The Red Market (mxmxm)

-Ch. 27-

Rosie's P.O.V.

My blood boils as I comfort Eli. I try not to look too pissed so he doesn't think I'm mad at him. We just stay in silence until he gets up.

"Are you okay?" I ask and he nods. We slowly make our way back downstairs and Kerri sits in the living room.

"Sorry, um, where's the bathroom?" Eli asks quietly and I tell him. I watch him go in before quickly walking over to Kerri.

"Hey hun," she says with a smile, looking up from her phone.

"I'm so fucking pissed, I can't. I'm going to kill them!" I say under my breath, frustrated.

"What? What happened?"

"Marcus and Conner! The kid's so fucking scared of them! He thinks he's here cause they abandoned him," I explain. "He told me he overheard them saying how they were disappointed in him saying their safe word!"

"What!" Kerri says, dropping her phone and bracing herself on the arms of the chair.

"Yeah! And instead of dumping their asses, he's been terrified for weeks that he's not going to be enough for them!" I pace the living room trying hard to not erupt in anger. "Its fucking bullshit and I'm going to fucking kill them on Sunday!"

Kerri takes a deep breath as she tries to calm down. "Look, there's not much we can do right now except make this a good weekend for Eli. We'll talk to Marcus and Conner when their back in town." She gets up from the seat and rubs my shoulders as I take some deep breaths.

"Are you okay?" I hear and turn to see Eli in the archway of the living room.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, no worries," I say with a smile and get myself to calm down. "What's your favorite food?"

"I'm sorry?" He says confused by the sudden question.

"For dinner, we can make anything you want. Your our guest anyway."

"Oh, I uh, well I'll really eat anything, I'm not picky," he says fidgeting.

"That's not what I asked," I say, clicking my tongue.

"I really don't know," He says folding his hands in and out. "Pizza?" He says more as a question, but I don't want to make him more uncomfortable.

"Great! Take out or homemade?"

"Shit, homemade?"

"Perfect," I say, taking it as an answer rather than a question. "I'll head out and grab some groceries. What do we want for toppings? Eli?"

"Yes?"

"What do you want on your pizza?" I ask grabbing my purse and keys on the way.

"Oh, um peperoni? That's really it."

"Okay, love? The usual?"

"Yes please," Kerri says as I open the door and leave.

Kerri's P.O.V.

As Rosie leaves for the store, I'm left in silence with Eli. I offer him a seat anywhere and he awkwardly perches himself on the edge of the couch. "So, how old are you?" I ask to break the silence. Its an awkward question but I don't know anything about the guy so it'll have to do.

"Um, 23," He says thinking a bit.

"How long have you known Marcus and Conner?" I ask.

"Oh, um, a few months now I guess. Maybe five? six?"

"Oh wow, and you're already moved in? Geeze y'all move faster than Rose and I," I say with a laugh, hoping to get him to loosen up a bit. He just laughs nervously and we go right back to the silence. I look around the room to try to get something to talk about it and my eyes hit the game cupboard. "What's your favorite game? We've got practically everything! Board games and video games," I say walking over to the hutch and opening it up to show the giant stack of games Rosie and I have been collecting over the years.

"Oh, wow," Eli says shifting to see the games in awe. "I haven't played a board game in forever," he says his voice filled with whimsy as he stares almost in a trance.

"Pick out anything you want, we can play it once Rosie gets back," I tell him and he walks over.

It takes him a while but after scanning over every game we have, he chooses the original Monopoly. A classic.

"Monopoly?" I say.

"I used to play it with my siblings all the time as kids," he says. His voice and face has a sense of sadness to it and he has a melancholic smile as he looks at the box in his hands.

"It's perfect," I say and he snaps out of it. I reach out for it and place it on the coffee table. We spend about fifteen minutes setting up the game and choosing our pieces.

We go back to silence for a while before I try to spark up conversation again, "so, you have siblings?" I ask.

He nods with a small smile on his face, "yeah two younger sisters and a baby brother," he says.

"Oh thats nice!" I say, "I've got an older sister but she's a handful," I laugh. "Her husband is a prick but their daughter is the sweetest!" I try to make it so he feels more comfortable to talk but he clams up again. "Have Conner and Marcus met them yet? Or are you waiting for things to get more serious?"

"What do you mean?" He asks, confused.

"Your siblings, have they met Marcus and Conner yet?" I ask again.

"I- I haven't seen them for a while. About ten years," he says, his face saddening.

"Oh, fuck. I'm so sorry, what happened?" I ask instinctively before immediately regretting it, hoping I don't seem too nosey.

He looks up again more confused, "The market?" He says. And its my turn to be confused.

"What do you mean?"

"The Red Market? I've been caught up with it for about ten years now. Its- its where Marcus and Conner picked me up?" He says confused as if I should know this already.

"What?" I say laughing slightly thinking- hoping it was a joke.

"Did they not tell you?"

I swear everything goes silent and there's a sort of ringing in my ears. I feel my body heat up as anger starts rising. My expression doesn't waiver from the soft smile I had on to make Eli comfortable, but I want to scream. I want to scream and punch and throw everything in arms reach, but most of all I want to absolutely annihilate the two bastards I used to call friends.