An Exception to the Rules Finny X Reader

       For hours and hours you'd laid in your cold bed, unable to sleep, unable to get comfortable, and unable to stop your wandering mind. You would have given up and gotten out of bed an hour ago if you knew Sebastian wouldn't be there to send you right back to your room. The sun would be up in about an hour, sleeping now was pointless. With a heavy sigh, you rolled over and pulled the blankets up past your nose. Just as you thought you may finally have found sleep, your door creaked open, causing you to sit up straight in your bed. “Who's there?”

A soft, familiar voice answered you, putting your worries to rest. “It's just me.” A faint light illuminated your room as Finny stepped inside. “I know I shouldn't be in your room, especially not this late, but I have to show you something.”

“It's okay, just wait outside so I can get dressed.” Heeding your words, Finny quickly shut the door and waited for you to join him in the hallway. A moment later you were fully dressed and wearing a heavy coat. “What is it?”

He took your hand and hastily began leading you down the dark hall to the first floor of the estate.“Follow me, and hurry. We don't want Sebastian catching us awake.” In no time at all, he'd pulled you all the way to the back door. With his hand on the doorknob, he looked at you with pleading, watery eyes. “Please don't tell anyone about this. I don't want Sebastian angry with me.”

You nodded, giving him a reassuring smile. “I promise Finny. You know I'd never do anything to get you in trouble.”

Trusting you completely, he turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door. A blast of icy air sent shivers up and down your spine. Goosebumps covered your arms, prompting you to pull your coat closer to your body. “Are you going to be warm enough?” Finnian offered you he small, but strong hand and grinned from ear to ear.

“I'll be okay, don't worry about me.” You accepted his outstretched hand and stepped outside into the bright moonlight. The ground crunched beneath your feet. “It's snowing, and a lot.” Everywhere you looked was completely covered in a thick layer of perfectly white, shimmering snow. “How did I not notice this?”

“It's probably because you were trying to sleep. It's not like we were expecting it to snow either. It was so very sunny earlier, even a bit warm.” Keeping you close to him, he walked past the frozen fountain and into the thick tree line behind the mansion. “I-if you're up for it, I think I might know a place that would be really pretty in the snow. I understand if you're too cold though.”

“I should be alright once we get moving and I get my blood flowing again. If I should get cold, however, I do expect you to keep me warm.” A grin slowly spread across your face at what you were about to say. “You are my hero after all.”

It had been a while since you had referred to Finnian as your hero. The memory of why that nickname came about, made Finny both smile and blush. His voice was strangely quiet due to his embarrassment. “That is true, I suppose. But even if I wasn't your hero, I would still keep you warm. Letting a lady freeze to death would surely get me into trouble.”

You laughed. “Well, hopefully it's not the threat of punishment that makes you want to keep me warm.” Joking with him again, you snuggled up close in an attempt to both warm yourself and simply be nearer to him. Every little thing you did seemed to make him blush just a little more than he was before. Not wanting him to grow awkward, you decided you had better just keep quiet.

“We're almost there. It's just past these trees.” You had no idea the trees even went this far back. It shouldn't have been a surprise to you that Finny would know though. He was almost always outside doing something. The trees suddenly thinned, then disappeared completely, leaving nothing more than small, snow covered bushes marking the path. “Well, here we are. I really don't like to go any farther than this.”

Finny had led you to the very edge of a very steep cliff. Below, far in the distance, you could see the ocean. The full moon reflected brightly off of the still, glassy waters below, causing each snowflake to shimmer like very tiny stars, lazily falling to the earth below. “I truly am glad I couldn't sleep tonight. This is absolutely breathtaking.”

“I'm happy you like it. I was afraid you'd be upset that I snuck into your room, in the middle of the night.” He looked to the snowy ground by his feet and went silent. Quickly looking back up, Finnian took a deep breath of the cold air into his lungs and released it, fogging up the air around him. He tightly shut his eyes and tensed up his entire body. “Would it be okay if I kissed you again? I know it's rude of me to ask, but it would be more rude if I didn't ask and just acted.” Keeping his eyes shut and his fists clenched, he impatiently waited for your response.

“Of course you can Finny. Actually, I would like it very much if you did.” His shocked, and very relieved expression lead to your face flushing almost as terribly as his had. “If you don't do something soon, I might change my mind. It is very late, and very cold you know.”

Nodding, Finny took both of your cold hands in his, and closed the small space between you. Not wanting you to make good on your empty threat, he shyly kissed you as sweetly, and as gently as he could manage. The kiss ended far too soon, but with the sun already rising, you knew you couldn't stay much longer. “We should probably make our way home. Sebastian may already be awake.”

“If he is, I'm sure I can come up with a good reason for us to have been out.” You rubbed your nose against his and forced yourself to pull away. “But, you are probably right, and I don't want you in trouble. Let's go.”

With both of you thoroughly cold, tired, and now hungry, Finnian laced his fingers with yours and started walking the short distance back to the Phantomhive estate. “I should have brought us some hot chocolate, or apple cider. Maybe it could have helped to keep us warm.”

“It probably would have. We'll just have to remember that next time we sneak out in the middle of the night, won't we?” Finnian started to answer, but quickly realized you were only joking. “Oh, that's not good.” Waiting at the servant's entrance for you and Finny was Sebastian. With no way to avoid him now, you swallowed hard and readied yourself for whatever punishment awaited you. “Good morning Sebastian.”

“Good morning you two.” Surprisingly, he didn't seem upset, instead he handed both of you piping cups of tea as you entered the house. “Might I ask where you were so very early in the morning? You know I don't like it when people leave without permission.”

Finnian was still too worried, and guilt laden to speak, so you answered as calmly as you could. “It's not often we get to see the snow. Finny and I just took a walk to enjoy it while it lasted.”

“Ah, is that all?” Sebastian nodded, a knowing smile on his face. “Well, I suppose there's nothing wrong with that. Now, hurry and get ready for the day. There shall be no slacking off because you decided not to sleep.”

“Yes sir.” Thankful he hadn't punished you, or Finny, you quickly placed the cup of tea on the table and ran upstairs without hesitation.

Finny however, remained behind. “Mister Sebastian sir, why aren't you angry with me? Not that I want to be punished, but I broke the rules And it's just not at all like you to let someone get away with breaking the rules.”

Sebastian smiled. “My dear Finnian, when it comes to females, the rules are meant to be broken.”