25. Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Five
F in loved him.
Talk about an unexpected twist to today.
He’d woken up to them gone, believing that was the end.
And now not only were they back, but they were also locking things down in a way Ollie had hoped for but never would’ve believed could happen.
The second they’d returned, Ollie had shot off a text to Meg, as promised, and now the entire Whipped staff was sitting and leaning against their furniture in the most bisexual fashion.
“Can I claim some Jesus shit? I abandoned you only to come back, uh…six hours later,” Fin said, their shoulders tightening despite th e bravado.
“Pretty sure he died and came back three days later.” Micah crossed his arms. The sour look on his face was warranted.
“When the fuck did you get that?” Meg asked, her voice growing sharp.
Fin pressed a few fingers against their shiner. “Ah, this old thing? Just a gift from my dad yesterday.”
“Wow, babe, you’ve had a shit twenty-four hours.
” Sloan was leaning against the wall, bracketed by his boyfriends Ezra and Kai.
How everyone had been rallied in such a short time was a testament to how close this crew was.
The idea that these people had adopted him into their fold? His chest squeezed tight.
“I’ll kill that fucker.” Parker squeezed the back of the couch. “Right after we find somewhere out to sea to dispose of Hera.”
“Look,” Fin said, all but brimming. “I saw what she posted. If I’m not safe enough to work at Whipped anymore—”
“Don’t you dare finish your sentence.” Meg’s voice grew even sharper, if possible.
“If you’re suggesting even the slightest bit that I’ll listen to what that shithead said about you, then do you even know me?
Fin, I’ve known you for years, and you’re one of my closest friends. I would never, ever cast you out.”
Ollie reached an arm around Fin’s shoulder and squeezed them tight. To his surprise, they let him.
Pixie stared between the two of them and raised her brows. She and Eva were awkwardly wedged by the bookcase. “Are you two together-together?”
Ollie froze. Their situation was so new he wasn’t sure how to respond.
“Yep,” Fin said. “Gonna keep him for as long as he’ll let me.”
His cheeks flushed, and warmth flowed through his whole body.
Hearing them claim him like that was everything he’d longed for.
A possession, a stake that made him feel so damn seen it was ridiculous.
He emanated sunlight through his pores, such a dramatic difference from the lows he’d dropped to earlier.
A whistle came from Tristan. “Damn, I never thought I’d see the day.”
Meg’s smile was immediate. “I’m glad. He’s a good one.”
Her praise elevated him even higher, to the point he floated.
Fin’s stomach rumbled, and they cursed. “If we’re going to have an intervention, or whatever this is, can there be pizza involved? I’m fucking starved.”
“Is that all you consume anymore?” Ollie teased.
Fin elbowed him in the side. “Can’t beat the convenience of going downstairs for pickup.”
“Wait, if there’s going to be pizza, I want in on this,” Nolan said. “I’ve been running damage control all morning, so I haven’t stopped to eat.”
“And I owe you an apology, Fin.” Meg sat on the side of the couch beside them. “I should’ve handled the Hera situation more tactfully when I banned her. You didn’t deserve any of the backlash.”
Fin drew his brows together. “You banned her?”
Ollie’s chest sank. He and Meg should’ve let them know back when it happened, but everything had spiraled out of control so fast.
“Bitch deserved it,” Fin said. “I just feel like a dumbass for not seeing her true colors sooner.”
“She put on a good show,” Micah said. “We talked a lot whenever she came to the café, so to see that stab in the back this morning, fuck.”
“We closed the shop today to regroup,” Sloan said.
“I wondered how the Power Rangers assembled so quickly,” Fin said .
“That one texted me.” Meg pointed to Ollie. “He’s been keeping watch on you ever since you decided to disappear and scare us half to death.”
Fin’s hazel eyes softened, and they leaned in to press a kiss to Ollie’s head. “Thank you.”
“Babe, you haven’t checked your socials, have you?
” Nolan crouched in front of Fin, pulled out his phone, scrolled through, and held the screen in front of them.
“For the little bit of vitriol and shitty constant complainers outside our scene that Hera’s post garnered, there was far, far more support.
So many people stepped in beside our crew to tell her she was full of shit, including about you. ”
Fin let out a sniff and then glared at everyone. “You guys are just here to try to get me to break. Except I already had my breakdown in a gas station, and it was spectacular and mildly disturbing, so you’re not getting another one from me.”
Ollie’s heart thumped harder. As much as them running had hurt, a part of him had understood.
They’d both hit critical mass at the same point, and they’d both climbed out of it in their own ways.
What mattered in the end was the fact that they were here now.
Fin had come back, and he had reached out when he needed to.
Both of them had made steps forward, even if they fumbled along the path.
“Don’t you dare try to out-drama me,” Micah teased. “I up and left my life in the middle of the night before I moved here.”
“Ah, that old chestnut,” Eva said. Micah flipped them off.
Ollie’s chest warmed at seeing how the crew here accepted each other as is.
How they didn’t have to be perfect, and that they dealt with the messy as it came up, but everyone here seemed to be a little flawed, a little damaged.
And the understanding that came with that was everything he’d been searching for .
Fin’s arm tightened around him, and they leaned in. The PDA wasn’t brand new, as they’d kissed him in public already, but the tenderness, the casual affection was. Fin might’ve been dancing around this for a while, but when they went in, they went all the fuck in.
Ollie hadn’t expected anything less from the hurricane love of their life.
From the moment he’d met Fin, they’d been this indomitable force, and even after watching them break, the way they returned to fight told him everything he needed to know about their character.
If they were finally ready for a relationship, he trusted they would try, no matter what curveballs life threw at them.
“What about the show?” Ollie asked. If Fin and Hera were on the outs, that meant their show was getting canceled. His heart ached. He knew how much of themself they’d poured into those pictures.
Fin wrinkled their nose. “Sorry, I know we took all those photos and everything. Hera made it clear in the original post that the show was canceled. I mean, even if it wasn’t, I couldn’t possibly work with that dickbag after the extreme amounts of slander.”
“Dickbag feels relatively tame,” Nolan said. “Though I like cunts and cum-guzzlers too much to bequeath her the other classics.”
“She’s spoiled in every sense of the term.” Meg shrugged. “That was always a red flag for me. Hera’s so used to getting what she wants that she doesn’t respond well to no. And in this scene, being able to respect people’s nos, their boundaries, is one of the most important things.”
“She could pout and sulk with the best of them, but I figured her moods were harmless.” Fin picked at their nails. “I hate that I ever trusted her.”
Ollie leaned in a little closer, and Fin ran their fingers through his hair.
Their body had tensed, but it relaxed from the contact.
If they needed to touch him right now, he’d happily offer himself on a platter.
Truth be told, he needed the connection just as much after everything he’d been through today.
The soothing strokes quickly settled him, a rhythm there he adored.
“I played with her too,” Nolan said. “It wasn’t just you, babe.”
“And I can’t kick someone out for bad vibes,” Meg said.
“Hera continued to push until she got ugly about it. People don’t think about subs being ones to violate boundaries or cause issues because of the sheer volume of the problematic Doms that get into kink for all the wrong reasons.
But Hera’s toxicity would guaranteed cause serious trouble down the line. ”
“Why couldn’t we do the show at Whipped?” Pixie asked.
Meg’s grin bordered on a smirk. “That’s a question I’ve been wondering myself.”
His chest warmed at the way this crew came together to support Fin, even if they hadn’t believed they would. Even if they hadn’t believed they were worth it. The two of them were far too similar in some ways.
Fin’s fingers stilled in Ollie’s hair. “Look, I know you guys would’ve, but I just…didn’t want handouts, I guess.”
“What about me made you think I’d blow smoke up your ass?” Meg arched a wicked brow.
“It’s true,” Micah said. “I’ve seen her be mean as fuck.”
Fin fixed their gaze on Meg. “Your loyalty.”
Ollie’s chest warmed with that truth. “Then they’d be loyal enough to tell you the truth.”
“Listen to your boyfriend, Fin,” Parker teased as he wrapped his arms around Micah, drawing him in tight.
“Okay, but can I express how disappointing it is to have this many people in my apartment, and it’s not for an orgy?” Fin said, even though their hazel eyes were glossy .
Nolan perched on the other side of the couch. “You had word out for the show at Hera’s, and there’s definite interest. Once we finish damage control over her temper tantrum, having an art show at Whipped sounds like the perfect community activity to draw everyone back in.”
“I don’t understand why you still want me there,” Fin muttered, the words barely audible. If anything made Ollie bold, it was that.
“Because they love you,” Ollie reminded them.
This was a lesson he’d needed to learn with his own family, but seeing Fin’s struggle had inspired him to reach out to Julian.
Had helped him to grow. “Just because you had a bad starter pack when it came to families doesn’t mean the deck you built is ruined. ”
Fin stared at him. “Was that a board game analogy? I thought you hated board games.”
He grinned. “Ambivalent, not hate. And have you forgotten who my brother is? If you think I haven’t had to listen to Julian prattle about deck-building and collectible card games for years, you clearly don’t know my family.”
“I’d like to,” Fin said earnestly. Damn. That slammed straight into his solar plexus. He was so thrilled to introduce Fin to them.
“Oh my god, I’m going to vomit,” Micah said. “This is too disgustingly sweet.”
“I’d say it’s about time,” Tristan said. “We’ve been waiting a long while to see you open your heart. A relationship looks good on you.”
“The pizza order’s ready. I’ll go grab it,” Kai said.
“Wait, what pizza order?” At least half the room turned in his direction.
He shrugged. “Food was mentioned earlier. I figured I’d get the ball rolling, since you all seemed to be distracted. ”
“It’s like herding cats with you lot,” Ezra teased, his hand on Sloan’s hip.
“Is he talking about kitty play?” Pixie asked Eva, who patted her girlfriend on the head.
“The expression,” Eva said. “It’s not hoarding cats.”
Kai, Sloan, and Ezra had made a quick exit, probably to pick up the pizza.
Ollie soaked in the sight of everyone around them.
How Meg and Nolan perched on either end of their couch, and Parker stood at the far wall with his arms wrapped around Micah.
Eva and Pixie leaned on the nearby wall, and Tristan had managed to find a folding chair.
These people were loyal, warm, and affectionate in spades, and somehow, they wanted him around too.
He hadn’t forgotten what Meg had said to him. About how even if Fin hadn’t wanted to pursue a relationship that they wanted him around regardless. That spoke volumes.
He’d been searching for a long while for somewhere to fit in, and this was the first time he felt like he’d found it. Like he belonged.
Fin leaned in and nipped at his earlobe, which sent a shiver down his body. “Hey, thank you,” they whispered into his ear. “For staying. For believing in me. For knowing when to push and when to wait.”
He tipped his head against theirs, keeping his voice low. “Thank you for accepting me as is. For always making me feel seen.”
Fin threaded their fingers through his and squeezed. “Always, sweetness. You’re mine.”
God, those words. They bubbled up inside him, filling him with a molten heat that coursed through his veins.
The door creaked open again, and Sloan, Ezra, and Kai entered with pizza boxes, enough to feed the mass amount of people in this room. They plunked the tower on the coffee table in a stack .
“If you think I have enough plates to feed y’all, you’re underestimating how severely single I used to be,” Fin said. “There are paper towels in the other room. If you make a mess, you can lick it up. Preferably off the floor.”
A chorus of groans sounded throughout the room.
“Only my Dom is inflicting that on me, and you’re not him.” Micah flipped them the middle finger.
“When’s the last time you cleaned this floor?” Eva said. “I’m a sadist, but even I’m not that bad.”
Fin’s small grin, the softness in their hazel eyes filled Ollie with elation. After everything they’d been through, he’d expected those walls to stay up forever, but each time they lowered them was a treasure, one he’d remember.
And they’d let him in completely.
Fin leaned in again. “Once these fuckers leave my apartment, I’m going to take you apart, sweetness, and fill you up with more than you ever dared before.”
His heart thumped hard, adrenaline coursing through him. God, that was so hot.
He couldn’t fucking wait.