i'll only pick you - brance [COMPLETED]

Six

Bruce and Vance sat in Vance's mom's car, their seats leaned back, as they looked out the windows into the empty parking lot. "What were you doing sitting outside?" Vance asked, looking to Bruce who was still staring out the window.

"Me and my girlfriend got into an argument so I went outside to take a breather," Bruce explained, closing his eyes as he let out a sigh. "My little sister was outside with me, checking on me. And honestly trying to shake some gossip out of me."

Vance nodded his head, slightly laughing at the last part. "Not to be nosy, but what were you guys arguing about?" Vance asked quietly.

"At dinner my parents asked about this one dude, and she started to say he wasn't that bad, but she was super flustered," Bruce rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed by it, "so then we were arguing afterwards. She told me she'd never cheat on me with him."

"Do you believe her?" Vance inquired.

Bruce turned and looked at Vance, looking him up and down before smiling. "No," he shrugged, "I don't think she's his type."

Vance caught on, piecing it together. He sat up quickly with a sorry expression on his face. "Shit, man, I'm sorry," he frowned.

Bruce sat up as well, shrugging, "not your fault she's into you." He suddenly reached in the backseats, grabbing a football he had noticed when he originally got in the car. "Wanna go out and throw this for a bit?" He suggested.

Vance smiled slightly, "sure."

Bruce and Vance got out of the car, thankfully both in appropriate jackets for how cold it is. Before they stepped onto the football field, Vance put his hand firmly on Bruce's shoulder. "Seriously, man, I'm sorry," he repeated like earlier.

Bruce stared at Vance for a second, no real expression on his face. "It's fine, Vance," Bruce put his hand on Vance's arm that was stuck out on his shoulder. "Like I said, not your fault she likes you," he said, smiling softly, "I mean look at you. If I was a girl I'd totally be so into you."

Vance kept the grin on his face, but deep down he was mixed. His heart was racing, but his stomach had sank. 'If I was a girl'. Vance figured Bruce wasn't gay, he had a girlfriend after all, but hearing those words hurt. "Thanks," Vance laughed awkwardly as they soon went to play with the football.

After a while they were just sitting on the field, looking at the stars. "Soooo...where you want to go after this?" Vance asked, glancing at Bruce. Well, not glancing, but staring. He couldn't help it.

"What do you mean?" Bruce grinned, looking at Vance who seems lost in his thoughts. He could feel as Vance's eyes looked at his face and his body and he couldn't help but blush harshly. Vance's intense staring was another thing that made Bruce nervous. He didn't know what it was about it. Maybe it was the fact it was so intense.

"I mean like," Vance started before going quiet again. "I mean, where do you wanna go after here? Like the football field."

"Oh," Bruce nodded, now understanding. He thought for a moment. "I'm honestly super tired, but I can't go home cause I told everyone I was going to Robin's," he yawned.

Vance hummed, nodding his head softly. "Wanna go back to my mom's place?" Vance asked, a sly smile on his face.

"Won't she just yell at you for taking her car?" Bruce asked, suspicious and a little nervous.

"Nah, not as long as you're there," Vance giggled. Bruce rolled his eyes at the thought of being Vance's escape for getting in trouble, but he smiled cause that was so Vance. "C'mon," Vance stood, holding out his hand for Bruce to grab. Bruce did and they walked to the car together, still holding hands without thinking about it.

In the car Bruce was honestly falling asleep. He was only brought back to being fully awake when Vance started to talk to him. "I changed my mind, if you don't mind," he started to explain, a yawn coming in between his sentence, "I wanna crash at my best friend's apartment."

"I'm cool with it," Bruce shrugged, he himself yawning. "As long as they're okay with me being there."

"She'll be fine with it," Vance grinned, turning on the radio. Some bland rock music played, which oddly tired Bruce even more. He smiled as Vance would sing along to whatever song came on, claiming each song was his favorite. Bruce would recognise a few artists here and there; Ozzy Osbourne, KISS, Aerosmith. "Oh, this one's definitely my favorite," Vance nodded, turning the volume up as some song by a band Led Zeppelin came on.

Bruce noticed Vance heavily favoured songs by them. Every one that came up he'd say it was his favorite in a different fashion than any other song. He liked that the blond admired music, which was a weird thought. A weird thought that Vance admired something.

But that didn't matter when they pulled up to the apartment complex that Vance's best friend apparently lived in. For some reason, a wave of familiarity washed over Bruce. He couldn't put his finger on it—until he took a look of his surroundings. Finney had told him that Robin's uncle lived in this apartment complex, and it was a nice complex. The richer side of apartment owners chose this complex most of the time.

"Ready to go inside?" Vance murmured, unsure if Bruce was awake.

Bruce turned his head and gave him a small smile before saying, "yeah."

They got out of the car and Vance smiled up at a woman who was smoking at the balcony above them. Bruce sort of recognised her. He remembered when she honked at him while he was going to the store. It made sense how her and Vance were friends. She looked down at them with a smile before they got up the steps.

"That's a fancy car for you, Hopper," The woman giggled as they walked closer to her. She nodded at Vance's mom's car, examining it. "Too nice for you."

"It's my mom's, jackass," Vance huffed, but a smile grew on his face. Bruce awkwardly stood slightly behind Vance, a small smile on his face. But suddenly Vance grabbed his hand pulling him next to him, then pushing him in front. "This is my friend Bruce," he said, his hand on Bruce's shoulder, "Bruce, that's my friend Michelle."

Michelle smiled at Bruce, reaching out and shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you, kid," she softly spoke. "Vance has a said a lot about you."

Bruce felt his cheeks get warm, but he then realised he needed to respond back. He didn't want to look like a complete dork, obviously. "Nice to meet you too, ma'am."

"No need to be formal," Michelle laughed softly, glancing back at Vance who was red, "call me Michelle." Bruce nodded with a small grin. Michelle honestly reminded him of Vance. Her hair was frizzy and messy, and she had blue eyes. Though, her hair was bleached, and she wore heavy makeup. "What are you two doing here?" She asked.

"Wondering if we could crash here," Vance spoke up before Bruce even thought of an answer. Bruce glanced back at him, making eye contact and smiling softly. For once Vance had thought something out, and Bruce thought that was...cute.

Michelle glanced between the two before asking Bruce, "is your family alright with this? I don't want to get in trouble."

Bruce quickly nodded, "they're fine with it." Michelle nodded before turning and allowing them to come inside her fancy apartment. Bruce glanced around as she showed him around, occasionally looking at Vance who was really lost in his own thoughts. "You have a nice place," Bruce kindly commented.

"Thank you," Michelle laughed softly. She then turned to Vance, who was still zoned out. "Go show him to you guys' room, please," she requested, bringing Vance out of his thoughts, "I need some shut eye as well."

Vance nodded with a small grin before turning to Bruce, "come on. I'll lend you some clean clothes too."

"Thanks," Bruce smiled softly.