When the Clock Strikes Twelve
Oscar was on a clear and concise mission. He was going to confess to Ruby today. If he didn't confess to Ruby by midnight, he was going to reside himself to the fact he was going to have wait for another opportunity that seemed fitting, and the chances of that happening before she found a boyfriend who actually stood taller than her and was maybe manlier and less baby-faced? Not good. It was, in hindsight, kind of a ridiculous mindset to keep himself in that he needed a special event to ask her out at but he also didn't want her to have some lame story about how they got together.
It was bad enough they only met because they were walking down the hall and bumped into each other and he spilled his iced coffee all over her nice white blouse. Since that horrifying day in the spring before he became an official Beacon student, they had grown close—texting still even after he had paid for her blouses dry cleaning.
This had led to his invite on their current class trip. Yang, Ruby's older sister who was also a senior at Beacon, was complaining that in all of her years there she had never actually gone on a school trip before. She was always busy with school or parties with their sorority house, so anytime the school offered a special event she always declined.
Not this time though, this time Yang had been determined to attend the trip. While at first her friends and Ruby supported her decision, it ended up morphing into a sort of dread as they quickly realized she intended for all of them to go—not just her going by herself.
At first, Yang only invited Blake, Weiss, and Ruby. All of who were her closest friends and seemed like a good idea at the time. That was until Blake's boyfriend Sun got wind of the situation and told Neptune, causing both to want to go instantly since their girlfriends were already going. At first, that was fine, Blake and Weiss would pair off with their boyfriends at some point and it would just be the two sisters.
Then Ilia, a sorority sister of a different house who Yang had been shamelessly flirting with since Blake turned down both of their advances her Junior year, said she wouldn't mind tagging along as well. Which was going to leave Ruby alone.
This had prompted Ruby to invite him to hang out with them. Oscar, not being familiar with the other girls and guys other than in name, said he would as long as he could also invite Jaune, his girlfriend Pyrrha, Jaune's roommate Ren, and Ren's girlfriend Nora. Ruby had quickly agreed to the terms which were how Oscar now ended up in the school campus cafeteria at 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday.
It was how he ended up on a cramped charter bus (thankfully sitting next to Ruby), by 8:30 in the morning.
It was how he ended up buying a thirty-dollar extra ticket so he could do the amusement parks October attractions of several haunted houses that night.
It was how he ended up getting on roller-coasters that honestly made him want to throw up from the sudden jerking and bodily harm his slender frame sustained.
It was how he ended up breaking up arguments on what they should ride next with the huge group of people.
And, it was now how he ended up waiting in line for five different haunted houses despite the fact he hated being scared.
"It sounds like fun," was all Ruby had to say and he melted like butter to stand in line for the very first house.
The first house seemed intimidating at first, being called The Slaughter House and is based off a pig farm slasher cult. The line wasn't terribly long as it was still early in the day, only four o'clock so the sun was still vibrant through the trees. Ruby bounced up and down excitedly with her sister and Nora as the three of them talked about the various ways the house could scare them.
Jaune, Blake, and Oscar all chose to eye the sign that said "pig pen" while they waited in the queue apprehensively. The others though, all had varying degrees of amusement of indifference. Pyrrha and Sun did their best to comfort their significant others and promising to hold their hands the whole time.
Damn, Oscar wished he could do that with Ruby.
Ren and Ilia watched the girls of their affections talk animatedly and replying only when spoken to. Weiss and Neptune were other creatures entirely though as they talked about how lame the whole things were going to be and how they likely would have been better off just doing their own thing while the others did the house.
When it came time for their turn to go through the house, Jaune had pushed Oscar forward so he could stand next to Ruby. Luckily the groups agreed to take turns with which pair went first (mostly due to the girls arguing over the spot) while Sun said they would rather hang back due to their partner's discomfort. Leaving Weiss, Yang, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ruby to be the leaders. Since this was one of the first ones Pyrrha agreed to go first since it was light and hopefully Jaune wouldn't be made too uncomfortable with the spooks.
A good choice, since the house was kind of sad.
While it was still enough to make Jaune and Blake cringe into their partner's sides Oscar could only remember once where he grabbed Ruby's hoodie for support and that was because some jerk had jumped right into his face. Otherwise, it had everything he expected from the fake body bags he had to wade through and the butcher with a chainsaw. Nothing that he remembered would scare him as bad as the local house he had back home where they would actually chase him down the street if he ran.
The next was just a tame. Even though it was called Blackout, sharing a name with a notoriously intense and immersive house he had seen in a documentary once, all it really was, was a pitch-black maze. Most of the scares in that house were from Weiss (the leader for this house) taking a wrong turn and ended up having to backtrack right into Neptune or another member of their party if they got separated.
Oscar and Ruby still managed to be the first out though since he had clung to her hoodie and she had figured out she could see light if she just looked up at the ceiling allowing her to make out turns easier. They had laughed and waited for the rest of their party to return.
It took almost a half-hour for the rest of them to make their way out.
"They kept changing the walls," Weiss had complained with a pout when Yang began to tease her friend about the first one in and the last one out.
"I just think she didn't bother to feel the walls since they said she could get shocked," Ruby whispered to Oscar causing him to slap his hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh.
He turned his head to reply but found himself unable to answer when he saw her face only a few inches away from his own with her wide eyes and a big smile. No sound would come out of his mouth, only being able to gape like a fish as she dragged the party away for a lunch break while they waited for the rest of the houses to open up later that night.
At six, the remaining three houses opened up and Oscar was beginning to feel the pressure. It took them a good half hour to find the entrance to Blind Fury as they followed Nora's lead since she was going to be first in this house. This resulted in a long line. Like an almost two-hour long line.
"This is why we consult a map Nora," Ren had chastised her when they finally reached their place in line. Blake was already noping out from the bloody and mangled teddy bear up front and only agreed to stay as long as Sun held her close the whole time.
Oscar wanted to talk to Ruby while they waited in line. Maybe bring up the idea of holding her hand for comfort, though he knew he needed it more than her. Unfortunately, she was already bouncing and talking a million miles a minute, resulting in no time for the two to have a serious and intimate conversation.
He looked back at where Jaune was burying his face in the crook of Pyrrha's neck or how Sun was able to play with Blake's hair as she nuzzled into his chest. Even Weiss and Neptune were starting to show some intimacy as the later sat on the railing and the former stood between his legs and leaned on him, only shifting positions when the line moved.
It really wasn't fair.
Though, he felt a little comfort in knowing that when it came time for real scares, Nora was actually a huge screamer. In one room with a demented stuffed rabbit Nora began screaming and pounding on a door with Ren right next to her trying to help. Blake was all but crying and even Weiss was getting unnerved as the rabbit same slinking to them with a baseball bat in hand.
Oscar could feel himself pulling Ruby closer despite her watching the scene intensely like a cat watched a dog outside of a window.
The rabbit finally reached them and Ilia had to push Yang up against the wall to make room while the bat collided with the wall behind Nora and Ren… reveal they had been pushing on the painting of a door, not the real door.
"Oh, that makes sense," Ruby said with an innocence that Oscar ended up finding himself laughing his ass off.
When they exited the house, Nora was bouncing and chanting, "again, again, again!"
"She like the adrenaline of being terrified," Ren then explain to the rest of them as they all recalled the mess she was in the house.
The next one was Yang's lead. Even though Oscar knew this was the house he should be the most prepared for, he ended up just being distracted by the time as it ticked closer and closer to midnight.
By this point, about half of their group had decided to drop out of the houses. Both Blake and Jaune's nerves were fried so Pyrrha and Sun were going to take them to ride some more rides instead. Weiss, on the other hand, claimed they were all too childish and where she went so did Neptune.
"I bet she just got too shaken up by that last house," Ruby teased when they all separated and agreed to meet up after they were done with the houses. Oscar nodded in understanding. If he wasn't so determined to spend time with Ruby he might have opted out himself.
Camp Killamore was a love letter to the horror movie Jason. Which also happened to be Oscar's most feared slasher. He had been to too many summer camps as a child to not relate to the victims of the hockey-masked killer. Before they were even at the front of the line though He felt his hands grip the ice-cold ones of death…. Wait no he didn't.
He looked down and saw it was Ruby who was now leaning into him and holding his hand tightly. Her hood was up now and he could feel her body shaking slightly.
"It's cold," she said simply as an explanation and he leaned into her.
"Yeah, it is," he agreed before pulling her close to his chest under the guise of "preserving body heat."
It was almost blissful enough for him to forget the trail he was about to embark on.
Almost.
Luckily the outdoor house had so much fog being put out from machines at any given time it was hard to see anyone to be scared of them. Even with the sudden noises it wasn't enough to make him jump when he couldn't see the motion coming to him.
"I can't be scared of you if I can't see you," he remarked sassily making Ruby giggle and Yang yell something about a burn.
He regretted that statement then when someone rolled out of a kayak and went crawling to him causing him to scream and grab tightly onto Ruby.
"Sorry," he apologized as they continued walking past someone dressed at Jason.
"I don't mind," Ruby said and he couldn't be sure in the dark but it looked like she was blushing. "You're warm after all."
She didn't let go of his hand for the rest of the night.
Even when they went to the last house, Night Terrors, was fairly tame compared to the last two. Ruby led this group with his hand firmly in her own as she dragged him forward past all of the mannequin-challenge perfectly still house actors.
"How are you so calm during this?" Oscar asked as she led him into another room.
"They don't jump out as often at the leader so they can get more people in the group," Ruby explained as she waved at a worker who whispered things at her.
Oscar guessed that made sense, but it just raised more questions.
"Then why do you want to lead. If you liked to be scared why don't you stand in the middle or in the back?"
"Because you seem braver if you stand in the front," Ruby said with a laugh and Oscar gripped her hand tight as they waded through a light-induced swamp.
"I already think you're pretty brave," Oscar said simply and Ruby smiled wide again before pulling him to the end of the house.
The only time he heard Ruby scream was in that house. They were in a tunnel with a blinding light being shinned in their face. In the end, there was a guy dressed as a clown who jumped out with a chainsaw that startled her enough to scream.
"That wasn't fair," she pouted as they exited the house. "I couldn't see anything."
"It's ok," Oscar comforted as he patted her on the head with a free hand.
"We're going to try and find Blake and Sun," Yang told Ruby.
"Pyrrha said her and Jaune were at the Ferris wheel so we're headed to meet them," Ren told Oscar and then it was just the two of them. Alone.
"So," Ruby started as she rocked back and forth on her heels, her hands now shoved in her pockets. "How does ice cream sound?"
"Weren't you just complaining about how cold it was?" Oscar asked as he raised an eyebrow at her and a smirk graced his face. He was feeling just a little braver now like maybe he could say the words.
"You are never too cold for dippin' dots," was Ruby's response causing him to chuckle.
"I suppose you're right about that."
"What flavor do you want?"
"Birthday cake sounds good."
"Excellent choice." Ruby was turning to skip off and Oscar could feel somewhere in the back of his mind reminded him that he only had about an hour left before his deadline.
"Wait," he said and Ruby stopped to turn and face him with wide eyes.
"What is it?"
And the fear came flooding back. The doubts. The what if's? The insecurities. All of it hit Oscar like a ton of bricks.
"It's nothing," he said feeling his face fall even though he tried to smile. "Just tired."
His eyes cast downward in defeat. He really was a coward. He didn't deserve to be with her. He couldn't even muster the courage to ask her out. Even if he's been in love with her from the moment he met her.
He felt something warm of his cheek for a moment. An electric current suddenly waking up every single cell in his body as his eyes went wide and he looked up at Ruby, as she tried to look everywhere but at him while her cheeks were the same red shade as her hoodie.
She had just kissed him on the cheek.
Ruby Rose, had just kissed him on the cheek.
"I'm going to go get that ice cream now," she said turning to walk away.
Oscar found his hand acting on its own as he managed to grab her by the hand.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean to startle you and I know it's a lot all of a sudden. You probably weren't even thinking about going out with someone as ditzy as me and I'm so weird and I talk super-fast and my ADHD is all over the place and-"
"Stop talking," was all Oscar said before he pulled her close and kissed her. She tasted sweet, he didn't know how but she did. Everything about it felt electric even if he had to lean his head up just a bit so he could reach her.
He didn't know how long they were kissing, but when he pulled away her eyes were wide and she was still stammering everything and nothing. It was honestly the cutest thing he ever saw.
"Come on," Oscar said as he grabbed her hand. "Ice cream is on me."
Oscar really didn't want the clock to strike midnight and the park to close.
Because he never wanted this day with Ruby to end.
BRK: I'm cutting it close. But this was definitely inspired by Six Flags St. Louis Fright Fest and I have no regrets because it was a blast. Have a good Halloween and stay safe. Until next time, later gators!