The Ineffable Ruth Rhodes

40 thank you

vincent

The next days that followed were somewhat steps piling up in order for the catalyst that would follow.

They'd arranged to work at his house the following Thursday, Friday, and if they needed it, the Saturday, and Sunday, to finish the project.

On the first day, Vincent had messaged Ruth beforehand, but didn't get a reply, so when his bell rang and he casually strode to open it, he was shocked to see her standing there.

Vincent blinked at Ruth.

As the cold air swept into the room and chilled him, he did a quick sweep of her. She was wearing a big mustard-colored puffer, making her look very small, with a thick, black scarf wrapped buffly around her neck, and her bag slung over one shoulder. Half her face was hidden in the scarf, especially with the toque (God bless her for finally wearing it right) covering just below her brows, before she looked up while pulling her scarf down and revealed a slightly pink-tinted nose and cheeks, and breath coming out in pale puffs of air. Her eyelashes were frozen by the looks of it as well, with white tips blinking and her hair tied back like it always was. She looked like a snowman. He wanted to hug her.

Instead, he said, "You actually came."

Her features softened for a moment. "Of course."

"You didn't reply to my messages, so I thought you wouldn't show up." Shut up. Why was he getting annoyed? He knew she didn't want to have anything to do with him. He didn't know why small things like that still upset him.

She held up her phone. "It froze and died, sorry." He wanted to punch himself for almost being happy. "Do you have a charger?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, 'f course."

They stared at each other for a moment, before she pointed somewhat at his house and raised her brows slightly, reminding him that she was still in the cold. Vincent blinked once more and cleared his throat, widening his door. "Sorry. Come in."

"Thank you."

"Shoot," he said after closing the door. "I already put all my supplies away. Give me a sec."

"Are we not working in your room...?" she asked as she unwrapped her scarf.

Vincent regarded her for a moment. "No..." he said. "We'll work on the dining table."

He jogged up the stairs three at a time, picking his backpack off the ground, rummaging through the piles of homework and grabbing the essentials. He changed his shirt too, embarrassed at the ramen stains she'd probably seen. Then he began thinking about her.

Ruth talked to him...

He shook his head, laughing at himself. He was really pathetic. Was he at the point that her talking to him made him happy?

...

Yeah. He definitely was.

He didn't want to see her unhappy. And more than that, he didn't want to be the one to make her unhappy. That's why he was letting her go.

But when he saw her standing in the doorway, and she unwrapped the scarf...

He closed his eyes.

He was really considering holding her in his arms.

Sucking in a deep breath, he made his way downstairs, seeing Ruth sitting comfortably with one leg propped up on his dining room chair.

"Hey."

She turned to him, blinking at his shirt. He peered down, eyes landing on the corner that was riding up.

Vincent raised a brow, pulling it down casually as he could, sitting across from her to give her as much space as he could. "Hey. Let's start."