// PAPER HOUSES // TBP Modern AU //

5.

"I see you as you see yourself in all the books you read."

And then of course, the rollercoaster ride.

"SHIT!" Billy screamed his lungs out, eyes burning up due to the wind hitting his face. Finney didn't scream, but he did laugh as loud. "THIS WAS A BAD IDEA—"

"WHOO!" Vance shouted, his arms flailing in the air as the rollercoaster sped in a double loop-de-loop. "FUCKING HELL YEAH!"

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Bruce continuously shrieked with no stop, tears due to his burning eyes flew into the air. A few girls were screaming in front of them, laughing and crying.

Robin was screaming his lungs out as well, his eyes shut and his hand clenching around a Finney's, who tightened his grip on him too.

Griffin was screaming and bawling his eyes out, less crying, but more screaming. "GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!" He tightly gripped onto the metal thing around him. "AHHHHHHH!"

A few minutes later, Billy and Griffin had repeatedly vomited in the toilets. They stopped by a booth that sold refreshments and got some water.

"That was—exciting," Finney says, nodding and resisting the urge to burst out laughing at their reactions. "Wasn't it?"

"Whatever floats your boat," says Robin, rolling his eyes and drinking his soda. "We should go to the Photo Booth next or the octopus ride," he suggests, shrugging his shoulders. "Or we could get an early lunch." He glanced at his phone, 10:45 am.

"Nah, bump cars!" Bruce exclaims, grinning widely. Griffin nodded and agreed, it would be nice to ride something that's not really horrifying.

"I'm gonna destroy you," Vance threatened Billy, narrowing his eyes. Billy backed up his head and looked at him with judging eyes. "Betting 5 dollars."

With the simple thought of money, Billy perked up and said, "Bet." He smiled widely and nodded, shaking hands with the guy whose hair was a mop of blonde curls.

After half an hour of sitting and eating snacks, "C'mon," Finney tells them, swinging his bag over his head. The others stood up from their seats and followed him.

Bruce and Vance fell behind the four others, talking about the rollercoaster ride of what they'll have for lunch later. "Hey," says Vance, grabbing Bruce's wrist. "Can I talk to you?"

Bruce had a confused expression on his face, but nevertheless smiled. "Of course you can, you never needed to ask," he says, laughing nervously. Somehow, he noticed Vance's breathing pattern had changed, it became heavier and more rapid.

"Hey!" Griffin shouts, farther away from them, looking back and waiting for the two to follow.

"We'll be there! Save us a spot!" Bruce looks behind him and shouts before turning back to look at Vance.

"Photo Booth?" Vance tilts his head quickly to the booth beside them. Bruce's smile faded and nodded. They entered the Photo Booth and Vance sat on the stool.

"What's this about?" He quickly questions, eyes nearly tearing at the thought of something bad that might happen.

Did Vance find out? Is he going to break their friendship over that, that's one of the reasons Bruce didn't want to tell him. If Vance found out, who told him?

"About you."

"What?" Bruce asked, one more strike and he'd cry his eyes out. "What do you mean?" He laughed softly.

"I like you."

A few seconds of silence followed. Vance's heartbeat and his breathing grew more rapid as he waited for Bruce's response, he clenched his fingers the bottom rim of his jacket.

"Huh?"

"I like you," he repeated, suddenly a rush of sadness drowned his thoughts.

"Can I kiss you?" Bruce said, catching Vance's attention. Vance frantically nodded as soon as his brain processed the question.

He pulled him towards him, colliding their lips together. Bruce's tongue went through Vance's lips, asking for entrance to his mouth. Vance gave in and shut his eyes.

"Hey, lovebirds, I don't know what you two are doing in there, but I have a vague idea," a voice spoke, knocking on the Photo Booth's wall.

Bruce pulled away and swung the curtains wide, Vance turning red on things stool. It was a guy in a long skirt and a knitted sweater, wait, it wasn't a guy, nor was it a girl.

They had a smug smirk on their face as they waved the the Photo Booth pictures, "Thought you might want it, happy birthday, it's like, 2 dollars, it's the least I could do for the birthday boy."

"You know m—"

"CURTIS?" Vance shouts as soon as he recovered from embarrassment. "The fuck are you doing here?"

"Well, firstly, I work here, second, be glad I saw you and your boyfriend's picture before anybody else," they tell the two. "Third, who tops?"

"Oh fuck off."

"You know him?" Bruce asks, now confused.

"They," Vance corrected him, rubbing his palm over his face. "that's the one from my math class and they're also my future sibling-in-law."

"Hi, pooks," they say jokingly. "Putik naman, I'm only on break, see you at family-meeting-dinner," he says with an accent as he pointed to Vance before pointing to Bruce. "And you if he's gonna do the meet-the-family thing, so uhm–like, bye?"

Then they left.

Bruce nods and turns to Vance, lifting the pictures and smiling. Vance smiled back, "Boyfriends?" He asks.

"Boyfriends," Bruce answers before turning around to the outside of the Photo Booth, pocketing the picture. "But we should get back to the others."

"Can we keep this secret though, for now at least?" Vance tried to tell him, smiling.

"Whatever you need," Bruce tells him, smiling back. It didn't matter if they kept it a secret, only if he could be with him for as long as he can.

A few minutes later, Billy had won the bet and bumped Vance's car to the very corner until the time went out. "FUCK!" Vance dug into his pocket and handed 5 dollars to Billy, who smiled in victory. "I absolutely fucking hate you." He pointed at Billy.

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Hallo again, double update yay! Billy's a mood tbh, money is money 💰 Curtis is like, an oc of mine, but I'll change their name or wtv.

BRO IM LORE DROPPING RN COS WHATTT SOMEBODY CONFESSED TO ME TODAY like wtf, we've only talked to each other for a few months.

word count: 1007