High by the Beach • France

Chapter Nine

Night rolled around and Vance seriously considered not going to the party but more importantly he wanted to apologize to Bruce so he put his anxiety to the side and stopped thinking about all the things that could go wrong.

Finney was on the same page, he dreaded this party more than anything. The boy had decided that tonight he would tell Vance about him and Bruce, he needed to do it tonight because he could sense the tension rising within their friend group and the heat was beginning to feel almost unbearable.

The wind was cold against Finney's skin though even that wasn't enough to bring down the rising tempeture.

Bruce was already at the party when the roommates found their way back to the clearing, just like the month prior, though unlike then he didn't find his way over, instead slipping deeper away. The clearing was large and crowded so it was easy to lose him.

Bruce wasn't ready to talk to Vance again, or Finney.

He wanted to be alone but he had shown Vance his tree so he couldn't really go there, instead he went walking through the woods. He didn't go too far out, just far enough so that the crowds of people began to dwindle significantly.

He wasn't sure why he didn't just go home—for some reason he felt obligated to be here.

The quiet he managed to get from the small walk was pretty nice but just like earlier it was so rudely interrupted. "Bruce? What are you doing out here, don't you have friends or something?" Bruce whipped his head around to spot Nathan standing with a beer in his hand.

"Touch me, I scream," Bruce warned. "God, you really do expect the worse from me, don't you?" The jock scoffed. "Yeah, because you're the worst." Nathan decided to ignore that as he held the bottle in his hands out to Bruce who rolled his eyes. "I'm not drinking that, knowing you, you probably drugged it." Nathan took a sip from the drink to show it was fine before handing it out to Bruce once again, to his surprise the boy took it. He needed a distraction—things were getting complicated and he wasn't sure how to handle it anymore.

The next thing Bruce knew the two of them were talking, which was the last thing Bruce originally wanted to do but again he needed to think about something else for a little while.

•••

Finney had been walking around for a while now though Bruce wasn't there. "Have you seen Bruce?" Finney turned to a random kid who he had seen once in science. "Last time I saw him he was going that way... I think," The boy answered. Finney thanked him and began heading in that direction, hoping to find him.

At some point Finney began nearing a voice which he could easily make out as  Bruce though he wasn't alone. As he reached the conversation he spotted his boyfriend with Nathan—a very strange sight.

Finney watched Nathan's face as the boy began speaking.

"Hey, i'm sorry about the rumor, it was really messed up, you didn't deserve it," Nathan apologized though Bruce only giggled in response. "I know you're just trying to get in my pants but thank you, that honestly means a lot," Nathan rolled his eyes. "I'm not trying to... im just saying sorry," Bruce wasn't buying any of that but he was bored so he entertained the idea anyway.

The two fell into a silence that wasn't that bad though of course that didn't last as it was broke up by Nathan as he without warning leaned into a kiss. Bruce wasn't sure what to do as he froze though a noise took him out of the  trance he had unluckily found himself in.

Finney's face fell as he took a step back, his foot landed on a leaf sending Bruce to push Nathan away. "Finney," He muttered, watching as his boyfriend ran away. Bruce quickly followed, leaving Nathan without saying a word.

He managed to catch up to Finney whose face was stained red with tears that burned in the cold. "Please let me explain!" Bruce tried but Finney shook his head. "What? No, no, let me guess; he kissed you, right? And then you pulled away."

"Exactly!" Bruce confirmed, tears ran down his cheeks as he shivered from the cold. Finney wanted to be mad at the boy, he wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face, but he couldn't because he knew Bruce was telling the truth, though it still hurt like hell. Finney wiped away his tears and tried calming himself down before pulling Bruce into a hug. "Let's talk about it tommorrow, okay? I'm tried." He muttered.

He didn't want to forgive him but it wouldn't have been fair.

Bruce kissed the top of his head before pulling away. "I'm sorry," He sniffled.

"Why didn't you tell me, Finney?" The two lovers looked away from each other as Vance walked up to them from the woods he had been looking in. Betrayal was present in his eyes as he watched his friends. He had been looking for Bruce all evening trying to say sorry and it looks like he finally found him.

"Vance, I'm sorry, I was going to tell you," Finney apologized though the other boy just scoffed. "You let me think I had a chance," The only emotion Finney could find in Vance's voice was anger. "Wait, what are you talking about?" Bruce asked, watching his two friends who had left him in the dark.

"Tell him," Vance hid the tears in his eyes as he let Finney to do the explaining. "Vance likes you, on the night I came to your room he gave me a letter to give to you..." Finney pulled out the envelope and handed it to Bruce who watched Vance with a grim expression. "I'm sorry, I didn't know," He started, his voice was soft and geniune. "We almost kissed, you flirted with me—you led me on," Vance's voice was angry and unforgiving. "I didn't lead you on, I really did like you—I do like you!"

Finney frowned. "You like him?" Bruce began to panic, everything was going wrong, it wasn't supposed to be like this.

"You like me but you're with Finney... who do you want to be with, why can't you just pick?" Vance yelled.

Bruce's breathing quickened as his head began to spin, he was overwhelemed, he wasn't sure what to say or do—they hated him—he messed up and now they would never forgive him. "I don't know..." He stuttered. Vance's voice filled his head, telling him that it was his fault, that he was to blame.

The voices grew too loud.

"I can't do this, i'm sorry–" Bruce quickly left the area, trying to calm himself down as his heart only beat quicker, the wind was cold and loud and he was so lost—he couldn't do this anymore, he wasn't sure what he was even doing in the first place.

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Notes: oh oh what will Bruce do next you'll have to see after this cliffhanger... mwah mwah ha im evil. Anyway, I think next chapter will be the last, smh my head

Word count: 1,094