Finn Until Proven Guilty

Charlotte smoothed down her dress and breathed in deeply through her nose. The date wasn't off to a great start, Finn was already 10 minutes late.

This time last year Charlotte was curled up on the sofa with Dave, eating the leftover Christmas chocolate that she definitely didn't feel hungry for, watching Jools Holland introduce act after act she had never heard of on the BBC's New Year's coverage. 365 days later Dave was at home- alone, probably yowling and pacing and generally being the menace he was. Dave was Charlotte's cat.

This year, New Years looked entirely different. Charlotte was uncomfortable, out of her depth and getting gradually more pissed off. She sipped her water, scanning the room, watching the couples and the groups and the general chaos unfolding in the bar. Of course it was an insane idea to have a first date- a blind date- in a heaving city bar on New Year's Eve, but in the spirit of starting the new years resolution to 'be more adventurous' early, Charlotte had agreed to her friends' manipulations.

"Oh Finn is wonderful Char! I can see the two of you together, you really do have the same... values." Charlotte had wanted to ask Alice what exactly those values were- but had decided, as she opened her mouth, that maybe she actually didn't want to know. Meeting Finn would probably hold up a mirror about what her friend truly thought about her anyway. Judging solely on how late he was, she was under the impression Alice thought of her as entirely disrespectful.

"Something tells me you are waiting for me." A toothy grin swam into focus in front of Charlotte's face. He had appeared out of seemingly nowhere, sliding out of the crowd, into her booth.

"Finn?" Charlotte almost spluttered, taken aback by an immediate thought of 'Woah, this guy is...hot!' She was glad for the warm and low light, disguising her blush. "I was starting to worry you weren't coming," she managed to get out and then had to make a conscious effort to close her mouth. This man was jaw-droppingly gorgeous and that was apparently in a literal sense.

Finn looked utterly baffled for a second before shaking his head slightly "Oh I'm so sorry, I had no idea I was late."

"Didn't we say 8?"

He raised his watch and tutted. "It seems my watch may have stopped."

Ignoring the weird butterflies from the old-timey romanticism of a guy that kept time on a wristwatch rather than his mobile phone and the realisation that the bumpy start to the date with the most handsome man she had ever seen was simply a mechanical failure, Charlotte waved her hand and shook her head.

"No problem, You're not that late, anyway, Alice tells me she knows you through your volunteering thing." She was suddenly very aware of the rush job she'd done on her eyeliner and then she started worrying about how long it had been since her last trip to the salon. She patted her hair down surreptitiously under the guise of pushing a strand of it out of her face. 

Finn grinned, somewhat knowingly, eyes flickering over Charlotte's features. "I'm concerned about what Alice may have told you about me." She knew immediately that this was a man who knew the cards he held within his attractiveness. Dangerous she thought, and yet, irresistible.

"Oh, genuinely not much at all. Only that you are amazing with the dogs at the shelter and you are partial to a board game session. I don't think she even mentioned what you do for work."

Finn, it turned out was every type of perfect. Respectful and loving towards his parents who he had lost in a car accident a few years ago, attentive in listening to Charlotte's stories and opinions, passionate about animals and charity. Successful in his work and unfortunate in his dating history.

"...And then I walked in and there she was, with Sam from accounts, in our bed, right in the middle of... the act." He grimaced at the sour memory.

"No!" Charlotte gasped, genuinely wondering what kind of supermodel his ex must have been to consider cheating on this Adonis of a man.

"Yeah, so that would be how my last relationship ended." Finn somewhat awkwardly avoided Charlotte's gaze and drained his glass. "Another?," he inclined the empty tumbler towards her.

"Be rude not to," she laughed and he rose from the table, pushing his way into the crowd that must surely be reaching maximum density, suddenly she was aware of how loud the room had become and how much time must have passed unnoticed. Charlotte checked her phone, 23:40 glowed on the otherwise clear home-screen. Her eyes moved to the signal bars- Nothing, the dimly lit bar was after all, in a basement. If Alice had tried to check up on their progress she would have to wait until they emerged from their subterranean hideout to hear the gossip.

It took Finn until almost midnight to fight his way to the front of the bar and return with two glasses of champagne. Charlotte had spent the time alone wondering when exactly Alice had decided that she was in any way good enough for this man, and what high regard she actually must hold her in to imagine them as a match.

"I'm so sorry, it's crazy over there." Finn settled himself next to her rather than in his previous seat across from her in the booth and Charlotte's skin prickled with anticipation.

"It's almost midnight." She said breathlessly. Finn raised his arm to check his watch and instead of lowering it again, encircled her shoulders, pulling her closer in as the bar, in unison yelled- TEN, NINE, EIGHT

"So it is." He almost purred, so close to her that he didn't have to speak above a whisper.

SEVEN

Her hand trembled on the glass of Champagne

SIX

His eyes darted down to her lips and back up, locking her gaze 

FIVE

The descending numbers slowed, the crowd chanting them became distant

FOUR

Someone must have suddenly turned the heat up in the room. Everything had turned red

THREE

He placed his drink gently on the table and moved his hand to her cheek

TWO

She willed time to speed up, she wasn't sure her composure could last even that last second

ONE

He kissed her, like the countdown was for them, like the New Year was as insignificant as a Tuesday in March, like the universe had always intended them to reach this spot, at this time, together.

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How on earth had she ended up at his flat? Wasn't it only a second ago they were at the bar. Wait, was she still in the booth? This felt like sleep, the world was moving like a ship on rough seas. The taste of the bubbly champagne was burned into her mouth. They must have had quite a lot more than that glass, but, she couldn't quite recall...

Light filled the room and cleared her haze slightly, he was coming out of a bathroom, she was on the bed. He had removed most of his clothes. The ship hit a big wave and she ran past him to where she could see a sink.

"Are you okay" he said in an emotionless, empty voice. She could sense the lack of question, he wasn't looking for an answer. What was going on?

Without replying, Charlotte closed and locked the door, a tiny sense of control and relief returning to her. Fishing her phone out of her pocket with numb fingers. The bright screen made her squint but she could still make out the numbers- 05:34. So much of the morning was missing from her. Under the time she could just make out a message from Alice, it swam in and out of focus, she opened it.

I'm so sorry Char, Finn had to bail on tonight. His mum just went into the hospital. what awful timing, on New Years. Do you wanna come round to mine instead? You, me and Teddy can watch the Hootenanny! x 

Charlotte couldn't make sense of any of it. The time stamp on the message- 20:05. sent while she was in the basement bar with no signal. Five minutes before Finn showed up. But, how did did he show up if Alice said he wasn't coming, if his mum was in the hospital, but also dead for years?

Charlotte looked around the room, willing herself to be sober and cognisant to work out what was happening. The bathroom was clean, very clean. A lingering bleach smell permeated from all around. A pile of folded clothes sat on a hamper and placed on top was a watch, his watch. She grabbed it and moved it in front of her eyes, matching the movement of her head. 05:36, definitely working, had he fixed it somehow? But also, wait, on the strap, that looked like a stain, a red stain. There were too many bits of information punching around her head. what did any of this mean? Charlotte leaned down to put the watch back on the pile of clothes, just as the ship was sideswiped by a deluge and she stumbled into the basket knocking the clothes off and the lid slid off too revealing a bundle of clothes within, all of them, soaked, stained and splattered ruby red. Charlotte barely had time to register what she was seeing when she almost jumped out of her skin by a knock on the door and the voice spoke softly and sinisterly from the other side.

"Hey, come out here. I have something to show you."