It had now been almost two weeks of their fake relationship. After the night of the dinner incident, Billy didn't say anything but still talked with Bruce even when the project was finished, Bruce felt relieved that Billy still liked him.
But... that didn't mean everything was going smoothly.
North Denver welcomed a new family to the town two days ago, and although it surprised everyone, the families child didn't like Bruce whatsoever.
Bruce didn't know what he had done. He was asked to show the boy around the school and help him get comfortable, however the boy wasn't having any part of it.
The last few days had been hell for Bruce. He had never experienced someone hating him so openly. Sure, Vance didn't like him and he had heard his fair share of 'I can't stand you' or 'you're an asshole' from him. But that was a lot different that being shoved in the halls or cornered in the washroom.
Bruce finally realized how Finney Blake felt.
This morning Bruce had gotten into a fight with his father again over Vance, he was already in a mood and he wasn't up with dealing with anyone.
He walked to his locker, doing his combination and whipping it open. If anyone were to look at him, he'd put on his fake smile and act like nothing was wrong in his world.
Until he felt the force of someone push him into his locker, luckily he wasn't tiny enough to fit through, but his hip did hit the bars around it. He hissed, turning to look behind him as the boy and his newly made friends laughed at him.
Bruce stared at him before slamming his locker shut. Bruce never wanted to fight or have anyone hate him, so he walked away.
"Where you going, Yamada?" He called after him. Bruce kept walking but he could hear that he was following him. What did Bruce do to deserve this on this day specifically?
He picked up his speed, turning a corner. It felt like everything in his life was going wrong for him, he wondered if this was his punishment for disobeying his father.
He entered the washroom, there were some people in there already and he secretly hoped that maybe if the boy entered, he wouldn't do anything to Bruce if there were bystanders. The people in the washroom looked at him with confusion as they finished up talking and left just as the boy entered.
Bruce stared at him, his eyes concentrated on trying to seem tough, but he wasn't strong, he wasn't buff, there was no way the boy could be scared of him.
"What's wrong? You scared?" He laughed. Bruce had never been targeted before, he didn't know how to act or what to do to keep himself safe.
"No." He said, that was a lie, his heart was rapid and his hands were sweating as he balled them into fists.
"Then why were you running?" He took a step forward and Bruce jumped causing the boy to laugh at his weakness that he was hiding. "Exactly. Why do people love you so much? I don't see anything special about you."
Bruce didn't know the answer because frankly, he didn't know either. There was nothing special about him.
He didn't say anything, keeping his mouth shut as his chest felt like it wanted to burst. The boy walked closer to Bruce, standing a few inches away from him.
"Why are you doing this?" Bruce asked. His voice soft as he looked anywhere but at the boy. He shrugged.
"It's fun to see you cower when you act so absorbed."
"I don't."
The boy stared at him.
"You know..." Bruce looked up at him, making eye contact. "You're kinda ugly too." He smiled.
Bruce furrowed his eyebrows, he never thought he was ugly, maybe that was his 'absorbed-ness' giving him that confidence. But he never hated his looks, he thought he was a decent looking guy.
The boy got in his face again and Bruce swore he was about to get kicked in the stomach or something. Bruce hated it, he felt like he couldn't breath.
He pushed the boy away from him, he stumbled back a bit and Bruce was proud that he did that. The boy stared at him, not impressed.
He walked up to Bruce, punching him in the jaw.
Bruce didn't have time to fight back. He had never been punched before, and it hurt, it hurt him real bad. His face felt like it was on fire and to him throbbing dramatically. Tears swelled in his eyes at the new pain and he looked at the boy as he laid another one on Bruce's stomach causing him to lunge over.
Bruce mumbled out a curse as he fell to his knees.
"Pathetic." The boy spat, and he began to walk toward the bathroom doors.
Bruce felt like he was about to throw up, but he couldn't stand, his legs felt like jelly as his stomach cramped.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Bruce heard the familiar voice echo throughout the bathroom.
The boy walked back into the washroom but not willingly. Bruce looked up as he saw Vance look his way. Bruce stared at his icy blue eyes as he watched them shift to something he never saw personally.
Vance looked at the boy who seemed to cower under Vance's stare. Vance grabbed the boys shirt, pushing him against the wall of the washroom, Bruce heard the impact.
Bruce began to stand, pulling on the sink for leverage. He could hear Vance whisper to the boy but he couldn't make it out, all he could see was that the boy didn't like what he was hearing.
The boy pushed against Vance's shoulders causing Vance to punched him in the nose, blood rushing down immediately. Vance punched him again and again and again until the boy fell limp onto the floor.
Bruce watched as Vance stared down at him and Bruce thought he'd keep going. The boys face was bloody and it made Bruce wince at how painful that must've been.
Vance looked over to him, walking over.
"... thanks." Bruce whispered.
"Just because I did that doesn't mean I care about you or anything." Vance was quick to reply, walking toward the sink to wash the blood off his knuckles. "Can't believe some bitch got to punch you before I could."
Bruce tensed, he knew that Vance was just saying that because he was supposed to be a tough guy and he just punched the boy who was picking on Bruce.
Bruce watched as the water turned red and the cuts on Vance's knuckles started to clean.
"I could've handled it." Bruce said, he knew he couldn't but he didn't want to seem weak in-front of him. Vance scoffed, making eye contact with Bruce in the mirror before turning toward him and grabbing Bruce's jaw, tilting it so Vance could see his bruise.
"Totally." Vance's hands were wet and Bruce could imagine the bloody water dripping down his jawline. Bruce turned his head out of his grasp.
Vance grabbed a paper towel, wiping the water off his hands before tossing it in the garbage can and leaving. Bruce wondered why he came into the bathroom, it was like he knew this was going to be happening, that Bruce was getting his ass beat.
-
Bruce sat at the lunch table where his only friends sat. He felt comfortable calling them his friends now, even if it hadn't been too long since he first sat there.
"What happened to you?" Finney asked, his eyes looking sorrowful as he stared in Bruce's direction.
"Nothing, don't worry about it." Bruce smiled, his teeth shining.
He looked out the window, the sky was dark and he suspected it was going to rain which was just perfect since he had practice after school. He could see Vance standing under the bleachers with his friends and Bruce had to force himself to look away.
Billy looked at him with a knowing smile as if he knew something Bruce didn't. Bruce gave him a confused look before tuning into the conversation Robin and Finney were having.
Billy Showalter knew nothing about Bruce Yamada.
YOU ARE READING
Head over Heels || brance
Fanfiction"What's in it for me?" "I'll do anything." "Anything?" _________________________ Bruce Yamada's parents have controlled every aspect of his life since he was in diapers. It was reasonable then, but now that he's about to enter his last year of high...
