Monochrome: 4

The next few days went by quietly. Finn went to work and came home, all without comment from Kieran. During the first two days, Finn was relieved. However, as the week continued into its end, he noticed he wasn’t seeing Kieran at all. He started to wonder if he was too harsh.

The next day came, and Kieran was sitting in front of his door in the hall. He had his face down in his hands. Finn approached him slowly.

“Hey,” he said.

“…hey,” Kieran responded, removing one of his hands from his face.

“You’re locked out?”

“Yep. Keys are in the door, still.”

“Where’s Grey?”

“She’s visiting her parents. She’s going to mail me a key,” Kieran said, putting down his other hand and sighing.

“Shit.”

“Yeah,” Kieran said with a laugh, staring at the floor. Finn walked over and sat next to him.

“I’m sorry about last week,” Finn said. “I… shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s fine. You were right,” Kieran answered.

They were both quiet for a moment, as Finn tried to find the right words to say.

But, Kieran got to it first: “Why did you bring me to your apartment, anyways?”

“I guess… it’s because it didn’t seem right to leave you there.”

“I’ve probably spent a few nights on the floor.”

“It didn’t feel secure anymore,” Finn explained. There was another, momentary lull in the conversation. Finn picked it back up.

“Are you… okay?” he asked awkwardly.

“Oh, I’m fine, just locked out of my home,” Kieran responded. He sighed at his own sarcasm and answered more properly, “I don’t know, what do you mean?”

“Well, what happened last week?” Finn specified.

“I… lost my job. Got pissed, went drinking. Then I got mugged on the way back home. It’s like, nope, the job wasn’t enough. Had to get mugged, too. Whatever, I didn’t have much in my wallet, anyways,” Kieran complained, very noticeably aggravated.

“You lost your job?”

“Yeah, I think I said that.”

“No, I mean, what about your apartment?”

“I think I have enough in the bank to pay off this month, then I can’t really push it much further.”

“What about a new job?”

“Gotta find someplace that’s hiring that’ll take me. So far, no luck.”

“Do you have somewhere else to stay?”

“Not… really,” Kieran said, reluctantly.

“Your parents…?” Finn asked.

“…no,” Kieran said, after a pause. Finn decided not to ask about it.

“So, you don’t have anywhere to go tonight then?”

“No, I don’t think so. I’ll… figure something out,” Kieran answered.

“Well,” Finn started, “You could stay at my place until you get the key.”

“Eh… you don’t want me around.”

“I could put up with it for a couple days,” Finn assured him, laughing. He stood up.

“Come on.”

“…alright,” Kieran said.