Slaughterhouse

Infinity

Rhea slowly sets Carmen back on her feet, slowing the kiss down before reluctantly pulling away. Carmen wraps her arms around her neck, pulling her back to continue the kiss.

"Baby.." Rhea says between kisses. "Stop."

"Why?" Carmen replies.

Rhea gently grabs her waist and pushes Carmen slightly back so she'll stop and listen. She pouts a little but stops.

"Because if you don't stop I won't stop. We should wait for him." Rhea smiles and tucks some of Carmen's hair behind her ear.

Carmen smiles and nods, "good idea."

Rhea kisses her cheek.

"Why don't you go get ready? I'll tell Buddy to shower at the gym. I want to take you out." Rhea says.

"Like a date?" Carmen asks.

Rhea hasn't taken her on a proper date before.

"Yes, a date." Rhea winks.

Carmen's smile grows. A genuine smile that Rhea hasn't seen in a while. She nods and turns to go upstairs. Rhea pinches her ass as she does and she giggles before disappearing to change.

Rhea grabs her phone and takes a deep breath before calling Buddy. It rings twice before he answers, panting on the other end.

"What happened? Is Carmen okay?" He asks, concern on his voice.

"Wow. Thanks for the vote of confidence." Rhea sighs.

"Can you blame me, Rhea?" He retorts.

Fair enough.

"She's fine. I apologized and...and I told her I love her." Rhea says, kicking her foot awkwardly at nothing.

There's silence on the other end and Rhea can't tell if he's mad or not.

"You mean I missed the look on her face when you finally said it for the first time?" He says.

"What do you mean 'finally'?" She asks. 

"Come on Rhea. You fell in love with Carmen the day she started flirting with you." Buddy chuckles. "Took you long enough to tell her."

"Yeah? And when did you tell her you love her? Hmm?" Rhea challenges.

The chuckling on the other end stops and Rhea smirks into the phone.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, I know you have one. I'll tell her soon enough I was waiting for the right time."

"You're just mad I beat you to it." Rhea giggles.

"Now is not a good time for you to be a brat. Unless you want me to-"

"No!" Rhea cuts him off and clears her throat. "No I'll be good. Let's make today about Carmen. I called to tell you to shower at the gym and meet us. I'm taking her on a date and I want you there."

"A date? If I knew yelling at you was all it would take to get you back to the girl we fell in love with I would have yelled a week ago."  He chuckles.

"Ha ha." Rhea rolls her eyes safely, knowing he can't see her. "Meet us at the jewelry store by Carmen's favorite restaurant downtown."

"I'll be there. Love you." Buddy says.

"Love you too." Rhea replies before hanging up.

Just as she does, Carmen comes walking down the stairs and smiles at her. Rhea smiles back and lets her eyes trail down her body and back up to her face. She's wearing an "I'm your Mami" t-shirt cut into a tight fitting crop top, a black leather miniskirt and dark purple and black high top Vans.

"You're beautiful." Rhea smiles and kisses her cheek as she makes it down the stairs. "He's going to hate that skirt."

Carmen laughs. "I know."

Rhea shakes her head and wraps an arm around her waist.

"Well let's go on this date while you can still function properly." She winks and guides Carmen out of the house.

The drive consists of Carmen and Rhea arguing over what song to play next, and eventually settling on whatever Carmen chooses. Once they pull up to the jewelry store, Carmen stops singing and turns the volume down.

"What are we doing here?" She asks.

"You'll see. Come on." Rhea replies before shutting off the truck and getting out.

Carmen meets her at the door and smiles hard when she spots Buddy walking up. He smiles back at her, happy to see her bubbly-ness again. His smile fades into a smirk when he sees what she's wearing and shakes his head as she wraps her arms around him.

"That skirt, princess." He speaks lowly as he hugs her back.

"Follow me, Carmen." Rhea smiles and walks inside.

Buddy holds the door open and Carmen giggles as she follows Rhea inside. Rhea walks up to a person behind the counter.

"Hi. We're picking up orders." She says, giving hers and Buddy's real names as the woman behind the counter kneels down to grab two small bags.

She stands back up and smiles handing them to Rhea, who takes them and turns to Carmen and Buddy. She hands one bag to him and smiles.

Carmen rubs her arm and watches as Rhea pulls out a long rectangular box and opens it.

"I came down here a few weeks ago and saw this. I knew you had to have it so I ordered you one." Rhea smiles.

She pulls out a silver bracelet with an infinity symbol made of diamonds in the middle of it. There's a singular charm hanging from the side with the letter C.

Carmen's eyes water as she smiles happily, holding her wrist out for Rhea to clasp the bracelet onto. It's a snug but not too tight fit. Like Rhea knew exactly what size to buy.

"How did you know what size I wear?" Carmen smiles and sniffs.

"A woman never reveals her secrets." Rhea winks.

Smiling, Buddy is next to pull a small box out of his bag. He opens it and pulls out a silver necklace with a similar infinity symbol on it. Only the charm with it has an M.

"When she found that bracelet, I had them make this necklace. Since your initial is on that one, I wanted mine on this one. So people know you belong to me." He winks.

Carmen giggles and turns, holding her purple hair up to let him clasp the necklace around her neck. When he finishes, she lets go of her hair and looks in the mirror the lady behind the counter is holding up for her.

Buddy wraps his arms around her from behind and places his chin on her shoulder as she observes the necklace. Carmen wipes a tear and smiles.

"They're beautiful. Both of them. Thank you both." She smiles.

Rhea and Buddy both kiss either of her cheeks at the same time and she smiles hard.

"You all are so cute. I love how you're not afraid to be so open." The lady behind the counter compliments.

"They're the best." Carmen smiles.