Earlier in the night, Belle had said that she wouldn't actually mind hooking up with a girl. Who knew that said girl would be her best friend?
Frankly, Belle wasn't entirely certain if she meant her lesbian fantasies she had spouted when chatting with Ruby before, or if it was just to impress her. She was indeed drunk, after all, and half the things she said were not to be taken seriously. And she did reveal a lot of nonsense when under the influence.
The pulse of the music inside was still audible where they were crouched. Ruby had shared the cigarette with Belle, and they each took a puff in turn.
"So, does this change everything?" Ruby asked, passing the cigarette to Belle. She concealed her clear concern by attempting to ask casually. "Us… together."
Belle bit her lip. She had been too caught up in the moment to consider the fact that the pair of them hooking up left dozens of complications they would have to mend. For example, how they were going to explain it to Aurora and Mulan. Plus, her father, and Ruby's grandmother. It was unlikely that they would be understanding.
"I don't think so," said Belle. She didn't want to focus on the future right now. The present was absolutely perfect, and she didn't want to ruin it by dwelling on the problems they would have to face. "Besides, who cares what other people think? You're all that matters to me."
The cheesy line had seemingly proven well in Ruby's opinion as Belle received a grin and a kiss in return.
"Have I ever told you in a totally yes-homo way how beautiful you are?" said Ruby, changing the subject.
Belle smiled, while feeling her cheeks flush. She exhaled a cloud of smoke, then passed the cigarette to Ruby. "Not even in a no-homo way."
"How ludicrous of me!" exclaimed Ruby. Using long words she didn't really understand while drunk was a habit of hers that never faltered. "By what means could I not have observed your astonishing natural beauty before, and never voice the truth?"
"Ludicrous, indeed," agreed Belle.
Following one last puff, Ruby put out the cigarette. "So, tell me, Belle. Have you ever been in love?"
Belle hesitated. "Once."
"Ah, so you're not the slut who I formerly thought you were."
"Excuse me?"
"You know. Wearing your heart on your sleeve. Banging every guy or gal who's in a ten mile radius."
"Just because I've only been in love once doesn't mean that I'm not that dirty little slut you know and love, Rubes. I don't get attached to my little play things."
"Fair enough. Now tell me: who is this mysterious stranger whom you once kept your oh-so-loving heart with?"
"Well," Belle cleared her throat. "They were the kind of person you'd want to spend your whole life with. Charming, funny, gorgeous. All that jazz. Though, at first, I pushed the feelings away. I didn't want to get attached to them. I was… afraid."
"What were you afraid of?"
"I don't know. I guess I was afraid of messing up. Scared of doing the wrong thing. That us being together would destroy our friendship."
"So, what happened? Did you tell them how you felt?"
"One night we went out in town. We got drunk, had a blast. Made out a few times. And then…"
The anticipation upon Ruby's face was unmistakable. Her interest made Belle chuckle.
"…we ended up sharing a cigarette behind a dumpster."
Ruby blinked. She really had no idea. Though Belle noticed that a part of her looked actually hurt that Belle supposedly had had another person in her life whom had a strong impact on her heart. "What was his name?"
Belle shook her head. "You complete idiot."
"Huh?"
"How many people do you know that make out, and up smoking behind a dumpster?"
"Uh, pretty much all my high school drug addict friends."
Belle rolled her eyes, subsequently giving Ruby a peck on the cheek. Then, she pressed her lips close to Ruby's ear. "You're the only one for me," she whispered softly. "You're the only person I've ever been in love with."
Realization dawned on Ruby's face as Belle pulled away. In a way, she almost looked relieved. "So, you were talking about me?"
"Well, yeah. Who else makes my heart pump at a thousand beats per minute?"
"You'd really want to spend your whole life with me?" The expression upon Ruby's face resembled a little puppy. Big sad eyes, with a grateful smile.
"I don't see why not. I'm in love with you, Ruby."
The puppy expression remained. Ruby was certain that nobody had made her feel this way before. Belle was the sunshine that she had always needed in her life. Finally, there was an opportunity for true happiness in both their lives.
"What about you, then?" Belle asked. "Have you ever been in love?"
"I thought I was. A couple of times, actually."
"Let me guess. Did they end up being complete arseholes?"
"Sometimes. Other times it was me who messed up. I've cheated before now…"
"Really?"
"It was in high school. I was… in a bad place. At first, I thought it was fun. I felt powerful, and free. But afterwards, I was left to pick up the pieces." Ruby blinked away the tears. "Peter was a good guy, too. He didn't deserve it."
"Peter Wolff?"
"That's the one. I begged for his forgiveness, but he said he would never be able to trust me again. I can't blame him. It's happened to me before, too. Killian cheated on me several times before I ended it. Guess that's karma for you."
There was a minute of silence until Belle gave her a smile and told her some of her usual reassuring words. "We all make mistakes. It was a long time ago. You are not the same person as you were back then. Knowing you have cheated doesn't make me look at you any different than ten minutes ago."
Ruby beamed. Belle truly did make everything better.
A couple more minutes passed until a mischievous thought entered Ruby's mind. "Say," she began. "Do you think there's enough room here to…?" She trailed off. After she winked, Belle knew exactly what she was suggesting.
Belle checked the narrow space around them. The space was so limited that even when they hugged their knees it was uncomfortable. "I don't think so," she replied.
Disappointed, Ruby's gaze fell the floor. Seeing this, Belle donned a smirk.
"But I do love a challenge," added Belle.