You dunce. (Whitty x Ruv)

I'll save you.

"What?!" Ruv asked, alarmed, but before he knew it, Updike was already making his way towards the bomb, cocking his pistol. Ruv didn't have many combat skills, but he could still fight barely well. He was quite strong, and usually would get into fights in school as a kid.

The Russian didn't have time to think about it before he yelled, "Get down!" He pushed Whitty down, hoping Sarv would get out of the way as well. As he did so, Updike shot his gun, hitting the wall. The food joint was already frantic with screaming and people rushing out the door.

Ruv's head was beginning to pound from all the noise, but even so, he had to keep the other two safe. If anything was to happen to them, it'd keep him up for months. Ruv was already climbing over Whitty, tackling Updike as the cloud shot the gun again, this time at the ceiling.

His ears rang, and he was deaf for a minute before he yelled, "S-Sarv, Whitty, run!!" Whitty was already being dragged out the door by Sarv, the crowd nearly pushing them outside before Whitty yelled, "Ruv!-"

Ruv's heart was pounding so hard he could hear it in his ears. Updike was already struggling to get up, but Ruv wasn't letting that happen. He pinned Updike to the ground, which was fairly easy considering how tall Ruv was compared to the other.

He threw a quick punch to Updike's face, not sure it would do anything since his head was a cloud. But, to his surprise, it worked. His knuckles stung as Ruv threw another. Updike was fighting back as well, his hands finding Ruv's neck as he choked him.

Ruv was being choked. The motion caught him off guard, causing Updike to take advantage and pull Ruv off of him. Ruv kicked his legs as he fell onto the cold tile floor, gagging as he gripped Updike's wrist, trying to loosen his hands.

He couldn't breathe. He felt himself get dizzy as the world around him got fuzzy. He felt his eyes begin to close, though he struggled to stay awake. Ruv's struggling slowed to a stop. He heard Updike pull out his gun, planning to shoot Ruv.

Someone had punched Updike, knocking him out. Ruv was shaken awake by Whitty. He gasped and coughed, sitting up slowly. Whitty was already lifting the Russian up with ease. Ruv was still fairly dizzy, and he had the worst migraine ever.

Ruv slowly felt himself drift into unconsciousness again.

------------------

"He's been sleeping for a while, we should wake him up." Ruv's head had stopped pounding. He heard a female voice speaking. It wasn't Sarv, as it wasn't very high-pitched like hers was.

His eyes fluttered open as he sat up slowly. The quick scent of cigarette smoke filled his nostrils as he cringed. Once he was somewhat awake, he looked around, "Wh-.." He muttered, noticing not only Whitty and Sarv standing there, but a new girl was there too.

"Ruv! You're alright! Thank goodness!!" Sarv shouted, hugging Ruv tightly. It took him a second to realize that he wasn't even in their own apartment. Whitty had a worried expression as he walked over.

"Where are we?" The Russian asked, looking around as Sarv pulled away from him. That girl answered, "This is mine and Whitty's apartment. I'm Carol, nice to meet you." She gave a sweet smile. Whitty sighed, "I figured it'd be dangerous to take you back to your place, just in case Updike attached a tracker device to us.. Or- something like that."

Ruv chuckled, although it hurt. Talking hurt a lot. He reached up and touched his neck, wincing at how sore it was. "Careful," Carol said, walking closer to the couch, "Your neck is very bruised. Poor guy."

"Updike choked you out pretty bad," Whitty said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I-.. I couldn't leave you there to fight him alone. You saved me before, so I thought I'd return the favor."

Ruv felt a weird feeling in his stomach. It felt like butterflies were gonna start flying out of his mouth. "Oh, uh," Ruv said quietly, looking away, "Thank you, for that.. I just wanted to protect you. If you or Sarv got hurt, I would never be able to forgive myself."

Sarv giggled, "You're so cute, Ruv." Ruv glared at her in response. Carol caught them before anything happened, "You've been asleep for a good 4 hours. It's almost noon already. If you're hungry, we have food."

Ruv opened his mouth to speak, but his stomach spoke for him. It growled loudly, earning a snicker or two from the others. He blushed in embarrassment, sighing, "Food sounds good. Thanks."

Lunch was eaten. Ruv was zoned out pretty much the whole conversation. He was shaken to his senses when Sarv had asked him if he was alright. "What?" He said, looking at her.

"How hard did Updike hit you, buddy?" She said, "You look like you blanked and your brain shut off." Ruv just rolled his eyes and pushed her off. He stood, though wobbled a little. "We should get going. Um, Whitty, Carol, thank you for having us."

"Wait!" Whitty said, Ruv turned to look at him, raising a brow. "I-, um," Whitty spat. He sounded flustered at how sudden everything was, "I want to keep in contact with you, so, uh.. Can I have your number?"

Ruv blinked, nodding soon after, "Of course." He heard Sarv giggle in the background as they exchanged contacts. Afterwards, he walked to the door with Sarv, yawning.

"Thanks for helping!" Sarv said, mostly to Carol. Ruv only huffed, looking at Whitty, "If anything happens, call me. I'll be over as soon as I can, okay?" Whitty only smiled, "Don't worry about it. You go home and rest, okay?"

The two were sent off with goodbyes. They traveled through the alleyways to stay out of sight, just in case Updike was around. Once they made it back home safely, Ruv had beelined straight towards his room.

He sat on his bed, taking off his hat and he thought about all that happened today. It was all so fast and scary. It felt off to him. But, he felt warm at the thought of the bomb helping him.

Even though they'd just met the night before, Whitty was already ready to risk his life to save Ruv. It made him blush, but he scoffed and rubbed his face. Not that it would help.

Ruv already missed Whitty.