Disclaimer: I Don't Own Winx Club, Eggo waffles, Ninja Turtles or anything else that makes a fortune.
Sorry for the wait! As a token of appreciation for continuing to follow the story I made this chapter extra long.
Review Response Time-
musaandriven101: Thanks I'm really glad you liked the chapter.
Neon-Night-Light : Riven was hiding the fact that he had a little sister you'll see why in this chapter. I kind of made it seem like something else in the beginning you know for dramatic effect.
KagHieiLuver: Yup love is pain and thank you.
MacabreXpurinsesu: Yea that part was a little confusing. He basically just told her a lot of nonsense and said that he couldn't see her anymore without really giving her a valid explanation. Thanks.
Franshes: Thank you so much, I love getting reviews like yours, well then again I love all reviews. The idea just popped into my head one day and I just had to write. I'm glad you enjoyed it. You'll find out more about Ruby in this chapter.
LunarandSolarEclipse: Awesome, I'm really glad you liked my stories. Thanks for the reviews and I hope you like this chapter just as much as the others, well later.
Fairy Of Anime: I'll try to update as soon as possible, love your name by the way, thanks for the review.
RvenLovesMusa4ever: Thanks! I plan to. Enjoy ^_^
Previously on Why Can't I Stay-
Ok it was more than official, she was the most awful person alive. Standing in front of her was a little girl no more than three feet tall. All her life she'd been told not to jump to conclusion yet there she was doing it anyways. Well what would you expect, you're boyfriend breaks up with you, drags you to a apartment complex and starts screaming out another girls name. Man did she owe him a apology.
Riven let her go and waited for a response, she stumbled slightly before gathering the courage to speak.
"O-oh y-your s-sister." She stuttered out.
"W-well I g-guess that m-makes sense." She said not blinking once, just focusing all her attention on the little girl standing before her. She turned her head to face Riven almost like she was in a sort of trance. She gave him a slow nod before believe it or not fainting right there on the spot.
Great thought Riven catching her before she hit the ground. This turned out to be a bigger mess then he expected, but then again this was Musa he was talking about.
Carefully he laid the unconscious girl down on the living room couch. He made sure to position her so she wouldn't fall, he didn't need another reason for her to hate him. He definitely owed her an explanation but that would have to come later.
Turning to his newly discovered younger sister he decided to go ahead and get her ready for the day. After all this was the last time he'd ever see Magix again.
"So breakfast?" He asked.
The little girl nodded enthusiastically before skipping away to the kitchen, expecting her brother to follow. Taking one final look at the sleeping girl on his couch, he went to make his sister something to eat. This outta be interesting.
What are you doing?!
No!
Put it there…I said THERE!
STOP!!!
WHAT DID I TELL YOU?!!!!!!!!!
"Ugh, What the hell?" Muttered Musa. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she took a quick look around the room. Slightly disorientated it took her a few minutes to figure exactly what she was looking for. When she couldn't find anything familiar a twinge of panic struck her. Confused and slightly frightened she threw the thin, blue blanket covering her to the ground.
Wrapping her arms around her knees she rested her head on them took a few deep breaths, and tried desperately to remember what happed and why she was on someone's couch taking a nap?
"WAIT! WHAT? NAP?" She asked herself looking in every direction. That's when it hit her.
SHE WAS SUPPOSE TO MEET RIVEN FOR BREAKFAST!! That realization alone had her jumping back into action.
"MAN WHAT TIME IS IT?" She screamed searching for her cell phone but gave up when she couldn't get it out of her pocket.
Flipping off the couch she really didn't expect it to be so high up. Tumbling onto the floor she landed in a heap, tangled in the blanket she herself threw down.
"Great." She groaned rubbing the back of her head.
Sitting cross legged on the floor she came to realize that not only was she not in her dorm, she wasn't even in her school. Standing up in a panic she made a run for the closest door. Taking a hold of the door knob she was more than ready to get the hell out of there.
Feeling a jolt of energy run through her, she blinked. In the split second that it took her to do a task as simple as blinking she found herself lying on her back in the middle of the living room. She didn't even feel it when the force from the door threw her back. The only thing she felt was a soft thud when she hit the ground.
In a way that sort of felt like déjà vu, like it happened before. Clearing her head from the shock she tried to remember what the heck she was doing here. Staring up at the ceiling she couldn't help but think that it looked a bit familiar. The color, the texture, yea she definitely seen it before. Ok so maybe she hadn't completely lost it yet.
"Oh" She gasped. That's was the second it all rushed back to her. The memories flooded her mind one slide after the other of the troublesome morning she lived through.
Riven.
His sister.
Life in general.
Lying there on the carpeted floor every single last memory came flooding back to her. Everything from the motor cycle guys, to the loud scream fest she gave, to the little girl Riven called his sister. She closed her eyes ready to just fall back into a peaceful slumber right there on the floor and forget this whole day all together. Maybe if she wished really hard it would disappear.
Unfortunately Musa wasn't lucky enough to go back to sleep. After a few relaxing breaths she opened her eyes and focused on her surroundings. Something was up, where in the world was Riven and what's her name. Rosy, Resy … RUBY! That's it. She was so focused on her that she didn't even notice anything else. She really needed to get her head straight.
What was that? She thought staying silent. She was tempted to hold her breath.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
There it was again, and that beeping combined with
"Stop! Stand back!!!"
and the thin, almost see through blanket of smoke starting to fill up the room, yea something was definitely amiss.
Without even thinking she stood up stumbling slightly she ran towards the kitchen since that's where the smoke was coming from. She started coughing slightly but kept going, it wasn't that bad yet.
It didn't even occur to her to use her magic. She fanned her hand through the air trying to clear it and kept her head down low. After nearly tripping and falling to her death, she finally made it to kitchen. Relieved she looked up.
Wow, she probably expected everything but what awaited her. She really should have taken it more seriously, but what she saw had her practically fall to the ground out of laughter. Riven seemed to be in quite a predicament.
Something on top of the stove was burning, what it was was too far gone for her to even guess. But that wasn't the funny part. Apparently Riven missed a lesson on fire extinguishing in hero school, because the more he hit it the with the kitchen rag the more it grew. He looked mad like he was seconds from tackling the flame, whatever good that would do. He had a bucket filling in the sink that he was trying to reach with an outstretched hand.
He was no where close and the water dripping on the floor had him slipping every few seconds. The fire extinguisher on the wall was his next target, but it was too far from the stove where he was hitting the flame. His facial expression were what got her, he went from surprised to jumping around on one leg to mad practically growling.
Ruby on the other hand was on top of the kitchen table, a good distance from the danger, jumping and screaming at her brother to just blow on it; filling her cheeks up with air and then blowing it out to demonstrate for him.
Musa just couldn't help it, she burst out laughing; it was physically impossible for her not to. Riven just looked so funny jumping around like he was, practically slipping on all the water spilling onto the floor..
Riven glared at her but quickly went back to the problem at hand. He needed to concentrate and Musa wasn't helping.
Running over to the fire extinguisher, Musa quickly unhooked it and tried to get it to work. She read the instructions quickly and followed as directed. After many failed attempts she checked it only to find out it was empty.
"Who in their right mind keeps a fire extinguisher that doesn't extinguish fires?" She asked, dropping it to the floor.
Running over to the sink where the water was overflowing out of the bucket she took it. It was heavy but she managed not bothering to turn the water off. She was about to hand it to Riven only to end up slipping on the water that was practically drowning the kitchen floor.
Musa decided she had more than enough meetings with Riven's floors to last a life time, and staring up at his ceiling was starting to annoy her. And on top of that she was now completely soaked in water and the smoke was getting thicker.
She heard snickering from above her. Irritated she looked up to see Riven offering her a helping hand. His posture was tense but his face showed amusement. She could see he was trying fairly hard not to burst out laughing like she had earlier. Some self control she had.
Glaring at him she reached up grasping his strong hand. She smiled at him before kicking his foot making him lose his balance, pulling him down. The only thing she didn't anticipate was that he would end up falling directly on top of her.
She held her breath and shut her eyes as his face was only centimeters away from hers. She could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks. Her breathing sped up and she was starting to regret her little act of revenge.
Struggling to breath she could hear her heart racing he didn't even have to be touching her to affect her this way. She knew if she opened her eyes that would be the end, she really didn't trust herself enough not to jump him. Cautiously she opened her eyes only to be greeted by his. Their noses were barely gazing, but she could already feel her body reacting to his, he was hypnotizing to say the least. Apparently when he fell he managed to get just as soaked as she was or maybe it was the water drenching them from above. Watching the way his hair dripped and framed his face she swallowed to keep from drooling like an idiot.
Managed to catch himself just in time, so that he wouldn't end up hurting Musa was hard enough. Now he was faced with the even bigger problem of having to control himself, and not letting his eyes wonder over the girl beneath. He knew the blouse she wore early would be completely transparent thanks to her incredible ability of staying on her feet and not falling onto a flooded kitchen floor. Taking a deep breath he gently pushed back the loose strands of hair that fells over her face. He heard her take a sharp inhale as he did this better yet felt, they were chest to chest now.
He knew better than to let himself get further attached. The other day at the music store was proof enough that he shouldn't let himself get distracted when he's around her. Yet she was so addicted that he couldn't help but want her near him, no matter how much it would end up hurting him in the long run. The simple fact that she now knew about Ruby didn't change what he knew was best for her. It only meant he needed to get her out all the sooner before she too became involved.
He needed to get up and get back to work, the water everywhere was keeping the fire at bay, but it wouldn't hold it long. Right when he was about to lift himself he felt himself get pulled down. His lips greeted with a warm, soft pair gliding over his. Musa right hand was firmly placed on the back of his neck keeping him in place. While her left glided through his magenta locks.
She didn't know what she was doing, all she knew was that she liked it. When she didn't feel him responding she opened her moth sucking on his upper lip gathering as much courage as she could. She could honestly say she forgot about everything else including the fire. That's how much her mind wondered when she was around him.
It's not that she didn't have an effect on him, she did really. But he knew better, this wasn't the time nor the place, damn it may not even be the right lifetime to tell the truth. Plus in case she didn't notice before the kitchen wasn't faring to well. So with a heavy hearty he reached back to remove Musa's hand lifting his lips off hers. The look in her eyes made him flinch, she was hurt, but he couldn't worry about that now.
He heard a sharp child like scream. His head instantly snapped to that direction. Ruby! His little sister needed him, NOW! That's what his job was after all and he didn't kidnap her just so he could end up making her life a living hell. No he intended to do better then their parents, he was going to make her life what a child's life was suppose to be like.
Wrapping an arm tightly around Musa's waist he quickly got both of them back on their feet. Musa wrapped her arms around his neck to help him. She really didn't know what to say, so she stayed silent. Once they were both back on their feet he immediately released, but ended up almost having to pry her arms off him. Musa's face was still red and obvious her head was somewhere else at the moment. Guess he would have to figure this one out on his own.
Half of the kitchen was already covered in flames, running to the kitchen table he quickly snatched Ruby off of it who had long ago started crying. Taking her into the living room he set her down and pushed her towards the door.
"Go outside now!" He said
"Can't" She said. Pointing to the door.
"Damn. Musa a little help here!" He shouted in the direction of the kitchen.
Hearing him call her name had her spiraling back to reality. She quickly ran out of the kitchen getting as far away from the flame as possible she looked at him with a shocked expressing.
"What do you want me to do? You're suppose to be a hero, so go ahead do your thing!" She yelled.
"Fine" He said handing Ruby to her.
Watching him run back in there had her heart practically leaping out of her chest.
"Aren't fairy's suppose to have magic or something?" Whispered Ruby burying her face into the side of Musa's neck.
Musa groaned she could literally kick herself for being so stupid. Placing Ruby on the couch she ran back into the kitchen. What could she have possibly been so focused on before that she forgot she was a freakin fairy, a damn good one at that. Oh right…him.
The fire was already halfway out when she got there. She was impressed to say the least, he'd only been in there for a minute, guess they taught him something right back at Red Fountain.
Getting into formation she lifted her hands above her head, said a few chants and directed her magic at the flames. There was no need for transforming something as simple as a house fire was something a graduate of Alfea could do in their sleep. After a minute or so she opened her eyes to find everything as it should be.
The smoke had completely vanished along with the flames and the ocean of water. No sigh at all of there ever even being a flame. She was so involved in admiring her handy work that she didn't even notice Riven walking up to her until he was directly in front of her.
"You ok" He asked
She nodded focusing her attention back on him.
Taking her hand in his, he could feel the shivers coursing through her body, he figured she was just cold. If only it had nothing her soaked clothes.
"Come with me" He said
She gripped his hand tightly and did as she was told letting him lead her to one of the bedrooms down the hallway. She could hear small footsteps following close behind so she knew Ruby was coming.
Entering what she presumed to be Riven's bedroom judging by all the equipment and warrior gear in it; she watched Ruby hop onto his bed. She took hold of the iPod she gave him for Christmas, glancing through it, before making a face and putting it back. Musa took a seat at the desk covered in college books.
This was the only real time that Musa actually got a chance to really, really look at the girl. She wore her pretty reddish-purple hair down, it wasn't styled just simple. It fell perfectly straight, halfway down her back. Her bangs where held to the side with a simple clip and Musa couldn't help but want to reach out and play with it. Her eyes were the exact shade as Riven's, bright but also held a hint of something. She looked beautiful. Wearing a Ninja Turtle's shirt and some pajama bottoms she looked no older then three.
The little girl hopped off the bed and went to stand next to Riven who was busy searching through his closet. She came a bit lower than his knee, so she would probably reach Musa's when she stood.
The more she looked between the two, the more she couldn't deny that this little person was most definitely related to Riven in some way. Even the way she moved reminded her of him, but what bothered her was that they both held that twinge of something that made everything they did seem a little, how could she put this, on edge. Like they both went through something that was not suppose to happen again, but could at any moment.
Which brought her mind back to that morning, who were they running from exactly and why was Riven keeping his sister a secret, and most importantly why did he not want to see her anymore? So many things were running through her mind, but she couldn't bring herself to voice any of them.
Musa sighed she would get to the bottom of it eventually. Ruby was still wearing her pajama's leading Musa to believe that it probably wasn't past noon yet. She was about to ask Riven what time it was, when his voice interrupted her.
"You're not dry yet?" He asked
She was about to ask him how she was expected to dry in three minutes, but then she remembered. She was a fairy. With a snap of her fingers and a twirl of her magic surrounding her, she was dry. Ruby was looking at her like she's never seen a fairy before. Which was hard to believe considering she did live in Magix.
Ruby looked a little skeptical, before taking a step towards her. She reached out her hand and touched the fabric of her shirt.
"It's dry." She said, obviously surprised. She stared at it intently her eyes squinting in deep concentration. Musa looked up at Riven feeling a little nervous under the little girls gaze. Riven just shrugged directing his attention somewhere else.
"How?" Ruby finally asked.
"What do you mean?" Asked Musa
"How did you do it?" She asked again pointing at her clothes.
"Umm…Magic" Answered Musa
"Right." She answered.
"She's never really seen a fairy in action before." Stated Riven picking the girls up.
Musa gave him a skeptical look, but he wasn't paying attention. Ruby was squirming around in his arms.
"You're all wet!" She said laughing out loud.
"Really?" Asked Riven hugging her tighter.
"Yes" She screamed when Riven set her back down.
" Go get dressed?" He said pushing her towards the door.
"Ok." She said skipping away to her room across the hall.
"I'm still hungry you know." She stated quickly before shutting her bedroom door.
Riven sighed before looking down at her. He was about to say something but decided against it. Instead he grabbed the shirt he pulled out of the closet earlier. He quickly pulled his wet T off throwing it wherever, before pulling his dry one on. His pants really weren't that wet so he kept them on.
Turning back to Musa he noticed she had a small blush on her cheeks, but he ignored it. He needed to get his head straight and get on with the day. A lot of things were suppose to happen today, a lot of important things. He already wasted enough time. He, they couldn't afford to waste anymore.
"So how exactly did that natural disaster in your kitchen happen?" Asked Musa trying to end the awkward moment presented to them. He looked distracted, he looked distracted a lot lately and it was starting to worry her.
"Long story." He said walking out of the room
"I have time." She said firmly.
He took a seat at the kitchen table taking a second to look around. She really did do a good job. Following his lead she also took a seat waiting for him to answer. As soon as they were alone his whole mood changed. Did her really not want her anymore? Panic started to make itself known and her eyes started to cloud over with tears, which she somehow managed to hold in.
"Riven." She asked.
"Well you see I was trying to make the kid breakfast cause you know they're suppose to eat." He said
"Yea" Answered Musa happy that he was talking. By the look on his face she figure that it wasn't that he didn't want to talk to her it was just him not wanting to admit that he did something wrong. Relief washed over her maybe things weren't as bad as she thought. After all Riven was still Riven.
"Yea, so I was working on it but I forgot to ……………..and that's how it happened. The universe is obviously against me, no other explanation." He muttered.
"So that's it then" She smiled leaning back in her chair. She hadn't even realized she was leaning forward listening to his story.
"The brilliant Red Fountain graduate, conqueror of realms, bested by Eggo waffles." She laughed, clearly amused.
His eyes narrowed but he stayed silent enjoying the way her eyes lit up when she laughed.
After Musa's laughter died down it once again went silent between the two. Musa was used to his lack of commitment when it came to conversation, but the events of the past few days had her feeling nervous. Gathering up the courage to speak she was about to proceed and ask him the questions that were really swimming around in her head when.
"I'm back." Sang out Ruby smiling before them.
She wore a pair of white shorts and a green soccer shirt and some sneakers. Musa could already tell Ruby wasn't exactly a girly-girl. To tell the truth in a way she kind of reminded Musa of herself when she was a kid. She watched as Ruby handed Riven a yellow hair tie before climbing onto his lap.
Musa couldn't help but smile as Riven struggled to pull Ruby's hair into a high pony tail.
"So who are you?" Asked Ruby addressing Musa. Sitting still for her brother.
"Musa." She answered
"Oh" Said ruby looking up at her brother with a smile that Musa already knew meant trouble.
"So how old are you?" Asked Musa trying to make conversation.
"I'm three." She stated proudly. Musa's mouth opened in shocked. Sure she looked three, but the way she spoke, full sentences, good vocabulary. Not to mention the things she did; I mean man she could already dress herself. Musa would have guessed she was at the very least five. Riven chuckled softly catching a glimpse of Musa's shocked expression. Musa was really expecting him to correct Ruby's answer but he didn't. "So I guess she's really three." Musa mumbled to herself.
"But, but…"
"But what asked?" Asked Ruby sincerely curious.
"Uh, nothing" Musa shook her head.
Riven gave her a look that she hope meant he would explain things to her later.
"There." He said finishing Ruby's ponytail. A complete FAIL in Musa's opinion. Apparently Ruby thought the same thing as she examined her hair. Running her small hands through it.
"What?" Snapped Riven
"Nothing. Thank you Riv." She said jumping off his lap, hugging his leg before running to the other side of the kitchen. She opened the fridge after a few tugs, she was just so small. She rummaged through the fridge for a while before shutting it coming back empty handed.
"Nothing" She stated
"Great. I'll be back in a bit." He said grabbing his jacket. Before coming to a stop before Musa.
"Mind watching her till I get back." He asked not sure if she had unfinished business at her school or not.
"Sure take your time." She answered.
"Awesome." He said walking to the door repeating all the procedures they took to get in. Once he was gone Ruby turned to her.
"So can you fix my hair?" She asked.
"Sure" She answered pulling the band out of her silky hair. "Do you have a brush?"
"Yup, come on." She said taking hold of Musa's hand leading her to her room.
Walking in Musa couldn't help but know right off the bat that something was wrong. First off where was all her stuff. The only thing in the room was her bed, a lamp, and a vanity. There were a few boxes in the corner but nothing seemed to be taken out. One was empty the second one was open but it had little in it just clothes really. The boxes were significantly small she could easily carry both. This couldn't be everything she owned.
She was pulled out of her daze when she felt Ruby place a brush in her hand. She also stood there giving her a confused look.
"You ok." She asked.
"Fine." She answered before running to Riven's room. There were boxes in there too. Now that she looked at it she noticed there was very little in there too, it was just all scattered so it made it look like more. She opened his closet to find it completely empty.
"What?" She asked herself.
He was looking in it earlier this morning, like there was an infinity of things in there. Was he just putting on a show, making her think they were settled in with no intentions of…
"No! He can't." She screamed. Running through the apartment a couple of times it finally sunk in. Everything but what little was in their rooms belonged to the actual apartment. It was already here before they got here. There was nothing solid tying them to the place. They didn't bring anything in, they didn't plan on staying. They weren't staying. Is that what Riven was trying to tell her during breakfast, before she freaked out.
"What's wrong Musa?" She heard a voice ask.
Turning around she spotted Ruby looking at her intensely. Exhausted Musa slumped against the wall allowing herself to slide down to the floor where she sat.
"You're leaving." Whispered Musa allowing her bangs to hide her tearful eyes.
Ruby was confused, a feeling she hated. She was usually always in the know thanks to her incredible ability. She took a seat next to her placing a small hand on her knee.
"You're not suppose to be sad, at least you wouldn't be if you knew." She whispered.
"What do you mean?" Asked Musa wiping the tears from her eyes, she needed to calm down.
"A lot of people cry when I'm involved. I'm sorry." She said not meeting Musa's gaze.
"I'm not crying because of you." Musa said not sure why a girl her age would even say something like that.
"I know. You could care less about me, but I'm the reason he's leaving, therefore it's my fault." She answered.
Musa didn't like that. She quickly pulled Ruby into a tight embrace. "You're wrong a child is never to blame for the decisions a grown up chooses to make, it's not your fault. Crying is a human characteristic it just happens you can't control that either. And truth be told I do care about you, a lot" She said in a honest yet stern voice. She could hear Ruby crying softly into her shirt.
They sat there silently. Musa head was pounding. What happened to you ruby? Why am I just now finding out about you? What did you mean by if 'I knew'? What don't I know? She needed to find out she had a sketchy idea of what went on in Riven's past, but he barely talked about it so she couldn't know for sure. Was ruby's the same way, worse maybe. She shivered at the thought.
Why was all this happening to them? Was there a bigger picture that she just couldn't make out? It didn't matter as soon as Riven got back she would get to the bottom of this. No more beating around the bush she needed to know. She was already in too deep.
"I'm sorry." Ruby said. Lifting her face from her shirt.
"I already told you-
"Not that, I got your shirt wet." She said
Again Musa snapped her fingers, and the moisture was gone.
"Problem solved." She said softly.
"That's probably why he likes you."
"What do you mean?" Asked Musa. Plenty of girls could use magic, they were in Magix for crying out.
"You're different." She said standing up, now they were eye level.
"Um… Thank you." She answered
Ruby nodded before heading back to her room. "I'm tired. I'm going to take a nap. Be nice." She said closing her door. Right when she did that Musa heard the front door open.
Riven stepped in.
Well enjoy, and please review. It motivates me. BYE!