your beauty never ever scared me.

chapter seventeen

bruce's pov

as we were walking to god knows where i kept seeing vance shaking his head and yawning. he kept rubbing and scratching at the back of his head but i couldn't see anything since the area was covered with his thick hair. i was holding onto his arm as we we're walking and looking at the back of his head where he was touching at. i switched the arm i was holding onto vance with and reached up to feel the back of his head.

" what's wrong? " i asked him since his head was clearly bothering him. " it hurts. " was all he said in return and i nodded. " the back or your whole head? " i asked him while rubbing his head. " just the back , i hit it. " i nodded and let go of his head , still holding onto his arm. we showed up at his house and entered in quietly , i assumed his mom was sleeping or something. i walked into his room and sat on his bed , he was standing in front of me. " how was school? " he asked before yawning. i shrugged and looked down at my hands , " boring without you , people looking at me. " he nodded and came to sit next to me on his bed and grabbed my hand. i looked at him , " i'm sorry. y'know for what happened. " i was sorry for him , he was in the right.

vance shook his head and patted my leg , " don't be sorry , as long as you're not being messed with anymore i don't care what happens to me. " i stayed quiet and looked down again. i kissed him and then rested my head on his shoulder , exhaling deeply. " i just missed you. i hate it when you fight. " i said softly , his long and curly hair cushioning my head. he rested his head on mine and adjusted himself so that i was sitting in his lap and he put one hand on my knee and the other securing my waist.

" i'll stop. " i heard him say abruptly after a few moments of silence. i lifted my head from his shoulder which made him lift his and i looked at him. " what? " i asked , not sure of what he meant. " i'll stop for you. " he said looking at me , " i'll stop fighting. "

" i- are you sure? for me? " i did want him to stop fighting , mainly because he was always hurting himself too and could get in really big trouble. i didn't want to see him in pain anymore because i know he is and i know i can help him. he thinks he might scare me or that he might do something bad to me , but i don't believe that. me and vance were never close but now we are , i know who he is and he's not just some washed up teenage dirtbag. he has a soul and a heart , a very kind one too- at least for me. he seems to only tolerate me , finney , robin , and his mom and hates everyone else so i guess i'm high on the podium. i know he's capable of doing bigger and better things other than beating the life out of people if they look at him the wrong way.

he nodded and kissed my forehead , " for you , sunshine " he smiled. i smiled back at him and kissed him again , holding his face with my hand before pulling away. " has your mom heard anything from the police? " i asked. i remembered the supposed assault charges that were being spoken about the other day and wanted to know if any of it was actually being set in place. he shook his head , " nah i don't think they'll do shit. at least not ethan's mom , woman's a fuckin' drug addict. she'd get arrested before either me or robin. " i laughed and nodded , ethan and cole were your typical bullies , just shitting all over other people because of their own insecurity.

i played against ethan and cole along with finney all of middle school. the two boys never bothered me , never talked to me , never even looked at me , that was until i started hanging out with vance. i would see ethan fight with his mom most times after practice , his little sister always looked sad too. cole's dad had died last year and he got little to no attention from his mom and him being an only child , he was lonely. i know all of this just from observing and listening , both things i am exceptionally good at. i'm not someone who's particularly in the shadows but i get information from people all over school. either i get told about it , i see it or hear it happen , or i hear it from someone saying it to someone else. i know at least something about everyone , i even have a book for everyone in my school and people that i've known in the past. i come back to it every once in a while just to write down the information i gather about a person , it's a good way to remember things about someone and a great way to hold a grudge.

" i'm tired , do you wanna' call your mom and ask if you can stay over? " i heard vance ask as i was still sitting comfortably in his lap. " sure thing handsome. " i get up from his lap and stand next to the telephone that was on his bedside table next to his lamp. i quickly dialed my house number and my mom answers with a " hello? "

" mama it's bruce , i'm calling from my friend's house to ask if i can spend the night. " i waited and looked over at vance who wasn't really paying attention to the conversation , presumably because i was saying this all in japanese , it's easier to talk to my mom that way. she tells me i can stay the night but her and my sister amy won't be home until later tomorrow afternoon due to some errands my mom is going to run , more time with vance i guess.

" my mom said yes. " i tell him since he obviously can't figure that out of his own. he smiles and holds his arm out like a big baby to which i roll my eyes and give in , hugging him while falling back into his lap. vance holds me still in his arms and moves a piece of hair out of my face before telling me i'm beautiful and kisses me once. i smile and blush harshly as i hide my face in in his shoulder and he starts tickling me. i start hitting him on his arms which does not do anything to help my situation and instead i laugh harder as he gets past my attacks and tickles my sides , him laughing along.

" stop it you big asshole! " i yell at him while spontaneously laughing and i put my hand on his face and push him back. he falls back onto his pillows on his back and opens his mouth to bite my hand that's above it. i sit up on his lap and pull my hand back , laughing again. " eww! " i grasp his jaw gently and shake his head side to side before halting the action and kissing him.

" are you done? " i ask him looking into his blue eyes as i still have a hold on his jaw. he pouts his lip sarcastically and nods slowly , tilting his head to the side a little , " please don't hurt me brucey. " i roll my eyes and he kisses me again , shifting our position to where i am laying on my back and his head is rested on my chest , his arms around my waist. i smile and put my hand in his hair , starting to play with it. i hear him exhale deeply as i comb my fingers through his long and messy hair , i always loved his hair. it's a big mess of blonde curls but it's always soft and smells surprisingly really good.

with my other hand i start to draw lines and shapes on vance's rather defined arm. i never really payed attention to vance's build but i can definitely notice his muscular frame up close. " vance do you workout? " i ask him , not only to fill the silence but also because i'm curious. " sometimes i will , why? "

i shrugged even though he couldn't see it. " your arms and your body n' stuff. i never really noticed. " i told him. i heard him laugh and rested his head deeper on me , " i guess i've always stayed fit ya know? what about you sunshine , you workout? " i laughed then and rolled my eyes. " i play baseball you idiot , a fit sport. " vance tilts his head to look up at me and nods " ah right , bruce yamada the top baseball player. how can i forget? " he smiles and taps my nose with his finger.

" stop it! " i shake my head away and whine and he grabs my hand that was in his hair to kiss it as an apology , which i accept. " g'night princess " he says dropping my hand and i put it back in his hair. " god you're an idiot , but goodnight. " i softly continue to play with his hair as he drifts to sleep. i lean forward to kiss his head gently before falling asleep as well , one hand resting in his hair and the other on his neck just under his ear.