Chef's Kiss

Chapter Eight

Rody couldn't seem to concentrate or think straight.

He kept messing up today- his service was slow, and once in a while he even stumbled over his own feet. His mind kept wandering towards Vincent- who he now hated for being the man he loved. He just- couldn't tear his mind- or his eyes- off the Chef.

Vincent seemed like he was focused one something else, too- he didn't even seem to notice that Rody was doing terrible today, and if he did, he certainly wasn't pointing anything out. Also, to make the day even worse, he continued to avoid and ignore Rody. Great. God, why was Rody so distracted by Vincent today? He hated Rody, anyways... Rody should hate Vincent, except... Well, it was kind of too late to change his feelings now... Rody was in love... In fact, Rody was so hopelessly in love that he couldn't even deny it anymore.

He'd never felt this way, and he doubted he could go through the whole day of work. Was it just him, or was the clock ticking more slowly than usual? He just had to hold on a bit longer... a bit longer...

Years passed. That was an exaggeration; around three hours passed. So close.... FINALLY! Rody had never been so glad that his shift was over. He felt like he had aged 50 more years during the span of a few hours, but he was just glad to get the day done with and get out of that place; he probably wouldn't be able to control himself if he stood in the same building as Vincent for one more second.

He was about to leave when he noticed that there was some dried blood on his sleeves of his uniform. 'Oh, shit.' He had to clean that up- he couldn't let anyone- especially Vincent- notice it. He rushed to the bathroom, and knocked right into someone. It was Vincent- oh great, just his luck. It was bad enough trying to control himself when he was over ten feet away from Vincent and watching him from afar, and now Vincent was so close that Rody could see his eyes up close. Which were beautiful eyes- but that wasn't the point. Impossibly, time seemed to slow even more, and before Rody knew it, Vincent had grabbed onto Rody's arm to stop him from falling. A searing pain shot through him arm from the pressure Vincent put onto his grip, and Rody quickly pulled back in pain.

'Fuck.' That couldn't seem normal, could it.....

"Rody-" Vincent started.

"Uh, nothing's wrong, I swear! I just, uh, um... bruised my arm yesterday?" Rody tried to smile and make it convincing. From the look on Vincent's face, it wasn't working.

Vincent narrowed his eyes. "You're not a very good liar, Rody..."

"W-well, okay, so, I may have been a bit... s-stressed yesterday... It's not a big deal, n-nothing to worry about- Like you said! If your c-cuts weren't a-a big deal, why s-should mine be..." Rody's voice started to waver, and he could feel his eyes glisten with tears. Just thinking about Vincent's cuts again was...

"Rody..." Rody had never seen Vincent like this, but he looked hurt... and not physically. He had never seen anyone look so sad and broken before. Vincent took a shaky breath. "You're... you- you mean a lot to me... and- I can't see you like this- why?" Rody walked over and wrapped his arm around Vincent. Vincent held onto Rody like his life depended on it.

"T-then why do you keep ignoring me? ...I-I did t-this because I c-couldn't- handle what was happening... I thought y-you hated me, and it's okay if y-you do..." Rody looked at Vincent. He sounded so cliché now... Rody felt his heart beat faster. They were so close that Rody could see the darker spots of his eyes and the perfect features of his face...

"R-Rody, I... I'm sorry... this was all my fault, I didn't mean for you to think I hated you, I really don't, I just... can't really talk about it now..." Vincent gently took Rody's arms. "Can I just look at these for you- please?"

♡ · ♡ · ♡ · ♡ · ♡

Rody winced as Vincent cleaned out his scars. Why did that have to burn so much?

Vincent sighed. "Rody, please... just, don't do this again...." Rody couldn't help but giggle. "What?" Vincent asked.

"Honestly, yours are worse than mine- Imagine how I felt when I saw your scars!" Rody said, and realized that he hadn't laughed ever since... well, Vincent started ignoring him. Gosh, he was down bad.

Vincent smiled a little, and Rody immediately turned red. "Uh, do you have a fever? Why is your face so re-" Rody interrupted, blushing madly, "UH- no, no, i-it's nothing- just- uhhhh, hot?"

Vincent raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? It's basically freezing in here, are you sure you aren't sick or anything?" Rody shook his head a bit too quickly. "I'm fine!! I'm just, um.... cold!" Rody looked up and impossible blushed even more. Vincent's face was so close- God, Rody wanted to kiss him so bad... no! He couldn't do that.. It wouldn't work out...

"Well, it's getting pretty late, we should probably head home-" Rody stopped Vincent before he could leave. "Wait! Since you got to clean my cuts..." Vincent sighed. "Can I please just go home, Rody?"

"Nope!"

♡ · ♡ · ♡ · ♡ · ♡

Vincent didn't even flinch as Rody finished up cleaning and properly wrapping his arms in gauze. "How can you stand this? Your scars look like they hurt ten times more than mine, yet you don't even wince?" Vincent shrugged. "I guess you could say I'm used to this," He replied.

"Well, uhm..." Rody stuttered, starting to blush again. "I think, um, your scars make you beautiful..." He mumbled. "Pardon?" Vincent asked. Rody repeated a bit louder, "I think your s-scars are a part o-of you that makes you beautiful- not in a weird way, I just! um..." It was Vincent's turn to blush now.

Rody chuckled. "Look who has a fever now!" He teased. Vincent turned even redder. "S-shut up! I'm just- hot! No, cold! I mean-" Rody looked at Vincent, and they burst out laughing. Rody then realized what he just said, and he looked away just as quickly, blushing. "So, uh... do you want me to walk you home?" Vincent asked, to break the awkward silence. "S-sure..." 

They couldn't see each others' faces in the darkness, but the two men blushed all the way to Rody's house. They barely noticed that their hands somehow landed into each others', their fingers intertwining. The walk home felt too short.

"Thanks for walking me home.... uh, good night?" Rody said awkwardly, and although he would never admit it, he was disappointed that he had to let go of Vincent's hand.

"No problem, good night, Rody. Also, I suggest cleaning your apartment, it really needs it." Vincent smiled and closed the door. Rody sighed, thinking over the events that happened today. Maybe Vincent would never like Rody back, maybe he should just keep his feelings a secret.

Maybe this would be the closest he would ever get to Vincent; just being close, sweet friends.

And maybe, just maybe... for now...he was fine with things just the way they were. Rody had the best sleep he had in a long time.

-End of Chapter Eight-