BLUE [BXB]

FOURTEEN

   "Fuck, Vince," Ethan mumbled, clutching the boy's chin in his hand. He used his grip to turn Vincent's head sideways, eyes raking over the fresh bruise. An amateur could tell that, in a matter of hours, the hit would manifest itself in an ugly, purple mark at the side of Vincent's pretty face. "I am so sorry."

   Vincent rolled his eyes. At first, he'd found Ethan's concern and restlessness endearing—kind of cute, even. But now, the boy had apologized seemingly a million times, and Vincent was growing tired of it. That, and he still couldn't shake the anger that'd seethed him as soon as he was set down on the chair in the nurse's office.

   Not only had Ethan been purposely ignoring him, but now he'd also punched him?

   Before Ethan could spew more bullshit—probably another damn apology—the young nurse burst into the room, taking in the scene before her with wide eyes and a startled expression.

   "Oh!" she squealed adorably. "Pardon, I didn't know anyone was in here," she explained, quickly gaining composure and plastering a sweet smile on her face. "Now, what do we have here?"

   She got closer to Vincent, shooting Ethan an amused look as he had yet to release Vincent's chin. She held back a smirk, taunting, "Do you mind?"

   Ethan jumped slightly at the embarrassing realization, cheeks tinged pink as he moved back a bit farther than necessary. Vincent winced once she touched his reddening face.

   She gave him an apologetic smile, "Sorry, hun. What happened to you?"

   Vincent gulped nervously, looking back at Ethan in a silent plea. He'd never been a good liar, and the last thing he wanted to do was say something suspicious and end up getting Ethan into trouble. Mad as he was, he believed Ethan when he said the punch had been unintentional.

   Ethan quickly caught on, scouring his brain for a believable excuse. "I accidentally hit him in the face with my ball."

   Stupidly enough, Ethan gave no further context, initially unaware of the underlying meaning of his words. Vincent choked on his own spit, sputtering as a deep blush tainted his cheeks.

   Ms. Cooper—lip bitten to conceal a smile—was unable to keep the amusement out of her voice as she turned to Ethan, "You hit him with your what, now?"

   At first, Ethan furrowed his brows in confusion, but it took him mere seconds to recount what he'd said, eyes growing as wide as saucers when he did. "Oh—oh—no! That sounded wrong, oh god. Oh god, no..."

   He shut his eyes, taking a minute to compose himself with steady, deep breaths. "What I meant was, we were playing dodge ball during P.E. and I might've thrown it a bit too hard," he managed, priding himself on keeping his cool. "But I really didn't mean to."

   The sheer honesty and sincerity in the last sentence made Vincent look up at Ethan, only to find that the other boy had already been staring at him. Still unwilling to let down his guard, Vincent wore a poker face—the only response he offered was a slight nod of his head.

   Ms. Cooper looked between the two, eyebrow raised skeptically. She briefly wondered whether Ethan, the tough jock, had been bullying the admittedly weaker art nerd. Unable to ignore the nagging sensation in her heart, she asked Ethan to step out of the room. He didn't protest, but didn't make a move to leave until he'd given Vincent a reassuring gaze, silently confirming that he would be waiting outside. Vincent, though he would never admit it, found more comfort in the gesture than he probably should've.

   As soon as the door closed shut, Ms. Cooper turned to him with a frantic expression, startling him. "Ethan isn't giving you any trouble, is he?"