A/N: Sorry for switching the style but the former wasn't working for me so I switched. Let me know what you think and which one you preferred please!

Chapter 10

Wednesday rolled around and Ruby was finding it unusually difficult to wake up that morning. She continually yawned as her eyes kept drooping, trying to shut for good. It took her all of forty minutes to get out of bed. Checking the time she realised she didn't have time for a shower.

She quickly brushed her teeth, washed her face with some warm water in the sink then headed back to her room. She did her makeup first, then got dressed in some black jeans, black lace top and some Doc Martin's.

Brushing her hair she did nothing with it before heading downstairs. Feeling sluggish but not entirely hungry she grabbed a handful of grapes, eating slowly.

"Is that all you're having?" Her mother asked. It was worrying her too much to see her daughter losing her appetite again. She hadn't eaten all day yesterday either. Watching her daughter nod her head as she slowly chewed on the piece a fruit she let out a sigh.

"Let's go." Violet said in a bored tone. She wasn't looking forward to school at all as it had become a living hell for her. She hadn't told her sister Ruby the trouble she had been getting from Leah and her cronies. She didn't want her sister to think she was weak.

Exiting the house the two girls slowly walked to school with the occasional comment here and there. Violet frowned looking at her sister. She seemed drained. Her skin was pale, she looked tired and it looked as though she was about to collapse.

Reaching the school they said their regular goodbye and split off to head to their respective classes. Sitting in her usual chair Ruby found it hard to concentrate as her teacher droned on and on about something. English was usually a class she enjoyed, it fascinated her to no end. It was a subject she was thinking of maybe taking further after school but as of right now she couldn't care less.

Her brain felt like it was going to explode. When the bell finally rang, signalling the end of class, Ruby squeezed her eyes tight shut until it stopped. That was painful. Dragging herself to her next class she spotted Justin in his usual seat.

He gave her a huge smile when he spotted her entering but as she got closer his smile dropped. She looked like death. "Are you okay?" He asked concerned. She gave him a very unconvincing smile. It bordered on agonising.

"I'm fine." Justin was worried. They usually chatted throughout class, whilst still doing work, but today she was silent. She wasn't paying attention to the teacher and hadn't taken anything out of her bag.

Lunch finally rolled around and as she was walking down the hallway she accidentally bumped into someone causing her to stumble backwards as a wave of dizziness hit her like a ton of brick. "Watch where you are going bitch!" Someone snapped at her.

Her head snapped up to see Leah glaring at her. "Sorry." She muttered. Leah just scoffed before walking past her, bumping her shoulder with her own. Walking outside Ruby pulled out her phone before calling her mom.

"Hello?"

"Mom, can you come pick me up?" Ruby asked pathetically. Suddenly feeling extremely hot she stripped off her jacket as she noticed her sister walking over to her.

"Why?" Her mom asked suspiciously.

"I really don't feel well." Letting out a small groan as she realised her mom wasn't believing her before glancing at her sister. Violet had caught the end of the conversation and wasn't happy. Ruby's phone was quite loud so even without being on speaker she could hear most of what their mother was saying.

She quickly made a hand gesture to her sister who then passed her the phone. "Mom she needs to come home right now. She's telling the truth and honestly I'm quite worried. She's burning up and looks like she could pass out any minute." Finally believing them their mom quickly hung up.

Violet sat next to her sister, grabbing a water bottle from her bag before handing it to her gaining a small smile of thanks. It was a little unnerving to witness because Violet had never actually known Ruby to get sick before. She had never even had the cold. Purely as a sister she hated to see her like this. She may not spend a lot of time with her big sister but she did love and care about her.

It wasn't long before their mother, Vivien, arrived in the car for Ruby. Helping her sister into the car Violet waved goodbye before standing awkwardly by herself. Spinning on her heels she marched back towards the school where she knew she would probably have to spend the rest of the day by herself now.

Somehow that didn't happen as Ruby's friend Justin came running over to her. Her sister was right of course, Violet did like him. It was odd because no guy had ever shown her any sort of attention before and then suddenly here was this guy.

He was attractive, smart, kind, loving and so much more... And definitely out of her league that was for sure. He stopped right in front of her with a frown on his face. "Hi, have you seen Ruby? She didn't look so good this morning and now I can't find her."

With as much confidence as she had she replied to him, explaining how she had gone home. There was an awkward silence between the two as usually they had Ruby with them so suddenly being here without her was disconcerting.

"What are you doing for the rest of lunch?" Justin suddenly asked. Violet looked at him shocked.

"Nothing." She mumbled, cursing herself at her lack of confidence around this guy. Her heart started to beat faster when he smiled at her.

"Well, would you like to hang out with me for the rest of lunch?"

"Sure."

Entering the house Vivien ordered her daughter to head straight upstairs and into bed. Entering the kitchen she poured some water into the kettle before turning it on. Grabbing a glass she also filled that up with the water she kept in the fridge so it was nice and cold.

Finishing making a cup of tea she headed upstairs to her eldest daughters room. Placing the mug of tea and glass of water down on the stand next to the bed she carefully sat on the edge of the bed. Ruby's eyes looked bloodshot, her skin was pale and sweat was gently caressing her skin.

"I'm sorry to say I think you have the flu sweetie. I've made you some tea and also brought you some water. You need to stay hydrated okay?" Ruby didn't reply verbally she just nodded her head and even that took too much energy. "Get some rest darling."

After a minute or so when she knew the tea would have cooled down she sat up to drink. Once the mug was empty she took a few sips of water before finally lying back down. Her body was screaming at her to sleep, so that is what she did.

When she awoke a couple hours later she realised Violet must be home because she could hear the faint sound of music coming through the walls. She smiled gratefully. Violet usually blasted her music but knowing she wasn't well she had kept it low.

Sitting up once more to drink some water her door cracked to reveal her mother. "I brought you some toast. I didn't know if you were awake but brought it anyways."

"Thanks mom." She replied hoarsely. Her throat was so dry it hurt to talk. Grabbing the glass she sipped some more but ended up draining it. Her mother took it from her, leaving to go refill it.

"Dont force yourself but eat what you can." Once again she was alone. After two bites she was done. Her stomach actually felt bloated because of it. Groaning she laid back down, she just wanted to be better.

Ten minutes later her door opened once more but this time it was her sister.

"How you feeling?" She asked, pushing the desk chair over to the bed. Ruby groaned in reply causing the younger girl to laugh. "We got a maid today." Ruby frowned as she turned to look at her sister.

"What?"

"Yeah." Violet sighed, thinking back to the red head she had met about an hour ago. "Her name is Moira and apparently she used to work for the people who lived here before us. She 'comes with the House' apparently. I kind of believe that considering how old she is."

Ruby was just in shock. They actually had a maid? Wow! Violet stayed a little while but eventually left but not before opening her window so Ruby could cool down. An hour after she left Tate appeared, climbing through her window.

"So I just have to get ill to have so many people visit me? Huh!" Ruby joked as he walked over to her. Tate crouched beside the bed taking in her appearance with a frown. He didn't like to see her like this. It frustrated him to no end because he knew he couldn't make her better. She had to get better on her own.

"You still look beautiful." He breathed causing the girl to blush which clashed badly against her clammy pale skin. She hid her face with her hands but Tate yanked them back. "Don't hide yourself from me."

"You might get sick." Ruby replied pathetically. Tate smirked, no he wouldn't.

"It's a chance I'm willing to take." He stated before crawling into bed, wrapping his arms around her. Placing a kiss on her forehead he got comfortable. "I hope you get better soon but in the meantime, I'll be here to look after you. After all, you are mine."