AN:/ Rating changed from T to M for profanity
Fate...Or Something Like That
"Ready?"
Ruby blinked, only just realizing they had arrived at the rather plain looking building already.
"Ruby?"
"Yeah. I'm good."
Ruby turned towards Yang, a smile plastered on her face.
"Sorry Sis, I was just-"
"Ruby…"
Yang's soft voice interrupted her apology.
"Ruby, I know…" hands, weathered by hard work and dedication, gripped the steering wheel of the old, beat-up Camaro so hard her knuckles turned white. She stared straight ahead, not ready to look at her little sister's face.
"I know that I'm not very good at this." Her voice was hard, attempting to separate herself from the moment, her emotions. Bracing herself for nightmares she could only wish stayed in her dreams.
Ruby opened her mouth, ready to vehemently deny Yang's admission.
"No. Ruby. Listen, I'm not good at this. Hell, I don't think anybody is good at this. I'm not ready for it and I know I'm not good and-and, God, Ruby! This is just so fucked up!"
She slammed her hands on the steering wheel, startling Ruby into silence.
"This just isn't fair…"
The choked whisper had Ruby quickly scooting closer and leaning over the center console. She wrapped her arms around Yang. The soft warm leather of her jacket creased under her tight grip. The scent of leather and cinnamon—laughter, scraped up knees, childhood. Ruby buried her head into Yang's shoulder, finding comfort in the familiar scent.
"I love you too much to let you just—" Yang stopped short. The unspoken words hanging between them.
Die alone.
"I need you to do this, Ruby."
Yang reached up, tangling her fingers into Ruby's soft red-streaked hair.
"You've always been too big for this shitty town, you know?. Time to finally share your awesomeness with someone other than me."
Taking a deep breath, Yang gently nudged Ruby away from her. She flashed Ruby a crooked grin—devil-may-care with a hint of rebellion.
Like playing in the rain, even knowing you might get sick later.
Like fighting, praying, hoping—Fuck! God, just, please not her!
Yang's eyes softened as she ran her fingers gently through Ruby's bangs.
"C'mon. You're gonna be late."
Ruby huffed, reaching up to adjust her red beanie. It had taken her forever to convince Yang she didn't need her wheelchair that day. And even longer to convince her that she didn't need to be carried and/or escorted into the room. Now she was definitely late.
"Honestly," Ruby sighed.
She hobbled slowly down the hallway, her crutches clacking on the shiny white-tiled floor. The bright lights provided an unsettling atmosphere, eliminating shadows and bringing attention to the tacky frames littering the walls. Ruby stopped to lean against the wall. A frame on the opposite wall drew her attention.
She wasn't always sick. She grew up normally, well, as normally as she could, anyway. With a dead mother and a father who drowned in his bottle-laden grief, her childhood should have been hard. Should have crushed her. But she had Yang. Or, she has Yang. And Yang has her. Or, she had her. Because she was dying. Nothing could change that. The realization had been hard, at first. Like tearing off a Band-Aid, knowing you weren't ready for the impending pain. Knowing the wound wasn't ready, that you weren't ready; that the only family you had left wasn't ready. It was going to hurt. It was going to hurt Yang for a long time and it may never stop hurting her and Ruby hated, hated, hated herself for being the cause of the hurt and Ruby didn't understand why Yang was forcing her to make friends she would eventually leave behind, sooner rather than later. Ruby didn't understand why she had to drag others down with her. She didn't know what was worse, the build-up or the eventual end.
The sound of hurried footsteps broke her from her musings and she had just enough time to blink before a white blur kicked the crutch out of her right hand only to go sprawling on the hard unforgiving tiles.
Ruby winced, prepared to mutter an awkward apology. Before she could, the object in question staggered to their feet and quickly turned towards Ruby, dusting off their immaculately white blazer.
"You dunce! What do you think you're doing?! Do you know who I am?!"
"Uh—"
"Why the hell are you just standing around here? Do you know how dangerous that is? Well?"
"Um—"
"You could have seriously injured somebody! What if the person you brutally tripped was more fragile than someone like me? What would you have done?"
"Well, I—"
"God, you are such a dolt."
"If you would just let me—"
"Now I'm really late, thanks to you."
The girl turned away, prepared to continue her journey.
"W-wait!"
The girl turned towards Ruby again, her furrowed brows evidence of her non-existent patience.
"What?" She snapped, crossing her arms.
Ruby choked on her breath, unprepared for the shock of blue meeting her own eyes. A faint scar the only blemish marrying the otherwise flawless features.
"Well? Why are you staring at me like that?"
"'Cause you're beautiful." Came the whispered reply.
A furious blush quickly replaced the look of shock on the other girl's face.
Ruby, only then realizing that the statement had indeed left her mouth instead of staying locked away in her brain like she would have preferred, felt her face heat up from embarrassment. She ducked her head, no longer having the courage to look at the other girl's face.
The silence was so loud Ruby couldn't hear a thing besides her rapidly beating heart.
A soft sigh and something which sounded remarkably similar to "you dolt" reached her ears while white knee high boots invaded her line of sight.
Ruby looked up, the other girl quickly looking away once she had Ruby's attention. Ears still pink, the girl shoved something into Ruby's hand—her forgotten crutch.
"You're going to support group too, right? We should hurry. Thanks to you, we're both really late."
With that, she turned away, a flourish of white blazer and gray pleated skirt following her around the corner.
Ruby let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. A little light-headed, whether from the lack of oxygen or simply because—
Ruby glanced in the direction the girl had gone.
What the hell was that?
AN:/ Shoutout to all the readers who followed/faved/left a review. You guys are the best and you totally made my day. Thanks for reading and constructive criticism is more than welcome.