"You look like shit," Howard stood there in utter shock of what had happened to the man in front of him. Crimson littered the man's once flawless porcelain skin as ugly patches of purple covered the rest. He looked so ruined like he'd burst into tears at any moment.

"Vince, what the fuck happened?" The taller man was instantly across the room and helping Vince onto the couch. He had to look away as the raven-haired man's face contorted in pain as he lay on the couch. Howard forced his mind away from the idea of Vince's purple body.

"You see there was this giant pigeon, I think his name was something like Larry... well anyway he was like 'hey i can give you this limited edition straightener banned in 44 countries' and I was like 'hell yeah' so he took me to the top of this building where all his pigeon friends hang out. Only they transported me into this whole different univer-" Howard pressed his finger to Vince's lips and silenced him. They both knew it was a lie, after all, they'd been through you could tell. It sounded phoney to both their ears

"Little man c'mon. What happened?" His voice sounded sad and pleading to his own ears. The blue-eyed boy's eyes faltered for a moment, he took a sigh through his broken lips. Howard took one last moment to gaze over the crusted blood that had poured from his nose, as well as the uneven brownish tinges to areas not fully purple. It was frustrating.

"These guys o'viously didn't know style when they see it," Vince bit "Beat me up on the way back calling me a 'faggot' over and over with each kick till I was coughing blood," He wiped his yellow tinted eye for a moment, wiping away a trace of what appeared to be a tear. Both men could feel the pure anger radiating from Howard, his jaw clenched and his fists balled. "Can we please forget about it 'oward?" The bigger man screwed his eyes tight, taking a few deep breaths. He couldn't let his anger get to him but he had an overwhelming urge to Chinese burn himself. Not now that Vince needed his help.

"Okay, but if I ever see them I will probably kill them"

"Like you could kill anyone," Vince tried to joke but he noticed the dangerous glint in his best friend's eyes and he knew there was no joke in his voice.

***

Vince's nose was no longer swollen, as his lips had returned back to their smooth state. Only the crusted over skin remained while his eye had mostly healed besides the slight discolouration. He was back to his confident glowing aura Howard was far more familiar. The younger man's foundation hiding most of what had happened only a couple nights ago. Howard had tried to honour Vince's wishes but every time he saw Vince wince sitting down from his bruised ribs, he wanted to punch the nearest wall. Usually, he wasn't a violent man, an artist, a lover but right now he could kill someone. Of course, once Vince was relatively healed he wanted to take his best friend out. Usually, Howard would make up and excuse (like he had to organise his post stamp collection) but now when it was offered he was immediately on his feet.

That's where they are now, patrolling the markets. The taller man's larger arms filled with things he never knew existed while his partner in crime excitedly babbled on about almost every item he could lay his hands on. The words fluttering in and out of his ears in a muffled jumble. Everything became ridiculously loud when Vince stopped talking.

Three men dressed in what could only be described as douchebag clothing. Tank tops too small for them as backwards snapbacks sat on top of their ray band clad heads. He could instantly tell who they were, his blood boiling on the spot as his jaw clenched so tightly it might've broken.

"Howard, it's okay, let's just go." the vulnerability wavering through his best friend's voice was the last straw. He pushed the items into Vince's already full arms and marched over, fuming from every corner as his friend tried getting him to stop.

"oi, look at this big man, bruf" The first man barely got the sentence out before Howard was swinging right across his face.

"Touch Vince again and I'll mess you up 'bruf' i am a man of dignity, but you deserve none of that. Good Day" Howard was about to turn when he saw the glint of a ring being swung, he pulled his arms up and blocked the swing, retaliating by poking his fingers at the man's eye. The third just seemed to have disappeared however as the other two stood back up.

"Whateva, he just a dumb fag anyway, not worth it," he stood there in shock as to what he'd done. He'd beat up two strong men. Well, he was a man of action. Turning around finally, he saw Vince standing there. An unreadable expression painted on his face through the large pile of clothes in his hands still. He took a step forward to Howard. Eye's not once breaking eye contact. It took a moment for Howard to process what happened, Vince dropped the clothes instead reaching up to wrap his arms around the bigger man's neck. Placing a hard kiss to his lips. The thought of 'don't touch me' died inside his head as he wrapped his arms around Vince's hips.