LENGHTY A/N I really need to stop throwing cliffhangers at you guys... but at least the wait wasn't long! Silver Linings am I right?
I have something rather important to tell you guys; going to be blunt with this... as of chapter 9 or 10 [Haven't decided yet] the rating to this story will be changing to 'M'. The change is for a reason I'm pretty sure you're already thinking of *cough* Lemon... Yes it is coming, but don't turn that dial yet; the proceeding lemon will be in very good taste, it won't be overly descriptive, but rather, focuses on emotions contrary to the actual act it's self. I was really against the idea of it when proposed to me, but when they explained how good it bolsters the later plot; I agreed. Just trust me on this guy's, I won't let you down, it'll be the only thing in this story that warrants an 'M' rating.
I want to thank all of you for the reception this story is getting, it's incredible, you guys make my day. So keep being awesome readers and I'll keep writing, deal? Deal. Enjoy! [More Italicized stuff ahead]
Chapter 7. Prize And Passion.
A determined Ruby could be seen walking down a suburban street, cloaked in a black hoodie and slack jeans, one hand rested in her pocket, whilst the other kept a firm grasp on a small red box. The early October temperatures were already bone - chillingly cold as Ruby would constantly swap the box between each hand whenever one would feel numb from the cold. The random shiver would rock through her body and agitate her still-sore chest from Saturdays incident. Which leads one to ask: What's she doing out in this weather? Simple, Ruby had something important to do; her mind completely focused on a single objective. The objective in question was a portion of a mission she had assigned herself to the previous day. And that current objective being Cinder's house, or rather, Mercury's house to which Cinder lived in. Ruby still had no idea why Cinder lived there and not with her own family instead. Ruby vividly remembered Cinder's reaction to the question about where her family was; her ebony-haired friend showed a touch of rigidity, giving Ruby the feeling that it was a touchy subject and best to drop it for another topic.
By know, Ruby knows the exact route to Cinder's house, heck she could walk it blind and backwards and still make it there. The crimsonette knew every detail of the way, from the number of cracks in the sidewalk, to which kinds of cars sat in the driveways of neighboring houses.
The 'mission' Ruby is currently on is one she had went through a decent amount of trouble to even start. Her mind wandered back to the previous day, Wednesday...
It was a normal Wednesday evening. Yang and Ruby had come home from another day of classes and practically collapsed on the furniture in near perfect perfect synchronization.
After a quick meal, Ruby resided to doing her homework in the dining room whilst Yang sat in the den, hopelessly flicking through channels on their new TV, having no clue what to watch; there was so many options! The room was quiet, save for the TV, that is. Both girls barely spoke to one another after their meal. Yang was pulled from her channel surfing by the sound of a textbook slamming shut, followed by the ruffling of papers, and a couple of affirmative hums. The blonde swiveled her head to see Ruby packing her things back into her bag, with a nervous smile gracing her features.
"Done so early?" She asked playfully.
"Yep, I've had enough homework for one day." Ruby replied with a smile.
"It's only been forty five minutes." Yang retorted.
"Yep." She stated simply.
'What's she up to?'
Yang slowly picked herself up, inching her body over towards the kitchen and eyed Ruby with inquiry. Ruby pretended to ignore her sister and continued to pack her belongings away. "Ruby? What's going on?"
'I knew it'd work...'Ruby thought. "Nothing." She still maintained an eye contact free conversation, pushing Yang's interest further. "Ruby I can tell when you're up to something, so come on! Tell me!" Yang practically begged, she had a weak spot for things bothering her sister, and she had every right to.
Placing her History Textbook down, Ruby looked up to her elder sister with a blank look on her face. "I need you to take me to the mall."
Yang backpedaled at something she'd thought Ruby would never say. "The mall? Since when do you go to the mall?"
"I need to pick something up for a... friend." Ruby scolded herself for losing her cool posture. The blonde instantly picked up on the short gear shift of Ruby's emotions, she was definitely up to something. Yang grinned mischievously; pushing Ruby's ire further.
"A 'friend'." She punctuated with air quotes. "Who might this 'friend' be hm? A certain crush perhaps~?" Yang teased.
"So who is it?" Yang asked bluntly. Ruby jumped at how fast she got to it and started blushing, unable to speak.
Yang continued through her sisters nervousness. "Aww you do have a crush on somebody! ~" Yang said in a sing-song voice, causing Ruby to stutter madly before she forced herself away from the blonde's gaze.
"Yeah yeah…" She scratched the back of her head. She trailed off again, having no clue what to say.
Seeing Ruby wasn't going to talk Yang started naming; "Is it... Neptune?" Ruby shook her head. 'Wrong gender actually...' Ruby thought.
Yang continued her naming process; "Is it...Ren?" Another negative nod. Ruby felt warmer by the second; she was pretty sure if Yang found out that she too was interested in the same sex Yang would wallop in joy, but there's a con to every pro; if Yang found out her 'crush' in question was Cinder, the blonde would go off-the-wall insane.
"Is it... Jaune?" Yang's words broke Ruby from her thoughts, she weighed her decisions, either she could keep denying who it was until Yang gave up [Which would probably be next week] or she could lie her way out; after all there was things she needed to buy, time waits for no one!
"Remnant to Ru-"
"Yes!" Ruby blurted out. Cutting Yang off. The room fell silent, both girls staring the other down. Yang closed the distance between her and Ruby, and within seconds; wrapped her scarlet-clad sister in a famous Yang bearhug. "My sisters got a crush! How cute!" The blonde squealed in delight, hugging her sister tighter.
"Gah... Yang... ribs hurting... remember..?" Ruby's muffled voice sounded somewhere deep within Yang's shoulder.
"Oh shoot! Sorry..." Yang relinquished her death grip on Ruby. Before the crimson could even mention a word Yang was already waiting by the door, keys in hand, and lacing up her boots. "How did you..." Ruby asked in amazement. The only time Yang moved that fast was every school morning when she'd meet up with Weiss.
"C'mon! Yang beckoned, hands waving ecstatically. Ruby just decided to play along. The thing she's buying would tip Yang's suspicion off if she found out. Ruby grabbed one of her trusty hoodies from a nearby chair and pulled it on. She joined Yang by the door and slipped on her runners, her blonde sister almost shaking in anticipation.
Ruby crossed her fingers, hoping that this would go down well. Yang didn't need to find out about this... a least not now that is.
Later on...
Ruby and Yang walked at an even pace through one of the many sectors of Cherrywood Mall, the mall being the second largest in all of Vale. Yang knew this place like the back of her hand, ever since she got a part-time job working at a coffee shop in the mall's food court; the blonde had spent a ton of her free time and wages at he various stores that dotted the place. Sometimes she'd even bring Weiss along, and the two would shop together. Today was different as Ruby had no clue where to go, so being the big sister she is; Yang showed Ruby around the place.
"So where exactly are we going?" Yang asked, smoothie in one hand, shopping bag in the other.
Ruby kept looking forward, in order for her to get what she needed, Yang had to leave. "Uhh, h-how about we stop for something to eat?"
"Okay!~" Yang cheered.
Both girls agreed on sandwiches so as Yang went to purchase their food, Ruby saw the perfect opportunity to sneak off and get what she came here for. Telling Yang she would look for a spot to sit, Ruby strolled off, and as soon as Yang turned away; she rounded a corner, and down into the jewelry section of the mall.
The hall she found herself in was lined with stores, showcasing everything from luxury watches, to rings the same price as a sports car. The myriad of choices however didn't mess with Ruby's concentration, as she had a single target in mind; a smaller store at the far end of the causeway.
Ruby entered the store, it was long and narrow, with showcases lining each side of the room. Within seconds of her entrance; a middle-aged woman in a dress suit approached Ruby from behind the counter, she lifted her glasses and eyed Ruby with what looked like disapproval. "Excuse me, but are you lost?" She asked plainly, as if it happened to her before.
"Huh?" Ruby turned. "N-No I'm here to buy something." She stated with determination.
Ruby walked up to the showcase the woman was standing behind, the two of them now facing each-other. "I'm looking for..." Ruby dug her phone from her pocket and opened her camera roll. "This."
The woman placed her glasses back on and eyed the object on the screen, she then looked to Ruby; disapproval still plastered on her face. "Do you have the money to buy this?"
"Y-Yeah I do..." She dug around her other pocket and produced a small wallet, she opened it and turned it upside-down, several bills along with a metric ton of change fell out and clattered onto the glass counter below.
The woman looked back to Ruby again, this time with an 'Are you kidding me?' look.
"He-he... sorry." She laughed nervously.
'Please let this work...' Her thoughts were just as her words.
######
"Please let this work..."
Ruby said aloud, Cinder's porch was just some twenty feet away. She begged that all the trouble she went through to get this wasn't for nothing. She likes Cinder, and it tore her apart to see the girl rashly avoiding her for reasons Ruby blamed herself for.
Ruby now stood in front of the black front door to Cinder's home. All the front windows were drawn closed by curtains and blinds, it looked as if no one was home. Ruby silently prayed that there was, and hopefully it was Cinder. She gave her body a quick and cold shake before pulling the red box from her front pocket and stowing it behind her. The other palm made its way to the doorbell, she stuck out a hesitant finger and brought it down on the cold plastic.
Nothing.
She pushed it again, and again and again, realizing that there was no sound coming from inside. "Stupid thing must be broke." Ruby balled that same cold hand into a fist, and brought it towards the cold steel of the door. She knocked thrice in rapid succession, as hard and loud as her small hand could allow.
Seconds past. Nothing. Right when Ruby was about to knock again the door swung open. A tired looking -Uniform-clad Cinder standing on the other side. Ruby took a deep breath and began.
"H-Hey Cinder!"
Cinder just eyed the girl, way to befuddled to know what to say.
Ruby reached behind her back and produced a small red box from it. Holding it triumphantly she said two words Cinder almost broke down at;
"Happy Birthday!"
Silence...
Cinder's eyes bore into the box Ruby held up. It was small and square shaped, not to thick either.
"I-I got you this!" Ruby's arms started to tremble from holding them out for so long. Cinder just kept eyeing her, completely stiff, not even looking like she was breathing. Intense worry washed over Ruby, the befuddled look on Cinder's face gave her the feeling that Cinder really didn't want anything to do with her.
Cinder swallowed down her emotions, eyes darting between the box and Ruby's worried face. "H-How did you know about this." She choked out.
"W-Well weeks ago when you hurt your ankle, and I went to fetch milk from the kitchen, I saw your student info sheet on the counter, a-and took note of your birthday..." Ruby stammered out. By this time Cinder grabbed the box from her hand and held it in a loose grip. Saffron eyes scanned over Ruby's form, Cinder noticed the random shivers and shakes Ruby had, not even realizing how cold it was outside.
"C-Come in." She sputtered. Stepping out of the door-frame to let Ruby in.
"Ahh..so warm..." Ruby sighed in relief.
Cinder closed the door behind her, eyes scrutinizing every detail of the little red box Ruby just gave her. She had not clue what to make of all this... "Well... g-g-go on. Open it!"
Ruby fumbled with her hands, watching index intently. That gift had set her back a good 239 dollars, it was the most expensive thing she'd ever bought, and the kicker being the fact that she had no job. All of that money was savings from leftover lunch money, coffee change, and the leftover bills from her sixteenth birthday not too long ago.
She had to lie to her sister to purchase it without suspicion, and make up some silly story to Yang in case the blonde ever asked where all of her money went,
With cautious movements, Cinder undid the small bow on top of the cubic shaped box. Gently setting that aside; Cinder slowly but surely slid the lid off, or eyes meeting some scrunched up tissue paper. She removed that as well and stared at her prize.
An Anklet
A small gold circlet with several dark maroon spike - shaped gems hanging from it. Cinder was fighting real hard to keep in her emotions. It wasn't just any anklet, but a specific one. Closer to the end of September; Cinder and Ruby had elected to go to the mall out of sheer boredom. Ruby took an interest to the jewelry section as she liked to see just how expensive things could get. Cinder was reluctant at first, but one thing in particular had caught her eye; the very same anklet she now held in her shaky palm, was the same one she'd pointed out to Ruby all those weeks ago.
Ruby watched as Cinder seemingly froze after opening her gift. "D-Do you like it?"
No response...
Cinder didn't even hear Ruby as her eyes scanned the 'gift' Ruby had brought. She scrutinized every detail. The perfect diameter of the loop was the perfect size for her ankle, it's gold material shimmering in the dim light of the living room, and those crystals... perfect stones glimmering to a tee, smooth faces and edges sharp enough to cut flesh, everything resembling perfect craftsmanship.
Perfect...
The gift was perfect, it was so perfect...
Any and all resentful emotions from before had been completely wiped from Cinder's mind, opening the lane foe a new set of emotions tow weave their way in. First was care: Ruby had just done a list of things for her; the girl had gone out of her way to buy her a birthday present, a concept that was so foreign to Cinder she didn't know how to react. Cinder knew that the anklet wasn't cheap, an had no clue where Ruby found the money to purchase it, but the crimsonette didn't show even the slightest bit of remorse, but rather, she looked anxious as to what would happen next.
Ruby had bestowed care upon her, something Cinder hadn't felt in years.
The second emotion was hatred. Not for Ruby, but for herself. She hated herself for putting Ruby through torture over these past few days; deliberately avoiding her, thinking it was the right thing to do. In the end; Ruby was genuine, she wasn't fake, nor transparent. Just an honest-to-God girl who took a genuine interest in her.
And it felt really good.
But the third emotion... the third was the most powerful of the three; affection. Over the past months they've spent, whether together or apart; Cinder couldn't take her mind off little Ruby Rose. The way those adorable silver orbs would light up every time they met. The luscious fresh smell of Ruby's shampoo whenever she sat next to her. The times she'd call her 'puppy' and Ruby would retort back in the cutest way possible. The girl could single-handedly make her forget about all of the bad things in life and replace them with their positive she tried to process all of this info a familiar word passed through her mind again;
Perfect.
She's perfect, her adorability, those funny quirks, and that caring and compassionate attitude, all radiate perfection.
Ruby is perfect, her perfect little Red...
Ruby observed Cinder as the ebony - haired female marveled at the Anklet in her hands, completely speechless.
"C-Cinder?" Ruby tip-toed over to the couch and sat down next to Cinder. "Is everyth-umpf~" Cinder wrapped Ruby in a warm and comforting embrace, the crimsonette was startled at first but slowly succumbed to warmth that radiated from her crush. Ruby internally squealed in delight at Cinder's sudden action. She did like her gift! No only one thing left to-
Ruby's triangle of thought derailed, she could feel the shoulder of her hoodie slowly becoming damp, warmly so. She was sweating with nervousness; but it wasn't that bad. The scarlet teen looked down to where Cinder had buried her head, and realized the older girls body was racking slightly.
In a fit of panic; Ruby pulled back, Cinder doing much the same. She narrowed her eyes into Cinder's lap small darkened dots started spotting her uniform skirt. Silver eyes traced up to Cinder's face, a single tear gliding down her cheek.
"Oh no! She's crying! What'd I do!?" Ruby tried to quell her panicked state; "Cinder?" She asked softly. "W-Why are you crying?"
Her head rose, saffron eyes staring right into Ruby's soul. "I-I-It's p-perfect..." She sniffed.
"R-Really?"
"Red it's perfect!" She cried in joy.
Another embrace, this time initiated by Ruby. Both girls held each-other for what seemed like hours, both sides reveling in the feeling of the others touch.
It was perfect.
Reluctantly, Ruby pulled out of the embrace . "Time for phase three." Ruby gave herself a mental pep-talk for the ensuing words that were about to leave her lips. "Cinder can I tell you something?" Ruby asked. Cinder knelt back on the sofa and positioned herself horizontally along it. "Anything Red."
"L-Look I like you... I-I mean o-of course I-I like you, but I-I-I like you as more... I m-mean I like like... you and I was...uh wo-ack!"
Cinder couldn't take anymore of Ruby's rambling, she grabbed Ruby's collar and pulled her into a deep, lustful and loving kiss. The crimsonette's eyes widened and she gasped allowing Cinder ample time to thrust her tongue deep into her mouth.
Ruby remained still, doing nothing as she was frozen in place by Cinder's bold movement, and was completely at her mercy. Her body relaxed and her eyes slowly shut, moaning into the kiss. Cinder heard and felt Ruby's soft, muffled voice by her mouth and took that as a sign to keep going.
"Ruby…" Cinder moaned, slowly moving her tongue through her secret crush's teeth. Ruby allowed the movement for a moment before fighting back, trying to fight a losing battle for dominance. Ruby ran her fingers through Cinder's hair, grasping at the ends and pulled her closer, decreasing the amount of space between them.
Ruby elicited an excited squeak at how Cinder basically fell on top of her. Removing her lips from Ruby's soft ones; Cinder giggled at bit. "How's that for an answer?"
Ruby crawled out from under Cinder. Sharing the same grin she replied. "I liked that..."
Ruby gave Cinder a delighted peck on the cheek. "Try on your gift! I wanna see it!"
Cinder smiled back. She felt the polar opposite right in that moment than she did that morning. Warm, welcomed, cared, and maybe even... loved.
Ruby continued to eye what she assumed was her new girlfriend, she was overly Joyful at the turn out of today, but there was something bothering her; the way Cinder almost broke down upon receiving the gift, it made her feel like Cinder was hiding something from her, and to that point the amount of things Ruby believed Cinder was hiding began to stack up;
Her parents, her birthday, her closed attitude, it all didn't seem right...
Something was plaguing Cinder; like a bad shadow that never went away...
Ruby would remain delighted for now, hoping that one day, just one day, Cinder might open up to her.
Hopefully this could last long enough for that to happen...
A/N FALLING PETALS B*TCH! Yay! These two are together at last! But this is not the end, no, far from it actually. Leave a review, tell me how that romancy part was, good, bad? Let me know. Thanks guys! Follow and Fav too. Pce. :)