𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗲 • 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

chapter nine

bruce was working on trying to get vance cleaned up, but the older boy wasnt exactly cooperating, to say the least. "vance- please just hold still—" vance stuck his tongue out — he was like a little kid, bruce thought. vance turns his head away, earning a groan from bruce. he sighs. "why are you making this difficult?" he uses his free hand to hold vance's chin so he'll stop moving. "there." he leans in close to him, using his other hand to start cleaning the cuts on his face again. vance lets out a small huff of annoyance, but doesn't try to move away again. the closeness doesn't seem to hit either of them at first, until bruce looks up from vance's cheek to meet his gaze.
     then, it clicked that they were inches away, if even that much. blush spreads across bruce's face, but he tries to get back to cleaning the wounds. unfortunately for him, his gaze still made its way down to vance's lips anyways, he curses under his breath. vance noticed it, of course. "is there cuts on my lip? i didnt think there was any, i didnt feel them atleast." bruce felt his face heat up more. "ugh- no- shut up. you're making me lose focus."
    "were you really focused in this place?" bruce sighs, causing vance to snicker. "oooh, you wanna kiss me so bad." he teases — he was clearly feeling better. he continues teasing bruce and bruce tries to ignore him, but it's kinda hard to ignore someone when they're inches away from you. "would you just — shut up." bruce exhales and a smirk makes its way onto vance's lips. "make me." he utters softly, barely audible. although, bruce heard it of course.
     he wasn't sure if it was the frustration, or if he just really wanted to kiss vance that badly, but he found himself leaning in to connect their lips. vance could feel his face start to burn. he didn't think the other would actually do anything considering the fact that he hadn't yet. bruce breaks the kiss after a couple seconds, and vance stays silent. "that outta shut you up, hm?" he opens his eyes to look at a tomato red vance. vance mutters something but he stops his teasing, letting bruce finish his work peacefully. "okay, are you bleeding anywhere else? or just bruised?" vance shrugs. "fuck if i know. my ribs hurt like hell, though." worry washes over bruce's features again. "oh god- you might have broken a rib—" he says quickly, panicking. vance rolls his eyes. "i'd be in a lot more pain, don't you think?"
    "i dont really know how much pain you're in, so i dont know—" vance sighs. "i promise you i'm fine. look— i'll show you." vance starts to take his shirt off, and before bruce could say no, vance's shirt was off. holy shit. bruce couldn't stop himself from staring. he wanted to look away — atleast he thought he did — but he physically couldn't pull his gaze away from the other. he swallows thickly, that same red tint from a couple minutes ago crossing his face. "o-oh." is all he manages out. thankfully, vance doesnt seem to notice. "y-yeah- they look, uhm, normal— definitely bruised, but normal." he finally looks away, mentally scolding himself. he tries to focus on literally anything else in the room. he swallows thickly. "put your shirt back on—" he finally says. vance does as he's told, put he can't help a little teasing. "sorry, too distracting?" that earns him a glare from bruce. "shut up!"
   vance snickers, standing up. although, he winces and immediately sits back down. he looks at bruce, who still looks worried. "thanks for cleaning me up," he offers a small smile. "really, i wouldnt have done it myself—"
    "it's no big deal, i'm just glad you're okay." he sits beside him. "what did those guys want anyways?" vance sighs. "they were friends with the guy i beat the shit out of the other day." he scoffs. "he was too weak to have a rematch with me himself he went and got his friend group. if they hadn't caught me off guard, i would've won." he crosses his arms. "i know i already told you this, but you really have to stop fighting for this reason. what if this happens again?"
     "i'll be prepared next time. this was a one time thing, alright? they just had the advantage of surprise on their side, its not going to happen ag—"
   "vance, you aren't listening to me." bruce cuts him off, looking at him. he takes vance's hand in his own, rubbing his knuckles with his thumb. "youre so important to me and i'm worried about you. you keep hurting yourself, it doesn't matter if you win if you still hurt yourself.   what if something like this happens again and i dont find you? what if there's no one around to help you? you cant just keep going with this 'i dont care, i'll be fine' attitude because you won't always just be fine, vance. i really hate seeing you hurt."
    vance stays silent for a couple minutes, then tears started to prick at his eyes. he hadn't had anyone care for him like that in years. not since his mom. sure, griffin cared about him, but he didn't know about the fights or any of that stuff. he was only eight after all. all he could do was stare at bruce. eventually, he leans in and hugs bruce. buries his head in bruce's shoulder and starts crying. bruce's eyes widen, he hadn't expected that. nonetheless, he wraps his arms around vance. he runs his fingers through vance's hair, trying to comfort him. vance sobs softly against bruce's shoulder.
    he leans into bruce's touch. he couldn't lie, he hadn't cried like this in a long time. he hadnt cried in front of anyone in a long time. it felt nice. and it felt amazing to know that bruce cared about him. bruce hums softly and vance tries to focus on it. eventually sleep starts to make its way onto his mind. it didn't take long for him to fall asleep, going limp in bruce's arms. a small smile made its way onto bruce's face and he places a soft kiss onto vance's forehead. "goodnight, my love."
——————————————————
word count: 1,081
i cant think of something for an authors note but i feel something should be here..