/ 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦-𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴／

／𝘉𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺／

TW: homophobia, f slur, abuse

bruce is 15 and vance is 16, 1980s

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"hey look, it's little yamada."

bruce knew it was too good to be true.

he couldn't go a day without being picked on by  vance and his little boyfriends.

ever since the first day of high school, the older boys took a liking to bother the younger. at first bruce was scared to death, but now he was annoyed more than anything. he didn't dare speak back though. do you know what vance hopper can do?

bruce was currently trying to navigate his way to lunch, but of course he had to be bothered.

"hey you little asian freak, gonna give me my money?" bruce mentally rolled his eyes. those sad little boys had nothing better to do than make fun of someone's race. he looked back at them with an expressionless look.

he tried his best to focus on the boy talking to him, but vance was standing right there. how could someone not stare? vance was gorgeous to say the least. well, up close he was.

today he looked especially stunning, hair back in a low ponytail, jeans and a white t-shirt. not to mention his cool varsity letterman jacket.

instead of staring back at bruce, vance just looked ahead and smoked his cigarette. bruce wished he could share one with him.

"hey! i'm talkin to ya little kid." the dude, matty, snarled at him. bruce's thoughts were rudely interrupted, making him slightly scowl at the boy.

"what?" matty's face turned sour. "don't fucking 'what' me bitch, give me the money you owe." holding out his hand. he expected bruce to owe him money for nothing? the younger boy looked at him in disbelief. "but i don't owe you anything-"

matty had enough. he grabbed bruce by the collar of his jacket and slammed him up against a locker. bruce immediately looked for vance's help, but found him staring off somewhere else.

'of course vance wouldn't help you idiot. he doesn't even like guys. what makes you think he'll like someone like you?-' bruce's thoughts ran wild, face turning red of embarrassment. how pitiful he must look.

"you gonna just keep spacing out of are you gonna listen little boy?" matty was directly in bruce's face. the brunette cringed at the olders foul breath smell.

"gross, you'd breath stinks. did your mom ever teach you to brush?" bruce blurted out, plugging his nose. oh how he wished he had kept shut.

mattys eyes went wide, completely baffled that someone as weak and small as bruce could back talk. mattys friends erupted into semi-quiet laughs. it was quite funny to hear some scrawny kid throw shade at the one and only matty.

"you think you're so funny you little bitch?" matty spat at the younger. bruce looked down at the floor, too afraid to meet his eyes. "what's wrong you little pussy? cat got your tongue?"

bruce kept his head down.

if he just ignored matty for a few minutes, he'd get bored and go on his merry way. but maybe bruce took it too far this time. the bully decided he had to teach him a lesson.

he swung his fist at the pinned boy, hitting it on the side of his face. bruce was stunned. nobody's ever actually hit him before. he was shocked to say the least.

bruce looked around for help, tears welding in his eyes. he locked with vance, who was actually looking at him with....a worried expression? but just as quickly as it came, it left.