'Til There Was You - Jerry Cole Page 0,10

into its space, he couldn’t help but note the way his foot bounced uncontrollably up and down on the peddle like he was spasming. Maybe nervous was an understatement?

It was all so silly too. It wasn’t like Finn was doing anything wrong... kind of. Like, technically he wasn’t supposed to be here. And if a certain person found out then he might get an ear full. But that was it. It wasn’t life or death, or anything even close to that. So why was he so darn worried?

With the car parked snuggly in its space, Finn took a moment for himself. Some deep breaths. A few tight, hard blinks. A head shake. Everything was fine and there was nothing to worry about, he told himself. This was going to be fine.

A deep breath to calm himself and suddenly Finn was worrying how his breath might smell. He reached into the glovebox to pull out some mints. As he did so, he spied a stack of his business cards – he always kept some on him, just in case. The sight of them was an excuse to try and concentrate on something less stressful, like that incident in the café this morning, and that very nervous man he’d stepped in to help.

Finn hated bullies. It was as simple as that. When he first overheard what that douchebag was saying, he was going to let it slide as it really wasn’t any of his business. But then the guy kept on going and going and going. And then Finn saw who he was picking on and instantly felt like he needed to intervene. The dude was just so pathetic, and small, and sad looking. His hair was long and unkept. He clothes were old and dirty and his posture suggested less than zero confidence. He was in dire need of help, and not just in that moment.

So, Finn stepped in and stopped the dickhead from picking on him. He spouted some random speech that he had hoped would make him sound tough, and then handed a card to the young man that was being bullied. To be perfectly honest, the chance to gain a new client definitely helped drive Finn’s decision to step in and help the poor guy... but that didn’t mean it was the wrong thing to do.

Finn’s thoughts stayed on that incident in the café for less than a moment. He tried his best to keep them there too as it was a scenario well outside of the one he was currently in. In that scenario, he was the hero, the guy in the right, the one that came out on top looking better than he previously had. It felt good and helped provide a few moments of relief... if only a few.

Ultimately however, Finn spent little time thinking about what had happened earlier in the café. No sooner was his car parked and turned off did he hear the sound of a school bell ringing in the distance; one that singled the end of the day. This was followed by the screams of hundreds of joyous students happy to be free from another day of tyranny and oppression.

Finn heard the ringing of the bell, looked himself over in the rearview mirror once more, took a deep and calming breath, and then climbed from the car.

As odd as it might have sounded, Finn had a son. And not an adopted son, but an actual son that he had with an ex-girlfriend of his in college. As mentioned, Finn didn’t always know he was gay, and as was dictated to him through friends and society in general, he’d just assumed he was meant to be into women. So, he slept with a few women in his younger days, and even dated a few more... this included his college sweetheart, Angela.

Finn tried not to think about Angela too much, because it always made him angry. In college she had been so nice too, and sweet, and understanding. He’d only ended it with her specifically because he had realized he was gay, and she had been so damn supportive about it... and then she found out she was pregnant.

It wasn’t that Finn had been against the idea of having a child either. It was more that he just didn’t know what to do. Plus, he was only twenty-three at the time and wanted to travel overseas and live in another country (something he still hadn’t done), and to date, and to do