The sound of Izzie snoring lightly on the floor at the foot of the bed woke Finn early the next morning. Last night, he had just closed his eyes for a moment. He hadn't wanted to sleep because he hadn't wanted that night to be over. But the emotions of it all had caught up to him. He blinked and it was morning.

Now the sun was rising and peeking through the window in thin stripes. He was amazed that she was still here. Sleeping on her side with her hands folded under the pillow. The pink duvet wrapped loosely around her, unfortunately, shielded most of her face from his view.

"Oh shit, I'm in Rae's bed!" Finn screamed in his head. He was lying on his back and trying not to move or jostle her in any way.

When Rae had found him in her mother's room, he was embarrassed. A girl had never seen him cry. Chop had never even seen him cry. Well, now that he thought about it, it had been a long while since he'd cried at all. So that was why it was so surprising that he didn't mind Rae finding him there. He didn't really want to be alone with this news. His Gran was gone. He should have been there when she passed, not at a party, drinking beer while his mates snogged in different combinations and he fought with Rae.

He was glad to not have to tell Rae what happened with she walked in her mum's room. She understood and the argument from earlier didn't matter to anyone anymore.

As Finn laid there listening to her breathing, his mind wandered back to their minute in the landing cupboard. She had seemed so upset but it didn't make sense. She was the one being rude. She was the one saying that she didn't want to be his friend. Why would she say that with such a sad look in her eyes?

"Maybe I don't want to be your friend," he reran it.

"Maybe I don't want to be your friend," the sentence changed just a touch the second time.

Rae was so confusing to him. Well, no, that's not right. He understood Rae. But being around Rae made Finn feel so confused about himself. After everything that happened last night, he lied in this bed next to her and was more baffled than ever. What was it about this girl?

In a daring move, he slowly rotated his body inside his sleeping bag onto his side to face her. He paused for a moment to hear her slow breaths then carefully and slowly pulled the corner of the duvet back to reveal her sleeping face. As the sunbeams gleaming though the window grew thicker, he noticed how it illuminated her dark hair to shine with surprising shades of gold and red.

Rae wasn't a girl who a lot of blokes noticed in first passing. Finn knew that but didn't mind because he always saw her. When he was honest with himself, he knew he was attracted to her. She was funny and smart and her big eyes sparkled when she laughed. She didn't blend into the background like she thought she did. She was soft in a way that kept him up at night. He knew she was self-conscious about not looking like Chloe or Izzie or the girls from college. But Rae looked like a woman.

As he watched her sleep, he was torn. Part of him was mesmerized by the gentleness of being so near to her in such a vulnerable state. He could have lied here for hours but she wouldn't like that she was so exposed. Another part of him wanted to wake her up. Talk to her again and see if they could start from the spot they left off. See if it felt like it did last night.

The loudest part of him was so drawn to touch her that his fingertips itched. He pulled his arm out of the warm sleeping bag but clutched it close to his chest as if it had a mind of its own.

He'd like to touch her cheek. Felt how soft the skin is there. He'd like to graze her bottom lip, so plump and red. He couldn't even think about how much he would like to run his hand down the length of her side. Even over the duvet, the curves of her figure would have surely created a new problem in the already crowded bed.

Unable to help himself, he propped his body up on one elbow. He stretched his neck and looked at the floor to confirm that Izzie was still asleep down there. Then he started inching closer and closer to Rae's sleeping form, closing the small gap that still existed between friends. He was playing a dangerous game but he couldn't stop now.

When their bodies, well, his sleeping bag and her duvet, were in contact, Finn hovered over her for a long moment. He was close enough to feel her body's warmth and smell the vanilla that must have been her shampoo. He brought his hand to Rae's face and used the very tip of one index finger to lightly brush a strand of hair off her forehead. Incredibly slowly, he then leaned over to place a featherweight kiss on her temple.

The second his lips left her skin, he jumped as a soft "Finn?" fell from Rae's mouth.

"FUCK," Finn scrambled silently and squeezed his eyes shut, "I am such a scumbag."

But when she was silent again, he looked down at her and discovered that she was still sound asleep. Finn collapsed onto his pillow and took a deep breath of relief.

"She was asleep," he told himself, "Thank god, she was asleep."

Still on his side facing her, Finn decided he should stay out of trouble and get some more rest. He closed his eyes and was just starting to drift off when a thought struck him and stirred him back to life, "Wait, she was asleep! She said my name in her sleep…"

"Maybe I don't want to be your friend," he remembered and burrowed his face deep into the pillow, hoping to contain his smile.