"She took a step and didn't want to take any more, but she did."
― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
Chapter 5-
With that in a bag plus some other clothes as well she left the hotel with a quick word to her parents about where she would be as she went over to Ruby's apartment.
Knocking on the door once she entered the main building itself, she waited patiently for it to open, but when it did she couldn't help but blush heavily.
Ruby stood in front of her, dressed only in her red bikini but she hasn't put the top on correctly just yet so it was a little loose and revealing.
"Hey." Ruby said, not noticing Neo's look. Until she had finished putting the top on. "Oh sorry, I forget that most people aren't as comfortable about getting changed and nakedness." Ruby commented as she invited Neo inside.
"You can get changed in the bathroom if you want. I promise not to peak." Ruby teased with a smile as she showed Neo where the bathroom was.
"Thanks." Neo mumbled, blushing heavily still. Unsure what it was that made her blush, the fact that Ruby teased her about peaking or the fact that Neo wouldn't mind if Ruby peaked.
Once she had changed she gathered up her clothes and left the bathroom to find Ruby, it didn't take long as Ruby was in her bedroom which was where Neo checked first.
"Hey." Ruby said, her wetsuit half on and half off.
"Hey, I'm changed." Neo said awkwardly, unsure what to say.
"I can see that." Ruby replied with a large smile and a wink as she looked over Neo's body.
Neo blushed as she stood there awkwardly but saw that Ruby was teasing her, which only made her blush more.
"Anyway here. See if this fits." Ruby said, handing Neo a long sleeved wetsuit.
"Thanks." Neo said, taking the wetsuit and started to pull it on. It took her a few minutes to do so but once it was on she found some areas to be a little loose but otherwise it fit fine.
In that time Ruby had gotten her own wetsuit on and once Neo had finished she smiled and took her out of the flat.
"You're clothes and stuff will be safe in here." Ruby said, her wetsuit sitting at her waist and revealed a small pouch sitting between her breasts. A key sitting inside. "Come on we need some boards." Ruby said, leading Neo downstairs towards her garage.
"Be careful, the fumes shouldn't be around but I'm always wary." Ruby commented as she opened the door.
Inside the rather large garage, along the walls and ceiling were all different size surfboards, but nothing like the soft blue topped ones Neo was using the day before but instead hard topped boards.
"Here." Ruby said, pulling out a black and green surfboard and slid it over to Neo.
Taking a hold of the board Neo held it next to her as she saw it was a complete head above her but still wasn't too heavy.
"It's yours. I know you might be unable to take it home but it's yours whenever you're here." Ruby commented as she pulled her own red and black board.
"I can't take this. It must cost a fortune." Neo stated.
"Nope. I make all my own boards and materials don't cost too much, it's yours. Keep it." Ruby said, not taking no for an answer as she closed up the garage and started walking towards the beach.
"The others are already in the water, we better catch up." Ruby said, taking off in a light jog with Neo close behind.
They spent the rest of the day out on the water surfing, it took a little bit of time for Neo to get used to surfing on the hard top board but she managed to get the hang of it with Ruby's help.
Neo got along well with the others in the group but she felt herself outclassed by the other surfers in the group who were catching waves and standing easily.
At one point where Neo was alone floating in the water, the others were wading back through the water out to them again leaving Neo with Velvet who arrived back first.
"What's wrong?" Velvet asked, seeing Neo looking a little upset.
"I just feel so out of place. You're all great surfers yet here I am, without a clue what to do." Neo replied.
"I wouldn't worry about that. Are you having fun?" Velvet asked.
"I am. I love it, but I just feel weird hanging out with you guys." Neo said.
"You shouldn't, we're all ordinary people who enjoy hanging out. If anything, we're jealous of you." Velvet told her with a large smile.
"Jealous…of me?" Neo asked, confused as to why they would be jealous of her.
"That board. It's one of Ruby's own creations, right?" Velvet asked.
"Uh yeah, she sort of just gave it to me. Said I could keep it and she'd store it for me if I couldn't take it home." Neo replied.
"Exactly. She's never done that before, for anyone. Not even…." Velvet said but trailed off.
"I know about Weiss." Neo told her softly.
Velvet seemed shocked by this but didn't comment instead saying, "Well she's never given anyone one of her creations before, so you're a first." Velvet told her smile back on her face as the others joined them.
This seemed to spark Neo's spirits back up as she felt special with what Ruby had entrusted to her by giving her this board. Whenever she looked over to Velvet she saw the woman smiling towards her, almost knowingly.
The rest of the day was something Neo enjoyed, once getting past the fact that the others were better than she was it allowed her to enjoy herself more.
Once they had decided to call it a day from the night settling in they all went their separate ways, although Neo went with Ruby back to her flat.
Arriving back she was directed into the bathroom again and handed a towel with Ruby saying, "You can use the shower if you want, I'll leave your clothes by the door for you." Ruby informed her, leaving her in peace.
Neo still dripping from the water peeled herself out of her wetsuit, wringing it out as best she could into the shower before putting it on the ground, unsure what exactly to do with it.
Turning the shower on she waited for it to heat up enough as she stripped down and climbed inside, using some of the body wash and shampoo in there with her.
She heard a light knock on the door as she was just finishing up, guessing it was Ruby telling her that her clothes were at the door for her.
Climbing out of the shower she wrapped herself in a tower and opened the door slightly to grab her clothes alongside the note on top.
'Having a shower and getting dressed. Make yourself at home. R.'
Neo smiled at the note as she dried herself and her hair as best she could before getting dressed once more, however choosing to leave her jacket off and instead just keep the t-shirt and trousers on but put her jacket over the back of a chair in the living room.
Sitting down Neo turned on the TV while she waited patiently for Ruby to finish up and come inside. She was nervous at being in someone's flat without the other person and more nervous about what exactly was going to happen now.
Was Ruby going to kick her out and tell her to go back to her hotel or would they hang out together a little more today. Neo had all this going through her mind that she didn't hear Ruby come in.
"You know a cute face like yours shouldn't be so wound up with worry." Ruby commented teasingly.
Neo blushed again and turned around to look at Ruby but blushed even more as she saw what Ruby was wearing. She only wore the same hot pants from earlier and a small, loose fitting top over her bra.
"Like what you see?" Ruby teased, turning around and shaking her ass at Neo a little.
Neo didn't reply but turned away, her face bright red from the teasing.
"Aww I'm sorry, I'm only playing. Sorry." Ruby said, leaning over Neo's shoulder.
"You're being mean." Neo whined out playfully.
"I'm sorry, you just looked so nervous that I had to do something to cheer you up." Ruby said, sad that she had annoyed Neo and worried.
Neo just laughed as she reached over and pulled Ruby over the back of the couch and both fell to the floor laughing.
Quickly getting payback Ruby jumped up and onto Neo and started to tickle her sides as revenge for the sneaky move beforehand.
It was almost half an hour later when the two, breathless and slightly tired from their messing around it wasn't until Ruby spoke up that they were quiet.
"Would you care to stay for dinner? I'm sure I've got something here to eat or we could get chippy." Ruby asked.
"Chippy?" Neo asked, unsure what exactly that meant.
"Sorry, fish and chips. Fancy that?" Ruby asked.
"Sure." Neo said, and telling Ruby what she wanted she was told to wait here and make herself at home while Ruby went to get their dinner.
It didn't take long for Ruby to return home with a bag of food, and putting them on plates the two ate in relative quiet with Ruby clearing up afterwards though Neo attempted to help but was pushed away to the couch.
"Why don't you stay the night? It's quite late." Ruby said, noticing the time for the first time that was well past nine at night.
Neo heard the offer there, it was clear that it wasn't hard for Neo to go home but it was more the weight behind the offer that made Neo say yes. So instead of going to bed or heading home the pair sat up watching movies on the TV, sitting on the couch.
They didn't know when it happened but somehow during the movie Neo had fallen asleep and ended up leaning against Ruby sometime during her sleep.
Waking up in the middle of the night, leaning against a still awake Ruby she was unsure what to do as Ruby seemed to be talking to her.
"I'm sorry about earlier. I overreacted today. I shouldn't have shouted at you, it's just…no one's ever really mentioned it. They all let me have my own path, my uncle warned me of the risks but no one ever said anything about it." Ruby said awkwardly.
"Why?" Neo asked softly, surprising Ruby but she quickly recovered.
"Why what?" Ruby asked just as softly.
"Why has no one mentioned it to you? Surely your mother or…um well she mentioned it to me yesterday." Neo said, avoiding the topic of Weiss.
"It's alright to say her name. My mother, she believes that you should find your own path. Even if she worries she doesn't tell me, but I guess it's obvious really." Ruby said.
"What about Weiss? You stopped for her didn't you?" Neo asked carefully.
Ruby smiled sadly although she wasn't looking at Neo but instead off into space and out the window, which was conveniently pointed towards the beach.
"She never spoke about it, sometimes I doubt she even knew what it was. I just sort of stopped, I knew the risks and so I just stopped but I've never had it pointed out before." Ruby explained softly and distant.
"I'm sorry." Neo said, unsure what to say back.
Ruby just smiled at Neo looking down at her, "There's nothing to be sorry for. I'm glad that someone really said it to me. I don't think I'm going to go back to it, it's fun and thrilling but if something goes wrong, well I don't want it to. Made me think on what I've been doing." Ruby said kindly.
"What you've been doing?" Neo asked, confused at what Ruby meant exactly.
"I'm feeling rather tired now. Do you want to move into a bed?" Ruby asked.
"Could we stay like this a little while longer?" Neo asked. Enjoying how they were sat as she was comfortable.
"Of course." Ruby said warmly as Neo closed her eyes again.
A/N
I'm not really sure what to say, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. I've been having a shit few days and writings been hard for me alongside a few other things.
I'm working on a Christmas special for Legends which I'm trying deadly hard to get finished for Christmas around other things.
Anyway until next time. ^_^