the scholarships (BRANCE) (RINNEY)

Scholarships

December 22nd

Vance, Bruce, Finney, and Robin trudged through the thick snow that covered their path and acted as a white sheet over the school. Adults tried to clear the pathways as best as they could, but the snow continued to pour down anyway, and they ended up giving up. Loud crunching sounds came from their feet as they walked together.

A joyful buzz lingered around the group as they enjoyed their last day of term before their flight back to denver tomorrow. Almost everyone was excited. Almost everyone.

Vance hadn't said anything because he didn't want to ruin their good moods, but he was terrified. Thoughts had been rushing around in his head like a whirl wind for the past few days. 'What if his family hates me?'
'What if they think I'm not good enough for him?'

"Have you guys packed yet?" Finn asked even though he knew what they were going to say. A collection of 'no's.' and 'not yet.' Is heard, and Finney lets out a breath of air. He wished they were more organised like him. "We literally only have a few hours left." He stated. Robin let out a small chuckle, his arm stretching over Finney's shoulder.

"Relax. We'll be packed in time." He said calmly. Finney looked up at him and frowned.

"You better, or I'll leave you here." He joked, making the others laugh. Robin sighed dramatically and let his shoulders fall.

"Fine. If it means that much to you, we can go pack now." He said sarcastically. "You guys coming in?" Robin cocked an eyebrow, looking to the two.

"We'll come in a bit." Bruce answered. Robin nodded his head and led Finney away into the warmth of the dorms. Bruce turned back around and looked up at Vance. "Are you ok?" Vance furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yeah? Why?" He asked in sceptical. Bruce shrugged his shoulders and frowned.

"I don't know. You just seem a little off." Vance reached his hand up to grab Bruce's, running his finger over knuckles.

"I'm ok." He replied. Bruce looked up at him, still slightly unsure, but he decided to drop it.

"Alright."

"Come on." Vance spoke. "We have to go pack." He started to drag Bruce off before he could ask anything else.

The corridors to the dorms were extremely busy with the students standing out in their doorways, bragging to their friends about the exciting Christmas they had ahead of them. The younger years chasing and pushing each other around. Vance and Bruce weaved through people, hand in hand, so they didn't lose each other in the swarm of people until they finally reached their room.

Bruce shut the door behind him, instantly silencing the pandemonium going on outside. The quietness sounded like bliss to his ears as he let out a satisfied breath.

"I can't wait to finally have my actual bed back." Bruce laughed, walking over to his closest, taking out his suitcase. Vance remained quiet, folding up some clothes neatly and laying them out on his bed. "Amy won't stop texting me about how excited she is to finally meet you." He stated.

"Oh, that's nice." Bruce furrowed his eyebrows and turned around.

"You don't sound so excited? Are you sure you're ok?" Vance sighed, knowing he couldn't lie to Bruce anymore.

"I don't know. I'm just kinda worried about meeting your parents." Bruce tried his best to refrain his laughter.

"You're worried?" He cocked an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Have you seen me?!" He looked to Bruce, motioning to himself. "I'm not exactly the type of person you bring home."

"I have seen you, and I would say you're perfect." Vance's face grew into an uncontrollable smile. Bruce just had that effect on him. "Who cares what my parents think? I love you, and they're just going to have to deal with that."

"I'm still nervous, though." Vance mumbled. "Like I want to make a good first impression." He huffed, looking over two shirts he was considering to wear. Bruce came to his bed, peering over his shoulder. The options were a heavy metal band or just a simple red shirt.

"Where the plain one." He advised. "My parents think rock bands are satanic." Vance nodded, taking that as a mental note.

"So that's like two-thirds of my closet gone." Bruce hummed and chuckled gently.

(Time skip)

Bruce received a text from Robin to meet him and Finney up in the east garden. He chucked on the jacket he stole from Vance and made his way outside into the cold atmosphere. He looked up to the sky. Some dark clouds were started to form, and the sun was beginning to set. Everyone had already retreated back to their own rooms, meaning it was a quiet and nice walk for Bruce.

He finally made it to the garden, seeing Finney and Robin sat on the top of a bench, their feet where the actual seat was.

"Hey, guys." He greeted, joining them on the bench. "Everything alright?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah. We just thought it would be nice if we all had a moment with each other before we leave." Finney explained, his eyes glowing as he stared at the golden sky. Bruce nodded in understanding.

"It's weird that it's been over two months already." Robin stated. Bruce thought about it. It felt like just yesterday he was pulled out of class and signing a form, not knowing what to expect. It was weird.

"Am I the only one who started to see this place as a home?" Finney spoke. Bruce looked over to him.

"Yeah. Me too." He smiled to himself, looking over the place. "And we kept to our promise."

"Well, us scholarships gotta stay together." Robin tells the other two. Bruce closed his eyes and leant his head back.

"Scholarships." He whispered to himself, a small laugh coming from his throat. They had only been called that by other people as an insult. Bruce found it funny hearing that come from Robin, but it was more playful coming from each other. They would reclaim it and own it. They were scholarships and that didn't matter as they had each other.

A/n: sorry this took so long and I got lazy at the end 😔 Hope you guys enjoyed 🙏