Finn's whole body seems to swell, overtaking him with the desperate need of someone who was older than he'd ever been and yet so much younger than the world expected him to be. Jake wrapped him up tight reflexively, looped arms doubling over each other. It was a snug grip, holding Finn together the best he could.

"He was, and he wasn't." Jake reminds him, willing his voice to not waver as his reassuring tone pressed into his shoulder. "I know you would never do anything to hurt him unless you had no other choice, Finn."

And as much as it made those thorns dig in deeper to his heart to admit, Jake knew the feeling didn't hold for Fern. He didn't trust him. Maybe that was a self-fulfilling prophecy in the end, but Jake couldn't deny the part of him that was grateful it was Finn that came home to him safe after their inevitable clash.