𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲 • 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

chapter four

          milkshake chapter for molly 🤍
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after walking for a bit, they eventually gave up on the worms. it was absolutely pouring, so they decided to duck into a gazebo at a park. "the one day i didnt bring my coat-" bruce groans and vance chuckles. "i mean, i dont have a coat either, if it makes you feel better."
   "it doesn't, now we're just both cold." vance laughs softly. "cmon, don't be so negative." bruce huffs. "it's cold, pouring, and we're in some random gazebo- what is positive?" vance laces his fingers with bruce's. "well, for one, we're not alone in the cold rain." bruce couldn't help but blush — he wasn't good with touch, it flustered him easily. "your hand is cold." vance states, to which bruce rolls his eyes. "yeah, no shit- its cold as fuck out here." vance takes bruce's other hand in his own, then he cups both his hands around bruce's. "there, now they wont be cold."
he was sure he was red as a tomato now. was vance doing this on purpose? he'd said that bruce's reactions were 'cute' but now he was just fucking with him. "t-thanks." bruce stutters out. was there a chance vance liked him back? maybe that's why he was doing this? bruce shakes his head. no way. they meet eachother gaze and neither say anything. they just stare at eachother — for what felt like hours to bruce, but he was pretty sure wasn't even a full minute. he let his gaze travel across vance's face. his eyes were bright blue, in contrast to bruce's dark brown eyes, but bruce already knew that. it was impossible to miss them. he had very light freckles, you could barely see them, although could see them very clearly from this distance. the other was a little shorter than him — about an inch. the rain had stopped, the clouds slowly letting some sun through, it hit vance's face perfectly and he looked angelic, bruce thought. he could see vance's gaze traveling over his face. he swallows — that made him feel nervous.
  then, vance lets go of his hands. bruce is snapped back into reality. blush quickly spreads across his face, as he realizes how long he was staring for. he looks away, wanting his gaze to be anywhere but on vance. "hey, some of my friends invited me to go get milkshakes, you wanna come?"
"milkshakes? now?" he gestures to the rain. vance groans. "oh no. dont tell me you're one of those people." bruce raises an eye. "one of those people?" bruce asks. vance nods. "yeah, the people who dont get cold drinks and food it's when it's cold." he narrows his eyes. "logical people?"
"boring people." vance puts his phone away. "i already told them you're coming, sooo.." bruce sighs. "why did you even ask me?" vance shrugs. "come on, we need to hurry before the rain picks up aagin." he grabs bruce's hand again. bruce didnt put much thought to it this time, it was becoming a habit. he drags bruce out of the gazebo. "you're going to pull my arm out of place-" bruce says with a huff, to which vance rolls his eyes. "my bad, princess." he slows his pace slightly, so they can walk side-by-side. he swings their hands and bruce looks down at him, he looks satisfied — happy. which was slightly unusual for vance. he was almost always glaring. maybe he just had a resting bitch face. but, bruce liked his smile, he was happy to see it. "you have a pretty smile." he blurts, its too late before he realizes what he said. vance looks at him, that happy smile turning into a cocky smirk — but bruce didnt miss the pink tint that crossed his face. "awe, you think so?"
   "no- i mean- yes, your smile is pretty, but- i didnt mean to-" he groans in embarrassment, blush quickly spreading onto his cheeks. "dont be embarrassed, i think your smile is pretty cute." vance states simply, quickly bringing his gaze away from bruce. bruce wouldnt have thought much of it, if he hadn't seen the pink tint on vance's cheeks deepening. he didn't mention it, he just smiles. "thanks, vance." they walked in a comfortable silence. they clouds had cleared and it was almost the sunset. it was slightly humid, but not too bad. it was practically perfect weather — besides the puddles they had to avoid occasionally. it didn't take long until they neared the diner. "this is my favorite place to get milkshakes." vance states.
    two boys were standing outside, vance approaches them and bruce follows behind him. vance still had ahold of his hand, so it's not like he could really do anything else. one of the boys had long black hair and a bandana on. he was wearing a brown shirt, with some band bruce didnt recognize on it, he had cut the sleeves off. he was slightly taller than the other boy — who bruce recognized as finney blake, the boy who he had talked to earlier. funny, he hadn't striked bruce as the type to be friends with vance — but then again, was bruce 'the type' to be friends with vance? he was wearing a blue and white shirt, with a jean jacket over it. vance speaks up. "this is bruce, he's my new friend." he gestures to bruce, grinning.
"bruce, this is my friend finney, or finn, and his boyfriend robin." finney's smile quickly changes to a glare, and his face turns practically beet red. "vance-! we're not dating." he crosses his arms. the other boy — robin — doesn't say anything, but his face is just as red as finney's. it didn't seem that finney noticed, maybe bruce studied people too much. vance waves his hand dismissively and bruce smiles. "nice to meet you!" he gets a smile back from finn and a nod from robin. "let's head inside now, yeah?" vance asks, not giving anyone a chance to answer. he drags bruce inside, the other two following behind them. bruce looks at the menu, it had a pretty big variety.
"what flavor are you gonna get?" vance looks at bruce, and bruce shrugs. "probably just chocolate." he replies. "booooring." vance sticks his tongue out, earning a glare from bruce. "what flavor are you getting?" he asks, crossing his arms. "cotton candy." vance replies, a grin on his face. bruce cant figure out if he's serious or not. "..really?" now vance glares. "yes? is there a problem with it?"
"no, no. you just don't seem like a cotton candy guy to me." bruce says. "are you stereotyping me right now?" vance narrows his eyes, and bruce buts his hands up defensively. "nono- thats not- i'm not— i'm sorry—" vance laughs. "i'm kidding, i'm kidding. but while we're on the topic, you definitely seem like a chocolate guy." he states. "what is that supposed to mean?" bruce asks. "you just do-" he gestures to him. bruce didnt know how to take that. "dont worry, sweetheart, i mean it as a compliment." vance winks. "i'll go order our milkshakes, yeah?" he turns and heads towards the counter, leaving bruce standing there in shock. sweetheart? and he winked?? bruce didnt know how to take that.
that was definitely flirting. right? he couldn't figure out if vance was into him or just fucking with him, but whatever he was doing, it was definitely working. bruce was not moving on from his 'little' crush.
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word count: 1,251