Chapter 11

Shivering under her covers Ruby slowly opened her eyes, glaring at the open window. Muttering curses under her breath as she stood from the bed she kept the blankets wrapped around her like a cocoon.

Jumping in the shower quick she wrapped herself back in the thick duvet once she was out. She was feeling a lot better than yesterday. Maybe it was just a 24 hour bug? She still had a slight headache and felt slightly weak but other then that she felt fine.

Her pace was slow as she got dressed but finally she was ready. Entering the kitchen she noticed everyone was already there. Her mother was the first one to notice her.

"What are you doing out of bed!" She demanded.

"I feel a lot better. Plus I have to go to school today. I'm starting a project in class and I can't leave Justin on his own." Her mother walked swiftly over to her so she could place a hand on her forehead.

"Hmm, you don't seem as hot as you were before," she muttered, more to herself. "But you're still looking a little pale."

"I'll be fine." Ruby reassured with a small smile. "And if I get worse I will call you." After some more bargaining Vivien finally relented, agreeing she could go to school. Violet sat there with a dumfounded look on her face.

Most mother's would be trying to force the child to school and the child would be trying to stay off. Violet didn't know why her sister wanted to go to school so much, it was just a stupid old project. Eating the last bit of her toast Violet stood up, scooping low to grab her bag.

"We need to go." She told her big sister in a bored tone only to let out an annoyed sigh as their mother started arguing that Ruby needed to eat something. "We'll be late if she does."

"Violet!" Their mother snapped. The young girl threw her hands up in frustration before Ruby finally stepped in, grabbing an apple and her sisters hand before dragging them out of the house. Violet whispered a small thanks.

"What for?" Ruby asked, inspecting the red apple.

"She has been annoying me all morning. 'Ruby this' and 'Ruby that'." Looking at her sister Ruby could see the pure annoyance settled into the other girls face. Violet had gotten lost in her thoughts so their walk to school was silent.

She knew her mother was a little lonely but that wasn't anyone's fault but her own. Well, that was what Violet believed. Her sister being sick gave her mother a purpose and Violet believed if her mother had her own way Ruby would have stayed sick just so she could look after her and feel useful again.

Her dad didn't seem to care, just kept saying she will get better in no time and didn't even check on her once. Sometimes, just sometimes, Violet really wanted to punch him in the face.

As usual they split from each other as they reached the school building. Violet, still in her own thoughts, wasn't looking where she was going. She was usually quite graceful but today she went flying straight for the floor - yet she never landed.

Looking up into his brightly lit eyes caused a red river to flow across her cheeks. Justin was holding her by the waist, almost protectively, and slowly put her back down steady on the floor.

Stammering apologises Violet brushed some of her hair behind her ear. The humiliation eating her from the inside out. She stopped mid sentence when she heard a laugh. He was laughing at her!

He seemed to notice the way she was looking at him as he stopped laughing immediately. "Oh, I wasn't laughing at you! Well I was but not in a bad way!" He exclaimed. Violet just stood there. "What I mean to say is I didn't laugh because you fell I was laughing at your apologies. You were stuttering and stuff and well... I thought it was cute."

Nothing was said after his addmitance. It was terribly awkward. Mumbling an excuse of having to get to class Justin left leaving Violet there on her own.

Frowning, she stormed off to class.

Justin carried on walking down the corridor berating himself. Idiot! He was never like this with girls. He was smooth and charming. What made him become an idiot when he was around her?

Entering the classroom he spotted Ruby making him smile. "You look a lot better today." He commented. Ruby smiled at him noting his hair was a lot messier today.

"Thanks... Um, did you brush your hair today?"

"No." He laughed. "Didn't have time." The teacher finally started speaking trying to gain everyone's attention. When they did they started explaining everything about this new project we would all be doing. Everyone started it during class but it was more choosing the subject and deciding who would be working on what.

By the time class ended Justin and Ruby had everything sorted. "How about we start it tomorrow. You can come round mine or I could come to yours?" Justin said as everyone pushed each other to exit the room.

"How about you come to mine since I've already been to yours?" With that settled Ruby didn't think about the reaction of Tate at all. In truth she didn't want to think about it at all.

The rest of the day passed slowly. It seemed that her classes were dragging on. What felt like an eternity was, in reality, three minutes.

By the time school ended she was ready to curl up in her bed and fall fast asleep. She met up with her sister at the gates who looked like she was in deep thought. Stepping closer to her Ruby tapped her sister on the shoulder causing the girl to flinch.

"You okay?" Violet gave a jerky nod not bothering to give a verbal reply - she didn't know if she could. Forcing a smile she urged her sister to start walking. As usual they didn't speak but Ruby was enjoying the sun hitting her skin. It felt nice.

She was happy to be home as she was starving. With not eating much the past few days, and yesterday as she was ill, she felt her stomach grumble painfully. Grimacing she made her way to the kitchen where she could smell a faint aroma of salmon.

Plopping herself down in one of the wooden chairs she waited impatiently for her mother to place a plate in front of her. Her father, Ben, tried to engage his daughters in conversation which ended in failure as they both have him short replies.

He was trying, he really was. He hated himself for what he did and had promised himself to do everything in his power to make it right but his daughters weren't helping him in achieving that. He hadn't meant to screw up his family it just happened.

He was grieving. His wife had distanced herself from him. He was lonely and it just happened. It wasn't a very good excuse he would admit but at least he was able to admit his mistakes and try to make up for that. Wasn't that enough?

Clearing her plate Ruby stood up, ignoring the look of shock on her mother's face for actually eating everything that was set in front of her. She placed the plate in the sink before making her way to her bedroom.

Letting out a gasp of shock as she entered her room, she slowly calmed down before shutting the door behind her. "Tate, what are you doing in here?" Dropping her bag on the floor she made her way over to the bed where he was casually resting.

"I had an appointment with your dad earlier and thought I would wait for you to get home." He replied, carefully looking at her. She looked a lot better then yesterday he noted with relief.

"What if they-" Tate cut her off claiming he made sure they thought he had left. Giving a doubtful look she finally sat down next to her boyfriend. Tensing slightly as he asked what was new at school she forced herself to relax. Bracing herself for his reaction she told him of her school project.

"So, he's coming here?" Tate asked, surprising her at how calm he was. She slowly nodded her head. "Okay." Ruby didn't know what to do. She was sure Tate was going to yell, or well... Do something but, nothing.

Noticing the look on her face Tate gave her a forced smile which looked completely natural for reassurance. He wasn't going to let her be alone with this guy, no way. She was his and fuck the consequences. He was going to turn up after this 'Justin' arrived and he was staying. If he so much as laid a finger on her that hand would be snapped.

He could feel the rage welling up inside him. He hated the thought of anyone touching what was his! He knew he had anger issues but he had never thought it was a problem until now. He honestly didn't care about hurting something, or someone, if it helped him get what he wanted. However, the thought of hurting her made him cringe.

He couldn't bare it and feeling the rage rise within him at simple thoughts made him realise he had to leave. Making an excuse and telling her he would come back tonight he swiftly flew from the room leaving Ruby sat on the bed alone and confused.

She actually felt quite hurt. Why had he left like that? Rubbing her eyes she grabbed her bag, deciding to get some homework out of the way. After twenty minutes she threw the paper away from her.

"Fuck maths." She muttered under her breath. Letting out an aggravated sigh she stood up from her bed then left the sanctuary of her room. Walking down the hallway she paused outside her sisters door.

Before backing out she quickly knocked. About five seconds late the door was opened slightly. Seeing her sister she opened the door fully. "Hey, what's up?" Ruby shrugged.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure." Shutting the door behind them they both made their way over to Violets bed where the duvet was crumpled, a clear sign it hadn't been made at all today.

"I thought we had a made for this stuff." Ruby commented, sitting at the bottom.

"Apparently she didn't get to my room." Violet replied. "I prefer it that way. Don't want that old lady in here." Pushing the cushions further up she finally sat down. Ruby spent the rest of the night with her sister gossiping, listening to music, watching videos on YouTube and munching on chocolate.

Feeling a lot better she finally left and made her back to her own. Running herself a bubble bath Ruby slowly stepped out of her clothes, letting them drop to the floor. She moved to the bath so she could turn off the water but as she did so she froze. Standing up straight she slowly turned to look behind her only to find it empty.

Berating herself for being so stupid as to think someone was in the bathroom with her she climbed into the tub, letting the warm water sooth and relax her. Letting out a moan of pleasure from the heat she heard a slight creak from the floorboards causing her eyes to snap open.

What was going on with her lately? All the weird things she had felt and seen had to have been in her head right? But that didn't explain the bookshelf. Submurging her head completely under the water she kept her eyes tight shut.

Go away, go away, go away... She chanted.

Pushing herself back up, rubbing the water off her face, she took a look around the bathroom. Definitely no one there and the feeling of someone with her was gone. Closing her eyes she relaxed against the bath.

Once she was ready to get out she unplugged the bath before stepping out and wrapping a fluffy white towel around her body. Moving to the mirror she brushed the condensation away with her fingers, freezing before spinning around and almost falling in the process.

She had been sure she saw somebody. She couldn't make out who it was or what they looked like but she had seen a figure. Trying to calm her beating heart she quickly slipped on some clothes then rushed back to her room.

Climbing in the bed she curled up into a ball with her eyes shut painfully tight. Sleep didn't come easy but sleep did come.

The next day was beautiful. The sun was shining in through the window, complimenting the clear blue sky and fluffy white clouds. Letting out a yawn Ruby hoped her day would go like the weather.

School was boring and she couldn't wait to get home. She found Violet arguing with Leah in the halls and had to forecully drag her way with Leah screaming insults at us as we left. Justin also asked if we could make it tomorrow instead of tonight as he had stuff to do.

Eating only part of her dinner Ruby made her way up to her room, turning on her laptop for something to do. About an hour later there was a knock on her door. Before she could say anything the door opened on its own accord.

Waiting for someone to enter she found it to be Tate. He gave her a small smile as he shut the door. He felt bad as he thought about last night. The fear that glowed in her eyes was something he had never wanted to see aimed at him - not from her.

He thought it would be best not to come back last night but he needed to see her so he stayed hidden. Maybe it was wrong to spy on her whilst she was in the bath but he couldn't bring himself to care. She was his and he could look at her all he wanted.

"Hey, thought I would come see you now I'm finished with your dad." He told her as he made his way to her. "Sorry I didn't come back last night. My mom, she er, was awake all last night so it was pretty difficult to get out."

"It's fine." Ruby murmured, watching him as he sat opposite her on her bed. She glanced down and paused. How had she not noticed before? Well, he did always wear long sleeves and now she knew why. There were thin silvery lines marking his arms.

Noticing her gaze he traced one with his index finger. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or anything."

"It's alright." Tate uttered, tracing another one. There was a silence that sat thick between them and Ruby didn't know what to say. The curly haired boy glanced up at her with a small smile. "Go ahead."

"What?"

"You can ask. I know you want to and I trust you... So, go ahead." Ruby just looked at him for a second before looking back at his arm. She raised her hand before slowly tracing one of the scars.

"How did you get this one?" She asked timidly.

"This one I did after my dad left. I was ten I think." He told her her, watching her reactions the entire time. He would be crushed to see any form of disgust on her face and when he saw none but curiosity, and care, he felt relief slide up inside him and consume him.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"Don't be." She raised her head to look at him. She felt so sorry for him but didn't pity him. She also felt proud because of how strong he was. "Have you ever?" He left the question hanging in the air as Ruby slowly shook her head.

"I'll admit I have thought about it a couple of times... But I've never gone through with it." She answered quietly.

"I'm glad." Tate squeezed her hand and they shared a smile. Just then the door opened and there stood her father.

"What are you doing in here?" He demanded at Tate. Ruby stood with a scowl etched onto her face.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Don't start young lady." Ruby huffed. As though he was trying to play the part of a father now! "You need to leave Tate, I'm sorry. He shouldn't be in here and I think you know that... Please."

Tate rose from the bed and slowly walked to the door with no emotions on his face. "What's that thing you think I'm afraid of? Fear of rejection?" Ruby looked between the two, clearly realising Tate was bringing something up from one of his sessions. Tate gave Ruby one last look before leaving.

"Stay away from him!" Ben told her gaining a look of indignation from his eldest.

"Dad, nothing happened." Ruby sighed, even though it was a lie.

"You heard me!" He snapped, sighing seeing the wide eyed look on her face. Ruby couldn't hear what exactly he was saying but she could hear Tate yelling something in the background. Her dad gave her one last look before leaving, slamming the door behind him.

Letting out a frustrated yell she flopped onto her bed. Her dad always ruined everything...