Ruby sat on her couch, watching Jade and Sterling play Mario Kart.
After a while, the doorbell rang.
"Ruby, dear, can you get that?" Mrs. Tucker asked from the master bedroom, where Ruby's parents were trying to figure out how to remove a grape soda stain from the carpet.
Ruby opened the door and saw Nova.
"Oh, Nova. This is a surprise," She said.
"I know that you and Oscar haven't been dating for long, but I need advice."
"Oh?" Ruby asked.
"I think Adrian is going to propose," Nova said.
"Let's go to my room," Ruby said, "it's a little more private in there."
The two girls sat on Ruby's bed.
"You think he's going to propose?"
"I was packing Thursday night since we're moving into the apartment this weekend, and I emptied his drawers and found a box. It had a silver diamond ring in it and engraved inside it said "Insomnia". It didn't exactly take a rocket scientist. I think he's going to pop the question on Sunday when we have our first dinner in the apartment."
"But what is the problem?"
"I love Adrian, but I keep wondering. Maybe getting married at twenty is too young. Are we ready yet? What if I'm expecting something and it ends up not happening? What if we fight, like, all the time? So much uncertainty."
Ruby was almost envious of nova. She's been waiting months for Oscar to ask her to marry him. They both knew they were meant to be so why were they wasting time? And in Ruby's eyes, it was the same way for Nova and Adrian.
"Well, Nova, do you love Adrian?"
"Yes, of course I do!" Nova exclaimed.
"Well, that right there is half the battle."
"You don't get it, Ruby. Your parents are happily married. Mine died when I was six. I don't even know what a happy marriage looks like," Nova said. Ruby studied her friend. She was clearly in distress.
"Nova, it's ok. Alright? Your feelings are completely valid." Ruby said, reaching out to pat the other girl's shoulder.
"Look, my parents fought sometimes. Especially when money was tight or when they voted for a different celebrity for the People's Choice Awards. What set them apart from other couples, though, it that one of them always apologized. If my mom was wrong, she'd accept it, same with my dad. And that, Nova, is ok. Fighting is ok. In fact, some might argue that it's necessary and healthy for a relationship. No one gets along 24/7. You love Adrian. I can tell. He can, too. And if you really don't believe you're ready, just tell Adrian when he asks you. Tell him that you don't think you're ready but willing to revisit the question at a later date."
"What if he gets upset? Or mad?"
"He may get upset. But he's a big boy and he'll get over it. And he won't get mad. He can never be mad at you. I mean, you were his worst enemy and even then he still loved you and he's forgiven you. He won't get mad that you feel like you aren't ready."
Nova still looked unsure.
"Nova, I know you're unsure, and that's normal. But don't overthink it to the point that you feel you are making the wrong decision. Make sure you're ready, but if you decide you're ready, than that's all you need. The rest will fall into place. You and Adrian make a great team, and everyone on the team has been rooting for you guys since the very beginning. I'm confident that you and Adrian will have a happy marriage and successful lives. Maybe a few children, too."
Nova blushed. Ruby laughed.
"If it feels right, then chances are, it is. Don't overthink it, but make sure you're ready. Don't self-sabotage. You and Adrian have something special, Nova. I don't want to tell you what to do, because that's a decision only you can make. But from what I see, you and Adrian are a true power-couple if I've ever seen one." Ruby said.
Nova and Ruby were silent for a few minutes.
"I think I am ready. Twenty may be young, but I know Adrian is the one. Thank you, Ruby." Nova said, hugging her.
"Maybe Adrian will give Oscar the kick he needs to propose to me. He better soon, or I'll propose to him." Ruby said. At that, Nova laughed.
This is the friendship content I need. So I made another one.
"Adrian!" Oscar exclaimed, bursting into his friend's apartment.
Adrian had proposed to Nova a week ago. That weekend, they had announced it to the rest of the team.
"What's going on?" Adrian asked, putting the book he was reading down.
"Is Nova home?" Oscar asked.
"No, she's having a game night with Evie and Leroy." Adrian replied.
"Good! Ruby's been acting weird lately." Oscar said, sitting across from Adrian on the recliner.
"How so?" Adrian asked.
"Well, I asked her to move in with me a few days ago, shortly after you and Nova announced your engagement."
"She said no?" Adrian asked, surprised.
"No, she said yes. But I think she's mad at me." Oscar said. "And I don't know why. I thought she wanted to live with me."
"That's really weird," Adrian said. "All the signs seem to be pointing that she does want to move in with you."
"So you see why I'm confused!" Oscar said.
"Well, Oscar, if you're really unsure, why not ask Ruby? She always tells you what's wrong if you ask."
"I don't want to ask, because it might make her madder. I asked Danna, too. She said I was being stupid and need to figure it out on my own. But I don't know how to figure things out!"
"Well, Oscar, I don't know how to help you. Yeah, she's acting strange, but I don't know why. Have you done anything that might make her mad lately?"
"Well, I ordered pizza on Friday and didn't invite her over. Maybe that's it."
"That's the only logical reason. Although it doesn't seem like Ruby to throw a fit over pizza."
"It wasn't even Ruby's favorite pizza. I just didn't feel like making dinner so I ordered a cheap pizza for myself." Oscar said.
"Nova once got mad at me for visiting the pet shelter by myself. What she doesn't know is that I'm going to get her a cat soon." Adrian said. "You better not tell anyone."
"Well, considering that the only Ruby has said to me in the past week are yes, good morning, no, and good night, I think you're good." Oscar sighed.
"I don't know, man. I still think you should ask her what's wrong. That way you can identify the mistake and make sure you don't make it again."
"You and Nova are engaged!" Oscar said.
"Yes, Oscar, that's quite obvious…"
"How do you two resolve fights?"
"We usually like to talk it out. Nova's not too good about talking about her feelings, so sometimes it takes me a bit to coax it out of her, but once she tells me how she's feeling and what I did that made her angry, we talk about it and one of us usually ends up apologizing." Adrian said.
"SO you're saying you think I should talk to her?"
"Yeah, Oscar. That seems like the best thing to do, especially since you don't know what you did to make her angry." Adrian replied.
"I'm just worried. She always seems like she's in a good mood, so to have the tables turn like this… It's just weird."
'Did you talk to Mrs. Tucker?" Adrian asked.
"No, but I talked to her grandmother. She said that Ruby hasn't said anything about me to her lately." Oscar replied.
"Well, man, I think the only thing to do, the only logical thing to do, is have a talk with her. Tonight." Adrian said. "Unless… Oscar, do you think Ruby is jealous of Nova?"
"Well, I don't know. But it would make a lot more sense than her getting mad at me over pizza." Oscar said. "Oh! Danna's right! I'm such an idiot!"
Just then, the door opened.
"Hey, Adrian. Evie wanted to spend the night," Nova said, ushering her little sister into their shared apartment.
"Oh, hey, Oscar," Nova said. "I thought I saw your car outside."
"Hey, Nova," Oscar replied. "Have you talked to Ruby lately?"
"Yeah. Just the other day, actually. We had lunch with Danna."
"Has she mentioned being mad at me?"
"Yeah, she's upset." Nova replied.
Oscar and Adrian looked at her.
"Care to elaborate?" Oscar said after a few seconds.
"She's glad that you finally asked her to move in with you, but she's kind of frustrated that you haven't proposed yet." Nova replied.
"You were right," Oscar said to Adrian. "We thought that maybe she was upset that I ordered pizza without her."
"Oh come on, Oscar. Ruby is not that petty." Nova said.
"Well, thanks, Nova. I think I need to talk to her." Oscar said, leaving the house.
Oscar came home to see that Ruby had moved most of her boxes into his apartment.
She was sitting at the dining room table fiddling with something.
Oscar couldn't see it because it was on her lap, under the table.
"Hey, Ruby," Oscar said.
"We need to talk," Ruby said.
"Oh. Ok. I think so, too." Oscar said, sitting across from her.
"I thought that maybe me sulking around for a week would urge you to ask me what's wrong, but that didn't work. I'm glad you asked me to move in. I'm so happy. But I think we're ready to get married," Ruby said.
And in a second, she was kneeling down next to Oscar.
"It's taking you too long to ask. So, Oscar Silva, will you marry me?" Ruby asked.
Oscar felt like his heart stopped. The love of his life is asking him to marry her? This mean that there is no possible way that Oscar could mess up asking her.
"Yes, Ruby. Of course. I love you!" Oscar said.
With that, she gave Oscar the ring box, and he slid a diamond ring on her finger.
The couple kissed.
"Honestly, Ruby, I'm relieved you asked. There were a million ways I could have screwed up our engagement night."
"No matter what, Oscar, I would still love you." Ruby said.
I thought some wholesome friendship content was needed, with a little dash of romance.
This was inspired by an idea from MEE on .
Or, idk, Nova asks Ruby for boy advice (because that's where she'd least expect it). I'm not sure, you're doing great though! Keep it up!
I think this one was cute. I am a big fan of women getting stuff done, so I said to myself "Well, why doesn't Ruby propose?" And so I ran with it. I know Oscar would probably stall and overthink it, anyway.
So I hope you guys enjoy this! I did work very hard on it.
Until next time, keep reading!
