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unable to stop myself.
    Shit, I shouldn’t be here.
    A point made clearer when I had the chance to see where the sounding alarm clock was coming from. My hands instantly balled into fists.
    “Casey,” Finn said when he walked into the foyer with an eyebrow raised.
    He looked so good, I forgot about the paper doll for a minute – the bitch from Finn’s room who accused me of being a Puck Bunny.
    An incredible improvement from his hospital stay, Finn’s color was back and he looked positively giant compared to the anorexic model he was standing next to. Not that sad, weak man he’d been in that bed.
    “What is it?” he asked.
    “I need to talk to you,” I said.
    “Finny, I can handle this,” Ava told him before addressing me. “Listen, you crazy bitch, if you’re not out of here in the next five seconds, we’re going to call the police.”
    “Fine,” I said. “Do it.”
    “In case I wasn’t clear enough in the hospital, you aren’t welcome.”
    “Ava,” Finn said.
    “No, baby,” Ava whined. “She is batshit. She just broke into your house and she attacked me at the hospital. She’s nuts.”
    “Really?” He laughed. “You’re really saying that to me ?”
    “You know what I mean.”
    Her voice was so annoying and high-pitched, I was waiting for the town dogs to come running in at any moment.
    “Get out,” she said, taking a step in my direction.
    I couldn’t believe that Finn was actually interested in her. Maybe, when he was sick. But now? Why?
    “And like I made perfectly clear at the hospital,” I told her, “you aren’t the boss of me, so back the fuck up.”
    “Finn,” Ava cried, and I swear he cracked a smile.
    “Now,” I said, “I apologize for interrupting, but I need to talk to my friend.”
    “Is she your friend?” Ava asked Finn.
    “Something like that,” he answered, his eyes not leaving me. “Or was.”
    “Sorry,” Ava said. “But he’s not up for visitors yet.”
    “Okay,” I said, starting to lose my cool again. “Your voice is making me stabby, and I know Finn has a block of knives on the kitchen counter, so you need to zip it for a minute. M’kay?”
    That’s when he lost it, a full-on Finn laugh echoed in the room.
    “I just need a minute,” I told him. “I wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t important.”
    “Okay, go into the living room,” he said with a wave to the other room. “I’ll be right in.”
    Making my way inside, there was no way to miss the commotion going on in the foyer.
    There was some whispering, followed by a little yelling and maybe even a tear or two.
    The door slammed, and an evil, movie-style cackle rang out in my head.
    “What’s going on?” He joined me on the couch.
    “I’m going to fix this and make it right,” I told him, fighting tears. He needed action, not my blubbering. “I’m so sorry for everything I’ve put you through.”
    “I’m sorry too,” he said, but his words were cold. “I’m sorry I trusted you, Casey.”
    Wait just a minute, Finn Daley.
    “But you didn’t,” I argued. “Not really. You didn’t tell me the truth.”
    “Because of what you said when you found out about my mom. You could never do what I do.”
    “I don’t think I could. I’m not a good caretaker. Maybe because I never had a good example. I didn’t grow up with hugs and kisses, and praise and coddling. It was survival; that’s what I’m used to. But that doesn’t mean I would’ve left you if I found out you were bipolar.”
    “You did leave. Even before you knew what was going on. Not that it mattered, what we had was all fake anyway, right? You had your story planned from the very beginning.”
    “It started that way and I feel about as low as you can go for that. I made some terrible decisions.”
    I also fell in love with you in the process.
    It was what I wanted to say to him, but fear held my tongue.
    “Terrible decisions.” Finn laughed. “That doesn’t even begin to describe what you did to