Ruby

I quickly rushed to the door before something disastrous could happen but my mother's footsteps happened to be faster.

Or... my brother's footsteps?

My head tilted to the side, I wore a small frown as Zion casually walked into the room.

Zion didn't appear to notice the presence of the other person because he went straight to dumping the information he came to tell me.

"Ruby, Mom is calling you. She wants to ask you why the door was not locked and why-"

As he paused his words, my eyes dramatically followed his line of sight and when it fell on Adonis who was standing as still as a tomb, I closed my eyes for a second, my mind uttering a prayer that things wouldn't go wrong from there.

"Anyway..." Zion surprised me by saying nothing. He kept talking as if he didn't see anything. "We met the front door open and Mom thinks you are growing so old that you forget things easily now."

As I cleared my throat, my hands reached for the scarf around my neck and with the intention of not ruining the tense atmosphere any further, I replied, "I will go and see her now. Didn't she tell you to go to bed?"

"Yes, I am doing that now. Jeez." He pouted like a child that had been refused his favourite sweet.

I pushed him out of the room with my approaching footsteps. I closed the door as soon as we were both standing outside. For a short while, Zion and I made impactful eye contact, and shared a telepathic conversation... I think.

Bottom line is, as we both walked towards our respective directions, it was established that he wouldn't say anything about the man he saw in my room.

While my feet approached the living room, I wondered if Zion noticed the stained bed sheets too. If I were him, I would have questions rolling out of my tongue.

I just can't ever understand what goes on in my brother's head but I appreciate what he was doing for me at that moment.

"Hey Mom," I greeted the woman who was massaging her back before she had her seat on one of the couches.

"Why was the door open? Don't tell me you fell asleep without realizing the door was open. What if someone had come in to hurt you or to steal something?"

My eyes glanced towards the door, and I wondered how Bryan did it. The knob wasn't broken and I closed the door was closed just fine. But I didn't think too much about it. My feet dug into the lushness of the carpet, I bit into my lower lip and walked closer to my mother. "I am sorry. My mind must have been elsewhere."

She eyed me with serious eyes. "It mustn't happen again. Thankfully, you are fine and nothing seems to be missing."

My attempt to wear a small smile failed as the sides of my eyes began to sting. "I am sure nothing was stolen, so don't worry too much."

I was the target, so there's nothing to worry about.

I definitely could not say that. I was not ready to tell her about the incident. I was not even ready to tell myself that something so dreadful happened, so I left that thought in my head.

"What's with the scarf?" The seat made a weird sound as she moved in order to get a good look in my direction. "Are you cold?" Mom reached for the material, and I quickly pulled back and earned myself a concerned look. "Is everything okay, Ruby?"

I threw her a smile as I attempted to climb out of that uncomfortable situation. "Yes, everything is fine."

"You are not looking at me anymore," she replied. "I can tell something is going on. Is this about the disagreement between you and your Dad?"

"What disagreement?" I tried to play dumb.

"Don't try hard, young lady. I know something is wrong. What did you both argue about? What did he tell you to hide from me?"

My head darted in her direction the next second. "You heard that part?"

"No. Zion did."

My eyes narrowed. Perhaps the earlier telepathic situation I had with my brother has been misread on my end. There is every chance that he might talk about what he saw.

"How much did he hear?"

"He caught the part where your Dad made sure to mention that you should not tell me about whatever you discussed."

I sighed and reminded myself that I was going to talk to her about it regardless of what my father said. I have this feeling that she wouldn't be aggressively dismissive in her reactions.

"So?" As though she could read the dilemma in my head, my mother pushed the discussion out of me.

I took a deep breath and hid the part of my cloth that was wearing the evidence of Bryan's visit with a throw pillow that was laying carelessly beside me. "I am dating someone."

She chuckled. "What's so bad about that? Your Dad is really a drama queen."

"He is eight years older than me." I closed my eyes because it was beginning to feel tumultuous inside me. "He is also my English teacher and he used to be a gang member. That is why Dad is so against him."

"Is that so? A gang member?"

I opened my eyes and looked in her direction. "Mom, I need you to know that-"

"Do you really like this person?" she asked, concern all over her face.

"I can't help but like him, Mom. I can't explain how awesome I feel around him but that's how it is."

"Why does he have to be your teacher? Why not someone else?"

"I can't force myself to like a person I do not like."

"But liking this person spells trouble already," she retorted and I looked away for a second to collect myself. "Listen..." She reached for my chin and directed my eyes to meet hers "... I am not against you dating someone. But if dating this person will put you in trouble, I am afraid I can't be in support of such a relationship."

"I felt this way in the beginning, Mom. I told myself it was a dangerous thing to attempt." I placed my right hand on my chest and tears threatened to fall once again. "I even tried to stay away from Adonis after Dad found out. But it was hard, Mom. It was hard to stay away from him. It is hard to stay away from him, Mom." My voice became a tone softer on the last statement.

"I know that feeling," she said, her eyes softening as her thoughts took over for a second. "You feel scared as much as you yearn for the person."

"I know it seems like I could be in danger if I'm not too careful but Adonis won't let anything happen to me. Even before we started dating..." I paused as it occurred to me that Adonis and I never officially mentioned that we were dating. Am I getting ahead of myself? Am I overreacting?

"Ruby, are you okay?"

"Uh... Yes, I am. As I was saying, he has always found a way to protect me even when I didn't like him."

"Protect you from what? Something is going on, isn't it?"

"Mom!"

"It is obvious that something is going on. What is it?"

"Nothing Mom. He just vowed to protect me after the Diane incident happened, that's all."

"Really?" she asked with her brows cocked in inquiry. "That is all?"

"That's all." I hated that I was lying but I had to lie to prevent her from disapproving of Adonis If she gets to know about the dangers I have faced, she will be the one to make sure that I am tossed into a boarding school.

"Just be careful, Ruby. The fact that he used to be a gangster bothers me and it should bother you too because people's pasts never die. It always comes back no matter what."

"I will be careful." I nodded. "I will make sure of that."

"That reminds me, has anything been found regarding Maddison's death?"

"Actually, no. The funny thing is, the detectives stopped coming to the school, investigations have not happened in a while."

"That is suspicious."

I nodded absentmindedly as I reprimanded myself for not taking note of something so important. But, come to think of it, Bryan definitely killed Maddison. It would be easy for him to use his connections to get rid of any charges.

My hands formed tight fists as the thought of Bryan getting away with everything angered me and I expressed disappointment at the police force who initially seemed like they were going to do something meaningful about the entire situation.

"Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you a favour?"

"What is that?"

"I'll text you the details later, but please promise me you will bring Dad on board when I drop the idea."

"What is this about?" she asked, her brows knitted while her eyes searched for answers in mine.

I held her hands and said, "Please promise me."

"Okay, darling. I promise to try to bring you Dad on board but I hope it is not something illegal."

"Hardly." I jumped out of the couch. "You will find out soon. And I promise you, you will love my idea."

"Alright. If you say so." I was about to bid her goodnight when she called me back. "You have an appointment with the doctor on Sunday."

"Are you sure that this heart issue is nothing serious?"

"Why would you think it is?"

"Because you and Dad were acting weird when you told me about my condition."

She dismissed my sentence with a single wave of her hand. "There's nothing wrong with you. It's just an aftermath of what happened to your heart when you were little."

"But it didn't feel like nothing when my chest began to ache. Are you certain it is nothing too serious?" I just couldn't shake the feeling that her words were not entirely true.

"Nothing serious is wrong, Ruby. After some checkups and regular use of medication, you will be fine."

That's what she said last time. "Okay, Mom. Goodnight."

"Where's my kiss?" Her voice sounded so determined in a comical way, I just had to chuckle as I turned to give her the kiss she wanted. "Goodnight my beautiful baby."

My hand ran through her back and we hugged. "Goodnight to you too, my beautiful mama."

We shared a smile when we broke the hug.

Soon, I was back in my room and it all came rushing to me. The crushing feeling I felt when Bryan caged me came back and I slid down the door, my buttocks crashing a bit loudly on the floor. The feeling became unbearable so I buried my face in my palms.

I could have died.

My mother and brother could have met a Ruby that was not alive. Devastation could have gripped our household.

I am grateful things didn't turn out that way but if it had happened, I can't imagine how terrible things would have been.

To think that Bryan would find a way to cover his crimes if something disastrous had happened made me feel very angry but still grateful that things didn't turn out that way.

"Hey." Adonis's touch dragged me out of my saddening thoughts.

"Adonis..." I gently called him and he sat right in front of me, his arms inviting me the next second.

"You should take a bath," he said as I relaxed in his comforting embrace. "And you need to get those vicious thoughts out of your head."

"I can't help it."

His fingers ran through my hair, an act of his that always made me feel mushy inside, and he said, "I don't want Bryan to disturb your thoughts. Just leave Bryan to me. I will take care of him."

I looked up at Adonis as something occurred to me. "Adonis?" His beautiful eyes met mine. "What did you do to Bryan after you dragged him out of school?"

"I made him pay for his crimes but things didn't go as planned," he replied sternly. "Ruby, listen to me. I don't want you to think about that psycho for now. Go into the bathroom, have a long refreshing bath and come back to bed to sleep in my arms."

I looked at the bed and saw that he had changed the sheets. "Will I really get to sleep in your arms?"

Wearing a smile, Adonis leaned in and kissed my forehead. "I will be waiting for you, Peanut."

Adonis's words made me smile. So, with his help, I got up, grabbed the clothes I was going to change into and walked into the bathroom.

A few minutes later, I walked out, my hair still wet from the long shower and my body feeling less dirty.

And, true to his words, Adonis was seated on my bed, his whole physique making the picture of my room look great at that moment. With a smile on my face, I turned off the centre lights, dimmed the light of my table lamp and the next second, I jumped into his arms.

"You smell really good," his husky voice commented as he changed our positions and hugged me from the back.

Our fingers interlaced, I closed my eyes and appreciated the protective and loving vibe I was getting from the man at that moment. I loved it so much that I turned to plant a kiss on his lips.

The night made his eyes look more of green than brown and as my eyes connected with his, I wore a brighter smile.

No words spoken, Adonis leaned in and pulled my lips into his for his version of the kiss. The kiss lasted for about a minute and when his gentle tug on my lips was over, my heart began to pound and I wanted more.

Perhaps I wished to erase the deadly touch that was Bryan's or my hormones were just acting up, I just wanted more.

As we smiled at each other, Adonis reached for the side of my face then he lifted himself a little and the next moment, as though he had read my mind, his head tilted and his lips landed on mine again.

As his lips sucked and pecked and tugged, I felt assurance. I read his guarantee of safety and of his love for me loud and clear and I returned the kiss with so much happiness.

In fact, when the kiss ended, I immediately hugged him and said thank you in a low voice. Then, I used his kiss and our shared hug to propel myself to have a good night's rest.