finnmurphy / Application Text (Reply)

Waking with a small groan, Finn could hear the voices in the living room. The sound of Dora the Explorer fluctuating from muffled mutters to Dora’s voice reverberating through the walls as she yelled for Boots. Banging indicated a bedroom door being slammed and the overly perky voice melted away closely followed by Joel’s gruff voice rising louder. Likely reprimanding his daughter for trying to wake the rest of the block before sociable hours. Whoever was up with Floss, usually had to hide the remote to save her acting as unofficial wake up call for their neighbours.

With a second groan, Finn rolled from his back to his front. Pulling his pillow to act as a feathered barrier from the light spilling in the edges of his curtains on an unnaturally bright morning. He’d had a shit night’s sleep. And for a change it wasn’t the PTSD to blame, no nightmares waking him with a ghost pain in his stomach. Instead his own thoughts have been the enemy. Echoes of the conversation he had had with Joel the night previous. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t expected it to come up… had hoped it would be quick into the arrangement originally. But then he’d gotten used to having his best friend present all the time. Plus with the exception of DNA, he was as much Floss’ second parent as anyone could be. She even called him “Pop” for heaven’s sake.

But Joel and Floss would be moving out very soon. Emily had finally given Joel the ultimatum that he needed to commit or let her go. Which given the 3 years they’d been together was hardly unreasonable. It had taken Joel over a year to introduce the two girls in his life. Whilst Finn respected the reasoning and consideration for Floss, the infrequent visits Emily was allowed to make to the flat seemed somewhat harsh and most likely suspicious. At least if any of Finn’s previous partners had repeatedly put off meeting his daughter and roommate for over a year, he’d have had a few trust issues.

“She’s going to think there’s someone else.”
“True, but I'm not getting Floss' hopes up for this to fail. Although Em'salready asked if we used to be together.”
“Hmmm. You wish.”
“Says the bi guy.”
“Says someone with standards."

Over the last few months though, that had changed. Emily had become significantly present in their lives. She insisted on providing the ‘girly’ elements of Floss’ life, and whilst Finn resented the implication that they weren’t already offering that, he would happily let her take over hair braiding duties and watching Frozen for the millionth time. (There are only so many times you can hear let it go before you want it to go far, far away). Plus it was clear that Emily adored the girl which Finn imagined was a challenge for a lot of people entering serious relationships.

The other parents at Floss’ Nursery had become further baffled about their family dynamics when Emily started turning up to drop Floss off. Thankfully the staff were fully aware of who Joel and Finn were to Florence, but everyone else seemed to think they were a couple despite several conversations to the contrary. Joel was fuming one day when Finn came home from a Wedding, lugging his camera bag; Emily had whispered that he’d apparently heard some of the Mums berating him for probably breaking Finn’s heart as he hadn’t been for a few days. Finn’s uncontrollable laughter hadn’t improved Joel’s mood but Emily had looked relieved when Finn offered to go with her to the nursery the next day as a united front.

The smell of bacon was slowly filling his room from the gap under his door. Feeling a slight gurgle in his stomach, Finn rolled over again onto his back. Accepting the fact he was definitely awake early this morning. Excluding his own feelings, he had to agree with every point Joel had made the previous night. Florence was going to turn 5 years old this year, she could hardly continue sharing a room with her Dad. She needed her own space with her toys and clothes and the purple/silver wallpaper she pointed out in the ‘Your Home’ magazine Emily had left one weekend. If she invited friends around from school, they would need their own place to play where Joel hadn’t had to stash anything age inappropriate on the top of cupboard – or worse in Finn’s room. (He really did not want to know – especially since Floss’ habit of moving between rooms meant having anyone over wasn’t possible). “We’ve been relying on your generosity for way too long now – I’m sure you lie about how much rent I should contribute I have had a couple of pay rises of the years you know.” So what if he did let him off a bit, Joel hardly let him buy things for Floss without paying him back. No doubt Floss would still stay at his on nights that Joel and Emily wanted extra privacy. It wasn’t as if his parents were going to offer any support.

With a long sigh, he rolled his shoulders back to curve his spine into a stretch. His hands lightly pressing on the headboard until he felt the satisfactory pull. Sitting up, he grabbed the folded hoodie next to his bed, pulling it on quickly before stepping out of his room into the living room.

“Pop!” Floss yelled looking up from the TV. With a slight clumsiness, she pushed herself to her feet before running over to cling to his leg. With a grin, he reached down to prise her off, quickly picking her up for a proper hug. Glancing over at the kitchenette he could see Joel looked almost as tired as he felt… Pan of bacon in hand and a Barbie plate between two white ceramic ones on the side.

Despite feeling guilty for the thought, Finley couldn’t help feeling secretly glad that Joel and Emily were going to have that conversation with Florence. But he still felt himself hugging Floss a little tighter whilst he still could.