RESEARCH ( barry berkman.. ) ✔

o19. saying hi to daddy..

"I am glad you got to do something mentally liberating," Barry used a calm tone, hardly escaping the boundaries of neutrality. He has been listening patiently to her rush explanation, having to put out the fire of an exaggerated frustration in silence, rather than also reply timely. "But I feel you don't understand just how dangerous that really was." 

When he took out the furious factor, what is left behind is simply the instinctual guilt, the sentiment of weakness. Were it not for his fucked up life, Barry was certain their relationship would have been beautifully easy, not peppered with forcing Adelaide in fearing for her life in a bathroom, then loosing blood for a second time in the same car. 

They stopped in the first parking lot on the same highway which has been their literal home as of recent and like before, they have resumed a position on the backseat, so that Barry could fix her up with as few materials as they had left from the last pharmacy run. Some of her stitches did not resist the stress of humidity and physical effort, breaking and opening up the wound. 

Adelaide has removed her shirt herself and experienced her own shame. Realizing these new troubles were entirely her doing, the more she explained the events to Barry, had her not dare make another complaint sound anymore, even though the pain was stinging uncontrollable tears and her hands shook whilst grabbing her dried jeans. "I should have woken you up," Adelaide admission was a mumbled fact.

Barry sighed, not taking pride in the price they had to pay for his extra hours of rest, yet neither blaming Adelaide for not thinking the same way as someone used to this sort of life and paranoid danger. It was hardly her fault things went terribly wrong and given the circumstances, she did the best she could have done, in his opinion. "Don't beat yourself up too much," he glided his left hand away from the wound's vicinity and rested it on the curve of her naked waist. "You didn't mean for any of that to happen. I am glad you made it back."

"So you're not mad?" Adelaide lifted her gaze, wishing that through the blurred reflection on the hued down windows, she could have glimpsed at what Barry's expression betrayed. She found herself undoubtedly certain she deserved his anger for all this trouble, starting with giving the bad people a clue on their whereabouts and ending with forcing Barry to take care of her again. However, what she received was what has made her fall in love in the first place. 

Barry was a tender soul trapped in the hard crust of nightmares, shadows and outcomes of living in a world which brought out the worst in him. He finished patching up the cut for a second time and though his thumbs were bloody, he carefully let his right hand join his left and wrap around Adelaide. "I'm not mad," he answered her worries, lingering a light kiss on top of her bare shoulder.

She currently smelled strongly of pool water, but any scent could be perceived as the best from the lenses of an enamored and attached mind. There was an eternal frown on his features, but with his eyes closed, hugging Adelaide, Barry felt the bliss of allowing to dream of peace. Their warmth created steam on the dark windows in the parked car.

Adelaide leant her head back onto Barry's shoulder eventually too. Her whole being believed the reassurance he offered and he had been honest indeed. Barry has reached the point of cluelessness when he could remember from other people, the same acts of stupidity, would have set him off life a match in a gas filled room. Such rooted weakness had he become for the rare acceptance she offered. 

"At least," Barry opened his eyes, having calmed his clingy frown of worry, loosening the embrace which was held put by Adelaide's hands over his. "Now we know we can't get back to the city just yet."

"Weren't we hiding because the Burmese tried funky stuff?" Adelaide thrived in moments of vulnerability where she had his safe warmth as much as she did in adapting to the change of topic. Her thumbs sneaked on the inside of Barry's palms, holding onto to him so he would not let go just wait. Perhaps it was the warmth of putting her shirt back on which she needed, but that did not mean Adelaide did not prefer his hands.