» Like the Back of My Hand ♡, Private, for Del!

[Delaney Baker]

turning tables.

'Cause I feel like a bad joke Walk a tightrope to hold on to you Was it real or a love scene From a bad dream? I don't think I can forget about it You are a shining example Of why I don't sleep at all T-t-t-too many sheep on the brain To make sense of a late night call Talking in circles and chasing the tail Of a love drunk distant memory Am I sure that he's the one? 'Cause I feel like a bad joke Walk a tightrope to hold on to you Gotta know Was it real or a love scene From a bad dream? I don't think I can forget about it Gotta know was it real?

His lips were touching hers. Finley had actually kissed her. Del had never doubted he would, but she hadn't expected him to kiss her. It was a simple kiss, sweet even, much like Del had hoped it would be.

Unsure of what do to with herself, Delaney gave herself into the kiss completely, moving her lips against his as though it were a second nature. Her hands came to rest on the back of his neck and her fingers knotted themselves in the hair on the base of his neck. Unconsciously, she moved her body closer to his, nearly toppling them over in the process.

Then just as quickly as the kiss began, Delaney pulled away and kissed his cheek. Her thoughts were in turmoil. What had they just done? We're they seen? If it somehow got out, Delaney's chances at being a prefect next year would be shot to hell. She had to be prefect, it would make her father love her again and possibly make him want to be home with her more. But she loved kissing him. Kissing Finn gave her a sense of being home for the first time ever. She felt safe when Finn's fingers were touching her skin, with him around nothing could touch her.

All Del wanted was to kiss him again, and again, and again.

"That was ..." She didn't know how to word how perfect their kiss had been. "Incredible?"

❤ THANKS SKYE

[Finley Prewett]

Delaney proved a fiercer kisser than Finn would ever have imagined, but he quickly adjusted, relinquishing his inhibitions in favor of simply giving in to the effortless flow of it. Finn was not the romantic sort; granted, he could be when the need arose to charm a particularly pretty young lady, but he certainly harbored no such inclinations of his own.

With Delaney, though, it was different...just as passionate, of course, if not doubly so-but with meaning hidden beneath it; they fit together, like two puzzle pieces that had been separated but now, coming together, made a flawless match.

Finn's heart was beating an unsteady staccato, his adrenaline pumping unbidden in his veins-and then, suddenly, his breath left him in a whoosh, and there was only a cool breeze where moments ago her body had pressed against his. Flicking a chestnut lock out of his eyes, Finn propped himself up by his arms and leaned towards her questioningly.

They were silent for some time, and Finn found that he was uncharacteristically apprehensive. Had she hated it? He had always cockily thought himself insurmountably superior to any other boy his age as far as kissing was concerned, and had never thought to question his skill before-but here, now, it seemed as though everything was one big question mark.

When she turned to him and spoke, assuaging his fears, his breath left him a whoosh, and his uncertain grimace was swiftly replaced by a grin. "You're not half bad." he teased, bumping her with his shoulder; in his eyes, though, it was surely clear that even he had never felt anything like it before.

[Delaney Baker]

turning tables.

'Cause I feel like a bad joke Walk a tightrope to hold on to you Was it real or a love scene From a bad dream? I don't think I can forget about it You are a shining example Of why I don't sleep at all T-t-t-too many sheep on the brain To make sense of a late night call Talking in circles and chasing the tail Of a love drunk distant memory Am I sure that he's the one? 'Cause I feel like a bad joke Walk a tightrope to hold on to you Gotta know Was it real or a love scene From a bad dream? I don't think I can forget about it Gotta know was it real?

Doing her best not to acknowledge her desires, Delaney became bent on tearing up a daisy. Normally, she'd pick at the petals wondering "he likes me" "he likes me not", but she was certain that not even the daisies could throw at her a truth like such. Finley had kissed her, that had to stand for something. He wouldn't of kissed her if he didn't like her, he wouldn't mess with her in that way, right?

All of the sudden, Del was certain he was playing a game with her. He got what he wanted, four years of him asking and he finally achieved his goal. And then tomorrow she would see him and she'd be just as invisible as some as the ghosts.

She focused her attentions on the daisy as he joked and nudged her. What was he waiting around for? She had nothing else to give him, at least nothing that could be given while sitting by the lake. He might as well go find someone else to chase. "Thanks, so are you." She managed to get out without her voice shaking. "That was my first kiss, you know." Even as she was hurting over her impending heart break, she still wanted to give him pieces of herself.

❤ THANKS SKYE

[Finley Prewett]

Finn leaned back, cushioning his head in his hands, and picked at a blade of grass. It was extraordinarily difficult to appear nonchalant when his entire body was supercharged; in fact, he was still rather breathless.

Rolling over onto his side so that the two were face to face, he smiled. The sun beat down on him, warming his face. Right now, when only an hour so ago his prospects with Delaney had seemed so very bleak, he doubted he had ever been happier. What would his friends say? They had, after all, made light of the seriousness of Finn's affections for her for so long, sure that nothing would ever come of it; well, wouldn't they be shocked to find the two of them together now?

Finn chuckled aloud at the thought of Andren's stunned face-only for the sound to break off abruptly at the sight of Delaney's face. She seemed-crestfallen, as though she had never been more miserable. Just looking at her sent a piercing barb through his chest.

But-but no, she couldn't be; only seconds ago, she had been so happy...hadn't she?

Finn attempted to push the foreboding thoughts away as she spoke up, but it was another moment before her words truly registered. "Really?" he replied, genuinely surprised. "I mean-you?"

The amount of other students he had seen attempting to flirt with Del was, in his opinion, seemingly endless-he could name them all, could see their faces in his mind's eye, because he had watched all of them come and go denying his jealousy-and she hadn't so much as kissed one of them? She certainly had more restraint than her current companion, that much was obvious.

"Makes me feel a little better." he added, chuckling under his breath. "I half thought it was only me you didn't want anything to do with-but I guess you're just plain hard to get." After all, it wasn't as though she herself wasn't wanted.

Finn glanced up, still wearing a smile, only to see that same expression again, this time undoubtedly-hopeless. The Hufflepuff's face fell.

"Del...?" he ventured, raising a heavy brow, "Are you-alright?"

[Delaney Baker]

turning tables.

'Cause I feel like a bad joke Walk a tightrope to hold on to you Was it real or a love scene From a bad dream? I don't think I can forget about it You are a shining example Of why I don't sleep at all T-t-t-too many sheep on the brain To make sense of a late night call Talking in circles and chasing the tail Of a love drunk distant memory Am I sure that he's the one? 'Cause I feel like a bad joke Walk a tightrope to hold on to you Gotta know Was it real or a love scene From a bad dream? I don't think I can forget about it Gotta know was it real?

"Don't sound so surprised." Finn's disbelief at her admission only served to make her feel worse than she previously felt. They were only fourth years, and with all the scandal going around Del had strived to stay far away from any and all boys. There were a few that approached her, some quite a few times, but she never saw the point in 'a date'. Her father was going to marry her off as soon as she graduated anyway, like any decent father of the upperclass ought to do.

Sitting forward so that her lose strands of hair covered her face, Del didn't once meet Finn's eyes. Why was he still here? He had gotten what he wanted for all these years, he could go brag about how he'd gotten her first kiss to all his stupid friends. "I'm not hard to get, Finn." She was whispering now, fearful of allowing him to acknowledge how broken she felt. "I just wasn't interested."

Delaney laid back on the grass behind her and twisted so that her head was a foot or so from Finn's. The shimmering sunlight gave his skin a golden glow and made his hair seem lighter than normal. If she wasn't so certain that he'd be leaving her here alone, she would've kissed him again, or allowed him to kiss her. But with the way her heart felt, she was only wishing him to disappear.

For the first time since they'd kissed, Delaney's chocolate brown eyes met Finn's own brown hue. Was she alright? Sure, she was alright. She wasn't bleeding or physically harmed. Emotionally, though? She was a wreck. "Why are you still here? You got what you wanted. Don't you have some other girl to make feel like she's the most important person on the planet?"

❤ THANKS SKYE

[Finley Prewett]

Finn blinked, shocked into silent disbelief. Of all the responses he would have expected from Delaney, anger was hardly one of them-and yet were a third party to judge by the way she snapped back at him with such vigor, they would likely have believed he had had slighted her in some awful way. Frantically, the Hufflepuff racked his brains for something-anything-that he might have said to cause her fuse to so suddenly light, but he could think of nothing; if anything, he had flattered her-had told her she was so beautiful that he could hardly believe she had managed to go so long without being kissed. Where was the harm in that?

"Del-" he began coaxingly, shifting his weight so that they were nearly knee to knee where he perched, Indian-legged in the dewy grass. "What-"

But before he could manage another word, the impact of her next words sunk in, and he broke off; his brown eyes were wide and round, wounded, and the words stung with the quick, merciless jab of a knife to the back.

Of course, he had always suspected that Delaney so severely disliked him that she wanted nothing at all to do with him-however, of late, he had felt a certain change, even before this day. In the library a week or so ago, she had practically consented to a Hogsmeade visit with him, and even though the topic had not been broached again in these past few days, it had felt like a small victory. Then, there was today-and the kiss, and the warmth that he was almost certain he had seen in her eyes before she had turned away from him so coldly. What did it all mean? Had she been playing him for a fool, trying to retaliate after all the times he had teased her? Didn't she know he had never meant to hurt her? In fact, all he ever wanted to do was make her laugh-hearing the sound was more satisfying than winning a thousand quidditch games.

When ordinarily Finn would have exploited such romantics in the hopes of winning a girl over, he found he couldn't even speak now; for once, they were not claimed, but truly felt-which made it all the more ironic that they were unaccepted.

"Oh." he murmured, eying her hesitantly; there was a defiant look in his eyes, and his jaw was set. "So-it was personal, then. It was just me you didn't want to bother with."

Delaney's closing argument was so utterly bewildering that Finn didn't know what he wanted to do more-pour out the million questions in his mind in a vain attempt to understand what exactly she was talking about, or to snap right back at her without a thought to the contrary. "That's really rich." he said finally; feeling too vulnerable on the floor, he got to his feet, brushing blades of grass from his trousers. His lean form blocked the sun, throwing Delaney into shadow. "You don't want anything to do with me, but I'm supposed to sit there and wait around for you and never have anything to do with anything else. So-what? I can't have you-or anyone else. Am I really that awful?"

Exasperated, angry, confused, his pride shattered-Finn tousled his hair restlessly. "You just don't get anything, do you? You never did. It's always been you. I've been telling you and telling you and telling you and you'd never listen. And you didn't care, and you don't care-and I don't know why I let myself think you did."

Finn had revealed far too much of himself, but he was still smarting from her unexpected assault. Vaguely humiliated by his outburst, he glanced sheepishly over his shoulder, but the few students milling about in the early morning sun didn't seem to have heard anything. Squaring his shoulders, he turned on his heel-no point waiting around here anymore; he was probably taking up her precious time as it was.

[Delaney Baker]

turning tables.

'Cause I feel like a bad joke Walk a tightrope to hold on to you Was it real or a love scene From a bad dream? I don't think I can forget about it You are a shining example Of why I don't sleep at all T-t-t-too many sheep on the brain To make sense of a late night call Talking in circles and chasing the tail Of a love drunk distant memory Am I sure that he's the one? 'Cause I feel like a bad joke Walk a tightrope to hold on to you Gotta know Was it real or a love scene From a bad dream? I don't think I can forget about it Gotta know was it real?

Tearful and horrified at what had just transpired Finley Prewett and herself, Delaney was still as a stone as Finn vented at her. He sounded so hurt, looked so hurt too, but his voice is what terrified the blond the most. Gone was the familiar sound of charm, and present was the sound pain and vulnerablity. Delaney was petrified that she was going to lose him

She loved him. Surely he wouldn't leave her now?

Just as quickly as he, she was up on her feet and chasing after him. He hadn't given her a chance to refute his accusals. They couldn't end things like that, he had put in too much effort and she was too emotionally involved. "Finley! Finley Prewett!" She shouted, quickly gaining on him. "Finn! Don't do this! You cannot pin all of this on me!"

Finally, she was able to turn him around, her hand never leaving his wrist. "You can't." She whispered, "You can't blame me for thinking this is all a game to you. All you do is flirt with a million and one girls! And then you flirt with me and you make me feel like I'm the only person that matters." She dropped his hand which she had been clinging too and stepped back. He didn't want to be around her anymore, she would have to let him go.

"I never once asked you to wait around for me, Finn. Not once. And I apologize that you wasted your precious time in doing so. And I'm sorry that I didn't hear you, okay? I'm sorry. I always thought it was a joke to you. You asked two other girls to go out with you at the same time you asked me. And I know I was the one who suggested it, but you didn't deny it. You would've went without me! How many Hogsmeade visits did you go on with other girls? Hmm? Every one of them? So excuse me if I was skeptical of myself being special. You don't make it too easy to believe."

Delaney felt as though she was about to burst at the seams. She felt like crying, like slapping him, like kissing him. These were too complex emotions for her to deal with. "I'm just, I'm just sorry, okay?" The last seven words came out as little more than a breath and Del stood unmoving. Every instinct was screaming at her to run, to run as far and fast as she could, to not stop until she reached her home. But running would solve nothing, and Delaney loved him far too much to let this slip through her fingers.

❤ THANKS SKYE

[Finley Prewett]

Finn had only made his way so far when he heard footsteps. Warily, groaning, he turned on his heel. "I'm not pinning anything on anyone." he replied finally, directing his gaze anywhere but her penetrating eyes. Smiling a little bitterly, he added, "You said it like it is; and I've always said I valued that in a girl."

So what if she didn't like him? Of course, it stung-more than anything he could recall, in all honesty-but she had made that utterly clear from the very start; it was only his pride that had convinced him he could change her mind. Evidently, though, she was one girl that was never going to come around, no matter how thick he laid on his winning charms-but then, maybe they weren't so winning after all?

Finley had never experienced self-doubt before; it was unnerving, to say the least.

It wasn't as though he bore her any ill will-how could he, after all, much as he wanted to, when it was Del-but his vanity had been wounded, and he wanted solidarity in which to nurse it back to relative health. Almost in a direct parallel to his wishes, however, Delaney began to speak so quickly that the words seemed to pour out of her like a wildly rushing waterfall.

"Couldn't you tell I didn't want them to come?" he rejoined, exasperated. "I'd meant to ask you-but as usual, trying to be chivalrous got me absolutely nowhere at all." Finn exhaled, sending a strand of hair spiraling.

"I'm not angry." he said finally, sighing and offering a tentative grin that felt only partially forced. "I don't-want to force you to do anything you don't want. I gave you the wrong impression, and that's my fault-so just live and let die, I suppose. No hard feelings, then, Ms. Baker?" Of course, it certainly would have helped had he thought to mention the fact that the only reason he had had such difficulty making the right impression was because her presence made him even more uncertain than usual about revealing his true feelings, but his pride would never allow him to speak such things aloud.

He hadn't expected her last words; in fact, they came as such a surprise that it took him a moment to come to terms with them. "Sorry? You?" he echoed wryly, raising an eyebrow. "For-what exactly, Delaney?"

[Delaney Baker]

turning tables.

'Cause I feel like a bad joke Walk a tightrope to hold on to you Was it real or a love scene  From a bad dream? I don't think I can forget about it You are a shining example Of why I don't sleep at all T-t-t-too many sheep on the brain To make sense of a late night call Talking in circles and chasing the tail Of a love drunk distant memory Am I sure that he's the one? 'Cause I feel like a bad joke Walk a tightrope to hold on to you Gotta know Was it real or a love scene From a bad dream? I don't think I can forget about it Gotta know was it real?

Delaney bit her lip and fought the urge to look in Finn's dark brown orbs. Without meaning to do so, and hardly ever realizing he had done so, Finley was able to tear apart her defenses with little more than a simple glint in his eyes. He seemed so bent on dismissing their relationship, and if he truly wanted to move on from whatever it was that they had together, she'd have to let him.

There was no way in Merlin's knickers she was letting anything go.

"What did I say, Finn? I asked you a question, a stupid question on my part but a question nonetheless, and you took off running." Del shifted a angrily and finally looked towards him. His trousers finely tailored, his shirt's sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his hair tousled. Everything on his exterior looked normal. However, it didn't take much effort to see how troubled he was-how hurt. Delaney never imagined she'd have this much of an impact on him.

Fiddling with the hem of her sleeve, Delaney sighed inaudibly and toyed with the idea of going back to her dormitory. It was the one place in the entire school-besides the restrooms-where she could disappear into and Finn could not follow. Many times during her first three years she'd go to her classes, the great hall during meal times, and then retire to her common room for the rest of the day. Without even ever truly acknowledging it, she went through great lengths to avoid him.

She didn't want to avoid him anymore.

Then, Finley made the most ridiculous assumption she had ever heard. 'That she didn't want him-that he was forcing her.' Not only could Finn never force her into anything (Delaney was quite stubborn in that way) but she more than wanted him. Call it young love, foolish love, whatever one wanted to label it, but Del never wanted to not have have him in her life. "You, Mr. Prewett, are so wrong it astounds me. For one thing, you have never forced me into anything in my life. And secondly, if I wished for you to stop being around me we would not be having this conversation. I bloody told you about my mother. No one knows that. No one outside my family, and yours, anyway. I told you about my home, about my safe haven. I would not have told you these things if you meant nothing to me."

She paused, contemplating how to word herself without ruining everything. What was she sorry for? She was sorry for being stupid enough to blurt out her fears. She was sorry for not acknowledging her feelings towards Finn sooner. She was sorry for asking him to kiss her. She was sorry for letting him get inside her head. She was sorry for their whole relationship. Finley could've been much happier with someone else, he could've met some other lady and went about asking his father to arrange something. Instead, he spent the past three or so years of his life pining for her. It was ludicrous honestly-he could've been so much happier. "Everything? I'm sorry for everything. For ruining everything."

 

❤ THANKS SKYE

[Finley Prewett]

Finn had never been so frustrated-and, frankly, so confused-in all his life. After three years of stubborn, steadfast determination, he had finally relinquished his hold on Delaney-or at least, had come to the conclusion that there was no choice but to do so, though accomplishing it in mind as well as body would be more easily said than done-only for her to suddenly come chasing after him, as though she did in fact actually want him to stay.

"You and I both know that was more than a question. It was an invitation to leave." Finn countered, brow furrowing hopelessly as he eyed her askance-what was she playing at? She had spent such a very long time trying to get rid of him, had finally succeeded; what more could she possibly want? She had already wrung him dry.

Of course, at his words, she immediately took offense at the fact that he had so much as considered using the word 'force' in accordance with her; surely, he thought dryly, with Delaney at the revolution's forefront, women would have the vote before the year was through, for there were none more headstrong and willful than she.

His lips had just parted in a vain attempt at justifying what he had said when he halted mid-sentence. "So you-do want me here?" Finn was puzzled. It had, in the past few minutes, occurred to him that she had had a change of heart, simply because of all the secrets she had divulged in his presence; yet her reaction to the kiss-at least, in its aftermath, following what he stubbornly believed had been initial happiness-was anything but encouraging. Some thought or another, he supposed, had occurred to her-and whatever it was, it certainly hadn't boded well. What it was, he could not begin to fathom; girls were strange creatures.

His voice was soft, however, as he acknowledged her apology. "Del," he began, unwittingly forgetting his former resolution to address her more formally from that point on, "You haven't done anything wrong at all."-except maybe give him a migraine, but that was purely unintentional, and stemmed more from his inability to place her thoughts than anything else. "I just don't understand you. I chase you and I chase you and I chase you, and you turn me down at every possible opportunity-mind, I'm not blaming you for it-and then somehow continue to believe that I-" When he found himself entirely too immature to admit to any genuine feelings, he amended-"That I don't think of you as just another 'every girl'? And then suddenly-for, perhaps, all of five minutes, I should think-you seem to actually want to talk to me, and be with me-and then you don't again." Forcing a strained smile, he added, "You really are infuriatingly difficult to understand; do you do that on purpose, do you think, or is it peremptory?"

[Delaney Baker]

turning tables.

'Cause I feel like a bad joke Walk a tightrope to hold on to you Was it real or a love scene  From a bad dream? I don't think I can forget about it You are a shining example Of why I don't sleep at all T-t-t-too many sheep on the brain To make sense of a late night call Talking in circles and chasing the tail Of a love drunk distant memory Am I sure that he's the one? 'Cause I feel like a bad joke Walk a tightrope to hold on to you Gotta know Was it real or a love scene From a bad dream? I don't think I can forget about it Gotta know was it real?

"Why would you do anything but blame me for turning you down? Like you said, so clearly, you chase and I run. It's a never ending game of cat and mouse..." She trailed off, feeling more disappointed in herself than ever. She led him on for years, three whole years-maybe even a few more than that because their families were so closely bonded- and never once did she give him any sign that they would ever be together. Yet, surprisingly, Finley still held on.

Why hadn't she caught on to him sooner?

She laughed as he kept on rambling. He thought so little of himself. He gave himself no credit whatsoever. Couldn't he see how smart and downright hilarious he was? "Finn." She spoke, but he still kept talking. "Finn! She yelled at him, and still he went on. This time asking her a question she wasn't quite equipped to answer. 

Instead, Delaney pulled him close to her by wrapping her arms around his neck and kissed him just as passionately as she had before. "On purpose, of course. You wouldn't think of me otherwise."

 

❤ THANKS SKYE

[Finley Prewett]

Finley was shocked, rooted to the spot by a combination of his utter disbelief and-well, by Delaney, for she had thrown herself at him so suddenly that he found he was entirely unprepared, for the first time in his life, for a kiss.

For a moment, he was unresponsive, not because he lacked the passion to return the favor, but because he could not believe that their argument had morphed into something so unexpectedly-perfect.

Then he gave into it, chuckling against her lips at her last words, murmuring into her throat, "I should have known, huh?"

Everything around them disappeared, and in that moment it was just the two of them, held together by some greater force than gravity-something inevitable, implacable, strong as stone, transparent as a summer breeze.

Finally, after so many years, the chase had ended-and the cat, who had been growing rather desperate in lieu of his failing charms, had finally caught his mouse.