"Home Time, Finn."
Finn smoothed the hair back from his face, his hands sore and his head drenched in sweat.
He knew the work wouldn't be easy, but damn, it was hard. His uncle dug out a pack of cigarettes from the depths of his jeans, caked in dirt and grease marks matching the ruddy one's on his face, placed one between his lips and offered the pack to Finn.
"You're all right, thanks."
"You sure? Can't be smoking rollies all your life, lad."
Finn smoothed down the edge of the cigarette he had just plucked from behind his ear, his preferred hiding place, and searched for his lighter. "You're all right, Frank. Maybe next time, yeah."
"Whatever you say, Finn. And give your Dad a call, will ya? The phone's been ringing off the hook and I'm running out of things to say."
His temples began to throb and his stomach churned.
"Will do, Uncle Frank."
"And have fun tonight, all right?"
"All right." Finn smiled as his uncle strutted away, puffing his cigarette with ease.
Finn took a stroll down the street, trying to find that place with the decent coffee he stumbled across last week. He gave up after five minutes, realising he was lost and just went to the closest pub he could find.
"Pint of Lager, mate", his change rang like bells as it fell onto the bar, and the Barman raised an eyebrow but said nothing, leaving to pour the pint.
The place was dank and dark, filled with wooden seats and the stale stench of cigarettes and urine.
Smells like Home.
Laughter broke through the din and Finn's eyes were drawn to a group, about his age, no worries and shit eating grins on their faces.
Feels like home. He gulped down his pint and ordered another.
I can't deal with this today without being at least three times drunker.
"Snakebite, whenever you're ready?"
"Got something on your mind, son?" The Barman wiped down the counter.
"Nothing in particular." Finn began rolling another cigarette. Skin, lick, tobacco roll, two three, four times, smooth down and ready to rock.
Why can't life be as simple as a fucking cigarette?
The laughter sliced through his ears. The pain was excruciating. From what he could gather, one of the lads had knocked his pint accidentally, or "accidentally", onto the lap of the girl beside him. He tried to help her wipe off her skirt and return got a nice right jab to the jaw.
Finn smirked. That was the second best right hook he'd ever seen.
He got this dull, empty ache in his chest as he watched them from the corner of his eye, seeing one girl watching him in a not so subtle fashion. He took another gulp of his drink, and wished someone would play a different song, because if he had to hear one more note of this Backstreet Boys song he might just kill someone.
They always reminded him of Stacey. She had really shit taste in music.
"Penny for your thoughts?" He felt breath tickle the back of his neck as the girl who had been watching him before had gotten a bit more confident it seemed. She was tall, long brown hair, sky blue eyes and had a kind, crooked smile. The kind of girl who was pretty and knew it, but not in the bitchy way.
She reminded him of Chloe a bit.
Finn dug around in his pocket. "How about 20p? Put something decent on, will you?"
"I'll see what I can do." She laughed, sauntering off to the jukebox while her friends raised a few eyebrows.
"SPAAACE MAAAANNN"
You've got to be fucking kidding me.
"Any better?" She asked and Finn couldn't stop laughing long enough to answer.
"It's interesting." He choked out.
"Almost as much as me. Hi, I'm Liz. You must be..." she offered her hand to him.
"New in town." He shook her hand, still shaking slightly.
"That's a funny name."
Finn inclined his head.
"You look a bit lonely, New in Town? Want to drink with us...or just me?"
Finn smirked. "Nah, you're all right, ta. Maybe some other time."
"I'll hold you to that." She flipped her hair and walked back to her table.
Did girls practice that hair flipping thing, or was it just a natural thing?
Well, he conceded, not all girls are like that...
"I have to get out of here." He downed his pint, thanked the barman and was greeted by the winter wind.
He missed Lincolnshire, he missed the lads, he missed his house...
He missed her.
He didn't want to admit it, he didn't want to think about it, but sometimes it crept up on him like a dark cloud, swallowing everything and there was her face, shining through the sadness.
He didn't open up to anyone. He'd opened up to her.
Rae was a good listener...she cared.
He thought she cared.
Sure, they were mates or whatever, but it was tough because he liked her...I really liked her. I—
Finn took a few deep breaths and was very thankful for the cigarette he'd just rolled, while pissed at the wind for making his lighter null and void.
For Fuck Fucking sake. Could this day get any worse?
He stopped at the chipper, wishing he'd brought his walkman with him and polished off his dinner on the way back to his uncles.
He found a phone booth on his way, success, and finally got that smoke he so richly needed. Finally some time to himself, his cigarette and nothing else.
"It actually might be good to give Dad a call. Maybe I should take a trip home. Just for a bit." With that final drag, a plan was set in motion and for the first time in about a month, he knew what he was doing.
He walked through the front door, dropped his keys with a clang and heard the kettle whistling from the kitchen.
"Cuppa?" Frank called.
"Ta."
"Someone called for you a while ago."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Dad?"
"No, for once, it wasn't. No, female. Pretty. Sounded pretty."
Finn rolled his eyes, drinking the scalding brew.
"They leave a name?"
"Actually no, now that I think of it. But I said you'd be back in a while, so they might call back."
"Oh...okay."
"Disappointed?"
"No. No, it's fine."
They sat down for a while, listening to some vinyl while Finn tried to think of a plan for the night. A few of the lads from work were pretty sound, and it might be god to go out on the town again...
Around nine o'clock there was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it." Finn pulled himself off the sofa, while his aunt shushed him because her 'show was starting'
He opened the door, and stopped dead in his tracks.
"All right, Finn?" She shuffled from one foot to another, tucking a strand of jet black hair behind her ear.
"Y'all right, Girl?"