Bulletproof Love

1: Vic

Another day, another seven hours of hell. Maybe eight or nine, heck, why would he know? Vic just wished to climb back into his warm bed as soon as he forced himself out of it. He pulled on some random jeans and shirt he found on his floor and left his room. He frowned. He was up after Jaime, as usual. His friend loved getting up at inhuman times, such as 5:30. A shiver went down Vic's spine even thinking about waking up that early.

“Mornin’ lazy head!” greeted Jaime cheerily. Vic groaned and rolled his eyes at his friend, walking to the fridge and searching for something to eat. The fridge contained barely anything, he noticed. They had to go to the market again soon, a task he loathed. It involved going outside, something Vic avoided aside from school and the eventual show he played at small venues. He eventually decided on cereal.

Soon Mike and Tony joined them too. The four of them shared an apartment, as it was easier to divide the costs that way. It was also better than constantly having to meet at someone’s place for practice. They had taken the apartment on a whim of Jaime, being his usual enthusiastic self when he had told the others about the apartment that was cheap as hell. Turned out it was a complete disaster at first, but Vic preferred even a box under a bridge over his old house.

---
As usual, the four of them went to school together. They were inseparable when they weren't forced to be apart. The ride in the car was usually a party. Tony drove with a huge grin on his face whenever all of them would come up with things they could do during school. They laughed at the memories of things they had done before, such as the time on April Fools that Mike had managed to put salt into the Spanish teacher's coffee.

Eventually, they all went to their own lockers, leaving each other. It was often the saddest part of their days, as only friends were able to mend the injuries college inflicted upon them. Oh, how Vic wished to just return to elementary. The calm days of playing around and being just happy with his life were long over. He rubbed his eyes and wrestled with the heavy books before closing his locker and turning.

Maybe he should've better stood facing the locker for a few more moments. He clenched his fists, jaw set. Again.

Am I not worth anything? he wondered to himself. He glared at the two in front of him. His fucking girlfriend kissing another dude. It barely even surprised him anymore. He shook his head and left without a word.

Of course.

He wasn't a fully white American.

He was Mexican.

Racism wasn't uncommon with the popular kids there.

Walking to class, Vic calmed down a little and when he finally got to a spot in the corner of the classroom, the teacher entered. The tall woman quietly unpacked her bag before opening her mouth.

A disheveled looking Kellin entered that exact moment. Squeals passed the lips of the careless girls at the sight. Vic couldn't hold back the sigh that escaped him.

Ah, good old Kellin Quinn Bostwick. First class popular kid with an actual nice attitude, and known to often socialize with anyone. Add his attractiveness to the already great mixture and bam, there was Mr. Perfection himself. Kellin pranced to the last empty spot: the one next to Vic. The black haired boy gave Vic a smile. He dumped his bag on his table, panting slightly. He obviously had been running through the halls to make it in time.

“Hey,” he greeted while sitting and unpacking his bag. Vic flinched. He wasn't used to actual popular people addressing him, and Quinn sure was. “You're Vic, right?”

Vic forced himself to look Kellin in the eyes and how he wished he hadn't. Kellin had the most beautiful eyes. Blue, though with a slight hint of green. He felt like he could stare into those eyes all day. “Y-yeah,” he stammered. The tanned teenager blinked a few times. Collect yourself, you're not gay anyway, his mind told him.

“You're from that band, aren't you? Pierce The Veil?” Vic’s eyes widened. Barely anyone knew his band around here. Whoever did made fun of him and his voice, but he didn't care. Singing was his passion, his way of coping with the shit in his life.

“Yeah,” he managed to say. It felt like he was falling apart and he just wanted to sink into the floor. He thought he wasn't very interesting. Just an ordinary guy with a passion for music.

"I like your voice,” Kellin then commented, looking at the pencil in his fingers. “I tried singing too, but I wasn't allowed to go deeper without following the girl's program. I've been told I sing like a girl a lot, you know.” Vic’s lips tugged into a smile. One of sympathy at the boy's words. He knew Kellin had a fairly high pitched voice for a guy, and it surprised him that the great Kellin Quinn was actually fairly insecure. He at least came over that way, talking about his voice.

“People say they don't like my screams. I tried singing class but had to quit because I wanted to scream when they didn't want me to,” the slightly older boy explained. He hated it when people told him that screaming in music was wrong. He felt like his screams brought over the emotion of his words better at times. Kellin snickered.

“‘People’ have a bad music taste," he said softly. Vic nodded in agreement. He had thought Kellin to be the ultimate cheery guy no one like Vic would get along with, but the younger guy actually turned out as a nice conversationalist.

The girl on Kellin’s other side tapped his shoulder, giggling. Kellin rolled his eyes at Vic before moving his concentration over to the girl. He clearly didn't enjoy the presence of another person. Did he want to actually talk to me? Not to his potential next girlfriend? “Hi! I'm Lily!” she introduced herself, struggling to keep her voice down. Vic glanced at the teacher, but he was still writing on the board. He wanted to help Kellin, but knew he would get into trouble and he promised the guys to practice their new song.

“You're really hot,” she giggled. Kellin sighed, uncomfort clear. What was it? He was. He was the most beautiful person Vic ever laid eyes on, he was sure. His eyes, his hair that seemed to nice to touch... Hold on there.

“I know,” he replied, turning away from her to actually pay attention to class. Her disappointment was clear and she tapped Kellin's shoulder a few more times. Vic could easily see how uncomfortable he was with the girls. Many girls at their school had made it their goal to date Kellin, but the pale guy refused to every time. Reasons? Oh, he never gave them. Of course, there were rumors of him being gay or even asexual, but Vic believed he just hadn't found the right girl. He didn't like assuming sexualities. It made him feel wrong.

A/N: I forgot to mention this fic isn't very big, but I'm still out of inspiration for The Eternity Worlds so yeah.
Currently in process of being edited so yay.