𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐲 & 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 ✩ 𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐝𝗼𝐧

🆂🅸🆇🆃🅴🅴🅽

𝐬𝗼𝐧𝐠: 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐤

✩✩✩

Ruby had slept in, and was awoken by the sound of sharp knocking at her door.

She pulled back the bedsheets and stumbled sleepily over to the door, lowly unlocking it as the knocking continued.

"Hey, hey I'm opening up, geez~" she mumbled, opening the door a crack.

Her heart gave a leap. Cops.

"Can we come in?"

"Y-yeah, what's this about? If it's about me missing school today- I slept in... sorry," Ruby replied, opening the door and stepping aside to allow them to enter.

They immediately scanned the room, and her, seeing her cuts and fresh bruises.

"Where were you last night?" The tallest of the cops inquired.

Ruby's heartbeat quickened as she slipped a sweater over her pyjamas. "Uh, I was at a party,"

"How did you get those injuries, then, were you in a fight?"

"Yeah, well, hardly a fight..." she replied. "What's going on?"

"You have been identified as an instigator of a major fight in a bar late last night. Multiple people have been severely injured and one man is on life support due to a chest wound,"

Ruby remembered how she'd driven a shard of glass into a man's stomach. It must have been him.

She swallowed her guilty pleasure, putting on a concerned expression. "And you think I did that?"

"Not just you alone, your boyfriend, Langdon, was identified too."

"Oh... um..." Ruby trailed off, lost for words.

"Would you like to tell us the truth about where you were last night?"

She sat on her bed, drumming her fingers on her knees. "Mr, what I said earlier... uh... we were in that bar sir, I'm sorry, but we didn't start the fight- and we only got hurt as we tried to leave- self defence, y'know?"

"So you snuck into a pub and were underage drinking, and then hospitalised several people in an attempt to escape?"

"I didn't do that. I didn't hurt those people. I would never do that," Ruby said urgently. "And neither would Tate."

"You understand the consequences of your actions, then? Underage drinking alone will get you a misdemeanour criminal offence for the underage purchase and consumption of alcohol,"

She nodded. "Counselling? Like, in school? Or community service?"

"The first. And we're aware of your psychiatric services you've been receiving, there will be extra sessions required and most likely medication if you're diagnosed with something."

"Now we're going to have to cuff you and take you to the station, Tate is currently being held there too," the other said. "You will face a repeat of these questions for our records before being released."

Ruby frowned but let herself be taken away, her mind racing.

The dull throbbing pain of her injuries was making it hard to think.

YOUR TURN
YOUR TURN
YOUR TURN

✩✩✩

"Do you realise how lucky you two are?"

"Lucky? Kathy, we got registered criminal offences and are being excluded from school for a week." Ruby said, her and Kathy were giving Tate a lift back from the station.

"You could've gotten so much worse," Kathy replied, glancing at the pair in the back seat.

Tate hadn't said much the whole time they were at the police station.

He looked as if he was lost in his own mind, thinking through what to do next.

Ruby shuffled in her seat and stared out the window, frowning.

"I think you should talk to Mr Harmon more, be a little more cooperative," Kathy looked at her before her gaze drifted to Tate. "From what I've heard you should too,"

He didn't even acknowledge the woman, his eyes fixed on the road ahead as they pulled up by his house.

He just nodded to Kathy in thanks as he climbed out the car, subtly handing Ruby a note as he went.

✩✩✩