Ruthie had graduated from high school about four months ago and the fall semester of her freshman year was right around the corner. She was right at the moment in the process of packing all her stuff up so she would be ready when Martin was ready to go.
She and Martin had kept in touch the couple years since he had been away at college. He was going to be a junior this year and was on a baseball scholarship. However, he had come back to the Camden house to spend the last two summers.
Over the years Martin and Ruthie had become very close. If there was anyone that she would truly consider her best friend it was Martin. Anytime she had a problem she could just call him and he would always help her figure out what to do or at least make her feel better.
He had even come back this past year and went with her to her Homecoming Dance and then later in the year her Prom. She had been very grateful because she hadn't wanted to end up just going with some random boy. Going with Martin had been fun and had made it special.
When Ruthie had graduated in the spring Martin had already been home for the summer so he also attended her graduation. Now that Ruthie thought about it Martin had pretty much been there for every important event in her life for the last four years or so.
Ruthie had been an integral part of his life too though. He had taken her to his Prom even though he had skipped his Homecoming. And she had of course attended his graduation and even helped Mac plan his graduation party.
When Ruthie had applied for college she had been very broad in her choices, so it was no surprise that she had applied for the same college that Martin went to. She had naturally been accepted to all the colleges she applied to with her high grades and decent SAT scores, but more than that the college Martin went to had offered her an academic scholarship.
After a lot of thought and spending a month or so with Martin once he had come back to Glenoak she had decided that she would definitely feel the most comfortable going to a college that her best friend already attended. Mac went there too, so there were already two people she knew.
Even though she had always imagined college as a way to be on her own around people that didn't know her she had decided that she really didn't want to be completely alone. She knew that going to college with Martin she would have her independence but she would also have him to lean on if she needed.
When she had told her parents they had been quite happy that she wasn't going to be going out in the world alone. Her dad still couldn't seem to get it out of his head that she wasn't his little girl anymore and he had insisted that he was thrilled that Martin would be around to protect his "baby girl".
Since she had taken so long to respond to her acceptance though all the freshman housing had been filled up. So after talking with her parents and with Martin they had all decided that she would share an apartment with Martin, who had been planning on moving right off campus anyway.
His dad had offered to help him out by paying the rent since Martin didn't really have time to work enough hours to make ends meet while playing baseball and going to classes. And Eric had agreed to pay for Ruthie's part since the rent was actually cheaper than the boarding at the school.
Annie had been hesitant at first about Ruthie and Martin sharing an apartment but as Eric, Martin and Ruthie had all pointed out they had lived under the same roof for four years and were just friends. Annie just nodded as if she knew something everyone else didn't but conceded that she supposed it would be fine.
Once that was settled Martin, Ruthie and even Simon, who was home visiting too, took a road trip and spent a few days looking for apartments. They had found a nice one that was only a five-minute walk from campus.
The apartment was a two bedroom joined by one bathroom. There was a living room area connected to a small dining space and a little kitchen. And right next to the front door there was an extremely small laundry room.
Ruthie had immediately fallen in love with it. She loved the sliding glass doors and porch area right outside the living room. And she was a big fan of the window seat in her room. Not only that she liked the neighborhood it was in.
Martin had just seemed satisfied that Ruthie was pleased. As long as he was close to school and it had a kitchen he was set. Besides he had a feeling that he couldn't have changed Ruthie's mind had he wanted to.
So the day had finally arrived for them to go. Eric, Simon, Ruthie and Martin had already driven down the weekend before and unloaded all the furniture: the couch, the beds, the dressers, the TV's, the kitchen stuff, a coffee table, a big bean bag like pillow and the table and chairs for the dining room.
Now all they had left to take were odds and ends, clothes and such. Mac was supposed to be meeting them there any time now so he could follow them. Ruthie was going to be riding with Martin since she had left her car at their apartment the weekend before.
In all honesty, Ruthie had been a little surprised that Mac wasn't living with Martin but apparently he had decided to stay on campus and be an RA. Martin and Ruthie had enjoyed quite a few laughs at his expense on this subject over the summer.
He had just attempted to ignore them and had set about teasing them on becoming a married couple before they even went out. But they had paid him no mind, being that it was two against one.
Hearing Martin calling her name Ruthie sighed since she knew he wasn't going to be thrilled about the amount of bags she had that would need to be packed in the car. It was a good thing that Mac had offered to let them throw a few of their things in his car.
"Ruthie, come on. We need to get going. You know Mac has to get down there in time to get his packets on the new guys." Martin called, his voice getting louder as he walked up the stairs into Ruthie's room.
Ruthie watched as Martin's face went from one of humor at his joke about Mac to one of irritation at the number of bags that she had sitting around her room. She could practically hear the lecture he was about to give her before he even managed to open his mouth.
"Ruthie Camden, you can't seriously think we're going to fit all this stuff. You should have taken some of this down with us last weekend. This is going to take forever. I'm not superman, you know. You should have told me that all of this had to go with us and I could've started carrying it down earlier." Martin said, trailing off as he began gathering her stuff and heading down the stairs as he shook his head unhappily.
Ruthie just stood there, an expressionless look on her face as Martin gave her a dirty look but once his back was to her she couldn't help the smile that covered her face. She knew that she drove him crazy sometimes but as much as he liked to complain she could always count on him to help her out.
Later that day she was setting things up in her room as the music blared from her stereo. She was happy that she was finally here and that after this weekend she would officially be starting college. She had been waiting for this day forever. The day when she would finally be able to move away from home and spread her wings had been a long time coming.
Standing back she admired her style. She had made up her bed, gotten Martin to hook up her TV, DVD and stereo system together, put all her clothes away along with various other things until she was satisfied that her room was just the way she wanted it.
She had also put all her necessary items in the bathroom earlier and all the dishes and what not away in the kitchen. She had even talked Martin into helping her arrange the couch and TV in the living room before he disappeared into his room.
Realizing that she hadn't seen Martin since then she wandered through the bathroom that separated their rooms and pulled his door open. He was lying on the floor in the center of his room, piles of clothes around him left out, and he was fast asleep.
Trying her best not to laugh she set about putting Martin's clothes away, being careful not to wake him. Once she was through she opened up the last box that was left and began removing various movies and CDs that she put on a shelf that had open space.
When she was through she noticed that he had simply laid his bed linens on his bed so she went over and made up it up for him. Relieved that she was finally through she left his room and headed towards the kitchen to cook dinner before waking him.
As she got out the things to make spaghetti she allowed herself to think about Martin and what a great guy and friend he was. She knew sometimes she might slightly take advantage of his inability to refuse her much of anything, but she knew that likewise she would do pretty much anything for him too.
After he had loaded all her bags this morning, complaining no more after he had lectured her in her room, he had driven them to school. Then once they had gotten there he had helped her arrange her bedroom furniture just so and hooked up all her stuff after he had also helped her with the living room.
Which was exactly why she had decided to help him when she had found him fast asleep on his floor. And why she was making dinner now on her first real night away from home, her first real night of freedom.
Singing along to the radio that she had turned on she danced around the kitchen as she prepared dinner. When it was done, and she had made them both plates and taken them into the living room she went to wake up Martin.
"Martin…Martin…Hey dinner is ready." Ruthie called softly as she opened his door, and made her way over to where he still lay in the middle of the room.
"Just a few more minutes." He mumbled, not opening his eyes even a little and rolling over onto his side.
"Martin Brewer, get up. I made us dinner and it's going to get cold." Ruthie whispered loudly, a little exasperated.
"Ruthie come on. Shush." Martin said, grabbing her by the arm causing her to topple over, as he pulled her down next to him.
"Martin. Wake-up." Ruthie said, pulling away from his grasp as she got to her feet and walked to the door, "Fine I'll just eat without you."
"I'll be there in a minute." Martin called groggily as she left his room.
"Whatever." Ruthie said as she left.
A few minutes later, after Ruthie had flipped on the TV and was eating as she sat and watched Casablanca, Martin staggered into the living room. Ruthie looked over at him as he plopped down next to her in front of the sofa and laughed as he wrapped his arms around her waist as his head landed heavily on her shoulder.
"Thanks Ruth, for putting the rest of my stuff away. You're the best. And dinner smells great." He mumbled, his face in her curls.
"Your welcome. Now why don't you eat before you fall back asleep there, buddy." Ruthie suggested to which Martin sighed heavily as he released her small frame and reached for his food.
"Bossy." He grumbled, "How are we ever gonna live with each other?"
"You love me. Besides at least you don't have to cook for yourself all the time." Ruthie pointed out, resisting the urge to laugh at him again as he pouted, "Now be quiet this movie is absolutely the best."
"Whatever." Martin said, noting that Ruthie seemed to be almost mocking him.
He knew that sometimes when he was woken up he could be hard to get up and maybe slightly moody. However, he also knew that Ruthie enjoyed making fun of him when he was in that state and he found that irritating, for lack of a better word.
Good thing she was his best friend, because if Mac had taken the pleasure she did at his expense he would've hurt him already. Mac wouldn't dare though, which was funny since Ruthie was about half the size of Mac and not even half as afraid of Martin as Mac.
He watched her as she became entranced in the movie and had to smile at the way her whole demeanor lit up when she was interested in something. He had never to this day met anyone like Ruthie Camden she was most definitely one of a kind.
He shook his head and turned his attention back to his food. It was actually pretty good, not that he was surprised. Just about everyone in the Camden household knew how to cook. You couldn't live in a house with a family that big and not be able to feed them or yourself.
After he had finished eating he gathered their dishes together and took them to the kitchen. Running the water he washed the few dishes that Ruthie had used and then cleaned up the kitchen before heading back to the living room after turning out the light.
"Thanks for cleaning up." Ruthie offered, as he settled back down next to her, not taking her eyes from the screen.
"No prob. You made it." Martin replied, fidgeting as he tried to make himself comfortable.
"Here. Why don't you lay down?" Ruthie suggested, as she pulled a pillow off the couch and put it on her lap.
"Thanks." Martin murmured, as he laid his head down in her lap and closed his eyes.
"Don't fall asleep though. I don't wanna wake you up again." Ruthie ordered, only half joking.
"I won't." Martin said, opening his eyes and trying to focus on the movie so he would stay awake.