[[From episode 3: Ladies And Gentlemen]]

The bell on the door caught his attention, and he lifted his head. He was sure that Rae had just left; was sure he'd caught a glimpse of her jacket, her dark hair.

Finn had been waiting at the table in the chippy, scribbling songs down on the list for the tape. He was waiting for Rae, though he'd never admit it, least of all to her. At least the list made for a perfectly good excuse for him remaining behind when the other guys had left. But after Rae's outburst and escape to the toilets, he figured it would be best to hang around, to see if she was okay when she came back. The thought of her returning to a completely empty table just didn't seem fair, though she was probably glad to be out of their company.

He gathered his things now that she'd left, seeing no point in hanging around when he could just write the list in the comfort of his own bedroom, listening to his music, and headed out of the shop.

The clear sound of taunting reached him as he was about to turn in the opposite direction, and his stomach flipped. Yeah, he'd noticed the mark on Rae's skirt when she'd stormed off back in the shop. He wondered whether she'd noticed it too.

Following the shouts and laughter, he approached the scene he'd predicted in his mind, but hoped he was wrong about. Rae on one side, the twats on the other.

How dare those nobheads call Rae out on that? They were complete pricks who obviously failed to understand that accidents like that happened. It wasn't Rae's fault. It didn't make her a bad person. It didn't make her dirty. Hearing their words made a rage bubble up inside him, like he'd never felt before.

And before he knew it, he was running up to the group, and his arm was thrown out in a punch, his fist meeting a jaw with a fierce click.

Everything was going black, closing in on her. A reminder that she'd left the hospital too early. She couldn't cope. She couldn't stand to be humiliated again. This was all wrong. This shouldn't be happening. She should never have left. She wanted the ground to suck her in and take her anywhere but here. She never wanted to return.

"It's alright taking the piss out of a girl, isn't it? Well, why don't you try taking the piss outta me?"

A familiar voice brought her back to the present, and when she was finally back in the unwanted reality of this moment, she saw Finn holding the twat up against the wall, yelling out threats that sounded too true to dispute.

There was blood, and punches and shoves, and a lot of yelling from Finn. And then there were hurried apologies. Not genuine 'sorrys', just ones summoned out of fear. But somehow, that was good enough. Somehow, that was even better.

"You alright?"

She could only nod, though she barely registered Finn's words. He walked away before she could say anything else, before she could thank him or even ask why he did that for her. But Finn looked satisfied as he turned on his heel and left. It was written all over his face. It looked as though it felt good to scare those bastards, to hit that face hard and make them run away.

Rae watched as Finn disappeared from her sight. He had come from nowhere, and now he was leaving just as suddenly. Why had he done that for her?

She had the feeling that no one would have done that for her. Not even the other lads in the gang. They would have told them to piss off, tried to comfort her... but Finn took it one step further, made them bleed, and she was thankful for it, because she would have punched them too if she hadn't allowed the stress of the moment to take over her completely.

Before Finn dealt with the situation, there seemed like no way out of it. She was ready to faint because her heart was beating hard and she couldn't cope with being humiliated like that. She was ready to run away, leave the town, never show her face again. Or even worse, ready to break down and cry, right there, in the street, in front of those dicks.

Finn had unknowingly saved her. Or did he know?

This changed everything.