Chapter Text
Bruce blinked once, then twice, wondering if these blue eyes that were staring directly into his soul were real. He looked like an angel- or was that the ceiling lights just illuminating him?
“Bruce? Bruce!” Vance shouted, with a joyful expression plastered on his face. Vance moved his head, uncovering the blinding ceiling light that was now burning his eyes. He immediately shut them. "Holy mother of christ- Bruce? Are you OK? Should I- should I call the nurse?" Vance spoke fast and loudly. Bruce would've been irritated if he didn't absolutely love Vance so much.
Bruce sat up slowly, noting the pulsing pain in his neck- it'll probably go away soon. Vance stared at him with wide and innocent eyes that made Bruce smile. "I'm fine Vance. How've you been?" he asked in a warm tone. Vance opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. His mouth shut tight and his eyes started welling up fast, tears falling before Bruce could even react. Vance was sobbing 2 seconds later, attempting to wipe his tears with the heels of his hands.
Bruce didn't know what to do, so he wrapped his arms around Vance and pulled the other's head into the crook of his neck. But it just made Vance wail even harder. He was desperately trying to calm Vance down by rubbing his back- and it partially helped. Vance's tears had stopped, but instead had the occasional hiccup (which Bruce found more adorable then he should've).
Bruce moved Vance away so he could get a good look at Vance's face- and holy fuck was this man absolutely gorgeous. Even with his tear-stained cheeks and slightly red and glossy eyes, Bruce couldn't deny that Vance was fine. Bruce cleared his throat and looked away to try to stop thinking about it.
"Vance? Are you OK now? Do you wanna talk about it?" Bruce asked, while brushing a few strands of Vance's golden hair from his face. Vance flinched slightly from the startling movement, but quickly leaned into Bruce's touch. He grabbed Bruce's hand and pressed it to his cheek to cradle his face- Bruce's heart almost stopped.
"I.. Do you wanna talk about it? I mean- after everything that's happened-" Vance stumbled over his words and looked away from Bruce. "Vance, I'm gonna know what happened eventually, but if you don't wanna talk about it, we don't have to." Bruce added, while brushing his thumb over Vance's furrowed brow. Vance almost melted. He swallowed hard.
"I'll- I'll tell you. But just a warning, it's a long story." Vance spoke, his voice gaining back its power and Bruce grinned in response.
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Bruce couldn't believe his ears. He was definitely being pranked. Vance's story was absolutely crazy.
Turns out, after Bruce had fainted, Vance had absolutely stabbed the shit out of Mr. Booker, but had survived long enough to be treated in the hospital. However- Mr. Booker had lots of enemies, and they murdered the asshole in the hospital (LETS GOOO). Vance and the rest of the boys were let off easy, since Mr. Booker was a wanted criminal for multiple counts of assault and gang violence, and Vance's actions were justified in self defense. More importantly, the whole entire town hated him, so if anything Vance and the crew were being praised by everyone.
But what surprised Bruce the most, was the fact that Vance had swayed both of Bruce's parents (more importantly his mom) into liking him. Bruce was absolutely astonished at the amount of power Vance had- he thought his mom would never support his relationship with Vance Hopper due to his violent reputation. And after all the fights that went down, Bruce thought it'd be impossible.
Vance grinned when he told Bruce about it, knowing he would be shocked.
"No fucking way Vance. First off- you told my mom that we're dating, and second off she supports it? You're definitely lying." Bruce huffed, and Vance just smiled smugly.
"Hey-Give your mom some credit. She's nicer than you think. It was pretty easy to get her to like me." Vance scoffed. He was leaning his head in his hand, his arm stood upright on his elbow.
"Please, tell me about it." Bruce rolled his eyes in disbelief, and Vance raised a brow.
"I will. I actually had dinner with them." Vance added as if it was the most normal thing ever.
Bruce jaw-dropped. "You had dinner with my parents?!" Bruce shouted and gasped in astonishment. Vance nodded blankly. "Wh-What happened? What'd they say?" Bruce added in curiosity, his brain practically about to explode from the news.
"We ate and talked about you mostly. I cracked a few jokes, they laughed. Talked about the future." Vance chorused. Bruce blushed when he realized Vance had been thinking about their future together."What do you mean by 'the future?'" Bruce asked hesitantly, He played with the hospital blanket seam as he awaited Vance's answer.
"What we're gonna do when we graduate." Vance said, and Bruce looked at the ceiling to think about it. "What'd you tell them we're gonna do?" Bruce asked again.
Vance shifted in his chair. "I said we'd probably get married, go to college, get a nice job. Maybe adopt kids. I didn't tell them that I'd wanna move from here; I didn't know what'd they say about it." Vance spoke while maintaining eye contact with Bruce. Bruce couldn't help the red that bloomed on his face.
"Oh. Oh." Bruce mumbled to himself, and looked away before Vance could say something about his flustered expression.
"What? You think I never think about these things? Bruce, if you knew what went through my mind when I think about you, I don't think-" Bruce frantically covered Vance's mouth in an attempt to shut Vance up.
"I don't wanna ever think about what goes through your mind anymore." Bruce sighed. Vance looked up at him, before licking his hand. Bruce shrieked in disgust before jumping back. Bruce practically flew back and almost fell off the bed if it wasn't for Vance's quick reflexes.
Vance didn't leave the hospital that day unharmed.
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Two days later, Bruce was discharged from the hospital. Bruce's parents had visited after Vance, and the other boys came on the following days.
Bruce left the hospital with his parents. The nurses that took care of him waved at the door as their car left the hospital. As Bruce sat on the worn out leather seats, he couldn't help the anxiety that consumed him. His leg bounced up and down rhythmically, and he rested his head on his hand as he stared out the backseat window, watching as the trees blurred by.
Once they got to his house, Bruce went to take his stuff out of the trunk, but his dad told him to go inside first. Bruce obliged, and walked up to the front door, and pushed the key to unlock the door with shaky hands.
As he slowly swung the door open, confetti rained down on him and the lights flickered on. In front of him stood all his friends in the living room, holding confetti poppers with huge grins on their faces. Banners hung on the ceiling, reading 'CONGRATS ON SURVIVAL!', and Bruce couldn't help but laugh at the memory of when he had to make a similar banner for Vance's hospital leave.
The group ran up to him and practically suffocated him with a group hug, showering him with questions and compliments on his survival of Mr. Booker. Vance watched them from the couch next to Bruce's sister with a warm smile on his face. Once the boys had finally let go of Bruce so he could catch his breath, Vance walked over and wrapped him in an even tighter hug that had Bruce's feet leave the ground. Vance buried his head into Bruce's neck, and Bruce snuck his hand behind Vance's head.
They both let go after everyone yelled at them to move their asses so they could start watching a movie, which the rolled their eyes too but did as they were told.
5 hours later, all 6 boys lays asleep on the floor, covered in blankets with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre playing in the background.