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Beatrice nodded and said nothing.
Irena stared at Finn, then her sister, then back at Finn.
You seriously didn't know? She mouthed to him and rolled her eyes.
"their right Bea, don't let it get to you." She told her sister.
"That's easy for you to say, everyone loves you." She spat at her older sister and Irena looked taken aback.
Finn shrugged and gave Irena an incredulous expression, silently telling her that he was, in fact, that oblivious. He then turned his attention back to the matter at hand.
"Well, if you won't take it from Irena, take it from us." Finn added, figuring that Beatrice was just lashing out and didn't really mean it. "Everyone hates us. We've done nothing, and yet most people around here want us dead, our parents included. There's nothing you can do about assholes sometimes, okay? They're not gonna change, and if they're gonna be that way over something you can't control, then they're not worth jack shit. Neither is their opinion of you."
Beatrice lifted her eyes and stared at Finn, a small smile on her lips.
"Thanks." She told him quietly "but I think it's about time that you listen to your own advice.
"Well, yeah, but this isn't about me." Finn replied, flushing lightly in embarrassment. He didn't always do the best job of ignoring people, but in his defense, people were really cruel to him and Teagan. "You can try and ignore the opinion of one stupid freshman boy, yeah?"
Beatrice forced a smile, but the waver in it said that she was close to tears.
"I mean…" she tried to explain "it would be easier if he never showed any interest in me at all, plus he's the only guy that has shown interest in me since about fifth grade."
Finn sighed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, yeah, but… I mean… you're young. Relationships aren't all that important right now anyway, y'know? You'll find somebody better than him. Even if it isn't right now, you'll find somebody someday if you're looking."
beatrice laughed shrilly, an eerie sound in the otherwise silent house.
tears poured down her face and then hid her face in her hands, Irena had her in a side hug the minute she had begun laughing, rubbing her back. "It's okay Bea, I swear it's okay." She told her calmly.
You did good she mouthed to Finn "just give her a few minutes*
after a few minutes, Beatrice stopped laughing and her sobs quieted to sniffles and at last she uncovered her face. "Sorry.' She said apologetically.
Finn jumped at the shrill sound, his eyes widening in worry that he'd done something wrong. He relaxed a little at Irena's assurances, but he still felt guilty. Teagan stood and patted Finn's shoulder with one hand, looking to calm his brother down.
When Beatrice seemed okay again, Finn was still a bit nervous. "Ah, d-don't apologize… it's fine. Are you okay?" He asked.
Beatrice nodded her head and mumbled a quiet "yeah."
Irena shot Finn a sympathetic look.
"Do you feel up to going cosmic bowling with us?" she asked her younger sister.
"Yeah, you're welcome to come if you want. Might be a good distraction, I dunno…" Finn added. He looked over to Teagan, trying to silently ask what else might make Beatrice feel better. Teagan simply shrugged. "Um… dogs make people feel better, right? If you want, y-you can… you know…" He was silent for a moment, but then simply transformed into a wolf and tentatively headed forward to sit in front of Beatrice. He lowered his head and turned his ears back if Beatrice wanted to pet him. Teagan had to keep himself from snickering a bit.
Beatrice gave out a small, happy squeal when Finn transformed and she leaned forward, eagerly petting and scratching Finn behind the ears and began to laugh, laugh purely this time.
Irena held a hand over her mouth as she giggled helplessly.
Although Finn was still nervous, he did like to be pet, so he couldn't keep his tail from wagging at the attention. He was definitely thankful that this seemed to have been a good move for making Bea feel better. He leaned into Bea's hands, closing his eyes and relaxing a bit. Teagan started laughing as well once everyone else seemed to be doing so.
Irena was laughing because the thought of someone like Finn trying to make her younger sister feel better by transforming was comical, though kind of expected with his kind of personality.
Once you got past the scars and scariness, he was very soft and emotional and caring.
Bea continued to pet Finn, and at some point he ended up sitting next to her in the large beanbag chair, her hand resting on the top of his head.
Finn yawned, clearly more relaxed now that Bea seemed to be doing better. Although he didn't reciprocate her feelings in the same way, he did still care about her, and he didn't want her to be sad about a stupid, mean boy.
Teagan ended up over next to Irena, quietly talking with her. Eventually, he looked up at the clock and noticed it had gotten late. "Hey, guys, we should probably head to bowling soon."
Beatrice had fallen asleep, her head on top of Finn's. At the sound of Teagan's voice her eyes moved between her lids and then slowly fluttered open.
Irena helped her up as well as brush stray hair from Finn's fur from her clothes and Irena grabbed more money from her secret hiding spot, another twenty and they left, Irena using her housekeys to lock the front door and only the front door, behind them.
Finn looked up sleepily and shook out his fur once Beatrice had gotten up. He then transformed back and stretched, yawning again before he followed the group. Teagan teased Finn in the back of the group, but Finn was too sleepy to really reciprocate any banter at the moment.
Eventually, they reached the bowling alley and checked in. Finn was more awake now and he and Teagan seemed to be making plans for some kind of dumb competition.
Irena held a bet with Beatrice that Teagan would win, as she knew Finn's emotions and self doubting usually caused him not to preform as well as he could in most things, like skating and other fun activities.
Beatrice bet Finn would win because she had faith in them. And well, because partly she could never doubt Finn anyways, she had been in love with him for a long time, though the feelings were much calmer than before.
The bet was a total of ten dollars, which Irena thought she could use to put into the savings she had in her secret hiding spot in her drawer.
Finn and Teagan seemed to have two different competitions going on. The first, of course, was simply who would win the game. The second was to see which of them could throw the ball harder. Both of them were strong, so they relied on the screen to tell them how fast the ball was going down the lane.
As Irena expected, Teagan was able to win the game since his technique was better, but Finn was able to edge out Teagan on speed, managing to throw the ball about 29 mph to Teagan's 27.
Irena cheered for Teagan, and Beatrice cheered for Finn, coming up to take their turns at throwing the ball.
The lights went out and everything was cast in a blue light, making colors neon and shadows non-existent.
Finn and Teagan were exhausted by the end of the games since they'd been overexerting themselves for the competitions. They flopped down on the couches, panting to catch their breath as they watched Irena and Beatrice play.
"You guys about ready to go?" Finn asked breathlessly after a while. Teagan was sprawled out on his back, his lungs and arms aching.
Beatrice rolled a strike and the screen revealed that she had won.
Irena slapped a five dollar bill into her hand and they walked over, sitting down to take off their bowling shoes.
They stood up and both had to drag one of the twins up and began to leave.
"So…" Beatrice said after turning a corner on their way home. "Cameron texted me."
"What did he say?" Irena asked, her face beginning to turn red.
"That he was sorry and he didn't mean any of the things he said." Beatrice told the three of them.
"Should I forgive him and go out with him again or forgive him and just forget about him?" she asked.
The twins allowed Irena and Beatrice to drag them along, still looking exhausted, but suddenly became more alert at what Beatrice said.
"Forget about him!" Finn insisted, huffing indignantly. Teagan nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, don't forgive him either. Don't let him think that what he did was okay." He added. "If you forgive him he'll just see that you won't do anything about his behavior and he'll keep treating you badly. Just drop him, honestly. He's an asshole."
Irena said nothing, she didn't want Beatrice to feel like she was trying to take the maternal category to much.
Beatrice's face went through at least eight different expressions.
"But I really like him…' she told them "and I think he might like actually like me."
"If he actually likes you, then when would he say all of that stuff to you in the first place?" Finn asked softly. "I can't stop you from doing anything, but I don't recommend going back to somebody who's already hurt you on the first date. You have to be careful."
Beatrice thought, then nodded.
"I guess you're right." She told Finn and sent a quick text and slid her phone back into her pocket.