Forbidden Appetite (Rody × Vince)

Boundaries

Rody groaned as he sat up, cradling his head of messy hair in his hands. He couldn't help but feel guilty about his response to Vincent earlier.

A small thud was heard as Rody let himself fall back onto the couch, rubbing his left eye as he replayed the moment he could see the slight sadness in Vincent's onyx eyes.

“Why was I so… so… ugh!” Rody groaned out again, rolling from one side to the other as he pulled at his hair, feeling his eyes heat up.

“Stop, stop” He whined, guilt seeping into his heart, he hadn't been fair… Vincent had opened up that evening on the balcony, dropped everything when Rody called him in the dead of night, took care of him even if he got a bit extreme…

Rody quickly stood and rushed to the bathroom to wash his face, feeling disgusted when he saw his reflection in the mirror.

As he walked back to the couch, he looked out the window, knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep until he made it right.

“I hope you're not asleep” Rody muttered under his breath as he slipped on a pair of shoes he had by the door and rushed out into the cold night.

Rody wasn't too concerned with how crazy he looked running down the streets, not that there was really anyone around to witness it, he simply let his feet take him back through the familiar streets that led to La Gueule de Saturne.

The stairs leading up to Vincent's apartment creaked under Rody's weight, tripping over his own feet as he scrambled up the steps and knocked on the door, leaning his left arm on the wall beside the door to steady himself and catch his breath.

Rody waited a minute before knocking again, desperately this time, he just needed to see Vincent, put this all behind them.

As soon as the door opened and revealed Vincent standing there, Rody enveloped him in an embrace. “I'm so sorry” Rody gasped out.

Vincent didn't have any time to process what was happening, frozen in shock as he tried to register the fact that Rody was at his apartment and hugging him as if his life depended on it.

Slender fingers grasped at Rody's clothes, holding him tightly as quiet sobs left Vince's throat, just grateful that Rody came back, he couldn't have taken it if someone else left him.

There was just silence, both of them finding a strange sort of solace in each other's choked sobs that filled the air around them.

Rody eventually pulled away just after a few seconds. “I didn't mean it. You're my friend, an important friend. I just don't… with everything… I shouldn't have…”

The words died in his throat and more tears fell down Rody's cheeks, lips quivering. Through teary eyes he could see how much their spat affected Vince.

Vince’s eyes were droopy and the eye bags under them were heavier than usual as red, puffed up skin surrounded them, tear stained cheeks glistening in the slight moonlight that came in through the open door.

Vince sniffled and looked away, wiping at his face with his sleeves and reminding himself he needed to stay composed.

“I'll.. make tea” Vince said quietly, his broken voice not allowing for much more as he walked to the kitchen and turned on the light.

Rody blinked his tears to a stop and closed the apartment door before following Vince back.

They were silent, neither knowing how to start a conversation or if it was even wanted.

Vince glanced at Rody before going through the doorway on the left to grab a box of tissues from the bathroom, setting it down on the counter near Rody.

The chamomile tea Vince chose was comforting to both of them, the sweet and rich flavor warming bones long left cold.

“I'm sorry you had to come all the way here” Vince muttered, deciding it was finally time to break the silence.

Rody shook his head slightly. “I needed to… I couldn't sleep after that… I wanted to make sure you were okay.” He said, staring at his slight reflection on the tea surface.

Vince looked at his own cup, fingers tightening around it. “Then I'm sorry I didn't think of doing the same.” He needed to apologize for something, needed to be guilty of something, as he always was.

“You would have done something about it tomorrow. I know you would have” Rody muttered.

Vince was slightly frustrated, not with Rody, but with himself for forgetting the reason they fought In the first place.

“I'm sorry” Vince repeated.

Rody didn't hear the reason so he stayed quiet, tired eyes glancing at Vince.

“For the…” Vince swallowed the lump in his throat. “... Hole in the wall thing…”

Rody had pretty much forgotten about it too in his emotional distress, but at the thought he shivered. “Vince… Can you tell me what that was about? It really creeped me out…” He requested.

Vince was quiet for a second. “I just needed to know what you were up to or if you needed help. I swear that's what it was for, it was there for all my workers before so they didn't know I was watching them, it sounds creepy but I needed to know they were doing their job right.” He rambled, rushing the explanation so Rody could understand. “My restaurant is everything to me, I can't leave even one detail out of sight or everything I've worked so hard for would crumble… Please understand”

Rody did understand, but it didn't make it any better. “You need to cover it up”

Vince stayed silent.

“I'm serious. I don't want you spying on me, just trust that I can do my job and I'll find a way to signal you if I need help, I just can't deal with the hole in the wall.” Rody added. “It's wrong.”

At this point, Vince was willing to do anything to keep this little flame alive so he nodded.

The air was much less tense, tea cups pushed to the side.

Vince excused himself for a moment to wash off the tear stains on his face, coming back to a sleeping Rody, arms on the counter and cheek resting on them.

Vince sighed and gently shook Rody awake. “Come on, let's get you to bed” he said before helping Rody up and leading him to the bedroom.

Rody's eyes were mostly closed, the exhaustion seeping in now that everything was right between them. Tired limbs let themselves fall atop soft blankets.

Close to sleep, Rody gave one last glance to Vince before his gaze fell to the bed beside him. There was a small gold shine next to him that looked familiar, yet Vince's hand covered it and took it away.

Too tired to even fully register it, Rody felt he must've dreamt it in his moment between reality and subconscious fleeting.

Vince was slightly panicked, hoping Rody didn't take it into importance as he took the half of the locket with him to the living room. He shuffled around a few books on a nearby bookshelf and placed the half of the locket I'm between a few.

With a sigh, Vince grabbed a small blanket he had folded up on the couch and lay down with it. Vince would never violate Rody's personal space so blatantly, with his knowledge, of course.

(I felt bad for all of you crying in the last chapter so they're forgiving each other. There will be more problems in the future, I'm only being nice this one time my dear children.)