salvation sequel [rafe x barry]

safe space

For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

It was dark when the two of them got home. From making connections and going from "friends", to "friends" of "friends", until finally getting their hands on some good shit—Barry approved cocaine.

"Rafe what the actual fuck", Rose spat the second the two of them walked in through the door. "What. is. he. doing. here?!"

"Vacay", Rafe shrugged, grinning widely as he held onto the back of Barry's neck. Of fucking course he didn't even care to inform her he'd brought him here, Barry wasn't surprised. He nodded along nicely.

"Can I talk to you for a second?", Rose asked, nodding down the hallway.

"You're talking, right?", Rafe smiled. The coke and liquor made him insufferable.

"Privately", Rose clarified what had been clear.

"Nah", Rafe made.

She scoffed, putting her hands into her hips, although the gesture did as little on Rafe as it had when he was 10 years old; and he was just as awfully stubborn these days.

"He knows", Rafe noted calmly, enjoyed dropping shit in that manner, and how offended the person opposite from him got. It was fun, to be able to trigger emotions he could predict.

With his father, his actions and behavior all too often led to outburst of anger Rafe didnt see coming, and when it was affection, even less, often unaware of what he'd done to cause it. So in a way, he'd always liked the control of saying shit he knew would anger or shock people, intentionally saying something obnoxiously sexist in front of Sarah because it felt safe to push a button, and get an expected result, for once.

"Have you lost your mind?", Rose predictably bitched, then pointed a carefully manicured finger at Barry. "This man literally sold y-"

"Alright, bitch, I-"

"HEY", Rafe yelled, interrupting both Rose and Barry. "Mind your own fucking business"

He didn't like to be reminded of it. It just showed all too clearly, how lonely, how desperate he was to forgive like that. Rose had impulsively shifted backwards, the painful female realization that you had two grown men across from you, one as violent as the other.

She still remembered wrapping a bandage around Rafes wrist after stopping him from damn near putting ice on the fresh wound, his pulse racing when she held it, the truth of what happened only occuring to her later that day, when Ward sat on the side of their bed. "You know what the main concern of a parent on the cut is?", he'd asked. "Food?", Rose had guessed, the thought absurd to her. It wasn't a reality she grew up in, although it always intrigued her to hear about her husbands childhood. "Keeping your kid out of jail", he said. He'd thought, maybe, if he worked hard enough to make it to the other side of the island, he'd have different concerns, one day.

Her eyes flickered from Rafes wrist to the man next to him, back to Rafe, before she stepped to the side, noting:"I just hope your father wakes up soon"

Rafe pressed his lips together, and Rose was that cunt that liked studying your face after an insult, before he nodded, slowly. "Don't we all", he said and pushed past her, Barry raising his eyebrows at Roses hateful stare before he followed after him.