Chapter 10 Chosen #2
Then Deck nodded toward the coffee pot.
"Fresh."
Finn laughed softly.
"You're becoming predictable."
The mechanic looked offended.
The reaction made him laugh harder.
Dinner happened later.
Conversation drifted naturally.
Nothing serious.
Nothing important.
Yet beneath every word lived awareness.
The growing understanding between them.
The knowledge that neither could keep pretending forever.
Eventually they found themselves back on the porch.
The same porch where countless conversations had unfolded.
The same porch where walls kept falling.
The night felt warm.
A gentle breeze moved through the trees.
The world seemed unusually quiet.
Deck sat beside him.
Close.
Not touching.
Close enough to matter.
For several minutes neither spoke.
Then Finn sighed softly.
The mechanic immediately looked toward him.
"What?"
The question carried concern.
Always concern.
The realization settled heavily inside his chest.
Because people rarely worried about him.
Not genuinely.
Not consistently.
Deck always did.
The doctor stared out across the dark fields.
Thinking.
Remembering.
Eventually he spoke.
"You ever feel like everybody else gets chosen first?"
The question sounded strange.
Random.
Yet it had lived inside him for years.
The mechanic didn't laugh.
Didn't look confused.
Simply waited.
Listening.
The way he always listened.
Finn folded his arms loosely.
Searching for the right words.
Finding honesty instead.
"When I was younger, I thought if I worked hard enough people would stay."
The confession emerged quietly.
The darkness made it easier.
Somehow.
The doctor continued.
"My parents loved me."
The statement remained true.
Mostly.
"They just loved their careers more."
The words settled between them.
Not bitter.
Just honest.
The mechanic remained silent.
Giving him space.
"My father traveled constantly."
Finn smiled faintly.
Without humor.
"My mother practically lived at the hospital."
The memories felt distant now.
Old.
Yet some wounds never fully disappeared.
"I spent most of my childhood waiting."
The confession surprised even him.
The truth rarely sounded so simple.
Waiting.
For attention.
For time.
For priority.
For someone to choose him.
The porch remained quiet.
The crickets continued singing.
Life continued.
The doctor stared into the darkness.
Remembering.
"Then medical school happened."
A soft laugh escaped him.
"This is going to sound pathetic."
"It won't."
Deck's answer arrived immediately.
Certain.
The confidence in it made something ache.
Finn looked down.
Then continued anyway.
"I was always the reliable one."
The words came easier now.
"The dependable one."
Another pause.
"The person people called when they needed something."
The mechanic understood.
He could see it.
The realization made honesty easier.
"Friends."
A shrug.
"Relationships."
Another shrug.
"Family."
The doctor swallowed.
His throat suddenly felt tight.
"I always felt important when people needed me."
The admission landed harder than expected.
Because it remained painfully true.
The mechanic watched quietly.
The concern in his eyes almost undid him.
Finn looked away.
Toward the darkness.
Toward old ghosts.
"Then eventually I'd realize they didn't actually choose me."
The words emerged rougher now.
More vulnerable.
"They chose what I could do for them."
Silence.
Heavy silence.
The kind that followed truth.
The doctor took a breath.
Then another.
The hardest part still waited.
"When relationships ended..."
His voice faltered briefly.
"I was never surprised."
The confession hurt.
Even now.
"Disappointed."
A sad smile appeared.
"Not surprised."
Because deep down, he'd always expected it.
Expected someone better.
Someone more exciting.
Someone more important.
To come along.
And he'd be left standing exactly where he started.
Second place.
Again.
The realization lingered in the darkness.
The porch suddenly felt very still.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Then movement.
Deck shifted closer.
Not dramatically.
Not enough to startle.
Enough.
The mechanic's shoulder brushed his.
Warm.
Steady.
Safe.
Finn closed his eyes briefly.
The contact alone felt reassuring.
Then Deck spoke.
His voice sounded rough.
Low.
Honest.
"I know that feeling."
The confession surprised him.
The mechanic stared toward the fields.
Thinking.
Remembering.
"I spent years believing people were better off without me."
The words landed heavily.
Because Finn knew they were true.
Deck had hidden himself from the world long before the explosion.
Long before recovery.
Long before them.
The mechanic exhaled slowly.
Then finally looked at him.
Gray eyes meeting blue.
Open.
Unprotected.
The sight stole Finn's breath.
Because Declan Harlan rarely looked vulnerable.
When he did, it mattered.
A lot.
The mechanic held his gaze.
Not looking away.
Not hiding.
Just honest.
The way he'd become lately.
The way Finn loved.
The realization startled him.
Loved.
Not falling.
Not caring.
Loved.
The truth settled quietly into place.
Like it had been waiting all along.
Deck reached out.
Carefully.
His scarred hand covered Finn's where it rested on the porch swing.
The touch felt gentle.
Intentional.
Everything about it felt important.
The mechanic's voice lowered.
Soft enough that the words belonged only to them.
"Look at me."
Finn did.
Immediately.
The intensity in Deck's expression made his heart stumble.
Because there was no hesitation there.
No uncertainty.
Only certainty.
The kind he'd spent his entire life searching for.
"If you give me a chance..."
The words emerged slowly.
Each one deliberate.
Meaningful.
"I'll spend every day proving it."
Finn's breath caught.
The mechanic tightened his hold slightly.
Not enough to trap.
Enough to reassure.
Enough to promise.
The next words settled directly into the deepest broken parts of him.
"If you choose me..."
Deck's voice roughened.
Emotion slipping through.
Visible.
Real.
"You'll never come second to anyone again."
The world seemed to stop.
Just for a moment.
The night.
The stars.
The farmhouse.
Everything faded.
Only those words remained.
Only the man speaking them.
Because for the first time in his life, someone wasn't asking what he could give.
Someone wasn't asking him to wait.
Someone wasn't treating him like an option.
Declan Harlan was choosing him.
Completely.
Unconditionally.
And sitting beneath the stars of Willow Ridge, Finn realized he'd already made his choice too.
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