Page 77 of Brad & Finn
Naomi and Chloe glanced at each other before tossing their heels as well. In order not to risk stepping on anyone’s toes, Finn decided to take off his shoes, and Brad, still carrying Christian on the phone, and Miles joined in.
The music was way better than anything an 80s-themed prom could have produced. Mariana used one of her playlists from high school, and nostalgic pop, rap, and R&B kept them dancing for almost two hours. Surprisingly, Atlas and Christian remained on the phone the entire time. At one point, Finn ended up holding Miles’ phone while Atlas sashayed around his apartment. Meanwhile, Chloe and Christian slow danced with their phones to one of the softer pop songs. They took a lot of photos with Brad’s phone, and he promised to send them to their new group chat.
Other than that, every second that he wasn’t otherwise occupied, Finn was in Brad’s arms.
“Are you happy, love?” Brad murmured.
Finn kissed him for the five hundredth time that night. “I’m so happy. This is better than anything I ever could have imagined.”
“And it’s not over yet!” Mariana called from behind him.
They turned and found Naomi, Miles, and Mariana each holding a piece of construction paper in their hands. Chloe walked over to Finn’s side and turned her phone around so Christian could see whatever was about to happen.
“We decided that since you three missed the award ceremony, we’d do a tiny one for you here,” Naomi said, gesturing with her piece of paper at Miles.
“Uh, okay, I guess I’ll start. Brad,” Miles said, and Brad straightened up against Finn’s side. “We’d like to award you with the Most Likely to Make a Difference in Young Athletes’ Lives award.” He turned his piece of paper around to reveal a crudely drawn football and a football field with the name of the award across the top.
Brad huffed, but he stepped forward and threw his arms around Miles anyway.
“Finn, we’d like to present you with the Most Likely to Live a Full, Authentic Life,” Mariana said.
Finn nearly tripped running over to hug her. His piece of paper had a rainbow drawn on it with a shining sun in the background.
“And Chloe,” Naomi said, “we’d like to present you with the Best Friend of All Time award.”
Christian’s “aww” was so loud, they could hear it over Chloe’s spluttering. She slowly approached Naomi and accepted the award. Brad got to her first, wrapping her up in a monster hug, and Finn wasn’t far behind. He pulled her into a tight hug, and he thought he heard Miles say something about checking out the supplies shed.
“It’s nothing, seriously,” Chloe said, flapping her hand in the air but holding the piece of paper carefully in her other hand. Hers had a massive heart in the middle with smaller hearts drawn all around it.
“It’s everything, Chloe,” Brad said. “You not only tried to help me with one promposal, you helped me a second time and then threw this amazing prom. You are, without a shadow of a doubt, the most amazing friend I’ve ever had.”
Chloe’s blush was crimson and splotchy, and she tucked her hair behind her ear before shaking her head and having to tuck it again when it fell loose. “I just…I love you both so much, and even though I know it’s going to change things for us,” she said, turning to look at Finn, “I want you to be happy more than I want things to stay the same. Because…I know you’ve always wanted—and needed—so much more than you’ve let yourself settle for. I’m so happy for both of you.”
Finn knew he had to say something, and unlike the night before, it had to be now. He linked his arm with Chloe’s and pulled her towards the players’ bench. After shifting aside the mostly empty tray of food, they sat down. Finn eased the phoneout of her hand and held it up so that the three of them formed a triangle.
Chloe gave him her “you have one minute before I start to get anxious” look, and Finn struggled to find the right words.
“Chloe…I feel like you’ve been saying a lot about how things are going to change, and Brad told me you said I wasn’t really a part of your QPR.”
Christian inhaled sharply, and Chloe glanced at him, then back at Finn, her eyes wide and a little scared.
“I–I didn’t mean… Of course you are, I just…I wasn’t sure how long you wanted to be in it, or what was going to happen once you found your person. I didn’t want to confuse Brad or make him think you’d have to choose him versus us.”
Finn chewed on his lip. He didn’t want to accuse her, but it seemed like thatwashow she felt. That he was going to choose Brad over them. This would have been so much easier to do at home, where the three of them could curl up together on the couch and Christian would mediate when emotions ran high or help Finn parse through his thoughts when they came at him too hard and too fast. Unfortunately, he didn’t think he could let this sit and fester until they got home.
“Do you remember,” he asked, his mind slowly churning around a random memory, “when we took that improv class together? And by took, I mean you forced me and Christian to go, and then after day one, you realized you hated improv, so then Christian and I took an improv class together.”
Christian shook his head fondly as a small smile formed on Chloe's lips. “You know, that really isn’t ringing any bells for me.”
“The first day of class, they taught us about ‘yes,’ ‘and,’” Finn said, accidentally putting finger quotes over both words. “It was how we were supposed to continue the scene and not cut off our partner’s ideas…or cut off the potential for more.”
Chloe blinked but didn’t say anything.
“Chloe, you and me?” He waved his hand between them and then waved his hand at the triangle. “The three of us? We’re yesand. Not yesor. Not yesbut. Yes, Chloe, you and Christian are my ride-or-die, my family, my queerplatonic partners for life.Andnow I also have a romantic partner for life—or at least, I hope I do.”
Chloe’s warm brown eyes looked almost golden in the twinkling fairy lights, and they brimmed over with tears as she lunged for him. He wrapped her up in his arms as best he could, while still holding Christian out to the side.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m a few doors, a few hours, or a plane ride away from you two,” Finn said. “Nothing is going to change the love that I have for you, or the piece of my heart that you hold.”
