Title credit- me vs the highway - the wonder years
It's a dark and gloomy Thursday when Vic first sees him. He's just walking down the halls, half listening to Jaime's story about some girl he picked up, and half scanning his surroundings for something interesting. And someone catches his eye.
There's this kid, leaning against the wall and talking to someone, and he's gorgeous. He's got flawless pale skin, which looks like it would be really soft, and shoulder length black hair, which Vic thinks would be nice to run his fingers through, and his lips are a soft shade of pink and they look very kissable in Vic's eyes.
The Mexican has no idea how he never noticed this kid before. He's fucking beautiful, and just Vic's type, judging by the My Chemical Romance shirt he's wearing. Vic's heart flutters as he takes in every detail.
And it takes him a moment to realise that he's stopped walking and is just blatantly staring at this kid, while Jaime looks at him strangely and tries to follow his line of sight.
"Who're you staring at?" he asks, looking where Vic is. He smirks. "Kellin Quinn? That punk kid? Why're you staring at him? Oh, does Viccy have a crush?" he teases as his eyes light up in amusement.
Vic rolls his eyes and briefly thinks why am I friend with this douche? before he registers his best friend's words. Kellin Quinn. That's a cute name, and Vic wants to know more about him.
Vic almost has a heart attack when he walks into his history class and sees the kid, Kellin Quinn, sitting at the back with some ginger. Jesse Lawson, the guy who always seemed drunk and was really good at guitar, and who is also in his music class, if he remembered correctly.
It's a shock though, to realise that Kellin has been in the same class as him for almost half a year and he never noticed. He feels like slapping himself for being so blind, but to be fair, they are sitting on opposite sides of the room, with Kellin and the back and Vic closer to the front, so he forgives himself for not seeing him before.
It's also a shock when he doesn't interact with him and just goes to his desk, ignoring his presence as he had every other time he'd been in that class. Vic doesn't know why, he's usually extremely confident and outspoken, always striving to get what he wants, but this kid just leaves him breathless. He doesn't want to make a fool of himself.
It's a strange feeling, to have his acclaimed social skills rendered useless, and Vic has butterflies when he realises that Kellin is fucking him over even though they've never spoken. It's nice.
Jesse is the key, Vic concludes after thinking about how he was going to approach Kellin. He comes up with a plan. It's simple, really.
Jesse is in his music class, and they've talked a couple of times. They weren't exactly friends, but Vic was not-exactly-friends-but-more-than-acquaintances with pretty much everyone in school, being the easygoing and kind person that he is. They're on speaking terms, and that's all that matters.
Jesse is the link between Vic and Kellin, and since Vic is, for some reason, too nervous to even be in the presence of the raven-haired teen who he's recently become infatuated with, Jesse will have to do.
So he casually walks up to him in music class, before the teacher has arrived and while everyone else is just talking. He clears his throat.
"Hey, Jesse," he says, offering a smile.
The ginger looks a little confused as to why Vic is talking to him, but replies nonetheless. "'Sup, Vic." And he waits for Vic to continue the conversation.
"So, uh," Vic curses his voice for cracking. "You're friends with Kellin, right?"
Jesse raises his eyebrows, and his eyes glitter with- is that amusement? "Yeah, I am. We go way back. To Kindergarten, y'know?"
Vic chuckles uncomfortably, and clears his throat again. "Uh, yeah. So, um, basically, I was wondering if you could, y'know, give me his number maybe?" it comes out rushed and jumbled, but Jesse smiles knowingly.
"Why? You got a crush on him or somethin'?" He looks like he's having way too much fun with this.
Vic blushes. "Yeah, something like that."
Jesse grins then, and Vic swears he mutters "Kels is gonna owe me so much for this" before he looks up at the Mexican. "Sure thing," he says, taking out his phone.
When Vic walks away a few seconds later, he's got Kellin in his contacts and hope in his heart.
It's nine in the afternoon when Vic works up enough nerve to call Kellin. He's been stressing over it ever since his talk with Jesse, wondering what he should say. Should he ask him on a date, or is that too forward? Should they just talk about their common interests? Should he even call Kellin at all?
He'd been so nervous that Mike had started to notice, and he'd sat his big brother down and forced him to spill about what was going on. Vic expected his brother to make fun of him for his schoolboy crush; he did not expect Mike to roll his eyes and tell him to "man the fuck up and just call him, you coward."
And now he was finally taking his brother's loving advice.
Kellin picks up on the fourth ring. "Hello?" he says, and dear God, even over the phone Vic can tell that his voice his smooth and kind of high but in a really cute way and wow, now he's just found another thing he adores about this kid and he's breathless all over again.
It isn't until Kellin says "Hello?" again that Vic finds his voice.
"Uh, hi. This is Vic. Vic Fuentes. Jesse gave me your number. Well, actually, I asked for it first but, like, he still gave it to me so, um- yeah, Jesse gave me your number." Vic wants to fucking stab himself because what the fuck he's supposed to be the charming, smooth-talking, king of the school and he's rambling like a madman.
Kellin laughs a little, and whether it's with him or at him, Vic decides it doesn't matter because that is the cutest goddamn laugh he's ever heard in his life and hey, let's add that to the list of 'things about Kellin Quinn that Vic Fuentes wants to bottle up and never let go.'
"Hi, Vic. Yeah, Jesse told me you asked for my number, and I thought it was cute that you'd go through the trouble of going to him instead of just asking me. But, hey, there's a lot of things I find cute about you. So, why'd you call me?"
Vic is speechless for about five seconds before he registers that Kellin Quinn, the kid with the wavy hair and full lips who was practically invisible until Vic saw him today, just called him cute. Suddenly, his confidence is back and he's genuinely smiling.
"Well, I saw you in the halls today and I thought "damn, this kid is cute," and I just wanted to know if you'd like to go out sometime? Are you free tomorrow night?"
Kellin laughs a little again, and Vic likes to think that he's smiling just as wide as he is. "Yeah, I'd love to. I'll text you my address, take me somewhere nice, Vic." And then he hangs up and Vic is laughing breathlessly because he's just so fucking happy.
He gets a text twenty one seconds later (he wasn't counting).
17 Eden Ave. Pick me up at seven, cutie ;)
Love, Kellin.
Vic grins. He can't fucking wait.
Kellin's house is small and it looks really cozy, and Vic can just imagine coming here time and time again. As he walks up to the front door, his nerves are coming back, but they vanish as soon as the door opens.
Kellin is standing there, and he's looking even more gorgeous than yesterday, if that's possible. He's wearing an Of Mice and Men tee (which makes Vic grin like crazy), dark jeans and bright red converse. Up close, Vic can see his eyes clearly, and his breath catches in his throat.
Kellin's eyes are a beautiful mix of blue and green, the colours are bright and amazing. His eyes are shining, and they're adorned by his long dark lashes. Vic wants to take a photo, or, better yet, he wants to see these eyes every day, which means he would have to see Kellin everyday, which is kind of the plan.
Kellin is smiling at him, waiting, and Vic clears his throat. "Sorry, I just got lost in your eyes there for a sec," he flashes a grin.
Kellin laughs a little and he tilts his head down, a few strands of hair falling into his eyes before he looks back up at Vic. "Well, aren't you charming?" holy shit, his voice is even better in real life.
Vic winks. "There's more where that came from, trust me. You're so beautiful I could compliment you all night and it still wouldn't be enough." He doesn't miss the blush that adorns Kellin's pale cheeks, and Vic has an almost uncontrollable urge to reach out and brush the back of his hand against Kellin's skin, tucking away the strands of ebony hair that are still in front of his eyes. He refrains.
Kellin is grinning and he looks genuinely flattered, which makes Vic feel accomplished. "I'll be looking forward to a night full of compliments, then. And I'll be sure to give you my fair share, since you're not so bad looking yourself."
Vic is really happy, and his smile widens when he realises that the night has barely started and he's already claimed that this is the best decision he's ever made in his entire fucking life. It's nice to know he can look forward to plenty of time in Kellin's presence.
"Let's go, then." He leads Kellin to his car, and they drive off to their date.
Vic chose to take Kellin to go see a movie and then head to a twenty-four hour coffee shop to spend some quality time together. Less than halfway through the movie, he doesn't know why he was nervous in the first place.
The theatre is almost empty, and he and Kellin are sitting right at the back, so the whole time they've just been whispering to each other, talking about school and bands and everything inbetween. Vic is pretty sure he set the world record for smiling, because there was a grin on his face ever since he picked Kellin up.
He listens attentively to everything Kellin says, watching his lips in the dim light from the movie screen and how they form around each word. He likes to think that Kellin does the same.
And his eyes, dear God, his eyes. They're like the eighth wonder of the world, with the way they shine. When the the movie is showing a scene that's predominantly blue, his irises seem to burst with colour, the blue-green mix even more profound and beautiful. Vic could stare into his eyes all day and he would never get bored.
The movie is over before they know it, and it's a nice surprise to see that they missed the entire thing just because they were talking the whole time. Vic isn't even upset that he paid for something they didn't even watch, because he's never been more comfortable than in Kellin's presence.
The drive to the coffee shop is short and neither of them talk, opting to listen to the radio instead. There's some overrated love song playing, with lyrics about how love at first sight is real and how 'he's the most handsome boy I've ever seen in my life.' Vic thinks it's appropriate.
The coffee shop is small, and there's only one other person there, sitting in the corner. The two teens sit down together, and it's just like the movie all over again. Talking for hours about nothing and everything, the conversation never once faltering. Vic sees for the first time that Kellin has freckles dusting his cheek bones and the bridge of his nose, and he wonders how he never noticed.
Vic learns that Kellin is an only child, his favourite band is 30 Seconds to Mars ("I would suck Jared Leto's dick any day"), his favourite subject is music, and he sings. Vic perks up when he hears this.
"You have to sing for me sometime," he says, genuinely interested in hearing Kellin's singing voice which is no doubt even more beautiful than his talking voice.
Kellin shakes his head, grinning. "No, you have to sing for me sometime. Besides, you play guitar, so you could, like, serenade me. And maybe then I'll think about singing back."
Vic laughs (for the millionth time that night.) "Sure thing, Kels. I'll serenade you whenever you want." Some time throughout the night, the name in his contacts changed from 'Kellin' to 'Kels'.
The stars are high and the sky is dark before Vic drops Kellin off at his house. They're standing in front of his front door, and neither wants to say goodbye. Kellin is even more beautiful in the glow of the moonlight, and Vic doesn't want this moment to end.
"Thanks for a really nice night, Vic," Kellin says, looking straight at him, a small smile on his lips.
And as soon as Vic looks at his lips, he can't take his eyes off of them, and before he knows what he's even doing, they're kissing. Vic has kissed plenty of people before; some have been good, some bad, but kissing Kellin just feels right. Everything about Kellin is right and perfect and he's just so comfortable and he can easily be himself.
The kiss is short and sweet (Kellin tastes like cherries) but filled with the promise of something more, and soon Vic is driving home with a smile on his lips and a night to remember.