off limits ( m.s. )

TWENTY FIVE

XXV.
SOTC: right here, for now - bakar

- irl, imessage, social media -

irl

she leaves matt early in the morning, just like she said she would. he doesn't wake up as she slips out of bed, padding back to her own room as quietly as possible. not being in his arms is far less comfortable.

ruby doesn't get much sleep after leaving him. she lays with her eyes closed, fading in an out of consciousness. the rest of them finally wake up a few hours later, and they get dressed and ready for their day in the city.

the first destination is breakfast, which is in a cute diner-style restaurant with a forgettable name. matt gives her his toast, even though she insisted that he keep it for himself.

they walk around the park next, and ruby loses herself in the views. the flowers are in bloom, the vines hang low in the trees, and the water glistens as children run around the grass. she can't stop taking pictures, because she wants to remember every gorgeous detail.

    soon after, they venture into the city, stopping in different shops that the boys point out. they end up going into the bakery that chris had perviously mentioned, and she nearly loses her mind over the cannolis. they're just as good as he hyped them up to be.

    they grab lunch at a restaurant with a rooftop dining area, which is an experience in itself. nick pretends to shove chris off at least ten times, much to his brother's dismay, and they spend most of the time giggling together under the sun.

    ruby even gets a touristy boston sweatshirt to take home with her. a little memento of their time together.

her feet are starting to feel sore by the time they make it back to where matt parked. she can see that the boys are losing steam too, a bit worn out from the adventures of the day.

    they all clamber into the car. ruby had been given passenger seat privilege for the trip, so she stares out her window as they retreat from the city.

    "yo, nate just texted." chris says a few minutes into the drive.

    "what'd he say?" matt asks, glancing into the rear view mirror for a second.

    "he's wondering if we wanna grocery shop for the party and then go swimming."

    this time matt looks toward her, like he's wondering how she feels about that. ruby claps her hands together as energetically as possible, because it does seem like a good time.

    "that sounds fun." she replies.

"does he want me to pick him up?"

"yeah, he asked if you could just snag him on the way back." chris has his head buried in his phone as he answers.

"sure."

for the next ten minutes, ruby can feel herself gradually becoming more and more anxious. she's so worried that nathan won't like her, that she'll say something stupid and make a fool of herself in front of all of them.

she picks at her nails until they finally get to his house. nathan comes bounding down the driveway with a huge smile on his face, and when he opens the car door the triplets cheer.

"there he is!" chris claps him on the back before he squeezes into the middle seat.

"god, it's good to see you guys." nate says happily.