Dark and Brutal

Our Bitch

As soon as Rhea and Vic walk through the door they're greeted by two extremely excited dogs. Well, Rhea's greeted by Barry and Vic is smothered in kisses from Luna. Buddy walks in from the kitchen and smiles.

"There they are." He says as he pulls Rhea in for a hug.

She smiles and wraps her arms around him as he kisses the top of her head. Vic giggles from the floor as Luna happily continues to jump all over her excitedly.

"How was the flight?" Buddy asks.

"It was fine. Tiring." Rhea replies.

"Did you eat yet?" He gently pushes her back to look in her eyes in case she tries to lie.

"No we waited for you." Rhea says.

Buddy smiles and kisses her before grabbing his keys.

"Let's go eat then. How do you feel about sushi?" He looks between the two of them.

"Fine by me." Rhea says and Vic shrugs in agreement before standing.

They make their way out to Buddy's truck and climb in before heading to his and Rhea's favorite sushi spot. Once they find a table to sit at, they order. Rhea notices that Buddy keeps looking at her like he wants to say something. With eyes full of concern and a bit of sternness.

"What?" She asks.

"You can't keep letting yourself get to that state, Demi." He says.

Rhea sighs and looks away. She knew this was coming, she was just hoping he'd keep it to himself anyway.

"Can we not do this?" She asks, looking back at him.

"No because you clearly don't care about yourself enough to take proper care of yourself. You've been doing so good and now you're not eating, you're not sleeping, and then you're getting hurt on top of it all." Buddy continues with his lecture.

"Oh so you're saying the injury is my fault." Rhea states more than she asks.

She rolls her eyes and looks out the window as the waitress walks over and sets down plates of sushi. Vic slowly begins to eat, unsure of whether she should say anything or not.

"You know that's not what I'm saying. Don't twist my words." He says.

"Then what are you saying, Matt? What do you want from me?" Rhea asks in frustration.

"I want you to take care of yourself so you're not curled up into a ball panicking when I'm not there. So you're not so exhausted and worn down that you shut down and push everyone you care about away." Buddy replies.

Rhea shakes her head and leans back in her chair. Staring out the window she's sitting next to while Buddy and Vic eat.

"Eat, Demi." Buddy says softly.

"I lost my appetite." Rhea retorts without looking from the window.

"Come on, don't pout you big baby. I heard your stomach the whole way here." Vic giggles trying to lighten the mood.

Rhea rolls her eyes again. Buddy narrows his eyes at her, knowing she can see him in the reflection of the glass since it's getting dark out.

"Stop rolling your eyes at us." He says in annoyance.

She sighs and waits for them to finish eating. As Buddy gets a togo container from the waitress and starts packing up Rhea's uneaten plate of food, she stands from the table and leaves. Vic sighs and waits for Buddy, deciding to give her space.

When they get outside, Rhea is waiting by the truck. Buddy unlocks it and she immediately gets in, slamming the door behind her. He stops in his tracks and glares at Rhea through the windshield. Her face softens ever so slightly, knowing she messed up, but hardens again in stubbornness.

Vic looks between them before getting into the backseat while Buddy gets in the driver's seat and drives back to the house. When they arrive, Rhea walks inside and goes upstairs to cool off.

Buddy sighs and sits on the couch, Vic sitting near him as Luna climbs onto her lap. She scratches her ears and looks over at Buddy as he frustratedly scratches his head and rubs his eyes.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't how I wanted tonight to go." He says before looking over at Vic.

"It's okay. You were just trying to get through to her." Vic replies softly.

Buddy nods before saying, "Look, I know what you two had with your relationship was serious. I'm not trying to take from that. I just want to add to it."

Vic looks at him.

"What are some ground rules you want to set for this? Do you like guys, are you interested at all?" He asks.

Vic nods and says, "yeah."

"So what are you into? What are you comfortable with?" He asks.

"Well I...I don't think I'm ready to jump into everything all at once. But we can take things slowly. Me and Rhea...and you can have Rhea of course." She says.

Buddy nods as he listens.

"And you can touch me. Just nothing too crazy yet." Vic adds.

He smiles softly and nods in agreement. "I won't do anything you're not comfortable with."

Rhea comes storming down the stairs, dressed for the gym. Buddy and Vic turn to look at her and she looks at them with the same amount of annoyance as before.

"I'm going to the gym." She says flatly as she snatches her keys up.

Buddy sighs in frustration and looks at Vic.

"Why does she always do this?" He asks rhetorically.

"Oh you're gonna bring her into this?" Rhea asks.

Buddy looks up in anger, "you brought her into this! Don't push all this on me. You're the one who-"

He stops himself and takes a deep breath, shaking his head and looking down. Rhea raises an eyebrow.

"The one who what?" She asks.

"Just go do your workout." Buddy says and turns away from her.

Rhea looks at Vic, who's looking at Buddy sadly, and scoffs before storming out of the house. Buddy starts rubbing his temples and Vic scratches at Luna's ears in an awkward silence.

Hours pass by and Rhea still isn't home. It's nearly 2AM and Buddy is getting antsy, obviously worried. Vic has texted and tried calling numerous times but she won't answer.

Finally, they hear a truck pulling into the driveway followed by the rattling of keys in the door. Buddy jumps up from the couch and turns towards the door as Rhea opens it, walking inside and looking over at them.

Vic stands as well and turns to her. She looks down, her face sweaty and softer.

"Do you have any idea what time it is? Where's your phone?" Buddy rants with obvious worry in his voice.

"It died. I'm sorry." Rhea speaks softly.

"I was about to come find you. I know you're pissed at us but you can't do that, Demi." Buddy says.

"I know. I'm sorry." She says.

"Even Vic was worried." He continues.

Vic puts a soft hand on his arm when she notices the sadness in Rhea's eyes. Buddy looks at her before truly looking at Rhea and sighs.

He walks over to her and pulls her in for a hug. Holding her tightly against him. Rhea hugs back and buries her face in his chest.

"It's okay." He forgives quietly.

Rhea takes a deep breath before looking over at Vic. She opens her mouth but Vic smiles and shakes her head.

"It's fine, really." She says.

"It's not. I've been a bitch." Rhea replies.

"Well yeah. But you're our bitch." Vic winks and they all laugh.