Page 93 of Starstruck

Finn tilted his head, one that was covered in a whole-face bruisethat had coloured the left side of his face brown and blue. His eyes rolled at Tristan when he saw the look on his face. “It looks worse than it is, trust me.”

Tristan shook his head as he planted a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “Jesus, mate, I think I had a mini heart attack on the way here.”

Finn’s green eyes turned all dopey, his bottom lip pouting. “Well, it’snice to know you love me.”

Tristan laughed a painful laugh. “Don’t push it, Rhodes.”

I rolled my eyes, but my hand found Finn's arm, giving it a light squeeze. "How you feeling?”

He let out a breath, his grin softening. “Better,” he murmured, before his eyes cast around the room, counting us all. “Better now, actually.”

“Good,” I whispered back, feeling something warm settle in my chest.

Finn let his head fall back against the flat pillow behind his head, while we alllet out a chuckle. But when I looked around at all of us, gathered around Finn’s hospital bed, I realised…

“Has anyone told Daisy?”

Just as my eyes got wide and my heart rate spiked for the millionth time today,the door burst open, and a head of blond spiral curls came bounding into the room.

“Holy shit, I’m sorry I took so long. Are you okay? Jesus, Finn, what the hellhappened—”

“Dais, relax,” Finn sighed, nodding his head reassuringly at his sister. “I’mfine, I promise, just a small concussion—”

“Justa small concussion?” She gasped, dumping her bag on the floor andfloating over to where Rory was sitting. “Are you crazy? I think I’ve just had three heart attacks, and that’s just in the elevator ride up here.”

Tristan huffed. “Join the club.”

We all sneaked a glance at him before our attention returned to the twins.

Daisy rapidly tucked her curls behind her ears, and she kneeled down. “DoesDad know?”

Finn’s eyes sank then, falling to his fingers that were pulling at each other, in atangle with the wires tracking his heart rate, before he softly shook his head.

Daisy grabbed his hand. “Finn, you have to tell him.”

“What’s the point, Dais?” He shrugged. “He won't remember me telling him anyway.” He hiked his eyes up to all of us, scanning the room, before putting all his focus on his twitchy fingers. “It’s gonna be bad enough dealing with him over Thanksgiving, so just…” His eyes moved to Daisy. “Just keep this between us, okay?”

Without a second passing, Daisy nodded, before grabbing Finn’s hands andstraightening her knees so she was fully standing beside his bed.

“And that goes for all of you,” Finn warned playfully. “Although I’m prettysure half the school knows by now.”

I nodded at Finn. “You know we won’t say anything,” I looked around at myfriends. “Will we guys?” I prompted, before all of them mumbled a yes, but Rory’s was the quietest.

I hadn’t ignored the way she couldn’t keep her eyes away from Finn, tracingthe bruises on his face like doing so would magic them away. A part of me felt guilty for watching her when she caught me staring, causing her to plaster that classic Rory smile on her face and pretend that she was suddenly interested in the pattern of her dress.

She hadn’t been shy about telling us how she liked Finn, even after he blankedher when she asked him out, she didn’t hide how she was still taken aback by him. I just hoped that one of them would gain some sense, that Finn would realise what a sweetheart Rory is, or Rory would realise that she doesn’t deserve a one-way street kind of love.

But if the way they dragged their hands away from each other when we walkedin the room said anything, it was that part of that wish was slowly coming true.

The room fell into a soft silence after that, until Finn looked at us one by oneand laughed. “Right guys, I’m not dead; I’m fine. Let’s just... let's talk about something else.” He looked over at Cora. “What’re you doin’ for Thanksgiving, Cor?”

Cora shuffled, before shrugging. “I was supposed to be visiting my sister out inMontauk, but she went into an early labour, and now that the baby’s here she just wants to settle.” She tucked a midnight strand behind her ear, as she leaned her back against the wall. “So, Rory invited me out to her house for the week.”

Rory tried to smile, but I could see the effort it took, the way thecorners of her mouth struggled to lift. It was small, barely there, but she was trying. I couldn’t stop replaying what Cora had told us before we walked in—how Rory had been here already, visiting her dad, before she got the call about Finn.

She shook her head lightly, her curls spilling past her face, hidingthe weight behind her eyes as she forced the smile again, just a little brighter this time. “Yeah… it’ll be… nice.”

Cora nodded, her own smile softening, eyes full of understanding."It will be, Ror."

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