Origins- Chapter Three- Finbar

Chapter Three
In which we meet Dianne's father, and Niall is left out.



Dianne and Niall were walking to her house. Niall was walking along, nose bloody, fiddling with his glasses, trying to fix them so that they wouldn’t sit crooked on his nose, and he was losing. Dianne was worried about Niall. He was a great guy, but he could be a little over-confident, and he often overstepped a line. He was proud, and that was his problem.

Eventually, they arrived at her house. Dianne invited Niall in, but he refused, saying he had to cook dinner. Dianne shrugged, said goodbye, and walked into her house. When she had closed the door, a pair of arms grabbed her from behind and lifted her up off of the ground. Dianne screamed in shock, and she immediately heard footsteps pounding outside. Niall threw open the door, and his eyes fell upon Dianne's attacker. Niall laughed.

"Finbar, you worry me sometimes," Niall said, shaking his head. He used to call Dianne's dad "Mr Wrong", but Finbar had said he hated it, so Niall stopped.

"T'Sup, Niall-dude," Finbar said, putting his daughter down.

"Not much. I just thought my best friend was being attacked."

Now it was Finbar's turn to laugh. "Sorry about that, man. I just wanted to surprise Dianne."

"I know, but next time, just get her a cake or whatever. See you later, Finbar," Niall said, before walking out the door.

Dianne looked at her Dad and beamed.

"I thought you weren't getting home until tomorrow," she said.

"I wasn't, like, meant to get off, but, y'know, I took the day off anyway."

"Oh. Cool. How's Sharon?" Finbar and Dianne's mother had separated, but Finbar was a great Dad, and he visited often.

"Y'know, she's great," Finbar confirmed. "She's still got her cult thing or whatever, and the kid, but it's cool."

"Mum's not home yet, but I think there's cold turkey sandwiches in the fridge," Dianne said, before walking into the kitchen to check, her Dad following.

"How's Niall doing?" Finbar asked. "Is he still, like, what's the word?, y'know... cool? No problems?"

"No problems," Dianne said, then hesitated. "Well, he got beaten up by Cassidy today."

"Hmm-Kay. That dude's annoying. Not Niall. Cassidy. Niall's solid," Finbar said. He had taken off his shoes and was examining his socks. "Say, Baby-girl, do my socks look like they're both there to you?"

Dianne turned around to check. Both socks were indeed present, so she nodded at Finbar.

"Oh, Dianne?" Finbar said questioningly. "Is it cool if we have a guest this evening? He's like, one of the Sanctuary dudes, but I knew him before he sold his soul to those bureaucrats, and he's sound."

"Wait, so, you invited a guy over, on a day you weren't even meant to be here?"

Finbar had taken off his socks, and was now counting his toes to see if they were all there. He looked up from his accounting. "Pretty much," he said apologetically.

Dianne sighed. Her Mum wouldn't be home until at least ten PM, and that meant she's have to make the dinner. The only things Finbar could make were Pancakes and Brownies. (Admittedly, they were both excellent.)

"What do you want me to make?" Dianne asked.

Finbar looked up hopefully. "Brownies?" he questioned.


*****

The guest arrived at around eight o'clock, which was fine for Dianne. She'd told Finbar to mind the meal she'd prepared, and he'd let it burn. If it had been anyone else, Dianne would have been mad, but her Dad just shrugged it off in his goofy, easy-going way, and declared they would have pizza. She laid the table all the same, with cutlery laid out perfectly. Dianne's face must have been hilarious to see when she opened the door to let the guest in and saw the old man that had helped Niall out that afternoon.

"Hello, Dianne. Finbar's told me a lot about you," the American said in a kindly voice.

Finbar poked his head around the corner. "Candy-dude!" he exclaimed, before walking up to the man and hugging him tightly. Candy's discomfort was plain to see by his expression. "Come in, man, come in."

Candy reluctantly entered, and before Dianne could close the door after him, a brown cat jumped into the house.