Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“You ready?” Lando called up the stairs
 
“Yes!” Finn shouted back, despite being on the verge of a mental breakdown. It was the first time that he’d been to school in years. There hadn’t really been much time for school work when he was trying to stay alive on the streets so he didn’t know what to expect and to say that he was nervous would be an understatement. He quickly unpacked and packed his backpack for what must have been the tenth time that morning, still unsure if he had everything he needed. Realising that this was just an excuse to put off not going he reluctantly threw his bag on his shoulders and ran down the stairs.
 
His newly re-acquainted father was waiting at the door for him. Things were still pretty awkward between them since up until about a week ago both thought the other was dead or as good as. Finn could tell that behind the man's charming and happy facade that he wanted to break down and keep him held tightly in his arms so that he never let him out of his sight again.
 
"Are you mentally prepared to listen to a whole load of garbage from a group of people who would rather be at home watching daytime tv?” Lando said with a smile.
 
"Yeah." Finn replied with a shaky voice. The pair headed for the car (moving death trap) since Finn didn't know the way to the school yet and his father wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. The car was an old, beat up truck that Lando had apparently owned since the eighties that was apparently home to some ‘crazy nights’ with his best friend Han, something the pair seem to talk about constantly even to this day.
 
The ride wasn't very long but it still caused the tension building up in Finn's body to multiply with every second. The last time he'd been to school was in middle school when he still lived with his foster family. He could remember watching a few movies when he was younger that were set in high school but they didn't exactly make it out to be a place of wonder and joy so much as a place of torture and pain, especially for new comers like him.
Eventually they made it to the school and Finn was surprised at how big it was. The large stone building looked even more intimidating than in the pictures Lando had shown him and an overwhelming amount of hormone feuded kids seemed to be appearing from all directions.
 
Sensing his nervous Lando turned to him.
 
"You don't have to start today you know. They'll understand." He offered kindly but Finn just shook his head. He was going to have to go back to school at some point so he might as well get it over with.
 
"I'll be fine." He answered. His father gave him an unconvinced look but let it go. He reached his arm out towards him, at first appearing like he was just going to pat him on the shoulder when instead he pulled him into a hug.
 
"I love you son." He breathed into his hair, trying to hold onto as much as him as possible so that he could survive until home time when he could be sure that this wasn't all some crazy dream.
 
"I love you to......Dad." The word still felt foreign on Finn's tongue but he knew that it made Lando happy to call him that and he hoped that over time the word would become more natural. A group of kids laughed as the walked past at the sight of a parent and their child showing affection causing the pair to break apart even more awkwardly than it would have been anyways.
 
"Bye!" Finn said as he hastily got out of the car.
 
"I'll be waiting here at half three!" Lando called as he started to drive away. The sight reminded Finn of his loneliness and wished that he could jump back into the car so a that he could hide in his room for rest of his life, but instead of doing that he waved at the retreating vehicle until it was out if sight. Afterwards he was soon swallowed up in the heard of students headed for the entrance and quickly lost his bearings until he heard someone say his name.
 
"Finn!"
 
He turned around to see the other reason that he decided to go to school today.
 
"Rey!" He shouted back when he saw the brown haired girl that was now running towards him from where she had been waiting against the school wall. The pair were as close any two people could get having both lived on the streets together for years. Finn had ran away from his abusive foster home and was on the verge of starving when he met Rey. She'd been on the streets for as long as she could remember and taught him all the best stops to scavenge for food as the pair tried to accomplish the simple act of surviving. That was until they started stealing food from the bin behind the karate studio downtown. They always seemed to find such good food from there as well as discarded clothes that must have once belonged to some of the kids that went there and even some blankets and an old mattress. When it turned out that the owner of the building who lived an apartment above the studio had been leaving the stuff there on purpose for them which should have been more obvious. One day they came there to find a table with a freshly cooked bowls of ramen waiting for them outside. Torn between the dangers of trusting others and a chance to eat, they eventually gave in to their hunger and quickly ate it up, feeling full for the first time in a long while. When it turned out that he wasn't poisoned they came here the next day to find the food waiting for them again, this time with the man they would get to know as Luke Skywalker waiting for them. He didn't ask them any questions at first, he would just tell them about his day and demonstrate some self defence moves that would often come in handy since the streets weren't exactly the safest place to live. Despite growing attached to the man it was still a surprise when he asked if he could adopt them.  It was even more of a surprise that when they agreed and he introduced them to his family that one of them would turn out to be Finn's long lost father who hadn't seen him since he was kidnapped as a toddler. It had been a hectic few weeks to say the least.
 
Rey barrelled into him with her usual energy and gave him a long hug causing the kids around them to wolf whistle. They ignored them.
 
"Are you scared?" she whispered in his ear.
 
"A little bit." He confessed.
 
"Don't worry I'll protect you." He didn't doubt that she would.
 
They broke apart as the warning bell rang to signal that the day was about to start and kids elbowed them out their way in their haste to not get a detention.
 
"Come on." She told him. They walked through the entrance and although it seemed mad outside that was nothing compared to the madness in display here. It was like they'd entered a wildlife documentary with the screeches of teenage girls and howls of teenage boys. Finn took her hand as they made their way to their homeroom and for once she didn't argue with him. They eventually made it to their homeroom which was packed with unfamiliar faces that paid no attention to them as they tried to find a place to sit. After spotting a free desk near the back the pair sat down and starting counting the seconds until the end of the day.
The bell rang again and everyone clambered into their seats as they waited for their homeroom teacher to arrive.

“Stay calm. Stay calm. Stay calm.” Finn repeated in his head as he tried to slow down his racing heart. He looked across at Rey who was staring determinedly at the front of the classroom, but Finn knew that inside she was as nervous as him and possibly more. Unlike him she’d been lving on the streets all her life and couldn’t remember ever even going to school, although she must have been at some point since she could read and write and had an amazing way with numbers. He could remember when they had spare time they would play pretend school with a few workbooks that they’d found (stolen).

“I am here, don’t get to excited.” A monotone voice said as a man who was so tall that he had to duck to enter the classroom. It wasn’t until he went and sat down beind the desk at the front of the room that Finn relaised that this was their teacher. He started the register with the same monotone when the door burst open as two students rushed inside.

“Sorry we’re late!” One of them, an Asian girl with long straight hair tied in a low pony tail spoke slightly out of breathe. But Finn wasn’t paying attention to her. His eyes were focused on the familiar latino boy by her side with wavy dark hair and blinding smile. Suddenly Finn felt himself lost in memery lane.

Chapter Text

His back was aching from the fresh bruise that his foster sister had so graciously given him an hour later. He would have gone to his foster parents to tell them what she did if they hadn't watched her do it with gleeful grins. It was far from the first time that this had happned and he reached for the bottle of cream to soothe the oair that had kept hidden under his bed since going to the hospital would cost to much money and to many questions.

He headed out to the local libary when he heard shouts coming from a nearby alley. He looked down the narrow street to see a gang of the kids from his foster home screaming at a kid about his age. He stood there frozen unsure what to do when one of the kids through a punch at the kid, knocking him to the ground and Finn found himself charging at them. He stood between them with his fists raised as the kid gingerly tried to pick himself off the ground.

"Go! Get out of here!" He yelled at the kid as the ringleader of the gang, an impossible tall girl with planinum blone hair called Gwen that only answered to her last name Phasma laughed a cruel, cold laugh.

"Go home." She said

dissmisvly.

"No." He said defiantly as his body convulsed in fear.

Her eyes somehow got colder as she moved menacingly towards him.

"Run!" He told the kid who has now standing beside him. He tried to mirror Finn's stance but he had to still bend over from the pain in his stomach.

"I'm not leaving you to fight these phycos." He said. Finn was about to argue with him when he felt Phasma's imposing figure leaning over him.

"Move aside overwise you'll join that scum in dreamland." She threatened.

Startling both her and himself he threw a punch at her face knocking her flat on her back. The rest of the gang stared at her in shock and horror at her limp figure. Not giving them the chance to recover Finn grabbed the kid's hand and dragged him out of the alley.

"Run!" He shouted.

Unsure wherther they were being followed and terrified at what would happen if they were until they kept running until they had no chose but to stop from exhaustion. They slumped in the nech of a run down bus shelter gasping for breath.

"Thank you." The boy he rescused said between large breathes.

"You're welcome." Finn replied. He turned to face the boy and it was only now that he realised how handsome he was. Struck by his looks it took him a moment to realise that they were still holding hands. He quickly took his hand back and looked away in embrassemnt.

"Serously!" The boy said with a wide smile that someone who had just outrun a gang of crazies shouldn't have. "You're my hero."

Finn tried with little result to hide his blush. "No I'm not."

Thankfully the kid either didn't notice or ignored hus blush.

"I'm Poe." He said holding out his hand.

"FN-2187." Poe's hand along with the rest of his body froze.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

Once again looked away but this time it was more beacsue of shame than embarisment.

"That's all they ever called me at the children's home. It was my number, missing kid number 2187. They never bothered to try to call my anything else." He confessed.

He found Poe giving him a look of pity and anger that made him curl into himself in shame.

"Well I ain't using it." Poe said firmly. "F N huh? How about Finn? Can I call you Finn?"

Finn, He tried the name out in his mind. It surprised him how right it felt.

"Yeah Finn. I like that." He said brightly. Suddenly the magnitude of what he had just done came down upon him. There was no way the he could go back to the foster home. They'd kill him for what he'd done. His body started to shake as he gave into panic.

"Woah! Are you ok buddy?" Poe asked placing warm hands on hid shoulders to try and calm him down.

"No I…..they….those kids they live at my foster home. I…they…they'll kill me if I go back." He told him.

"Tell your foster parents then."

Finn scoffed.

"They'd probably join in." He spat.

"Why don't you call the police?"

Finn shook his head. The last person to call the police had been the boy he shared his room with . He only had number too but he called himself Slip. He was one of the few kids in this place that doesn't treat him like a personal punching bag. Although that may be because he was also the only person in this hell hole that got treated even worse. The care workers and older kids were careful not to leave injuries that would be visible when they left the house. He'd called the police after the foster parents had pummelled him so hard he'd started coughing up blood. They'd denied everything and the police believed their lies. After wards they snapped and slashed Slip's stomach was a kitchen knife. Finn could still remember the blood on his hands as he tried to help his only friend. For once the foster parents let him go to the hospital where he claimed that it was done by a random attacker on the street. They believed him and let him move to a different foster home after he claimed that he didn't feel safe living the area. Finn was glad he's been able to get away but it had been lonely without him.

After he told Poe this story He saw that the boy was looking at him in a sense of bewilderment that adults could be this creul and Finn felt bad for destroying his perfect image of the world.

"I'm never going back." Finn promised himself.

"Do you have anywhere you can go?"

Finn was surprised at his genuine concern and willingness to help.

"You could stay with me if you want? My parents wouldn't mind."

But Finn shock his head.

"They'd have to tell the police and they'd just put me back in the foster home. It's probably better if I just run away."

At least they care enough to look for him and he could finally be free of their constant abuse. Poe looked unhappy but couldn't think of a better option.

"At least let me give you this." He said. He took off his thick jacket that was lined with fleece and appeared to be made from real leather and shoved all the money in his wallet at him.

"I can't-" Finn tried to protest but Poe just put it in his lap.

"Please take it." He begged.

Unable to resist his pleading eyes Finn reluctantly took the stuff from him.

"Thank you." He said from the bottom of his heart. He stared into Poe's releved eyes and found himself lost in their dark brown hue. It was crazy but he though that Poe was doing the same to him.

The loud rumble of the bus coming down the road as it headed towards them.

"Maybe I could go to the next town. I could get a job there or something. At least it would be away from the people at the foster home so nobody would recognise me." He suggested.

"Good idea buddy." Poe replied.

The bus pulled up beside them and Finn was about to get on when Poe pulled him into a hug. At first he froze at the contact but when he realised that he wasn't about to hurt him he relaxed into his touch. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been hugged.

"Are you getting on or not?" the bus driver yelled at him as they broke apart.

"Take care of yourself!" Poe said as he got on board.

"You too!" Finn called back. He paid for his ticket and waved back at Poe who watched him drive off, both assuming that this would be the last time they'd ever see each other.