Archive of Our Own ^beta

Bruce tugged onto Edward’s hand. “C’mon Bruce. I’m not sure I’m allowed to be back here.”

“You’re in choir, you’re allowed to be here just as much as Selina and I are,” Bruce said, a smile lightly grazing their face. “Just come on Edward. You won’t get in trouble.” They walked into the hall leading to the band room. The hallway was small, only leading to the back of the stage and band room. They took a left and walked to the white doors of the band room. “Edward,” They paused briefly before continuing. “You don’t have to be here if you don’t want to.”

“Bruce. I, uh, I do. I’ve just never done this before. No one at the orphanage ever, you know. There was this one kid who smoked cigarettes but she never shared any. I’m just anxious, I don’t want to die or become addicted or get lung cancer!” Edward looked down.

“I know you’re worried but none of that is going to happen. It’s going to be okay Edward. You can back out at any moment if you want to, no one will mind.” Bruce grabbed Edward’s hand and led him into the bandroom. They walked to the back behind the drums. Behind them were two people. Edward reconfized Selina Kyle, Bruce’s ex-girlfriend and Selina’s current girlfriend, Annika. Edward thought back to last year, Bruce was really torn up about their breakup with Selina. They were friends now though.

“Hey Vengeance.” Selina smiled at Bruce as she said the nickname she came up with for them. Edward was not sure where it came from but felt as though it probably spawned from Bruce’s extreme need to stop bullies. That was how them and Edward met. They protected him from some bullies. That was at the beginning of their sophomore year and that was almost a full year ago. They’ve been friends ever since. “Oh hey, Eddie. You never come here during fifth.”

“I brought him here. He wanted to see your tricks.” Bruce said and Selina instantly smiled with pride.

“Ah. Well sit down. Baby would you pass me the Hyde?” Selina turned to her girlfriend. Annika nodded and slid the vape over. Edward sat down next to Bruce and Annika so now all of them were in a circle. Selina hit it and then held the smoke in her mouth for a minute. Then she tilted her head up and let the smoke come out of her mouth in an ‘O’ shape. She blew a couple more then exhaled the rest of the smoke.

“Oh my God. That’s so, wow.” Edward exclaimed. Selina and Annika laughed at his reaction while Bruce just gave a faint smile.

“That was O’s. Now watch Annika French Inhale.” Selina slid the vape over to her girlfriend. Annika took it and puffed it. She swirled her cheeks around for a moment like she was gargling mouthwash. Then she stuck her bottom lip out and smoke came pouring out. Instead of it just falling naturally, Annika re-inhaled it through her nose.

“Holy shit. That was like erotic.” Edward smiled and everyone chuckled. Even Bruce blew air out their nose. Bruce patted the ground a couple times. Annika slide the vape over to them. Bruce inhaled it then kept the smoke in their mouth for a while. They blew a big ball of smoke out and re-inahled it suddenly.

“That, Eddie, was ghosting. Brucie’s the best at it.” Selina said coolly. Everyone, excluding Edward, took turns vaping and doing the occasional trick. Then Bruce patted Edward on the shoulder and offered the vape.

“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t want to impose.” Bruce shook their head.

“It’s okay, you’re not.” Bruce motioned for Edward to take the vape. He picked it up and brought it to his lips. Edward looked around anxiously. He inhaled deeply then promptly coughed up a lung. Selina patted his back hardly.

Edward could hear the band teacher saying, “Is everything alright back there?” Selina shouted a quick yes. Bruce pulled Edward into their shoulder so he could muffle his coughs. ‘Holy shit. We’re so close right now.’ If Edward wasn’t currently choking this would be more romantic. Edward took deep breaths, getting himself under control. Bruce let go of him and he sat back in his old spot. Annika and Selina were whispering at each other, laughing at Edward’s first vape attempt.

“Do you want to try again?” Annika asked. Edward nodded and quickly hit the vape. This time he only coughed a little. The vapor made his throat hurt. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to continue but he felt safe with Bruce. Selina rested her head in Annika’s lap. They passed around the vape, Edward occasionally hitting it. Right as Selena was in the middle of trying to teach Edward how to French inhale, the bell signaling the end of the period rang. Selena quickly kissed Annika and stood up, everyone except Edward could stay in the room because they had band as their sixth period.

“What period do you have next? Double Chem?” Bruce asked.

Edward shook his head, “No, it’s Friday. I have study hall in the cafe.”

“Ask Mr. Cobblepot for a pass. You can spend your study hall in here.” Edward blushed at Bruce’s request. ‘They want to spend more time with me?’ he thought. He giggled a little and that made Bruce give a hint of a smile. ‘Holy shit. They laughed.’

“O-okay. I’ll, uh, I’ll get a, um, a pass,” Edward nervously laughed. Bruce nodded. Edward went up to Mr. Cobblepot, the band teacher, and asked for a pass.

“Oh sure, Eddie. You can always spend your study halls in here. I see you want to spend it with a certain someone.” The teacher laughed and looked at Bruce. They were sitting in a chair now talking to Annika and Selena. Edward hid his smile in his hands.

“Can I please just get the pass now?” The teacher laughed again and wrote the information on the yellow slip.

“Here ya go.” Edward grabbed the slip then went down to the cafeteria to turn in the pass. He stopped in the bathroom to compose himself, rinsing his face with water. He went back up to the band room. Bruce actually smiled when he came in, well as much as Bruce Wayne can smile. Edward plopped himself down next to them. If Edward and Bruce were leaning in closer to each other than usual, nobody commented on it. And well, if they were making heart eyes at each other, no one said anything either.