Writing Class

Every minute that ticks by, the more sorry she feels for Sarah. The girl obviously thought that this night was going to turn in her favor in respects to Finn. Lucky for her, Vincent is there to pat her on the back. They’ve been grinding against each other on the dance floor for the past ten minutes.

“And I kick your ass again!” Krissy shouts triumphantly, pumping a fist into the air dramatically. She grabs another napkin, laying it out in front of her and Marcus, drawing four lines.

“You know not to play Tick-Tac-Toe with her Marcus,” Finn reprimands, a small smile in place.

“Shut it Finn, you’re disrupting the game,” she orders, handing the pen to Marcus, “You’re ‘O’.”

“Why do I always have to be ‘O’? Can’t you share the ‘X’ every once in a while?” Marcus asks, snatching the pen from her hand. Krissy only sticks her tongue out in response.

Miranda’s gaze slides over to Vincent and his dancing partner, turning to Finn, she says, “You didn’t say that he was British.”

Nodding his head, Finn says, “Yeah, born there. His parents moved him here when he was younger. They go back every summer though, he hasn’t lost the accent. He’d never admit it even if he did, he prides himself on that accent. It’s his way of picking up women.”

Miranda hasn’t even known Vincent longer than an hour and it’s obvious that he loves that accent of his. Glancing at Vincent, she smirks, “Let me guess, favorite band’s Sex Pistols?”

Finn clasps his hands over his heart, gasping, “We thought it was subtle.”

“You did that to him?”

“Yeah. In my kitchen. We saw them live a few years ago and the second we got home, he insisted upon it. He keeps going back to it,” Finn chuckles, scratching his stubbled jaw.

“I was there. Street Scene right?” Miranda asks.

Nodding his head, Finn throws an arm behind Miranda, resting it on the top of the booth. “Where were you at?”

“In the front to the left,” she says with a laugh, “The most annoying mohawked kid next to me.”

“I think I elbowed that kid,” he mutters. “We were in the center. Not far from you, it wasn’t a huge stage.”

Miranda laughs hard, remembering how badly she wanted to hit the kid. He embodied every reason as to why she despises going to live shows. Her perfect show would just be the band and her, maybe a few friends. Not one mohawked adolescent with plaid pants and chains. She’s so proud of Finn for elbowing him.

“Don’t mention that night to Vincent though,” Finn warns.

“Why?” she asks, not being able to fathom why that would bring bad memories.

“He’s still a little sore over my getting Steve’s guitar pick.”

Miranda’s mouth drops and she turns to face him head on, “You got it?” She remembers when Steve Jones gave his pick to one of the bouncers, who passed it on to someone in the front. She recalls that during that moment she silently cursed whoever was the recipient. She can’t believe that she cursed Finn.

Finn takes a severe deep breath, “Yep.”

“How?”

“Managed to catch his eye somewhere in the middle of Anarchy and gestured that I wanted it. I didn’t know that he actually understood what I meant till the end of the show when he passed it on to me with a wink. Quite the rush.”

“Every time you open you’re mouth I think I hate you a little bit more,” she says seriously, sneering at him.

Laughing, Finn’s slides his arm over her shoulders, dragging her closer to him, “Poor baby. If you’re good I may let you touch it.”

“You better be talking about the pick,” Miranda warns with a laugh.

“She’s on to me!” he mutters conspiratorially to Marcus, who glances up with a look on confusion.

“I’m not pretending to know what you’re talking about,” Marcus says flatly, looking back to his game with a frown and trying his best to ignore Krissy’s taunting.

----

“Five anklebiters!” Vincent decides loudly, holding his hand up with fingers spread.

“You can’t even take care of a gerbil Vin,” Krissy reminds kindly.

“Well I want twins. Two girls,” Sarah chimes in, leaning against Vincent\'s side.

“I fancy twins,” Vincent mutters, his gaze clearly directed to Sarah’s chest. Either Sarah doesn’t notice or she doesn’t care. Miranda’s opting for the latter.

Marcus arrives with a pitcher of beer and a coke for Miranda, which she happily accepts. Marcus is quickly becoming her favorite. While Vincent is great; loud, hyper, friendly, funny. Marcus is genuinely sweet, but still not without a backbone. He seems to barely tolerate Vincent, but it’s obvious that they adore each other. It’s obvious that all four of the friends adore each other. Not once has Miranda felt uncomfortable. They treat Miranda just like they treat each other.

“Thanks Mar,” Krissy coos, patting the empty spot next to her. Marcus surveys the situation with a serious expression. Finn and Miranda sitting on one side and Vincent and Sarah sitting on the other. Miranda waits for him to just up and decide to walk over the table. Looking at Vincent and Sarah rubbing all over each other, he visibly shudders. Looking to Finn and Miranda, he sighs and steps up onto the seat beside Miranda. She grabs the table, looking up at Marcus. Finn begins to laugh and holds Miranda back against the seat with his arm. Bracing himself by placing a hand on Finn’s head, Marcus deftly steps over the two and lands in his destination. Krissy claps with merriment, Miranda suspects that she may be a bit smashed.

“So Miranda,” Vincent puts extra emphasis on the ‘da’. “Why is it that you’re not off your tits like the lovely Krissy over there?” he asks, jabbing a thumb in Krissy’s direction.

“I am not off my tits,” Krissy objects, mocking his British accent.

“I’m not much of a drinker. Besides, I’m not old enough.”

“Babe, I basically run this place. If ye want ye can drink till your dancing topless on the table. Might I suggest that route?”

“Vincent,” Finn warns. Although the friendly smile kind of hinders the threat.

Krissy holds a hand up, shutting up Vincent’s impending reply, “Focus shift to Mar here. How many?”

“How many what?” Marcus asks.

She looks at him as if she can’t believe he actually asked that, “Children. Offspring. Rugrats. How many do you want?”

“How did this get brought up?”

Krissy opens her mouth to answer but nothing comes out. She sucks in air and closes her mouth, looking around, “How was that brought up?”

Miranda clears her throat, “With people who shouldn’t breed.”

“Yes, that is how,” Krissy confirms, looking back at Marcus, “You must answer.”

“Umm…however many I have. I don’t care, just no more than three,” Marcus answers, clearly making it apparent that he finds the question pointless.

“Sorry Vincent,” Finn says sadly, hiding a smile behind his hand. At Vincent’s blank look, he adds, “Difference of two.”

Vincent scowls, but is soon distracted by Sarah’s fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. Miranda is amazed at Vincent’s ability to attract the opposite sex. There are a countless amount of girls who walk by, finding it difficult to keep their mouths closed. Once they hear that accent, they just lose it. It’s also strangely appealing that even with the extreme hair, he’s wearing a suit, sans tie.

With Finn mocking Vincent, Miranda decides to turn the spotlight on him, “Well what about you? How many kids would you want?”

Finn gives her a blank look and his three friends start laughing. Miranda glances at them, not sure what the joke is.

“Useless asking him deary,” Vincent says with a laugh.

Finn finishes the last of his beer, not saying anything. Miranda glances at him, “Why?”

When he doesn’t answer, Krissy chimes in, “He’s not planning on having any.”

Miranda looks at Finn curiously, really wanting an answer. She can’t help but be interested. This seems to be well known information and she would like to be in the circle.

“Jesus suffering fuck! What in the bloody ’ell is this!?” Vincent suddenly shouts, making everyone jump slightly. Even Sarah dislodged herself from his side.

At everyone’s curious looks, he adds at a normal volume, “This music is absolute bollocks.” He pushes at Sarah, forcing her to slide out of the booth so he can get up. He takes off towards the DJ, with Sarah following quickly behind.

Marcus mutters something to Krissy causing her to erupt in a fit of giggles with Marcus following after. Finn seems to know what they’re laughing at, and begins laughing himself. Suddenly the music screeches to a halt with the sound of the needle sliding across the record. The crowd quickly becomes indignant, making their displeasure known. The next thing Miranda hears is Vincent’s voice ring out over the club, “Sod off!”

Krissy slides from the booth with Marcus following after. They push their way through the crowd in the direction of the DJ’s booth.

Meeting Miranda’s eyes, Finn explains, “Damage control.”

“He does this often?”

“On occasion.”

Finn picks his glass up and then remembering that it’s empty, pushes it across the table away from reach. Scanning the table, he lands on Miranda’s coke and snatches it, sucking on the straw noisily.

She tries to pry the glass away from him, but he begins to whine like a puppy and she can’t properly rip it from his grip while laughing. Giving up, she drops her hands to her lap with a huff.

“Because of that, you must tell me why no kidlits,” Miranda demands, turning towards him with a stern expression.

Finn sighs dramatically, but than smiles, “I’m just not the father type.”

“What do you mean? You had those kids at the hospital eating out of your hands,” Miranda points out.

“You know what you’re taught and I was taught to be an absentee father,” he says flippantly. Miranda realizes that he just doesn’t want to turn into his father and the thinks that it may just be the saddest thing she’s heard in a long while. She feels the need to comfort him in some way, just wanting to touch him. She softly takes his hand in hers as an answer. The action causes Finn to laugh and a frown to appear on Miranda’s face.

He looks up and catches the frown, his laughter instantly dying, “No. It’s just that you don’t need to comfort me Rand. This isn’t something I’m upset over, I’ve known it for a while.”

“You would make a wonderful father,” Miranda insists, squeezing his hand gently.

“I wouldn’t know how. My dad wasn’t the best teacher and I don’t want to continue the long line of father’s disappointing their children. My dad, my grandfather, his father…” Finn trails off, averting his eyes away from Miranda and down to their interlocked hands.

“Just because they weren’t the best, does not mean that you’ll be the same,” she insists softly.

“How do you be a parent? How do you balance discipline and love? How am I supposed to punish, with them still knowing I love them?” he asks abstractedly while flattening her hand on his thigh, palm exposed. She watches him as he trails a finger up her palm to her fingertip. She can do nothing to suppress the shudder running through her body.

“I don’t know those things either, no one does. I’ve always just thought that once I have a child, it’ll come to me. Learn as you go. Instinct takes over. And I know that you would be so careful not to make the same mistakes as your father and the father before him,” she says. She leans her head down, catching his gaze, “He couldn’t have done that bad of a job. You turned out nicely.”

Finn lifts his head, a small half smile making its presence known. Miranda is almost taken away by it. The innocence peering out. She just wants to hold him and always be there to see this smile.

“Thanks Rand,” he mutters, leaning forward to press a chaste kiss on his forehead.

Beaming, she says, “You’d do the same for me.”

“I would,” he says sincerely.

The beginning riff of Billy Idol’s “Dancing With Myself” blasts through the speakers, causing both Miranda and Finn to laugh boisterously. Vincent apparently won the struggle.

----

Miranda can’t recall a time when she’s had this much fun, especially with other people. Ever since Vincent invited himself to the DJ’s booth, the music has been noticeably different. Gone are the unrecognizable techno beats, and in came the real music. The crowd didn’t really care, as long as something was playing.

For a birthday bash, the night has been fairly quiet. It seems like it was just an excuse for everyone to get together and hang out. Miranda and Marcus are the only two who are sober. Marcus had a couple drinks but stopped before it began to affect him in a noticeable fashion. Finn is a little drunk, not too much to change his attitude. Just enough where he’s turning into quite the loving man. Miranda lost count how many times he’s hit on her openly. Krissy and Vincent are too far gone to even discuss. Sarah must be drunk as well, but the alcohol seems to have exhausted her. Ten minutes ago she slumped back against the booth and hasn’t moved since. A few times she started snoring, cutting off all conversation at the table with a round of laughter following.

Watching the way Marcus acts towards Krissy, Miranda is pretty sure that he’s infatuated with the blond girl. He caters to her every whim, suffering through her constant teasing with a smile on his face. She mentioned it to Finn, who said that the information was nothing new. He and Vincent were just waiting for them to snap and go at it in a bathroom.

“So Marcus, Finn told me that you’re pre-med. That’s pretty intense,” Miranda says.

“Yeah, it can be,” Marcus answers.

“I love havin’ my own doctor!” Vincent broadcasts before returning to drawing spots on Sarah’s face with a purple Sharpie marker.

Miranda stifles laughter behind her hand, really looking forward to this girl waking up and walking around like that. Miranda knows that no one here is going to tell her she’s a walking chicken pox advertisement.

Looking back to Marcus, she can’t think of anything else to add to her original question. Besides, Marcus has shifted his focus back onto Krissy already so Miranda just lets the topic drop. Plus, she recalls Finn saying something about Marcus being the son that Finn’s dad wished he had. Miranda doesn’t want to bring it up any more than she already has. But she doesn’t think that Finn would actually get upset. He seems to be the type to be proud of his friends no matter how it affects his personal life.

Finn pushes against her side suddenly, grabbing her attention, “What?”

“Out,” he says.

Sighing, she slides out of the booth, stepping back so he can slide out as well. She begins to sit back down but he grabs her arm, stopping her. She wonders if this means it’s time to go, not really wanting to go yet. It can’t be that late.

Instead of leading her to the door, he leads her into the middle of the crowd.

“You’re not even going to ask if I want to?” she asks him incredulously, silently loving the fact that he didn’t bother asking if she wanted to dance.

“What’s the point in asking Rand?”

“Chivalry?” she supplies sarcastically.

“Didn’t that die?” he shoots back with a smirk, spinning her around to face him.

“You’re lucky I like this song,” she says, referring to ‘Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon’.

“Sometimes knowing Vincent pays off,” Finn laughs, “Can’t deny that he knows quality when he hears it.”

Finn pulls Miranda in close to him, closer than he may have pulled if he weren’t under the influence. Miranda doesn’t resist, ending up pressed full against him. She feels his left arm wrap around her waist tightly, pressing his hips against hers. His free hand takes hers and brings it up to his chest, holding it there. She slides her other hand up his back, holding it there. She can feel him sigh against her, pressing his mouth against her temple. She feels him tighten his hold on her, slightly moving with her to the music.

She can’t remember anything. She can’t think anything. All that she knows at this moment is Finn holding her and at the moment it is all she cares to know. She barely registers his hand slowly tracing her spine until he reaches the swell of her butt. He stops before moving his hand any further, content with rubbing his hand up to her lower back and massaging lightly.

Miranda moves her face into the crook of his neck, turning slightly towards the side of his neck. She breathes in his scent, realizing that he must not wear any cologne. She can’t catch even the faintest trace of a manufactured scent. She catches the clean trace of soap and something undeniably Finn.

When she feels Finn’s chest rumble with laughter, she looks up with a questioning gaze, “What?”

Nodding his head in the direction to her right, she glances over and just barely catches Vincent making thrust motions with his hips while wearing a goofy smile. He immediately stops and acts casual when he registers that she’s looking his way.

“He’s….” she begins, letting herself trail off.

Finn laughs again, spinning them to cut off the view of Vincent being a goober.

“So why exactly did you bring me again?”

“What do you mean?” he asks, looking down with his head cocked to one side.

“Well, Vincent seemed to take over your rebound girl with no problems.”

“That he did,” Finn answers, not giving up anything.

“So why did you need me here?”

“Only reason why Vincent took over is because you are here.”

Miranda feels like kicking him in the shin. He’s not cooperating at all. She was hoping for some sort of admission.

Finn smirks down at her, “I can read you like a book Rand.”

“Excuse me?” she asks innocently.

“You’re trying get a confession out of me. That this was all a clever ruse. A cunning attempt to trick you,” Finn says cockily.

Miranda puts on her best ‘whatever do you mean’ face and keeps quiet. Hating him for knowing exactly what she was doing, but loving it all the same.

“Maybe that’s just what you want my intentions to have been.”

“You’re projecting,” he shoots back.

“Oh bite me Finn,” she says, annoyed with him for besting her. Without warning, he leans his head down and bites her neck. Not hard, but enough for her to recognize what he’s doing. She slightly jumps in surprise, never having expected him to actually do it. She didn’t actually mean for him to do it, she was more so telling him to fuck off.

“I didn’t actually want you to bite me,” she whines.

Lifting his head to look down on her, he says, “You should have specified. I only did what I was told.”

“Since when do you do what you’re told?”

“When it works in my favor.”

“Guys come on, you two can canoodle later,” Krissy grabs their arms suddenly, dragging them from the crowd.

The table is empty, save for Sarah who is still sleeping. Krissy leads them up a staircase in the back.

“Where are we going?” Miranda mutters to Finn.

“One of the private rooms. The club’s full of them,” Finn answers, wrapping an arm around Miranda’s waist.

They follow after Krissy through a door, walking into a large open room with a pool table set in the center. Miranda glances around, noticing the large couches and arcade games. She has to admit that she’s impressed.

“Perfect timing Kriss, Marc here was about ta fiddle about with the game,” Vincent says in a scolding manner.

“I don’t cheat,” Marcus defends, stabbing the pool cue in Vincent’s direction.

Miranda happily falls into the plush couch, sinking down. It’s bright red, clearly going with the color scheme for the room. All of the furniture is bright red, while the walls are painted black. There are lights mounted along the walls, brightening the room up easily. Even the pool table is black with red felt.

“How many of these rooms are in here?” Miranda asks Vincent.

“A few,” he says. He slides his body down on the couch next to Miranda, ignoring the steely gaze from Finn. He wraps his arm round Miranda\'s shoulders, squeezing her against the side of his body. She glances up at Finn, silently pleading for help.

“Up,” Finn orders lightly, motioning for Vincent to move. Vincent sighs loudly, making a show of moving.

“Fine. I’ll jus’ play arrows by me lonesome.”

Miranda glances at Finn, looking for an answer. Sometimes it’s hard knowing what Vincent is talking about.

“Darts,” Finn says with a smile.

-----

\"Take it off baby!\" Vincent says with excitement lacing his voice. Krissy darts behind Marcus\'s back, gripping onto his shoulders. Miranda can\'t help but laugh at the look on Marcus\'s face. It’s a mixture between embarrassment and the urge to be turned around.

Miranda can\'t believe that Vincent got them all to play strip pool with him. She hasn\'t worried much, pool happens to be something that she\'s pretty good at. Now she\'s beginning to worry. She wishes that she brought a jacket with her. She\'s barefoot and running out of things she would be willing to take off. If she had to, she could do the shirt, but that\'s it. With the way Finn stares intently at the cue every time it\'s her turn, she\'s thinking that he\'s not too happy about the possibility of her taking anything else off either.

The best pool player of them all is Vincent, and he\'s also the one with the least on. He stands proud in his boxers and socks. Krissy is hiding behind Marcus to take her shirt off, having already lost her shoes. Marcus is jacket-less with bare feet. Finn has no shoes and no shirt, making it hard for Miranda to focus on anything, let along her pool game.

“You must come out at some point,” Vincent taunts.

Krissy flips him off and steps out from behind Marcus. Vincent whistles in approval, clapping his hands, “I’ll be wankin’ off to you tonight.”

“Not like you’ve never seen me topless before Vin,” she says with a laugh, leaning against Marcus with her elbow on his shoulder. He smiles warmly and wraps his arm loosely around her waist.

“Alright, shut up guys,” Finn orders, leaning over to line up his shot. Miranda can’t help but watch his back, his shoulders, as he hit’s the ball with the cue. Just being around drunk people is making her feel like she’s drunk. It’s a horrible thing to have happen when she’s not really on that level with Finn. They aren’t going out or anything. She can’t just grope him and not have an eyebrow raised. Actually, he probably wouldn’t care.

He smiles proudly when he sinks the shot and Vincent sneers at him in response. His goal for the moment is to render everyone nude. It’s rare to be in the presence of guys who don’t take stock in the usual paranoia of male affection. Vincent has kissed everyone, even Miranda, at least twice. He’s a rather affectionate drunk. He’s affectionate while sober. The guy just likes affection.

Miranda realizes that it’s her turn when she feels a cue poke her side. She glances at the table, instantly not liking her options. She knows she’s screwed, but won’t let it show outwardly. Lining up her shot, she ignores Finn’s gaze, and hits the ball.

“Okay time for us to go,” Finn announces immediately, turning to grab his shirt off the floor.

“Arsehole!” Vincent shouts, sticking up two fingers in a V shape with his palm facing in. Krissy begins laughing so hard, Marcus practically has to support her shaking body. Vincent is bordering on pouting and Krissy just can’t take the image in her drunken state. Miranda isn’t sure why he’s giving the ‘peace sign’ and makes a mental note to ask Finn about it later.

“Sorry Vincent, but did you actually think that would happen?” Finn asks while pulling his shirt over his head. He tosses Miranda her shoes, which she puts on with a smile. She doesn’t really mind Finn taking over and insist that they leave. She didn’t really want the first time she was shirtless in front of Finn to also be in front of his three closest friends.

“Bloody prat,” Vincent mutters, glaring at Finn.

Finn sits on the couch to pull his shoes on. When he finishes, he gets up and pulls an unwilling Vincent into a hug. “I love you, I watch Kept with you, that’s how much I love you.”

“Jerry Hall’s sex on legs,” Vincent says, all traces of anger gone from his voice.

Miranda laughs and says goodbye to Krissy and Marcus, making her way to Vincent. He hugs her a little longer than needed, before Finn pulls him off of her. With a wave and a promise to ring, Finn takes Miranda out of the club and to his car. She is met with no argument when she takes his car keys away from him, intent on driving instead.

Starting the car, she asks, “Why did he give you the peace sign?”

Finn starts laughing and pulls his CD case from the back seat. Flipping through the pages, he says, “Two finger salute. Same thing as flipping someone off.”

Smiling, she pulls out of the parking lot and heads towards Finn’s place.


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AN: Longer than I first had it but I added more. I\'m sure no one\'s complaining. Read and review.