Chapter Text
Robin was walking through the halls on his way to find Finney for lunch. They were supposed to eat together, and Finney was going to quickly quiz him before a math test that they had to take for their next class. Robin also just wanted to check and make sure that they were still on for tutoring later that day as well.
As Robin continued to walk through the halls, he heard a commotion up ahead. The strange thing about that was that he wasn’t at the center of it. Usually, if it wasn’t him, it was Vance Hopper, but he had been suspended only a few days ago.
Curiosity got the better of Robin and he made his way toward the commotion. A small crowd had formed around a few people who were at the center of it all. Robin peeked over a few heads and noticed Finney and his bullies standing there.
A sudden wave of anger rushed over Robin as he realized what was going on and he immediately started trying to get through to Finney, pushing and shoving people out of his way as he went.
“Disgusting fag,” Buzz yelled loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Disgusting,” Matty added. “I don’t know why anyone would actually want to be friends with someone like you .”
“Move!” Robin shouted as he continued to try to make it through the crowd of students who just standing around and watching everything go down.
The sound of Robin’s voice spooked multiple students when they realized who he was, and the crowd started thinning out. Finney jerked his head in Robin’s direction and froze in place when they made eye contact.
And for the first time ever, Robin saw something in Finney’s eyes that he had never seen when he was looking at him. Fear.
Finney turned around and ran in the opposite direction. “Finn, wait!” Robin called out just as he broke through into the center. Robin stood still and clenched his fists tightly.
He had to go after Finney. But a few punches being thrown beforehand wouldn’t hurt.
Wouldn’t hurt him anyways; he was definitely going to make sure that it hurt those fuckers that messed with Finney though.
Robin opened the bathroom door slowly and carefully as he heard small sniffles coming from the stall closest to the back of the room. Robin heard the door squeak shut behind him.
Robin hesitated for a moment. “Hey Finn, what’s happening?”
Robin heard another sniffle and a small chuckle. “Just keepin’ on keepin’ on I guess.”
“Can you come out here Finn?” Robin kept his voice calm and soft, not wanting to worry Finney.
It was silent for a moment before Robin heard a small shuffle and heard the stall door clicking open. Finney walked out with his head hung low.
Robin was about to ask him a question when Finney seemed to notice something. His face morphed into one of some sort of amused agitation. “Really Robin?”
Robin looked to where Finney had been looking seconds prior and found himself looking down at his own bloodied knuckles. Robin chuckled. “They deserved it.”
Finney smiled fondly and let out a small sigh. “Come here,” he waved his hand and walked over to the sinks before unzipping his backpack and pulling out a small first aid kit.
Robin smiled and walked over. “Thanks.”
Robin held out his hands and Finney took them gently in his own. Finney carefully began the process of cleaning up Robin’s knuckles, starting first with disinfecting them. It was silent while Finney worked and Robin started to feel a small amount of tension beginning to rise.
“Done,” Finney said while tying off the last bandage.
Robin clenched and unclenched his hands, the bandages not falling apart or moving around in the slightest. “Much appreciated mi amigo.” Robin was always surprised at how good Finney was at patching him up after fights.
“Hey Robin?” Robin looked over towards Finney who seemed nervous all of a sudden.
Robin frowned slightly. “Yeah? What’s up?”
Finney averted his eyes and gulped slightly. Robin watched as Finney seemed to take a few deep breaths before speaking again, although this time his voice was a lot quieter; almost scared. “What if they’re right?”
“What?” Robin looked at Finney in confusion.
“What if they’re right about me Robin?” Finney’s voice dropped to just above a whisper. “What if I really am…gay?”
Robin froze and his heart sped up. This was never a conversation he ever thought he would be having.
Finney had been called a multitude of slurs by bullies all the time and Robin had always given them a good beating for it afterward. It wasn’t ok to call anyone such cruel words. Usually, Robin just brushed it off though. Just because you were called homophobic slurs by bullies didn’t always mean you were actually gay. So he had just never thought to ask Finney if he actually was.
Quite honestly he was surprised that people assumed Finney was gay and insulted him for it in the first place. It was quite obvious at one point that he had a crush on one of his classmates named Donna. He didn’t seem to anymore, but that didn’t mean that he hadn’t liked a girl at one point. So Robin had just made the assumption that Finney wasn’t.
Apparently, Robin had been silent for too long and Finney’s voice seemed wobbly the next time he spoke. “I understand if you no longer want to be friends with me.”
Robin’s gut twisted and he thought he might be sick. “What? No way would I ever want to stop being friends with you!”
Finney’s head jerked up and he made eye contact with Robin. “Really?” Finney asked surprised.
“Really,” Robin replied.
“You don’t mind?” Finney asked with a small amount of hope dripping through his voice.
“Listen Finn,” Robin winced slightly as he realized the seriousness of the situation he was in. He didn’t want to be mean to Finney in any way. Although he knew that he had to be honest, even if it was probably not exactly what Finney was hoping to hear. He just really couldn’t lie about such a serious topic. “Of course I still want to be your friend.”
“Even if it is kind of…” Robin’s voice trailed off and Robin felt guilty even before he said the last word. “ Weird .”
Finney deflated and Robin instantly regretted his choice of words. That was definitely too harsh.
“Oh…” Finney’s voice wavered. “I see.”
“We’re still friends though of course!” Robin quickly tried to salvage the situation.
Finney hung his head and nodded sadly before stepping past Robin and making his way toward the bathroom door. It squeaked as Finney opened it and Robin couldn’t do anything other than just stand there completely frozen.
Finney paused. “Bye Robin.” Finney stepped out and let the door close behind him.
Robin thought he might actually be sick.