Finn had been willing to tell everyone right away, but it was Rae who had held back, who had convinced him that it would be more fun, more special, if they kept it secret just a bit longer. And it was, at first… sneaking touches under the table, smiling knowingly at each other from across the room, snogging in the toilets in the pub while everyone waited outside. But after a while, it was hard, always hiding, not even being able to hold hands in public. And the truth was… the reason Rae couldn't bring herself to tell anyone was because she couldn't deal with the judgment— not from the gang necessarily, but to everyone else that would hear about it once they all knew. And that would mean the inevitable "her?" stares, the expectations, maybe even boys taking the piss out of Finn. What if he was humiliated by it all of a sudden? What if he second guessed everything?

All of which led to the current situation she found herself in, at another party ("The first end of summer party, Rae, we have at least three", Izzy had explained) where Chop had declared another game of Spin-the-Bottle.

"Single people, all single people get in a fuckin' circle," Chop yelled around the house, and it turns out Finn had been wrong about him organizing these games just to get off with someone, he seemed to have as much fun being ringmaster and spinning the bottle, with Izzy sitting laughing on his lap, than he did actually participating.

"Can't play, I've, erm… got a bad cold," Finn said, taking a seat just outside the circle and casting a side glance at Rae.

She froze, unsure what to do, her mind racing as Chop shouted, "Raemundo! Sit your arse down this minute!" Of course she didn't want her mouth on any lips that weren't Finn's, but somehow, feeling helpless, she found herself taking a seat with everyone else. (She'd think of something, maybe pretend she needed to vomit?) Finn shot her a hurt look and then stared at the ground, refusing to meet her eyes.

It went alright for the first few spins, and just when she thought she could now safely make an excuse to leave, the bottle was pointing at her, Rae, as everyone whooped and cat-called and Chop reached to spin once more.

"Right." Rae reached out and grabbed the bottle. "Don't spin it. I'm not kissing anyone because… I'm not single."

"Wha?" Chop stared, mouth agape, and Izzy made an 'Ooohhh' sound as though she was watching a plot twist in a film. Across the circle, Chloe had frozen, drink midway to her mouth, and Archie looked at her steadily.

"And neither is Finn," she declared loudly, pointing at him. He was still staring at the ground, but this time with a small smile. "I mean— we're together. As a couple."

Izzy and Chop clapped and Archie laughed as she pointed the bottle at Finn and leaned in to kiss him. He obliged, his eyebrows raised in surprise, and as Chop admonished him for having tried to play the game in the first place,(Mate, I was sitting out, remember?! Finn exclaimed), Rae looked across the circle to catch Chloe's eye. Is it okay? she wanted to ask.

There was a moment's hesitation before Chloe grinned, winking at her in a proud sort of way before reaching across and grabbing the bottle herself. "Alright, let's keep going then! The rest of us are still bloody single!"