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Finn was silent for a very long time. One elbow was up on the table, hand clutching the damp towel he had been using to dry himself off with moments before. His other arm rested on his leg, and he was leaned forward slightly, watching Ripley's every movement, taking in his every word. It was hard for him to argue....impossible, really. He was a monumental screw up, at times, though hearing it come from Ripley's mouth was somehow harder to swallow then it should have been. Maybe he'd always just thought the other man didn't just put up with his antics, but actually understood why he behaved the way he did as well, and accepted it.

When the other man finished, Finn still remained silent, the end result much what he'd been expecting. He wasn't sure whether to say something just yet, though. After all, everything he said so far managed to get turned back around on him, twisted, made redundant.

He wished he had a drink in his hand right now. A cigarette. Something to busy himself with while the puzzle pieces of his thoughts shifted and clicked together, but there was nothing, and soon he knew he would need to break his silence or risk losing the man that say across from him, looking for a reason to leave.

Finn finally cleared his throat, and began, voice as calm as he could make it. "I didn't mean to make it sound like I gave your rule no worth at all. That was never the case. It's just that I have never been one to hide who I am or what I like, and for some reason." He smirked, lightly, "I happen to like you. A lot. So there are times, have been many times, where it's been difficult for me to remember that what we have is between us, and that nobody else needs to know. I am not ashamed of us, of what we're doing, of how often we do it." His smirk widened, "But nor would I ever flaunt it, announce it to everyone, send out a mass text...hell, twitter would do. I don't make it my business to let everybody know everything about me, or what I do. I am somewhere in the middle, I suppose...." His voice trailed off, and it was difficult to tell just where he was going with this.

"But, this isn't just about me, it's about you too. What I choose to reveal about my personal life is now, the majority of the time, not just mine to reveal, since you've become so intertwined in that part of me. You're angry, you have a right to be. You want to know that I understand, and I'm telling you that I do."

For some reason, he was still smiling, as if he suddenly found something terribly funny.

He'd seen a glimpse of something, a part of Ripley he'd never seen before.

"However," he suddenly continued, "At the risk of you getting up and walking out the door and never turning back, first, please tell me, how long have you had feelings for me beyond that guy I like to ******** quite often?"

"Liar." He said, quietly, his smirk widening as if he just couldn't help himself. As soon as Ripley pushed back on his chair, however, Finn did the same, and even though he was still clad only in a towel, he stepped in front of the other man, staying between him and the door, and gave him a hard stare.

"Don't leave. I asked you once already. I even said please." Another cold smile, though somehow this one seemed a bit more genuine.

And then, because he was not going to drop this just yet. "Tell me."

He waited, not sure what to expect. Ripley to make a break for it? To try and shove past him? He hadn't really planned much further then just getting in the other mans path, and wasn't sure how his instincts might react should the man press his escape further. Like so often with Finn Connor, he really hadn't thought this through at all, except that he knew that he didn't want Ripley to leave, not yet.

Not unless he said it was over. He could practically hear the words rolling off of Ripley's tongue. Each time he started to speak, and then halted. Finn watched him intently, still waiting, until.....

"That's a bit of a different answer then previously. Do you want to try again?" He asked, though Ripley had already told him not to.

Finn let out a small sigh then.

"Two things. One, if I let you leave, are you really going to come back? Two.....Don't leave." He hadn't meant to say that, the words changing mid sentence. "Three." There wasn't supposed to be a three, but he stepped closer, and bent down slightly, attempting to get eye level with the other man.

"Kiss me."

Yes. That was comforting. Sleeping on the couch...not so much, but at least he would know Ripley was still there. The third thing, however, had him staring right back, until he sighed and closed his eye, counting mentally, something in Finn that he didn't let give often giving.

When he opened his eye again it wasn't cold anymore. It was still intense, but in a different way then it's typical hardness. It was actually showing something, some glimpse of emotion, of his fear that Ripley was going to leave, of his need, both for the other man to come to his senses and to feel his lips against Finn's. There was a hunger there, a desire, so much, just for that moment, that he was willing to show, when he was never willing to show anybody anything.

"That depends on what you want me to stop." He breathed, one hand going up to carefully curl around the back of Ripley's head, not sure if the other man would let him.

Ripley looked away, Finn blinked, and like magic the emotions were gone again, tucked back inside and hidden away, just where he liked them to stay. Emotions were terrible things, they could be used against a person, and yet after hearing how Ripley felt, after coming to terms with the fact that the other man had indeed opened up to him, had trusted him...Finn had only wanted to give him the same in return.

Now, he felt, they were slightly more even.

"Okay." His fingers curled into hair briefly, didn't want to let go, but eventually did, sliding away until Finn's arm was left hanging at his side.

And then he stepped out of Ripley's way. "You can go." It hurt, but he could bare a little hurt. He smirked, and let out a light snorting breath through his nose. "No kiss necessary." He wasn't going to force it. Not something the other man obviously didn't want, and would have only given as part of a deal to get away. It wouldn't mean anything. It wouldn't, Finn realized, make him stay or earn any forgiveness at this point.

"Unless you really need a place to crash tonight, and don't want to bother anyone, then the couch is all yours," he turned to move away, "I won't push you anymore." There was no reason to, he'd already pushed far enough.

He'd hoped he would stay, an irrational hope that really wouldn't have gotten them anywhere since the other man had already made it clear that if he did, it would just be to sleep, and not to discuss this anymore (probably a good thing. Ripley was, clearly, already on the verge of a breaking point.). What would it really give him, except the knowledge in knowing he wasn't finding comfort with somebody else? A thought that had never, previously, crossed Finn's mind because it had no reason to. They had an agreement, of course, but in that agreement the words I will be yours at the end of the day no matter who else I'm with had been used.

Now he had no such knowledge that those words even remotely true. Still, there was nothing he could do (or nothing he would do, more accurately) to stop the man from heading out the door, his last words barely heard as they melded into something different, something with an air of finality about it that snapped Finn's head towards the door, until he wondered if he had heard the other man at all.

The door clicked shut, and the other man was gone, for the first time since they started this, he was the one who had run away, who had needed space, and Finn was the one who wanted anything but.

He stared at the closed door for a moment longer, and for a moment, he knew. He knew, it was just going to be her all over again. This was why he'd sought to avoid relationships when he'd first come, why Fini had been a mistake and Ripley, perhaps, an even bigger one.

He reached up with two hands to run through his hair, heels digging into his eye and empty socket, pressing down.

"Goodbye, Ripley." He finally mumbled, as he let his hands drop and turned away.