Anything but Love

Chapter 2: Ladies Night

Ruby parked her car in front of Rose's house. It was now Friday night, approximately 7:30, and she was dropping her girlfriend and Lapis off for their ladies night (her car was in the shop) then she would be driving back to pick up Amethyst and Jasper. They were all exhausted from school, basketball practice and their clubs so it was nice to have a break.

"Thanks for the ride, Ruby," Lapis said with a smile; grabbing her bags and getting out the car.

The red girl shrugged. "Whatever,"

Sapphire rewarded her with a playful slap to her arm which was bare in her blue sleeveless tee. "Be nice,"

"I'm nice to you, isn't that all that matters?" Ruby teased.

The senior gathered her things, purposely avoiding the bait that would lead to minutes of playful banter. "The girls probably won't let me use a phone all night so I guess I'll call you in the morning. And remember, I already planned the dinner for tomorrow night with my parents," She bit her bottom lip nervously.

"If you don't want to—" Ruby began, albeit a little annoyed.

She was sick of Sapphire backing out of this; it had to happen eventually and the more she held back on it, the worse it would be.

Yet Ruby was also conflicted with not wanting to pressure her into doing anything she wasn't ready for.

But her girlfriend shook her head. "No, this has been long overdue," Sapphire kissed the other softly on the lips. "I'll see you later,"

"Of course," Ruby nodded, licking her bottom lip before muttering. "Strawberry…I like the mango better," She added with a teasing grin.

Sapphire rolled her eyes; lips pressed into a tight smile. "Thank you for the suggestion I'll make sure to put it with the others in your suggestion box,"

Ruby chuckled. "You do that but I better go pick them up before they start calling; have fun, but not too much fun! I know how much Rose and Lapis like stripers," She huffed; recalling the one time she caught some guy dressed as a flimsy mail man making passes at Sapphire during one of Rose's 'parties'.

"That goes for you too," Sapphire countered; she didn't have a certain moment to recall but it was Amethyst and Jasper.

They always went overboard.

Ruby saluted. "Yes ma'am,"

Sapphire giggled. "My little loser; I'll see you later,"

The ballerina left with one more fleeting kiss. Ruby waited until her girlfriend was safely inside the house before pulling away from the curb; now she just had to pick up her friends.


Sapphire took a sip of the hot chocolate in her mug that their host had made for them all. The girls were sitting in their own comfortable couch areas in Rose's living room; blankets wrapped nice and cozy around them. The five girls—Lapis, Sadie, Sapphire, Pearl and Rose—had just finished watching the movie 'Kick Ass' as it was nearing nine o'clock.

Everyone was awake except for Sadie; the blonde had already told them that she might not be much fun since she was exhausted from the basketball preseason work out she had to endure after school.

"That was cool," Lapis yawned out; stretching out from her spot beside Pearl on the long sofa. "I was actually hoping to see this movie for a while but Peridot had a band thing and I had to go show my support,"

Pearl nodded. "Your birthday is coming up, right? Do you two have anything special planned?"

The swimmer hummed in agreement. "It's next week and not right now, no. Peridot will probably be busy with her computer graphics project,"

Pearl softened. "Surely she's going to make time for you."

"I don't know, maybe, I wouldn't really count on it. She just has a strong passion for band and computer junk, and I don't want to get in the way of that," Lapis sighed. "But enough about me—Sapphire—what's new in your life? Are you and Ruby holding up okay?"

Sapphire shifted under the sudden attention, she shrugged. "We're fine; nothing much has really changed,"

The way Lapis said it made it seem like they had a reason to be doing bad.

Lapis smirked into her mug; raising a pointed eyebrow to the former ballerina. "You two still haven't had sex then?"

So that's what this was about.

Sapphire refused to blush; no, she wouldn't give Lapis the satisfaction.

After the swimmer got over her crush on Ruby, she and Sapphire became close friends just like before. Lapis, along with Ruby's friends, loved to tell vivid sex stories and even urged the ballerina to tell her some in return. But with nothing to tell, it only left Lapis teasing her short inexperienced friend.

"No Lapis, we still haven't had sex," Sapphire said with her lips drawn in a straight line. "We're still taking our time and getting to know each other—"

"For six months?" Lapis deadpanned; enjoying the straight-lipped reaction she managed to pull from Sapphire.

If someone had just met the shorter girl they would think that she wasn't affected, but no; Lapis knew her better than that. She had trained her eyes to pick up on any signs of anger, annoyance and sadness from her friend through the years. It took forever but she thinks she's finally cracked it.

Rose sighed dejectedly. "I don't see anything wrong with being abstinent—"

"We're not abstinent, Rose." Sapphire huffed at her dense friend's poor observation. "We just have other things to worry about and we want the time to be right,"

It seemed as if they weren't listening to her because Pearl spoke up; ignoring Sapphire's previous comment. "Well, maybe Ruby is nervous; she is a virgin isn't she?"

Lapis gaped, all attention now at the skinny girl beside her; Sapphire's reactions pushed out of her mind. "That rumor was true? I always thought she was some kind of player; that's part of the reason why I had a crush on her last year,"

Lapis missed the way Sapphire rolled her eyes.

Rose squealed. "I think it's cute how they're both saving themselves for each other; and the waiting will make things even more enjoyable when they actually do it,"

At this comment Sapphire did blush; it seemed like she wasn't even in the room anymore as her friends kept talking about her lack of sex life. With an embarrassed groan the tiny girl slid down further into her comforting blanket.

Pearl nodded thoughtfully. "I guess you're right,"

"Ooo, I wonder how Ruby is in the bed," Lapis' eyes sparkled with mischief as she looked at the blushing girl. "When you guys actually do you have to tell us all about it!"

Sapphire shook her head. "…you guys are worse than Jasper and Amethyst, I swear."

Pearl scrunched her face at the accusation. "I think that was a little harsh; I don't think I'm that bad,"

Sapphire shook her head and nodded towards the swimmer. "You aren't but Lapis fits the description quiet well,"

Lapis rolled her eyes.

"You have been acting like that lately," Rose laughed softly. "If I didn't know any better I'd think you have been spending a lot of more time with Jasper,"

The swimmer tensed; she sipped her hot drink as her friends laughed at the pink woman's joke. She knew there was no way of them knowing what was really going on but the idea of getting caught was mortifying. But the thrill of it all overshadowed her common sense.

"Well, what about you and Amethyst? You two seem pretty cozy," Lapis said, redirecting the conversation elsewhere for her own benefit.

Pearl blushed softly; she plucked at the loose string on her blanket. "We are, she's different from when we were just having flings. We have sex but not as often; now we just talk and enjoy each other's company. It's a great feeling," She grinned. "That's why I can agree with Sapphire, how you want to wait, because being with someone you care about is just amazing; something I've never felt before."

Pearl shrugged lamely. "I can't really explain it,"

Sapphire discretely noticed the pink girl's face deflate before bouncing back. "That's great; I'm glad you're happy,"

"What about you, Rose?" Sapphire spoke boldly; looking at her friend curiously. "Anything going on in your life; we haven't heard from you since summer,"

Rose nodded, looking down at her lap. "Y-yeah, about that..."


"You sure you kids don't want any more cookies? I have plenty," Scarlet said as she poked her head through her daughter's room door.

Ruby groaned; throwing a pillow at her mother. "We're fine mom, now get out!"

"I love you too gummy bear!"

Jasper and Amethyst laughed hysterically as their short friend slammed her door shut. She muttered a variety of curses before picking up Snowflake and climbing into her bed; the slightly larger dog curling up in her lap.

"Your mom is awesome," Jasper said after she was finished laughing. "I don't see why you give her such a hard time when she's just trying to be nice."

Amethyst agreed; mouth full with chocolate chip cookies. "Yeah, you should try and meet her halfway,"

Ruby rolled her eyes at her easily swayed friends. "First of all, just a few months ago you two hated her but now that she makes cookies you just forgive her! And secondly, I was always like this with her; even when my father was alive,"

"Seriously? You yelling at your mom is a normal thing?" Jasper said with a frown.

"Yeah, it's just how we are,"

Amethyst swallowed the last of her snack; facing her friends in her sleeping bag on the floor. "Enough about Ruby's smoking mother—" She ignored Ruby's shout of 'hey' and carried on. "This is a girl's night and we always start them off with confessions; it's been way too long,"

Jasper, despite having so much to hide, couldn't help but agree. "I know man,"

A lot of people thought their confession times were just them boasting about their recent lays. But in reality it was a way for them to get closer as friends by sharing something personal that they can all relate to. Like the way Ruby tells them about her mother drama, or Amethyst about her runaway father and even Jasper finds a rare occasion where she spills the beans about her drug addicted mother who is constantly on the streets.

Their confessions are almost like a therapy session. Someone talks and someone listens; no one judges and they all try their best to come up with helpful suggestions. Anything to let them know that they're not alone—that they aren't the only ones struggling.

Amethyst did a tiny drum roll with her fingers. "First up we have the infamous virgin—how's that working out for y'ah?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, immune to her friend's years of teasing. "It's working out perfectly," Sarcasm was thick on her tongue.

Jasper shook her head. "I just don't see how you two have this amazing energy together, have been dating for almost a year, and you just haven't done it yet. I mean—when you two were at that pool party, during the movie, I swore that you two were going to jump each other right there,"

Ruby made a face. "Gross."

"Don't be a prude!" Amethyst pointed a chubby finger. "You can't lie and say that you haven't thought about it—dreamed about it!"

The blush on her face was proof enough to make Jasper squeal like a school girl (Amethyst looked mortified). "What kind of dreams, dude? We need details,"

Ruby looked anywhere but them. "I don't have dreams but I have thought about it," She huffed. "But I just get really turned off when she can't stand up to her parents and tell them about us; just because she cares too much about what they think,"

Amethyst lowered her voice to one of disbelief. "…she still hasn't told them?"

"She said that she is tomorrow when I have dinner with her parents but I don't know; after so many loose promises you start losing hope, you know?" Ruby mumbled. "I just thought we were over the coward faze; I mean, I risked everything and told you guys! And that turned out fine,"

Minus the teasing.

Jasper looked down. "Maybe she has a good reason to lie," She kept going even when her friends scoffed. "I mean it—Sapphire's parents are really religious Ruby, this could ruin her relationship with her family; what if they are so angry that they send her away?"

Ruby shrunk back at the thought.

"Then what? Should she just keep lying?" Amethyst asked with a frown.

Jasper shook her head. "No, she can tell them, just be careful about it. Anything can happen,"

Amethyst spoke after a long silence. "Well that killed the mood—but, Pearl and I are good. What about you; how is single life treating you?"

"Yeah," Ruby said; trying to get out of her slump. "Meet any hot girls?"

Jasper bit the inside of her cheek as she looked at the playful expressions on her friend's faces. She hated lying to them, she did, but it had become like second nature to her.

"Not really,"


Pearl felt as if her entire world was breaking. She didn't know why she was the one freaking out when Rose was the one who was having a baby; with him.

"Pearl calm down," Were the larger women's soft words.

The skinny girl did no such thing; in fact she jumped up from her seat with a shout on her tongue. "How am I supposed to calm down when you're pregnant, Rose? You're not even eighteen yet and you're still in high school; senior year! Do you know how important that is?"

"Do you think she doesn't know that?" Lapis spat viciously; standing protectively in front of the stressed pink girl. "She told us because we're her closest friends and she thought that she could trust us and this is how you're reacting?" She crossed her arms. "You can at least pretend to be supportive!"

By now Sadie had woken up and was trying to wrap her drowsy mind around what was going on.

"How did this even happen, Rose? I thought you two weren't even dating anymore," Pearl lashed out; demanding that her questions be answered.

Rose put a hand to Lapis's shoulder and pushed her gently to the side as she stepped forward. "Halfway during the summer Greg and I got together; we got a little carried away and forgot to use a condom—"

"Smart." Pearl deadpanned.

Rose ignored her snarky comment. "But I'm not getting rid of the baby; Greg and I are going to do what's right—"

"How can you raise a kid when you're still one yourself," Pearl tussled her blonde locks in frustration. "…this—this isn't what I thought you were going to do this summer."

Rose shook her head. "What did you think—"

"I thought you were going to spend time by yourself this summer; not get pregnant like some slut—"

Sapphire shot up. "Pearl," Her voice came out uncharacteristically loud and emotional; she just couldn't believe her ears.

"What?" Pearl shot back.

The shorter girl motioned to Rose. Pearl slowly turned around to come into view of a distraught Rose; the skinny girl just now noticed the tired bags under her eyes and the tears that didn't seem to stop falling. Lapis was trying to coax her emotional friend along with Sadie who, by now, had understood the gist of what was going on.

Pearl huffed; a familiar sting coming from her eyes. "…I need some air," Was what she mumbled; briskly walking out the front door with Sapphire at her heals.

Lapis growled at the skinny girl's retreating back. "The fucking nerve—"

"It's not her fault; she's right," Rose spoke into the swimmers comforting arms. "We rushed into things an—"

"Pearl is just being a drama queen; she'll get over it," Lapis sidestepped. "But for now let's worry about you."

Rose sniffed and offered a weak nod.


"Do you still have feelings for her?"

Pearl shook her head. Sapphire was standing tall in front of the emotional mess that was her friend. The skinny girl was sitting on the bottom step of the front porch with her arms hugging her body and head tucked in tight.

As soon as she had gotten outside the tears had begun falling and wouldn't be stopping any time soon.

Sapphire tapped her foot impatiently. "Then what's the probl—"

"The prob-problem is that sh-she is going to just waste her future for him! She deserves better,"

"Even so, that isn't your decision to make Pearl." Sapphire crossed her arms; cursing herself for not wearing Ruby's jacket in the chilly weather. "That is between her and Greg; and apparently they are going to make this work so you just have to support her."

Sapphire paused. "You shouldn't be this upset about it; you're acting like you're jealous or something—"

"I'm not jealous." Pearl looked up; revealing her flushed, tear stained face and runny nose. "I just don't want her to ruin her life for some guy who won't even be with her years from now…I blame Greg for this." She spat.

"It takes two for this kind of thing so there is no one to blame." Sapphire spoke again, a little more hesitant this time around. "But if you were jealous then I would tell you not to be…Amethyst really cares about you," She bit her lip. "You shouldn't let your past feelings get in the way for the future."

Pearl scoffed. "You're one to talk; Ruby cares about you too and you're acting like a coward, too afraid to tell your parents,"

She couldn't object; she knew that Pearl was right. But it still didn't stop her from flinching and drawing her arms closer to her body protectively.

"…" Pearl must have noticed her reaction because she began reaching her hand out. "Look, I'm just really upset I didn't—"

"Don't apologize for telling the truth, Pearl." Was her response as she dodged the reaching hand and walked up the stairs. "Get yourself together; you can't comfort someone when you, yourself, need comforting."

Sapphire didn't turn around as she made her way back inside the warm house.


The bright red numbers on the bedside dresser read 11:45 as light red eyes widened slowly. Ruby had been woken up by something weird vibrating in her bed. The feeling alone had caused Snowflake to jump off and snuggle on the floor beside Jasper instead; not even considering laying beside Amethyst who kicked in her sleep.

The basketball player flipped onto her back and blindly searched under her heavy sheets. After a few seconds of struggling her right hand graced the edge of her case; she quickly pulled the offending electronic device from under her sheets and answered the call.

"He…hello?" Ruby husked out; not taking the time to check caller id.

She was kind of half asleep right now.

"Ruby, hey, I'm glad you answered."

Ruby immediately sobered up at the sound of her girlfriend's voice; she sat up on the bed. "Sapphire—hey—I thought you wouldn't be able to call? Aren't you still with Rose?" She asked, brushing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Things are a little crazy over here right now and everyone is pretty tense."

Ruby nodded slowly. "…do you want to talk about it?"

She could almost imagine Sapphire shake her head. "Not really; but there is something," Sapphire sighed. "Something that Pearl said—I just, you know I care about you right?"

Ruby sat up.

It was rare for Sapphire to ever show this side to her; that vulnerable side that she usually kept bottled up, most of the time she was used to Sapphire being playful and shy, not sounding close to tears. That alone was a red light for Ruby.

"I know," Ruby whispered into the phone; glancing at her sleeping friend's before muttering. "And I really care about you too; is something wrong? Do you need me to come and get you?" She was already beginning to push her sheets back.

"No I just—I know that I'm not really good, with expressing how I feel, and a lot of times I leave you feeling confused but I do care. I care so much that it hurts and I just feel like I haven't been trying hard enough; with my parents and school—"

"I understand," Ruby frowned. "Look, I know it's hard for you to be open with me but you've never made me feel like I'm the only one in this relationship, Sapphire. It's strange but—you don't have to make spontaneous gestures for me to understand you—I can just notice the little things," Ruby smiled softly. "Like when you wear my varsity jacket when it isn't that cold out, or how you take my hand at any chance you get or how just called me to make sure you got your point across,"

"I know how you feel; sure it's nice to hear you say it but I'm not going to force you to change that factor of yourself, okay?"

Sapphire hiccupped on the other line; her voice coming out scratchy and rough. "Okay—I just wanted to make sure you didn't feel blindsided by this all,"

"I don't," Ruby reached for her keys. "But I am getting in my car to get over there to give you a hug; and I'm bringing Snowflake," At the mention of her name the dog perked her head up.

Sapphire laughed softly. "How can I refuse such a once in the life time offer; just call me when you get here and I'll meet you halfway,"

"Yes ma'am,"

Sapphire sighed heavily. "…thank you,"

Ruby's smile was soft and loving. "No need; I'm happy to do it,"


Sorry, I was supposed to have this up yesterday but I was tired. I was going to update earlier but I had to go to the doctors; anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and please review to tell me what you think. See you guys next time.