Finn had been off in the woods, deeper than the rest for several hours and returned after the sun had set. No one asked why he was gone for so long; they didn’t need to. He seemed far more relaxed and at ease when he returned, looking refreshed and animated as he joined them at the bonfire Havik had made, with Toji’s help of course. He still wasn’t too skilled with elemental magic even though he could wield it like Ynda. Toji was the only one who couldn’t, he could just advise on what to do.

The demon sat between Ava and Noah, flopping down on his back with a loud sigh of contentment. Ava had to smile at him. 

“You were gone a lot longer than I thought,” she said.

He turned his amber eyes up to her and smiled. “Did you miss me?” he teased.

She rolled her eyes and flicked his hip. “In your dreams, Hellboy.” 

Finn chuckled and pinched her side gently. “I never should have let you watch that movie.”

“It was a good one!” she said with a smile. She held up a hand, silver flames engulfing it briefly. “It taught me a few new tricks.”

“Oh so that’s why you liked it,” Arla said.

“Not because the human guy was hot,” Noah added.

Ava wrinkled her nose. “Definitely not. I did wonder though. Hellboy had so many cats in one room. Do you think it smelled?”

Finn’s mouth was open wide as he laughed, his fangs catching the fire light. They weren’t very long, kept short when he was in his human form, but they were still sharp. “Probably!” he said, sitting up and crossing his legs.

He began picking at the grass, a few blades hovering over his palm. Using his energy, he tied them together, making a figure that represented a human without all the defining features. He made it dance to Ava’s great amusement. Even the twins laughed and applauded. Havik, who sat on Noah’s other side, watched with a smile. 

Toji sat between Lukas and Natsu, the three of them laughing and messing with each other like they usually did. Ava watched them a moment too long, her expression sobering, her eyes growing sad. 

Finn noticed and, letting the blade person fall to pieces, leaned over and whispered, “It’s okay to let go, you know.”

She glanced his way, but said nothing. She didn’t even share in his small smile as he bumped her shoulder.

“I got dumped once, too.”

“Just once?”

He looked hurt, his hand to his chest. “I’m offended you’d think every girl I dated grew to dislike me!”

Ava allowed herself a small giggle, making Finn’s grin a bit wider.

“No, but I know how you feel, is what I’m saying. It sucks, doesn’t it?”

She nodded. “Pretty badly.”

He sighed. “Yeah.” He folded his arms around his knees. “Curious to know why she dumped me?”

“Slightly,” Ava said, genuinely curious.

“Because I talked to someone she didn’t like.”

Ava blinked. “Seriously?”

He nodded. “Stupid, right? It’s when I was still in school. We were dating for maybe four or five months, took the same classes, trained in torture tactics together under my mom, had the same friends, all that. There was a demoness in our group she apparently was jealous of, for literally no reason at all. She absolutely hated that I talked to her. I had zero interest in her, but she didn’t care. I liked her, my girlfriend. Even gave her my virginity.” He grimaced. “You can imagine how pissed my parents got when they found out.”

Ava giggled. She really could; she loved Nox and Charlotte, knew what great parents they were. They were also ruthless trainers, never letting up on their students. Finn was no different. If anything, they were harder on him than anyone else.

“Anyway, she finally let her jealousy get the best of her and she dumped me. I think she tried to kick the other girl’s ass.”

“Tried?”

“She was up against a demoness from the Third Realm, you tell me how that went down.”

Ava grimaced. The Third Realm trained soldiers and were known as the most vicious and bloodthirsty kingdom in all of Hell. Finn’s ex never stood a chance. “Did she survive at least?”

Finn nodded. “Yeah, she did. She went slinking back to her own Realm after that. I never saw her again. It still hurt, though. I really did like her.”

“Not now?”

He shook his head. “It was a long time ago and I didn’t care to hold on to feelings like that for too long.”

Ava’s chest tightened. She couldn’t say the same. She’d been holding on to her feelings, and her hurt, for Toji for almost a year, and it had cost her nothing but misery and despair. She knew she should let go, knew he didn’t love her, that he never had. But she still stupidly held on to a tiny bit of hope that maybe one day he would change his mind. Ynda, Chloe, Arla and Noah, and a few of her other girl friends and spent many nights consoling her, telling her it wasn’t worth it, to let it go. Ynda, friend and cousin though she was, had Toji’s back more than Ava’s and Ava knew that. She had been the most brutal with her advice than anyone else.

“So, it’s okay to let go,” Finn was saying. “Let yourself heal. Maybe then you can find someone new and fall in love with them.”

She sighed, her gaze going to the stars. “Maybe,” she said softly. 

Finn watched her, a gentle look in his eyes that softened his usually rough exterior. His human form still held a lot of his demon features, making him look intimidating and fearsome to those who didn’t know him. His brows were arched in a menacing way, the corners of his eyes slanted up, and his smile often was more terrifying than pleasant. At least to those he was attempting to kill. To his friends, however, it was softer, kinder, more genuine.

Finn wasn’t large or bulky like Lukas, nor was he as agile and beautiful as Toji, but he still had his strengths and a very outgoing and fun personality that their group enjoyed. He only hoped Ava could accept that, too. He wasn’t Toji…but maybe she could still find something in him she liked enough to be drawn away from the one who hurt her for good.

He glanced over at his cousin. He knew for a fact, probably even believed it more than anyone else, that Toji had never truly meant to hurt Ava to the extent she felt she had to go as far as she did in retaliation. Even now, with the majority of the storm long behind everyone, Toji just wanted to forget all of it and move on. The problem was, every now and again she would say or do something to dig at him, to remind him just what he had done to her, how he had humiliated her and her family. Ava had almost become a peoria because of him but had been saved by Hawk and Hero who had assured everyone that Ava was not a “ruined angel.”

Toji never slept with her. He never even kissed her. It wasn’t until the first time Finn had seen the way Toji looked at Natsu that he understood why. Casting Ava aside had been one of the absolute worst ways for anyone to come out, especially a god…especially a Prince. 

Finn turned back to Ava. “You should talk to him, you know. Try and patch things up. You’re still family, after all.”

Ava sighed, dipping her head and shaking it sadly. “I can’t,” she said quietly. “Everytime I try, I choke or say something I don’t mean. I can’t bear another fight like the last one. It was horrible…and what happened with him and his father, I know it was because of what I said.” She buried her face in her hands and groaned. “I should have just kept my mouth shut.”

“What did you say to him?” Finn knew he probably shouldn’t ask. Realized it when Toji’s gaze shot in his direction, a cold warning gleaming from his blue and red eyes. Finn hated how perfectly keen the god’s hearing was. “Uh…never mind, I don’t need to know,” he backtracked with a nervous laugh. Toji turned back to whatever he and Natsu were talking about, Lukas having shifted his attention to Noah, Kayla, and Havik.