Chapter Eight: Will You Be My Valentine?

"You turned in your creative writing assignment or whatever it was?" Megan asked as she applied her lipgloss. Ruthie smiled happily.

"Yes. And I think it was really good. Of course it was all I worked on all week so I now owe a whole lot of other work…but whatever." She said shrugging. Megan laughed and rolled her eyes. Ruthie stuck out her tongue playfully.

"So what are you doing tomorrow?" Megan asked. "We can hang out if you have nothing else planned.

"I don't…is tomorrow special?" Ruthie asked rolling here eyes back at Megan. She picked up her lipstick and began applying it.

"You do know tomorrow is Valentines Day right?" Megan asked pulling up her stockings. Ruthie dropped her lipstick and turned to look at Megan.

"What?" Ruthie said.

"Tomorrow…Valentines Day. Don't tell me you forgot?" Megan looked at her shocked.

"Shit! Yeah I forgot! Oh man…" Ruthie buried her head in her hands.

"Ten minutes. Ruthie, fix your make-up!" Mr. Johnson said sternly before walking behind the curtains and disappearing. Ruthie stuck her tongue out in his direction but fixed her make-up.

"I only brought it up because I wanted to know if you and Tyler…well, what was going on between you too. But why is it such a big deal?" Megan asked. She pulled out a ponytail and started fixing her hair.

"Tomorrow is my brothers' birthday. They'll be nine." Ruthie sighed. "I have to call them, but I didn't send them a gift, I completely forgot. They're going to be so upset."

"Just tell them it's on its way and then get them something really cool." Megan said shrugging her shoulders. "So…"

"So…what?" Ruthie asked. She placed a heart shaped clip in her hair and then another one.

"You and Tyler?" Megan asked again.

"Nothing. Me and Tyler…we're through…I guess…" Ruthie looked down at the floor. She didn't want it to be through but she didn't know what else to do.

"That's a lie. I'm not saying get back with the asshole, just that I know you and I know you don't want it to be over." Megan said simply, brushing her cheeks with powder.

"Girls lets go you're on!" Mr. Johnson yelled. Ruthie rolled her eyes and got up.

"We'll talk later." She said grabbing her jacket.

"You bet we will." Megan said. The two walked out on to the stage without another word.


"I'm so tired!" Ruthie whined rubbing her feet. She looked at the clock it was two in the morning they'd been dancing on and off for six hours. "Let's get out of here. We might be able to catch Marcus, if you want. I have no money…" Ruthie said angrily. She'd been on edge lately because she was running low and couldn't get high as often, which made her even tenser.

"I'll buy." Megan said happily.

"No it's okay." Ruthie said pulling on her coat. She wasn't going to even bother changing.

"No, It's fine. It's better then dealing with a really grumpy girl." Megan teased. Ruthie rolled her eyes but smiled defeatedly.

"Alright, let's get out of here." Ruthie grabbed her bag and walked arm in arm out past the curtains, through the crowds of men, and out into the frosty early morning air. "It's cold…" Ruthie said huddling closer to Megan. Megan smiled and nodded.

"It's freezing. Let's hurry and get to the park." She said.

"Hey!" Ruthie stopped and looked at Megan. Megan turned around and glared at the oncoming figure.

"Get out of here! She doesn't want to talk to you!"

"Shut up Megan!" Tyler spat. "Happy Valentines Day Ruthie…" Tyler said walking towards her slowly.

"Tyler get out of here!" Megan yelled. Ruthie help up a hand and glared at Tyler.

"What do you want?" Ruthie asked.

"Just to talk. Just… please, give me a chance?" Tyler begged.

"You have five minutes…just wait inside…" Ruthie said quietly to Megan.

"I'll wait over there…" Megan said stubbornly walking over to the entrance glaring at Tyler.

"Ruthie I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. I was high, I didn't know what I was doing!" Tyler pleaded. Ruthie looked bitterly at me.

"It cost me a week of work!" She said angrily.

"I'll pay for your stuff all week. Just please take me back. I didn't mean what I said. Your not a whore, or a lesbian…" He added looking at Megan who glared at him. "I'm just so afraid of losing you. I've never had a girlfriend as smart and pretty as you are. I love you so much. Please, forgive me?"

Ruthie looked uncertainly at him. She wanted to forgive him but she wasn't sure if she should. The smarter part of her brain was telling her to say no and walk away, but that was the part of her brain she shut off every time she got high. Tyler got on his knees and took her hands in his.

"Please Ruthie! Please forgive me!" He begged. Ruthie couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, I forgive you—" Tyler got up and picked her up spinning her around. "Okay! Okay! Put me down!" Ruthie giggled.

"I love you Ruthie Camden!" Tyler said kissing her.

"I love you too, Tyler Montoya. Now, let's go find Marcus—and your buying!" She said grabbing Megan's arm and walking ahead of him nose in air. Tyler sped after her and wrapped his arm around her waist. He picked her up and carried her piggyback. Megan just smiled and rushed after the two of them.

"Wait up!" She called. The three of them made their way down into the park, Ruthie was now back on her feet and walking alongside Tyler and Megan. The park was even colder then the street, maybe it was just because it was so creepy but Ruthie was definitely colder.

"Where is he?" Ruthie asked pulling her coat closer around her. Tyler wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"There he is!" Tyler dropped his arm and hurried over to Marcus. Marcus was standing by a bench whispering to another guy. He pulled something out of his coat and slipped it into the other guy's pocket. Tyler slapped Marcus lightly on the back and whispered something Ruthie couldn't hear.

"Hello ladies," Marcus said with a smile on his face. Marcus was tall, around 6 feet, and he was well built which made him even more intimidating. But it was his shoulder length greasy black hair, dark eyes, and gaunt face that scared Ruthie the most. Not to mention his deep and somewhat creepy voice.

"Hey," Ruthie said warily. Marcus flashed her a greasy smile and then looked Megan up and down.

"Eyes up here," Megan said simply snapping her fingers at him.

"You need to get a man to keep you in line girl." Marcus snapped at Megan.

"Do you want our business or not?" Megan glared. This was what Ruthie loved about Megan. Megan was exactly like how Ruthie used to be, and being around Megan made Ruthie feel like there was hope she could be that way again.

"What can I get for you?" He said glaring at her.

"The usual…" Megan said only barely leaving out the Duh. Ruthie pulled on Megan's sleeve and gave her a warning look. Megan nodded and rolled her eyes. Tyler slipped Marcus the money and Marcus smiled and slipped the stuff into Tyler's coat.

"Thanks," Tyler said. He pulled Marcus aside. Ruthie eyed Tyler carefully.

"What are they talking about?" Ruthie whispered to Megan. Megan shrugged but narrowed her eyes too.

"I'm not sure…but it's probably nothing good. Fuck I'm cold." Megan said. "Come on lets go!" She yelled at Tyler.

"Yo, I'm coming! Chill the fuck out!" Tyler screamed back. Ruthie gave him a look. "I'll talk to you later." He whispered to Marcus.

"Tyler I'm cold!" Ruthie said. Tyler jogged back over to them.

"Alright let's go…" He wrapped his arm around Ruthie and the three headed out of the park.

"What was that about?" Ruthie asked, looking up at Tyler. Tyler scratched his nose and shrugged.

"Nothing…" Ruthie sighed defeatedly and let the issue drop.


Ruthie paced her room, working up enough courage to pick up the phone and call home. It was six o'clock so the boys would be home, but so would everyone else. She knew calling home to say Happy Birthday to her brother's shouldn't be a big deal…but it was. If she got roped into a conversation with one of her parents it could end badly.

Finally, after pacing the room for almost ten minutes, she picked up the phone and dialed. She listened to the phone ring and could feel her heart pounding against her chest. She hoped one of the twins would pick up, but she doubted she'd be that lucky.

"Happy Birthday!" Everyone cried as Sam and David blew out the candles. It was a small party as usual, most people had Valentine's Day plans on Valentines Day, and they'd had a party at school the day before. Annie squeezed in between Sam and David to cut the cake. The phone rang.

"I'll get it." Lucy smiled walking out of the dining room and into the kitchen. She grabbed the phone. "Hello" Lucy said happily. Ruthie sighed; it was better then one of her parents.

"Hey Luce, Can I talk to Sam and David?" Ruthie asked. Lucy's face lit up.

"Ruthie it's great to hear from you. How are you? I haven't talked to you in forever!" Lucy cried happily.

"I'm fine." She said. "How are you, Kevin, Savannah and Jacob?" Ruthie asked politely.

"Oh we're great. It's so nice to hear your voice; you definitely need to call more often. I'll get Sam and David. Mom's cutting the cake now." Lucy walked into the dining room.

"Who is it?" Annie asked.

"Ruthie, I think she called to wish you guys a happy birthday." Lucy smiled.

"Ruthie!" Sam and David cried in unison. They maneuvered their way through the chairs and people careful not to knock Savannah, who was toddling around. Lucy handed them the phone and smiled.

"Hi Ruthie!" Sam said happily as he and David went into the kitchen to talk. Annie looked nervously at Eric. They'd been trying to get in touch with Ruthie for a while now, ever since her grades had come home. They were really worried about her.

"Hey Sam." Ruthie smiled. "Happy Birthday. How are you?"

"I'm fine. How's New York?" Sam asked. David pushed his ear closer.

"It's good." Ruthie said.

"Hi Ruthie!" David said.

"Hey David. Happy Birthday. Can you both hear me?" Ruthie asked.

"Yeah." They said together.

"Good. Listen, my birthday present for you guys is on its way. Sorry it's going to be late." Ruthie said.

"It's okay." David said.

"Yeah, it's okay." Sam repeated.

"What did you get us?" David asked.

"If I tell you it won't be a surprise will it?" Ruthie smiled.

"Aw. Okay." Sam and David sighed. Annie and Eric walked in, Sam and David looked up and smiled at them.

"We want to talk to her." Annie whispered. David nodded.

"Mom wants to talk to you." David said.

"Oh, well—"

"We love you Ruthie!" They said together.

"I love you too. I got to—" But Sam had already handed the phone to Annie.

"Ruthie?" Annie said. Ruthie stomped her foot and sighed in frustration.

"Hi mom." She said sweetly. Annie handed the phone to Eric.

"Hey Sweetheart." Eric said.

"Hi Dad." Ruthie said in the same sugary voice. She hit herself in the head. "Look I really need to get to work. I just called to wish them a happy birthday—"

"We won't talk long." Eric assured her. "Listen, we'd really love it if you came home for Spring break, you could celebrate your birthday at home with us. It'd mean a lot to me." Eric added pathetically. Ruthie groaned quietly and shook her head.

"Well, I have so much—"

"Please Ruthie at least think about it. Matt is already planning to come out that week with the boys and Sarah. Mary and Carlos said they'd try to come out too. It would be nice to have the whole family together again." Eric looked at Annie hopefully she had her fingers crossed.

"Okay." Ruthie sighed defeatedly. "I'll think about it. I got to go though. I love you."

"I love you too, I'll talk to you later." Ruthie hung up. Eric looked at Annie and smiled. "She said she'd think about it. That's a start right?"

"It is. I don't know what is going on with her, but something is definitely going on…" Annie said.

"You think she knows about Martin and Sandy?" Eric asked tapping the phone on the table.

"Maybe Simon might have told her when he was out there…but I have feeling there's more. I mean her grades slipped long before she could have found out about Martin and Sandy. Well, it will be easier to interrogate her when she isn't three thousand miles away." Annie said smiling at Eric.

"Come on. We have a birthday party to get back to." Eric said kissing Annie. Annie smiled and led the way back into the dining room.

"Can we have our cake now?" David asked. Annie smiled and nodded.

Ruthie plopped down on to her bed and sighed; she could not believe she had just agreed to that. There would definitely be no backing out of it now. Ruthie groaned and threw her pillow over her face. How would she survive a whole week locked up with her parents? What if she saw Sandy? Or Martin? Or the two of them together? She was not looking forward to that week. Maybe she could get out of it…


Authors Note: Hey everybody. I am very happy because this chapter is nice and long yay! I really wanted to give everybody a glimpse of what Marcus was like and I thought it was important to have The Twins Birthday happen in this chapter so that's why I didn't split it up.

Everyone has been asking about when other characters will be involved and they will just not yet. They will com in later. But you will be seeing more of Matt, he'll be in the next chapter. I like Matt and I love the brother sister relationship Ruthie has with both him and Simon. And if I do say so myself I think I did a very good job with Sam and David's characters! : )

I'll update again soon, but for now enjoy!