~The Black Phone • Vance x Finney~

-Chapter 11-

Tw/cw: Self-harm, child abuse, cigarette, violence, swearing

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‘Who else would be here this late at night,’ Finney questioned.

“Sorry, what?” Finney looked around for where the voice came from. He stood up and walked to the aisle in front of him. 

Robin.

“Oh hey, Finn,” Robin says. He gets hit on the back of the head by….Vance?
“Go fuck off, Robin,” he says, inhaling from his cigarette that has ash barely hanging onto the end.

“Jeez, man. Sor-rey."

Robin stands up and asks for a drag from Finney with his eyes. Finney nods and hands the raven-haired boy the smoke. Robin inhales the vapor into his lungs, observing Finney. He seemed confused and concerned while exhaling. Why? He smiles worriedly at Finney and hands it back. He walks to the door and waves, shoving the doors open and walking out.

Finney looks back at Vance who looks like he’s deep in thought. Finney walks and sits down next to him before inhaling some smoke. He waits and waits to exhale. He does not want to. He feels as if he should just hold his breath. Hold his breath till everything turns black. He slowly exhales the smoke, reluctantly. Vance takes one glance at the boy and immediately puts out his cig.

“FINN. WHAT THE FUCK DID HE DO TO YOU.”

Finney hears and feels the boy’s loud voice vibrate through the whole store. Vance is now cupping the boy’s face and rapidly observing the injuries that Finney didn’t even know he had. His face has large red welts and on his arms are the same looking welts. The only difference is the fact his arms are starting to turn blue and dark pink. Those were bruises. And they were freaking huge. 

“That fucking bastard! I’ll fucking KILL HIM!!” 

Vance sprung up and started stomping towards the door. Finney gripped his arm and pulled back in hopes of getting the boy to stop. The enraged boy was barely affected by this and continued his way to the doors. Finney continued to pull at the boy. He did not listen so Finney had no choice but to yank him back with all his might. Vance toppled back, bewildered. Finney gripped the boy's shoulders tightly, hoping to calm him down when he says,

"VANCE! I'm fine! Just-" He sighs. "Can we please talk about something else?"

Vance glares at the boy, a tiny vein visible on his forehead. 

"Fine." He wiggles from Finney's grip and grabs the boy's wrist, almost squeezing the blood from his veins. They sit back down. Vance is still holding onto Finney's hand. Soon enough he returns the affection by clutching the blonde's calloused hand. It's silly, their hands can barely fit together but they make it work. 

"Why do you let people treat you like this, Finney," the blonde questions, not daring to let go of the hand that envelops his own. Despite the large and ample building, a fat quiet lays on top of Finney. Suffocating him. 

"I was always taught to stay out of things. To deal with it, brush it off," he finally answers. 

Finney looks at the boy who's already staring. His eyes meld with Finney's, the brown and blue mixing together to make never-ending galaxies. Finney is everything he has ever dreamed of. Even if he did not know it at first.

He just cannot help himself. Vance breaks eye contact by closing his blue ones and leans into Finney, colliding their lips in a synchronized motion. Finney is taken aback but melts into the other's tart lips, starting to claw at the boy's neck. Finney tastes lemonade on Vance's soft lips. Vance tastes the tangerine and mango on Finney's breath. Finney grabs onto Vance's denim vest collar and Vance grips the back of Finney's neck. It is as if they are not close enough. Vance yanks Finney onto his lap, pressing their lips together once more. At Finney's desperate and feeble attempts for oxygen, the blonde finally leans back, granting the other a break. 

As Vance watches the boy catch his breath, he immediately regrets it all. He feels furious. Enraged even. Finney looks at Vance and immediately knows something is wrong.

"What? What happened–"

"Get off of me. Freak."

'What? No, no, he kissed me, right? I didn’t imagine it, right?' 

 Finney's overthinking was interrupted by a harsh pull on his collar, lifting him; Vance holding him in the air. Finney looked back with complete and utter horror. Vance hesitated but swung on Finney. He fell to the ground, clenching his jaw with his hand. His mouth started to taste like metal and the physical pain was beginning to set in.

“Don’t talk to me. Don’t call me. Don’t even look at me. Fucking queer,” Vance stated, bitterly.

Each word hit Finney in the chest like a bullet. Even Vance felt tears threatening to fall as he looked at the sad boy below him. He pushed the tears away, just as he had pushed Finney away. He slammed the doors of the deserted store open and stomped out. He felt fuming….angry….abrupt…And as he continued to stomp away toward home it slowly turned into a sorrowful trudge. 

***

That night, Finney cried and cut himself to sleep on the cold tile of his bathroom. He felt worthless, stupid, idiotic, and even angry. It wasn’t an unknown emotion to him, being angry, but it takes a bit to set him off, and boy, did this do it. He wasn't particularly angry at Vance–though he didn’t help–but more at himself for being dense enough to expose himself like that. 

Meanwhile: Vance punches holes into his wall, sobs, curses, and bleeds. His knuckles bleed so much it starts dripping down his arms and his hands don't even look like hands. He isn't angry at Finney. This was not Finney's fault. Instead, he thinks:

'I just kissed a fucking boy. And I liked it. When…when did this….what was I thinking. Even if it wasn't a bad thing he wouldn't even return the feelings. I'm too much of an asshole. Tonight proves it too, I shoved him off of me after I kissed him. And then I had to make it worse by punching him square in the face. I'm such a moron, god, WHY AM I ALWAYS LIKE THIS.' 

He falls to the floor and sobs. He is a violent sea of endless emotion. He's never been like this, never. 

Finney's just special. 

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Hey babies. I'm sorry for the angst😭
Has to be done at some point😔

Also sorry about the short chapter. I felt like leaving u guys to suffer waiting for the next chapter❤️

Jkjk. Sorta. I wanted a bit of a cliffhanger this time. Do not worry. This is not the end of this book.

You guys kill me in the comments istg.

Song recommendation: Blackstar-David Bowie
It's like ten mins but trust me. It's mind-blowing.

LOVE YOUUUUUU
MWUAH. HEY. DONT AVOID MY KISSES. COME HERE. MWUUUAGGH. HA. GOTCHA.