The next morning, I dug into the back of my closet to find the only black dress I owned. Black was not really my color. I think the only time I wore this dress was to an internship interview back in high school. I chose to put no makeup on since I knew for a fact that if I saw anyone crying, especially Finn, I would lose it too. I left my room and found an empty kitchen. For once, I wasn't the last one ready. I put a bagel in the toaster and waited for my friends to appear.

As soon as my bagel popped, Zane came whizzing by, his tie hanging loose around his neck. He grabbed half of my bagel, with a "Thank you!". He plopped the bagel in his mouth and jogged back to the bathroom. He stood before the mirror and stared intently at his tie, twisting his head side to side like a dog.

"Do you need help?" I called down the hallway. I heard an affirmative answer, though it was heavily muffled by the bagel in his mouth. I rolled my eyes and headed down the hall, my heels clicking the whole way. I stood before him and got to work on his tie when Bishop passed by the bathroom, without looking in.

"Vienna?" He called, "Do you know how to tie-," he stopped when he saw me already tying Zane's. "Ah, figured you would."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, get in line," I said, smiling at the two's incompetence. I finished Zane's and started working on Bishop's. Finn came out of his room and joined the line as well. He reeked of liquor and made eye contact with no one. "Really, none of you know how to tie a tie? This is ridiculous. Gather around." I undid Bishop's half-done tie and showed them step-by-step how to do it. Finn was not amused, but Bishop and Zane 'ooed' and 'ahhed' every step of the way. When everyone's tie was tied, I went back to the kitchen for the other half of my bagel, only to find Bishop finishing off the last bite.

I huffed, narrowing my eyes at him, but before I could bitch him out, Finn walked out into the kitchen. Even Zane fell silent. Valeria walked into the apartment, but felt how tense it was and said nothing. Finn took a bottle of Jack out of the cabinet, chugged a bunch of it, then slammed it onto the counter. He didn't say anything or look at any of us, he just silently left the apartment, slamming the door behind him. We all hurried after him. We didn't catch up with him until we reached the subway station. Our ride to Queens was silent and somber. Zane tried a few times to start conversations, but each time he was met with weak smiles from Bishop, Valeria, and me and absolute nothingness from Finn.

We emerged back above ground and walked a short distance to the church the funeral was being held at. We walked in and grabbed seats in the pews. Zane went about halfway in and sat down, followed by me, then Bishop, then Valeria, and then Finn on the end. In hindsight, it may not have been our best idea to put Finn closest to the aisle, but it's called hindsight for a reason.

There weren't many people, just Bishop's family seated behind us and a couple of other families from their neighborhood. From what I understood, it sounded like Bishop's family and donations were paying for the service. I looked, but I didn't see Finn's dad, which I was happy about. The coffin was closed in the front, with a picture of Finn's mom next to it on a stand. It looked to be taken when she was around thirty, and she displayed a dazzling smile. She had curly blonde hair and blue eyes, starkly different from Finn's, but they seemed to have similar bone structures. Finn kept his head down the whole time, never looking at the priest speaking in the front.

Everything was going well for a while. The priest was speaking beautifully, and I was starting to tear up. I could hear Bishop's mom sniffling behind us. When one of my tears did eventually fall, Bishop put his hand on my thigh for support. It was an average funeral for a while, until about halfway through, when Finn's dad stumbled in. He walked right up to the front, pushing the priest away from the microphone. Finally, Finn looked up.

"What a turnout," Finn's dad griped into the microphone. Finn stood up out of his seat and practically fell into the aisle. Valeria tried to tug on his jacket to get him back down, but he ignored her. "Well, lookie here," his father held out his hands towards him. "He's drunk at his mom's funeral! Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the fucking tree, right? He's a drunk, just like his paps." He laughed humorlessly.

"I'm nothing like you," Finn growled, his first words of the morning.

"Sure, seems like you are. You're fucked up like me, you're alone like me, shit's adding up," he stared at his son. Then he looked at the coffin, "Fucking bitch got the last laugh, like always, leaving me to deal with you."

And with that, Finn took off running, but no, not out of the church. He charged straight toward his father, taking him down in front of everyone. Straddling his father, he punched him in the face, spraying blood all over the mounted picture of his mother. "You killed her! You killed her!" He yelled, laying punches over and over again. Bishop and Zane took off after him, trying to wrestle him off. They dragged him off and held him back, about a foot away from his father. "I hate you, you piece of shit," he roared from above him, struggling to break free.

His father spat blood on the church floor. "Face it, kid, you're no better than I am, and you're gonna wind up right where I am someday. You can't hate me, you are me. You just wait, until one of these pretty little girls gives you a chance, then you'll see just how alike we really are." He laughed again.

Finn launched himself forward again, and the other two boys struggled to hold him back. "Let it go, Finn, you know he's just trying to piss you off," Bishop muttered in his ear. "Let's fucking go." Bishop grabbed him by the neck and tossed him towards the door. Finn shook his head and shoved his friends off of him, before storming out of the church.

Valeria and I stood up to follow him, while Bishop apologized to the priest, shaking his hand. We hugged his mom and dad goodbye, before hurrying after Finn. We found him outside of the church, sitting on the bottom step, staring at the ground. His entire body shook. Bishop and Zane sat down on either side of him. No one said anything for a while.

People began to stream out of the church. Danny was one of the first out. He stood next to me and kept his eyes on Finn. Bishop glanced anxiously behind him. He clapped a hand on Finn's shoulder, asking, "You okay, man?"

Finn nodded slowly. "Well, we should probably get the fuck out of here," Zane said, leaning towards him. "Y'know, before he comes out." We all knew who 'he' was.

Finn nodded again and pushed himself off of the step. He didn't look back or wait for any of us. He just took off with long strides back toward the station. Valeria groaned, before running after him, an impressive feat in her six inch heels. She grabbed his arm, he wrenched it away. "Don't be nice to me," he growled.

     "What? Finn, of course I'm going to be nice to you!" She tried to grab him again, and again he yanked away, but this time, he at least stopped walking. He faced her, stepping intimidatingly close, glaring down at her.

     "You heard what he said about me. Stay away from me."

     This definitely felt like something we shouldn't be watching, but once again, we became the peanut gallery, from a safe distance away, of course. The four of us stopped walking and just watched the scene unfold.

     "I don't believe a word that man says. You really want to trust the opinion of a man that smacked our friend across the face? His handprint is still visible on her!"

     "Hey, I said I was fucking sorry about that!" He pointed his finger in her face, but she did not waver.

     "I'm not blaming you, Finn. I just want you to let me in."

     "Let you in?" He yelled incredulously. "You don't want to get close to me. You don't want to hear how he beat me, you don't want to see those scars. You don't want to see the cigarette burns all over my body. You don't want to hear how my mother sat there and let it happen, never saying a word against him. She just kept drinking. You don't want to hear about how he hurt her too, and how I fucking left her behind with him! You don't want in." His voice was loud and menacing, and he stayed in her face.

     "Yes, I do, Finn, I do!" She reached up and tried to touch his face, but he shook her off.

     "You don't, Val! I'm not who you think I am. I'm just like he says. What if I turn into him? Violence creates violence, Val! Monsters make monsters." He paced back and forth, wringing his hands through his shoulder-length hair. I had never seen him so freaked out before. He was laying it all out on the table.

     "You're exactly who I think you are. There's no doubt in my mind." She grabbed him, forcing him to stop pacing. She took his hands out of his hair, bringing them down to his side and gently holding them. "I. Want. In." She grabbed his neck with one hand and dragged him down to her, laying a passionate kiss on his lips.

     He broke away and pressed his forehead into hers. We could barely make out his words, but Valeria confirmed them for me later. He whispered, "I-I've never done this whole relationship thing before. Wh-what if I can't promise that I won't get mad and hurt you?"

     She looked at him and shook her head. "You would never lay a hand on me. Never. I can promise you that."

     He stared at her for a minute, looking like he was trying to believe her. Then he abruptly pulled her into his chest, holding her to him like his life depended on it. Valeria squeezed him back. Finn kept his hands moving, through her hair, down her back, up her arms, almost like he couldn't believe she was real.

     "Awww," I cooed, breaking the silence between the four of us. The two lovebirds glanced over in surprise, forgetting the rest of us were even there.

     "Let's go, Finn!" Zane cheered, rushing to them and patting his friend on the back. The rest of us followed suit and cheered them on too.

     "Shut the fuck up," Finn said, waving us off and obviously trying to keep the smile off of his face. He let go of Valeria, and we all made our way to the station, in much higher spirits than we had left it.