Head over Heels || brance

XXVI

Bruce stared at the girl that stood at Vance's side. He felt that he couldn't take his eyes off her, he could feel a pit of jealousy form in his stomach and no matter how hard he tried to advert his attention to the singer or Billy, who was now dancing with some random old lady who was dancing beside him, he just couldn't. It hadn't been that long since the whole thing between them happened, he didn't understand how Vance could move on so quickly, but then again, what they had wasn't real.

Bruce felt his mouth tingling and he finally let the heat of the crowd and the summer hit his body. He looked around him, seeing his friends enjoying themselves, so he decided to excuse himself and push past all the bodies surrounding them. As he made it a bit further away, finding himself standing near the smoking pit, the fumes burning his nostrils, he could finally feel his body cool down.

He felt sick. He was having fun which was a bit unexpected but he was glad he had decided to go. He knew he needed to get out of the house a bit, he had even heard his mother talking to him about joining summer baseball late, but he wasn't really paying attention. After seeing Vance in the crowd with some girl, he felt like he should've just stayed home and used that thirty dollars on snacks or something.

He felt the presence of someone at his side, and the smell of smoke was closer. He turned his head to see some guy he didn't know but Bruce could tell he was totally stoned. The man was bobbing his head around with the beat, his long brown hair swaying with his movements. He looked at Bruce and Bruce held his breath when the man offered his joint to Bruce.

"You want some?" He asked. Bruce looked down at the man's hand and he hesitated even though he knew he wouldn't take it. He made eye contact with him again before shaking his head softly. "This guy is really good, huh? I watched him live once in Seattle, he was amazing, the crowd was absolute." Bruce just stared at him a bit dumbfound at his words.

"Um, yeah, he's good." Bruce agreed.

"His lyrics are pretty meaningful too, ya know. Like if you really sit and listen, you'll be like 'woah'. It hits deep sometimes." The man stared at the stage again and Bruce turned his hearing to the words of the singer, listening to the words of the song. The song, as far as Bruce could tell, was about driving on coasts, living with money, and girls. He didn't find it meaningful, but he wasn't going to say anything to the man. "You here alone?"

Bruce looked at him again, watching as he took a hit off his joint and Bruce couldn't help but grimace as he imagined it entering his body.

"No, I'm not. I just needed a moment, the crowds a lot." He said as the song died down to move onto a new one. The man nodded from his side. From the man's side profile, Bruce could feel like he recognised him from somewhere, maybe that was why he was beginning to not feel so uncomfortable with the man talking to him.

Bruce watched as the man finished his smoke before he put it in his pocket and turned to Bruce. He tried his best not to make some weird face to show his confusion as the man just stared at him, Bruce would pass it off as he was high.

"Wanna dance with me?" The man asked and Bruce hesitated. The song playing was pretty fast and upbeat, Bruce kind of wanted to dance to it.

Bruce looked at the crowd sharply, from where he was standing he wouldn't be able to see his friends but he knew he should get back to them soon before they suspect something is wrong or something happened to him. He turned back to the man before nodding.

The man smiled and allowed Bruce to lead him through the crowd. He remembered the path he took to get to the smoking pit, and he was able to find them quickly when he saw Billy jumping around from older woman to older woman. When Bruce stopped moving, the man instantly started dancing, grabbing onto Bruce's hand to make sure he'd dance too.