21
“I named her Doreen, after Squirrel Girl,” Finn said, holding up the tiny squirrel pup he hadn’t gotten around to showing Nolan last week, since Nolan had ambushed him for a makeout session the moment they’d been alone.
“Squirrel Girl?” Nolan asked.
“She’s a superhero,” Finn said. “Kinda one of the Avengers, actually. I’m still hoping for a movie,” he said.
Doreen was putting on weight and recovering from the loss of her mom pretty well, and Finn only expected to need to keep her for a handful of weeks before she was big enough and recovered enough to make it on her own.
For the time being, though, he liked hanging out with her.
He liked hanging out with Nolan, too. Life was good, right now, in a way it hadn’t been for a long time.
Not that Finn had been unhappy, he’d just been… content. Now, he caught himself grinning at the thought of Nolan while he went about his day. Even other people had caught him grinning at the thought of Nolan. Oscar was giving him hell over it.
It was nice.
“You’re such a nerd,” Nolan said, grinning at him.
“Oh yeah,” Finn said. “Wait until you see my comic book collection. I’ll dig out a couple of issues of Squirrel Girl for you.”
“I’d like that.” Nolan kept smiling at him, and Finn’s heart fluttered every time that happened.
Everything about Nolan just made his heart sing.
“Next weekend, okay? You’re coming home with me.”
Finn was very aware that his apartment was a tiny shoebox, but he didn’t spend a whole lot of time there, anyway, and it was his. His own space.
He didn’t show it to many people. Nolan, though, he trusted not to judge him.
And he wanted to let Nolan in. He wanted to show Nolan all of him.
Finn believed, for maybe the first time ever, that he’d found someone who could accept all of him.
Even his stacks of books and disaster of a sock drawer.
He didn’t want to wait any longer than he had to before he could bask in all that closeness.
“Deal,” Nolan said. “Can I hold her, or would that be…?”
“You can totally hold her,” Finn said. “Just make sure you’re supporting all of her weight, okay?”
Nolan nodded, taking Doreen carefully as Finn handed her over. Her eyes hadn’t opened yet, but she snuggled into Nolan’s warmth eagerly as he cradled her against his chest.
She had great taste in men, Finn thought.
“She’s impossibly sweet,” Nolan said, smiling down at her. “I can see why you like them.”
“Used to raise them when I was a kid,” Finn explained. “If I found them lost or hurt, I’d bring them into my room, feed them and take care of them before releasing them back into the wild when they were ready to go. My parents yelled at me a lot for it, but I never stopped doing it. Guess that’s why I do what I do now.”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re amazing?” Nolan asked, awe shining in his eyes.
Finn rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks burning. “Once or twice. No one as cute as you, though,” Finn murmured.
Despite the fact that they were pretty much officially together now, Finn still had a crush on Nolan. It was a strange feeling, but he didn’t hate it. He liked being excited about seeing him, he liked the thrill of getting to talk to him every time he showed up.
It’d been a long, long time since he got to feel like that.
“Well, you are amazing. I’ve never met anyone like you.”
“Me neither. Uh. Met anyone like you, I mean.”
Nolan smiled warmly at him. “I got it. Are you still staying over tonight?”
“If I’m still invited,” Finn said. He had a bag packed and everything, and he’d had Ezra bring him in so he could leave his car at home.
“Obviously. Looking forward to having you all to myself,” Nolan said, a tiny smirk playing around his lips.
Finn had realized pretty quickly what that smirk meant. If he understood correctly, he was in for a great night.
Having to deal with Gavin for a few hours tomorrow was a completely fair tradeoff for that.