"So," Ms. Poirier started, pacing the front of the class, "we'll be doing the Socratic Seminar today, assuming that everyone has read their respective books."

A quick glance around the room confirmed to Lane that she was indeed one out of the few who had actually finished their literature for the assignment they were meant to do. Lane chuckled to herself, turning her attention away from her peers and back to her study notes. It would be fun to watch them try and save their grades for this one.

She'd always found it ironic that her English teacher was a woman who originally came from France. It wasn't to say that she was a bad teacher, but Lane thought it odd that the school board had chosen her to teach the course. They could've even had her teaching a French class, except they were all stuck with a teacher Lane was positive didn't know the very first thing about French. Anything she knew about the French language certainly didn't come from her.

"Go to the places I assigned to your group yesterday," Mrs Poirier continued. "Half will be talking about their books today, and the other half will be taking notes and grading them to prepare for their turn to present tomorrow. The students whose books I'm going to call out will be going today..."

Lane tuned her out after that, instead resorting to watching the people in her groups to see if they got up, while she thought about which kids her group would be graded by if they were chosen to talk about their book — which had been To Kill A Mockingbird — that day.

She knew the process, even though their teacher seemed determined to explain it to them over and over until it was drilled in their brains. A few groups would talk about their books while other groups graded them, indeed, but Mrs. Poirier had also failed to mention the fact that each person from the group grading them would have to choose a person to evaluate, which meant that someone would have to specifically pick out Lane if she were to be graded. Which she would be, eventually.

Lane wished that this whole thing had already been assigned, too. She had only to wait for the inevitable — being the last of the litter to be chosen from.

It was only when Albert got up, did she become more alert. Albert was in her group, and so was Davey, as well as Abby — Gilbert's daughter, who she'd neglected to mention before. When she noticed Finch get up and start heading towards them, too, did she know she was in trouble.

Finch, unlike the others, wasn't in their group.

Finch observed Lane as she lost herself while talking about her book. Her hands were flying around to exaggerate her point, and her words were going as fast as a falcon in flight, but still, he could still clearly make out everything she said. An intriguing gleam lit up her eyes, and though she was slightly slouched in her chair, her voice carried across the room like crystal glass, demanding everyone's attention.

In short... she was ethereal.

He'd never seen her look so passionate about anything. She would usually make fun of other people's interests, or stare at them judgingly from behind a book. He'd sometimes wonder if she was truly emotionless, although he'd always suspected it was a front she put up to hide behind. But this... never would he have imagined that she could ever produce such well thought out arguments on her thoughts of the novel. He felt almost intimidated, knowing that, come his turn, he would not be able to reach this level of eloquence. He could only hope that she wouldn't choose to grade him, too.

He had chosen to grade her from the start, even if she had nothing to say. Yet from the looks of it, she was carrying her group's whole grade on her back. He couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if he took up a conversation with her about another book she's read. How eager she'd be to speak with him then, now that they had common interests. To see that spark in her eyes up close...

It was a wonder he wasn't blushing, and for once, he was glad she wasn't looking at him.

After the class had ended, having been the last of the day, he went over to Albert and caught his shoulder before the boy could leave. "Hey, Al, got a minute?"

"What's up?" Albert murmured, gazing down at his phone.

Finch put his hand over the screen, so that he would have to look at him. "You know Lane, right?"

"Who?"

Finch frowned, thrown off by his response. Albert had been the one to tell him the most about the girl. Had he really forgotten who she was?

After a moment of silence, Albert rolled his eyes. "Of course I know Lane, you nitwit."

Finch rubbed his neck, ears turning red. He should've known. "I need to know what type of stuff she typically likes to read."

"Why would..." Albert trailed off when he understood Finch's intentions. "Wow, already making your move?"

Finch's eyes widened, already regretting having asked. "I just - I want to know what she likes to read. I didn't know that was a crime."

"Hey, I got you, alright?" Albert patted him on the shoulder. "Relax. I'll bring you something tomorrow."

When Albert came over and plopped a book into her hands, Lane frowned. "What's this for? I already own a copy of Cinder."

Albert bit his lip, looking around. "Well..."

"Better not have stolen it."

Albert snorted. "It ain't yours, your highness. I need you to get that to Finch, alright?"

"Finch?" Lane asked in disbelief. "What's he gonna do with this? Make a paper airplane out of it?"

"He wanted to read it," Albert told her flatly, "and you're the only one of us in History with him. Now, could you get that to him, or are you gonna make me late for Pre-Calc?"

Lane grumbled her acceptance, then went off to find Finch. Maybe some more literature would do that boy some good.

"Cortes," she said when she found him seated at his desk. She wondered how he didn't get whiplash with how fast he turned to face her. She didn't dwell on it as she dropped the book onto his desk. "Albert told me to give this to you. Enjoy."

"Thanks," he mumbled, cheeks blazing red as he bent his head down to inspect the book.

Lane shook her head and made to go sit down at her own desk, but stopped when she heard him groan pitifully to himself. She slowly turned to face him, seeing that he had opened the book. "What's wrong?"

Finch's face had reddened even more than she'd originally thought possible, and he quickly stammered out, "it's nothing," as he averted his gaze.

She raised an eyebrow, and opened her mouth to argue that it was obviously something, when-

"Is there a reason you're not seated, Miss Delly?"

"No, I'm going," Lane said hastily, flustered. "Loosen up a bit."

Ms. Blaquière gave her a glare that she probably deserved, and the lesson commenced.

Unknown:
Hey, remember that book you gave me from Albert?

Lane frowned down at the text she'd gotten from Finch. Who else would it have been? But he wasn't the type to initiate conversation, and she feared she was moments away from falling victim to a practical joke. Not to mention, she thought as she burrowed back underneath her blanket, pulling up the collar of her fuzzy violet sweater, she hadn't given any of them her phone number.

You:
How'd you get my number?

Finch:
Albert

You:
Albert doesn't have my number.

Finch:
A friend of yours, through Albert.

Lane frowned. Friend? What friend? Abby? She and the girl had never been the closest, but they were always friendly with each other. Abby had her number, as did her father, but she couldn't imagine Abby having given it away to Albert. Unless... unless he had charmed her. Now this was certainly a possibility. Curse her easily romanced heart!

You:
Would it be too rash to start planning his murder for giving people my number without asking me first?

She was joking, of course, but that didn't mean she wasn't bothered. Although she'd been reunited with Albert for approximately three weeks now, she still felt uncomfortable with giving her number out to him. For one thing, her brothers could get into her phone while she wasn't looking, and skim through all her messages. And for another... giving out her number was a sign of trust that she wasn't sure if she was ready to give anyone just yet.

Finch:
Well, I did ask for it, so technically he's not in the wrong.

She let out a deep sigh. She could understand the reason, but it didn't really make it any better.

You:
Okay, but I'm still upset about it. He knows better than to invade my privacy like that.

It was true. There had to have been a pretty good reason for why Albert had so freely thrown her number around. He knew it took her a while to trust anyone. Especially since he hadn't even gotten it yet.

Finch:
Well, if you're still planning your revenge on him, I've got no plans tonight. Can I tag along?

She knew this was wrong. She was encouraging this unlikely friendship just by interacting with him. It wasn't fair to him, not when this was bound to burn in flames when he found out about her familial situation. It wasn't fair to her, either, when she knew that he would eventually leave her. And yet, despite all the warning signs, Lane smiled.

You:
Only an idiot plans a murder in pairs. Look how Bonnie and Clyde ended up. Plus, you'd probably tell Albert we're about to kill him before we even leave to go to his house.

Finch:
Bonnie and Clyde were a masterful pair, excuse you.

Lane rolled her eyes.

You:
Never said they weren't, dummy. Just that they ended up dying. So, sorry, but I prefer to work alone.

Finch:
You're strikingly antisocial lol. Is an invasion of your privacy really worth killing someone over?

You:
Maybe I was already planning this before today, you wouldn't know. No one plans a murder out loud. And btw, you're strikingly ANNOYING.

Finch:
So much for not planning it out loud, then, or do I just not count?

Finch:
Haha and looks like we're a striking pair, then.

You:
It's not out loud if you can't hear my voice. And shut up, you're not smooth.

Finch:
Well then, maybe you should call me?

Lane bit her lip, heart beating ferociously in her chest. She'd be dead if her brothers heard her, or knew who she was talking to. That didn't take from the fact that she sort of felt like saying yes. She didn't know if it was a risk she was willing to take.

With her heart pounding in her throat, her finger hovering over the call button, she truly considered it. Then, she withdrew from it and sent her reply.

You:
Hah, absolutely not.

She closed her eyes slowly. She really was weak, wasn't she? Was she really going to let her brothers control her life this way?

Finch:
We can talk about that book...

At that, Lane slowly crept out into the hallway. It wasn't likely that her siblings were home, not when they spent most of their time helping their uncle with his dirty work, but she couldn't leave it up to chance. She looked into her brothers' rooms and saw that they were empty, before sighing in relief and heading back to her bed.

You:
*sigh*

You:
Fine.

So he did call her, and Lane was surprised to find that she actually enjoyed their conversation. He wanted to discuss the book she'd passed to him, just like he had mentioned at the beginning of their conversation. They talked about how blatantly obvious it was that [ spoiler redacted ] was [ spoiler redacted ], and how she probably should have found out earlier than she did, even if Finch argued that she couldn't have possibly known. They both agreed on the fact that Levana was not to be trusted.

They talked well into the later hours of the night. Lane didn't even care that she was wasting some of her 'cruising the internet for seven whole hours' time, instead listening as he told her the story of how he met the group of boys she had chosen to associate herself with, and laughing at all his jokes.

Most of them were cheesy, and she was sure she wouldn't have laughed at them during the day, but something about how she felt just seemed right, and so she didn't bother to question why she'd giggled at his stupid comments until they had both hung up, and happily drifted off to sleep.

She dreamed of him that night.

In this book, there's a love story between a redhead and a boy who changed his name to a type of animal. Sound familiar?

Finch thunked his head down onto the book in embarrassment, jumping slightly when he felt a hand keeping his head down.

"Don't lift up your head," came Lane's voice. "Your face looks better this way."

"Wow," Finch replied dryly, although his voice was muffled by the book. "You're so nice to me. I don't know what I ever did to deserve you as a friend."

Friend. He felt as though it was all she would ever be, although he wished that weren't the case. Only, he was positive she hated him. In a friendly way, of course. But still hated him, nevertheless.

"Don't mention it," Lane told him, messing up his hair.

"Lane," he groaned.

"You tell me what you just saw in that book," Lane began, "and I'll let you go."

He hesitated. "No."

Lane sighed, her hand still on his head. "Oh well. I hope this is comfortable for you."

"It is," he said, voice horribly muffled. "Most comfortable I've ever been."

"Good."

Both of them spent the next moment in silence, before he heard Abby sigh. "Alright, Lane. Release the Finch."

"Yeah, Lane," Finch added. "Release the Finch."

She did, and he would be lying if he said he wished she hadn't listened. The feeling of her hand on the back of his head made his head spin and his stomach knot in a way that wasn't entirely unpleasant. He didn't want her to find out what was written in the book that Lane had passed over to him, though. The book who'd supposedly been passed on to her by Elmer.

He'd expected Albert, but Elmer? Even Crutchie would have jumped in on whatever game his friends were playing before he thought Elmer ever would. But lo and behold, there they were, Elmer as much the matchmaker as anyone else.

Finch didn't know how much more he could take. He dreaded the idea of looking up how many books there were in the series, in fear that the teasing notes would never end.

"Weirdo," Lane told him, but she was grinning. "One day, when you least expect it, I'm gonna find out what you and your friends are hiding. Just you wait."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Finch said, playing dumb. "So, uh, you said Elmer passed you the book?"

"Mm-hm," Lane replied. "He said he got it for you, and I quote, 'as a gift.' I didn't know it was your birthday."

"It's not," Finch grumbled. "Has Elmer even read this book?"

"I don't know." Lane suddenly perked up. "Why? Is it something to do with what you're hiding?"

"No."

"You're lying," she pointed out simply. "But don't worry. I'll find out soon enough."

He dramatically clutched the book to his chest in response, and they both broke into uncontrollable laughter, their sides burning by the time the teacher told them to either shut up or face detention. They had to look away from each other so they wouldn't begin laughing again. Still, a giddy smile remained fixed on Lane's face.

Finch was surprised when he ran into Lane a few days after that, and even more surprised to see that she looked almost nervous.

Nervous. To see him?

"Hey," she said, grasping the straps of her school bag and bouncing on the balls of her feet. "How are you?"

"Alright, I guess. What's up?"

She was silent for a few moments. "I saw you hanging out with a girl the other day. I didn't know you had a..."

Finch snorted. "What, a girlfriend?"

"I-I just- I noticed- I didn't want to seem weird by asking, but..." her words got quieter as she went on, until they quickly faded into nothing. "What do you think of Scarlet so far?"

"It's good, I'm liking it," Finch replied, chuckling. "Lane, it's alright. Amy isn't my girlfriend. She transferred here a while back and was at first trying to join in with the three Dominos-" the three in question being Teresa, Frisks, and their leader, Dominique- "but she found that they were a little too intense for her, so she was considering joining in with us. Between you and me, I think she's got a little something for Romeo."

"Oh. Sorry for asking," Lane mumbled, looking down at her feet, kicking at a pebble that was conveniently there. Finch stopped to wonder if she actually brought the pebble into the school in case something happened where she didn't want to make eye contact with anyone. Seemed enough like a Lane thing to do. "I just... I never really saw her around, and then I saw her with you, so I figured you'd know who... Nevermind. Again, I'm sorry. I swear I'm not obsessed with you or your love life."

That was the worst thing she could've admitted to. "I don't mind, really."

Lane dared to meet his gaze, and Finch sent her an awkward smile. He cursed the crush he had on the girl. He couldn't even talk to her about something simple without messing it up.

"What do you think of all the new characters?" she asked, slowly returning back to her old self.

He took a moment to ponder this, smiling slightly. "I know this may sound unbelievable, but Thorne reminds me of Race."

She snorted. "Unbelievable alright. I've never seen a character that resembled him more."

She was right. While he hadn't read as many books as her, he recognized a bit of Race in every scene Thorne was in.

"Not sure what to think about Wolf yet," he admitted, "but I'm sure he'll grow on me. And Scarlet... Scarlet kinda reminds me of you."

He didn't miss the way her cheeks flushed, bringing out the small diamond birthmark beneath her eye. "It's the hair, isn't it?"

He grinned at her. "Not at all."

She began to walk ahead, and he rushed to match her short stride. "And don't forget that the names Wolf and Finch are similar in the sense that they're both animals. Ironic, right?"

He sighed. "That's one way to put it."

"Here," Lane grumbled, handing Finch yet another book, although this one had chains around it with a lock securing its privacy. Meant to keep out prying eyes like Lane's, and it seemed to have worked. Finch just dreaded the thought of what was to come, if someone had gone through the trouble of chaining it up.

"Who was it this time?"

"Jack." Lane sighed, sliding into the seat next to him at the lunch table. "I don't see why you don't just ask this girl out, whoever she is."

Finch's head snapped up at her words. "What?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Lane shrugged, gazing down at her nails. "What else would your friends be teasing you about that would cause you to go tomato red every time? The whole series is about different people falling in love. Well, and saving the world, but love is definitely there. I know you said you weren't seeing anyone, but that doesn't mean you don't have a crush. Plus, you wear your emotions out on your sleeve. I can be oblivious at times, but I'm not blind."

Finch grumbled to himself, turning the lock to create the code 17-17-17. Unsurprisingly, it opened on the first try.

"How'd you get that so quick?" Lane demanded, leaning over in curiosity. Finch's breath caught at the sudden close proximity to her.

"Let's just say," he said finally, glad she wasn't facing him as he slid the book out of her reach, "Jack's overly fond of those numbers," Not wanting to give too much away in case there was ever anything else that required unlocking that came from Jack, he said nothing else. Last thing they wanted was for Lane to break into all of their stuff.

Finch didn't doubt for one second that she could've found a way to pick the lock, though. She was playing against them in this game, but at least she had the decency to play fairly. It was with this thought that he shook off the chains, and opened the book, revealing the note taped onto the inside cover page.

Finch and Lane, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-

That was as far as Finch got before he'd slammed the book shut, startling Race who almost fell out of his chair at the sudden spike of noise.

"That bad, huh?" Lane muttered, now scrolling through something on her phone.

"I'm gonna kill him," was his reply.

"Get her!"

"Oh no! Code Red! Code Red!"

"That's my- agh!"

You're all wondering what's happening, right? Well, to be completely honest, Lane was wondering this too as she ducked beneath desks and jumped over shoulders.

It was perhaps time for a rewind.

Now, Lane was aware of all the books having something to do with her — probably an inside joke of some sort involving her, she really didn't care — but even she could tell things had really gotten out of hand when Davey — Davey, of all people, handed her the last book in the series, instructing her to get it to Finch.

"If this wasn't Winter," Lane began, referring to the book, "and you were someone else, like Race, I would hit you. I'm telling you, you'd be seeing stars."

"That's always nice to know," Davey told her, shooting her an awkward, nervous grin. "And good thing I'm not Race, because I really don't trust you with that in your hands. It weighs a ton."

Lane shrugged. "That's what 800 pages will do, I guess."

"Yeah." A beat of silence. "Well, tell Finch I said hi." 

"Will do," Lane said. "If I don't knock him out first for not telling me what you guys have been writing. Wait, don't you have English with us? Why didn't you just give it to him?"

But Davey was already long gone. Lane sighed before heading to class.

"Delivery for a Finch Cortes?" Lane questioned chipperly, dancing out of reach as he tried to snatch it away from her without getting up from his desk.

"Really?" Finch said. "This again?"

"Fourth time's a charm," Lane told him.

"Isn't it th-"

"Ah-ah, all bad things come in threes," she explained, then grinned proudly at the reference from Cinder.

Finch sighed. "I don't know why they keep doing this to me. Can't they just give me the books themselves?"

Lane shrugged. "They knew I would give you a hard time, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who's even read these books, so there's that, too. I didn't think Davey would ever join in on the fun, though."

"Davey?" Finch demanded. "The teacher's pet?"

They both turned to look at said boy, already drowning in textbooks and whatnot.

"Just tell me what's in it, and I'll give it to you," Lane pleaded.

"Why aren't you just looking at it now?" Finch asked. "You're holding it- what's stopping you?"

Lane took a moment to consider this, seeing Finch wince at his own words. But they both knew it was true. She could just open it there and then while she had the chance and be done with it.

"Because I respect your privacy," Lane told him truthfully. "I'd usually have no qualms with cracking an inside joke that obviously has something to do with me, but It's pretty clear you don't really trust me, so I won't go snooping around into your things."

"No, Lane..." Finch sighed, standing up and putting his hands on her arms. "I trust you, alright? It's just... well, it's like how a diary is personal-"

Lane snorted. "You keep a diary?"

Finch looked like he was going to deny this fact, before he just huffed. "It's something I wouldn't even let my closest friends see, except for the fact that they're the ones writing these things. But I do trust you."

Instantly, a wave of regret hit her. Here she was, prompting him to tell her he trusted her, when she knew, she knew, what a mistake that was for everyone involved. She felt wretched as she slumped, murmuring, "Alright."

"Look." Finch raised his eyes to the ceiling, looking like he was about to make the worst decision of his life. "Even I don't know what's written in there right now. If ever you see the book just lying around after I've had it in my hands, you can read it. But only if I'm not holding it, or something. And no, that doesn't include breaking into my house to get to it."

"Oh. Well then, challenge accepted." Lane forced herself to cheer up, hiding a smirk behind the book. "Here, then. The book's pretty light. Should be easy enough to carry around."

She made eye contact with Davey, who facepalmed, shaking his head. Finch shrugged, oblivious, reaching out to take the book...

... only for it to slip through his fingers when the weight of it struck him. The bang of the book hitting the ground resonated through the class, drawing everyone's attention to them.

Everyone froze when they realized what this meant.

They had endured five full seconds of complete and utter silence, before Lane picked up the fallen book and the world collapsed at their feet.

"Get her!"

"Oh no! Code Red! Code Red!"

"That's my- agh!"

She shoved Finch away, who was inches away from grabbing the book from her, feeling a bit bad for it afterwards. But she was a woman on a mission — she didn't have time to be sorry. The Mission Impossible theme had already begun to play in her mind.

She saw Albert quickly approaching from beside her, and froze, trying to see how she could weasel her way out of those admittedly buff arms of his. It was times like this she wished he was still a little red headed shrimp with practically nothing to him.

"Lane," Albert began, still approaching, "hand over the book, and no one gets hurt."

"In your dreams, DaSilva!"

She crouched down and rammed into his legs, causing him to lose his balance and trip. She then managed to escape his grappling hands from catching her own legs and bringing her down with him. She could hear him scrambling after her on his knees as she ran away.

Then it was Davey and Abby, and since she didn't really have a reason to make them suffer, she dove in the gap between the two, and quickly scurried up onto a desk a bit away from them.

"Lane," warned Albert, "whatever you do, don't open that-"

Dude, seriously, just kiss her already. This is getting ridiculous. Your friends are tired of buying you books, and she's probably tired of handing them to you.

Slowly, Lane looked up to where Finch was hunched over his desk, hood over his head, hands covering his undoubtedly red face. She didn't think twice before marching towards him and grabbing his shirt, hauling him up slightly – he was practically her height sitting down, anyway – and capturing his lips with her own before he could utter a word. She paused when he kissed back, although it shouldn't have surprised her as much as it did.

So that's what the notes had been about.

"Detention!" the teacher boomed. "Detention, all of you!"

"I can't believe you tricked me," Finch grumbled, cheeks still red.

Lane shrugged, tapping her pencil onto her desk. "I got detention because of it."

"So did I."

"We all did," Davey snapped.

Okay, so clearly he wasn't exactly happy about being dragged along with them.

"I'm just glad you guys finally got it out in the open," Albert commented. "Seriously. As much as this has been fun, at least now I won't have to hear you two yap on and on about 'how much you admire each other, but of course, it's not attraction!' It's honestly sickening."

The rest of the crew — some random kid and Abby — mumbled something in agreement. Lane and Finch glanced at each other and shrugged.

"You guys are cute together, though, so that can all be forgiven," Abby told them, shooting them a shy smile.

Davey and Albert frowned, probably not of the same opinion.

"So the only reason you got those books was because you wanted to impress me?" Lane questioned, still working to wrap her mind around the whole situation.

"No." Finch pointed at her, meeting her gaze once more. "I wanted to be able to talk to you about something I knew you enjoyed."

"Same thing."

"Hardly."

"What do you mean, hard-"

The door suddenly burst open, and in came Race. "No one move!"

Lane stared at him for a moment. "Um..."

"Am I too late?" The boy demanded. "Did someone already give Finch the last book?"

"I mean... yeah." Finch eyed his friend warily. "That's technically why we're all in here."

Race stared at him for a moment, before turning around and throwing his NY Giants cap onto the ground. "Dang it!"

"Why?" Abby questioned. "What's wrong?"

Race sighed and unzipped his bag, pulling out the two novellas of the series. "At least tell me they aren't together yet. Please."

"No, they're together."

Race, ever the drama queen, picked up his cap only to throw it down onto the ground again. "I even got detention for this!"

Abby listed her head to the side. "You got detention... because we got detention?"

"Well, Chem is right next to English," Race explained. "I heard a lot of shouting, something to do with Finch and Lane, so I made an explosion. I don't think Mr. Denver was very happy about it, but that was part of my own plan, so I guess I can't complain."

"I just can't believe you actually knew how to create a planned explosion." Albert snickered.

"Just give me the books," grumbled Finch.

Race did so, and everyone crowded around Finch like a flock of birds to see what had been written for the other two.

In Fairest, were the words: We all know who you think is the fairest of them all. And in Stars Above: Please end our suffering and ask her out. Please.

"At least he was polite about it?" Abby said.

Lane crossed her arms. "So what were the three other ones?"

"Oh yeah." Albert snickered. "First one was: You guys would look cute together, winky face, second one was, In this book, there's a love story between a redhead and a man who changed his name to a type of animal. Sound familiar? And third one was-"

"You remember all that?" Finch questioned. "And Elmer gave Lane the second one. How would you know?"

"We all traded ideas, obviously." Albert rolled his eyes. "Now, as I was saying, the third one was, Finch and Lane sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes marriage, then comes s-"

"Okay, we get it!" Lane exclaimed, as Davey went ahead and covered Abby's ears – who'd gone beat red. Finch had once again retreated back into his sweater shell. Race just laughed at them all.

Despite everything, secrets and odd kids and all, Lane was very glad that she had found herself in this strange group of people.

She didn't care about what her brothers thought anymore. This was her life. And she sure as heck wasn't going to let it go to waste.

(5429 words)

Before anything, I need to mention that this was originally inspired by a Finch oneshot on Tumblr called notes by daveyjacobss. Go read it, it's very good. It's the same premise, but there are less books involved in that one, and the plot is significantly different. Probably a bit more romantic there, too, but Finch is definitely more of a mess in this one, poor guy. (Okay I'm rereading hers and it might be more similar than I thought... someone else read it and tell me if I should take this down ksksns. I wrote this like two years ago so I really don't remember much of my thought process back then).

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer was referenced many times throughout this, as well as To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and the Mission Impossible franchise. I don't own these either.

Also, all of the other girlies in the original series — other than Evangeline — were named in this one, as well as Frisks and Laces (Teresa). Like I said, I can't focus on them too much in these, but they'll all get their time to shine at some point.

~ nutcracker645