It was the Friday after the Halloween party and Rae had hung out with Archie three times and had seen Finn a total of none. She had only spoken with him for a few minutes but she was intrigued by him, like a moth to a flame. She knows she would be safer staying away but she just needs to know more about him. He's been in her dreams every night since the night they met and sometimes she even daydreams that's he's following her around campus or coming up to her in the union while she's eating.

Like right now, she's envisioning him walking over to her as if he's moving in slow motion. He fidgets with his hair to get it just where he wants it and the two buttons of his dangerously tight black shirt are unbuttoned to show his delicious clavicle. His leather shoulder bag, sitting perfectly on that clavicle, is hung loosely around his body and he has a brown bagged lunch in his hands. But she knows it's just a mirage, like a puddle of water to a person in the desert. You see it from afar and it looks so good and you get so close you can almost touch it and then you reach out and realize it was never there to begin.

Except not this mirage. This mirage was standing in front of her and his pretty mouth was moving, forming words in her directions.

Jesus. Was I staring?!

"You're Rae, right? From the Halloween party?"

"Oh. Right, yeah. Finn, isn't it?"

Good. Way to play it cool.

She put down the book she'd been reading for her Victorian Literature class and asked if he wanted to join.

"If you don't mind?"

I wouldn't mind if you sat on me. In fact, I'm sure I'd quite like it.

"Not at all."

"Whatcha readin' there?"

"Oh," Rae picked up the book she just put down and showed Finn the front cover.

"The Turn of the Screw," Finn read back. "Any good?"

"Actually, no. It's literally quite shit really." Rae sighed to which Finn laughed.

I could listen to the sound of your laughter forever. Calm down, Rae. Calm down.

"Why're ya readin' it then?"

"It's for my Victorian Lit lecture."

"Oh, Victorian Lit, huh? Beer pong champion and brilliant. Good combo." He added, flashing Rae his most charming smile.

Is he... Is he flirting?

"Yeah, gotta keep the boys interested somehow."

Where is this coming from?

"I'm sure you do just fine," he smiled again.

Good lord. You're in unchartered waters. Change the subject. Change the subject!

"So why Raphael, then?

Huh?

"Huh?" Finn's extraordinary eyebrows were furrowed in confusion.

"Your, uh, your Halloween costume."

Jesus, Rae. The boy just said you were brilliant and now you just look totally brain dead.

It took Finn a second to realize what she was asking and then it hit him, "Oh! Well we kind of did it based on personality I guess. Chop's the funny one, so he was Michelangelo. Arch is the brainy one, so he was Donatello. And then it was between me and Peter for Raphael and Leo. And I, uh, I guess I'm the more brawny one so I ended up as Raphael and Peter was kind of left with Leonardo."

"'Brawny one?' Is that like saying you're the fittest?" The words left Rae's mouth before they went through her filter that told her not to say things. She didn't need to look in a mirror to know she was flaming red, she could feel it.

What. Is. Wrong. With. You.

Finn was full body laughing by that point. "I guess so, yeah."

Good thing he has a good sense of humor or else he'd be running for the door. You were gawking at him as he walked up and you basically just told him he was the hottest Ninja Turtle. Just don't pull anything like that again.

Rae awkwardly cleared her throat before she started speaking again but Finn beat her to it.

"Archie told me you guys have been hanging out a lot but he didn't tell me how you got to our party. You guys weren't mates before, right?"

"Oh, no. My suite mate, Izzy, is kind of datin' Chop, I guess, and I came with her and my other suite mate-"

"Chloe, right?" Finn asked, adding the pieces together.

How does he know Chloe? Oh, shit. He doesn't fancy her, does he? Well why wouldn't he? She's beautiful. But, wait, I didn't see him talking to her so...

"Chloe, yeah. Do you know her?" Rae asked, holding her breath waiting for the answer.

"Me? Not really, no, but now that you mention Izzy, I've heard Chop talk about you lot. Plus, Chloe hooked up with my mate durin' Freshers Week."

Phew.

"Was it too much tongue guy or stupid hair guy?"

Finn was full body laughing again and that made Rae's heart soar.

"His hair is kind of stupid, so I'm gunna go with stupid hair guy."

"Good. Cause if it was too much tongue guy, I would tell you that you have to chat with your mate about the proper etiquette of appropriate amounts of slobber."

Finn almost choked on his sandwich.

"You're funny."

"I know."

"And cocky. Geez."

"What?" Rae smiled at him with her most charming smile. "I was just agreein' with you."

"A huh, sure." He gave her a smile and a sarcastic "OK" sign his with his hand, which made them both laugh.

Rae was having so much fun laughing and joking with Finn she didn't even realize what time it was until she looked at her watch.

"Oh, shit. I better go or I'm gunna be late for my next lecture." Finn checked his watch and had the same reaction.

"Where's your lecture?" He asked tossing his waste in the basket and throwing his bag over his shoulder. Which Rae caught herself staring at again.

Bloody hell, Rae. It's just a collarbone. You have one, too, ya know?

"Building 10," Rae responded, putting her book back in her bag. It was her Victorian Lit lecture she was going to but she would much rather stay here and chat with Finn some more than talk about how creepy this book is.

"Mine's in building 9. We can walk together." He said as more of a question than a statement.

He wants to walk with me to class after just spending an hour eating with me? After I made a fool of myself about a thousand times? Whatcha after, Finn?

They left the union together and set off in the direction of buildings 9 and 10.

"What lecture are you going to?" Rae asked, trying not to notice all the nasty glares she was getting from the women passerby for walking with Finn.

"Social psychology. It's my favorite lecture this quarter. It's really interesting to learn how people behave certain ways in certain situations."

Oh. Shit. He observes people. I wonder if he noticed how awkward and uncomfortable I was during lunch. Of course he did, Rae. A blind man could have seen that.

"So you like to observe people, then?" Rae pressed, trying to see if he'd mention her awkwardness.

"Absolutely. People think I'm a bit of a grumpy sod cause I'm so quiet, but it's really just cause I'm always watchin'. I don't feel it necessary to speak all the time if I don't have to. And there's few people I actually like talking to." He added with a sinfully gorgeous smile to Rae.

Swoon.

Rae wondered if he noticed how girls looked at him when he walks by if he's so observant, because if he did, he paid no mind to it. On their 8 minute walk from the union to their respective buddings, Rae counted 15 girls that stared at him when he walked by and he looked at no one but her.

"Well, this is me," Finn said as he pointed his thumb to the building behind him.

"Right and that's me," Rae said, motioning towards her building.

"So do you have this same break every day?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"We should do this again. It was fun."

Oh. My. God.

"Right, yeah. That'd be cool."

"Cool. Laters, then!" Finn said as he made his way towards the building.

"See ya!"

Rae had started to walk into the building when she heard Finn shout after her.

"Oi, Rae!"

Rae turned around to see Finn jogging towards her effortlessly, his hair bouncing off his forehead and leg muscles contracting as his feet hit the pavement.

Jesus. He's like looking at porn.

"We're going to the zoo tomorrow. I think Chop's gunna invite Izzy, if you wanted to come? Archie said he was gunna ring you about it later, but I got to ya first." A sly smile danced across his lips as his warm chocolate eyes sparkled.

"Definitely! Count me in." Rae smiled at him.

"Brilliant. I'll see ya tomorrow, then!"

"Tomorrow." Finn gave her one more smile before he was running off again.

Damn. That boy has a nice ass.

Rae was so happy and her head was so high in the clouds that she didn't even mind that she was going to this stupid lecture to talk about creepy children seeing creepy ghosts at their creepy manor. All her mind would allow her to think about were three things: Finn. Zoo. Tomorrow.