A/N: Welcome to Lugian's newest ASP fic. This one will have chapters! And a plot! And lots of FinnyxGene fluff! So, naturally, I'm excited.XD I tried my best to get Gene and Finny IC, but their personalities are a bit too deep for me to wrap my small brain around. So they ended up being a tad OOC, but not totally wacko, which is always a plus.

Disclaimer: I can only dream. And I do. xD

Rediscovering

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I was sleeping. Sweet, warm sleep flowed like a gentle current over me. Comfortable and comforting.

Suddenly, I was startled from my state by a harsh flash. Bright yellow light stung the room for a couple seconds. I rubbed my eyes, but by then it was gone—Brinker had flipped the switch back off and was now sneaking out of the room, chuckling to himself. It was too late, though—I was up for good.

"Gene?" Finny's voice floated across the room. "Are you awake?" I didn't answer, though, because he already knew—he always knew. After a second, he continued talking, like I knew he would. "Did you see who did that?"

"Brinker," I muttered, rolling over and covering my head with my pillow.

"Remind me to kill him later," Finny said flatly, but I could tell by the undertone in his voice that he was smirking. I heard him move across the room.

"Right," I said, uncovering my head and sitting up. I could make out the shape of Finny standing over my desk, squinting at my open notebook.

"You didn't finish your math," he said finally.

"Yeah, I know," I sighed, standing up and stretching. "It's really not due until 10:10."

I saw Finny turning to look at me in the darkness. "Have I become a bad influence?" I walked to the door and flipped the light back on.

"Possibly," I said, smiling at him from my spot by the door. "But unlike you, I'm going to finish it."

"Aww, what a wimp." He flashed me a brief smile, then walked past me towards the bathroom.

I walked to my desk and sat down in front of my homework. I really didn't want to do it, but thanks to Finny's distractions the past few weeks, I was on the verge of failing this class.

Just as I was about to start writing, though, the aforementioned Finny popped back into the room. "Would you like to know a highly interesting fact that will make you drop that pen and forget about your homework?"

I sighed at this new distraction, but turned towards him anyway and said, "Of course."

"Today," Finny announced proudly, "is Sunday." Then he turned back into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

"So it is," I muttered to myself. I had really forgotten. Just like Phineas had said, though, I put my pen down and stood up. We had woken up late despite being forced, and breakfast had started 10 minutes ago. Trusting Finny to get us out of trouble again, I changed at my dresser and then sat down on my cot. I could still do my homework…there was no rule that said you couldn't do homework on Sunday. Decided, I turned to get back to my desk and suddenly found myself face to face with Finny. "Wha…?" I stammered. His face was so close to mine I could see his green eyes sparkling. He studied me for a couple seconds, then pulled away and said, "Just making sure you're not thinking about your homework." I gulped and shook my head. He nodded and added hastily, "Let's go outside, huh?"

"Sure," I managed to say. What had just happened? I had turned around and he was just there, so calm and casual, carefully studying my expression, which I'm sure was one of utter shock. I stood up and followed Finny out the door, thinking of this incident and what his motive in doing that had really been.

Everyone was still at breakfast when we got outside, so the grounds were almost completely deserted. We reached the bank of the Devon River and Finny sat down in the grass nearby. I sat next to him and slowly looked up into his eyes. They were trained on something across the river, but he seemed to be looking beyond it, contemplating deeper meanings.

With a slight twitch he snapped back to reality. "I'm failing four of my classes," he said.

"What?" I asked, surprised at the sudden voiced thought.

"Four of them. My mind's been on other things," he said simply.

"Do you need help?" I asked. If I could do something for him, I would.

"No, not really," he sighed. "Well, yeah, I guess I do, but you don't need to help me. You've got your own studies to think about."

"Finny, if you need help, I'll do it," I said earnestly. "I don't want to sit around and watch my best friend fail his classes."

He smiled then, and I could tell the mood had lightened, the event in our room forgotten. "Are you sure? 'Cause you really don't have to…"

"Finny. I'll do it," I said, smiling back at him.

"Oh, all right. If you insist."

Happiness began bubbling up in my chest then. I was going to do something for him. The great Finny needed help, and I was going to be the one to help him.

"What're you so smiley about?" he asked good-naturedly.

"I'm just happy I can help."

"Yeah, much thanks. Don't know what I'd do without you," he said, smirking slightly.

I caught the hint at sarcasm and punched him on the shoulder. "Just be grateful that I offered."

"Oh, I am, I am. After all, what better tutor could I get? The boy-wonder Gene knows everything." The smirk was growing and something had to be done about it.

If there were ever any hard feelings between us, they all melted away when I pushed him into the river and jumped in after him, both of us laughing all the while.

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Chapter 2 coming when I'm not paying attention in Japanese. Which is almost always, so it should be pretty quick.XD

Thanks for reading. Reviews are instant love.

Lu