The Bad Boy of Waterloo Road

Chapter Thirty-Three.

Finn's P.O.V

Strolling down the woodland path, I headed for mine and Trudi's 'special' place. It was just a simple rock in the depths of the woods but it had some kind of meaning to us, well for the time being anyway.

On the whole journey here, all I've tried to do is think of a way of breaking the news to her gently. She was so lovely and I knew that the right guy would be the happiest guy alive by being with her. I just can't help the fact that my head and heart will forever be with Lindsay.

Pushing a branch that was blocking my pathway out of the way, I continued trudging my way into the depths of the wood, keeping a close look out for Trudi. Within minutes, I arrived at the gigantic rock, seeing her already waiting for me. On closer inspection, I'd noticed that she'd set up a picnic for the two of us, the vision in front of me only adding to my guilt. Just seeing the beautiful beaming smile on her face has made this whole conversation ten times harder.

"What's all this for?" I questioned, not really knowing what kind of expression my face was showing.

"Well..." She began, climbing onto her feet. "When you text me to say meet me at our usual spot, I took that as you needed to speak to me about something because that's what normally happens..." She giggled and her enthusiasm was slowly killing me because I was about to turn this conversation around drastically.

Skipping back over to the gingham patterned picnic blanket, she took a seat upon it as she began pulling out various food items from the brown wicker basket. As much as I wanted to join her, my body refused and it felt as if my feet had been glued to the ground.

Recognising my rather weird behaviour, she looked at me and laughed. "What's the matter Finn? Why are you acting so weird?"

Letting out a deep breath, I just spat out the first words that came to mind. "I can't do this!", which made the smile on her face drop immediately.

"W-What do you mean?" She stuttered, clearly confused by the sudden change in mood.

Sauntering closer to her, I sat on the blanket opposite her figure, refusing to make eye-contact with her. "I can't pretend I'm feeling this whole relationship with you when I'm not..." I confessed, reluctantly catching her gaze every so often. "You're an amazing girl Trudi, but you're just not the one of me..."

The air was silent for a while, the only sound heard coming from the rustling of leaves on the trees. "W-Why the sudden change of heart? Everything was fine earlier on this afternoon..." She questioned, obviously wanting to know more about my change of heart.

"Your brother hates me! I can't come between you and your family..." I lied, not wanting to confess the honest truth. "Trudi, no matter what happens, you will always have to take Tariq's side and I don't want you to feel like you have to choose between me and him."

Sighing, I heard her say, "I'll speak to Tariq and then he'll have no choice to back off..." but I interjected into the conversation.

"He'll always have it in for me!" I exclaimed, shaking my head in frustration because I wish she would just take my point and accept it. "Tariq has hated me since day one and I highly doubt he will stop just because you tell him to."

"So because of that, you're just choosing to break things off with me?" She quizzed, obviously finding the news hard to take, giving me the opportunity to simply nod in response. I studied her as she processed everything that has happened in the short amount of time we've been here and I recognised a change in behaviour in her. It was as if she'd had a lightbulb moment and all of a sudden, everything made sense. "Wait a minute, this hasn't got anything to do with Lindsay, has it?"