The Name's Crutchie

Chapter 5: Maybe this wasn't the best idea

The streets were dark and there was no one to be seen.

Romeo pulled his jacket tightly around himself, trying to keep warm despite the fact that there were probably more holes in his coat than there was fabric. He walked down the empty alleyways hoping to find any trace of where Specs could be.

The night's silence was broken by a sharp cry piercing the air. Romeo broke into a run, following the noise. Skidding around the corner he saw two large shadows hunched over a smaller figure. Romeo walked close enough to see that it was Specs on the ground, curled in on himself. He let out a shout and the two boys turned towards him.

The Delancey brothers, of course it was.

He barely saw the two boys flash matching grins before he turned on his heel and ran the thunderous sound of boots on stone echoing in his ears. Romeo swung around the corner; the rough stone grazing his hand and made a sharp turn down the narrow alley. He might been small but he was fast as hell. He crouched in the darkness all he could hear was the pounding of his heart.

The moment seemed to go on forever, he could hear the loud scraping of boots on the paving stones until there was a string of curses and everything was silent again. Romeo relaxed against the cold stone catching his breath and willing his heart to stop beating so fast.

Specs pulled himself up against the wall, his head spinning. The stomping of the boy's boots had disappeared, and so had his glasses.

He was basically useless without his glasses. Specs froze as the sound of footsteps returned; he could just make out a dark shadow at the end of the alley. He hurriedly started to scramble in the other direction before he felt a firm hand on his shoulder.

Specs flinched and attempted to get away trying to dislodge the hand from his shoulder.

"Hey, calm down. It's just me." Romeo soothed loosening his grip. Specs turned to look at him, unable to make out a definite face but Specs would know that voice anywhere.

"Romeo?" Specs breathed a sigh of relief. Romeo grinned a lopsided smile.

"The one and only." He wrapped his arms around Specs, helping him stand. Specs leaned heavily on Romeo's shoulder. "You alright?" Romeo looked at the purple bruises starting to appear on the boy's face.

"I'm fineee, I can't see anything though." Specs admitted. Unsure where to look and deciding that looking at the ground made him feel less dizzy.

"Right. Don't go anywhere I'll find your glasses." Romeo replied, making sure Specs could use the wall as support.

"You're my knight in shinin' armour, Romeo." Specs said, smiling in his general direction.

"Anytime," Romeo replied with a grin, looking for the glint of glass in the moonlight.

"Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" Specs dramatically recited. Romeo glanced over and chuckled.

"Specs, are you drunk?" He asked accusingly. Specs was taken aback.

"How dare you say that?" Specs replied, tripping over himself in an effort to walk towards Romeo; who was laughing silently to himself.

"How did you get into this mess anyway?" he asked, turning to look at Specs' reaction.

"It's stupid it doesn't matter." Specs answered, "Have you found them?" He asked, changing the subject. Romeo smirked.

"Maybe. It depends if you answer my question or not." Specs hesitated for a second before giving in, deciding that being able to see was more important than maintaining his pride.

"Fine, I went for a walk to clear my head, found some dodgy back alley booze that I downed... that probably wasn't the best idea. Then I ran into the Delancey brothers and I don't know, I think I was angry 'bout what they did to Crutchie so I said a few things that I'm not exactly proud of and they didn't particularly like that. So here we are."

There was a silence.

"Did you find my glasses?" Romeo looked over at him.

"Not yet. It takes some balls to stand up to them Delancey brothers." He admitted, holding Specs' glasses in his hand.

"It was mostly just stupidity, and impaired judgement" He replied. Romeo shook his head in disagreement.

"I think it's pretty brave." Romeo declared, he moved towards Specs. "Found 'em." Specs smiled widely.

"You really are my knight is shining armour." Romeo drew closer. Specs sobered up almost instantly. He rose onto his toes; there was a hushed voice in his ear. He could feel Romeo's breath warm on his neck, sending a shiver up his spine.

"If I'm your knight in shining armour, would you be my prince?" Specs barely had time to process how close Romeo was before he felt his soft lips pressed against his own. Romeo's body was warm against him and he could feel his soft dark hair against his cheek, but it was gone too soon. As soon as it had started, Romeo had backed away.

"You hate me." Romeo stated.

"What?" Specs could see the figure of Romeo a few feet in front of him, the boy had somehow folded into himself and he looked so much smaller than usual. Specs just wanted to hold him and tell him that everything's okay.

"You hate me. I'm sorry. Can we just forget that ever happened?" Specs' heart sank.

"...We don't have to." Specs murmured. It was Romeo's turn to be confused this time.

"What?" He couldn't believe he was actually hearing this.

"I mean, we don't have to forget about it if you don't want to." Specs spoke to the ground, not capable of looking Romeo in the eyes even considering his horrible eyesight.

He felt something cold being pushed into his hand, he quickly put his glasses on and Romeo came into clear view he could see the hope blooming on his face. Specs took Romeo's hand, pulling him slightly closer. Specs placed a brief kiss on Romeo's lips, blush creeping across his freckled cheeks.

"I like you Romeo."

"I like you too Specs." 

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Hey peopleeeeeeeeeee I'm so sorry I haven't updateddddd I had no idea where this story was going but I'm back on track so hopefully I should be updating moreee

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