Field - ★ - Brance

- Part Eighteen -

TW abuse

Vance sighed in relief when Mrs. Yamada called all three of them down for dinner. His hair had been in every style that Amy could come up with. All while Bruce was just sitting next to Vance, giggling at them. 
Bruce reached over to Vance, carefully untangling his hair with his fingers. Vance waited impatiently, but somehow still enjoyed Bruce touching his hair. Normally he would've beat him up, screamed at him. But the past week had been the best of his life, Bruce brought him a peace he thought he'd never achieve. 

"Done." Bruce smiled. They both got up, Amy had already gone downstairs. "You should stay for the night, Vance." Bruce carefully said. Vance opened the door for Yamada, letting him pass through. "I don't want to be a bother. I've been staying over a lot." Vance loved staying over, he would normally never sleep over at a friends house. But Bruce was different. That didn't mean he wanted to overstay his welcome though. 

"You should." They stopped in the hall, looking at each other. Bruce grabbed onto Vance's hand gently. "Vance, I'm worried about you." Vance didn't protest, he held Bruce's hand. Bruce brushed his fingers over his knuckles. "We'll talk after dinner." He muttered, trying to hide how overwhelmed he was by Bruce suddenly grabbing his hand. He felt flustered, but that wasn't like him. So he refused to show it.

Bruce let go of his hand and they both went downstairs. The first floor smelled good, it had a warm savoury autumn smell that you'd expect in October. They entered the dinner room, seeing bowls of soup standing on the table.

Mrs. Yamada only came home an hour ago, but after seeing Vance she insisted on making soup. She felt bad about his bruise, assuming he'd been in a fight again. She smiled at the boys as they all sat down. Bruce's father wouldn't be home till later the night since he was working more, trying to get his badly wanted promotion. Bruce ate in silence, carefully listening to the conversation Vance was holding with Amy and his mom.

He couldn't help but smile. He never expected Pinball Vance to be so sweet to his family, to him. "Vance, what kind of work do your parents have?" Mrs. Yamada asked. Vance stayed quiet, twirling his spoon around in his soup. "They don't work." He muttered softly. 

Dinner was over and all of them helped clear the table. The two boys said their goodbyes to Amy and Mrs. Yamada as they headed upstairs. Amy stayed behind, watching cartoons in the TV room. Bruce opened the bedroom door for Vance, making a playful bow just like he had done a while back, when Vance came over for one of the first times. He chuckled and softly pushed Bruce's shoulder. He closed the door and sat on the bed, Bruce copying him. 

"You're staying, right?" Bruce asked, not allowing a silence to keep them quiet. Vance shrugged. "Don't want cabin fever getting to you." He chuckled. Bruce rolled his eyes. "You're staying." He sternly said. "I don't get a say in this?" Vance raised an eyebrow. Bruce shakes his head before giving him a small smile.

"Fine, then." Vance said in a huff. "Can I ask something personal?" Yamada slowly asked. Vance thought for a second, before slowly nodding. "Why does he do this to you?" Bruce said, pointing his eyes towards his black eye. Vance let out a deep sigh, he turned his head to focus his eyes on the window. "He just feels like I ruined his perfect family." He breathed out.

"Why? You're not all that bad." Bruce said, putting his hand on Vance's shoulder. "He," Vance's voice cracked. "Found a note I wrote. Like my diary." 
"What was in the note?" Bruce asked, his voice deeper and laced with worry. 

Vance's answer was a mix of shame and honesty. "I don't think you'll see me the same if I tell you." Bruce looked at him in an understanding but disappointed way. "Okay. If it means anything to you, I think you are the best thing that could've ever happened to your family." Vance slumped his head down into his hands. Bruce put a hand on his back, not noticing the blush Vance was hiding. 

"You're so confusing, Yamada." He said. It sounded muffled, his hands were still pressed against his face. "I know. I confuse myself too." Bruce sighed out, not taking his hand off of Vance's back. He rubbed his thumb on his back, trying to soothe Vance a bit. 

Vance shifted closer to Bruce, removing his hands from his face. He softly pulled Bruce into a hug, pushing his face against his shoulder. Bruce mirrored him, putting his other arm on Vance's back too. He pushed Vance closer to him, planting his face in his shoulder. Vance held onto Bruce, feeling a sense of comfort washing over him. He forgot about his family, his anger. This was the only home he needed. And it was right here, in Bruce's arms.

He wanted the moment to never end, so he let out a small sigh as Bruce pulled back. "We could go watch a movie in the TV room?" Bruce said, glancing at the window. It was already dark outside, which meant the TV was most likely not in use. Vance nodded, getting up as Bruce followed. They went downstairs, it was dark. Amy and Mrs. Yamada had already gone to bed. 

Bruce flicked on a small light in the corner. Vance sat down in the corner of the sofa, letting himself sink into the pillows. Bruce grabbed a VHS, inserting it into the player. He turned the player on, pressing play on the TV. He grabbed a thick soft blanket and placed himself next to Vance. He spread the blanket over their laps, sitting up straight. 

Yellow text scrolled up on the screen. Vance let out a sigh before laughing a bit. "Star Wars? Seriously?" Bruce rolled his eyes. "It's one of the few movies we have. Don't complain!" He laughed out. "I knew you were a nerd, but I never knew it was this bad!" Vance slumped over, bursting out in a soft laughter. "Shut up!" Bruce couldn't help but laugh along, shoving his elbow against Vance. 

Vance wrapped his arms around Bruce, pulling him down onto his lap. "Help me!" Bruce quietly yelled, trying to free himself. Vance couldn't stop laughing, holding onto Bruce as he held him down. Bruce reached out for Vance's neck, he put his hands around it and managed to lift himself up. He was out of breath, laughing along with Vance. "I hate you!" Bruce sighed out, still chuckling. "Yeah, I can tell." He laughed in response. 

Bruce slumped against his torso while still being on his lap. Vance pulled the blanket more over them and he held Bruce in his arms. Bruce quietly stared at the screen, trying to pay attention to the movie. Vance also watched the screen, hoping that he wouldn't look up and notice how flustered he was. 

They watched the movie for two hours, well, only one of them did. Bruce fell asleep midway. Vance watched the end credits scroll by, sighing, knowing he'd either have to wake him up or carry him all the way upstairs. He carefully tucked the blanket around Bruce a bit more before standing up, holding him closely against his chest. 

He slowly made his way over to the stairs, gently taking each step. He pushed Bruce's door open with his foot and carefully laid Bruce down on his bed. A small groan came from him, before he squinted his eyes open carefully. The bedroom was dark, all he could see was Vance's figure. "Where are we?" He said in a muffled tone, his voice hoarse. "Your room. You can go back to sleep, don't worry." Bruce carefully nodded, closing his eyes again. Vance crawled over him, laying down next to Bruce. 

He pulled Bruce closer, wrapping his arms around him gently. He listened softly to his breath, it's pacing being slow and deep. He kept listening till he also fell asleep.

(1363 words)