( tori ) how could that be logical?

[finley john banks]

Three weeks.

Six days.

Four hours.

It had been a total of three weeks, six days, four hours, and counting since Finley Banks had found out that the girl that he was head over heels for was dating another guy.

Should Finley have waited so damn long to tell Tori that he liked her? No, of course not. He should have just been upfront with her from the beginning, but he was so afraid of hearing her tell him that she just didn't like him like that at all. Not only that, but if she didn't like him like that, even with all of her flirty ways, Finley didn't want things to become awkward between them.

Even a Tori that he couldn't have was a Tori he was willing to keep, since Tori as a friend was better than not having her in his life at all.

It was the middle of Fin's day at school and he wasn't looking forward the the rest of it. Mostly, because he had a bunch of classes with Tori at the end of the day. And as soon as classes were let out for the afternoon, Finley had an extended practice that evening. This was just something that Finley just wasn't up for.

Going to his locker, Finley opened the metal door of it and noticed the pictures that Lucy and Tori had both helped put up in it. Plus, his baby sister Mercy helped a little too.

There were a few pictures of Fin and Tori.

They were happy.

Now, Finley was sad.

Seeing these pictures only made the male realize that he wasn't happy with Tori dating that drama kid. They seemed to be going strong and Finley wasn't going to screw that up.

The male tried to make it seem like he was okay with it by dating Alana for a couple weeks himself. Though, she wasn't Tori, so things just didn't pan out between them, even after Finley had gone all out by asking Alana to homecoming in the biggest possible way.

He managed to get the speaker system from the principal, that directed Alana to the hallway outside her classroom. She was instructed to follow the roses down to her locker. Once Finley had told her that over the loud system., the male dashed to the girl's locker. While he was running to her locker, which wasn't too far from the office at all, the male saw that a lot of the student body had joined them all in the hallway. They were curious of what was going to happen.

Once Finley arrived at Alana's locker, he was dressed in a tux and there was a big romantic setting around her locker. Candles, dimmed light, the works.

It was then that he had asked her to homecoming.

It was supposed to be for Tori though, not Alana.

After one of Finley's friend's kicked him back into reality, Finley heard what the male said. "Why do you still have her pictures in your locker? Aren't you dating that redhead?"

"Alana. Her name is Alana. And yes, I was dating her," Finley said.

Then Finley looked to the pictures of him and Tori.

"Her. I loved her."

It was then that Finley John Banks started to pull pictures out of his locker of him and Tori. He didn't like doing it at all, but he needed to move on.

Tori had.

[victoria faith sinclair]

A month.

It had been almost an entire month that Tori had gone without talking or hanging out with Finley John Banks. Her heart had started to feel slightly homesick for the relationship they had before she went a blew it. She was with Chris, better known around the school as Drama. But was she with Chris to simply make Fin jealous or did she really like Chris? Her emotions at first were very clear but now that it had been so long since she'd had an interaction with Fin, she was becoming confused.

Tori had always been known for never knowing what she wanted in life. Anyone who had ever been friends with her and even her baby sister knew how messed up of a person Tori was when it came to emotions. A lot of her problem came from having a disorder that not a lot of people knew she had. Tori was bipolar. Most of the time, she would take her meds and things would be tolerable. However, in the past few months, she hadn't been taking them. They made her sick to her stomach even if she never really got sick. She hated that. She didn't have time to be sick with dancing and school and everything else.

She didn't dare tell anyone about that. Not even her doctors. She knew that was wrong but she hated that being sick would interrupt with her busy life schedule. The only bad thing that come out of her not taking her medications was becoming irritable and having mood swings left and right. Most of those were directed towards Finley. Not only was Tori afraid of falling for him but when she realized that had already happened her bipolar disorder really kicked in. She was always hot and cold with him. It had hurt him and Tori began to hate herself for that.

As Tori walked through the halls, she scanned them briefly with her eyes for any sign of Finley. When she saw him at his locker with a friend, instead of walking up, she hid behind the nearest pole and listened. It wasn't like Tori to eavesdrop on purpose. She was raised better than that but Tori didn't want to in any way confront him when he had a friend with him. That would have been way to awkward for both of them.

Peeking around the pole, Tori could see pictures on the inside of the locker door. Tears hit her eyes when she saw that some of them were cut and cropped to be just the two of them. When his friend asked why he still had pictures of Tori if he was dating Alana, Finley answered that he had been dating Alana. They broke up? Tori didn't know that. No one had told her. She didn't want to break it off with Chris just because her chance with Finley could possibly be open again. But Finley's next words left the tears in Tori's eyes streaming down her face as she turned and leaned against the pole. She titled her head back and stifled the crying as much as possible. It was hard.

Finley loved her. How could Tori have been so stupid? As she stood against the pole crying, she began to weep. She couldn't control herself anymore. She pulled herself from around the pole and looked on as Finley ripped the pictures down from the inside of his locker. Tori sniffled and tried to stop crying so that she could walk over.

"Could I talk to Finley alone please?" she said quietly to his friend as she walked over to them. His friend looked at Finley with a raised eyebrow and told Tori sure and walked off. "Finley, I" she said, not knowing where to start. Instead of speaking, she got closer to him and went on her tiptoes and just kissed him. Immediately, she felt sparks and it scared her. She pulled back almost as quickly as she had kissed him. Her tears hit hard and hot again and she looked down. "I-I'm sorry. That was really wrong," she said, not even realizing that other students could have seen that happen.

[/size]

[finley john banks]

As Finley started pulling the pictures from his locker, his friend Andrew asked him why he was removing the pictures of Tori if he loved her.

"She moved on. Why shouldn't I?" he questioned.

It was the cold hard truth and it was a bit hard even for the tough exterior fronted male to deal with. He was going to have to though, he was going to make himself sick if he hadn't.

As the male pulled the last of the photos out of his locker, he heard the familiar feminine voice of Victoria Sinclair speak. At first, he thought that she was talking to someone else, someone around him, but she was actually talking to Fin and Andy, whom she was now standing in front of.

A little surprised that Tori was actually standing in front of him, Finley was a little off balance with his emotions since he hadn't confronted Tori since he had found out that she had starting that Chris kid, or whatever the rest of the student body called him. It didn't matter much to Fin, except for the part about him not getting the girl.

Nice guys don't finish first. His mother lied to him.

Then Tori requested to talk to him.

Alone.

What the hell did she want from him now? Maybe rub it in that he wasn't with Alana anymore? Or even possibly that she was happier with Chris than Fin had ever made her when they hung out? No matter what it was, Finley didn't want to hear it.

He would listen, regardless, though. That was just the type of guy that he was and was raised to be.

"It's cool," the male said to his friend. "I'll see you at practice later."

The tall and muscular male then turned to the girl that broke his heart. "What do you want, Tori?" Fin asked, hoping that this little meeting would end as quick as it had started.

Finley didn't like having his heart broken. Nor did he like having things flaunted in front of his face that he couldn't have. So, this entire meeting was something that Finley just wanted to end so that he would be able to go on with his day and just forget that it had ever happened.

Then Tori started to speak, but seemed to get caught up on her words.

This was going to take longer than he wanted it to.

Then she kissed him.

At first, Fin went along with it. Then he remembered why they weren't talking and he pulled back.

Tori then apologized.

Finley's temper rose super quick. Much quicker than it had in a really long time. This boy was about to explode.

"You should be sorry," Finley said, grabbing the text book for his next class out of his locker.

As soon as the male had grabbed his book, he flung the door of his locker shut with such force that it didn't shut. In fact, the metal hit the lock part so hard it locked, then unlocked itself and flung back open. it wasn't often that Finley showed this sort of strength to people, unless he was on the football field, of course.

"While you figure out what else you can do that's wrong, I'm going to make my own decision and not miss out on an opportunities," the male said, referring back to a few text messages that Tori herself had sent to him the night she broke his heart.

The male honestly didn't even care that his locker door had swung back open and to be honest, he didn't really notice it because he was so angry.

As Finley walked down the hallway towards his next class, he didn't bother to answer the few people who asked him if he was alright. These people only made his temper flare more. Fin knew that if he turned to these people and went to answer their questions, someone was going to get knocked out.

Entering the classroom, a science lab, Finley sat down at the table that he had been sitting in since the beginning of the year. Then he looked to the seat next to him, soon realizing that the seat was missing his lab partner.

Tori.

Fuck.

Finley was going to keep to himself during the class today. Otherwise, he was going to end up screaming at Tori again. And even though she broke his heart badly, she didn't deserve being yelled at.

[victoria faith sinclair]

Tori eyes were opened wide with the sound of the slamming locker door. She jumped slightly and started to cry harder hearing his harsh words to her. She knew she had hurt him but that was only making her want to apologize more. Was this unfixable? Did Tori really ruin her chances of ever being with Finley, the man whom everyone thought would be her perfect prince charming? Her heart literally tore in two as Finley tore into her. He was so right and so hurt and Tori apparently could do nothing to change that. As he walked away from her, she cried. She cried so hard that she could barely catch her breath. She coughed and put her hand on the lockers to catch her balance.

Diziness began to set in so she slid over and leaned completely against the lockers. That's when she noticed his locker was still open. Hadn't he shut it? Slammed it even? Maybe he shut it too hard and it snapped back open. Should Tori have looked in? Probably not, but she was curious. Inside on the shelf she saw the pictures he had taken down. He was keeping them. Was he? Or did he just forget to rip them up in the process. Upon further sneaking, Tori noticed a few pictures still left up on the locker door. The ones that he had cut up to be just the two of them. They were happy. Smiling so big. In one of them, Tori was looking right at Finley, smiling adoringly at him, laughing at him. Finley was facing the other way, probably looking at Noah. But it was just the two of them. That's all Tori's mind could focus on.

Her tears ran hot and heavy down her cheeks, causing her to cry more. "I love you Fin," she said quietly into his locker. She then leaned down and opened her messenger bag. She tore a blank piece of paper out of a notebook and sat down against the lockers. This was the only chance she was going to have to put something in his locker without him being there. She sat down and pulled out a pen and started writing.

Dear Finley,
I know that I hurt you. And I'm so very sorry for that. I didn't know what I had with you or what I could have had with you. But seeing your reaction to the kiss, I know that you're still hurt. That kiss sent sparks through me that I have never had before. To me, it means that I love you. I really do Finley. I'm so retarded, stupid, dumb, all of that for not seeing it before now. I should have waited for you to ask me out. I heard about how you asked Alana. You are truly a prince Finley. You treat women right and all I did was treat you completely wrong and heartlessly. I hope that you forgive me someday. And I still have your number. Can't bring myself to delete it. If you have mine, I'd like you to know that you can call me anytime. Literally, anytime. I love you Finley. Please, just give me a second chance to at least be your friend.
Sincerely Yours,
Victoria

A few tears hit the paper, making the ink she was writing with spread ever so slightly in some spots. But writing that made her relax a bit more. She folded it, wrote "Finley" on the front and stood up. Turning to face his locker, she placed it just so. On top of everything and standing up in an upside down V so that he would have no choice but to read it. She sighed and kissed the empty air in his locker before shutting it and allowing it to lock properly this time. "I love you" she whispered one last time before walking in the opposite direction of the class she and Finley were supposed to be having right now.

[finley john banks]

As the muscular male sat on the stool, he opened up his notebook, ready to take notes. It was typical that the class took notes before going off to do any experiments that the teacher was going to assign to them that afternoon. As Finley looked through the pages in his notebook, he saw all the little notes and doodles that he and Tori had written and drawn back and forth to each other and it made him smile.

Making a decision in his head, Finley closed his notebook and walked out of the classroom. The second bell hadn't rung yet, so he wasn't stuck in the room for the entire class. Finley needed to get away from his fellow classmates and he needed to do it now.

Getting out of his chair, Fin grabbed his notebook and textbook and walked out of the room. He walked down the hallway to his locker and opened it. He put his stuff in and happened to look up and see a note that was addressed to him. Grabbing it off of the shelf, Fin opened the paper and read the note.

Sighing lightly to himself, Finley knew that he had been to hard on Tori and now he felt bad. Sure, he wanted her to feel how he felt when she started dating Chris, but he didn't want her to feel worse.

Holding onto the note, Finley went to go see his coach; he had to tell him that he needed to go home because of an emergency, but that he'd be back for practice later. His coach questioned him on the emergency, but Finley was already gone. He grabbed the note and walked back towards the classroom that he and Tori both should have been in. She wasn't there, so Finley knew a spot where she would be.

When the pair weren't feeling one hundred percent about something or were having a bad day and needed to talk to each other about something, they'd go to to a secluded part of the park. They had accidentally found it when they went for a walk years before.

This was the place that Finley felt that he needed to be at that moment.

The park.

Leaving the school building, Finley practically ran all the way to his car. Once he got into it, the male started it and drove off to the park. It didn't take long for Finley to get to the park. Once in the parking lot, Finley found an empty spot and parked his car. He turned it off and put his keys in his pocket and got out.

Taking a deep breath, because Finley figured that Tori was either here already or she was on her way, the male was suddenly feeling afraid. He didn't know what was to come out of this, nor did he really expect anything good to come out of it. If things took a turn for the worst, then he knew that even being friends with Tori just wasn't going to be an option.

Closing the driver's side door, Finley hit the lock button on the key pad and walked off towards the trail. Veering off the path at one point, Finley walked a little bit through the woods until he came to an opening.There was a circle where there just weren't any trees, surprisingly enough, so when he and Tori had found this spot, it just seemed perfect.

When Finley stepped around the trees, he noticed Tori already sitting there. "Hey, I, uh..., I got your note," the male said, holding the note up as proof. "I figured that you'd be here," he said.

[victoria faith sinclair]

Why her feet brought her to outside of the school and into her car, Tori didn't know. She did know that going to the park was the only way Finley would have been able to find her. That is, if he even wanted to look for her. He was angry with her and that was the last thing she knew. If he came looking for her, she knew the tears wouldn't stop. It meant that somewhere in that heartbroken soul of his, he cared for her. Maybe not in the same depths that she cared for him but she then remembered how much she had ruined anything she could have had with him, even a friendship.

And the waterworks started again. Tori pulled her legs up onto the bench and sat cross legged on the cold wood and metal. Her sweatshirt was wool and keeping her warm, for now. As she started crying, she let it fall. She didn't even bother to look to see if anyone was around her. This was the worse feeling she had felt since her ex boyfriend had tried to rape her. That last time was when she felt victimized. But this time, she was the one doing the hurting and that broke her heart even more.

Tori tried to sing, hoping it would calm her but of course, her mind chose sappy love songs to start singing and it only made it worse. She did care for Chris but she didn't love him like she now realized she loved Finley. Then his voice came into her head and she thought she was imagining things as her eyes looked up. Finley Banks was standing in front of her with the note she had written him in his hand. Her first reaction was to immediately wipe the tears from her eyes and cheeks with the back of her hands.

She adjusted herself and put her legs down on the ground in front of her. Putting her hands on her knees, Tori straightened her arms and back and looked up at him. "Yeah," she said quietly, looking down from him. "I'm sorry," was all she could think of to say. It then became awkwardly quiet between them. She wanted so badly to say what she wanted to but would it make things worse? She had already kissed him and made him angry with her. Did the note set him off even more and he was just playing nice for now? She didn't know. All Tori knew was that she wanted to kiss him again. Actually, she wanted him to kiss her so that she could know that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

Tori fidgeted a bit then stood up. Slowly for she could feel the beginnings of a crying headache but standing in front of him, Tori just looked at him. In her eyes was hurt, sorrow, regret and love. "I love you," she said, making sure to look directly into his eyes. She wanted him to feel how much she cared for him in her words. Standing this close to him made her feel woozy. She wasn't sure if it was the cold, being outside, his cologne or her headache. Maybe it was a mix of all of them. Either way, she put her hand on his arm lightly and continued to look at him.

[finley john banks]

While Finley walked through the woods to the secret spot that he had shared with Tori, he started realizing that he didn't really know what he was going to say to her if she had actually been there.

Though, as soon as he made it to the clearing in the trees, the male had figured out what to say and he did just that.

It was then that Tori had apologized to him that made him feel horrible and guilty. He shouldn't have reacted the way that he had, but when he had his heartbroken, all of Fin's normally suppressed feelings came forward and not always in a good way either.

Before the male was even able to say anything, considering the fact that he wanted to think about what he had said before he had said it so that he wasn't going to make matters worse, he saw Tori get up off the bench that she had been sitting on and walk over to him.

That was something that he honestly was not expecting.

Then she said those three magic words that every guy wanted to hear from the girl that he was completely in love with.

There was a problem though.

That Chris kid.

Feeling Tori's hands on his arm, Finley did something that he would always do when she wasn't feeling up to par or if she had a disagreement with Lucy.

Finley hugged Tori.

He held onto her to let her know that everything was somehow going to be okay.

"I love you too," he managed to blurt out, not wanting to say it since Tori was technically an unavailable woman.

As Finley stood there, holding onto the girl that he knew that he couldn't have, his heart ached terribly. He knew that he shouldn't have waited so long to ask Tori out, but he wanted to wait for a special moment. He was going to ask her to the homecoming game, then to accompany him to the dance afterwords.

Unfortunately for Finley, another guy beat him to the act of asking Tori out.

Finley wasn't exactly mad at Chris for beating him to the punch, he was more jealous than anything. In the long run of things, Finley could only kick himself in the head, because he was the one that had waited so long.

Hugging Tori to his body, Finley knew that he was going to have to let her go and that it didn't mean just letting her go physically. He was going to have to let her go emotionally as well. She was dating someone else, so that meant that he had to back off and move on like she had.

[victoria faith sinclair]

Tori didn't know how Finley was going to react to her saying I love you to his face. She had said it, she couldn't remember how many times in the past few weeks in her head, in the note, on her social networking sites. Did he really love her? Was it just that he didn't quite feel the same way for her? If that was the case, she would run away crying and never bother him again.

His next motion completely surprised her enough to put her into tears. Quiet tears though, which meant they were happy tears. The moment she buried her face into his chest he said the words back to her. They felt like warm water to her, warming her entire body with tingles. He did love her. That only made her hold onto him even more. She sniffled slightly then nuzzled herself even more into him.

The more Tori held onto Finley, the more he held onto her. This is what should have been. But she was with Chris. Was she really though? Her heart had always been set on Finley or else they would not be here after her begging and crying and apologizing. Finley felt in his heart the same way Tori felt. She felt at that moment all kinds of butterflies in her stomach. She leaned back from him, her arms still around his waist. Tori's eyes looked up and met with his.

She could hardly make herself breathe. The way they were looking at each other took her breath away. She smiled weakly up at him. Would this time be different? She didn't know but it felt right. More right than the last time. She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed his lips ever so lightly. Only brushing her lips against his, Tori then put her feet flat back on the ground. Looking at Finley, she bit her lower lip. "You know that feeling when something so right feels like it can't be any other way?" she asked him quietly. "I have that with you. I've always been yours Fin," she said, calling him Fin for the first time to his face since they had met. She had always called him Finley but right now, she wanted to call him so many other things but Fin was appropriate.