❝ PRETTY FACE ❞
October 2nd, 2021
REAL LIFE — THEO!
BLOOD DRIBBLED FROM HIS NOSE, the skin on his palms scraped and stinging, as tears mixed with the salty taste of copper on his lips. His back pressed against a wall of the train station, vision swimming with black spots and his heart pounding with adrenaline. Above, a woman's voice spoke up, telling him that the next and final train to Nottinghamshire was now pulling into the station.
Theo pulled himself to his feet and stumbled toward the tracks.
Maybe it would be best to start at the beginning.
Everything started, as it normally had, that morning; Tubbo woke up last and ate the pancakes Ranboo had made as Theo and Ranboo watched a Simpsons episode neither had seen before. Tubbo sat on the edge of the couch and casually mentioned that one of his neighbors was throwing an early Halloween party that he wanted to attend, his voice trailing off in a silent admittance — I don't want to go alone.
Theo and Ranboo shared a look and both said they wanted to go.
Theo regretted that now.
They'd arrived at 9 p.m., an hour after the party had begun. The smell of alcohol had hit Theo's nose, invading his senses the moment he had stepped foot into the house. A boy, who couldn't be older than Theo was, passed by drinking vodka straight from the bottle. Theo cringed, looking away, but the sight was similar all around the room.
"Shit," Tubbo said, looking at his two friends. "Sorry, guys, I didn't know people would be drinking." He sounded genuinely upset, as if thinking that Ranboo and Theo going to look down on him for bringing them to this party. Theo believed him; Tubbo wouldn't have asked them to come if he'd thought they would be uncomfortable.
"It's fine, dude. Shit happens," Theo said, speaking louder to make up for the volume of the music shaking the floorboards.
Ranboo shrugged. He wasn't wearing his mask and glasses, figuring no one would recognize him at this house party in the suburbs. "As long as none of us drink, whatever. Our place is close by so it's not like we have to stay if we don't want to," he explained. Theo nodded in agreement.
The party was too loud.
People moved around the house in costumes of various different characters and celebrities, dancing, yelling, and chugging cheap beer found in the back of Tyler Thomason's dad's fridge. Tubbo promised he didn't know that the other teenagers at the party would be drinking, but the three boys had agreed to stay and see where the night went.
Theo wanted to go home.
But he put on a brave face and walked further into the party, Tubbo and Ranboo at his side. Tubbo slipped off to greet some of his friends that he knew from living in the neighborhood. Ranboo and Theo pressed themselves up against a wall in the back of the room, unfortunately near the minibar that people swarmed to get drinks from.
"I'm proud of you," Theo said over the noise, though still keeping his voice softer so their conversation remained between them.
Ranboo gave him an amused look, lips quirking up. "Oh? Why?" Theo motioned to his own face, making the motion of pulling a mask down. Ranboo hummed, nodding quietly. "Yeah. Figured I could at least test it out. It's been good so far! Though my nose was a little cold on the walk over."
Theo snorted. "I'll make you a scarf for it," he teased. Ranboo smiled at him.
The song changed to a softer one, slower, but it was still enough to make Theo's teeth feel like they were rattling inside of his mouth. His vision blurred for a moment, disorientation making it difficult to focus, but a moment later he realized that a girl was standing in front of Ranboo.
She was shorter than Ranboo but taller than Theo, though not by much since she was wearing heels; her crop-top was somewhat covered by the jean jacket wrapped around her shoulders, and her jeans complimented both pieces of clothes nicely; her blonde hair came down in a ponytail over her shoulders, a shy smile on her lips as she looked up at the streamer she didn't recognize.
"Hi!" she greeted, and Theo was thankful that she didn't smell like alcohol. "I'm Emma. Do you want to dance?"
Theo swallowed as his heart dropped into his stomach, glancing up at Ranboo who wore a look of surprise that melted into nervousness before he smiled.
"Uh," he started, glancing at Theo, who held his gaze with an unreadable look. "Sure."
Theo tried not to cry.
Why did he ever let himself think that Ranboo could be his?
Ranboo smiled at Theo softly. "It's not every day I get to be normal," he said before Emma dragged him into the crowd to dance.
And as Theo watched them move together, hands interwind and glowing under the neon lights, he found that he couldn't even be angry with either of them; Emma seemed nice and he couldn't blame her for finding the confidence to ask Ranboo to dance with her and Ranboo . . . well, Ranboo wanted to be normal.
Maybe he didn't consider liking boys to be normal.
It wasn't too late to go home, Theo decided as he turned away from the sight, eyes locking on the door as he began to move. The cold air of the night settled into his bones immediately, turning his nose and cheeks a faint red as the cold bit at his skin, but he found that it helped calm him down. He was able to see his breath in front of his eyes and focus on the fact that it was getting to be too fast and he needed to slow it down before he had a panic attack in the middle of Tubbo's neighbor's yard.
Tubbo's house was around the corner. He just had to walk.
He could hear the music even as he got further away from the house, though the ground was no longer shaking underneath his feet. He wondered how the police hadn't been called yet, but maybe the party was allowed to go until a certain time before it had to shut down. Theo only hoped that Ranboo and Tubbo weren't there if the police were called, though he knew they would be fine if they were.
Theo slipped his freezing hands into the pockets of his hoodie, realizing too late that it was Ranboo's hoodie he was wearing. He had complained about it being cold on the walk over and Ranboo had sacrificed his hoodie because of Theo's stupidity. Theo had felt so warm, and now all he felt was numb.
This was stupid. It was one dance! It's not like Ranboo and Emma were now engaged to be married! For Christ's sake, he needed to get his head out of his ass and do what Tommy said — just tell Ranboo that he liked him. Ask him out. Take him on a cute sightseeing date and just—
Stop being a coward.
Theo was a coward.
Tubbo's house was in his line of sight when Theo felt a foot connect with the back of his knees, sending him to the ground with a cry of shock. A laugh sounded above him, sounding no older than he was.
"Ooo-hoo-hoo! We got a pretty boy over here!" another voice crowed. Theo flipped onto his back, pushing himself into a sitting position. He was faced with three boys who couldn't have been older than him — they looked far too young but smelled too much like booze and weed. Had they come from the party, or were they already out and about? Theo supposed that it didn't matter at that moment, or ever.
"What the fuck?" he hissed, attempting to stand up. He was surprised that the boys let him. Perhaps they knew they had numbers on their side. "What do you want?"
"Your money," another boy said, the one on the right. "You've got nice clothes. That, uh, YouTuber merch does you no favors, we all know how expensive that is," he said, motioning to Ranboo's hoodie — crap. "So you've got bank. Hand it over."
"Fuck no," Theo snapped. Even if he had money on him, he wouldn't give it to these fuckers.
The guy in the middle, the leader, raised his eyebrows. "That's not very nice," he drawled. "Come on, man, you know we're stronger. Just make this easier for all of us and give us your wallet." Somehow, he managed to sound saner than the other two. He was the one that had been laughing, had been the one to kick Theo down. Maybe he wasn't so sane.
Theo took a step back, raising his hands in front of him, which still stung from their contact with the pavement. If he ran now, he risked leading them to Tubbo's house; they were kids, but what if he put Lani in danger? Teagan? Tubbo's parents, or even Rocky the cat? On the other hand, they were blocking the way back to the party, where he could easily duck inside and find Tubbo or Ranboo as a backup.
Theo was contemplating his next course of action when the guy on the left, the one who had called him a pretty boy, finally jumped him, having enough of Theo's stalling.
Theo screamed as he hit the ground but his mouth was immediately covered, dirty hands muffling any noise he could make. One of the boys delivered a swift kick to his ribs, making black appear in Theo's vision. He struggled against the weight of the boy on top of him, but he was stronger and taller and Theo was—
Another kick, this time to the face. Theo's nose immediately blossomed with pain and he choked on the blood that suddenly entered his throat. He felt hands all over him and just thanked God that they weren't sexual — no, the hands were looking for his wallet, which Theo never kept on him unless he planning on buying something.
"Shit," the guy on top of him said. "He's got nothing."
"Damn," the leader said simply. "Come on, then. There's more of 'em coming from the party, let's go wait."
Theo was let go, left on the sidewalk as the three boys ran, and he couldn't even bring himself to cry.
Theo stumbled to his feet, legs shaking, and pressed a hand to his nose. He flinched at the sharp pain that hit him like a truck but knew he needed to move before Tubbo or Ranboo found him like this.
The night had started so well. Theo had actually been looking forward to the party! He had been excited for what was to come that night, dancing and hanging with his friends, getting to be a normal teenager. Now he was getting blood on Ranboo's sweater and stifling sobs of pain and hurt as he ran, not even sure where he was going.
He should have stayed home with Techno. None of this would have happened if he had stayed with Techno. He would be able to support his brother and he wouldn't be wondering if his nose was broken and he wouldn't be crying because his chest ached just as much as his heart did when he saw Ranboo dancing with that girl he couldn't even remember the name of.
Theo was in the train station before he even realized it, his back pressed against a wall. The station was nearly empty, save for a few adults waiting by the tracks. Theo's head pounded with an incoming migraine and he's pretty sure his nose has stopped bleeding but the blood has crusted over, making it hard to move his mouth. Thank god he had at least brought a mask to the party, just in case. Now all anyone could see were his bloodshot eyes.
Being perceived as high was better than being seen as weak.
The next and final train to Nottinghamshire was now pulling into the station.
Theo stumbled toward the tracks.
At the party, Ranboo frowned at his phone, looking at Tubbo with a concerned look when the other boy confirmed that Theo wasn't at the party and had never gone back to Tubbo's house.
He sent a simple message to Theo — where'd you go?
Unread, the message would haunt Ranboo for the rest of the night.