Confronting the enemy

This is chapter was a joint prompt from Ellie and DBS2000 and their requests were – Jack confronts Ziggy about his affair with Frankie, causing the younger man to realise just how much he loves Ruby, and how broken he's left her

I hadn't originally put these two prompts together, but when writing the first part, I realised just how well DBS2000's request fitted in, so I hope you all enjoy!

"I welcomed you into my home, had you around for dinner at my table because I thought you were a good man. Ruby was absolutely smitten with you and everytime you spoke I could see a bit of Sandy. I thought you were kind and honest just like she is, but then I discover this, I find out you've not only been going behind Ruby's back but mine too.

"You looked me in the eye, made conversation with me and acted like everything was fine knowing what you had done. Did it give you a sick thrill knowing that you had been intimate with my wife just hours before? Were you laughing behind my back at stupid, old, blind Jack, the man who can't even care for his own wife properly-"

"No Jack," Ziggy interrupted, desperate to try and get his own side of the story across. "It's wasn't like that, me and Frank-"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Jack practically screamed, turning suddenly so he was looking straight at the younger man, eyes bright with unshed tears. It had been just hours since the landlord had discovered the truth about Frankie's infidelity with Ziggy, and whilst the rest of the family were still at the hospital with Ruby, he had decided to go home, he needed some alone time.

But he was never that fortunate, and less than ten minutes after arriving, Jack was met with the sight of Ziggy desperately banging on the door to get into the pub to 'explain' himself. Jack knew he should have just left the younger man out in the cold, that it was wiser not to confront him, but he was angry and confused, and in desperate need of lashing out at someone, to get the answers he so desperately desired.

So against his better judgement, Jack had unlocked the front door and led Ziggy up to the Osbourne home, practically shaking with rage as he thought of the younger man just a few feet behind him, the mechanic determined to get his say in the whole matter, to try and right the wrongs he had committed.

If anything that only made Jack even more furious, because it gave the indication that Ziggy believed he had a leg to stand on, that he would be able to fix everything with his sweet words that had been his secret weapon for so long, but Jack wasn't a blonde temptress that Ziggy was trying to lure into his bed, and no words would do anything to get Ruby out of hospital, nor would it fix Jack's marriage that now lay in tatters, ruined and tarnished beyond repair.

It was what led them to where they were now, Ziggy sat at the dinner table – and Jack didn't even want to know if it was ironic that Ziggy was currently sat in his place or not- face in his hands as he tried to explain himself, completely wracked with guilt, whilst Jack stuck to standing over the younger man, pacing around the kitchen in the hopes that maybe it would stop him from losing complete control and beating Ziggy within an inch of his pathetic little life.

"I always knew Ruby was too good for you, sure, she's had her moments but deep down she is a good person. And when I found out you two were an item I just knew it was going to end in tears, I mean, I spent the better part of four months watching you chat up anyone with a pulse at my bar, and Ruby, well she was just another name on your list wasn't she? Another notch on your bedpost, and when you got bored of her, you decided to keep it in the family, go for her guardian, my wife!"

"Jack it's not like that!" Ziggy tried again, looking up to meet the older man's eye, though once more it was of no use. Sandy's former flame was furious, experiencing an anger, no a rage he hadn't felt in years, and he was in no mood to hear any weak excuses, determined to convey just that.

"How about you tell Ruby that then? Oh wait you can't, because she's in the hospital fighting for her life, because what you did to her was too much for her to handle sober."

"That's not fair, you can't pin Ruby taking drugs on me, I didn't make her do anything like that."

"You may not have, but you broke her Ziggy. She trusted you, and you ruined that, left her hurting so badly she felt like the only thing she could do was take drugs to block out all her pain," Jack sighed as all the fight he had been feeling left him unceremoniously. He shouldn't be here right now, fighting with the man who had ruined his family, he should be at the hospital with the girl who was as good as a daughter to him.

Mind made up, Jack turned heel and went to grab his coat, knowing that he needed to go back to the hospital. "Let yourself out, if anything's missing I'll know where to send the police," he yelled over his shoulder, slamming the living room door as he left, pulling out of the pub's car park in less than a minute.

But Ziggy didn't move, he didn't think he had the strength. The last few hours had been more than draining for him, and it felt like it had been days, maybe even weeks since he had discovered Ruby's prone form lying on the decking outside the pub, barely breathing and close to death.

Ziggy had never been so scared before, and his earlier dismissal of the teen had only hurt even more, because deep down, the young Roscoe knew his words were probably the reason why Ruby had taken even more drugs, leading to her broken heart giving out.

More than ever he prayed he could take back those illicit moments with Frankie, having never even entertained the idea of what damage he would cause at the time, but that wasn't possible. No Ziggy had to live with what he had done, wishing with all his might that Ruby would pull through, because if she didn't get better, the mechanic didn't have a clue on what he would do, how he'd cope with the guilt.

As he finally gathered the strength to leave, a picture of Ruby, happy and smiling brightly into the camera caught his eye, and without warning, the image of the younger girl pale and unconscious hit him with full force once again. It left Ziggy gasping for breath, as the fear that he felt at the time came hand in hand with the image.

With shaking hands he picked up the photo, collapsing to the floor only seconds later, hot and salty tears prickling at his eyes, desperate for release. Ziggy had never been so terrified before, and despite it being hours since he had carried Ruby into the pub full of revellers, he could still feel the icy cold feeling of her skin against his. The way her pulse was so weak, he had missed it the first time he had tried to find it, leaving him to genuinely believe for a full minute that Ruby, that the girl he loved was dead.

Because he did love Ruby, he'd known it for a long time now, but had just been too scared to say anything. He had experienced lust and want before, but love well that was something completely new, and when Ziggy had first realised his true feelings he had run scared, because he, Ziggy Roscoe, lothario and the man women chased after, could not be in love, it just wasn't possible.

He had hoped that by being with someone else, his feelings would die down, and whilst he hadn't planned for it to be with Frankie, Ziggy had still hoped for the less than honest tactic to have worked. But it hadn't, and if anything, it had only made his feelings for Ruby even stronger.

And for a little while he'd had it all. He and Ruby had finally gotten back together and were stronger than ever, but he was Ziggy Roscoe, and if there was only one thing he could do, it was screwing up his relationships.

To this day he still didn't know why he'd slept with Frankie again, but he had, and Ruby had found out, leading to her turning to drugs to block it all out. And when he had found out what the lengths the girl he loved had gone to, not even twelve hours ago, his reaction had only been that of disgust. He hadn't tried to help, just turned his back on her and it lead to Ruby lying in a hospital bed, practically dead to the world, whilst he was sprawled on her living room floor, not doing anything to help, just adding to the problem as usual.

But Ziggy was determined to stop that, he had to fix the mess he had caused, or at least as well as he could, and it would start with him getting up and out of the Osbourne house, away from the reminders of Ruby when she was happier and healthier.

Ziggy was going to get to that hospital, and no matter what the Osbourne's said he was going to stay, because Ruby needed to know that he was going to be there for her, that he loved her more than anything else on this whole world. She didn't have to say anything, didn't even have to reciprocate, but Ziggy needed for Ruby to know just how much he was willing to do for her, and this time he was going to do it properly.

Once she was well enough to leave the hospital (because she was going to recover god-damnit, she just had to), Ziggy was going to sweep her off her feet, and they were going to do their whole relationship properly this time, no lies or stupid mind-games, just true, pure love and then maybe, just maybe they'd be able to have their happy ever after.

Next Chapter - The Roscoe's play their traditional yearly football match but in doing so one of them suffers an injury – Mollie

Random x – Prompts are now closed I'm afraid so I won't be able to do your request. However there's a full list of upcoming prompts at the end of chapter 66 and if you look through it, you should be able to see there's quite a few Ruby and Ziggy oneshots coming up. In fact chapter 132 is completely about Ruby returning to the village so I hope you'll enjoy that!

Guest – I did initially say that chapter 68 would be the chapter where Finn rapes Jason yes, but if you go to my revised list on chapter 66, it's actually chapter 70 as I had miscounted at the time. Unfortunately this is one of many incidences where real life has gotten in the way as I still have exams up till June 16th.

This means I won't be writing any long prompts until after this point as I simply don't have the time, and this chapter along with a couple of others will be pushed back. I am trying to make sure that this chapter won't be posted any later than chapter 75 however, though I am sorry to everyone excited to read this and the prompters of the oneshot.

I hope everyone can understand though, my education is for obvious reasons incredibly important to me, and whilst I love this story, it isn't my top priority at the moment, though I'm still aiming to do the best I can.