BRANCE + RINNEY

my parents hate me, why dont you?

He never thought he was good enough. His father made sure of it, carvings in his skin and burn marks across his arms making it known. He defended his mother's name time and time again, though she'd always skip over the fact and yell at him instead.

"You're behavior is fuckin' ridiculous." Cigarette smoke was a daily fragrance for the woman, sticking to her thick blonde hair and thin dresses that flowed to her knees. "People are calling you a whore." The statement was blunt, but true. "Fighting them won't shut their mouths. You should know that by now."

The glass bottle held in the woman's hand clinked against the table, a sharp noise that irritated the teenage boy.

"Why can't you fucking understand that I'm trying to help you! You won't help yourself, so I am!" His voice was loud, something he never once aimed at his mother. His chest heaved, tiredness fueling him. "I don't need your damn help boy. Don't raise your voice at me."

The woman pushed the butt of her cigarette into an ashtray, tongue wiping at her lips as she stood up. The teenage boy stood up as well, blonde hair pushed behind him as he glared at his mother.

"Don't let me hear of anymore fights Vance. I'm serious." Her tone was soft, fake. Vance smiled at her, a vicious one that hardened his eyes. "Whatever."

The pressure of the water was too heavy, burning into the already reddened skin laid against Vance's arms and legs. The marks on his body glared at him, bruises and welts mashed together into a fucked up piece of artwork.

He'd tried to scrub off the wounds, the angry colors and burning pain making him want to curl up and drown himself underneath the shower head. His attempts didn't work, unfortunately.

Shutting off the shower, Vance stepped out and left to his bedroom.

His clothes, stacked up against the end of his bed and floor of his closet, called to him. He pulled out an outfit, comforting clothes that didn't hug him too tight. He'd leave whatever his mother had bought him folded up on his desk, where everything else unused sat coated in dust.

His hair pooled around his collarbone, irritating his ears as it cooled his skin with beads of water. He pulled it into a messy bun, content on with not leaving his room for the day.

"Vance! Go to the store for me would ya? I've got a list made!"

Well, so much for that thought.

Vance kept a pair of headphones over his ears, tucked in the space in front of his messy bun he didn't feel like taking out. He hummed the tune of "Time After Time" as it played, aware of how he'd sound if he sung it out loud.

The store ahead gleamed in his direction, coated in sunlight and trash that people kept around its outside walls. He glared at the small building, hands dipped into his pockets and wrapped around his crumpled up money as he continued walking.

He continued to hum the song blaring through his headphones, the cool air of the store blowing in his face as he walked through the entrance doors.

The list he was given was small, consisting of only three items. Bread, butter, milk. How original.

He'd ventured off to the far side of the store, a miniature cart  being pushed in front of him as he moved across the different isles.

A hand touched the small of his back as he settled his eyes on the various types of bread, making him jump. He paused the current song playing, which had just been switched to "Call Me".

An unknown boy stared at him as he removed his headphones, a smile on his sun-kissed skin as he stuck his hand out.

"Hey, I'm Bruce. I heard your, uh, music. You like Blondie, blondie?" The boy, Bruce, laughed at his own joke. Vance unwillingly smiled at the noise, frowning when he noticed. "That was a stupid joke."

Vance went to slide his headphones on, stopped by a half-slap to his wrist. "Shit, sorry. I, I didn't mean to be rude or anything. I like Blondie too!" The boy smiled at Vance's unmoving stare. "Okay?" Vance put his headphones on and grabbed a loaf of bread, his eyes staying on Bruce as he moved.

Going to another isle, Vance sung the song playing in his headphones softly. Bruce turned the corner of the isle, unfortunately coming up behind Vance as he reached towards a container of butter.

This time, he didn't reach to touch the other boy.

Vance placed the container in his cart, sighing as he caught sight of Bruce across from him. A new song came on now, startling him as the sound of it blared into his ears.

He moved his cart forward and Bruce turned to him, the same smile from before plastered to his face. Vance looked away from the boy, fingers drumming against the handle of his cart as heat rose to his face.

Bruce began to speak, his mouth forming words that Vance couldn't quite catch. His headphones, too loud, were removed from his ears once again and he huffed out a breath.

"What?" Bruce, startled, blinked quickly before clearing his throat. "Oh, I just wanted to uh, ask if you wanted to see a movie sometime?" Vance blinked, face softening as he gave a small smile. He ignored the confusion, hesitance, that pulled at his heart and mind. "Okay, sure. But don't pull any weird shit man." Bruce put his hands up in mock surrender, smiling still. "Got it, no weird shit."

Vance continued with his grocery shopping and Bruce continued to follow him, no weird shit.

Faintly, Vance could hear Bruce talking to someone on the phone. He used his powered off headphones to his advantage in order to listen.

"Finney! I'm not being weird it's just, he's so pretty and his music taste! Yeah, of course I know that. Don't be fucking weird, oh my god."

Vance blushed, turning his headphones back on and listening to his variety of songs once again.
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authors note: how do y'all think the date went 😹