For once, Ruby was actually getting some work done. She had read more tonight than she had read in any year, of any level, of her entire career in the Maine public school system. Normally, she would have given up out of boredom two hours ago. Nevertheless, tonight was different. She felt compelled to perform, almost as if it was sport. The idea of possibly impressing Belle entertained her mind.
Recently, she had become inclined to believe that her efforts were not going unnoticed.
Although the girls, particularly the ever-diligent Belle, had remained quiet and focused on their respective academic tasks for the past two and half hours, every so often, the petite brunette would stop highlighting and peer up from her textbook to slyly check on Ruby. In turn, Ruby would pretend not to notice, instead putting on her best "contemplative" facial expression and staring into the pages of her Organized Crime and Drug Business textbook. As Belle would turn back to her work with a contented smile, thankful for the presence of a companion after her rather solitary first few days of college, Ruby would peek over the pages of her own textbook to admire the other girl.
Her eyes would wander to the tutor's smooth and supple neck, which was exposed when the girl habitually flipped her hair off of her right shoulder to gather and twirl into one large curl over her left as she read (another one of Belle's adorable quirks that left Ruby absolutely captivated).
Ruby had spent the past twenty-four hours trying to replay and recall every moment of her and Belle's first encounter, trying to gauge the other girl's feelings and her own. She found herself uncharacteristically fascinated by the ostensibly demure yet, increasingly familiar girl— how her long, full eyelashes would flutter as she skimmed the lines of text, or how she smiled crookedly in accomplishment and tapped her highlighter against the page when she found something worth taking note of. No boy had ever managed to make her feel so consumed with interest and anxiety. No, this was different. Belle was different.
"Phew..." Ruby eventually sighed from her seat on the couch behind Belle, who was settled just a foot or so from her on the plush rug. Her open notebooks and texts encircled her in what Ruby recognized as chaos but afterward assumed to be a manifestation of the beautiful girl's brilliance.
Belle looked back over her shoulder to see Ruby closing her book.
"Finished already?" she inquired with a rewarding smile.
"Yep, all two chapters…" the taller girl closed her eyes and out-stretched her arms and legs, purposefully bumping Belle lightly. The smaller girl laughed her musical laugh and Ruby smiled smugly as she raised her well-defined arms over her head and elaborated on the stretch. "…All sixty-two friggen' pages," she grumbled, letting out a dramatic yawn to accompany the rest of her exhibition of boredom. "That was not my idea of fun," she expressed. "I can't remember the last time I read that much for anything, never mind school…" Ruby trailed off as she moved.
Belle's big blue eyes followed Ruby's long, athletic legs as she stood from her seat on the couch and walked over to a bit of open space to continued her impromptu stretching routine. The action was curious to Belle but she assumed this was something that athletes did all the time. Although, she really couldn't be sure. Her athletic experience was minimal.
The closest she had come to playing any sport was her exhausting everyday effort to avoid an incorrigibly misogynistic, albeit handsome, jock named Gaston in the halls of Storybrooke High. He, for some reason, insisted that they were perfect for each other. She insisted otherwise.
Belle's gaze somewhat unintentionally lingered over Ruby when the other girl's t-shirt was accidentally pulled up by the material of her sweatshirt to reveal her flat, toned stomach as she pulled one arm up and behind her head— and then, to Belle's satisfaction, the other. Her pupils dilated with focus.
"Belle…" Ruby prodded her verbally. A sly half smile crept on to her face, as she noticed the direction and intensity of her tutor's stare.
"Oh!" Belle squeaked. "Sorry, must have zoned out for a second," she fumbled as she finally diverted her gaze from the other girl's enticing bare midriff. She tried her hardest not to blush with embarrassment and to maintain some composure in front of the increasingly alluring jock. Her mind raced for something to say.
"Maybe it's time for a break," Ruby saved her. "How about a walk?" she asked excitedly. "The Starbucks on campus is open till 10:00. And…" she added, "…hot chocolate is on me." Her eyes, crinkled at the edges with genuine pleasure, sparkled as they reflected the fire behind Belle as she smiled at her charmingly.
"Alright…" Belle sighed with a sarcastic tone, "I guess we can have a little fun."
"Just a little," Ruby egged cutely.
"BUT," she raised and pointed her index finger at Ruby in a disciplinary fashion, "then, right back to studying!" Belle teased back.
"As you wish, princess." Ruby chuckled as she bowed to Belle and then extender her hand to the seated girl.
With a swift, but gentle, tug from the sinewy athlete, Belle was swept to her feet. However, the momentum was enough to cause her to awkwardly crash into Ruby, who wavered momentarily as she tried to compensate her balance enough for the two colliding bodies. She quickly and instinctively used her body and arms to catch and steady Belle, whose hands were pressed into Ruby's firm stomach as she did her best to prevent the collision.
Belle could immediately feel an intense but inviting heat radiating out of the hands that held both her arms and the defined abs that her hands were still firmly pressed against. And she liked it. With Belle so close, Ruby could smell the sweet lavender and tea tree scent of Belle's soft light-brown hair. And she liked it.
After a pair of nervous laughs and awkward apologies, the girls untangled themselves and quickly averted their gazes from one another, as they hurried to put on their sweatshirts and gloves.
"Ready?" Ruby asked, eyebrows arched.
"I am always ready for hot chocolate!" Belle smiled widely, pushing the now chuckling Ruby out of the dorm and into the cool fall air.