Chapter 22: A Confession

"I'm in love with ya, Finn"

He sighed, "yeah, the second I said it, I knew this was where we were going."

"Set yourself up for that one."

"Guess I did."

"I've been in love with ya since the day we met."

"You were so young Bex, you couldn't possibly…" he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Yes, yes I could, actually. Why do ya insist on tellin' me what I am and am not capable of?"

"I'm not, I'm jus' sayin' that I was jus' some older guy you had a little crush on. I've seen it a million times."

"Oh I'm sorry, I'll get in line, then, behind all the other teenagers fawning over ya."

"That's not what I meant. I'm sayin' it's normal. But it's not real and it's definitely, definitely not okay on my end."

"Finn! You're not my trainer anymore, and I'm almost 30!" She shifted her position, full of energy, "You don't get to use that as an excuse anymore."

"I jus'…" he met her gaze and leaned back, "there's a part of me that will always see that brave 15 year old girl when I look at you."

"You mean that stupid 15 year old girl."

"No, no I don't. Bex…" he leaned over, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "All I've ever wanted is to protect you. From the moment you walked in the door of my gym. You were this 17, well…"

She smiled as he chuckled to himself, "you were so eager, I knew you had somethin' special in ya. I had to pull it out of ya, no one else at that gym was gonna give you a chance, and I couldn't watch that talent be wasted."

"You made me your pet project."

"I made you my responsibility." He smiled up at her, leaning in slightly, "Ya know the other guys who came in with you, they used to get so pissy at me for givin' you more attention, or staying late to work with you, teachin' you everythin' I possibly could. But I didn't care because I knew you were better and you had what it would take. I would be dammed if that got thrown away 'cause some jackass trainer had no idea how to talk to a girl without insultin' her. Or thought it'd be a good idea to kiss her."

"Okay. But I'm not your responsibility anymore."

"Sure you are. That doesn't just go away, an' now every time you and me almost cross that line, I think, how am I supposed to protect you if I become the one who can hurt you the most?"

"Finn, you've been breaking my heart for years."

He looked down, "I haven't meant to."

"Look, I know I'm not really in a position to be making demands after everything that happened, but," she waited for him to meet her eyes. "Just tell me the truth… please?"

He sighed, pulling her onto his lap cross-legged, "The truth is I've never met anyone who makes me feel the way you do. No one I love spendin' time with more, no one I miss more when we're apart, and no one who knows me better."

He smiled up at her, pink in his cheeks.

"An' I think I showed my cards last night, physically that is."

She blushed, "Yeah, that was…"

"I'm not denying the chemistry."

"What's the but?"

"But I'm… scared. Of losing you, of not making you as happy as you think I will, of distracting from your career and mine. You wanna call me a coward, fine, but don't ever say that I haven't tried to protect you."

"Maybe you should let me decide if I wanna take that risk."

"Maybe one day I will. But not today Bex, not after everything that jus' happened with us."

She nodded, starting to move off his lap. But he pulled her back and pressed his lips to hers. Moaning softly into his mouth, her hands found their way to his hair. They pulled away, and Finn blushed.

"Sorry I… that jus' feels so damn good."

"Don't have to tell me."

"I won't do that again, promise."

"No complaints here." She slipped off of his lap, feeling his eyes on her as she walked out of the room.