You're Not In This Alone

Liz stumbles back a few steps, bent over slightly as her hand comes up to cup her jaw where I've just punched her before she straightens up and lunges at me but I swing again and this time my fist connects with her nose which immediately starts pouring blood and suddenly arms are wrapped around me, pinning my arms to my side as I'm dragged back away from her. I huff out an angry breath and the person who has a hold on me leans around and presses a soft kiss to my temple as Brendon and Sarah rush over to help Liz and I realise it's Ryan holding me back. I squirm out of his hold and turn to face him and he looks upset. "Ruby was that really necessary?" He asks and my mouth drops open in disbelief. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He continues to look upset and disappointed as he says "Why would you do something like that? I never took you for a violent person." "So I'm meant to stand back and let some girl put me down all the time and kiss my boyfriend infront of me and try to hook up with him all the time and do nothing?" I snap back and Ryan says nothing so I shake my head and rush past him, leaving the arcade and rushing down the street.

When I get to the hospital Pa is sitting up in his bed feeding himself with his non broken arm and I smile at the sight of how much progress he's making already. "Hey baby girl" he greets me and I say "Where's dad?" "Getting some air, I told him to take a break." I nod in understanding as I cross the room and sit beside the bed and once I'm sitting closer pa sighs and says "What happened baby?" "What do you...." "I can see it written all over your face, tell me about it baby." "There's this girl, Liz and she's always all over Ryan and she clearly wants him so she's always putting me down and telling me I'm too fat and ugly and she doesn't get why Ryan's with me and she kissed him infront of me today and I snapped and kinda punched her, twice." "Oh Ruby, you know dad and I raised you to never be violent but baby that bitch had it coming and you shouldn't have to put up with that shit." "Ryan's mad at me now" I add and Pa's face crumples in concern before saying "Do you think he likes her back?" "I dunno he doesn't really stick up for me but I don't know if it's that or if he doesn't like confrontation. But also, we slept together earlier and I felt confident about it and now....I'm not sure how I should feel." "Are you regretting it?" "I.....I dunno. If it turns out he does like her I don't think I could ever bring myself to trust anyone enough to do that ever again and....." "Baby it'll be ok, maybe you should just take some time to breathe and then talk to him about it." I nod and don't say anything else, slumping forward and laying my head on the edge of the mattress, looking up at Pa. "Oh baby" he coos as his hand comes down to stroke through my hair and I sigh before saying "Why is all this stuff so complicated?" "I've been asking myself that for years baby but you'll always have me and dad and you can talk to us about anything at all, we'll always be there for you."

I spend a few hours with pa and dad comes back and we all hang out together. "When can you come home?" I ask and Pa smiles and says "Actually maybe tomorrow." "Really?" I ask, getting excited. "Yeah I just need my bones to heal now so the doctor thinks I should be ok to go home." After another hour I decide to head home and clean up so it's ready for pa to come home but I stop by Ryan's first to get my stuff. I knock on the door and Sarah answers it and says "Ryan's not here right now." "Ok, I just wanna get my stuff." She steps aside and lets me in and as I walk down the hall towards his room she says "You didn't have to hit my friend" and I snap. "She's not much of a friend to you considering she's hooking up with your boyfriend behind your back." "What?" "I'm sorry, I didn't want to tell you like this but I walked in on them last night and when I confronted Ryan about it, it's not the first time. I just thought you should know since no one else here has the backbone to tell you." She stares at me in disbelief before saying "How do I know you're not lying?" "Why would I make this up? I like you Sarah, you've been nothing but kind to me and that's rare for me when it comes to other girls and I'm not the type of person to say something just to hurt the other person. If you don't believe me ask Ryan, we got into a fight over him keeping it a secret because I told him you had a right to know." I turn to head back to Ryan's room and as I pass the doorway Brendon comes out of the bathroom and Sarah snaps at him. "Is it true?" I keep walking, going into Ryan's room and gathering my stuff, shoving it into my bag and when I step back into the hallway Sarah slaps Brendon across the face before turning and walking out the door and I sneak past him and walk out too, pulling the door closed behind me. I rush to catch up with Sarah who is running down the hall and I grab her arm, pulling her into a hug as I drop my bag on the floor. "I'm sorry Sarah" I tell her as she cries into my shoulder and she sobs out "Thank you for being honest." I grab my bag again when we pull apart and we walk down to the street together and before we part I tell her she can call me if she needs a friend and give her my number. "Thanks Ruby" she says before walking off in the opposite direction and I head home, cleaning the whole place before collapsing on the couch with the tv going, exhausted. I'm almost asleep when someone knocks at the door and I get up, checking who it is and seeing Ryan standing there and I take a deep breath before opening the door and once it's open he lunges forward and wraps his hands around my upper thighs, picking me up as his lips attach to mine and I wrap my legs around his waist as my arms slide around his neck and my hands tangle in his hair.

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