"Heyyyyy," drawled the boy with the dark hair that had ruined my life everyday two years ago. He'd pulled up in his black car and let his long legs out of it, standing up to assess me. "Connor, who's your...friend? Cousin?" He looked straight at me with a lustful look. How could he not recognize me?

"I'm Gabe," he continued, grinning like the Cheshire cat. He winked, and I grimaced. Over two years, Gabe Eaton become more of a pig. Didn't know it was possible.

"Crap," I whispered under my breath, as he advanced toward me.

Connor, busy unpacking my stuff from the car, looked over at Gabe and threw a poisonous glare his way. "Dude. Stay away from my sister, yeah?"

"Ruby?" he croaked with a wild look in his eye. "Holy..." He muttered a few expletives, stepping back quickly. "Sorry, man..."

"Hi, Gabe," I said quietly, attempting to break the awkward tension. The dark haired boy scrutinized me closely, staring down at the black high-waisted shorts I really would've wished I hadn't worn, if I wasn't so far past caring what boys thought of me.

Many things were echoing in my head as I looked at this boy. Particularly the catchy chant of "Itty Bitty Titty Committee" and jeers of "Baby Ru". He'd grown up, too, statuesque just as I'd thought him when I was younger and obsessed with the idea of him, with the same dark hair and eyes. He was gorgeous as ever, if not more, but it was clouded by the memory of his constant taunts expressing just how unattractive I was to him.

And now, here he was, Gabe Eaton, seventeen and raking his eyes over me like- well, I didn't know what. I just knew I didn't like it at all.

Ash came barreling out of my house, having returned from putting a suitcase in my room. "We almost done?-- Oh, hey, Gabe."

"Hey, man. D'you know Ruby was back?"

Ashton beamed at me. "Of course. Got my girl back." He slung an arm over my shoulder and began dragging me toward the house. "C'mon, Baby Ru. We'll get you dressed and then we'll show you off."

I huffed. "Show me off?"

"You're hot now," Gabe offered. Both Connor and I glared at him.

"Really, Gabe. Watch it," Connor threatened at the same time as I snapped, "And what about before, then?"

Gabe simply looked at the both of us. "Um. Well, I'll see you guys tonight. If you're going to Aaron's, I mean." He didn't even stick around for an answer, climbing back into his car and speeding away.

"Aaron's a new friend of ours. Dude's hilarious. He's having a party tonight, if you wanna go by," Connor offered.

"Sure," I replied easily. Hannah would probably be there, and we needed to do some serious catching up. We'd texted while I was away, but not a lot.

"Really, Ru?" Ash asked incredulously. "You want to go to a party? And I'm not dragging you?! I like the new Ruby Farnsworth."

I shrugged. "Like I said. Paris was live."

~

When I walked into the house, there he was. Waiting for me at the top of the steps, silky golden hair groomed to perfection, beautifully twinkling brown eyes trailing me like they had before I left two years ago. My heart swelled with love at the sight of him.

"Max, my baby!" I squealed. "C'mere, boy!"

My gorgeous golden retriever, Maximilien Reginald Rufus Farnsworth III (okay, that part was for show), or Max, as he was commonly known, bounded down the stairs into my arms. I nuzzled his neck fondly. "Wow, Max, you're huge!" When I left, he'd been just a puppy. To be honest, I was surprised he remembered me.

Alas, Max was mostly Connor's dog, so when he walked in, the love was gone. Ash brushed past Max with a pat on the head. "Now. Get dressed, Baby Ru. We're going out."

I grinned lazily at Ashton. "Sure, boss. Want me to make you a sandwich while you're at it, then, cher?"

Ashton scoffed, flicking a strand of hair out of his eyes. "None of your sass. Let's get moving."

a.n. robbie ammell aka gabe eaton aka the devil on the side