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ryansjagger · 2 months ago

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“Cute?” Kyle asked, scoffing before she could stop herself. Maybe she didn’t need to make Ruby as jaded as she was when it came to the boy’s romantic (a stretch) endeavors. Maybe she could see if Ruby stuck around long enough to learn for herself. Or maybe she needed a little more optimism. Ruby seemed to be chock full of it. “Well, you’re already far ahead of us,” Jake laughed. “So why wouldn’t we have you do it instead of just putting a bandaid on it and hoping for the best,” He shrugged. “Not that we’ve done that before,” Clarke added with a playful smirk. “Do you not like people or something?” Jake asked, furrowing his eyebrows. “You guys definitely didn’t go to school together—everybody knows Clarke,” He added with a laugh. “And me!” Danny added, but was met with nothing. “Of course, buddy,” Clarke said, throwing an arm around Clarke and giving him a little shake. “Well, where do you think I got it from?” Danny asked with a grin. “From me, obviously,” Kyle snickered. “And who’d she get it from?” Jake asked, then pointed at himself. “Well, what kinda teacher do you want?” Jake asked. “If you want the nicer teacher, then I’ll teach you. If you want the better teacher, you’ll wanna talk to Ryan,” He added with a chuckle. “For the record, I didn’t think you were boring from the jump. Kinda hard to think the girl that got on a stage full of people with a complete stranger is boring,” Kyle said, and smiled at Ruby. She wanted this to work so badly. Even if she didn’t know her that well yet, she saw something in Ruby that she couldn’t shake. And Kyle Herrera wasn’t often wrong.

“Don’t bullshit me now,” Ryan said with a chuckle. “This is not the first time you’re hearing it. No shot,” He added with a smirk. Ryan didn’t believe in not telling hot girls that they’re hot. He liked the girls that gave him a hard time almost as much as the ones that were easy. Both ended up in bed with him at the end of the day. “Purple’d be cool,” Ryan agreed. “Though, I’m not the authority. Kyle’ll do it up for you. And she won’t let you do a color if she thinks it’ll look bad. Her and Danny went back and forth for like, a whole day because whatever color he picked she thought would look, and I quote, so fugly that it’d make God sent a new plague,” He laughed. “Oh yeah, the pictures look sick as fuck. I think there’s a couple on the band’s Instagram,” He said. “If you wanted to see it for real. Between the amount of time, and all the bitching we did, I really don’t think it’ll ever happen again. Unless maybe all of us just dye our hair one color each to make a rainbow,” He explained with a shrug. Though he really did feel it, exaggerating how excruciating and boring it was just to get under Kyle’s skin made it secretly fun. “I’ve got a baby niece and a sister who is begging for a reason to kick my ass so yeah, I’ve learned to censor myself decently well when I need to,” He chuckled. “Well, what else is there to do in Russia besides smoke and freeze to death?” Ryan asked with a snicker. New York was the furthest from home that he’d ever been, so all he knew was what he saw on TV. “Eh,” He shrugged. “You wanna make rock music, it’s okay if you sound a little shitty. I mean, it’s been working for The Front Bottoms for years,” He laughed. “And I’ve been smoking since I was a kid. I don’t think I sound half-bad,” He added with a shrug. “It’s a good thing to learn about yourself. More important than if you’re a morning person or a night person if you ask me,” He smirked. It was kind of sweet to see Ruby drunk and enjoying herself. He forgot what it felt in those early days, when being drunk felt extra special. “And, I gotta say, I’m very relieved that you’re not an asshole when you’re drunk. I mean, who knows—maybe that swing doesn’t just extend to dudes breaking into your house,” He teased, then nudged the back of her head in the same spot that her guitar collided with his skull. “Well, if you like it so much, then maybe you oughta do it more,” He smirked. “And now you know exactly where to find it,” He chuckled. After she pulled away from him, Ryan couldn’t help but to laugh. He hoped—though he couldn’t be sure—that this wouldn’t matter tomorrow. “You’re saying that like it’s your first kiss,” He laughed. “But if you want to practice some more, I’m right here,” He offered.

Ruby gave Kyle a confused look before she understood. She was thankful then again, that she was finally getting out more and understanding what people her age were actually like. “He’s cute around her,” she said with a smirk when Kyle mentioned Lexi. “I feel like if you guys are already calling on me to use what I learned so far in nursing school to patch you up I should be a little scared,” Ruby said with a soft chuckle. “I don’t really know that many people,” she said with a shrug. “I went to The Chapin School in Queens for high school, if you know anyone that went there,” she offered, though she knew that even if Clarke or Danny did know someone from her school they wouldn’t really know her. She kept her head down and studied—and on the days her mother was late to pick her up from school she’d stand outside of the band room and listen to the students tune and warm up with a heavy heart. Her smile turned from shy to excited when they shared the same sentiment for Free Fallin’ that she did. “Well your mom has great taste!” she said to Danny with an enthusiastic smile. “That is really awesome,” she said. “I’d really like to get better at the guitar though so…y’know if any of you wanna give me any lessons,” Ruby said as her brows gently rose. She grinned watching Jake get affectionate with Ryan and giggled at Kyle’s reaction. “Fuck yeah, cheers,” she said to Clarke, tipping her cup to his and hoping she wasn’t blushing too hard after he winked at her.

Ruby’s cheeks blushed, and she was grateful for the darkness to hide that from Ryan. “You guys keep saying that it’s—“ she cut herself off with a laugh. “It’s so weird to hear,” she admitted, shaking her head. “I think I’d like a purple color, maybe lavender or something,” she mused, running her fingers through her soft brown hair. She thought about cutting it too, maybe, and laughed while Ryan recounted his mishap with weed and hair bleach. “I bet you guys looked awesome with rainbow hair though,” she said with a grin. “I just didn’t think you were the kind of person who was even capable of censoring himself. You haven’t really so far in the short time I’ve known you,” she said with a little chuckle, taking note of the way his eyes moved over her, how it made something tingle down her spine. “Apparently everyone in Russia smokes all the time, including all the nurses and doctors so my mom really doesn’t think much of it and never has,” she shrugged. “I bet it’s really no good for my voice to be smoking at all,” Ruby mused. But it didn’t stop her from taking another drag like she’d been doing it for her entire life. Maybe it was the hours spent reading or playing quietly while her mother smoked in her favorite arm chair. Over the years the curtains in their living room turned a bit yellow, and Ruby wondered why she wouldn’t just smoke outside on the stoop like the other people on the block. “Oh, good,” she said, her grin growing wider when Ryan said she was a good drunk person. She didn’t know why that sort of compliment felt good, but everything was feeling pretty good at the moment. And she felt even more relieved when Ryan reassured her not to be embarrassed in front of Elliot. Thought she’d sort of forgotten about him, sitting out here and talking with Ryan. “I like me when I’m having fun too,” she replied with a giggle. She didn’t have anything to say, and didn’t realize just how badly she’d wanted Ryan to kiss her until it was happening—and she kissed him back. After a few moments Ruby pulled away from his lips with a quiet smack, her hand on his cheek and her eyes slowly opening to look at him. Her eyelids were so heavy. It seemed easier to keep them closed. “Am I any good at this?” she asked him, her brows furrowing for a second before a string of drunken laughter bubbled out of her mouth. She rested her forehead on Ryan’s shoulder and closed her eyes again. She was loose-limbed and light. “You can tell me if I’m not, you know, I won’t be offended or anything like that,” she continued, her voice slightly slurred, slow and breathless. She liked being drunk. Drunk was fun. Kissing Ryan was fun too, so much fun—and it felt so good. “I’d just want to get better if I’m terrible at it,” she chuckled.

#three

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ryansjagger · 2 years ago

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“Crush?” Kyle repeated, then barked a laugh. “That is a stretch. To say the least,” She added. “Actually—“ She paused, then tapped a finger to her chin. “I think Danny gets crushes. Like real ones. Like the one he has on Lexi,” She added with a chuckle. “The same thing that happens at every college basement show. The difference one that this one had a fuckin’ sick crowd,” Jake explained. “That’s our litmus now for how good a show is,” Kyle added, then smiled between the boys. “Don’t go getting scared on us now,” Clarke added, then wiggled his fingers toward Ruby. “Well, we’re not gonna cheers to a buncha deadbeats now, are we?” Jake asked. “Unless we’re cheersing to ourselves,” Clarke added with a laugh. “I wonder if we know any of the same people,” Danny shrugged. “I feel like New York City is a huge city unless you live here,” He chuckled. “They would never make fun of you for that,” Kyle said, then shot a warning glance at the boys. Though she didn’t know Ruby very well yet, she sensed that this girl might not be used to the kind of ribbing that the group liked to engage in. While she wanted her to fit in, she wanted Ruby to be comfortable first. “We actually wouldn’t,” Jake said. “That’s my mom’s favorite song,” Danny added, and gave Ruby a shy smile. “I think that means that everyone in the band is either self-taught or mostly self-taught. That’s kinda sick, don’t you think?” Jake said, then leaned over to Ruby. “Ryan taught me when we were kids,” He chuckled. “My best friend, man,” Jake said into his cup before downing the rest of his drink. Kyle affectionately rolled her eyes and then looked to Ruby and mouthed he’s wasted. “Well, if you stick around, you won’t be boring for long,” Clarke said, then gave her a wink.

“You’re a hot girl,” Ryan said with a shrug. “I’m pretty sure you’d still be a hot girl with whatever hair color you want,” He added. “I wouldn’t trust any of us around chemicals either,” He laughed. “The one time I’d even attempted to bleach my hair myself—I was high and bored, for context—Kyle sniffed that shit out like a bloodhound,” He laughed. “Like I feel like I blinked and boom, she was there, taking the little bowl thing out of my hands. She did give me green hair though, that was kinda fun,” He said, nodding as he remembered it. “We had a gig at some punk pride event last year and Kyle gave us all rainbow hair,” He added. “Don’t do that—it took fucking forever,” He groaned, and dipped his head down. “Well, I dunno!” Ryan defended with a laugh. “I dunno if you are one of those people that can’t hear people talk about that kinda stuff. But hey, if you won’t want me to keep it censored, that’s perfectly fine,” He smirked, eyeing her up and down. “Honestly, that’s preferred,” He chuckled, before taking a drag of his cigarette. “I always had smokers around—my mom smoked, my dad smokes. Kyle’s mom smoked for a while, but she quit around when we were in middle school, I think,” Ryan said, then scratched at his eyebrow. “My sister has always hated it. I didn’t mind it, though. Clearly,” He chuckled. “See, that’s what I miss about Juul. They had all the good stuff that wasn’t insane-smelling,” He added. “Drunk darts don’t count. So you’re still not a smoker,” He offered with a playful smile. “And besides, not like any of these degenerates are gonna judge you,” He said as he dropped his lighter back into his pocket. “Most people are different when they’re drunk. For better or for worse. So far, I’d say you’re gonna the good side of different,” He assured her. From the girl who smacked him with a guitar and demanded to go to a show to the girl sitting next to him now, he felt like he’d met a hundred Rubies. He wondered how many others that there were. “In front of Elliot?” Ryan scoffed. “Nah, you don’t have to worry about him. Trust me, he’s a good buddy of mine. That should say everything,” He laughed. “What’s so funny is you, drunky,” He chuckled, and gently knocked his shoulder to hers. “I like you when you’re having fun, Rubes,” Ryan added softly. With her hand on his knee and the way she was looking at him, Ryan put two-and-two together. “Yeah?” He asked as she leaned in. “Well, I’m glad you like them,” He murmured before closing the space between them.

ryansjagger:

“He really is equal parts sweet and pathetic,” She laughed. “I’m glad you might actually be around for a while, I think Danny needs all the practice that he can get talking to girls,” Kyle nodded. “Though, we have to be careful that he doesn’t get a crush on you next. It’s too late for Lex,” She snickered. Jake’s eyebrows rose at Ruby’s question and he shrugged. “But what if we let you?” He asked. “It’s not like that would be the dumbest thing we’ve ever done when we’re drunk,” Danny added with a chuckle. “Probably not even top ten,” Ryan added. Ryan was sure that he did more dumb things in a week that would outrank letting a drunk nursing student patch him up. “No, we know that. Were you like—playing sports or in the marching band or a cult or what? Obviously you were just going to school and hiding in your house. Are you even from New York originally?” Clarke asked. He hoped that he hadn’t already asked this question, but he was getting tipsy and he often had a hard time listening when beautiful women were talking. “It’s probably good that you didn’t have to,” Ryan chuckled. “Though, next time. You might wanna use something less valuable than your guitar,” He winked. “Maybe get a metal bat or something. Helped us a bunch in our old place,” Ryan added, earning a nod or a shrug from the rest of them. “I’ll take good care of you. If you’re that hungover tomorrow, I’ll even pay for your bagel myself,” Kyle promised.

“I think you’re kinda underestimating how easy it is to get these guys’ attention. And like I said, you’re a hot girl. You’ll have to do even less work,” She snickered. “So game not really something you need to worry about. And really, just try to think of what Danny would do and do the opposite,” Kyle added with a shrug. “And if you need help, you just get me. I’ll wingwoman for you. Not these bozos,” She said, gesturing her red cup at the boys. “Even if you tried to slander it, I doubt they’d believe you,” Kyle winked. “Supposed to be? Bitch, you are,” She laughed. “Welcome to the life of a half-decent DIY band,” She said, and the boys all collectively dropped their jaws. “Half-decent!?” Ryan exclaimed. “Alright, alright,” Kyle began. “The best god damn DIY band in the fucking world!” She shouted, and the boys messily smacked their cups to hers.

One quick glance at Ruby and, even in the dark, Ryan could tell that she was pretty drunk. He was relieved that she seemed like a happy drunk. He hadn’t really considered that she might not be until now. “Yeah,” He laughed. “Her. Is she still inside?” He asked, trying to work out if he should stick with her for the night or find someone else upon his return to the party. “You feeling okay?” Ryan asked, then slid over so Ruby could sit next to him on the steps of the fire escape. “I’d ask if you’re having fun, but that seems pretty obvious,” He chuckled. “I’m glad,” He added, then smiled at her. “You’ve got the same thing as Jake. You get drunk and your face gets all hot. I’m sure he’s beet red in there,” Ryan said with a nod to the window. “I usually come out here when I need to smoke,” He explained. “Mostly because I don’t have enough cigarettes to give everybody in there,” He said, then shoved the pack in his pocket. “Don’t nurse me about the cigarettes,” He said, ducking his head as he realized what he’d admitted to. “My sister already does it enough,” He chuckled. “But to answer your question, no I’m not drunk yet. I’ve been at this a while, my tolerance level is the stuff of legends,” He said with a proud grin. “Oh did you?” Ryan asked, and thought about every other time he’s watched Elliot get with girls at his party. He had to assume the same happened here. “Wait—what?” He asked, when he realized that it was very much the opposite. “Did you, like, want him to kiss you? Or were you telling him not to?” He asked, furrowing his eyebrow. “Oh, slap cup,” He nodded. “A classic. We’ll teach you before the next party so that you’re killing it on the table,” Ryan promised with a laugh, then down the rest of his drink. “Alright, Rubix Cube, I’m landing on drunk in the next few minutes here. Happy?” He asked, smirking at her.

“Might?” Ruby said, furrowing her brow for a moment. She was already taking such a huge risk being here, being in the band—the thought of leaving it behind made her stomach turn and hear heart drop, even if it hadn’t been that long. “I’m not going anywhere,” she said with an assured nod, and a smile. “He’s not going to get a crush on me!” Ruby said, waving a hand towards Kyle, though her cheeks blushed. That sort of flirtatious attention still made her squirm a little bit, even if a part of her liked it. “You guys sound like a nurse’s nightmare then, actually,” she said with a little shake of her head. Her eyes widened as Clarke thought questions at her that she wasn’t sure how to answer without sounding like a total freak. “Yeah, I’m from New York. It’s been my mom and I since I was born, my dad left her when he found out she was pregnant with me. I don’t even have a picture of him,” she said, and then realized she’d never told anyone this before, because there was never anyone to tell it to. “We always lived in my house in Ridgewood. I never really got into playing sports but I taught myself guitar after I begged my mom to buy me one when I was ten. Her friend used to come over and teach me piano lessons when I was really young, but I didn’t keep up with it much. He only really liked to teach classical stuff, which was nice, but it didn’t like, resonate with me like other music did,” Ruby continued, then realized she was talking so much about herself and her life that at once she became embarrassed again. She sipped her drink and took a breath or two. “That’s enough about me though, right? I don’t have a very exciting life,” she said with an awkward laugh.

“I mean, I’m sure I don’t need to remind you I don’t know what I’m doing, like, at all,” Ruby said with a laugh as she blushed again when Kyle called her hot. “Unfortunately I think I’m just as susceptible as Danny to making a fool of myself when I’m trying to flirt. At least for now while I’m trying to figure it all out,” Ruby said with a little laugh. It all made her a bit nervous, but she was eager to learn. She laughed when Kyle called them half decent and nearly spit up her drink at the looks on her faces. Then cheered along with the rest of them with a big smile on her face. She took a hefty swig from her drink and smirked at the boys. “Well you know, now with me in the band that’s especially true,” she joked, scrunching up her nose and giggling again.

Ruby glanced towards the window to the kitchen and shrugged. “I dunno, I think,” she answered. “I want to do my hair a fun color like that one day. Probably not green. Maybe purple or something. I wonder what’d suit me,” she babbled, her words slurring together just a bit. Ruby let out a long sigh, the cooler night air feeling nice in her lungs. “Oh, yeah. I feel great. Being drunk is like, very fun,” she answered with a string of bubbly laugher as she sat down next to him. “Oh no, am I being obnoxious?” she asked, her face falling into a little frown. “When you need to smoke and make out with girls,” she corrected him with another laugh, nodding her head back towards the window. “I wasn’t going to nurse you, jeez,” Ruby said with a chuckle and an eye roll. “Didn’t I already tell you my mom smokes? A lot, actually. And she’s a nurse,” she explained with a shrug. “I think…like everyone at this party has cigarettes so I don’t think anyone is gonna take one from you,” Ruby teased, then looked down at his pack and plucked one from it, placing it between her lips. “Except for me,” she said with a cheeky smile. “Got a light?” Ruby asked. Because she was so drunk she forgot that she didn’t smoke, and that cigarette smoke made her think of her mother. And she really really didn’t want to think of her mother at the moment. She snorted a laugh as Ryan bragged about how much he could drink. “Do people find that impressive?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow. “I—I did want him to kiss me. I think he’s cute. Is this bad?” she asked, chewing on her bottom lip, then she groaned and dropped her head into her hands. “I guess maybe he just doesn’t think I’m that cute,” Ruby sighed, swirling the bit of drink that was left in her cup before she tipped it back and polished it off. Then she smiled and nodded as Ryan finished off his drink too. “Yeah, I wanna ride the drunk out with my new friends, after all,” she said with a bright laugh, knocking her shoulder against his. She then looked up at his face for a moment and studied it, ignoring the drunken thoughts that rolled into her brain, telling her to notice that she found him quite handsome. “I can’t tell if your eyes are blue or green,” she said with a light giggle.

#three

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ryansjagger · 2 years ago

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rubyartamonov:

“No, I believe you!” Kyle said, even if she didn’t just yet. She’d heard similar promises before. She really wanted this to work with Ruby, but she knew that some people liked the idea of being in a punk band more than actually being in one. If Ruby was to give it up, she hoped at the very least that it would be quicker than the last, because she wasn’t sure that she could take seeing that look of disappoint on the guys’ faces again. She also wasn’t sure if she could live through another round of near-constant screaming in the apartment. “You can say that all you want, Ruby. But you don’t know these boys like I do yet,” She chuckled. “Oh, we are. I can’t believe my sister didn’t come and kill all of us after that one Christmas show that we did,” Ryan said with a laugh. “I can’t believe your sister hasn’t killed you all for way more reasons than that,” Kyle chuckled. “Not me though,” She added, putting her hand under her chin and batting her eyelashes. “Because she totally didn’t have to stitch your eyebrow after that gig,” Danny replied with a playful eye roll. “Cheers to not having a dad!” Jake said, hopping up from the couch and smacking his cup to Ruby’s. “Yeah, I’ll drink to that,” Clarke added, raising his glass towards them. “Me and Clarke grew up here, too,” Danny said with a smile. “Do you remember the first song you learned how to play?” Jake asked with a smile. “I don’t think it’s too much of you,” Kyle encouraged. “We all know pretty much everything there is to know about each other. We don’t know anything about you yet,” She chuckled. “Don’t stop on our account.”

“Babe, I know. But they don’t have to,” Kyle said, gesturing to the room. “A lot of the people here—actually I’d bet almost all of them—would have no idea whether or not the confidence you’re showing is real or not,” She said, then snickered. “Because most people are fucking stupid,” She added with a chuckle. “You are absolutely not as susceptible as Danny, I can promise you that. People will just call you quirky. It’s kinda a key to the fuckin’ weirdos, but you can come back from that. Danny—“ She said, then looked at her friend. “He’s too far gone to be saved at this point,” She concluded with a huff. “And there it is,” Kyle said, smirking proudly into her cup.

“That—“ Ryan said, then put the cigarette to his lips. “Is a Kyle question. She does her hair different all the time,” He shrugged. “I’m pretty sure she does it mostly in the bathroom here anyway,” Ryan added, then remembered all the times he’d come into a bathroom full of pink, yellow, purple, or green dye everywhere. “I’d rather her do yours. When she gets really bored she starts dying our hair,” He chuckled. “It’s very fun,” Ryan agreed, and started to laugh again when Ruby did. “You’re not being obnoxious at all, trust me,” He assured her. “I’m glad you’re having a good time,” Ryan said with a smile. And he meant it. He wanted Ruby to want to be around for more than just the band stuff. He didn’t think the band would survive without it. “That too,” Ryan chuckled. “I was trying to keep it PG Ruby Slippers, jeez,” He teased. “Sorry, just a force of habit. My sister says she can tell even when we’re on the phone when I’ve been smoking cigarettes again,” He explained. “So I just kinda assumed I’d get the same kinda flack from a nursing student,” He added. “But now that I know I’m not gonna get flack from you I’m gonna go ahead and start chain smoking,” He joked. “I think a lot of people inside are in various stages of ‘quitting’,” He said, putting air quotes on the last word. “If you looked on the floor, you’d probably find at least six vapes on the ground. I don’t think Danny’s bought his own vape in like a year now,” He laughed. “I didn’t know you even smoked. You’re slick with it,” Ryan joked, then reached into his pocket for his lighter. He cupped his hand around the cigarette as he lit it then gave her an impressed nod. “They do when they’re picking teams for flip cup,” He laughed. “Why would that be bad?” He asked, furrowing his eyebrows. If anything, he thought it might be a little chaste for Elliot. “You—what?” Ryan asked before bursting into laughter. “I can promise you right now that is definitely not the case,” He said, then started laughing again. “I mean, isn’t that the whole point of coming to a party?” He asked. “Or at least any party that’s held in this apartment,” Ryan corrected, then started to chuckle. He felt himself started to buzz with the same tingly feeling that he got every time he got this kind of drunk. He felt warm, despite the cool air, and knew that when he stood up he’d be on some wobbly ground. “Can you see them out here?” Ryan asked, then leaned closer to the inside light, closer to Ruby. He had the impulse to do something that could get him into trouble, but he tried to ignore it while he still could.

#three

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ryansjagger · 3 years ago

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rubyartamonov:

Ruby smirked a little when Kyle gave her the intel about how hard Danny might blush if she helped him talk to some girls. “Cute,” she commented, stifling her giggle. “Why not?” she said, widening her eyes. “There’s not a chance I’d attempt to sew someone’s skin up while I was drunk!” Ruby insisted as she continued to laugh. Even if she liked out outrageous they all could be. She loved it, in fact. She was never bored when she was with them. “What—What do you mean what was I doing before this? I already told you I’m in nursing school,” Ruby shrugged. There was nothing else for her to say. Outside of Ruby’s studies her hobbies were so solitary that talking about them would probably make her seem stranger than she was already coming across. And she was too desperate for them to want to keep her around to jeopardize anything. “I know, I know. I’ve just never done that to someone before,” Ruby said to Ryan, shaking her head. Though she’d been sort of prepared for it with all of the self defense lessons her mother had her take. Just maybe not with her guitar. “Well I trust you,” she said with a chuckle to Kyle. “Even if you’re trying to see me messy,” Ruby finished with a hearty laugh.

“I think you’re kinda overestimating me here,” Ruby said, even though her cheeks wouldn’t stop blushing at the thought of having all of these new people to flirt with. “I have absolutely no game at all!” she reminded her. “Oh, please, like I’d ever slander your makeup skills,” she said, waving a hand through the air. “You know I think I’d be good to lean into that kind of look if I’m supposed to be getting drunk and partying all night,” she chuckled. Ruby grinned back at Ryan—she didn’t know why it felt so nice to see how happy he was to have her here. She wondered when she would stop feeling so surprised by the notion that her company was wanted. “Big time bluffing,” Elliot assured Ruby, giving Ryan’s shoulder a little pat as he walked away. Ruby nodded and rolled her eyes at Kyle’s comment, like she’d known Ryan for just as long, was just as used to his antics. And she couldn’t wait until she didn’t have to pretend anymore.

“I wasn’t paying close enough attention to when he was talking to Lexi at the gig last week,” she said with an innocent shrug. “Yeah, and Kyle wouldn’t lie about that, would she?” Ruby chuckled. “I could totally make some fuckin’ time for that,” Elliot said with a grin as he nodded at Kyle. “Oh, I wouldn’t mind that at all, obviously,” Ruby enthused, looking between Kyle and Elliot with her drunken grin. “Eddie loves meeting new people,” she chuckled, watching the way Elliots eyes moved over her face as she laughed. She felt bashful again at Jake’s compliment and she ran a hand over her face. “At least this time we’ve all got to benefit from that fucker’s luck,” Elliot agreed with Jake, then flashed Ruby a grin. That fluttery feeling washed over her stomach again. Her attention was turned to Jake and Kyle for a moment—she felt like she shouldn’t intrude, but she couldn’t look away. The fluttery feeling turned into something warmer, something she liked even more than the rush of excitement from Elliot’s attention.

Ruby couldn’t help but giggle at Ryan’s nickname; though she might argue everything was making her giggle right now. She rose her brows and hummed when he confessed he wasn’t out here alone. “Ah, the green haired girl?” she asked, wagging her eyebrows. Ruby wondered how long they were out here kissing, and was annoyed again that Elliot didn’t try to kiss her when they were alone in Ryan’s room meeting Eddie. She sort of was dying for a kiss. “I just wanted to get some air for a minute. It feels nice on my face. My cheeks are hot,” she babbled, touching her pink skin and closing her eyes for a minute as she took a deep breath. “Oh yeah I’m drunk,” she answered, opening her eyes and looking at him. She laughed again, because she couldn’t help it. “You’re not there already?!” she said with a shocked expression. Ruby noticed the way the breeze blew through her hair and along her legs that were exposed below her skirt. “I took Elliot to meet Eddie in your room before, he’s really nice,” she said, the smile on her face widening. There was no shot in hell that she could even focus on trying to hide any sort of emotion on her face right now in her state. “I thought he was going to try and kiss me but he didn’t,” she huffed, then chuckled a little as she rested her elbow on her knee, then her chin in her hand. “Then he invited me to play some game called slap cup, but I’m too drunk to learn the rules,” she giggled.

#three

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ryansjagger · 3 years ago

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rubyartamonov:

“Well he has actually texted her and they’re hanging out tonight, so alright, I guess it is working,” Ruby agreed, looking at Danny with another encouraging smile. “I wouldn’t know how to be mean about it if I tried, I don’t think,” she said with a short laugh. Ruby gave Danny a little pat on the shoulder as the boys took another dig at him and laugh. “Okay, yeah, I guess you’re right. I’m definitely gonna hang out with Lexi when she comes, and I can talk about Danny, right?” she said with a hopeful smile. “Oh my god, I would never attempt sutures if I were drunk!” she said with a shocked laugh. She was nervous enough doing it sober in class on a poor pig specimen. “Not always comfortable, sure,” she agreed wholeheartedly. Exhilarating is the word Ruby would use. She was starting to get addicted to that feeling after a life of obeying her mother’s wishes. “But good,” she finally added, smiling at Jake. “I still can’t believe he was knocked out cold,” Ruby laughed, flashing Ryan a smirk. Ruby cocked an eyebrow at his suggestion. “I don’t lie,” she said, then felt a wave of guilt thinking about how she was currently lying to her mother, how angry and sad she’d be if she knew what Ruby was up to. She dropped her head for a second and looked down at her feet. “I don’t lie unless absolutely necessary, anyway,” she amended, swallowing hard and pushing the smile back to her face. “That grin looked suspicious,” she chuckled as she spoke of Ryan when he went off to make Kyle another drink. She nodded and smiled at Kyle. Alcohol made it a lot easier not to think about how much of a travesty it would be if her mother found out her new secrets. “Those are the seltzer’s right? Clarke said something about that before.” Ruby then polished off her drink and wiggled the cup at Kyle. “So I think I’ll try one of those now,” she giggled.

“You’re saying that like I’m shopping for boys at the store,” she laughed. Ruby’s eyes were stuck on him and she felt that swooping feeling in her stomach she got whenever she watched Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You or Liv Tyler in Empire Records. “I just wanted to make sure that I didn’t ruin it by rubbing my face or anything! I would never doubt your skills,” she said as she pouted at Kyle. “No, of course you wouldn’t,” Ruby said, letting out a little laugh through her nose. “I’m totally having fun,” she said, nodding at Ryan. She felt like she couldn’t stop smiling at the moment. Her jaw dropped open at Ryan’s comment, and Elliot chuckled, catching Ruby’s gaze and shaking his head. “He’s bluffing, of course,” Elliot said with a smirk, and Ruby chuckled again. Behind him she briefly watch Ryan talking to a green haired girl before disappearing out of her line of vision, turning her attention back to Elliot.

“I think he will!” Ruby insisted. Alcohol made her feel optimistic, she noticed. “And Lexi totally told me before she’d stay over anyway since I am too,” she said excitedly to Kyle. Ruby narrowed her eyes for a moment trying to focus on Kyle and Jake, and tried to become aware of her feet to make sure she kept her balance. Being drunk required some work and concentration. “Oh my god we should absolutely do something with Eddie on it!” Ruby said. All she wanted then was to sneak away into Ryan’s room for a minute to snuggle him. “I think I could probably make something cool if a cute dog is involved,” Elliot agreed with a laugh. “Oh, shit—right. Ryan told me what happened, how you knocked him out cold,” he said with an amused grin as he looked at Ruby. She was a little distracted by what a pretty face he had. “Yep,” she laughed, her wobbly arms miming like she had her guitar up in her hands again, then make a whack sound as she made the motion. “Down on the floor with one shot,” Ruby explained with a smug grin, which only got bigger as Elliot laughed. “I’m good, Ruby?” he offered. “Oh, I’m good too,” Ruby said to Kyle, giving her an excited grin. Once she and Elliot were alone, she put a hand on his arm and said, “Wait—you should totally come meet Eddie!” she said. “I’d love to,” he said, looking down at Ruby’s hand on his arm. “He’s in Ryan’s room, right?” Ruby nodded and the realization that they’d be in there alone hit her at once.

After briefly introducing Eddie and Elliot to each other, Elliot asked Ruby for her phone number which she absolutely gave to him. She didn’t want to spend too much time in there alone and give him the wrong idea—and she didn’t want to miss out on her first party, of course. He didn’t even kiss her though—even if Ruby’s drunken brain thought he looked like he might have wanted to. And she kind of wanted him to, too. “Yo Elliot, we need you for slap cup!” Someone from the living room called to him once they left Ryan’s room. “C’mon and play, Ruby?” he asked. Ruby shook her head. She was way too drunk to learn the rules of a new game. “Go ahead, though, I’ll find you later, okay?” she said, giving him what she hoped was a flirtatious grin. He gave her a wide smile and went off to play as Ruby wandered into the kitchen to grab another seltzer. She moseyed through the party, feeling light, joyful, singing along to the musing blaring and saying hi to people she’d never met before. Ruby spotted the green haired girl again leaving from the direction of the fire escape, and she subtly made her way to the window to see Ryan out there alone. Carefully holding her drink in her hand, Ruby climbed through and joined him, immediately sighing as the cool night air hit her skin. “It’s nice out,” she said, sitting beside him and bobbing her head lightly to Sunday Morning by No Doubt that played inside, the sound muffled out there like they were underwater. Ruby sort of felt like her head was underwater. “Were you just out here by yourself?” Ruby asked, looking at Ryan with a dreamy, drunken grin, even though she knew he wasn’t.

“For now,” Ryan said with a snicker. “I wanna see this kid get laid more than anybody. But I’ve learned better than to give him the benefit of the doubt,” He chuckled. “You’ll soon learn better than to get your hopes up,” He added, to which Danny shrugged a little helplessly. “I just—“ He began in attempt to defend himself. “She makes me nervous,” He admitted, almost silently. “It’ll test you,” Jake sighed. “But you guys have to admit, I’ve gotten better!” Danny said with a crooked grin. “You can definitely wingwoman for him,” Kyle nodded, then leaned a little closer to Ruby. “Just maybe try not to do it when he’s within earshot. Kid starts to blush fire-engine red,” She whispered with a giggle. “Why not?” Jake asked with a laugh. “I mean, we’ve definitely done stupider things when we’re drunk, right?” He asked, looking to the rest of the boys. “I can’t hurt worse than anything else we’ve done,” Clarke shrugged. “He’s not wrong,” Kyle agreed. “Honestly, when I heard that Jackass was getting rebooted, I debated on sending in a tape of these assholes,” She chuckled. “And because she obviously hates us, she didn’t do it!” Danny replied with a laugh. “What were you doing before this?” Clarke asked with a chuckle. “I mean, you didn’t just appear in an apartment in Brooklyn, right?” He added. “I mean, you nailed me in the back of the head full force,” Ryan laughed. “And obviously I wasn’t expecting it,” He added, shaking his head as she smirked at him. “You don’t have to backtrack to spare the guys’ feelings,” He teased, giving her a quick wink. “It usually is,” Kyle agreed with a laugh, and gave Ryan’s shoulder a shove when he moved past her. “Yeah, they don’t really taste like alcohol. And I’m pretty sure we got the good pack, so most of the flavors are actually pretty good. I might do a blackberry one next. Maybe with a little vodka in it,” She said, then wagged her eyebrows.

“I mean—you kinda are,” Kyle said with a laugh. “There’s boys everywhere. And you’re the new girl, so it’s not gonna be that hard to get anyone’s attention,” She explained with a chuckle. “Nice recovery,” Kyle teased with a smirk. “You’re fine, don’t worry. Just try not to rub at your eyes and you’ll be fine,” She said, then chuckled. “Although, I actually don’t know if that would fuck up your look too bad. It might just give early-days Ke$ha,” She joked. Kyle was glad that Ruby was enthusiastic to meet Elliot, considering how much time he spent in the apartment. She was, however, a little worried about Ryan and Jake’s ability to wingman for a girl, considering how much they joked around. “Good,” Ryan said with a grin. It was a relief to know that this party wasn’t going to make Ruby run off and ditch the band. He knew that the band only worked as well as it did because they were all genuinely best friends. He hoped that they might fold Ruby into that, too. “Am I?” Ryan asked, tilting his head and chuckling. “I’ll be back!” He said before darting off. “If he doesn’t get distracted by something shiny,” Kyle snickered.

“Can you tell Ruby hasn’t seen Danny boy in action?” Jake asked Elliot with a laugh. “Though, if Kyle’s getting optimistic, maybe we’ll actually be proven wrong for once,” He shrugged. “We could probably do a really sick flyers with Eddie on it, right?” Jake asked Elliot with a grin. “We’ve got that show at TV Eye next week—you think you got time to make something for that?” She asked with a shrug, then smirked a little. “I’m sure Ruby wouldn’t mind bringing Eddie over this weekend so you can get a better look at him,” She added smugly. “Ryan’s luck is un-fucking-real sometimes, dude. He’s running away from the cops one minute, and the next he finds us a kick-ass new vocalist for the band,” Jake said, and slowly shook his head. Kyle was almost to the kitchen with Jake before she felt her arm get nudged back. “C’mere baby,” Jake said slowly, his drunkenness only becoming more evident. He leaned against the nearest wall and pulled Kyle back in. “I love you,” He said as he leaned his forehead down to hers. “I love you too, lightweight,” She teased, to which Jake gasped. “I am not a lightweight,” He said before kissing her.

Ryan lead Dahlia—Danielle—out onto the fire escape and immediately started moving for his lighter. “This party’s been fun,” Danielle said, plucking Ryan’s lit cigarette from between his fingers. “What are you talking about, they’re always fun,” He chuckled. “If I seem to remember, maybe even a little too much fun for your friend,” Ryan teased. “Yeah, I feel like I owe Kyle a drink or two for holding Jessie's hair for me while I was out here with you,” She chuckled, and stepped in a little closer to him. “Y’know, I think my friends are getting ready to leave...” She began, and even in his drunken state, Ryan knew what she was getting at. Though, he wondered if she knew that he didn’t care if she left right now. “This early?” He asked with a smirk. “Yeah..” Danielle trailed off, and Ryan kissed her before she could ask if he wanted her to stay over. After all, he knew that she didn’t just come out here to bum a cigarette. Once they were done, Ryan reached for a new cigarette, and smirked at her. “You might wanna get in there and make sure that your friends didn’t ditch you,” He said with a chuckle. “I’ll see you back in there, Dani,” He said, growing smug as he saw the look that she gave him. He took a few drags before seeing someone coming toward the window. “Hey Rubble!” Ryan enthused as he watched Ruby climb out onto the fire escape. He barked a laugh at her question. “I, uh, was not,” He chuckled, and bowed his head a little. “What are you doing out here? I didn’t think you smoked,” He said, then moved to hold his cigarette in the hand not next to Ruby. “Oh shit—are you drunk?” He asked with a grin. “Hell yeah. As soon as I finish this,” Ryan said, and reached for the solo cup in front of him. “I’ll meet you there.”

#three

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ryansjagger · 3 years ago

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rubyartamonov:

Ruby smiled softly as Kyle enthused about helping Ruby find her style. It was evident how much she loved it, and she found herself already impossibly proud of Kyle’s abilities, even if she’d only seen a small portion of her work so far. She was already amazed by how she styled Ruby for gigs and parties. It came so naturally to her. “I can’t wait to experiment with all of your goodies,” she said, gesturing to her overflowing closet and her vanity covered in her accessories. “I’ve thought about what I’d imagine myself wearing if I could for a long time, I just have to figure out how to make it actually happen. And I’ve got a real-life fairy godmother here to help with the transformation so…” she said with a bright laugh. Ruby had never had this much fun with her life. “I think that’s really shitty of them,” Ruby said with a frown as Kyle explained further. She couldn’t imagine how terrible it must feel to think you’re making a new friend only to find out that they just wanted to use you for the sake of a boy. “Well—I think it helps that’s I’m so not interested in trying to date any of the guys, and well, it’s obvious Lexi is really only interested in one,” she said with a smirk. “And I’m gonna wager Danny isn’t usually the reason you have to deal with girls who give you a hard time,” Ruby added as her brows rose. Hearing Clarke and Ryan talk about the girls they were seeing gave Ruby whiplash sometimes. She couldn’t imagine how it was for Kyle when she’s known them for so long and lived with them. “Aw man, please! That’s so cute,” she cooed when Kyle talked about Jake. “I’m totally gonna get him to gush over you tonight while he’s drunk,” she joked, even if she would happily listen to Jake go on about Kyle. Ruby listened quietly again and Kyle tried to explain Clarke and Ryan’s behavior. She wasn’t ever really close with any boys, and she only had her mother, who basically taught her all men are dangerous, and you shouldn’t trust them. Like your father, he left me pregnant and all alone. But then Ruby would read drippy romance novels, watch rom-coms where Heath Ledger made everything right in the end—and she didn’t want to believe it. Though Ruby was learning that her mother was obviously more overprotective than she even suspected. “I think that dating and relationships are kind of complicated,” she finally said with a breathy chuckle. “Do Ryan and Clarke not factor in that these girls might start to get feelings for them if they’re having sex?” Ruby asked, because she was genuinely curious. There was of course the appeal of what they did—fun without the heartache—but from what Kyle was saying, the heartache somewhere seemed inevitable. “I try,” she said with a chuckle when Kyle said she knew how to act. Ruby always tried to be on her best behavior so she could avoid her mother’s wrath. Even now, with the guilt sitting like a rock in her stomach hiding all of this from her, Ruby still wanted to please her. And all of that felt so complicated that it made her want to drink the entire pitcher Clarke had made for the group. “Just say the word and I’ll grab a guitar and charge him for you,” she laughed. Ruby’s cheeks blushed and she was thankful now she could blame it on the alcohol. She wasn’t used to receiving compliments or attention much. “I am a hot girl, aren’t I?” she said, even if it felt like she was reading a line from a script as she looked at herself all made up in the mirror. “But thank you for saying so anyway,” she added with a cheeky smile.

“Maybe he needs some positive encouragement,” Ruby chuckled, raising her brows. She laughed harder as she watched Clarke examine what Danny was texting to Lexi. She shook her head when Danny offered to get them more drinks, her cup still at least a quarter full. Ruby wanted to make sure to pace herself. “Maybe he’s nervous because he really likes her,” Ruby said in earnest. As far as she could tell they both liked each other. How exciting it all must feel for them. “Me?” Ruby said with a shaky laugh. She couldn’t imagine she’d be very good at playing wingwoman, considering she didn’t have much experience being one. “We’ll see how my motor skills are after I’m drunk. I’m gonna wager, probably not great,” Ruby said to Jake with a laugh when he said he’d tackle the table. “I don’t think that, I promise!” she quickly assured them. “It’s still just a lot to take it, in a good way,” Ruby added with a little shake of her head. She shook her head dramatically when Ryan took another dig at Kyle and giggled when she shoved him for it. They really acted like siblings sometimes. Her laugh quickly turned into a grimace at Ryan’s comment and she stuck her tongue out at him. “You really wish, don’t you Ryan?” she asked before she laughed even harder at Kyle’s comment, giving an affirmative nod. “I hated it too actually,” she assured him with a smirk before huffing a laugh again.

Ruby gave her head a lazy nod as Kyle gave her a little more information about the guy. “Elliot,” she repeated with a little nod. Ruby did her best to steal the subtlest glances that she could, and she was getting more excited by the second at the thought of getting to have a crush and flirt with someone that attractive. “Wait!” she said before Kyle pulled her over. “Do I look cute still? No smudgy makeup or dead eyes?” she asked with a bubbly laugh. Ruby definitely didn’t feel normal, so she could only assume that she was actually drunk now. And she found that it felt pretty nice, like she could do anything, really. Like flirt with attractive guys. “Hi Ryan,” Ruby replied with a toothy grin when he greeted them, then directed her attention to Elliot. He was even prettier up close. She swallowed hard. “Ruby, I’ve heard so much about you,” Elliot said, giving her a smile that made her knees feel wobbly. “It’s really nice to meet you,” she said, extending her hand. He laughed a bit and shook it. Her attention was briefly turned as Ryan stepped away, then she laughed at Kyle’s question. “Last I saw him he and Lexi were kinda cozy in the kitchen,” Ruby said, raising her brows. “No shit? Finally, good for him,” Elliot said with a chuckle, exchanging a glance with Jake. “I was actually, yeah. I uh, had to dip early that night right after your set but yeah, killer is an understatement,” Elliot said, his eyes on Ruby as he answered Jake. “Your voice is incredible,” he added with a crooked smile. Why did alcohol make you want to kiss people so badly? “Oh, thank you,” Ruby said, returning his smile. “I’ll work on a fresh t-shirt design for you guys with the new member?” Elliot said to Jake, then turned to Ruby again. His eyes did the same thing—dark and lidded—that Ryan and Clarke’s sometimes did as they moved slowly over the length of her. “I’ve done a couple of flyers and t-shirts for the guys, I did that one there,” he said, pointing to a flyer for a show the band did a few months ago in Manhattan on their fuck-it wall. “Oh, cool. I like the trippy strawberry-head guy on that one,” Ruby chuckled as she looked at the flyer. “I did that drawing of the dog. He’s my dog, Eddie, the best dog in the world. He’s in Ryan’s room right now because he’s not really used to a ton of noise like this,” she pointed to her drawing she did on the very first day of band practice. “That’s pretty good,” Elliot said, then looked at Jake and Kyle again. “She sings, she draws, and she’s fucking cute. Where the fuck did you find her?” he laughed, and Ruby did too, because she didn’t know if she’d ever felt so giggly before, especially after he called her cute. She exchanged a subtle look of oh my god! with Kyle then hid her face behind her cup as she took another sip.

Kyle caught the look that Ruby gave her and felt warmth flood her chest. It might have seemed like something small to give someone her clothes, but to see the change that it made in Ruby made every late-night in the studio worth it. “Well, there’s plenty of it. And more coming all the time,” She grinned. “And honestly, Jake would probably appreciate the closet space,” Kyle said. “If you keep this up, you’re about to become my fit model,” Kyle smirked. “I dunno if you’re ready to commit to all of that,” She chuckled. “You don’t have to imagine anymore. We’ll plan some day for you to come over and we can talk about some of your dream pieces,” She said with a grin. “Because if I can’t find it, I bet that I can make it,” She offered. Kyle had always been confident, but when he came to fashion, almost nothing could shake her. “It really sucks,” Kyle agreed. “And it’s something to be aware of as you start spending more time with them. Especially with the band stuff,” She warned. “And now that you’re in the family, just know that I’ll gladly cut a bitch for you,” She laughed, even if she was completely serious. “Because you see them correctly,” She nodded. “And she picked the safest one,” Kyle smiled. “Danny’s not good enough with women to cause any tears,” She giggled. “Usually, if a girl is coming up to me about Danny it’s because they can’t figure out his angle. And honestly—I mind it a lot less because Danny actually needs the help,” She said with a smirk. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked to a girl about Clarke when I was supposed to be talking about Ryan,” She laughed. “And not even on purpose!” She added. “It won’t be too hard, that mush,” Kyle teased, even if it did sometimes feel unbelievable to be so loved. “The problem might be getting him to stop. He doesn’t shut the fuck up about how much he loves everyone when he’s drunk. He deadass talks himself to sleep,” She said with a snicker. “They can be. Especially now, when everybody’s on Tinder and shit. I am so fucking happy I don’t have to deal with that shit,” She said, then cringed. “Sorry, girl,” She laughed. “But if you ever wanna give me your phone, I’ll happily swipe for you,” She offered with a wink. “Ryan and Clarke have never once thought about the consequences of anything. None of the boys have, really,” She explained. “I think that they don’t realize that girls think that they can fix them or that they’re special enough that they’ll give up the fuckboy life. I honestly don’t think we’ll ever see the day for Ryan. I think that maybe Clarke can be swayed,” She mused. “It’s good to know that there’s one less person around that I need to watch all the time,” She chuckled. “I’ll give you the arm workout of your life with how much I want him to get bashed upside the head,” She playfully warned. “I wouldn’t lie to you,” Kyle assured her. “I’m only friends with hot people. And, y’know, the boys,” She said with an eye roll.

“We’ve tried that. Didn’t work,” Ryan replied. “So now we’re onto this. It’s working a hell of a lot better,” He nodded. “But hey, you can try out the nice method all you want,” He shrugged. “Danny really likes every girl that shows him attention,” Clarke argued, and the boys all laughed in response. “Yeah, why not you?” Ryan asked. “I mean, you’re friends with Lexi now, right?” He shrugged. “If I can’t help him, then you might be able to,” He added with a smile. “And you really can’t fuck it up any worse than he already has,” Ryan chuckled. “I mean, even your drunk stitching skills wouldn’t be that bad. And we’ve definitely done worse to ourselves than anything you can do,” Jake laughed. “Good,” He smiled. “No one said rebelling was comfortable, right?” Jake asked. “We knew you already had it in you after what you did to Ryan’s thick skull,” He said, smiling at Ruby then winking at Kyle. Ryan barked a laugh at Ruby’s reaction to what he said and ignored the look that Kyle gave him. “Why would I have to wish for it?” He asked, then glanced down at her lips. “You don’t have to lie, Rubicon,” Ryan chuckled. “Kyle’s heard it all before, huh?” He chuckled, then looked to Kyle. “Unfortunately,” She replied with a groan before downing her drink. “Go make me a drink,” She said, handing Ryan her cup. “You sure?” Ryan asked, and started to grin. “Just don’t put Sprite in it,” She said, wrinkling her nose. “Yeah, yeah, I know,” Ryan said, rolling his eyes. “Kid thinks I haven’t made this a hundred times,” He murmured to Ruby, then rolled his eyes. “A fruit fly has a better memory than you so—pretty much,” Kyle snickered, then moved passed Ryan to sit next to Ruby. “You feeling good?” She said, smiling at Ruby. “If you don’t like that, we’ve got a couple Claws in the fridge. They don’t really taste like alcohol at all,” She promised.

“Yes, Elliot,” Kyle chuckled. “He’s cute, good choice,” She said with a subtle wink. It was so sweet to watch Ruby check out Elliot. Of the guys at the party, he was definitely one of the better choices for a little flirtation. “I’m gonna pretend that I didn’t just hear you doubt my makeup skills,” She smirked. “D’you actually think I’d let you go over and meet some guy if I thought you looked bad?” She asked, shaking her head. “Having fun?” Ryan smirked, then glanced at Kyle. She raised her eyebrows, then glanced between Ruby and Elliot. “Yeah, we’ve been talking shit,” Ryan teased, then started to laugh. He put the cigarette between his lips as he walked away and resisted the urge to light it until he was just out of Kyle’s line of vision. He spotted Danny and Lexi almost instantly when he walked into the kitchen, and did his best not to be spotted as he poured himself a new drink. He tried getting close enough to listen, but not close enough to be noticed. “Atta boy,” Ryan mumbled to himself with a smirk. Now that he was getting properly drunk, he got a little more heavy-handed with his pours. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Ryan turned his attention towards it. “Hey, you,” A short green-haired girl said. “Oh shit, hey—Dahlia!” He said, proud that he remembered. “Danielle,” She corrected with a chuckle. “Oh, fuck—“ He said, rubbing at his jaw. “You’re drunk, so I’ll let it slide,” She promised. “You going out for a cigarette?” She asked, nodding towards the fire escape.

“Took him long enough,” Jake agreed with a laugh. “But let’s see if he actually pulls through. Fingers crossed,” He smirked. “Nah, I have faith in my Lexi,” Kyle grinned. She watched Elliot looking at Ruby and glanced at Jake with an excited smile. Jake moved to say something to Elliot, and she immediately swatted his arm. He gave her a confused look, then tried to see what she was looking at. Then Elliot asked him a question, and he gave Kyle a quick glance to see if now it was okay to talk to him. “We’re gonna have to get some pictures of all of us at the next gig. Give you something to work with,” He said with an enthusiastic nod. “Ryan knows a couple people that’ll probably take some for free,” He grinned, and Kyle snorted a laugh. “Oh, for sure,” She agreed with a laugh. “Wait!” Jake interjected. “You should do something with Eddie on it. Dude—he’s so cute,” He said, and Kyle immediately realized how drunk he was. Her head was starting to swim a little too, but she wanted to make sure that Ruby was okay before getting too messy. “Ryan found her,” Kyle replied with a giggle. “Who would’ve thought that Ryan’s stupid ass would one day be useful?” Kyle joked. She giggled with Ruby, then looked down at her half-full cup. “Jake, I think you and I need a re-up,” She said. “You guys good?” Kyle asked, practically dragging Jake away.

#three

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ryansjagger · 3 years ago

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rubyartamonov:

“Nothing exciting,” she said with a gentle laugh. Her wardrobe mainly consisted of jeans, t-shirts, a few sweaters. Her mother taught her that it was a waste of time any money to dress extravagantly. But when Ruby was young she’d slip magazines under her shirt at the grocery store and read them after her mother had gone to bed, to pretend she was one of the models or actors or singers that looked so good that she didn’t even believe they were real people. “I don’t really have much of a sense of personal style or anything, so sadly I don’t think I can be of much help there. I’m your blank canvas,” she said with a shrug. She giggled and nodded when Kyle confirmed her sentiments about Ryan and Clarke. “That’s messed up that anyone would use you to get to them,” she said with a frown. People seemed to treat friendship so flippantly. Ruby didn’t understand it—to her it was the most precious and valuable thing in the world. “Of course that’s the dream!” she said, smiling as Kyle giggled. The pair of them were so charming that Ruby could hardly take it. “I…am not sure how that would even work,” she laughed when Kyle spoke of Danny’s pitiful flirting skills. “And they think that it’s now your problem to look after what they do?” she said, though something sour turned in her stomach thinking about the things that Ryan and Clarke got up to. It all sounded so complicated, and annoying for Kyle to deal with. “They’re way too lucky to have you cleaning up their messes,” Ruby said, cocking an eyebrow. “Oh, no—I’m just a newbie, there’s no way I could even think about trying to do a show drunk until I’ve got at least a little cred,” she agreed with a hearty laugh. “Ah, well, I wasn’t thinking too much about whipping my cell phone out to take a video while I was trying to take care of a home invasion,” Ruby joked. She still couldn’t believe what she’d done, or how everything that followed that night had turned out. Sometimes she still couldn’t believe this new life was real. “They are fun,” Ruby agreed as a warm smile moved across her face. And fun was something so important to her, considering she didn’t even know the definition of the word until she met them. “Oh my god,” Ruby laughed into her hands at Kyle’s excited reaction, looking at her when she grabbed her face. “Hell yeah I will!” she said with more confidence than she felt. Ruby reminded herself that she looked good, and she felt good, and good things had to happen because of it. And making out with a cute boy seemed like a very good thing to her. “Gah, I hope they’re not so cute I act like a total dork in front of them,” she pouted with a little chuckle.

Ruby looked between Clarke and Danny and raised her brows. She liked the idea that Danny would be concerned about her sliding in on a girl he liked at all. It meant that she came across as a person who could theoretically do that, not that she ever really would to her friend. As cute as Lexi was. “I think it’ll happen tonight for you, Danny,” Ruby said, then flashed Clarke and Ryan a wide grin. While Ryan instructed Danny on what to text Lexi, Ruby listened closely as she idly sipped on her drink. She could use this sort of information for herself, too. She laughed an nodded when Jake decided the indicator that Ruby needed to go to bed, and she make sure to make a note to pace herself. She wanted to enjoy her first real party after all. “Uh, yeah, I think you guys should still try to keep your shit together the best you can even if I wrap a nice ace bandage,” Ruby said shooting a warning look at Jake before giving him a playful smile. Her cheeks instantly flushed when the boys cooed, but she still felt warm knowing that they all felt affectionate towards her, like she already did them. “I know, I know—You’ve all said. And I’ve said it a million times but—you know this is new for me,” Ruby said, shaking her head. She had to stop dwelling on the past and live in the present where things were so much better. “Cheers to the band then, and to us,” she said, holding her half-filled cup up to them and taking a swig once they all tapped their cups together. “I know the same Kyle you know. The amazing one, duh,” Ruby countered with a little shrug, turning to Kyle and flashing her a wide grin. She rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Sure, those chicken legs could rock a mini, but you’ll have to borrow one of Kyle’s to model it so I can make sure,” she teased, sticking her tongue out at him before laughing.

Once the party started to rev up, Ruby found herself having a very good time drinking and meeting people and singing along to the music and just being. It was easier than she thought, and the more that she drank the less concerned with looking foolish she became. Ruby made her way out of the kitchen and twirled over to Kyle with a lazy grin on her face and another fruity drink that Clarke made for her. “Who’s the guy with the shaggy brown hair over there?” Ruby asked, trying as subtly as she could manage to gesture to a tall, skinny, guy with long-ish dark hair and a very angular face. He was pretty, even, taking to Ryan and Jake with a can of beer in his hand and a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds t-shirt on. “I think…I think I wanna talk to him, you know, like talk to him,” Ruby giggled into her hand, biting down on her lip and feeling an excited rush run down her spine.

“Oh, well we’re gonna change that. That’s light work,” Kyle laughed. “And it’s fun trying to figure out your style. You think all of this happened overnight?” She asked, gesturing to herself. “And, like, personal style can change at any time. So, lucky for you that you’ve got a friend that has an overflowing closet, huh?” She joked. “I’ll have a better sense of what you like as you start to borrow things anyway. And if jeans and t-shirts is still your thing, then you just gotta own it. Style’s really just about confidence, anyway. I’ve watched fit models own some of the ugliest clothes I’ve ever seen just because they know that they’re that bitch,” She chuckled. “I think--and you’ll start to see it now—I just think that the girls want me to like them so that I’ll go to bat for them with the boys. I just—I gave up on trying to do that a long time ago. And the most annoying thing of all is that they make me look like one of those I only hang out with guys because they’re less drama kinda girls,” She said, rolling her eyes in disgust. “But all the drama in my life is because of them!” She laughed. “You and Lexi are two of the realest girls I know that hang around the guys. That’s why I’m determined to keep you around,” She said, looking at Ruby’s reflection with a smirk. “He’s a keeper, that idiot boyfriend of mine,” Kyle said, chuckling affectionately. “You think he’s bad now, you should’ve seen him when we were kids,” She smirked. “Not that he’d own up to it just yet. Give him, eh, about a month and he’ll spill his guts,” She chuckled. “Oh, I’ve been trying to figure it out for as long as I’ve known Danny. I think him being best friends with Ryan and Clarke makes girls assume that he’s as much of a player as they are. And he is trying to be, but he just can’t seem to figure it out,” She laughed. “Well, of course. They think because we’re friends and because I live with them, that I automatically co-sign on all of their behavior and can teach them some way to game the system,” She rolled her eyes. “What these girls can’t seem to get is that Clarke, and especially Ryan, actually mean what they say. Like, you could say a lot about their behavior, but you can’t say that they’re not honest about it,” She shrugged. “A lot of girls just don’t want to take them at face value. And for some reason, they don’t wanna hear it when I say that. So now—I’ve washed my hands of it. I don’t even think Clarke and Ryan know that it even happens to begin with. It’s not like they’re exactly asking about girls that they’re not hooking up with anymore,” She explained. “They’re lucky to have me for a plethora of reasons. Most of which, I think that they already know,” She chuckled. “See—this is what I love about you, Ruby,” Kyle said, starting to smile. “You’re the first friend that I’ve made in a long time that actually knows how to fucking act,” She laughed. “No, I absolutely get it from your standpoint. I just want any opportunity to see Ryan get knocked on his ass,” She smirked. Kyle started to grin at Ruby’s reaction, and felt another surge of determination to help Ruby meet someone tonight. “Any of the guys that are coming tonight should be so fucking lucky,” She chuckled. “Ruby, I can’t believe that I’m the one that has to break this to you, but—you’re a hot girl. It doesn’t matter how you act in front of these guys.”

“See,” Ryan began, nodding toward Ruby. “At least someone’s got faith in you,” He snickered, though Danny’s attention was turned entirely into his phone. Clarke subtly leaned over to glance at what Danny was texting and then turned to Ryan and nodded slightly. “You’ll be alright, kid,” Clarke promised, then laughed when Danny hopped up from the couch. “I’m getting another drink—you guys all good here?” Danny asked, pointing to each of them before stepping towards the kitchen. “Kid’s gonna spill everywhere with those shakey hands. I dunno what he’s so nervous about when she’s not even here,” Clarke said, shrugging as he let out a laugh. “I’ll take wingman duty for Danny tonight. I cannot keep watching him fuck it up for himself,” Ryan said, shaking his head and letting out an exasperated sigh. “And if he fucks it up again, then next time Ruble here can take a shot at helping our boy out,” He said, giving Ruby a smirk. “All I heard was that you can wrap a nice ace bandage. Sounds like tackling the pong table is back on,” Jake said, barking a laugh. “We know, kid,” Jake said, putting his hand on top of Ruby’s head and giving it a little shake. “We don’t want you think that we’re not happy to have you!” He added, then shared a quick smile with Kyle. “Up in Smoke forever, baby!” Clarke shouted as he smacked his cup against the rest. “If that’s the Kyle you know, then we definitely know different ones,” Ryan said with a laugh, earning himself a shove from Kyle. “I fuckin’ hate you,” She said with a chuckle. “If she’s got one that’ll fit me, I’ll put it on right now,” Ryan promised. “On second thought, maybe not. I don’t wanna turn you on like that before the party,” He added, giving Ruby a wink. “Yeah, turned on her side so she doesn’t choke on her vomit,” Kyle said, groaning as she rolled her eyes. “I knew she’d hate that,” Ryan said to Ruby with a chuckle.

Once the party started, and their friends started piling in, the boys slowly separated into different groups of people talking, playing games, and fighting over what song should be queued up next. Kyle stood in the doorway, talking to a few of her classmates that had arrived. “Hmm?” Kyle asked, grinning as she scanned around for who Ruby was looking at. “Oh! That’s Elliot,” She said, then shrugged. “He’s a good kid. He must not play an instrument, otherwise I think he’d be in the band. Him and the guys are pretty close,” She nodded, then started with chuckle at Ruby’s reaction. “C’mon, I’ll introduce you!” She said, taking Ruby’s hand and leading her over. Seeing the girls approaching, Ryan paused the story he was telling and grinned guiltily at the two guys, who both started to laugh. “Hellooooo ladies,” Ryan said with another chuckle. “Oh shit!” Ryan exclaimed. “Dude, I don’t think we introduced you to the newest member of the band yet!” He added, clapping a hand on Ruby’s shoulder and giving her a tiny shake. “Elliot, Ruby. Ruby, Elliot,” He said, grinning before throwing back the last of his drink. “I need another drink, and maybe a cigarette,” Ryan said with a decided nod before stepping away from the group. “Outside!” Kyle shouted to Ryan’s back. He waved a hand in acknowledgement before slipping between the crowd and into the kitchen. “You think he’s really just making a pit stop to check on Danny?” Kyle quietly asked Jake, who nodded definitively. She snaked an arm around his, giving the smallest glance toward Ruby and Elliot. “I don’t remember if you were at her first real gig, were you?” Jake asked, smiling as Kyle patted his back. Since he wasn’t Danny’s wingman for the night, he thought that he could definitely be Ruby’s. “She’s killer.”

#three

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ryansjagger · 3 years ago

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rubyartamonov:

“Duh, if course,” Ruby agreed as if she had any firsthand experience about what friends did for each other. It’s me and you against the world, Ruby, her mother would always tell her. Up until she met Ryan, and Kyle, and the rest of the band and their friends—she wasn’t so sure what to think of that now. “I can imagine Clarke and Ryan are trying to get into crop tops whenever they can,” she joked with a laugh. “Well, good, ‘cause I definitely don’t,” Ruby laughed, hoping her red cheeks had faded when Kyle assured her she didn’t think Ruby had a crush on any of the boys. Even if Ryan and Clarke certainly knew how to get her flustered with their teasing. “Yeah, but if anyone is gonna keep Jake in check it’s you,” she said with a grin. Ruby found that she loved to watch Jake and Kyle just be together, especially when they assumed no one was looking. A hand on Kyle’s knee, a kiss to Jake’s cheek. All of it made Ruby feel so happy and fluttery, made her imagine something like that for herself now that she was thrust into a social life. “What do people say about them to you?” she asked, furrowing her brow. “I feel like I should grab a guitar every hour to test and see how well I can play and sing while I drink so we can find that limit,” Ruby joked, even if she thought that actually might be a good idea. Rockstars always looked so cool on stage when they had a beer sitting on a stool beside them. She smiled at Kyle, a big one with all of her teeth. “And I’m looking out for you guys too. Y'know, in case anyone needs to get knocked out there’s plenty of guitars around the apartment for me to take care of business,” she chuckled. “I’m planning on having a lot of fun, I promise. I’ve only had fun with you guys so far anyway,” she assured Kyle. It was so amazing to have people in her life easing her nerves instead of exacerbating them. “Oh,” she groaned as Kyle laughed, biting down on her thumb for a second and grinning. “Maybe,” she said, the grin getting bigger as she giggled. “I’ve only ever kissed like, two people in my life, but—yeah, you know. If there’s someone you’d think would be good enough to make that three—“ she laughed again.

Ruby’s eyes widened when Ryan nodded to her, and she did her best to play it off with a coy smile, flashing her grin in Danny’s direction too. "I don’t know, should I really do that to Danny boy?” she joked. It was easier to fake confidence than Ruby anticipated, for which she was endlessly grateful for. Even if she would probably fumble just as hard, if not harder, than Danny if someone like Lexi was actually interested in her. At least she thought so, considering she hadn’t been in the situation herself before. Or rather, yet, she hoped. “You can teach me the words a little later just in case I gotta join in if the sing-a-long happens,” Ruby said to Ryan, then gave Danny a sympathetic grin. “Like Ryan said though, hopefully I won’t have to sing it,” she added, taking another sip from her drink. “I think you should probably cut me off if I start swaying regardless if you need a nurse,” Ruby laughed. She gave her head a little shake when Clarke suggested that they were corrupting her, scrunching her nose. She didn’t feel that way at all. The only thing Ruby felt when she was with the band was a sense of belonging she’d never felt before in her life. And she only felt it more when Jake and Ryan expressed enthusiasm about just hanging out with her, even outside of band duties. “I know I sound kinda silly when I say stuff like this, but it’s just nice that you guys wanna be friends with me y'know? Like, you don’t just want me around because I’ve got a killer voice,” she said with a proud smirk. Ruby tried to ignore the way Ryan’s gaze made her squirm, and she was grateful that Kyle chimed in to avert his attention for a second. “Ugh,” she scoffed, “I can’t believe you’d question Kyle’s integrity like that!” she teased, flashing Kyle a wink. “I think you should go with a mini skirt for him, though,” Ruby added, then looked back to Ryan with a cheeky smile.

“What do you normally like to wear?” Kyle asked. “Or, I guess it might be easier to ask if there’s anything in particular that you’re looking for,” She added. “It’d be helpful for me to know when I’m pulling stuff for you. Or if I’ve got a school project that lines up with it,” Kyle said with a smile. “But, fair warning, if I’m making you something, that means I get to call you whenever I want and force you to come here for fittings,” She laughed. Kyle could hardly deal with how excited she was to have another girl around, and especially one that wasn’t just here to hook up with her friends. “Those two ego maniacs?” She asked, pointing to the door. “I think if I gave Ryan an hour and a pair of scissors, every shirt he owns would be a sleeveless crop top,” She laughed. “Which would honestly be fine if I could trust him to cut a straight line,” She added with another chuckle. “If I didn’t believe you, I would’ve left you to the wolves anyway,” Kyle shrugged. “It gets really fucking old trying to hang out with girls that conveniently can only come over when the guys are home,” She said with an eye roll. “You’ll be amazed by how often it happens. Like—I don’t know what they’re seeing and honestly, I hope I never do,” She chuckled. “Jake’s on a tight leash because he put himself there,” Kyle replied with a snicker. “Not that I’m complaining. I mean—having a boyfriend that’s obsessed with you is kinda the dream, right?” She giggled. “It depends. Most of the girls that ask about Danny are trying to get a read on whether or not he’s interested in them. Danny’s so bad with women that he accidentally tricks them into thinking that he’s playing games sometimes,” She laughed. “The girls that wanna talk to me about Clarke and Ryan mostly come to me after they’ve hooked up and they see them talking to some other girl, or they’re mad because the boys didn’t text them when they said that they would,” Kyle explained. “To be honest, I’m shocked that there are still people out there that are learning that the boys are dogs. But maybe it’s just that I can change him intrigue that keeps them going. Either way, god bless ‘em,” She shrugged. “I don’t defend them, and the guys don’t expect me to. I just know Ryan thinks it’s funny when I get stuck with one of them,” She said, rolling her eyes even if the smirk on her face betrayed her. It was hard not to laugh at her friends sometimes. “It couldn’t hurt,” Kyle shrugged. “Though, I think doing one gig where you’re too just drunk to really play is kinda a rite of passage. Everyone’s done it at least once, I think,” She chuckled. “Maybe just not right away—because I like you and want you to stick around,” Kyle said with a smile. “Oh no, I heard all about it,” She assured her. “I think Ryan’s told just about everyone by now. I just wish that we had a video of Ryan getting cold-cocked by a guitar,” She laughed. “I’m glad,” Kyle said with a smile. “You can say a lot of things about those idiots, but you can’t say that they’re not fun,” She agreed. As much as she ragged on the boys to everyone, she couldn’t imagine not being here with them. Annoying as they may be, they were family. She couldn’t imagine how bored she’d be without them. “Oh, bitch!” Kyle squealed excitedly, then cupped Ruby’s jaw. “My hand to god, you will make out with a cute boy tonight,” She promised, flashing her a grin. “I can think of at least three that’ll be here tonight. Maybe even four.”

“Yeah, maybe you should. Teach our boy a lesson,” Clarke said, reaching out to give Danny’s shoulder a hard shake. “Please—don’t,” Danny whined. “I’m like—this close to actually hooking up with her,” He said, pinching his thumb and pointer finger together. “Which, y’know, for normal people is about—“ Ryan interrupted, stretching his arms out wide. “About this close to closing,” He chuckled. “Here, gimme your phone,” Ryan said, then made a grabbing motion to Danny, who was immediately hesitant. “I’m just gonna text her and ask if she’s coming, dude. And I know how you text,” He promised. “I’ll do it,” Danny groaned, then opened his phone. “And tell her you wanna see her. Then, she’ll come find you when she gets here so all you’ve gotta do is not drop the ball. I mean, you could get laid in thirty minutes flat if you keep your shit together,” Ryan said, and earned a laugh from the rest of the boys. “It’s a really easy sing-along, you’ll pick it up after the first chorus,” Ryan quietly promised Ruby, giving her a smirk. “Yeah, who knows? Maybe tonight’ll be different,” He chuckled. “Well, that tells us that. Once Ruby starts swaying, it’s time to put her to bed,” Jake chuckled. “Eh, I think that’s fair enough,” Clarke shrugged. “And we’ll need her rested up if she kicks up anyway,” He added with a chuckle. “I can’t imagine how much worse we’re all gonna be now that we’ve got a nurse around,” Jake said, smiling crookedly at Ruby. “Awww,” The boys all replied in unison. “If we didn’t wanna be friends with you, we wouldn’t have asked you to be in the band,” Ryan assured her. “I mean, yeah our band is fuckin’ awesome, but I think the reason it all works is that we all actually wanna be around each other,” Jake nodded, then smiled at the guys. “We’ve watched a lot of really good bands break up because no one actually liked each other. It’s hard to right songs for a frontman that’s a fuckin’ prick,” Jake added. “Yeah, it’s amazing we were able to write for Ryan for so long!” Danny teased, to which Ryan barked a laugh. “Explains why we never wrote anything that put you upfront,” Ryan countered. “Kyle’s integrity?” He asked, looking up at Kyle and letting out another loud laugh. “What Kyle do you know?” He joked. “I’ve got the legs for it, don’t you think, Ruby?” Ryan asked her with a wink.

#three

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ryansjagger · 3 years ago

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rubyartamonov:

“You take such good care of me, seriously!” Ruby said with an incredulous smile. She didn’t want to go on again about how she’d never really had any friends, and how grateful she was that Kyle and the boys liked her and considered her a friend. They didn’t have to say it out loud for her to know that it made them sad, and she spent too much time being sad about it to impart it on anyone else. Especially her friends. Her friends. “A little eyeliner is hot though,” Ruby said, then immediately blushed. “Not that I think they’re hot! God—heh, of course not!” she stammered, sticking out her tongue. “I mean you know of course Jake is though, duh, since you’re dating him, I mean…oh my god,” Ruby groaned, holding her head in her hand for a moment as embarrassed laughter bubbled out of her. As much as she thought she was ‘getting it’ in terms of having a social life, there were still times where she was very much ready to shove her own foot in her mouth. “You’re right, especially since there’s gonna be alcohol at gigs and stuff that I’ll be going to—I’d like to know what I’m doing and getting myself into,” she said with a chuckle. “And I feel good that you and the boys are looking out for me anyway,” she said, a smile coming to her face. She hated that her mother’s voice was always in her head, making her worry far more than she needed to about, well, everything. But especially all of these things she shouldn’t be doing. The exact things that have been making Ruby feel like she was finally alive. “I think that’s a good thing for my case, since you guys know how to handle a drunk person really well,” she laughed. “Oh, I will for sure. I can hardly talk to people I want to be friends with without being weird, I’ll need reinforcements if I find someone I want to be…more than friends with?” Ruby cringed at her wording and laughed. “Or just make out, I guess.”

“I also made friends with Lexi at our gig last weekend,” Ruby added with a smirk. It was so fun to be in on this sort of thing. Especially with how blushy Danny got about it. “You should probably make a move before I do, she’s awesome,” she teased, her heart racing as she subtly made it known to the group that she was also attracted to girls. Not that she thought any of them might mind, but she’d never gotten to talk about it once she figured it out for herself years ago while sneaking episodes of The L Word on TV while her mother was a work. Ruby laughed and pouted sympathetically at Danny when Ryan explained the song he wrote for him, and sighed dramatically. “For your sake, I hope I don’t hear it either. Seems like none of us want to have to hear it, but that’s up to you isn’t it?” she said. It almost felt wrong to ride Danny so hard about fumbling with girls when Ruby didn’t know the first thing about flirting or dating or any of it. At least not in real life practice. “Oh sure, as long as I can still see straight I’m really handy with a pack of gauze,” she said, huffing a laugh. Ruby furrowed her brows and licked her lips, gulping down another swig of her drink. Her cheeks already felt a little warm. “She doesn’t know I’m here. She’s working an overnight shift and I’m skipping my class tomorrow so I have until noon to make it home before she suspects anything,” Ruby explained with a little shrug. She caught Kyle’s face as she looked at the boys and was silently grateful that she seemed to understand how hard it was for her to talk about her mother. Ruby figured as long as she kept it under control, she wasn’t something she was going to let them worry about. She already gave them her word that she was all in on the band, and Ruby was not one to break her promises. Except the ones she made to her mother, of course. But those felt like that needed t our broken now that she’d done it. “Well, I really appreciate it,” Ruby said with a bright smile as Jake promised that they would take care of her. To feel like she belonged somewhere was enough to make her want to cry right then. Not now, she chastised herself, and nodded as Clarke offered to make more drinks, handing her cup off to him. Ruby leaned against the armrest of the couch and turned her head to Ryan when he complimented her, noting the way his eyes moved over her body. She gave him an unamused expression and ran a hand through her hair. “Thank you,” she said, because it wasn’t too egregious a compliment. “It’s Kyle’s stuff, except the boots are mine. I don’t really have a lot of cool clothes but it’s fun to figure out what I like with her insane wardrobe,” she smiled.

“That’s just what friends do, duh,” Kyle said with a playful eye roll. “And it’s not like I can use the friends and family for the boys. Or at least, not that often. I’ve made a couple crop tops for the boys that’ve been cute,” She shrugged. “And if I’m gonna make stuff for you, it’ll be helpful to get a better idea of what you usually like to wear,” She added with a smile. Kyle had a few ideas rolling around in her head, and a few projects at school that she thought she could probably tweak to Ruby’s style once she got a better feel for her. It felt good to have a new friend to make a muse out of. “Oh no, I know. I love it when the guys wear it,” She nodded. “Relax, Ruby,” Kyle said with a laugh. “I didn’t think you had a thing for the guys,” She assured her. “And don’t worry about sparing Jake’s ego to me. God knows that thing is fucking unshakeable,” She smirked. “Though, I guess I should be happy about that because that’s why we’re together now,” She said with a shrug. “And honestly, even if you did say that the guys were hot, that’s maybe a two on the list of gross things that people have said to me about them,” Kyle added with a slight shiver. People were way too comfortable in sharing their opinions—good and bad—about her roommates. She hated it more often than not. “Oh yeah, for sure. It’s better to know your limit so you can figure out your party limit and your stage limit,” Kyle nodded. “Of course we are. You’re one of us now, and we look out for our own,” She promised with a smile. Kyle felt a need to protect Ruby the day she met her, and the more she understood about her, the more pressing that need became. She didn’t want to make assumptions just yet, but she was starting to have some suspicions. “If it was a job, I think we’d be rich by now,” She chuckled. “But yeah, don’t be nervous or anything. It’s a party—it’s supposed to be fun,” Kyle said, grinning at Ruby. She was excited for her to experience a party like this, and hoped that she liked it enough to keep coming back. Kyle barked a laugh at what Ruby said about finding someone she wanted to kiss and then nodded. “Is that something you’re hoping to do tonight?” She asked, wagging her eyebrows. “Because I can help you find someone that’s worthy of my little Ruby.”

“Yeah, see?” Jake said, looking at Danny. “Because Lexi is cool. And is obviously into you,” He added, then smirked at Ruby. “And now you’ve got some competition,” Ryan added with a nod to Ruby. “So you better get your shit together, dude,” He chuckled. “And don’t even be all talk about it, Ruby,” Clarke said, leaning passed Danny to see Ruby. “Kid’s gotta learn somehow,” He shrugged, earning a playful shove from Danny. “As much as I want you to hear the song so you can learn the words—“ Ryan began. “I want to see Danny boy here get laid more,” He chuckled. “I’m gonna—I’m actually gonna,” He promised. “I’ve just gotta get a little more liquid courage,” He concluded, getting up and taking his empty cup back to the kitchen. “If he keeps that promise, he’s gonna get fuckin’ alcohol poisoning,” Ryan joked, snickering into his cup as he took a big sip. “So you’re saying we’ve gotta cut you off before you start swaying?” Jake asked with a laugh. “Y’know, just in case we need a nurse,” He said. “Well, that explains it,” Clarke nodded. “She’s barely hung out with us and she’s already being corrupted. I think our powers are getting stronger,” He added with a laugh. Ryan recognized something in the look Kyle gave them, and shot her a confused look back. Later she mouthed behind Ruby, and Ryan gave a subtle nod in understanding. “Well, if you don’t like it, you’re never gonna come to another party again,” Jake explained as though it were obvious. “And if we’re gonna be a band, we’ve gotta party together, right?” He said, earning laughs from the rest of the guys. “I mean, that’s basically how this band started,” Ryan agreed with a shrug. “Is this some stuff you made?” He asked, still looking at Ruby. Kyle scoffed a chuckle and gave Ruby a playful eye roll and Ryan’s obviousness. “I made the skirt. The shirt was one I got from the shop,” She explained. “Why, you want one?” She asked Ryan with a smirk. “I dare you to make me one without needing to get my measurements,” Ryan challenged. “Please, you said a challenge,” Kyle chuckled. “And no stealing my pants to do it!” Ryan added, pointing a finger at her. “She’s sneaky, Ruby. Gotta get her in the corner or she’ll cheat.”

#three

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ryansjagger · 4 years ago

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rubyartamonov:

Ruby smiled at Kyle as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. She was just so effortlessly cool, and Ruby wanted to emulate that sort of energy too. “Are you kidding? Let me know when you want me to come by and I’ll absolutely be there,” she said with a bright smile. Now that she was getting good at sneaking around her mother it was wholly addicting trying to see what she could get away with next. She didn’t know how much she liked playing with fire when she’d spent her entire life cold. “Yeah, and try as they might they’re never gonna be as pretty as me in a Kyle look,” Ruby joked with a little laugh. She scrunched up her nose when Kyle called her cute and took another little sip from her drink. “Oh? Gee thanks, Kyle,” she laughed, giving her a little nudge with her elbow when Ryan explained that Clarke would make their next round of drinks stronger. It was exciting though, and she knew that she was going to have a good time. She turned to Kyle after Ryan went back out to the living room. “Well, I don’t know. I guess if I’m just being sloppy or dorky or messy or anything like that,” Ruby said with a shrug, furrowing her brows. “The more I hang out with and get to know everyone the more obvious it is that I’m a little clueless,“ she elaborated with a little frown. Shaking her head as if to rid it of the uncomfortable realizations, Ruby’s smile came back to her face. Despite feeling somewhat lost, no one else was making her feel bad, and that’s what mattered. "I don’t know,” she reminded Kyle with a little laugh, taking another sip from her drink. “Not from experience anyway. But I think I’ve read and watched just about every stupid teen series to gather what you mean,” she laughed.

Ruby let out a bright laugh as the boys all stirred. “Oh, right of course,” she said, hiding her reddening face in her drink after Clarke and Ryan explained further. Obviously she knew that’s what they meant, but she was still trying to navigate talking about sex, especially with the boys and especially with Clarke and Ryan, who hardly ever shut up about it. At least Danny’s embarrassment what entertaining enough to them for her to hide her own naivety. A big part of her was hoping she might meet someone tonight that she wanted to do it with, because even though she wasn’t experienced, she definitely wanted to be. “What song?” she asked Ryan. “Yeah, I’m in nursing school. I get invited to parties sometimes I guess,” she said with a one-armed shrug. Ruby didn’t really have any friends at school who would be inviting her to parties. In her first year she said no enough times for everyone to take the hint that she wasn’t going to go, as badly as she wanted to. It obviously wasn’t until very recently that Ruby dared to rebel against her mother to start actually doing the things that she wanted to do. A girlish laugh escaped her mouth when Clarke implied that she was one of the hot girls, and she scrunched up her nose. “My mom is really strict, y'know. Like I’ve told you guys,” she offered for explanation. “She doesn’t even know that I’m here.” She sighed. “But I’d rather not talk about it right now, I just wanna have fun,” Ruby said with an affirmative nod as she looked around the group. She laughed again as they explained there isn’t much she could do to embarrass herself. She knew she was probably just being overly anxious anyway. And that the alcohol would help a little bit with that. “Okay, yeah, I get it. You guys are constantly making asses of yourselves,” she joked, flashing them a toothy grin. “I hope I don’t get sick, but I appreciate you being prepared to help if I do,” Ruby chuckled, though it really was very sweet of them. “Yeah, well I certainly hope he’s right this time since it’s my drunk debut,” she joked, finishing off the last of her first drink and smiling.

“You can come whenever I’m working,” Kyle offered with a shrug. “The boutique isn’t that far from your school, I think. So whenever you’ve got some free time between classes or you get out early, just shoot me a text and I’ll let you know if I’m there,” She said, smiling at Ruby. “And I’ll let you know when we get new inventory so you can get first dibs,” She chuckled. It felt good to see Ruby be so eager about spending time with her and with the boys. Kyle felt more and more optimistic about Ruby joining the band and staying with each interaction. “Well that’s for damn sure,” Kyle laughed. “It helps a lot that you’re actually willing to sit in the chair. I can’t get any of the guys to sit still for long enough to do anything more than a little eyeliner on them,” She said, rolling her eyes. “What? I want you to have fun!” Kyle defended with a laugh. “And besides, if you’ve never been drunk before, you’ve gotta find the limit don’t you?” She asked with a smirk. “If you start acting a mess, I’ll drop you in one of the boy’s beds,” She offered. “But I’m really not worried about you,” Kyle assured her with a smile. She knew that she wouldn’t drink too much tonight, at least not while Ruby was still using her party training wheels. She didn’t want Ruby’s first time getting drunk to be unpleasant enough for her to not want to do it again. “Honestly, don’t get down on yourself for that. We’ve got a lot more experience than most under our belts. I don’t know if that’s a good thing for not,” She snickered. Her friends—Jake and Ryan especially—had to grow up way before they should have, which lead them to situations that they shouldn’t have been in as kids. She was only grateful for it now because it better prepared her to help the people around her. “Well, then just trust me when I say you should come find me if there’s someone here that you wanna start talking to,” She chuckled. “You’ll thank me in the morning.”

“Ruby’s barely even seen you talk to her and she knows what’s up. So I don’t know why you don’t think Lexi’s just waiting for you to make a move,” Jake said, shrugging his shoulders. He then looked to Kyle for approval and she gave him a short nod before winking at Ruby. She knew that she couldn’t blow up Lexi’s spot about her crush, but she hoped that she could be obvious enough for even Danny to catch on. “I wrote this song about Danny—“ Ryan began. “Oh, no, not this!” Danny interrupted, whining as he ran a hand over his face. Ryan dramatically cleared his throat then continued. “I wrote this song about Danny and about how he never gets laid. And when Danny boy strikes himself out, we sing it for him at the end of the night,” He said with a devilish grin. “I really hope you don’t hear it tonight. Or ever,” Danny laughed. “Yeah, I hope so too,” Clarke said, then chuckled into his drink. “Nursing school?” Danny asked, then started to grin. “Good to know that we’ve got someone on hand that’s ready to patch us up,” He joked. “Well, as shocked as we are that you’ve never been to a party, we’re honored to be the ones to host your first,” Ryan said, giving Ruby a smirk. “So how’d she agree to let you come to our degenerate party instead of your model citizen nursing friends?” Clarke asked. “Did you say we were a Bible study group or something?” He laughed. Kyle nodded, then shot the boys a warning look when Ruby said she didn’t want to talk about her mom. She knew that the boys meant well, but their openness often lead them to step over a boundary. “She’s catching on!” Ryan said with a laugh. “We make a living making an ass of ourselves. Sometimes on stage, sometimes behind the counter, sometimes in a sound booth,” Danny explained with a laugh. “You’re one of us now, of course we’re gonna take care of you,” Jake promised, looking to Ruby with a smile. “What d’you guys think? We could probably down another round before people start showing up,” Clarke said as he made his way back to the kitchen to make drinks. “I like this look,” Ryan said with a smirk as he eyed Ruby up and down.

#three

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ryansjagger · 4 years ago

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rubyartamonov:

Ruby smiled as Kyle recounted how she learned her makeup skills. She thought she might try practicing a little more, but her mother never allowed her to wear makeup save for a little blush or mascara, and only if they were going to some sort of event, like a family member’s birthday party or something of the like. She loved it though—how artistic it all could be. She also found it very relaxing to have her makeup done by Kyle, but she wasn’t sure if that was just because she felt very comfortable here. Not just with her, but Ryan and all of the boys. “Well you’re seriously so good. Not that I expect anything less. You’re a style goddess!” Ruby said with a bright smile, taking a look at her painted face in the vanity mirror again. “Thank you again, as always,” she said, giving Kyle a quick one-armed squeeze before she accepted the drink from Ryan. “Woo-hoo, first time getting drunk!” she exclaimed with a little giggle, tapping her cup to Kyle’s and taking back a swig. It was sweet, but with that little alcoholic kick she wasn’t used to yet. But it went down easy. “I’m so beyond excited. If I start acting like a fool because I’m drunk though, please just stick me in your room and don’t let me out,” she laughed, taking another little sip. “I don’t want to embarrass myself, or any of you guys,” she said with a more serious expression. “O-Oh! Yeah, of course. I’ll let you know if anyone catches my eye,” she added with another nervous laugh. “I wouldn’t even think to go to one of them for help before you,” she giggled.

Once Kyle dusted on the finishing touches to her makeup, the pair made their way out to the boys in the living room. “Are you talking about Lexi?” Ruby asked as she caught the end of what Ryan said and Danny’s reddening cheeks. “Maybe tonight you’ll actually kiss her, huh?” she teased, giving Danny a little nudge as she sat on the arm of the couch and chuckled. She wondered if anyone might try and flirt with her, and if the alcohol would make it any easier for her to do it back. Ruby thought she might be getting a little practice with comments from Ryan and Clarke, but she did her best to refute and ignore anything they said to her. They were her bandmates and her friends. It seemed like a bad idea to dip a toe into anything romantic with either of them. Even if it was a little hard sometimes when they were both so charming. Mostly she just found it kind of annoying. Especially Ryan, because he was relentless. “I already told Kyle, but,” Ruby said, addressing the whole group when they finished the round of their game, “If I do or say anything embarrassing, please help me out and lock me away so I can’t make a fool of myself anymore. I don't—” she interrupted herself with an awkward laugh, and sipped her drink again, “I don’t know how I’m gonna be when I’m drunk since I’ve never been drunk. So all I’m gonna ask is that you keep an eye out for me, okay?“ she said, punctuating it with a big, excited smile. "Otherwise, I’m really excited and it’s gonna be so, so much fun,” Ruby added scrunching up her nose.

Kyle loved having Ruby as he own personal doll. It wasn’t often that she had a friend that would come over and just let her go full-in with a look, but Ruby didn’t question any of it. She seemed to even enjoy when Kyle went full out. She was pretty proud of the look she gave her tonight, even though she knew that Ruby could’ve worn anything and have been the center of attention. It was exciting to see the party from a new person’s perspective. “Oh, thank you,” She replied, brushing her hair off of her shoulder. “One of these days, I’m gonna make you come to school and fit model for me. And then whatever you try on, you can just have after. Maybe we can even design something specifically for you to wear on stage!” She said, her eyes getting wide with excitement. “Oh please, no need to thank me. I love getting to do this stuff. Especially since the only canvases that I have here are the boys,” She shrugged. “Oh my god, you’re so fucking cute,” Kyle said with a laugh as she tapped her glass to Ruby’s. “Tell him he’s lost his touch, shit’s weak for Clarke,” She said, and Ryan immediately started to grin. “You know Kyle just signed your death warrants, right?” He asked Ruby with a smirk. “But yeah, I’ll tell him,” He chuckled as he walked out. Kyle nodded at Ruby’s request and took another gulp of her drink. “Oh please, you can’t embarrass yourself any more than any of us have,” She assured her. “We all made sure of that a hundred times over,” She promised. “What would you constitute as embarrassing, though? That way I know if it’s time to put you to bed. I don’t want you to get the hangxiety,” She nodded. “Thank God you’re catching on,” She laughed. “I know they mean well, but being a boy wingman and being a girl wingman are two totally different things, y’know?”

The boys all started to get rowdy when Ruby asked who they were talking about and Jake gave Danny’s shoulders a little shake. “See? Even newbie Ruby knows,” Jake chuckled. “We’re hoping he’s gonna do more than just kiss her tonight, right Danny?” Clarke chuckled. “To Danny boy making moves tonight, and to Lexi waking up in this apartment tomorrow,” Ryan said, then immediately started to laugh at the growing redness on Danny’s face. “Please don’t make me play the song tonight,” Ryan said, and Danny shook his head. “No, I’m good. We’ve been texting pretty much all week,” He shrugged. “So we’ll see,” He said, to which Ryan and Clarke rolled their eyes. “We wouldn’t have to think about rent money if we got paid every time you said that,” Clarke chuckled. “That’s so crazy that you’ve never been drunk before. How are you not getting invited to parties all the time? Aren’t you in college?” Clarke asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. “What’s the point of going to a college party if hot girls aren’t there?” He shrugged. “Make of fool of yourself?” Ryan asked, barking out a laugh. “Dude, you know how much stupid shit has gone on in here? Unless you’re planning on lighting the carpet on fire and pissing it out then you’ve really got nothing to worry about,” He assured her. “And even then—“ Danny shrugged. “Most people are gonna just laugh about it and point out the burn mark fondly when they come over again,” He finished with a smirk. “But we’ll make sure you make it to the bathroom if you’re gonna get sick or anything,” Jake assured her. “We’ve got the hairties at the ready to hold your hair back,” Ryan said, snapping the hair tie on his wrist. “You picked a good party to come to. It should be a fun one,” Ryan said. “He says that about every party,” Kyle replied with a chuckle. “But he’s usually right,” She said, then immediately pointed at Ryan before he could speak. “About that specifically.”

#three

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ryansjagger · 4 years ago

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rubyartamonov:

To say that Ruby was excited would be quite the gross understatement. Once again fate had decided to grace Ruby with a blessing—her mother was working an overnight shift at the hospital, which meant Ruby was able to not only go to the party at Ryan’s place, but fully enjoy her very first party and spend the night. She even had a class she was supposed to go to tomorrow morning which would have put her out of the house before her mother got home from work. She was skipping the class of course. Ruby was ahead of the reading anyway. And luckily her mother ignored Eddie more often than not, so she threw herself into the hands of fate again and hoped that his absence from her house wouldn’t raise any flags. This would work. It had to work.

She sat at Kyle’s vanity wearing the skirt and t-shirt she’d borrowed, and her very favorite Dr. Marten platform boots. “How did you get so good at doing makeup?” Ruby asked with a little smile when Kyle moved the lip brush away from her mouth. Ruby stared at herself in the reflection and couldn’t help but grin over how cool she felt. Painted eyelids and lips, a subtle shiny stripe on her cheekbones. She still wasn’t used to how her eyelashes stuck together with mascara coated on the top and bottom. As Kyle sprayed dry shampoo into her hair and tousled it in her fingers, she smiled at Ryan who’d just come to the doorway with two drinks in his hands. “Hey, whatcha got there?” she asked, wagging her eyebrows at him and letting out a giddy chuckle. She was practically buzzing thinking about getting to meet more of their friends, and getting to see Lexi again too. Everything had gone so spectacularly at her first gig with the band that she wasn’t sure anything was going to burst her bubble. Even with her mother always looming over her head like a dark raincloud. Maybe the alcohol would help with that.

“Honestly, I think part of it was just because I was interested in it,” Kyle began. “And the other part was just from growing up around a lot of girls. My mom mostly fostered teenage girls too, so we just had a lot of girls that would come in that were, like, really good at makeup so they would teach me stuff,” She explained as she applied the finishing touches on Ruby’s makeup. “And since I got a lot of practice trying makeup on girls that look like me and don’t look like me, I was able to get pretty good at doing makeup for pretty much anyone,” She shrugged. “You also don’t really stop me, so you can get an extra cute look,” She added with a laugh. Kyle turned when Ruby spoke to someone that wasn’t her and gave Ryan a little smile. “The rest of us are all about half drunk and playing Jackbox, so we figured that you guys oughta start trying to catch up,” Ryan laughed. “Clarke made these,” He explained as he handed the girls the drinks. Kyle then turned to Ruby with wide, excited eyes. “These’ll be good, but two more of ‘em and we’ll be in trouble,” She chuckled. “Cheers, babe,” Kyle said as she tapped her cup to Ruby’s. “Ugh, I’m so excited to start introducing you to everyone. Lexi’s coming tonight too, so you’ll already know someone. And if you want me to make an intro for you, just come grab me, alright?” She winked. “I love the boys, but they can be some of the worst wingmen on the planet.”

After he brought the girls the drinks, he made his way back to the kitchen to get himself another drink, then met the guys back in the living room. “Which one are you guys playing?” Ryan asked as he sat back down on the couch. He took a big sip of his beer and then opened up his phone to answer the texts he’d been ignoring when he was playing the game. “Elliot’s asking if we want him to bring beer or a bottle, what do you think?” Ryan asked the group. “I don’t really think it matters, right?” He shrugged. “If he’s bringing a bottle, he’s gotta bring his own mixer, because we don’t have that much,” Clarke said as he tried to focus on what he was sketching on his phone. Ryan shrugged and then responded. “Is Camila coming tonight?” Jake asked. “Or is it Delaney’s night?” He teased, and the boys all started riling up. Ryan smirked, then shrugged. “Both,” He said, earning a hard shake from Clarke. “My boy,” He said, wiping away a fake tear. “I’m not the most interesting topic tonight. Dannyboy, didn’t you ask Lexi to come tonight?” Ryan asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Maybe,” Danny bashfully replied, and tried to hide his smile as he looked at the TV. “About fucking time, dude!” Ryan exclaimed, throwing back the rest of his beer.

#three

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ryansjagger · 4 years ago

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rubyartamonov:

“Okay well—“ Ruby said with a tiny, nervous laugh. She just wanted to impress the boys, to make them like her and ensure that they didn’t regret invited her to sing with them al all. “How about I need a little time to get to know you all a little better before I have any good jokes?” she offered with a grin as she looked between them. “I don’t wanna embarrass myself and not get any good laughs out of you guys,” Ruby said. In the last few hours any time she’d made any one of them even chuckle she felt a surge of pride rush through her. Every time she tried to make a further connection with one of her peers at school, or at the coffee shop, or her favorite record store, she always felt too nervous which resulted in her clamming up and shooting the chances of making a real friend. As if anyone would understand her mother’s rules. It was easier to talk about them with Ryan and the band now, considering the absolutely ridiculous circumstances they met under. “You’re definitely overthinking it,” Ruby said to Danny with a smile. But she understood that, probably better than they knew.

“I would love a ride,” Ruby quickly said to Ryan. She still wouldn’t be able to figure out the subway on her own if she tried, but maybe she could get into her safe to start taking money for cabs if they couldn’t pick her up. Either way, she needed to be there, needed to throw herself into this because it was everything she ever wanted right on a platter in front of her. Despite how scary it felt to eat from it. “Sure, thank you,” she said to Danny when he offered their place to stay. “That couch is pretty comfy,” Ruby chuckled. Though there wasn’t a chance she’d be able to stay over without her mother catching her. She was ready to formulate a plan though, an excited shiver running down her spine. Being so disobedient felt so much better than she could have ever imagined. “Oh, right. I don’t really drink much,” she said, then rolled her eyes. “As you have obviously gathered by my naivety,” Ruby huffed, dropping her chin in her hand. “She likes her vodka,” she shrugged. “Vodka, cigarettes, and the window open in the dining room, that’s her thing,” Ruby mused as she thought of her mother with furrowed brows. How deeply was she breaking her heart right now? “I definitely can’t get drunk right now, I don’t want to mess up on stage,” she said with wide eyes. “Totally!” she assured Lexi and smiled wider with Kyle’s confirmation, a warm giggle escaping her lips at her praise. Ruby could hardly believe this version of herself, the one she’d fantasized about being for so long. It felt so right.

Ruby laughed. “Well this does just taste mostly like coke!” she said, shaking her head and feeling her cheeks warm a little when she said she’d get right along with the boys. She would only hope so. “Really? Yes!” she exclaimed, clasping her hands excitedly over her chest when Lexi promised to hang out with them after. She couldn’t wait to tell Danny and the boys. “I feel basically amazing,” Ruby answered, twirling around in her boots in her new outfit with her new hair and new makeup and new, unbridled enthusiasm for life. She looked out to the crown when Ryan brought her attention to it. As much as her head told her to feel nervous, she didn’t feel sweaty or nauseous at all. She felt so excited and so ready to stun these people like she did the crowd the night before. “Yeah, perfect, thank you,” she said with a nod when he assured her he would introduce her. Finally, the band started to take their places on the stage and Ruby walked out in front to the mic stand with a beaming, glittery smile on her face. She looked at Ryan one more time and bit down on her lip as he took to another mic and introduced the band, then her. Like she was something special to be seen. As she started singing, it was easier to believe that she really was. Like last night, she lost herself in the music, the loud thrumming bass drum and the warm, fuzzy humming electric guitars. They transported her, lifted her up into this altered state of being where she could be a fucking rockstar. In between songs she caught Ryan’s eyes for a moment and she smiled at him, her chest heaving as she caught her breath, the crowd clapping and hollering in front of them.

“She’s known us for two days and she doesn’t have material yet,” Jake said, raising his eyebrows at the other guys. “I’m worried she might actually be too nice for us,” Clarke joked. “I dunno about that, she kicked the shit out of Ryan,” Danny said with a snicker. “Yeah, imagine how hard she’s gonna nail us when she has proper ammunition,” Jake said, then smiled at Ruby. “Kyle’s already gotten to her, so I think we’re fucked, boys,” He joked. They knew that if anyone could get the deep cut burns on the guys, it would be Kyle. “Do you think you wanna listen to her?” Clarke asked. “Since she actually is a girl and knows what they think?” He asked, then gave Danny’s head a playful shove. “I can’t not overthink it, you know?” Danny quietly said to Ruby. “I do actually like her,” He admitted with a shrug. “If the show goes good tonight, then I think she’ll be the one coming up to you, so you won’t even have to make any real moves, Danny boy. You just will have to not fumble the bag,” Ryan said, grabbing Danny’s shoulders and giving him a little shake.

“No worries,” Ryan nodded. “One of us’ll pick you up in the van. The same one we picked you up in tonight, obviously. It’s the only car we have,” He added with a chuckle. Despite how old the car was, and how often they were outside fixing it, Ryan wasn’t sure that they’d ever be able to let it go. That van had seen them since their first gig as a band. It was practically a member at this point. “We used to have a pull-out couch, but we broke it,” Clarke said with a guilty smile. “Though, I think this couch is more comfortable to sleep on than that other one,” Jake shrugged. They were all excited for Ruby to come to the party and to start introducing her to their friends. Something felt different about this, and a lot more right than any other person that they’d tried to bring in. “Is that because you don’t want to?” Kyle asked. “Or are you just not really going to parties or bars a lot?” She added, her eyebrows furrowing with curious interest. It felt like she understood less and less about Ruby the more that she talked to her, and that didn’t normally happen for Kyle. “Oh damn,” Lexi chuckled. “Your mom sounds pretty hardcore,” She chuckled. “Oh no, don’t worry, I won’t let you get fucked up before you go on stage,” She assured her. “I can already tell that I’m gonna want you to stick around,” Lexi said, then shared a smirk with Kyle.

“I think that’s the point,” Kyle laughed. “I don’t think most alcohol tastes good though, so I don’t know if I’m the best to ask about flavor,” She said. “I’m usually just trying to find a balance of most alcohol with least taste,” She shrugged. “But once I get drunk enough, then I just start going straight for the bottle,” She laughed. “I’ve seen it, it’s wild,” Lexi agreed with a nod. “Yeah, sure,” She shrugged. “I didn’t make plans for after work yet, and I’m not working again until tomorrow night so I can definitely come get fucked up,” She laughed. “Good,” Ryan replied with a grin. “Imagine how it’ll feel once we actually start,” He added, smirking at her. She didn’t seem nervous, which definitely made Ryan relax a little more. Being on stage made Ryan feel more alive than anything else ever could, and it felt good to think that Ruby could take to it just as easily. “Yeah, you got it, newbie,” He teased, winking at her before stepping up to the mic. He introduced the band in the same cheeky way that he always would, only this time, he made sure to mention the obvious new addition. Showing off a new singer felt a lot like showing off a new tattoo, he thought. While they played, Ryan kept Ruby in his peripherals, and tried to feed off of the energy of the rest of the guys. Everyone seemed happy as ever on stage, and hearing how different they sounded with Ruby in the center felt good. Ryan had been confident about this before they started, but now he didn’t have even a shred of doubt about the new girl. How could he when the crowd was so eager to welcome her?

#two

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ryansjagger · 4 years ago

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rubyartamonov:

“You’re right, I can,” she said with an excited smile as she thought about the prospect of just casually getting a tattoo whenever she wanted. Ruby smiled and started to laugh when Ryan did, even if she didn’t really know what was funny. “Not ever really, until last night,” she replied. That was the most impulsive thing she’s ever done—and she supposed now that the dam had broken she couldn’t stop making increasingly reckless decisions. And she’d been so sheltered for most of her life, there weren’t many opportunities for her to get hurt beyond a broken wrist from a bicycle accident when she was a child and a few scrapes here and there. She laughed at Ryans joke about Eddie and gave him a nod. “I’ll let him know he’s booked a new gig then,” she chuckled. “Sure, I get it,” Ruby said as Ryan talked a little more about the band’s writing process. She could hardly wait to share the things she’s already written, some even years old. She wondered how they’ll sound to someone other than her dog and neighbors. “You didn’t like her very much, huh?” Ruby said, scrunching her nose when Ryan talked about their former singer. She was nervous, then, that they might end up not liking her either. “It’s all just…so new to me. I don’t know. I’ve been imagining getting to actually write music and play in a band but—“ she let out a laugh through her nose and shook her head. “It’s so strange to talk about it with you and for it to be something I’ll actually get to do,” Ruby ran a hand over her face. “Sorry. I don’t want to sound stupid or anything,” she added, then helplessly shrugged her shoulders. “Well I don’t think I’m really exciting enough to be main character material,” Ruby mused. Maybe she felt more like it now, after she’d embraced the rebellion she’d been dreaming about for so long. “I just wanna make sure you know that I’m not as helpless and I admittedly, can seem,” she said, mustering up more confidence than perhaps she had. That’s all she’d been riding on since she met Ryan, anyway. Or maybe she was actually braver than her mother said she was, than she ever felt. “Good,” she replied, crossing her hands over her chest, narrowing her eyes at his expression.

Ruby laughed, and scrunched her nose up. “I just wish I had friends like that. Or a sibling or something. Someone you’ve known since you were small and could kinda grow up together,” she said, then immediately wanted to take it back when she realized how sad it sounded out loud. She’d written about how lonely she was in stacks of childhood journals, and then as she got older wove those feelings into her songs. “I don’t have a very exciting wardrobe at the moment, but I’m more than ready to get one. And besides, just looking at what I’ve borrowed and what you’re wearing right now, I think I’ll be pretty happy to take style advice from you,” she said with a big smile. Ruby thought to pull up her hundreds of Pinterest boards with fashion inspiration to show to Kyle sometime—it was what she imagined she could wear in her head when she dreamed about another life. One that was becoming real. “I blacked out when I got on that stage,” she said with a laugh, shaking her head at the memory again. None of it felt real. “I’m expecting something similar to happen tonight. I’m definitely comfortable singing but that was my first time in front of any crowd,” Ruby explained. “I just don’t think I’m in much of a position to judge Danny about that,” she said with a shy smile, shrugging her shoulders and sticking her hands into her pockets, then laughed as Kyle reassured her about Ryan. “Well good, I think,” she chuckled. “He can try but he’s really not going to get anywhere. I won’t risk being able to be in the band with something as stupid as that,” Ruby said with an affirmative nod. She barked a laugh as Kyle described Ryan and ran a hand over her face. “Well now I’m especially not interested in anything, um you know, like, romantic with him. Not that I was at all in the first place! Oh my god,” she stammered and laughed into her hands again. “I’ve got to work on my poker face if he’s going to try to flirt with me again though,” she muttered. Ruby could understand why these girls probably wanted to pursue Ryan—he was obviously handsome and friendly and in a band—but she couldn’t be more turned off to the idea after Kyle’s assessment.

Ruby looked at Clarke with a helpless expression and let out a little laugh as she shrugged her shoulders. “How am I going to tease a guy I just met?” she asked with a chuckle, then laughed harder at Danny’s defense. She gave him an encouraging smile. At least she wasn’t the only person in the band that didn’t know what they were doing when it came to dating and relationships, though she’d still wager Danny knew more than her. Unless the catalogs of romance novels and movies she’s consumed came in handy in the real world. Ruby stifled a giggle with her hand when Ryan exposed Danny again when she was so close to them. “I think they just want to see you happy, no?” she said to Danny, looking between Ryan and Clarke with a grin. “And if she really does already like you…what are you waiting for?” she asked with an encouraging smile. “Yes, absolutely,” she said to Jake with an excited nod when he offered to introduce her to their friends. Soon to be her friends, hopefully. She just hoped they liked her as much as Ryan and the rest of the band seemed to.

“Wednesday?” Ruby echoed, then pursed her lips as she wracked her brain for her schedule to the best of her ability. Her mother would be home by then, so she needed to figure out a way to either excuse herself from the house at night or sneak away. Either way, she wasn’t about to say no. “Yeah, I think that should work for me,” she nodded then gave them what she hoped was a convincing smile. Ruby worried she was in over her head with all of this, now thinking about all of the things she’d have to do to keep it hidden from her mother. But that wasn’t something she could manage to think about now when she was in the midst of another show. She scrunched her nose and huffed a laugh when Lexi called her cute. “Oh! I’m—I’m twenty-one, promise. My birthday was last November,” she assured Lexi, then whipped out her ID quickly. “I just have never really had a drink other than a sip of my mom’s vodka rocks. And that doesn’t taste very good,” Ruby chuckled, shaking her head. She listened intently as Lexi explained what she should be ordering as a new drinker. This was another thing to feel naieve about, another thing that reminded her just how out of place she really was. And she had to fight that feeling in order to keep herself together here. Not just for herself, but the boys now too. “Thanks, Lexi,” she said with a sincere smile. “I really appreciate the guidance,” she sighed, then accepted the drink and took a sip. “It tastes pretty much just like a coke!” she smiled. “I’m only going to drink this one though, I don’t want to be drunk or anything,” she said with a nervous laugh, which exploded into harder laughter at Kyle’s joke. She quickly shut herself up as to not draw attention from the boys. “What time do you usually finish up working here, Lexi?” she asked, a smirk coming to her face as she glanced at Kyle. “I think the boys were going to have a few people over their place to hang out and meet me after we play, and since you’re my new mixologist extraordinaire I think you should totally come.” Ruby knew she might be overstepping inviting her over to an apartment that wasn’t even hers—but she thought it might be nice to lend a helping hand to Danny.

Then Ryan was calling Ruby to come to the stage and she looked between Lexi and Kyle with an anxious smile, the same jolt of electricity from the night before starting to fizz at the base of her spine when she realized she was about to sing for a crowd again. With the band. Her band. “Oh my god—okay. Lemme just—“ she gulped down the rest of her drink and winced at the taste of too much rum. “Think about after the show, okay?” she said to Lexi, then gave Kyle a sneaky grin before trotting to the stage with the guys. She bounced on her toes and tried not to seem too intimidated by the amount of people whose eyes watched her from the side of the stage where Ryan sat tuning up. “Do I say something when I get up there? Like, hey, I’m Ruby, nice to meet you—? No, oh my god. That’s terrible,” she laughed, and almost ran a hand over her face that would ruin her makeup before she stopped it.

“And honestly, after the first one it gets way easier to pick another one,” He explained. “And if you end up like me, you stop caring by the time you’ve got a half-sleeve. I don’t really put any thought behind it anymore,” He said, even if he’d never really put any thought behind any tattoos except the one that he got with his sister and the drawing his niece made. “Really?” Ryan said, nodding slowly as he took it in. “If you stick around, maybe it’ll just rub off on you,” He chuckled. Ryan couldn’t help but wonder what his life would look like if he’d actually thought things through. He didn’t think he would have been happy with it. The only thing that Ryan could put any thought behind was his music. It was the only thing that he did worth thinking about, as far as he was concerned. “What’s his day rate?” Ryan asked with a chuckle. “Cool, yeah. So don’t be nervous to come in with whatever,” He encouraged. The final piece he needed to feel confident about Ruby joining the band would be seeing what she brought to a writing session. If she brought anything at all. “The feeling was pretty mutual,” Ryan said with a shrug. He always hated when she came up in conversation. He hated it especially now, when he was talking to someone that he wanted to bring it. “She was a fucking poser, at the end of the day. She just wanted to use our band’s clout to get in front of an audience. She wasn’t interested in making our music better. She wanted to make it something else entirely. And once we caught on, she was gone,” He said, and stopped himself with a quiet sigh. It wasn’t the time to talk about her. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Danny hate someone so openly,” He laughed. “You don’t sound stupid,” Ryan quickly assured her. “I’m glad that you’re excited, because this is happening now,” He said, then smiled at her. “Maybe you don’t feel that way yet, but the audience doesn’t know that,” He shrugged. “I think you’ve proven yourself just fine,” He assured her with a laugh. “But maybe not enough to take the subway by yourself yet. I don’t wanna see you ended up in the Bronx because you got on the wrong train,” He chuckled. Ryan watched her cross her arms and gave her another once over before meeting her eyes with a wink.

“Be careful what you wish for, Ruby,” Kyle laughed, then shook her head. “I thought that I wanted brothers, and now I’ve got three more than I’ve ever needed,” She joked. But then her brain caught what Ruby had really said, and it made her heart break for her a little. After growing up in such a crowded house with Ryan and Jake in the neighborhood, it was hard to imagine a quiet life. She wondered if all kids in New York just grew up like that, or if Ruby was just more shy back then. “We might not have grown up with you, but you’ve got us now,” She shrugged. “Here,” Kyle said as she handed Ruby her phone. “Make sure that I get your number so I can text you when I get good stuff at the shop, or after I get a grade on a school project,” She instructed. “You can have first dibs on anything I don’t decide to keep,” She added with a smile. “And if there’s any person you wanna text me for your style inspo, or any clothes or brands you really like, just let me know. I can work with pretty much anything,” She laughed. “You really couldn’t tell. You looked like you’ve been doing it forever,” Kyle assured her with a smile. “I assumed that those guys borrowed you from some other band. I didn’t realize it our be the boys,” She joked. “If you can do tonight what you did last night, then I think we’re in business girl,” She laughed. “This venue usually pulls a bigger crowd, so you’re really in the big leagues now. It’s exciting!” She enthused. Kyle was happy to see how things were going, and considering that she hadn’t heard any of the boys say anything but positives about Ruby, she was pretty confident that they’d stay this way. “Even if you’ve never spoken to a boy in your life, you’d still be in a position to judge Danny. The kid talks to girls like he was raised in a bubble for his entire life,” She laughed. “And he grew up around women! You’d think he’d be better at this,” She said, shaking her head. “Good,” Kyle nodded. “Keep it that way. None of these boys are worth it anyway. And you’ll meet plenty more once you get integrated into the scene. Trust me,” She chuckled. “That’s shockingly refreshing,” Kyle said, then looked up. “Ryan’ll just keep flirting with you, so it’ll get easier and easier to ignore,” She assured her with a laugh. “I should probably warn you, some girls will probably start talking to you to try and get in with the guys. I’ll help you sus those girls out, they’re fucking mad weird for that, but they still try it,” She said, rolling her eyes.

“Very easily,” Jake said, barking a laugh. “I don’t remember the last time any of us said something that was actually nice to each other,” Clarke agreed. “I think if one of you guys started getting really nice, I’d get concerned that you were kicking me out or something,” Danny admitted with a laugh. “And if you don’t fire back at us, then it just feels like we’re picking on you and that’s not fun,” He added, scrunching his face a little. Ryan nodded, then felt himself cringe a little as he thought about how their playful and teasing attitude had been received by the last person they’d tried to bring into the band. One of them would make a joke, and Beth would cry and storm out, and they’d all be left staring at each other trying to figure out what it was that wrong about their jokes. He didn’t suspect that Ruby would be anything Beth, but he still didn’t know her that well. He hoped that she wouldn’t prove him wrong. “Yeah, obviously. And watching him get embarrassed is entertaining. So we can’t really lose,” Clarke joked. “See!?” Ryan said, smacking Danny’s arm with the back of his hand. “She’s just met you and she’s saying the same thing we’ve been telling you for months!”

“Yeah, Wednesday,” Ryan said, then looked at the boys. He was starting to think of who they might want to invite, of who would be the most important people to try to introduce to Ruby, since he suspected that she would be around more. “Alright, cool,” Ryan smiled. “One of us’ll pick you up that night, unless you think you know how to get to our apartment now?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow. “And then, if you end up wanting to crash at our place, you’re obviously more than welcome to,” Danny said with a smile. “We usually end up with at least a handful of people scattered around the apartment. Since you’re in the band now, you can have couch privileges,” He added with a laugh. Ryan was excited for Ruby to get to know more of their friends. He hoped that it would make her want to be around more so that they could all get to know her faster. Lexi let out a laugh as Ruby rushed to get her ID. “I wouldn’t have actually cared if you weren’t, I was just kidding,” She assured her with another laugh. “Vodka rocks, hardcore,” She nodded. “If you wanna get drunk fast, just order a shot of whatever and a mixed drink,” Lexi explained. “Or just order a double. That means there’s gonna be double the alcohol though, so it probably won’t taste as good that one,” She explained. “When I work here, I’m usually off by 11,” Lexi said, her eyebrows furrowing. “Oh really?” She asked, a smile tugging at her lips before she looked at Kyle. “She beat me to it,” Kyle said, crossing her arms on the bar. “I told you that you were more smooth than Danny,” Kyle mumbled to Ruby, then giggled.

Lexi watched Ruby chug down her drink and let out a little cheer. “See? You’re a natural,” She joked. “You’re gonna get along just fine with the boys,” She assured her with a giggle. “I’ll be there,” Lexi promised with a smile, and rolled her eyes at the look that Kyle gave her. Ryan picked his head up to see Ruby and flashed a smile. “You feel good?” He asked, then nodded toward the crowd. “It’s looking good out there,” He said, then started to smile a little wider. He couldn’t believe it sometimes, that this was his life and that he got to do this most days. “Huh?” He asked, then laughed. “Why don’t you leave the intro up to me?” Ryan asked with a laugh. “I’ve been doing them for a while, so you can just watch and learn until you get the swing of it,” He offered with a smile.

#two #t...w...o.....

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ryansjagger · 4 years ago

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rubyartamonov:

“Once I have a really good idea I’ll let you know. I’m still trying to process everything else at the moment,” Ruby said with a breathless chuckle. She couldn’t believe that all of the things she’d been dreaming about for so long could become a reality soon. “I do want you to keep me around,” she said, furrowing her brows at his expression. She thought it was very obvious that she wanted to be here, or else she wouldn’t be walking into strangers apartments and joining their bands. “What—why are you guys getting hurt so often?” she said with an awkward chuckle when Ryan explained that they might roll into the apartment in a state. She really didn’t think about what she was getting into. But she wasn’t about to run away now. This was the most exhilarated and well, alive, she had ever felt. “Nice try, no one can separate Eddie and I, even if he is probably the best producer in the tristate area,” Ruby chuckled. “Oh, wow. Yes, of course,” she said, feeling another wave of excitement ripple throughout her body as Ryan encouraged her to bring her own songs to work on with the band. Now she could stop imagining drums and bass to accompany herself on the guitar, but she could actually hear it. “I don’t know what I prefer, I’ve only ever done it alone,” she reminded him. All she knew how to be was alone. Her eyes widened and she grimaced as Ryan recounted their experience with their last singer. “That doesn’t seem very productive of her,” she mused, raising her eyebrows. Then she felt a little nervous—what if she didn’t work out either? What if this really was all just a dream too good to be true? “Some of my songs probably do suck,” she admitted with a shrug. It was hard without anyone to give her real feedback, aside from Eddie’s howls and barks. “You think I’m main character material?” Ruby said, a smile stretching up on her face. She spent so much time with films and novels desperate to be the someone worth telling a story about. “Well after talking to you at my house I determined you weren’t that dangerous, or else I wouldn’t have asked for your help,” she pointed out. “Even if yes, it was definitely stupid and dangerous objectively. But I know how to protect myself,” she said, pulling out her incognito knife again and waving it around a little. “Remember?” she laughed. She cursed herself for getting so visibly flustered, even if she couldn’t help it, and she let out a short breath through her nose, ducking her head and picking it back up to look Ryan in the eye. “Okay,” Ruby said, exhaling a short breath and taking a step back from Ryan when he got closer to her, putting her hands up. “If you’re flirting with me it’s not gonna get you anywhere. I’m not interested. Beyond being your friend and bandmate” she said, hoping she came across confident and convincing despite the fact that the way Ryan was looking at her made her stomach flip.

Ruby chuckled at Kyle’s joke. “I think it’s really nice you know each other so well,” she said with a sad sort of smile. Talking about the boys with Kyle was a little overwhelming—she felt like she had so much to learn, so much to take in. Part of her felt like she was intruding in on something she never was supposed to be apart of. There was this group of friends who’ve known each other for so long and who was she? She wasn’t unfamiliar to feelings like this. Despite those feelings though, there was another sense of comfort, of belonging in a way that Ruby had never experienced. And she was dying to explore it further. “Lucky is kind of an understatement” Ruby said with a slow shake of her head. “If any of those boys ever forget how awesome you are I’ll start swinging some guitars around and I bet they’d change their tune,” she said with a chuckle. “Oh my god!” she giggled as Kyle threatened the boys should they make Ruby feel uncomfortable. “I thought I would be more nervous but last night for some reason…I don’t know. I didn’t have a bad feeling about Ryan anymore after we started talking,” she said with a helpless shrug. “I can’t make sense of a lot of what’s happening to me right now,” she confessed with a short laugh through her nose, then gave Kyle a smile. “I get it,” she said when Kyle spoke of Danny. Ruby didn’t really know the first thing about flirting or dating aside from what she’s absorbed through media. She sure was a smooth operator in her daydreams, at least. “Oh!” Ruby chuckled when Kyle told her about the bookers. “I’ll be happy to meet them,” she said with a nod and hoped her cheeks weren’t blushing again. “I feel like this will get kind of annoying if it keeps on then…” Ruby said, putting her hands on her hips as Kyle elaborated about Ryan’s flirting. “I mean—we’re gonna be bandmates. I feel like it’d be a bad idea to um—mess with that,” she said, and she was certain she was blushing again now. At least she was just with Kyle. “So he’s not very nice to girls then?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow. “You really are like a real life fairy godmother!” Ruby cooed, clapping her hands together.

“It’s okay Danny, things like this can be kinda of nerve wracking,” Ruby said, giving him an encouraging smile. She knew how fluttery she always felt around someone she had a crush on—in class or at the coffee shop near her house or a neighbor who frequented her dog park—not that she ever did anything about it. She commended Danny for even trying. Her eyes darted around the boys as they formulated a plan for Danny to take Lexi home and her eyebrows gently rose in surprise at how seamless it all was. They operated so well together, bouncing ideas off of one another and joking and laughing. It was exciting. She couldn’t wait to be a part of it. “Oh, good! I’m glad,” she said with a nervous laugh when Jake told her he was excited to introduce her to their friends. She didn’t feel like someone worth being excited over. The boys’ assurance that the show would go well made it easier for her to relax, despite how much she felt like ricocheting across the walls of the venue with anticipation. She’d just have to pull whatever was in her last night out for tonight too. Then made sure it stayed out for good.

Ruby gave Jake a nod when he offered to teach her anything she wanted about their set up. There was time for that, she thought. Time she needed to figure out how she was going to hide from her mother—but that was not a problem for right now. Being present was the only option from now on, she decided. “Well, I can’t wait to meet your cool neighbors and see one of these famous parties for myself,” she said with a grin, shuffling out of the way as the boys finished setting up. “I would love that,” Ruby said, and already started to comb through her head her class schedule and if she had enough time to sneak away in between lectures and labs to learn the drums. She’d skip to do it if she could. “It’s so nice to meet you too!” Ruby said with a bright smile. She couldn’t get over how happy people were to meet her. She couldn’t get over how many people were seeing her, listening to her. She didn’t feel like a ghost people passed through anymore. She felt tangible, real. Ruby leaned over the bar a little as Lexi started to get the pints ready for the boys and peer over at them to make sure they were distracted. She waved Kyle to lean in with her. “I think this is a stupid question but…will I get drunk if I have a cocktail? I don’t want to be messy on stage. And I don’t think I would like beer,” she said, furrowing her brows and looking between the girls. “And another stupid question. What do you think would taste the best? Like rum and coke or something?” Ruby asked. She didn’t want to be so clueless, but she had to accept that she was, in many ways.

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Ryan shrugged. “You can get that whenever anyway,” He chuckled. Having been so engrained in this lifestyle, he couldn’t imagine what it must be like for Ruby to be experiencing it now for the first time. Ryan’s expression changed when she agreed with him. It was getting harder to tell whether she was being serious or just playing along. He decided that while she was learning about the band, he was going to learn about her. He barked a laugh at her question. “I dunno! It just sorta—happens. You never find yourself about to do something stupid and then just kinda say fuck it and send it?” He asked. Most of the time, he didn’t think before he acted. Sometimes, he knowingly did something stupid just because he knew that he and his friends would find it funny. Maybe exposure to Jackass at a formative age really did have a lasting effect. “The best—okay,” Ryan said, shaking his head. “Then I’m putting Eddie in the hot seat after our next recording session and I’ll sleep like a baby,” He laughed. “Don’t worry about that, you’ll figure it out. And it’s not like we’re only writing together. Sometimes, we’ll come to the session with something. Or even just the idea of something, and kinda just go from there. Do you know what I mean?” He asked. “Yeah, well, she also couldn’t seem to wrap her head around the fact that we’re a punk rock band and not some, like, bubblegum bedroom pop thing,” He shrugged. Bringing up that period of time always made him feel sour. “If they suck, we’ll help make them better. “And don’t get me wrong, I’m all for experimenting. But, not that much,” He said. “There’s no reason to be worried or embarrassed about what you write. You can’t work with what you don’t have, y’know?” He asked. “And it’s not like we’re coming in with perfect songs every time. That’s never the goal anyway,” He explained. There was fun in the frustration, Ryan found, even when sometimes getting stuck on a song made him want to put his head through a wall. He wouldn’t change it for anything. “Doesn’t really matter what I think, does it?” He smirked. “You and this knife,” Ryan said with a shake of his head. “You gonna wave it around on stage too?” He laughed. “Alright, fine,” Ryan said, smirking at her. “Flirting time is over. Heard you loud and clear,” He said, with a tone that very much implied that flirting time had only just begun.

“Nice for who? I’m cursed with any and all knowledge about Ryan and Jake,” Kyle said with a laugh. It was freeing to have a place where she could just be herself, and to feel understood. The three of them knew each other better than they knew most of their family. Though, they were closer with each other than they were most of their given families. “Well, as I get to know you better, I’ll be able to make things that are better suited to your style. Not just retro-fitting my stuff on you,” Kyle said with a smile. “Speaking of, next time you’re at the apartment, I gotta get your measurements,” She thoughtfully added. “Yeah, exactly! I needed a little more muscle on my side. Sometimes, Jake goes Team Boys so I need the backup,” She laughed. “Good!” Kyle enthused. “You didn’t look nervous on stage to me. You looked like you’d been doing it your whole life,” She shrugged. “Ryan’s actually got a pretty good sense for that stuff. It’s the only intelligence he’s got,” She chuckled. “Oh, you’ll get used to them eventually. The chaos might even start to get charming,” She said knowingly. As much as she faked annoyance over the boys’ antics, she was guilty of laughing at it every time. “You say that, but really I think a worm has an easier time getting laid. The worm can’t get so far into its own head,” She chuckled. “I got you, babe. Don’t worry,” Kyle winked. “I wouldn’t worry too much when we’re at the gigs and stuff. Eventually some other girl will get his attention and he’ll bother her for the night,” She shrugged. “It would be a bad idea, which is exactly why I wouldn’t put it passed Ryan,” Kyle agreed. At her question, Kyle looked to the ceiling and tilted her head in thought. “Well—“ She began, then tilted her head the other way as she tried to figure out how to best explain it. “It’s like—yes and no. Like he is absolutely a slut and we can say that,” She began. “And he definitely does not present himself as the guy you wanna bring around your girlfriends because he’ll hook up with your friends,” She explained. “But what I will say is that he is weirdly honest with these girls. Like he’ll flat-out tell them that he doesn’t want a girlfriend, or that he’s just trying to hook up this one time or whatever, but they don’t always believe him. Like, he’s not gonna change, but they think that he will, so they answer when he calls and they end up getting their feelings hurt down the line. And I get to hear all about it from them,” Kyle said with a sarcastic smile. “I don’t know what they think they’re gonna get from me other than that Ryan is an asshole, but whatever,” She shrugged. “Please, this is gonna be just as much fun for me. We’re gonna make you so much sick shit!”

“Don’t coddle him!” Clarke playfully groaned. “Ruby, you haven’t even seen how bad it can be yet,” He said, shaking his head. “Laugh it up, motherfuckers,” Danny said, rolling his eyes. “I’ve got Ruby on my team now, so you can all respectfully suck my dick,” He laughed. “If I watch you fumble again after the show tonight, I’m kicking your ass and I’m not kidding anymore,” Ryan said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I might join him,” Jake replied with a chuckle. “She’s fucking into you dude, it shouldn’t be this hard!” Ryan exclaimed, and then immediately glanced at Lexi, who was too busy at the bar to hear him. “Dude, shh! That’s classified!” Danny said through gritted teeth. “Do you see what I deal with, Ruby?” Danny asked, shaking his head. “I hate it here,” He said with a chuckle that betrayed him. “Yeah, I guess a couple of people saw you with us last night and were asking who you were,” Jake told Ruby with a smile. “We’ll introduce you after the set?” He offered. “I dunno if that many of them will be here early enough to say hi before. Well, besides Lexi,” He shrugged.

“I think we could throw one next week, huh?” Jake asked, then looked at the group. “We don’t have a gig on Wednesday night, so why not?” Ryan asked with a shrug, glancing at Danny. “I’ve got morning class Thursday, but if I could be still-drunk for it, it’ll make it a lot better,” He laughed. “Cool, done,” Jake said, grinning at Ruby. “See how easy it is?” He asked. “And there’s about a ninety percent chance that one of us is home at any given time, but you can shoot us a text if you want so you don’t waste the subway fare,” He offered. Lexi smiled a little wider once she saw how happy Kyle looked. “Oh my god, you’re so cute,” Lexi said as she leaned in. She concealed a giggle into her hand and nodded. “How old are you?” She asked, then looked to Kyle. “I mean, I don’t really give a shit if you’re not twenty-one, but it’d probably help me figure out what to make you,” She said, then shook her head. “Just gimme a sec to give these to the boys,” She nodded. Lexi grabbed the pints and walked them over to the boys, giving Danny a shy smile before she came back. “The easiest things to order is just an alcohol and a mixer. Most bars have orange, pineapple, and cranberry juice and then they’ll have soda water, coke, sprite, ginger ale—“ She said as she looked at the soda gun to make sure that she didn’t forget anything. “If you wanna get fancy you can ask for a lemon or a lime, too. I’d suggest it if you’re gonna drink something like a vodka soda. It just adds a little flavor,” She explained. “Whenever you come to my bar, we can try out something new until you find what you like, okay?” She offered with a smile as she slid Ruby the rum and coke. “Rum and coke is a good starter drink. It goes down pretty easy,” Lexi explained. “Like you’d like to do on Danny?” Kyle asked, and Lexi’s jaw immediately dropped. She looked quickly at the boys before looking back at Kyle with a blush. “Oh, shut up bitch!” She said with a loud laugh.

#two

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ryansjagger · 4 years ago

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rubyartamonov:

“Well when we go on tour we’ll be playing Philly, won’t we?” Ruby said with a smirk. Maybe she was getting ahead of herself, already entertaining these ideas of success and greatness when she’d only just officially joined the band hours ago. But they were all so excited, and it was so easy to get carried away when one of her greatest dreams was being realized. “Really? How do you get any sleep then?” She joked, though she guessed she knew what Ryan was getting at. Maybe. Ruby spent a lot of time in quiet solitude. Too much, if she thought about it for too long. “Yeah, of course,” Ruby nodded when he explained their beach trips. And she let herself get carried away with that too, of future invitations to beach days and playing frisbee and drinking cold beers. Just like she’d seen in movies and on TV. And like she’d seen other groups of people do when her mother took her to the beach for a day. “I’m…I’m sort of shy. But I like talking to people. I don’t really know,” Ruby said, huffing a laugh and running a hand over her face. She wasn’t really prepared to answer questions of the nature, and that particular question was hard to answer considering she didn’t spend a lot of time interacting with other people.

Ruby smiled when Ryan said that they knew plenty of tattoo artists. Everything was happening so fast she started to fear that she was going to get whiplash. “Definitely looking forward to that,” she said with a nod, though she knew she’d need to carefully space out these acts of rebellion in order to keep it under her mother’s nose. For as long as she could. Forever was the goal. “Well, it’s the first name I though thought of and it is more creative than like, Bambi,” she chuckled. Ruby glanced over Ryan’s arms again and imagined what she’d look like with tattoos all over her skin, instead of the doodle’s she’d draw on during exceptionally boring days at school. “Yeah, well, definitely not scared of blood,” Ruby said with a shrug. She was of course used to it from nursing school. But Ruby also had fuzzy memories of her mother rushing in the door of their house and shouting at Ruby to get their first aid supplies to tend to a mysterious slash on her arm or to clean dried blood from her skin. Though she was told they were all work related—there was a very violent patient today in the ward—Ruby had her own suspicions about her mother’s injuries. Not that she’d ever have the gall to ask about it. “I think I’ll just see where I want to work when I get to the stage of doing clinical,” Ruby said with a shrug. “Yeah, exactly. Like if I had a tattoo on my back how the hell would my place of employment know that?” she agreed. She grimaced when Ryan explained what had hurt him and Jake during their tattoo process. “I’ve broken a couple of bones and gotten some pretty bad scrapes and I soldier on just fine,” she said with a little chuckle. “Yeah, and I can always tell when Eddie really likes a tune because he’ll bop his little head up and down. It’s really cute, but I’m definitely looking forward for more human audiences,” Ruby laughed. “I actually really like horror movies,” Ruby interjected, because that was absolutely true. Getting lost in horror movies, or books, provided her with an odd sense of comfort. The best part about them was that they ended, that they were just stories. What Ruby feared in real life was never ending. “You’re apparently very annoying,” she retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. She knew her cheeks must have been bright red with how hot they felt. “I’m not working on anything!” she grumbled, following him out and rolling her eyes at his apparent amusement.

“Kinda genius; I’ll keep that in mind,” Ruby giggled at Kyle’s suggestion. “So he’s always been that cocky?” she asked Kyle, shaking her head. She nearly cooed when Kyle explained that they boys tried their best to show her their appreciation. “I think the effort at all is really nice. Though I think I’d kill Danny if he ruined my clothes, especially with how amazing your closet is,” she chuckled. Ruby gave Kyle a bright grin when she expressed that she was excited to be her friend. It felt equal parts terrifying and exhilarating to be making so many new friends so fast. Especially friends her mother knew nothing about, and would know nothing about. She didn’t realized just how good rebelling would feel. “Oh totally. You’ll have me around to remind them how awesome you are when they forget it. Actually, I’ll make sure they don’t forget it in the first place,” she assured her. “I would’ve come to you first anyway, trust me. I normally feel more comfortable around girls in general,” she said with a shrug. “Not that any of them make me uncomfortable! Obviously, or I wouldn’t be here,” she rushed, rubbing a hand over her face. Ruby laughed as she described Danny’s miserable flirting, and she was beginning to gather that his romantic life was the butt of many jokes around here with how hard all of them went in on him. “Sadly I have zero advice for him myself,” she sighed. “I think I’m pretty responsible too, so I can help now with band stuff,” she offered with a grin. Ruby furrowed her brow as Kyle spoke a little bit more about Ryan and then laughed. “Ugh, of course he is,” Ruby said. She wanted to follow it up with guys who are that attractive often are, but she knew that the relationship between Kyle and Ryan was more sibling-like and she probably wouldn’t agree. “I’ll make sure it’s very clear I’m not interested in that then,” she said with a nod. “I bet you can totally use your special girlfriend persuasion powers to get Jake to wear eyeliner for you whenever you want,” Ruby giggled. “I’m so looking forward to any and all future outfits by you.”

Ruby’s eyebrows flew up at Clarke’s comment and immediately laughed when Kyle smacked him in the side of his head. Between the attention from Ryan back at the apartment and subtle comments from Clarke, Ruby wasn’t sure if she would ever be able to stop blushing. And she needed to make it clear that no matter how cute she found them she wasn’t interested in any sort of relationship with him, especially if she wanted things to pan out well with the band. “But this girl already likes you, yes?” She got confirming nods from Clarke and Ryan. “So there’s nothing to drop, right?” she said with a shrug as if she knew anything about the nuances of flirting or dating or hooking up or any of it. But she wanted to seem like she did in front of them. “Cool. I’m excited to meet them,” she said to Jake, and tried to suppress the fact that she was over-the-moon excited to meet any of their friends. Because she’d never had so many people she could call her friends in her life. “I hope they do. I want to put on a good show,” Ruby said with a slightly nervous grin. “Weird rule,” she chuckled, harder when Clarke pulled a face after finishing the beer. “Raiders of the Lost Ark, duh,” Ruby said.

Ruby helped the boys move some things around and listened to their general instructions as they set up. “Clarke it is!” Ruby joked, flashing Jake a smile. “But seriously, anything you can teach me, or anything that would be helpful for me to learn—I’m all ears. I love all of this stuff. I’ve just uh, never gotten a chance to really get into it. Of course,” she rambled, rocking back and forth on her heels and toes. “Yeah, Ryan was telling me that your neighbors don’t mind the noise. That’s awesome. And convenient,” she chuckled. “And I really can’t wait to learn the drums.” Ruby turned to Ryan when he trotted up to her and Jake. She started to sweat a little when Ryan suggested that they get some beers before the show, but she reminded herself that one, she was of legal drinking age anyway, and two, her mother still wouldn’t be home for two more days and she would be none the wiser if Ruby had one beer. “Sure,” she said, and followed the boys to the bar, making sure to hurry up to Ryan when he smiled at her. When they approached Kyle at the bar talking to Lexi, Ruby leaned her elbows onto the counter and gave Lexi a friendly grin. “I’m Ruby,” she greeted her, holding out her hand to shake. “I dunno if Kyle told you but I’m gonna be singing with the band,” she explained then looked up at Ryan standing next to her and grinned.

“Oh yeah,” Ryan nodded. “I mean, even now we’ll do shows in Jersey and Philly,” He explained. “If we can drive to the venue within, like, a day then we don’t rule it out,” He continued. “I probably should’ve mentioned that sooner. You don’t get like, carsick or anything, do you?” He asked, then grimaced a little. He chuckled at Ruby’s joke and then shook his head. “I don’t mind the noise,” He replied. “We’ll let you know the next time we’re going. We don’t usually plan that too far out, since we’re kinda working off of when my sister invites us out,” He laughed. “I know that I’ve only known you for like—twenty-four hours or whatever, but shy is about the last word that I’d use to describe you,” Ryan laughed.

“Well, you let me know when you wanna get that started and I’ll start asking around. It’ll help if you’ve got something in mind, because some of our friends have specialties. Like my sleeve was all done by the same girl,” He explained. Ryan was happy about how quickly Ruby was assimilating to everything with the band. He knew that it wasn’t the easiest thing to do, since they’d had plenty of members come and go after the chaos became too much. Something told him that Ruby would be able to weather it, even though he didn’t know her all that well. “Sounds like you just want me to keep you around,” He teased, then looked Ruby over with a smirk. Maybe he was laying it on a little thick, even for him, but something about a girl who couldn’t be bothered was so enticing. “That’s good to know. You never know what state we’re gonna walk into the apartment in,” Ryan said, nodding to the rest of the boys and laughing. “I always forget that people actually have to think about that stuff,” He replied. After being so wrapped up in the music scene for so long, it was easy for Ryan to forget that there was a rest of the world out there. A world of people who had to present to the world each morning while he woke up and noon and ate Cheez-Itz for breakfast. “Then you should be fine,” Ryan nodded. “Sounds like he’s gonna have to be in the editing sessions with me then,” He smirked. “I hope you don’t mind surrendering him to the apartment for overnights,” He joked. “And if you’ve got stuff written already, definitely start bringing them to practice and stuff. We can start working on them together and get you into the writing process with us too,” He smiled. “We don’t end up writing alone a lot, since we’re all together, but if you prefer writing alone then we’ll make that work too,” He assured her. “Our last girl refused to write, and she only told us what she didn’t like that we were doing, so I think I speak for the guys when I say how happy we’ll be to hear anything,” He said. “Even if it sucks,” He teased, giving Ruby a wink. “That shouldn’t be surprising,” Ryan replied. “Considering you did the main-character-in-a-horror-movie thing of doing something absolutely stupid and dangerous and ending up fine,” He laughed. “But I’m happy to be a red herring,” He shrugged. “Am I?” Ryan asked, stepping a little closer to Ruby and raking his eyes over her face. “Because the blush on your cheeks is saying otherwise,” He winked, then stepped back. “Sure you’re not,” He chuckled. “Neither am I.”

“Happy to help. I’ve got a lifetime of Ryan knowledge, and yes that was an invitation to feel sorry for me,” Kyle joked. “Uhh…yeah,” Kyle said, snickering and rolling her eyes. She knew that it wasn’t really true, that it was just how he protected himself from other people. But she also knew that his cocky reputation was one he intended to keep, so she decided against saying anything to Ruby. If she stuck around, Kyle thought, she’d see for herself. “I know, they make it so hard to be annoyed at them. Sometimes,” She sighed. “Oh, trust and believe that the only reason he’s not breathing through an oxygen tank right now is because Jake calmed me down,” She assured her. “And lucky for Danny, making a new one of any of my clothes isn’t that hard. Lucky for you too, I suppose,” Kyle smirked. “I’m glad that someone who gets it will finally be around,” She chuckled. “It might be easier to convince them when I’ve got some backup,” She joked. Kyle was just relieved by how quickly she’d warmed up to Ruby. The last few attempts at bringing it a new bandmate hadn’t ended so well, and had initially left Kyle with a bad taste in her mouth over the whole idea. Ruby was changing that, though, what with how sweet she was. “They better not, or I’d bring their ass to the corner store and put their hands in the meat slicer,” Kyle promised. “And I’m not kidding,” She added. “Babe, Venus herself could not help that boy. He’s hopeless!” She whined. “I appreciate that. I’ll start introducing you to the bookers and stuff when I see them. They should get to know you anyway, considering the guys play at most of the same spots,” She shrugged. “And some of them are single and very cute,” Kyle smirked. “Y’know, so you have advice to give Danny later on,” She teased, giving Ruby a little nudge with her elbow. “That won’t matter,” She shrugged. “Ryan flirts with every woman with a pulse that’s not me or someone he’s related to,” She chuckled. “It amazes me how little he gets rejected. Like—do girls in this city really hate themselves that much?” She asked, shaking her head. “I know that I can, but I’ve got to use it wisely or else he’ll start catching on,” She smirked. “I’ll start sending you pictures of what I’m working on for school. Once they’re graded, you can have whatever you want!” She promised.

“Yeah, you’d think,” Ryan snickered. “Danny manages to find one just so he can drop it,” Clarke added, then laughed. “Listen!” Danny whined, then dropped his head. “She’s so hot. What am I supposed to do?” He asked, and shook his head at himself. “Dude, all you’ve got to do is ask her out,” Jake said. “It’s really not that fucking hard!” He added with a chuckle. “Just ask her to come back to the apartment after the show. Make up some bullshit aftershow kick-back or something. We can make that happen, no?” Ryan asked, then looked to Kyle, who gave a little nod in agreement. “And then she’s already at the apartment, so you really can’t fuck it up from there, can you?” He concluded, then looked at Danny with all the optimism he could muster for him at this point. “Yeah, I’m excited to introduce you,” Jake said with a smile. “We will. I’m never worried about that,” He assured her. “And most people’ll be too drunk to know the difference,” Danny joked.

“Yeah, that’s fair enough,” Jake replied with a breathy chuckle. He was happy to know that Ruby was genuinely enthused about what they were doing. He knew it wasn’t easy to come to terms with how unglamorous much of what they did was. And what he really wanted for the band was someone who could take it seriously. Because this wasn’t a joke to them, any of them. “We’ll get you as far into it as you wanna be,” He assured her. “Danny or Clarke can get you through the basics and me and Ryan can get you through the rest if you’re still interested,” He explained. “Yeah, Ryan’s got a knack for making friends everywhere. So it didn’t take much to get them on board with all the noise. Inviting them to the parties doesn’t hurt either,” He chuckled. “Most of our neighbors are pretty young, so they, like, get it. You know?” He shrugged. “Well, whenever you’ve got some free time on your hands, just stop by the apartment. Whoever’s home can teach you,” Ryan suggested. As they neared the bar, Ryan’s eyes immediately moved between Lexi and Danny, and then to Kyle so he could gauge what was happening. Lexi flashed them all a grin and leaned her hands against the bar. “Hey guys!” She enthused. “She was actually just telling me. Did you hear your ears ringing?” She joked. “It’s so nice to meet you, I’m Lexi!” She said, shaking Ruby’s hand and flashing her a grin. “What’ll it be, Ruby the new singer? It’s on me,” She said. “I take it that I already know what the rest of you guys want,” She chuckled, already setting up pint glasses under the taps.

#two

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ryansjagger · 4 years ago

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rubyartamonov:

Ruby fell quiet for a moment, studying his face before letting out a short laugh and letting her neck go slack. “I promise, don’t worry about it. I can handle anything that comes up, if anything comes up,” she assured him, and herself in the process. She caught his gaze for a moment to try and convey that she was serious. And she was very serious about this. If she could have half of what she had performing the night before she was willing to bend over backwards to keep it, despite the complications that might come along with it and her mother. The brevity with which Ryan spoke about his own family made a small smirk curl up on her face. She certainly understood not wanting to talk about family. And she wouldn’t push it, hoping that maybe Ryan would stop asking so many questions too. “I haven’t really been to any major cities other than New York, so I haven’t really experienced any other tourist-y things. Mostly the trips I’ve been on have been to like, lake houses and beaches and quiet stuff like that,” Ruby said with a shrug. “I don’t know a lot of people,” she reminded him with a tiny laugh. “I do think it’s a good thing. And I will.”

“Hope you can help a girl out when I’m ready to get mine done too,” Ruby said. She admired the tattoo again then looked up back at Ryan’s face with a grin. “You should name her Ruby,” she joked. “It’s a really beautiful tattoo,” Ruby added. She couldn’t wait until she finally was able to dress how she wanted to and look how she wanted without her mother’s voice in her ear. The older she got, the more she realized that her own desires differed greatly from her mother’s and she was still trying to figure out how to navigate that while still depending on her. This felt like a huge first step, though. “I mean I could do without a lot of stuff like the puke, but needles are no big. I did just pull a knife out before, didn’t I?” she said with a grin that was just shy of too smug. She couldn’t help it. Proving to herself and the vision of her mom in her head that she could handle herself was too sweet not to revel in for as long as she could. “Well, it’s not like a universal rule. But most places where you’d work have rules about visible tattoos on staff. So it’s up to every hospital or practice or whatever,” she explained. “But uh—I’m not really allowed to get tattoos,” she added, then cringed at how much of a child she sounded like. “Okay, then maybe not my ribs, but my foot or something for the first one if it really hurts that bad,” Ruby mused. Instead of elaborating more on her situation with school, she just offered Ryan a helpless shrug. It was too complicated and frustrating to try and explain now. “Yeah, pretty much,” Ruby giggled when he asked what had given them away. Her smile widened and she nodded as Ryan agreed with her about the band. All of this felt so real and solid and good—in a way that made her stomach flip. “He’s no songwriter but he’s a fantastic audience,” she said of Eddie with a laugh. “Well to me it sounds sweet,” she said with a dreamy smile on her face. “No, no—I’ve seen Carrie,” she said, then swallowed hard as she thought about the first time she watched that particular film snuggled up with Eddie in her bed, thinking about how it must have felt to have a mother like that. “That’s not what I was confused about I’m just—well, I don’t know. You’re—hmm,” she stammered. Maybe she wasn’t as good at thinking on her feet as she thought. Or maybe she just wasn’t used to this kind of attention. “Don’t we have a show to get to?” she diverted, letting out a breathy laugh.

Ruby chuckled, shaking her head. “Well there’s plenty of guitars around if I need to swing at him again.” She shook her head and smiled as Kyle talked about the boys. “As long as they show you they appreciate you in their own way, ‘cause you’re totally amazing,” she said. Ruby could hardly believe how quickly Kyle had scooped her right up and taken her under her wing. She listened to Kyle talk about the origins of the band and smiled at the affection in her voice. The more she got to know everyone and talk to them the more apparent it was that they were all very fond of each other despite the constant teasing. She was so lonely most of her life that she forgot this kind of thing wasn’t just in books and movies. “I can tell,” she said softly when Kyle said that she was proud. “How could they not be happy with Superwoman as a roommate?” Ruby chuckled. “Shy, sure,” she said, furrowing her brow for a moment. “I guess I just never really had a lot of time to think about that stuff—dating I mean. I could definitely use the help,” she mumbled, and sincerely hoped the blush would just fade from her cheeks. She didn’t want to tell Kyle that her mother had a strict no dating rule until she was finished with school, or that Ruby had turned down any time she’d ever been asked for her number or to hang out. She was beginning to gather that her case was a little different from other people her age. “Danny’s cute and nice, I don’t know why he seems to have such a hard time with girls,” she giggled. She cocked an eyebrow at her assessment of Ryan and slowly nodded. But she figured she’d have a lot of time to get to know him now that they’d be playing together. When Kyle talked about what kind of drinks she’d get for Ruby, she nodded and did her best to pretend like she knew exactly what she was talking about. She couldn’t figure out when the right time to be honest about things was. Which cards she should keep to her chest. But Kyle was so easy to talk to, and everything about her felt very safe. But still, she wanted to look cool. To seem like she wasn’t so much of a lost cause. “You seem very responsible!” Ruby said with a chuckle. “Hmm,” she sounded, furrowing her brow as Kyle tried to explain Ryan, then hoped that she didn’t start blushing again when Kyle called her a hot girl. “So he’s a player?” she asked with an amused grin. “Oh, he had a functioning brain to begin with?” she joked, then felt a little bad about taking a dig at Ryan when he wasn’t even around to defend himself. “I bet they all look ten times cooler when they put on a little Billy Joe style liner and wear something you make for them,” she said with a nod. “I’ll keep that in mind,” Ruby chuckled.

Ruby tried to keep up with the story about this girl, Lexi, who was apparently very hot and very much had a crush on Danny. “What’s the problem then if you like her and she likes you?” she giggled, looking to Danny, as if she would know anything about that. She gave him a sympathetic smile when he feebly tried to speak up and Clarke shook his shoulders. She rose her eyebrows and noted the tone of Clarke’s voice when he said he wouldn’t mind seeing Lexi around the apartment. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to stop blushing at this rate, with the lot of them talking so freely like this about a girl. It was all such new territory for her, but she figured it was best to keep mum to save herself from any embarrassment, especially when it was easy to be distracted by how nice all of their smiles were. “Oh, I hope she does! And speaking of that you know, I’m really happy to meet any of your friends and stuff, especially if I’ll be seeing them around shows and all of that,” Ruby said to the boys with an excited smile. She swiped through the few photos on her phone and couldn’t control the grin on her face and how much her cheeks were aching from it. “Do you have to finish it?” she chuckled, looking to Clarke and shaking her head. Ruby rounded to the back of the van to grab Ryan’s guitar and smirked at his comment. “And the setlist is the commandments?” she joked, following Ryan to the door.

Once they were inside the venue, Ruby peered around with wide eyes. The same buzzing beneath her skin that she felt last night coursed through her veins and the second she looked at the stage she knew she would be able to do this. Even if it was in a blacked out state like last night. “I do want to learn,” she said with a nod, joining the boys as they set up and listened as they explained. She knew she wouldn’t retain it all right now, but she had time to learn, and she was determined to. “I can play a little bass,” she told Jake. “He did tell me that. And he said he’d teach me drums! I’ve always wanted to learn how to play,” she said, and stopped herself before she could tell them she never learned because drums were far too much of a ruckus for her mother. “Oh! Good, I was just going to say I know I was able to jump right in singing and stuff but that always came a little easier to me than learning how to play guitar,” she said with a breathless laugh. Once they finished setting up, Ruby smiled proudly at the boys and looked around to see Kyle at the bar talking with the bartender. “Is that Lexi?” Ruby asked Ryan with a smirk as she adjusted her mic stand, nodding subtly to the bar.

“Okay,” Ryan said, even if he didn’t really believe it. Maybe he was just jaded by the last time they’d tried to bring someone new into the band. He was afraid of getting his hopes up again for fear of being disappointed. But maybe Ruby was telling the truth, maybe they could actually make this work and could have something here. Seeing her perform the night before made him want to be an optimist for a change. There was no denying that the rest of the guys felt the same when they hadn’t been able to stop talking about it since. “You’re not really missing much not going to Philly,” Ryan said with a shrug. “I mean, everything that’s good about Philly is even better here. Except maybe a cheesesteak and the fact that The Wonder Years got their start in Philly,” He chuckled. “I’ve never gone anywhere quiet,” He smirked. “We’ll go to the beaches around here sometimes, but we usually save the beach trips for when we go to Amanda’s because she lives right there,” He explained. “Make a weekend of it, y’know?” He added. “I don’t know that Danny knows a lot of people in his program. Well, like, he knows them but he doesn’t know them, you know? He’s pretty shy around people he doesn’t know. If you haven’t gathered that already. Are you shy? Because you don’t really peg me for much of an introvert, all things considered,” He chuckled. “Hope so.”

“Oh yeah,” Ryan quickly nodded. “We’ve got a bunch of friends that tattoo. All different style specialties too, if you’re looking for something in particular. We’ll make sure you don’t end up with some whack-ass tattoo,” He assured her. “Only known me twenty-four hours and you already want me to dedicate my tattoo to you? Sheesh,” He teased, flashing a grin at her. “Thank you,” He then said, smiling a little softer. “It’s one of the first ones I got, so I’m glad it’s holding up,” He said, then ran a hand over it. It felt a little funny to look at the tattoo now, he’d gone through so many phases with it. He hated looking at it when he was put away, because then it was a reminder of the relationship that he had lost with Amanda. But now that the old wounds were finally starting to heal, having this reminder was starting to hurt a lot less. Now it felt more like a reminder of what he had to lose if he got into trouble again. Real trouble, that is, since trouble always seemed to follow him wherever he went. “A knife and a needle are different things. All it says to me is that you’re not scared of a little blood. Which is a good thing to know, since some of the shows we do can get a little violent,” He chuckled. “Are you gonna be a hospital nurse or are you going to a doctor’s office? I don’t really know how you decide that. Amanda kinda said from the jump that she wanted to be in the hospital,” He shrugged. “Not allowed to get them in places that can be easily seen, sounds like it,” He chuckled. “You might be fine as far as pain tolerance goes, but I think it’s one of those things that you don’t know until you know, y’know?” He asked, then shook his head a little. “My sterum wasn’t that bad for me, but I know Jake was struggling when he got his. My rib was way worse for me. So it sort of just depends,” He shrugged. “I guess that’s a good thing to have too. Half the fun of writing a song is getting the reaction from an audience, right?” He smiled. “Let Jake know that. I’m sure he’ll be happy to have someone on his team,” He joked. “Not a horror movie person?” He asked. “Good to know you’re out for movie night then,” He said, then started to smirk. “I’m what?” Ryan asked, taking a particular joy out of watching her be flustered around him. “Ah, don’t tell you’re gonna go get all shy now,” He tutted, then shook his head. “That we do, c’mon. You can work on your chat-up lines for me in the car.”

“Use one of his,” Kyle encouraged. “It’ll hurt his ego more than his head, and trust me, that’s a lot harder of a hit for him,” Kyle laughed. “And god knows he could use a knock down from that pedestal he puts himself on,” She teased. “They try…with mixed success,” She said, then smiled fondly. “Like, they all made breakfast for me the other day. But then last month Danny tried to do my laundry and managed to shrink everything in there,” She chuckled. “It’s kinda hard to be mad when they try to be sweet,” She cooed. “You are so sweet. I’m keeping you, just so you know,” Kyle said, giving Ruby a smile. She was just so excited by the prospect of having another girl around. Especially a girl that was clearly already getting along with the boys. “It’s hard not to be, even though they’re a bunch of dumbasses. They’re just talented dumbasses,” She chuckled. “D’you mind reminding them of that? It seems like they could use the reminder,” She winked. “When it comes to all things dating, you just come to me, okay? Don’t trust any of those guys to give you any useful advice. Actually—don’t trust the guys for any advice. They’ll only steer you down their terrible path,” She said with a slight shudder. “Danny can’t stop choking on his tongue the second he sees a girl he finds remotely attractive. His best move is when he shuts the fuck up,” She snickered. “You should see when Clarke or Ryan tries to wing man for him. They tee him up and he just trips on the way out,” She said, pouting. “You’ll see it tonight when he tries to talk to Lexi. And that’s a girl we know is into him. Somehow she’s charmed by him. God help her,” She joked. “Someone’s gotta be around here. I’m finally getting Jake to start getting it together. Clarke is my next project. I think I can break him,” She said, grinning devilishly. “That doesn’t even begin to cover it. He’s probably the picture next to the definition of fuck boy in the dictionary,” She explained. “He’s always been that way,” She added. “Which is to say that he has absolutely never had a functioning brain. I’ve watched his brain not-develop since we were kids,” She laughed. “They look so much cooler. I want Jake to wear eyeliner like—all the time. But he won’t put the effort in just to sit around the house. I’m lucky he sits long enough for me to put it on when it’s a day that matters,” Kyle said, then grinned at Ruby. “But don’t worry—I won’t forget about you when I make the real good stuff.”

“The problem—“ Clarke began before Danny could defend himself. “Is that Danny can’t handle talking to hot girls. Hence why he can barely manage to make eye contact with you,” He said, then felt Kyle’s hand collide with the side of his head. “I just don’t wanna drop the ball,” Danny quietly explained. “How can you drop it if you don’t even bother to pick it up?” Ryan asked, smirking back at Danny through the rearview. “Dude, when we get there, just go to the bar for beer and invite her back to the apartment after the show. That’s all you’ve gotta say. You’ve got the out because you’ve gotta get on stage,” He suggested. “Some of our friends will be here tonight,” Jake smiled. “The rest’ll all be at the party so we’ll be able to introduce you then,” He added. “And I’m sure everyone’s gonna wanna meet you after seeing you perform tonight!” Kyle enthused. “I do now,” Clarke said to Ruby, and finished off his beer. “On principle. I see a beer, I drink it,” He shrugged, then groaned a little at the aftertaste. Ryan laughed at Ruby’s joke, then furrowed his eyebrows. “What Indiana Jones movie is that from?”

Inside the venue, Ryan was in work mode. He bounced around the stage until he was ready to do a soundcheck on his guitar. He started to play, then hummed in frustration and hopped off the stage to go to the sound booth. Jake smirked, then turned to Ruby. “If you want the painstaking details, then I’m your guy. Me and Ryan do this stuff for other people most nights of the week,” He chuckled. “But if you want the abridged—and probably much less boring version—maybe ask Clarke,” Jake added. “That’ll be awesome. The more stuff you know, the more things you can do when you feel like it,” He nodded. “The neighbors are pretty cool next door, so it won’t be an issue when you’re still learning. We’ve tried to soundproof where we can, but there’s only so much you can do when you share a wall like that, y’know?” He shrugged. Ryan then jumped back up onto the stage, looking more satisfied than he did when he left. “We should be all good now,” He explained, then gave Jake a half-exasperated look. Jake nodded, then half-turned to Ruby. “New guys in the back,” He explained. Ryan then turned his attention to where Ruby was looking and chuckled when he spotted Kyle and Lexi. “That’s her,” He nodded. Ryan then looked between Jake and Ruby and smirked. “How about a round of beers before people start rolling in?” He asked, wagging his eyebrows and subtly nodding to Danny. “I’m down,” Clarke said, hopping up from the drum kit and immediately making a move toward where Kyle was. “C’mon. Last one buys the round unless Lexi puts it on the house,” He said, grinning at Ruby.

#two

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