Burning Hearts

Chapter Three

Rody somehow made it to work the next day, feeling like absolute shit. He barely slept, and didn't eat a single thing the day before.

Sadie immediately rushed over to Rody the moment he walked through the entrance door, slapping him across the face before hugging him.

"Where the fuck did you go dude? I was worried about you!" She exclaimed, pulling back after nearly crushing Rody's lungs. Fuck was she strong.
Kinda scary considering how young she was, the hell did she do in her spare time?

"S-sorry.. I umm- got sick yesterday." Rody said, sounding a bit out of breath from Sadie's hug.
"You're not allowed to get sick like that again! Jesus, did that Vince guy look that bad?" Sadie asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Rody looked confused, before realizing what she meant. It wasn't even Vince's looks that made him feel it, it was the horrid memories that did.
"I don-" Rody started, but was cut off by a figure appearing behind Sadie. Vince.

Sadie sensed a presence behind her, and turned around, jumping when she saw Vince. She rushed behind Rody, hiding. 
Lucas appeared from behind Vince, smiling as he stood next to him. "Rody! You're back! I never got to introduce you to Vincent, you ran off so fast.. are you sick or something?" He asked, tilting his head slightly.

Rody gulped, standing protectively In front of Sadie. He was probably more scared than she was, but he was acting on instinct.

"I-im uhh.. fine.. just didn't feel that good." Rody said, his eyes locked onto Vince's. Fuck, he looked so different.

'Hello, Lamoree.' Vince said, using his hands. He was using sign language, why the hell was he- oh.

"Vincent.." Rody muttered, gritting his teeth slightly. He felt a surge of rage wash through him, but did his best to ignore it.

Vince should have stayed dead.

"Oh.. you two, know each other already?" Lucas asked, sounding rather confused. He was beginning to think Rody wasn't just sick when he left the other day.

"Wait- WHAT?!" Sadie exclaimed, moving out from behind Rody. Lucas jumped, he didn't realize she was there.
"Bon Dieu, putain de Christ! Sadie!" Lucas exclaimed, clutching his chest. Sadie really scared him.

Vince chuckled, making Rody completely freeze up. Fuck, he could still make sound.

Vince sounded a lot different than he did before, much more broken, raspy, and shaky. Rody was quick to figure out that the bottle had hit his vocal cords all those years ago, plus who knows what the fire did to him.

"Creepy-" Sadie said, shivering slightly. Vince rolled his eyes, brushing the comment off.

'You two have work to do, better get to it.'  He signed, putting on a fake smile. A smile Rody was way too used to thinking about.
"Oh yes! You two do have work, see? I did need an extra helping hand." Lucas said, crossing his arms.

"Long as I don't have to stand here anymore, I'm out!" Sadie said, rushing over to the front counter.
Rody stood there for a moment, just staring at Vince. Before he finally walked off past him and Lucas, heading over to the counter to start work.

He didn't want to think about him, or what he'd done to him. What they'd done to each other.

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Vince watched Rody from the corner of his eye, unable to look away. How could he not? It was Rody Lamoree after all, the man who almost killed him.

He was also the man he'd caught feelings for, and was obsessed with all those years ago.

Rody was charming, in a way Vince would never be able to describe on his own. Vince would forever have a soft spot for him, even after everything he did.

He hated thinking about the look Rody gave him that night, tears streaming down his cheeks as he slammed that bottle into his neck over and over again.
He looked so upset, so terrified and scared, like he was broken beyond repair. And after what Vince did to him, he probably was.

Vince never wanted to see Rody like that, in so much pain, and so scared.

His heart ached every time he thought about it, and he hoped there would never be a situation where Rody looked like that again.
He didn't deserve the pain Vince inflicted onto him, he didn't deserve what happened to him.

Vince deserved to be killed though, he deserved to be burned alive. And in a way, he was, but he survived.
He survived when he didn't deserve to.

He should have died, should have been killed. He couldn't even kill himself after surviving all of it, because he didn't really want to die.

He deserved to, yes. But he didn't want to, not yet anyway.

Rody could feel Vince's eyes on him, and it freaked him out. Why was he staring at him? Was he planning something? What was he planning? What was he going to do? Why was he staring, why, why, why, wh-

Rody was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of the entrance door opening, and a familiar looking face walking in.

It was Richard, looking a bit more tired than usual. Lucas probably kept him up all night, if only Rody had that kind of luck.

"Richard, what are you doing here so early in the morning?" Sadie asked, crashing her arms over her chest.
Richard walked up to the front counter, and leaned against it. "I got bored, and I wanted to see how things were going here." He said, smiling softly.

"Did Lucas call you?" Rody asked, raising a brow. He saw straight through that lie almost immediately.

"Yes- yes he did." Richard said, sighing softly. Lucas was really needy when it came to Richard, and would often call him if he wanted to hangout or if he was bored.

"He's in his office." Rody said, sighing softly. "Don't fuck each other please." Sadie added, making Richard's face flush red.
"Sadie!" Rody scolded, groaning in annoyance. "Why are you like this?!" He exclaimed, nudging her side as she stood there laughing.

Vince couldn't help but watch, noticing how happy Rody looked. He was glad he was happy, glad he'd found people who made him feel happy.

If only he was one of them, someone who made him smile like they did. If only though.