amour coriace ( five hargreeves! ) - Chapter 5: Chapter 5

VINCENT HAD NEVER BEEN THIS CLOSE TO FIVE BEFORE. With their shoulders touching slightly and them both leaning slightly close to one another, sharing a cigarette as the cold air nipped at their skin. Along their stroll to Fives sister, Vanyas, apartment, Vincent had pulled out his pack of cigarettes and lit one up. Of course, the sound of the thing being lit up was enough to make Five perk up, plucking the cigarette from between Vincent's lips and taking a puff before he even could.
Vincent hadn't been even slightly angry, glad that Five was finally not as pissed at him as he had been all day. They had passed the cigarette back and forth silently, other than the occasional cough or heavy sigh. Vincent understood that Five wanted nothing to do with him. He knew that Five was very hesitant to even think about bringing him to his sisters humble abode.
The pair had progressively gravitated closer to one another as they walked, close enough that if they turned to face one another they would undoubtedly feel the others hot breath on their face. Vincent had never been this close to him. They had never decided to get this close. Had never made the split decision to hug one another or anything even close. Five had used to sometimes play with Vincent's hair, although he had never actually gotten too close. Not enough that they were quite touching skin to skin. Not like they were now.
Vincent was nervous. His hands felt clammier than usual and his face was a burning red, despite the cold. He didn't know the feeling. It was foreign, an unknown pressure at his gut that made him feel an unbearable sense of anxiety. Not because it was uncomfortable, but because he had no idea what it could be. Being close to Five only ever made the feeling appear, it seemed. He had ruled out the idea of liking Five as more than friends a long time ago, when he was lying in his bed back in France and thinking of the teleporting boy.
He decided that he hadn't thought of their lips pressing against one another enough for it to be a crush. He had thought of kissing Five twice, once when they were lying a few feet away from each other in the end of the world, Five taken over by slumber and Vincent taken over by thoughts; and once when he had left Five and began to feel terribly bad for it. He had thought of what it would be like to comfort Five. He had never gotten to do that. Five was not a particularly emotionally vulnerable person. Or at least, he was good at hiding his emotions.
Vincent, on the other hand, was not. He was too emotional, finding himself crying into his pillow for whatever reason nearly every night. He was sensitive, a total fucking crybaby that couldn't handle anything overwhelmingly upsetting. If faced with something that is hard for him to accept, he'd probably scream and sob, fall unto himself and curl up like a child having a tantrum. But no one would comfort him. No one had ever comforted him before.
He supposed when he was a baby his parents did. Back when they didn't know he had odd freakish abilities that would change their lives. Back when his parents loved him, stroked his cheek and rocked him in their arms when he cried. When he was 7 and turned into his next door neighbors 10 year old daughter for the first time after accidentally falling on top of her in a game of hide and seek, his parents became distant. After that point Vincent had supposed he'd never be held in someones arms again. Never to be kissed on the top of his head again. Never to be rocked back and forth while his emotions ran rampant. Never to be told he's loved again, or told that he deserves to be happy. Not that his parents had ever told him that before, anyway.
Not that anyone had ever told him that.
Vincent still did not believe he had a crush of sorts on Five. Fuck, he felt like he was actually a teenager again. With these middle school discussions in his head in which he debates furiously on whether or not he kinda likes someone. He remembered having a lot of those as a teenager. When he had realized he looked at his old friend Gilbert differently than he looked at his neighbor Louise. When he realized the bodies of boys in the locker room was something he found himself longing to see, unlike all the other boys who wanted to see a naked girl. Vincent was not interested in girls whatsoever.
Sure, they were pretty. Their hair was nice and he liked the way their features were softer than most males, the way their makeup looked even when it was caked on. Although, he did not feel the same way for them he did when he looked at boys. Boys with their messy hair and their crooked noses, blood dripping from their lips all over their teeth and their abs unbelievably sculpted. Boys and their careless attitudes, their stigma that they're better than everyone else while they really are the same. Lord how Vincent loved stupid fucking boys.
Vincent and Five's relationship is different than the relationships he had with boys he had crushes on in high school. Crushes he had in which he'd pull a boy into the janitors closet and they'd make out for a few minutes until they were caught and brought to the principal's office. Those felt different. That was how he knew he did not like Five as more than a friend. He didn't think he'd ever felt more for him than a longing to hug him and comfort him and maybe kiss him every once in a while, touch his hair and run his fingers over his jawline slowly, gently. That was not a crush, was it?
Vincent's inner conflict was interrupted when Five handed the cigarette back into Vincent's fingers silently, their hands brushing against each other gently. Vincent nearly stiffened, but took the cigarette gratefully and placed it between his lips. It tasted slightly of black coffee and peanut butter. Definetly from Five's lips. Vincent didn't mind. He took a long puff from the stick before blowing it out from the corner of his lips, eyes fluttering shut for a moment. He opened them back up when he remembered they were walking in the utter dark, not wanting to bump into something painfully.
He sighed, fidgeting with his hands slightly. He was definetly cold, even with Five's heat radiating off of him. He glanced over at the slightly shorter "teenager," finding that he didn't seem phased by the cold at all. How the hell he seemed so nonchalant about the freezing air was beyond Vincent. Vincent wanted to break the awkward silence, crack a joke or start a conversation. Although, he didn't know what to say. Couldn't bring himself to open his mouth and spew a word only to get Five to tell him some bullshit excuse of an answer in response to a genuine question like he'd been doing all day.
Vincent huffed a bit under his breath, earning a glance from Five. Five's eyebrow raised, nudging Vincent's shoulder with his own a bit too roughly. Vincent grumbled under his breath at the slight pain of the impact, rolling his eyes. "Why are you so pissed all of a sudden? I should be the pissed one, you have been following me around all day." Five spoke, hand coming up to take the cigarette from between Vincent's lips.
"You have me pissed, you total fucking dickhead. You won't answer any of my questions. I worked 3 fucking jobs for your sorry excuse of an ass just for you to shrug me off like I'm nothing. And I don't even give a shit about you anymore-" Lie. "- I never gave a shit about you. You've always been the godamn worst-" Lie. "- the worst friend, the worst person, the worst fucking ever. I hated all the time I had with you and I hate the time we have now." Lie. "And I never should have come here." Vincent rambled, voice cracking a few times, something he'd blame going through puberty again on, as he stuck his hands into the pockets of his pants.
Five chuckled a bit, shaking his head. "You're right. You shouldn't have come here." He spoke. "You are dumb for coming here. Absolutely stupid. I thought I'd never see your face again and I would have liked to keep it that way." He chuckled. "But you ruin everything, don't you?" He snapped, throwing the cigarette on the ground and putting it out with the heel of his shoe roughly.
Vincent held his breath as Five spoke, bit his tongue and squeezed his eyes shut as he looked at the ground. His nails dug into his palms as he huffed out shakily, walking a bit faster. Five being mad at him had always been something he despised. Five had gotten mad at him a few times, yelled at him without realizing how it usually affected him. It was for understandable reasons, things Vincent had done stupidly. He had brought the anger onto himself.
He supposed he hated it so much because of his parents. How horrible they were to him, how the only attention he got from them was them yelling curses at him from the bottom of the stairs when he didn't put something away in the right place. Vincent didn't care about his parents, didn't care about what they had to say about him or about who he associated himself with. What he did was his own business and those who brought him into the world had nothing to do with it. All they had done was bring him into a world he did not want to be in. What was so special about that?
Vincent and Five again stayed silent for the rest of the time, almost sighing in relief when Five stopped walking, standing in front of an apartment building. "This is Vanyas." He spoke simply before disappearing in a blue puff, reappearing up at the open windowsill leading to Vanya's apartment.
Vincent's eyebrows furrowed. "Fuck no, Five. You think I can climb? I have the worst upper body strength known to man." He yelled up at Five, who simply shrugged. "You make everything harder for me, don't you? And you say I ruin everthing." He cursed under his breath before beginning to climb up the wall slowly, almost losing his grip multiple times. It was no lie that he was horrible at climbing, despite doing it consistently to get into his own home. He had never had to climb this high before.
He lost his footing a few times, muttering a curse or a vulgar word in French as he gripped tightly. Eventually, he got inside, rolling onto the ground with a noise of pain as Five closed the window. "Now was that that hard?" Five asked smugly. Vincent sat up on the ground, head leaning against a chair.
"Oh, it was dandy." Vincent spoke jokingly, out of breath. He was not physically active at all, if it was not obvious enough. "You're a cheater, y'know? Using your ugly fucking powers." He huffed as he moved to sit on the chair he had been leant against. Five sat on the chair opposite of him.
"Like you haven't used your powers to your advantage. Changing dimensions and changing into people." Five chuckled. "For example, how did you get those cigarettes without getting a scratch on you?" He questioned, pointing to Vincent's pocket where the pack of cigarettes was placed carelessly.
"Okay, fuck off. I may have become one man to get these but that was all." Vincent sighed. "Which means my body is gonna start to hurt like a fucking bitch so you better be giving me somewhere to stay." He hissed in annoyance.
Five rolled his eyes. "I'm not giving you somewhere to stay. Vanya will be. You can stay here with me, I guess. But we're not sharing a bed." He spoke firmly, although his voice wavered a bit towards the end, like he was embarrassed.
Vincent snorted in amusement. "Why not? Afraid you'll wake up with a stiffy? I really don't mind." He grinned jokingly, shaking his head as he stretched out his arm above him. "I haven't actually gone to another dimension for years. Kinda forgot how to do it. As fucking weird as that is." He sighed, head leaning back.
Five chuckled, "It makes sense. We were gone for a very long time. You're not going to remember how to do all your abilities." He explained. Although, Vincent did not care too much. He yawned, body growing more and more tired and pained at the same time. It always felt like pins and needles all over every inch of his body, pressing against his skin like a painful itch he couldn't get to go away.
Both him and Five jumped slightly when the door opened, revealing a shocked Vanya in all her glory. She blinked slowly, eyes moving in between the pair. "Jesus!" She cursed, closing the door behind her and locking it. She walked over to her small kitchen, placing down her keys and violin.
"You should get locks on your windows." Five spoke up simply, shrugging his shoulders. Vincent rolled his eyes at the comment but did agree.
Vanya chuckled, baffled. "I live on the second floor." She spoke with a chuckle, turning back to look at them as she sat on the couch.
"Rapists can climb." Five spoke, raising his eyebrows for a moment. Vincent watched Five for a moment before turning to Vanya.
"You are so weird." Vanya chuckled, shaking her head. "You're Vincent, right? Five told me a bit about you earlier. After he kicked you out." She explained. Vincent nodded slowly, watching as Vanyas attention moved back to her brother. "Is that blood?" She asked, moving closer as she saw the blood leaking from Five's wrist.
Vincent glanced over, eyebrows furrowing. How had he not noticed at all that Five was basically bleeding out as they walked? He shook off the thoughts as he heard Five mutter a "it's nothing." "Why are you two here?" She questioned with a sigh.
Five shrugged. "I've decided you're the only one I can trust." He spoke. "And no, I do not trust Vincent. Not one bit. And you shouldn't either. I only brought him here because I had to." He explained.
Vincent rolled his eyes, slumping down further in his chair. "Love you too, Hargreeves." He huffed under his breath, running a frustrated hand over his face.
Vanya raised her eyebrow. "Why me?" She questioned, clearly confused. Five chuckled, shaking his head as she moved closer to her.
"Because you're ordinary. Because you'll listen." Five spoke. Vanya nodded her head, eyes darting between Five and Vincent, Vincent who had his eyes shut, curled up like a child against the chair. Vanya did not mind. "When I jumped forward and got stuck in the future, do you know what I found?" He asked. Vanya shook her head. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing. As far as I could tell, I was the last person left alive. Except for Vincent." He glanced over at the boy, fighting back a gentle smile at the sight of the half asleep Vincent. He looked back at Vanya. "I never figured out what killed the human race, but I did find something else. The date it happens." Five inhaled sharply. "The world ends in eight days, and I have no idea how to stop it."
Vanyas eyes widened as she stood up slowly. "I'll put on a pot of coffee." She mumbled, at the same time that Vincent looked up at Five, muttering an "Oh, fuck."