BRANCE + RINNEY

Run As Fast As Your Legs Can Carry You

trigger warning: school shooting. (requested)/(all boys aged up to 17)
—————————

Finn ran through the hallways of the dimly-lit school, footsteps echoing off of the walls as gunshots sounded behind him.

If only he had knew.

—————————

-It didn't turn bad until it turned good.-

Finn had woke up earlier than usual, an unsettling feeling twisted deep into the depths of his stomach, gnawing at with sharpened and bared teeth. He had ran to the bathroom with heavy feet, legs wobbly and tired as each step brought him closer to the feeling in his stomach being spit out in chunky waves.

Gwen woke up at the noise of her older brother releasing bile into the bathroom's toilet. She had told him to go back in his room and rest when he was done, that he shouldn't go to school when he had already gotten sick prior to it. Finn had shaken his head, disregarding her concern as he begun to get ready for the day.

The siblings walked to school together, the familiar chill of autumn sending blankets of goosebumps over their pale-skinned bodies. Gwen had gotten on the bus that would take her to the middle school, hugging Finn tightly before running towards the seat she shared with a friend.

Finn continued his walk to school, shivering at the repeated gusts of wind that blew through his hair and underneath the thin fabric of his clothes. He wished his dad would've actually provided for him sometimes.

"Yo Finn! Hey man!" Finn turned his head, smiling when he was met with the familiar sight of Vance Hopper. Coincidentally, Bruce Yamada was trailing beside him. "Hey guys. It's real fucking cold today." Finn shivered underneath his thin jacket, teeth chattering as a strong gust of wind blew past him. Vance seemed as if he was going to say something, deciding against it last minute when a sudden forced pushed itself atop Finn's shoulders.

Finn turned around quickly, fearing that the person placing weight on him was one of his too-familiar bullies. He was glad to find that he was wrong.

"Morning Finn. Did I hear that you were cold?" Robin had already taken off his coat, placing it over the pale boy before he could even attempt to respond. Finn shivered into the warm fabric, a smile making way to his face as he looked into Robin's eyes. "Yeah, uh, thank you. I was freezing." Robin smiled at him as well, nodding his head as Bruce cut him off.

"Okay lovebirds. Let's go inside before we all freeze."

It was fourth period when the first gunshot rang out. It was quiet, misinterpreted as a door slam or the accidental drop of a large book. No one assumed the worst.

The second gunshot rang out thirty minutes later, during passing period.

Finn had been walking in the hallway, his three best friends by his side, when a loud pop echoed throughout the school. It was way too loud to be a book, way too clear to have been mistaken for something outside.

Everybody in the hallway froze, low whispers making their way around different crowds of people.

Then another gunshot sounded. A blood-curdling scream immediately followed after.

Vance was the one who acted first, having been through enough things to know that him and his friends were not safe in that building.

He turned towards the three other boys, eyes narrowed and determined. "All of you need to grab onto each other's hands, Bruce you grab mine." The boys did as told, too frightened to respond with words.