awake. "Man, I know you got dumped but it's a bit early to get all over me like that, don't you think?" he shook his head, looking at me. My face must have looked pretty bad, cause he immediately said: "fuck... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that..."

"Chill bro, it's okay." I forced myself to smile. And I meant it. I knew he didn't want to hurt me. I just didn't get over the whole "dumped" situation yet. "I'll go take a shower." I said. "And you better take care of that boner you got from me touching you."

I could hear a quiet giggle as I walked out of the room. I knew Finn needed to be reassured that I really wasn't upset and that tease delivered.

-

In the afternoon we went downtown to grab something to eat and pick up some groceries for the upcoming few days. In the meantime, I got a message from Amy. She demanded that I dropped by to take the rest of my stuff, which she kindly packed for me, from her apartment. Since we were nearby, I decided to get over with that as soon as possible and we drove to my... her place. Finn insisted on coming with me and telling Amy what he thought of her, but I convinced him to stay in the car. It turned out she wasn't home anyway. I found all my belongings in my old suitcase and an overflowing Ikea bag. At least I didn't have to spend any more time in that place than I wanted to. I quickly checked the apartment for any remaining stuff of mine, but Amy seemed to have gotten rid of everything. On my way out, I left her a note:

"Leaving the keys in the mailbox. Fuck you. Charles".

-

The weekend passed by pretty quickly and I started to feel a bit better. I actually felt free for the first time in months.

I went to work on Monday and Finn gave me his keys to the apartment, saying that he would probably be home pretty late.

I was cooking something for dinner, when I heard the key turning in the lock. At first I thought it was Finn, but remembered that he had given me his keys.

"Hey boysssss" a loud shout startled me, and soon James, Finn's roommate, emerged from around the corner. He didn't seem surprised to see me at all. "'Sup Charlie? Finn told me you were staying over." he pulled my hand into a bro handshake.

"Yeah, sorry for being a nuisance... I'm looking for a place, so hopefully it won't be long."

"Hey, no problem, man. Take all the time you need. By the way, where's Finn? I need to tell you both something."

"Uh, he's working late tonight. What's the good news though?"

"Oh, just you wait!" James looked super stoked. "When he gets here, I'll tell you. Now, what are you cooking? I'm starving!"

We ate together, chatting about everything and joking around. I felt comfortable around James, but I never had a chance to get closer to him. He was always full of energy, unable to sit around for too long, so he would never join me and Finn when we watched the game or played video games. I got him to come to the swimming pool once. He was so eager for me to teach him how to swim, he slipped in the shower and broke his arm. Needless to say, he never came back again.

Finn came home around 11pm and James magically appeared by the door to rush him into sitting beside me on the couch. Then he positioned himself in front of us with a huge smile on his face.

"Guess who got promoted to a team manager and is moving to Seattle?" he screamed enthusiastically.

"Whoa! Congratulations bro!" Finn exclaimed, standing up to give him a hug.

"That's a big deal!" I stood up, too, to give him a friendly punch on the shoulder. "Shall we celebrate it?" I pointed Finn to the fridge.

"Hold your horses!" James' euphoria didn't seem to decrease. "On friday we're throwing the best farewell party in my life, got that? Aw, I'm gonna miss you boys."

"Damn, where am I gonna get a roommate as cool as this one?" said Finn jokingly, handing a cold can of beer to James.

"I think you already found one." he replied and they both looked at me at the same time, smiling.

Opening up a beer, little did I know that the following days would be the most intense in my life.