Chapter Text
Finney was on the way to Robin’s house. It was a Saturday afternoon and yesterday Robin invited him to watch the Texas Chainsaw Massacre since he somewhat found a way to get a tape of it even though it was an R-rated movie and him being only 13 years old.
He wasn’t so sure of watching such a movie but seeing Robin passionately talk about the movie whenever it was brought up made him change his mind.
After long minutes of walking, he finally arrived at Robin’s house. He knocked on the door and proceeded to wipe off a bead of sweat on his forehead. It wasn’t that hot outside, but the hellish walk here was the reason.
He looked up at the door when it had been opened by someone and saw Robin’s mother. She had some of Robin’s features, especially the eyes. He could hear the TV playing in the living room.
“Hello Mrs. Arellano.” He greeted her with a small smile while wiping his palms on the side of his pants. “Why, hello to you too, Finney. Come in, Robin is in the kitchen.” She told him, returning the smile. She had a thicker accent than Robin.
He nodded at her and replied with a small thanks before heading to the kitchen. He’s been to Robin’s house more than 10 times now, mostly because of him tutoring Robin.
Though, he couldn’t help but envy him. No, he wasn't wealthy. But he had a healthy family and even the atmosphere of the house was something Finney knew he could never have.
He could smell popcorn in the air and hear the microwave as he got closer to the kitchen. He took a peek and saw Robin looking for something in the refrigerator. He seemed to be muttering things in Spanish, which Finn didn’t understand at all.
“Hey, Robin.” He spoke up, wanting the other boy to know about his presence.
“Oh, hey Fi— AH, mierda!” He cursed as he had raised his head and hit the door of the freezer. Finn couldn’t help but smile though he was a bit worried. “You okay? Sorry about that.” He apologized.
He couldn’t help it, he felt bad. Robin finally stood up straight and rubbed his head. “Nah, it’s fine, it was my bad.” he assured Finn.
And before Finn could even respond, he spoke up again. “And I told you, you really should stop apologizing so much. ‘specially when it wasn’t your fault.” he reminded Finn.
“I know, and I don’t.” Finn replied while walking over closer to Robin and leaned on the counter.
“Mmm, don’t think so. That was the 50th sorry this week, and I only started keeping count on Wednesday.” Robin said and had the look he always had on whenever he was teasing Finn.
“You’ve been keeping count? And no, that’s totally an exaggeration.” Finn said with a light laugh and Robin laughed along. “Nah, it definitely isn’t.” Robin said which made Finn lightly punch his shoulder.
Robin’s mom then happened to pass by the kitchen and almost had a headache seeing the refrigerator door open for only God knows how long.
“Ay hijo, what did I tell you about the fridge? Think about the electricity bill!” She rubbed her forehead while having a hand on her hip.
Robin groaned in annoyance and his smile dropped while looking at his mom. “I know, Mama. But it’s not my fault that I can’t find the other Dr. Pepper can. Have you seen it? I bought that for me and Finn.”
Finney kept silent the whole time, knowing that this was a family matter and it was best for him to just stay out of it.
Robin’s mom thought about it for a while. “Ah, I saw your dad drink it last night while watching his favorite show. So please close the door, Niño.” His mom referred to the refrigerator door once again and walked away before Robin could even complain about the Dr. Pepper.
Robin clicked his tongue in annoyance before looking at Finn once again, softening his look so that the boy doesn’t think that he’s annoyed at him. “Hay.” Robin sighed and grabbed the last can of Dr. Pepper on the fridge and handed it to Finney. “You can have it.” He said before finally closing the fridge's door.
Finn looked at the can and took it before glancing at Robin. “What about you?” he asked. “It’s fine, I’ll just have water or some juice.” Robin told him and dusted his hands off.
Finn didn’t want to be a burden even though he knows that Robin doesn’t think of him as one. He was different from everyone else, in a good way.
“Well, we can share— Only if you want to.” Finn suggested, lightly tapping the can with his index finger. Robin looked at him, unaware that a small smile had made its way onto his lips. "Sure, let’s share."
Finn noticed the smile and smiled back at him. For some reason, he liked moments like this. Just moments where they could look at each other and not feel awkward at all. It felt natural.
Though as usual, their moment was interrupted. The microwave had dinged, signaling that the popcorn was ready.
Robin walked over to it and opened it’s door, quickly taking the bag out then sucking his finger. “Ah, shit’s hot.” He said out loud before wiping his hands and taking a bowl out of one of the drawers.
“You can go head up to my room, I’ll be up in a minute.” He told Finn. He would look at him but he was busy with the popcorn at the moment.
Finn nodded and left the kitchen. He looked at the photos on the desk near the stairs, one photo always catching his eyes. It was a photo of Robin from when he was younger, 6 years old at least.
He had the same smile, though he wasn’t wearing a bandana. Cute, he always thought. There was nothing wrong with calling your best friend cute, people call animals cute.
NOT that calling Robin an animal, though.
He arrived at the stairs and walked up, a hand on the railings. Robin’s house was usually loud, due to the fact that his whole family was always home whenever he came over. But Robin mentioned yesterday that his family went to some family friends for today and left Robin and his mom.
He then walked to Robin’s room, turning the doorknob and entering. He didn’t close the door, since Robin would have a harder time with it closed considering the fact that he would be carrying a bowl of popcorn with him.
He walked over to Robin’s desk, placing the Dr. Pepper there before sitting down on the bed. He looked around, trying to see if there was anything new. And there was.
A skateboard was leaning next to Robin’s closet. Finney’s eyes widened a bit, not knowing the fact that Robin had a skateboard and that he was someone who was interested in skateboarding.
He stood up and walked over to it, crouching down in front of it. It looked new, didn’t have any stickers or scratches on it whatsoever. “Yo, Finn.” He heard Robin speak from behind him, probably from where the door was.
Finn turned his head and looked at Robin, who was already eating popcorn and walking towards him. “Hey.” He responded and Robin stood behind him.
“I see you’ve met the board.” Robin said, crouching down next to Finn and offering him the bowl of popcorn. “Yeah, I didn’t expect you to be the type to like skateboards. Not that it’s a bad thing.” Finn reassured him while talking a piece of popcorn and eating it.
“Thought so too, until I tried out my cousin’s skateboard. So my uncle got me this, it’s actually pretty fun.” He explained while looking at the skateboard which looked like Finn has been looking at it for a while, even before the moment Robin entered the room.
Finn wasn’t that crazy about skateboards, though he had to admit that seeing other kids do cool tricks at the skate park made him interested. But he knew his father would never get him one of those no matter how hard he'd beg.
Robin licked his molar while looking at Finn, then the skateboard, and then Finn again. He smiled before asking, ”You wanna try it out?”
He saw Finn’s face lighten up just a bit, but it was obvious that he was happy inside. “Really? Can I?” Finn made sure that Robin really was okay with him trying out his skateboard.
“Of course, tonto. I wouldn’t have asked if you couldn’t.” Robin teased and grinned at Finn. He also didn’t think that Finn would be interested in skateboards, but it was always so entertaining seeing Finn so interested about something, especially space.
He could listen to Finn talk about space for hours.
“Oh, okay.” Finn chuckled and was about to grab the board before he looked back at Robin again. “But what about the movie?” He asked while Robin stood up placed the popcorn on the bed. “We can watch it later, horror movies are more fun to watch at night anyway.” He answered and Finn nodded.
“But.. I told my dad I was coming home before 6.” Finn stated with a slightly anxious tone. “So? We’ll call ‘em. I can get my mom to talk to him for you, if you want.” Robin suggested with a shrug.
Finn smiled at him. “Sure, I’d like that. Thanks, Robin.” He said before finally grabbing the skateboard and stood up with it in his hands.
“Yeah, now come on.” He patted Finn’s back and lead the way to outside of the house, in the street.
“Okay, mind you that I’m not exactly an expert and just know the basics my uncle and cousin thought me so far.” Robin explained to Finn while he placed the skateboard down on the concrete floor, nodding at Robin.
“I know that.” Finn lightly chuckled as he glanced at Robin. He then placed his right foot on the skateboard, making the left side of the board go up and almost made him stumble.
Robin couldn’t help but smile at the sight. “Realmente eres tan lindo.” He teased before taking a step closer to the confused Finn who had thought that Robin might have just insulted him in Spanish.
“You step on the middle of the board first, make sure not to put all of your weight on your foot so that it won’t slip. Made that mistake my first time.” He admitted as he had noticed Finn slightly get embarrassed a while back.
Finn did what he was told to and managed to stand on the board with both legs for about 2 seconds before eventually needing to take a step back since he had trouble balancing himself. “Damn it.”
Robin moved and placed himself in front of Finn, the skateboard between both of them. He then opened his hands, seemingly asking for Finn’s. “Here, hold onto me and balance yourself. I’ll only let go once you think you’re ready.” He told the blonde, who nodded and accepted the help.
Robin’s calloused hands gripped his. The same hands who would always draw blood and bring violence were being so gentle at the moment.
Both weren’t used to the touch of each other’s hands, but they didn’t complain.
They actually liked how different the others’ was, it showed how they both were so different from each other yet their bond was stronger than anyone else’s.
“Alright, now just do what you were doing earlier. Our goal right now is to get you to balance yourself longer.” Robin told Finn while looking at his feet. When Finn got onto the board, Robin looked up to look at Finn.
After a while, Finn was getting used to balancing himself on the board. “You’re doing good. I’ll let go now, okay?” Robin gave him a heads-up and slowly let go of Finn’s hands though still ready than ever to catch him if he fell.
But as he had hoped, the blonde didn’t fall. He waited a bit more before retreating his hands with a proud smile. “You’re doing better than I expected. Well, you are a fast learner after all.” Robin chuckled and Finn laughed along with him.
“Am I doing better than you on your first time?” He asked the brunette while laughing. “Ehh, close enough.” Robin shrugged and laughed as well.
He lied. Finn was doing way better than him, he had slid off of the board at least 15 times that day, and he would rather take that to the grave.
“Okay, now use your foot to kick the floor to move and right after the kick, put your foot back on the board. Y’know, just like how you ride a scooter. Skateboarding is actually just like that, minus the steering handle.” He explained and Finn nodded, he was pretty focused and determined to learn how to ride a skateboard.
“Alright so I just..” He muttered while doing exactly what Robin had told him to do, managing to move a foot away from the starting point.
“That’s a start!” Robin stayed supportive and took a step to the side, being in front of Finn again. “Now what you’re gonna wanna do is kick harder. And don’t be so tense, it’s okay to mess up.” He patted the blonde’s shoulder, light enough to not make him lose his balance.
“Okay, okay.” Finn took a deep breath and did the same thing he did seconds ago, and immediately saw improvement as he had ended up at a farther distance than earlier.
“Yeah, that’s it!” Robin hyped up the smiling Finn who looked back at Robin to see his reaction. Robin had lightly jogged and caught up to Finn, smiling at him.
“Okay, maybe you are doing better than me.” he admitted in defeat with a laugh and boosting Finn’s confidence at the same time.
“This is easier than I expected, maybe you’re just naturally bad at skating.” Finn laughed as well and Robin playfully rolled his eyes. “Ha-ha-ha.” He sarcastically laughed at the joke.
“Okay, now the tricky part. You have to do that again, but do it continuously this time. Be careful though, you can get real hurt if you fall off while riding.” Robin cautiously told Finn.
“Right, here I go.” Finn took another deep breath before kicking the floor and quickly placing his foot back on the board.
“Again!” Robin instructed him when the board was starting to slightly slow down.
Finn complied and kicked again, and this time the speed was faster. Robin was jogging after him a few feet behind, an even prouder look on his face.
“Again!” He called out once again and Finn did so. His speed was greatly increasing with each kick and this went on for a bit.
After a while, Robin was far behind Finn and was still jogging after Finn, as their laughs echoed through the street. “Alright, let’s take a break! ’m tired, Finn!” He yelled and started slowing down, expecting Finn to do the same.
But then it hit him.
Finn was going too fast and it looked like he wasn’t gonna be able to slow down soon. He immediately fastened his pace and went from jogging to straight up running. “Finn! Stop the board!” He shouted nervously and Finn was just as nervous.
Oh shit.
“How?! You never taught me how to!” Finn yelled back, growing even more nervous. And as they both thought it couldn’t get any more worse than this, they saw the road's hill coming up.
“FINN!!” Robin shouted for him while trying to catch up. “ROBIN, I’M GONNA DIE!” Finn yelled back, frozen in place but the skateboard definitely was not.
The situation looked like life-or-death to them but to the people they passed by on the street, they just looked like stupid kids.
Finn yelled for Robin again the moment he reached the hill and they both felt like their stomach’s dropped at that moment.
“¡MI VIDA!” Robin yelled after Finn and then proceeded to pray to Ave Maria when he lost sight of the boy when he went down the road's hill.