Luke and Jenna - Escapee

[alexdraven]

Written for the beginnings First line of a Beetle's song challenge, but it got too long, so it's just here. The first line comes from I'll Cry Instead

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"I've got every reason on earth to be mad, Finn, and trying to be reasonable with me as though I didn't really isn’t helping."

She slapped her hand down on the table in front of him. From his vantage point in the doorway Luke imagined that the twist in his stomach maybe had something to do with him being a rank coward who wasn't coming to his friend's rescue, or possibly just the curdled atmosphere in the room.

"You let the Sams loose in the house and didn’t think to shut the hall door, and just because I caught him before he got to the road and got flattened does not begin to make that alright, do you understand me?"

With Finn sprawled and feigning relaxation in one of the chairs and Jenna using every inch of her height advantage, Luke could see just how she managed to control classrooms of unruly teenagers week in and week out.


"Look, Jenna. Would you just…"

"No, I wouldn't. I'm way way *way* to pissed off to sit down and calm down. You could have gotten him killed you idiot."

"I didn’t mean any harm by it – just letting them have a little fun, is all, a little freedom."

Finn's accented rumble was anything but conciliatory, and Luke suspected that this might just be the last time their college friend was given carte blanch to stay on the sofa for an indeterminate period of time. He was fairly sure that stepping in to the row might be the hospitable thing to do, but at the same time, he was almost enjoying the floorshow. Finn could be a clueless fuck and the small bundles of happily chittering fur that he was cradling deserved not to be road kill because of it.

"Oh Finn." Jenna's voice had dropped to that disappointed warning tone that heralded real trouble. "Oh no – you will not go that way with this. You will not be telling me that it's cruelty to keep them in their run when there's no one competent to keep them out of trouble. You will not Finnlay McMannus, and that's the end of it. You have a problem with the way I keep my babies, you're more than welcome to fuck off out of my house. OK?"

"Hey! Hey now, Jen, There's no call for that. I never said a word, so help me."

"You've said enough in the past, Finn, and…. Look. You're off on Tuesday, right?"

He nodded, overgrown hair flying.

"Right then – you can keep to the house rules, keep out of my way, and not try and kill my animals until then, but if I catch you messing with any of them, or, so help me, rolling up in my kitchen again…. And don’t call me Jen – you know I hate that. We clear?"

Whatever else, Finn was canny enough to know the best deal he was going to get when he heard it, and he nodded again, spilling over with apologies and thank yous.

Jenna turned her back, took a deep breath, and then came close enough to rest her head on Luke's shoulder, completely ignoring the other man. She ran the back on finger over Samson's pale belly, while Samuel squirmed round in the crook of Luke's elbow to sniff at her wrist. Luke dropped his own head to rest against hers for a long moment.

"They're fine. You want them in your room?" He said in the end, aware of Finn fidgeting at the table and dreading another round.

Jenna nodded but didn’t actually move, only reached out on arm to let Samuel climb onto her shoulder. Luke shifted his body weight to give Jenna warning before he stepped away, and addressed his next remark to the sleepy Samson.

"Come on fur ball – your palace in the attic awaits, and I think you might even be getting chocolate out of this one."

Jenna smiled a little, following him, and if Finn rolled his eyes and called them crazy, well neither of them had to see.