You're Not In This Alone

Once I calm down pa and Ryan help me up and into his office, sitting me on the couch in the corner and pa sits beside me as Ryan kneels infront of me. "Are you alright Ruby?" Ryan asks softly and I sniffle and nod. "I'm sorry" I tell him and he shakes his head. "No it's alright really, as long as you're ok. I'm sorry if I did anything to make you..." "You didn't" I tell him and he nods his head. Pa reaches out and takes my hand in his before saying "Do you want me to take you home?" "You need to work" I tell him and when he opens his mouth to object Ryan cuts him off. "I could take you, if you like Ruby." Pa looks over at him before looking back at me and I say "Yeah, ok. I wanna go home." "You sure baby girl?" Pa asks and I shoot him a weak smile and nod, standing up and Ryan stands too, gently touching my arm as he leads me from the room. "I'll call you in a little while ok?" Pa says and I turn back to face him. "I'm sorry pa." "Oh Rubes it's alright." I turn again and leave the room with Ryan, making our way out of the gallery. "You wanna take a cab or walk?" Ryan asks and I say "I guess we could walk." Ryan nods and we start to walk, making it a block before his arm snakes around my waist. "Is this ok?" He asks and I nod, walking just a little closer to him.

Once we get to the apartment Ryan follows me as I go into my room, kicking my shoes off and climbing into my bed, leaving the blanket pulled aside, sliding over to make room for Ryan. He stands in the doorway and looks at me and I pat the empty space on the bed, staring into his eyes and he nods before crossing the room, kicking off his own shoes before laying beside me. We lay side by side, just looking at each other for a while before he breaks the silence. "Are you alright? Do you maybe wanna talk about it?" I shrug my shoulders before sighing and saying "I don't want you to go away." "Ruby I like you, so much. Nothing you could say will make me go away unless you say go away. You can tell me but if you don't want to that's ok too, it's your choice." I take in a deep shaky breath before saying "I was dating someone in secret, a friend of my dad's and I snuck out to stay at his place one night when he was drunk and his friend James was there too and in the middle of the night they got drugged out of their minds and..." I feel my cheeks get wet as I start to cry, taking a shaky breath before continuing. "And he let his friend rape me. My dad's showed up and saved me just after it started and I...." I break off into sobs, unable to breathe and Ryan's arms wrap around me, pulling me into his chest. "Oh Ruby I am so so sorry that happened to you. No wonder you want to take this slow, this will go as slow as you need it to I promise. I would never do anything like that, ever." I bury my face in his neck, nodding a little, acknowledging his words. After I calm down again I pull back and look at his face. "Thank you." "What for?" "For being so kind to me." Ryan smiles and I feel my own lips tug upwards in a small smile. Ryan leans in and presses a soft kiss to my forehead and I smile a little wider, finding his comforting support exactly what I need. "Wanna watch a movie here?" I ask and he smiles at me and says "I'd love to." I climb out of the bed and grab my laptop, climbing back in and turning it on before opening my movie folder. "You pick" I tell him, handing it to him and he takes it, scrolling through before picking one of the Harry Potter movies. I sit the laptop on the bedside table and lay down as it starts, Ryan laying down and cuddling into my side, pulling me into his chest as we get comfortable and start watching. Halfway through the movie I turn my head in Ryan's direction and press my lips to his and after a surprised little noise he starts kissing back, keeping it soft and sweet. When we pull apart Ryan stares into my eyes as he softly says "Ruby I know you want to take this slow and feel free to say no if you're not ready, I promise it won't change a thing but, will you be my girlfriend?" My eyes widen as I gasp in surprise, my thoughts racing and I open my
mouth to answer when I'm cut off by my phone ringing. I reach out and grab it, seeing Pa's picture on the screen and I shoot Ryan an apologetic look before sitting up and answering. I keep the conversation brief, assuring him I'm ok now and that I don't need him to come home before hanging up and laying back down, turning over to face Ryan. "Ryan I do like you but are you sure you want that? I mean as you've seen I have a lot going on and...." "Yeah I'm sure, I really like you Ruby and I wanna be there for you through all this if you need me, and I still will, even just as your friend so if you want to say no it's alright, I promise." "I want to say yes, so badly but I'm scared" I admit and Ryan's face crumples in concern. "You don't ever need to be scared with me" he promises and I lean forward into his chest, letting his arms wrap around me. "Yes" I murmur out into his neck and I feel his arms tighten around me slightly. "Really?" He asks and I pull back and nod, smiling as much as I can. "Really. I do really like you Ryan." He smiles back before leaning forward and pressing another soft kiss to my nose and I snuggle up in his arms, sighing in contentment.

Notes