Roman flopped face-down on his bed having sent Neo to buy groceries. For the rest of the day, he had absolutely nothing to do, meaning that he would have nothing to do aside from thinking about pointless crap, completely unfettered by any distractions. Roman sat up and surveyed the apartment for anything to do.
Neo wasn't one for decorating; or rather, she wasn't one for buying anything for her apartments. She was the kind of person who preferred to live in a space that had absolutely no personal effects. No TV, no books—not even a damn microwave. He would go out and buy one himself, but most people would be able to recognize him from his mugshot-as it was continually broadcast on the news—and masks were illegal in Vale, so he could kiss ramen goodbye. Neo had taste, sure, but she didn't lay her secrets bare for all the world to see. Or at the very least, the police, when they break down her door.
Normally, Roman would review mission assignments when he was bored, but today, he had none to review. Not even one of Cinder's random assignments that made seemingly no sense at all. The rich tendencies within him to run out the door and go chase after what he wanted pushed him around the room, and Roman was tempted to pull open the door handle and take the fastest train to Beacon's foreground.
Roman picked up his scroll and checked for any new messages, emails, anything. But since five minutes ago when he last checked his phone, nothing new arrived. He opened the information email on the new base of operations. It gave him the address, his specific code, and a map marked with directions and asterisked with instructions on how to enter the building as to avoid cameras. ("Facial recognition isn't what it used to be.")
Roman leaned against the edge of his couch. Hours and hours with nothing to do but think about the one thing he wanted to think about the least.
Ruby Rose.
Groaning, Roman rolled onto the couch and wrapped his arms around one of the decorative pillows. He couldn't afford to get involved with any more entanglements. But then again, he could only hold out for so long. Roman exhaled, submitting to the phosphorescence of the idea of Ruby, turning away any other opposition.
Roman spoke under his breath: "This is going to turn out to be a really lonely evening."
"Sooooo," Yang said suddenly, causing Ruby to jump. "We haven't heard about your new boyfriend in a while. Anything new?"
"Um, well, I haven't really seen him since the night we all went to the movies," Ruby admitted, flipping another page in her textbook, trying to appear at least moderately busy.
"Seriously?" Yang exclaimed, straining her voice to keep the volume low. "You guys haven't even seen each other for two weeks?"
Ruby shook her head.
"So it was just a trip to first base? That's it?" asked Yang.
Unsettled by her crude phrasing, Ruby sought to justify herself. "We're just trying to figure out what's going on. Neither of us really know right now, but I'm pretty sure he wants to see me again."
"Do you mean like another make out sesh?" Yang asked sardonically.
Ruby's face heated as she tried to splutter out the words: "No, like a date!" And as quickly as they escaped her mouth, Ruby clapped a hand over her mouth and looked down at her feet. Yang giggled excitedly as she watched Ruby try to figure out what she really meant.
"Ladies," Professor Port called.
Yang struggled to compose herself into the proper manner of a student in the classroom, answering, "Yes?"
"Can it wait until after class?" His eyes shifted to Ruby, who was hiding her face under the desk.
Yang nodded her head in exaggerated motions. "Yes, of course."
Professor Port watched them for a few more seconds, Yang clearing her throat, before he turned back to the front of the room to explain the notes on the board.
Ruby placed her hands over her burning cheeks as she looked back up at the board. No, she certainly hadn't meant a date. She couldn't go publically anywhere with him given his current status with the law, and now that she had said that, that's exactly what Yang's going to be expecting.
She wasn't lying, either. She had no idea what was going on, and Roman probably didn't either. It was just one big confusing pile of emotions that she wasn't prepared to sort out on her own.
Heart in her throat, mind in tumultuous haze, Ruby raised a fist to the door to knock. She rapped her knuckles as lightly as she could, so lightly that she thought she might not have been heard. She inhaled deeply, shook out her wrist and lifted her hand to knock again. Before her knuckles made contact, the door opened, Roman standing in the doorway. He wouldn't meet her eyes.
Covering his mouth, he stepped aside, allowing her to enter, and Ruby did so looking back at Roman with a confused expression. He appeared deep in thought, but he wasn't saying a single thing.
Finally, when the silence became uncomfortably tangible, Roman spoke. "Well, Red? What are you here for?"
"What?" Ruby breathed. "What do you mean?"
"Why are you here?" Roman clarified. He crossed his arms, eyes frozen on her with an icy layer frosted over.
Ruby tried to say something, but she couldn't come up with anything to say in response to a retort as sour as his. She looked down at the buttons on the vest of her school uniform, pulling at them with her fingers nervously.
Roman sighed and strolled into the kitchen. "All I have right now is low-fat."
Ruby turned as he walked by. "You mean milk?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he opened the fridge and held up a pint-sized jug of milk as explicative evidence.
Ruby sauntered over awkwardly, opening her mouth to say something but closing it before any words formed. Roman poured her a glass of milk and handed it to her wordlessly. Ruby sipped quietly, holding back a comment on how much she hated low-fat milk.
After a moment, Roman shook his head and pinched his nose. "That's unfair. I shouldn't put you on the spot like that." He lowered his hand and raised his eyes to meet hers. "That was inappropriate."
"I wouldn't really call what you just did inappropriate," Ruby muttered.
"No, not that. What I did the last time you were here." Roman bit the back of his lip, waiting for Ruby to respond.
"Oh," Ruby exhaled. "I—uh, okay."
"We're not on the same page," Roman muttered to himself. "I shouldn't have…done that."
Ruby shifted to the side. "I don't care," she whispered.
"For god's sake, how could you not?" He shouted. Ruby's head snapped back up to his. "I'm a criminal, and you're a student at the school training the kinds of people who get off on putting me in jail."
"You think I don't understand that?" Ruby started.
"Yeah, I don't think you fucking understand. I've tried to kill you twice. Everyone you know is trying to put me away. You're a huntress, and I'm a criminal. What about that doesn't say bad idea to you?"
"You know what?" Ruby yelled. For a brief moment, Roman was taken aback by the sheer force of her vocal chords. "I have spent the past month trying to tell myself that. And every single time I say it to myself it's like I'm even surer that this is what I want."
"And what's that?" he asked, leaning in so his face was mere inches away from here.
"You!" Ruby shouted. She knew her cheeks were turning red, but she didn't care.
Roman rolled back on his heels, studying his face. He ran a hand through his hair. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ruby spluttered, following him as he walked around to the couch and sat down.
"Well, to start, you're fifteen."
Ruby rest her hands on her hips, thumbs forward. "And?"
"You have next to no conception of what kinds of consequences this could have."
"Oh you've been in this situation before?" Ruby chirped.
"No, but," Roman started.
"Then how could you have any more of an idea of what would happen after all this? And please don't say that you're older."
"I have more experience with these kinds of things," Roman explained, struggling to keep a handle on his calm façade.
"Well here's the deal. I already have a solid idea of what the consequences are for this decision, and they don't matter because I still want to make it. All that's really left is if this is something you want." Ruby's heart leapt into her throat, realizing whatever happened next was entirely up to Roman.
Roman closed his previously parted mouth and rested his head on his fingers, pressing into his temples. "You don't know what it's really like."
Ruby's knees felt like water. Flashes of all of her dreams popped into her head, flying by and making her feel like there was a whirlwind in her stomach. She lifted her hands from her hips, quietly stepped over and kneeled directly in front of him, placing a hand delicately but firmly on his knee.
"Then teach me." Ruby breathed, tilting her head up to meet his gaze.
She caught a glimmer of his gaping face before he managed to compose himself, closing his mouth and running a hand through his hair. From this angle, Ruby could see the scar under his eye clearly—two parallel lines etched into the skin on the day they met.
Ruby reached up and traced two fingers across his scar. She felt the muscles in his thigh tense, but he didn't move away from her touch. Instead, he watched her with focused eyes, locked onto Ruby's.
After the moment passed, Ruby's hand drifted away from his skin. Roman removed his hand from his head and grabbed Ruby's forearm. He pulled her arm closer to his face until his lips brushed across the skin on her wrist. Butterflies swirled in Ruby's stomach as he pressed his mouth to her skin, closing his eyes, sliding his hand along Ruby's to intertwine his slender fingers with hers.
Roman opened his eyes in time to see Ruby biting her lip ever-so-slightly, something that teased so gently at Roman's eyes like the familiar flush on her face. Actions so coy that he had always seen on women on fashion posters or in romance movies he watched when he was younger belonged so effortlessly on her face.
You're beautiful.
The words froze in the back of his throat, and he found himself unable to speak them. Instead, he spoke, "You should probably go. I'm expecting someone back soon, and if she sees you, she will likely be very unhappy."
Ruby's eyes clarified like they had been awoken from some dream-like trance. Like the surface of water, the rippling change in her face evidenced the reforming of her consciousness.
Ruby stood up, rolling her shoulders a few times. "Will I see you again?"
Roman looked up at her. He smirked. "Of course you will."
Okay, so I intend to make these chapters longer as the story progresses, but these past two were split up because I was like, GOD this is hard to write and the sooner I'm back, the better. Either way, I'm BACK, and I have a shitload of time on my hands because I chose not to work over summer break. What a relief.
In other news, I've decided I'm gonna start up something I have been planning for a LONG time. It's not necessarily Rosewick, but I'm really excited because it's a real-world AU! However, it's likely you won't see any of it for at least a couple more weeks, but I plan on writing a shit-ton over summer break.
And now I'm gonna talk about the other shit I'm writing. You might have seen it, you might have not, BE WARNED it's not the least bit fluffy. Batter My Heart is totally finished. I originally intended to write more than one chapter, but I'm so blocked on that plotline I can't. Maybe I will come back to it in the future, but don't hold your breath. Next, we talk about the shit that belongs in the TRASH. (You know what I'm talking about.) I planned about 5 chapters for that. There may be more, but that is NOT FINISHED.
OKAY so that's all I have right now, my DMs are always open if you need to hit me up for anything, so let me know! Ciao, ya nerds.
