Safety Pins || Fuenciado

Chapter 5

A thousand things could have gone wrong, but none of them did.

I mean, two punk fags living in one of the most dangerous cities in the world? You'd think it'd be doomed to fail. Hell, I'm not even legal, but that doesn't fuck us over. Vic's habit of cheating when he's upset seems like a one-time-thing—or, rather, a one-boyfriend's-tour-long-thing. Anyway, he doesn't cheat on me. And it could have been anything else, really. He could've found someone better. My parents could've found out. Tony could've found out—or Mike, or Will, or anyone. We could've gotten past our honeymoon phase and realized we're not actually all that in love.

What goes wrong is that we're two punk fags, living in one of the most dangerous cities in the world.

Skinheads, man.

Of course, the night starts out fine. Great, actually. You know, some people say that losing your virginity is a big goddamn deal, and others say it's not that special. I guess it wouldn't be if you didn't really care about who you fucked. Me, though, I wake up on the thirteenth feeling like a new man.

Vic is strange. For a gay twenty-year-old, he's had a lot of experience, but he doesn't seem like a player. I believe him when he says he likes me like that. You couldn't call him romantic, exactly, but in some ways, he comes close. It's those looks he gives me, and the tiny, lingering kisses. He doesn't need to tell me all that sappy shit; I know he means it with how he watches me constantly when we talk or how his eyes light up when he sees me pull up behind the bar. And hell, it's hard not to fall for that.

Tony teases me pretty relentlessly about 'Victoria' on our way over. Since he's with me, I park out front. I'm pretty early, so we just sit for a minute, talking. Part of that is because of the line; it's pretty long, and it's windy, and Tony hates when his limp mohawk gets tangled in the breeze. For being best friends, we don't actually talk a lot. Because of that, we have a lot to say when we do.

So he tells me about how it went with Joanie, and I give him a few vague details about Vic(toria), and he laughs about his drunk dad trying to punch him and missing, which would be funny if Tony's dad missed often, and if Tony didn't have to borrow his mom's makeup every few days to cover up fresh black eyes. I complain about my bullshit math exam, and he talks about a new record he got, and I admit to losing a spitting contest with Cal Ferris and having to surrender the weed I just got. Then, finally, it's a decent time to go inside. Tony waits in line and I duck out back behind the bar.

As promised, Vic is waiting there. Seeing him today does a number on my stomach. It's impossible to describe how stunning he looks leaning up against the wall, smoking a cigarette, relaxed and allegedly alone. That's the man I kissed all over. I was inside him, and he's mine. All mine.

I don't get to admire him for long, because he notices me pretty quickly and then smiles. You couldn't say the view is ruined, since Vic's smile could probably cause world peace. He flicks the cigarette onto the ground, stubs it out, and starts toward me. His hands reach for my shoulders; my hands reach for his waist; we kiss. Slow and sweet, but brief. And God, kissing him feels like magic. The electricity that flicks between our lips could keep me alive for weeks. I'm amazed to think that I can do this whenever I want. This is my human. My boyfriend. My Vic.

What happens next comes to me later in bits and pieces. It's abrupt. It's unfair. One moment I'm pulling away to rest my forehead against his, smiling, and the next I'm flying backwards through the air. Someone says something. I can't tell what; I'm too busy trying to catch my breath after landing on the ground. It isn't Vic. It's a gritty voice. Then, there are more voices.

Either my eyes are closed or I just can't remember what I saw. I hear Vic say something, and about then, my alarm spikes. If they're attacking me, they're attacking him, too, right? So I try to get up. I'll either fight back or get us the hell out of here. But something smacks the back of my skull, hard, and I goddamn black out.