As the days passed by, so did the weeks. The closer it came to Christmas, the more confused Bruce became.
Each time they hung out, Vance would kiss him. Whether on the cheek, the lips, the forehead, or even his hand. There would always be a kiss.
But no other advances were made.
It confused Bruce, he thought Vance liked him but he wasn't sure.
Vance was in a similar predicament. He felt Bruce didn't like him. He was the only one to go for a kiss. The only one to brush fingers. The only one to grip his hands. Bruce would just stand there and smile.
Vance wasn't sure what to do. He's never liked anyone enough to know how to tell them he likes them without saying anything. Never liked someone enough to make any advances, much less kissing and hand-holding and all that.
And he wasn't good with words, so he was out of ideas. He didn't think he could get any more obvious and open about his feelings toward the beautiful boy.
On a positive note, he had gotten much closer to the group. He went everywhere with them. They often came over for dinner, much to the delight of Angelina, and he often went to their houses.
He knew he could trust him with anything at all. He cared for them in a way he hadn't known he could.
Despite their first interaction, he and Robin became the closest. If one went someplace, the other tagged along.
Griffin and Vance were definitely long-lost siblings. Vance put up with Griffin's shenanigans and never got annoyed. He would regularly ruffle the small boy's hair or pinch his cheeks.
Finney introduced Vance to the machine from the Grab N' Go. Vance has been addicted since and has been quite good at it. He held the highest score and he helped both Finney and Griffin to play properly as well.
Vance joined Billy on his paper runs in the mornings, he walked barefoot or ran as Billy rode his bike. He also held the leash of Billy's dog so Billy wouldn't have to worry about it.
Aoi and Angelina met at one of the boys' baseball games, they quickly became best friends despite the language barrier.
Vance's father had not met with the parents of his friends, but he had met the group of boys. It'd been strange for the Hopper residence since Vance's father had come back from his business trip.
He seemed more distant than before, he also wasn't as angry or easily annoyed as he once was. This worried Vance and his mother.
Or, at least, it did worry the two. Until Vance had had enough and confronted his father about his new behavior.
Which resulted in the man apologizing for how he behaved before. He told of how he met a strange woman on his trip and that she'd told him he would lose everything he loved and held dear if he did not change for the better.
He explained, while in tears, how he had slept one night and dreamt of how he had treated his family. How his actions had affected them. He realized he was never a good husband nor a good father. How he failed his two most important duties and he didn't know how to fix it.
He explained how he was hoping to slowly fix his mistakes by first changing his behavior from fiery and uncaring to calm and quiet.
He asked for forgiveness and that he knew it would be hard but asked if they could try again.
By the end of his confession, he had fallen to his hands and knees.
It'd been the first time Vance had ever seen his father cry. He'd always been told it was a sign of weakness.
Angelina promised they would try, under one condition.
"Pierre, you are to accept Vance, no matter what or who he wants to be, do you understand?" Angelina had said.
Her husband, Pierre, had agreed. Vance had been relieved to hear the agreement.
Pierre then asked if that condition was put in place regarding Vance being gay, which caused the two to be confused.
Asking how he knew, he said, "I am not stupid, I can see how he looks at his friend, Bruce."
Vance then became more confused as to how Bruce hadn't known yet, if he was so obvious that his father found out, how could Bruce not know by now?
He decided to ask Molly for help. That was a new occurrence as well. His relationship with Molly had grown since he was often at the store to play the pinball machine.
He would commonly talk about his struggles with Bruce and she would smile. She knew his feelings for the Asian boy, but she also knew the feelings of said boy toward the angelic blonde.
She kept quiet, only smiling as each boy came to her more confused each time something happened.
She could feel their conflicting feelings, their tension, and their sadness when the other didn't make further advancements.
Vance opened the door to the small store he had come to love.
(switching to his POV)
"Molly?" I call out, when I don't see her behind the cash register.
"I'm here, dw." she says, emerging from the back.
We smile at each other but she begins to smirk, "U r at a loss again." she states.
I chuckle and lower my head with a smile, "Yea, yea, I am. I want to tell Bruce how I feel, Mols, but I don't know how I should do it. Can u help me?" I explain.
"I cannot help u in the matters of love," I visibly deflate, "But, I can help u in the matter of Bruce Yamada. I practically helped raise the sweet child."
I smile, "So, u can help me then?"
She sighs, "I suppose so. Now, first, tell me exactly how u feel about him."
I hesitate. Nervously swallowing. I take a deep breath and exhale, "Well- where do I even start, Molly? He's just so perfect in every aspect. He has the laugh of an angel, I could listen to it all day every day and never grow tired of it. And his smile? It's so beautiful! The way his teeth shine and his nose scrunches and when he smiles just hard enough u can see his dimples. His eyes disappear too! They turn into these cute little cresents. When he laughs hard and long enough, he starts to wheeze and cry and cough and shake. It's adorable." I start.
I continue talking about Bruce, all his little quirks and habits and the things he does that he doesn't realize he does.
I talk and I talk and I talk until Molly pinches my cheek.
"What was that for, Mols?" I ask, rubbing my cheek.
"U were rambling so much he started crying."
_______________________________
1158 words
This is more of a filler chapter, if u couldn't tell.
I am happy to announce...
This book shall be coming to an end soon!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
<3
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How Unexpected | Brance | The Black Phone
Fanfiction*THIS IS MY 1ST BOOK* Vance Hopper has just transferred from France. He doesn't expect the warmest of welcomes seeing as his father is known in France for some peculiar things. What he definitely doesn't expect, is a group of idiots to take him by t...
