Authors Note: Guess what guys! I'm back! YAY! PARTAY! More like, more chapters. I'm going to see how much I can write in a short amount of time, I have a perfect ending for this story, I just have to get through the rest lol.

Chapter 8: L.O.V.E. - There it is.

Ruthie had successfully avoided Martin for the past two weeks, and she was planning on doing it for the rest of her life, well, just until he graduated, and then he'd go off to College, forget about her and her stupid confession and never come back. She didn't want to be some silly little school girl who has a 'school' crush on a senior in high school. The only difference to her thoughts, was that it was just some stupid little school girl crush, it was the real thing. At least, she thought it was, Martin just didn't.

Ruthie had dodged calls from him, probably pity calls anyway, dodged him in the hallways, ignored him when he called her during school or in between classes. She was trying to get over him, trying to realise that her and him never would've happened and still never will. He was having a child with another woman, and she just had to come face the facts or reality. Martin would never feel that way about her.

She quickly grabbed her books and shoved them in her book bag, grabbing her jacket and slinging her brown book bag over her shoulder, she closed her locker and started to head towards the front doors of the school. Her dad had promised to pick her up, instead of her taking the bus. The bus driver was really starting to creep her out to be honest. Ruthie was just about free, her hand on the door, the door slightly open, just an inch, when she heard her name being called.

"Ruthie!" A very, too, familiar voice called out from behind her. Ruthie wondered if she could slip away and pretend like she never heard him. She knew exactly who it was, without even looking behind her. Why wasn't he just leaving her alone? She had clearly embarassed herself in front of the guy that she had fallen so hard for, and all he felt for her was that he loved her, but as a sister. He had told her straight to her face. And Ruthie just wanted to scream, that it wasn't good enough for her.

A few seconds later, she felt a touch on her shoulder, and glanced back, seeing Martin with his hand on her shoulder. "Martin, what do you want?" she asked, frustration dripping from her voice as she adjusted the strap on her shoulder, and moved around facing him, hearing the door click close behind her.

"I think we need to talk." Martin said, honestly, and seriously.

Ruthie let out a sigh, "Martin, if this is about the whole broken hearted thing a few weeks ago, I'm over it. I get it okay." she said seriously.

"No, I don't think you do get it Ruthie, because if you did, then you wouldn't have been avoiding me these past weeks." Martin said seriously. He wanted to tell her how he felt, but what would she do in exchange? Hit him in the face with her book, or better yet, slap him? If he told her, and she didn't want to know it, would they still be able to be friends? Probably not. Martin needed a girl like Ruthie as a friend, she was really supportive, except for the whole Sandy thing, but other than that, she was a really great friend.

Ruthie thought for a moment, wondering if she should give him the chance to explain what he ment by that. She glanced at her watch, and then outside, seeing that her dad wasn't there. "Fine, you have two minutes. Talk fast." she said, coldly. She wasn't up for one of the speeches about how he really cared about her, just not in the way she wanted him to. She had gotten too many of those in the past few weeks, make that almost months.

"Ruthie, there's not better way to say this so..." Martin had to admit it, he was nervous. What if she rejected him? I mean, after all, he was having a baby with another woman, that's why Meredith dumped him. Speaking of which, he hadn't seen her in such a long time, she was just kind of erased from his brain, okay, maybe that was really harsh. But, true love comes once in a lifetime right? And what if Ruthie was the one for him? Sure, she was a few years younger than him, but, she had always been there for him. "...I love you too." he finally blurted, shaking those last thoughts from his head.

Ruthie was about to turn around and leave, wondering what the hell was going on in his mind at that moment, until she heard those words...did he really mean that? Not just as a sister? She slowly turned around and faced him, "But?" she asked, expecting one, but instead, got a soft, tenderly kiss on the lips. Ruthie slowly closed her eyes, savoring this moment for all of enternity. She would never forget this moment, Ruthie never wanted it to end, but then, she heard someone clear his throat.

Glancing up, Ruthie saw her dad, "Hey dad..." she said, but couldn't help the huge smile from escaping and forming on her face. Eric couldn't help but notice the smile on his daughter's face. Was she finally smiling? After all of the tears, and the depressed looks, was this a real smile? The kind that a father would only want on a daughter's face? In fact, yes it was. He glanced at Martin and then back to Ruthie.

"You know, I'll be in the car..." Eric said, awkward, before turning around and heading back outside.

Author's Note: Okay, so that's it for now. It's now really late, and I stayed up just to write this. Aren't I a nice person wink wink anyway, more tomorrow, hopefully. And I'll probably update my One Tree Hill story and other ones. Keep checking THESE WILL BE UPDATED!