Burning Hearts

Chapter Two

Rody whined, leaning against the counter tiredly.

It was early morning, and Rody had just come in to start his shift. He hadn't slept much the other night, having had nightmares about what happened four years ago.
It was so long ago, but Rody dreamt about it like it had happened yesterday.

"Jesus dude, you look like shit." Sadie, his coworker said, placing a cup of coffee down beside Rody for him to take.
"Screw you, I didn't sleep well." Rody said, standing up and taking the coffee. He took a drink from it, praying it would wake him up.

"You never sleep well." Sadie snickered, making Rody groan in annoyance. Sadie was nineteen, and had been working at the bakery for around a year and a half.

She was one of the only co-workers Rody had that he genuinely cared about. She was young and attractive, and Rody felt the need to protect her.

He'd never admit it, but she did make him feel quite parental.

"You sleep too well, seriously- what's your secret?" Rody asked, taking a sip from the coffee.

It was black, not exactly how Rody liked it, but it would keep him awake.

"I have a girlfriend whose boobs are the best pillows known to mankind." Sadie said, a small grin on her lips.
She loved bragging about her relationship to Rody, and even though it made him jealous he didn't have someone special in his life, he was proud of her for being so open.

"Don't remind me how single I am." Rody muttered, setting the coffee down. "Just get a girlfriend then dude, or ask Lucas out- it's not that difficult." Sadie said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It is when you're me, and you've experienced something so horrible you can barely sleep at night." Rody said, sounding annoyed and tired. He didn't talk about what happened, but most people knew he'd lost someone special in his life.

He made it clear how against dating he was. Even if he desperately wanted someone to hold.

Sadie opened her mouth to say something, but paused when the entrance door opened, and Lucas walked in with someone.
Someone all too familiar to Rody.

Rody glanced at Sadie, then at the person her eyes were locked onto. He immediately froze, a sudden wave of sickness washing over him at the man he was standing with Lucas.

Lucas was talking happily with a man, one who was scarred in a way Rody had never seen before. His hair was black and messy, he was wearing a black coat and dress pants, along with boots that made him look taller than he actually was. He had grey foggy eyes, one being almost completely white. He wore glasses as well, clearly unable to see that well.
He had scars that went up the side of his neck and to his face, ones that had clearly impacted him heavily from whatever event they came from.

Rody covered his mouth, holding back the urge to puke as a flood of memories washed through his mind.

It was Vincent, Vincent fucking Charbonneau. He was alive, scarred, but alive.

Rody felt sick, a wave of nausea washing over him. How was he alive? How did the fire not kill him? Let alone the glass bottle to his neck!

Sadie glanced at Rody, noticing the horrified look on his face. "Rody? Hey, are you okay?" She asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Vince glanced over to the two, stopping in his tracks once his eyes fell onto Rody. His eyes went wide, and he completely froze in place.

Everyday, for four years, Vince thought about what Rody did to him. Though about how he stabbed his neck, set him on fire, and just left him there.

He thought about how he ruined his life, and ruined his body. It pissed him off. But he never thought about hurting Rody over it, hell, if anything he wanted to tell him he should have tried harder to end it. But he couldn't.

Because Rody had been out of his life for four years, and even now, that he was standing barely twenty feet away from him, he still couldn't say anything.

He could barely even talk anymore really, his vocal cords having been torn when Rody stabbed him. It was a miracle the doctors managed to fix them enough that he could still speak slightly.

It was a miracle he was still alive at this point.

"Fuck- I-i need to go." Rody said, quickly rushing past Sadie. He practically sprinted past Lucas, and Vince. Not daring to look at him.

Vince just stood there, in complete utter shock. Rody, was here. He worked at the same place Vince had just gotten a job for.

He was with Rody again, after so, so fucking long without him. He didn't know how to feel.

-

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-

Rody ran home, collapsing onto the floor the moment he made it through his door. He coughed, his lungs burning, and his chest heaving.

Rody suddenly sobbed, feeling as tears streamed down his cheeks. When did he start crying?
He looked at his hands, noticing how shaky they were. He sniffled, shakily picking himself up off the floor.

He needed to lie down, get a drink, or something. Anything, just so he didn't have to think about him.

He stumbled slightly as he walked over to his couch, collapsing onto it. He felt so sick, and he wanted to puke but just couldn't.
He felt a wave of emotions washing through him, fear, sadness, guilt, regret, grief.

He didn't know what to do, all he could do was lay there and sob.

He had tried so hard to forget about what happened, he even moved dad away from the area everything took place in.
He'd gotten a new job, had actually managed to make something out of himself. He managed to move on and forget, yet everything just had to come crumbling down onto him.

Vince was alive, he was alive and back in Rody's life, whether he liked it or not. There was nothing he could do about it, because nobody would ever believe him if he told them about what Vince did.

"Fuck fuck fuck- why!" Rody sobbed, digging his nails into his skin, breaking the surface and causing blood to trickle out.
He didn't care though, because Vince was back.

Vincent fucking Charbonneau, was back.