There was a heavy, nearly crushing weight on Ric's chest, his eyes distant and hard. His jaw was set, though his lips trembled slightly around the edges. He wanted to cry, he wanted to hit something, he wanted to cling to Star and beg him to return to the man he loved, he wanted... he wanted too much. But mostly he wanted to get away from there. He needed some distance, he needed some space or he'd not be able to breathe, he needed...
Running again, aren't you, Julio? His mind accused bitterly as he pealed away, the door to his car not even properly closed. Running seemed to be what he did best, but what else was he supposed to do in this situation? How could he stay in the same vehicle with a man who at any given moment might molest or choke him? Star clearly needed help, more so than Ric had apparently even realized, and was clearly Ric was not capable of convincing him to get it. How long had it been this bad? How long had it gone unnoticed? Ric was not only rattled by the physical assault, but there was a cramped, nauseous fear in his gut about how he had allowed things to escalate. He had seen more than his fair share of abusive people, how could he have gotten involved with one and not even realized it? He was afraid, for himself, for Star, for the Brotherhood as a whole.
He tried to swallow down the lump in his throat, speeding down the street towards the base. He could not go back there just yet, he needed to drive, to move, to try and clear his mind, but he had Star's belongings from the long weekend, and wanted to drop those off. How this was going to work he was not sure, but he was not staying in the same room as the redhead, how they were going to work this out he had no idea, but at the moment, with his emotions and aggression heightened, there was no way he was going to spend even one more night in the same bed as Shatterstar.
Ric uneloquently dumped Star's belongings onto the waiting ferry, dropped his form heavily into his clunker of a car and sped off again.
He had no idea that it was the last time he would see the place that had become home for a very long time.