Nearly there now... Sorry, but you have to wait for the final chapter to find out about Dill, but there are some other things sorted out in this part. From fairly early on in this story I knew that Finn would be more involved in the story and find someone for himself too. I guess I like to make sure everyone gets paired up eventually!
This chapter features m/m sex too.
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When Sky woke up after a couple of hours, Finn had fallen back to sleep with his head laid on the edge of her bed. She took the opportunity to study his face while he slept. He was beautiful, that was the only word she could think of. She wondered whether it was only gratitude at him saving her life, but she'd got the others to thank as well and she didn't feel the same pull to them, although obviously she would stand no chance with Sam or Tom if she had been attracted. She remembered being in Finn's arms, and it was a feeling of safety, but when she remembered it she wanted more contact, to see what being in his embrace felt like when she could really appreciate it.
She carefully reached out and started to stroke his cheek and hair gently. It didn't wake him, but even in his sleep he pulled towards her touch, rubbing his cheek against her. She smiled, wishing he would do that when he was awake. She heard a soft growl come from his throat, a pleasured noise, and it made her withdraw her hand, worried he would wake up and wonder what she was doing. She reached to the table at the side of her bed and took some more soup to sip, keeping her attention on Finn all the time.
Finn woke up again, wondering where he was for a moment, and more confused by the unusual warm feeling on his cheek. He raised his hand, but there was nothing there. He opened his eyes, and found his gaze immediately held by Sky's bright blue eyes. She smiled at him.
'Hello sleepyhead.'
'Sorry, I must have dropped off again.' he smiled at her and started to sit back. He stopped part way up, realising he had an erection and wanting to hide it from her. Where had that come from? He couldn't remember what he was dreaming about. He crossed his legs as he sat the rest of the way up and hoped it wouldn't be spotted. 'I'm supposed to give Tilly a call when you are ready for a bath. Would you like me to try her now?'
'Yes please. It would be great to be properly clean.' She also really wanted him to see her at her best, and that wasn't happening so far.
Finn looked off into the distance as he spoke to Tilly, and then back into Sky's eyes, noticing the warmth in them, so different from the defeat and the dimness of last night. He smiled broadly. 'There's sparkle back in your eyes. You looked so lost last night.' He tried not to think about that too hard, because the thought of her naked in his arms wasn't helping his erection go down. He couldn't quite believe he was turned on by the thought of that when she had been so ill and he was doing his job rescuing her. 'Tilly will be here in a few minutes. I'll get the bath running.'
He stood and headed into the bathroom, unaware that Sky was taking the opportunity to check out his ass as he went, or that she licked her lips as she did so. The strangest thing was that she knew he had been asleep when she touched him, but as soon as he woke that was the first place he touched, almost as if he could still feel it. She wasn't going to dwell on that right now, the sound of the bath running made her long to sink into it and be clean, and to sort out her hair. She was pleased to see Tilly when she got to the room.
'Thanks for coming, I really appreciate this.'
Tilly smiled, and put down the bundle she was carrying. 'It's not a problem. When you were sleeping earlier I wanted to wash your hair for you. I know how much better I feel when I'm clean and looking pretty.'
Sky blushed, knowing that was exactly what she was thinking, but not quite the whole reason why she wanted to be clean and pretty. Finn came back into the room at that point and she could only stare at his chest as he came back across.
'I'll leave you to it, and I'll see you later. Thanks for helping out Tilly.' He left the room slightly reluctantly, but knowing it wasn't a good idea for him to see Sky naked no matter how much he might want to.
'You ready?' asked Tilly when he had left the room. Sky nodded, and Tilly pulled back the sheets and helped her take off the nightdress she had been in. When Tilly went to pick her up Sky started to protest. 'You're too weak just yet. And I'm stronger than I look.' she said, picking her up easily and carrying her to the bathroom.
Sky couldn't resist letting out a groan as she was settled down into the warm bubbly water. 'That feels good!'
'Lean your head back and I'll sort our your hair first. I think it'll need a comb through before we wash it, and maybe a bit of a trim if you don't mind.' Tilly set to work, knowing how much this would make Sky feel better. 'It's strange doing girly things like this, I'm so used to being the only woman about.'
Sky relaxed and let Tilly deal with her hair for a while. The whole situation was so relaxing, and after the last few months it was almost unreal to be treated well. Tilly worked in silence, but the thoughts running round Sky's head finally made her start to talk.
'Can I ask you something? Girl talk that'll go no further?'
'Okay.' Tilly said, slightly cautious. She really wasn't used to being round women, but she wanted to help Sky as much as she could.
'How do you know if you've met your mate? How are you supposed to feel?'
Tilly pondered that for a moment. She knew from the feelings floating round that Sky and Finn were interested in each other, but she wasn't sure she knew the answer to the question anyway. She thought back to when she had met Dill. Had she known then? 'I'm not sure there is a way you are supposed to feel. I guess you feel a connection as well as an attraction, you enjoy being with them and you want to touch them and be held by them.'
Sky felt herself blushing, although she knew Tilly couldn't see her. Wanting to touch and be held, that was a very familiar feeling at the moment. 'How do you know if it's that special thing though?'
'I guess you just have to work that out over time. I'm not sure people do always know immediately, but you must want at least to be lovers to start with.'
Lovers. Interesting idea. Sky started to drift off imagining what that might be like.