Ruby and Liam AU

Its a date, that's not a date

A/N - the above photo has nothing to do with the chapter, but it's one of my favorite wallpapers, so feel free to use it (I prob should mention That I don't own it, or the characters in the story)😄I'm gonna switch point of views throughout the chapter, hope you like it!
Enjoy!

Ruby's POV

When the end-of-school bell rings, I'm the first one outta there, not even bothering going back to my locker. I'm supposed to finish up all my chores before my dad gets home from his new "job". It's really an internship for the town's fire department.
I guess he can't get a normal office job seeing that he was an officer back in Salem too. And I know he means well, but he always made really silly mistakes as an officer. Like... He pulled over people singing along to their radios, and overcharged people by a TON when handing out parking tickets. Think about the mistakes he can make as a FIREman. Maybe if he just got a job with less areas of... Interaction with people, then we wouldn't be in this situation, and I'd get my own room again.
The basement wasn't bad at first, but a rat kept me up all last night, along with all the noise the termites made. Plus, I recently found out Grams sleepwalks/sleep-turns on the TV, and it really creeps me out when I wake up to soap opera stars gasping at 1 a.m.
Anyways, I ran home and finished taking out the garbage, washing the dishes,etc. and went to change for my meeting with Liam. I know it's just a science project, so I didn't dress up or anything like that. I put my hair in a braid, and wore a Jim Morrison t-shirt with jeans. I shouldered my bag full of science supplies and ran out the door. Grams was at a knitting circle, I think, and my parents were at work, so my only option was to walk.
I've been in the town for about a week, and I'm walking alone to an unknown destination.
It's like I'm asking to get lost!
I went to the main part of town, hoping for some directions towards Liam's house, and saw Charles in front of the ice cream shop with a little girl. She had hair cut at chin level, and wore a bright pink dress. Since I didn't know anyone else, I trudged along near them.
Internally, I was groaning.
"Hey" I said, falsely upbeat. "Could you just point me in the right direction, preferably toward Liam's street?"
He turned toward my voice, his face turning to an instant scowl once he sees it's me. "Why?"
"Why?" He says. "WHY do you hate me?!" I think
"Um, it's for the project, you know? I just haven't quite gotten the hang of mapping out this place yet." I look at him hopefully, I even smile at the little girl for good measure. She smiles back, then scribbles something in her notebook, and shows it to Charles. He reads it, then a little unwillingly says "His street is just around that corner, and I'm assuming you know the number already". He points to a direction vaguely, but I get the idea.
"Yea I do. Thanks, really" I say, then run toward Liam's street.
After that, his house is easy to spot, seeing that it's a light blue, compared to the surrounding gray houses.
I ring the doorbell and wait for an answer

Liam's POV

Someone's waiting outside, and I bet it's Ruby.
She looks great. Her green eyes stand out beautifully against her dark hair. And her T-shirt makes me smile.
"The doors huh?" I say

She looks at her shirt, and her face reddens. "Uh, yea. One of my favorite bands".
My mood brightens.
"Me too. Uh, come in", I say.
She comes in and sits on my couch, rummaging through her bag for something.
"Mind if I..." I trail off, pointing to the CD player. It's an old thing, and the only thing my mom saved when we left our house in North Carolina. I don't remember much about that place, but I keep the CD player around anyways, to play older music.
"Sure".
I place the CD, and music from the beach boys fills the air.
"I like this song" Ruby says , while I sit by her. "It's from the pet sounds album right?" She looks so comfortable, with her leaning back and  legs crisscrossed. Her green eyes sparkling.
"Yeah Green. 'Wouldn't it be nice if we were older'", I sang, with her laughter in the background.
"I like it when they sing" Ruby said. I feign a look of horror with my hand over my heart.
"And who's "Green"?"she asks.
"You" I say simply. " because of your beautiful green eyes". It's really hard to say that without going at least 25% red.
Then Ruby blushed and we were led into an uncomfortable silence.
"Sooo... Shall we start theeee.. Project?"
"Yeah!!! Let's do that!" She said, eager to change the subject.

After about an hour of doing research and writing and reading and me wanting to die of boredom, Ruby somehow cracked the second before I did.
"I'm sorry! I can't take this!" Ruby exclaimed. "I've never done a project as tedious as this one! And I had to write a 50 page story describing a rose!"
"How did that essay go?"
"Kill me now!" She said, exasperated. She threw her hands back in defeat and flopped back down on the couch, her feet on my lap.
I was laughing so I hard that I almost didn't notice the rush I felt when her feet landed on me. It wasn't even skin to skin contact, but it was amazing.
"So Ruby Tuesday, so you don't die on me here, tell me more about yourself. You just moved here and I don't even know where you're from".
"Salem" she replied from the end of the couch, her voice muffled by a pillow.
"Then what'd you do in Salem?"
"I went to school."
"How was school?"
"Fine."
"Will you continue to give me vague answers forever?"
"Only if you keep asking" I huffed a "fine" and we were back to silence.
Ruby lifted her head up and said, "alright, the truth is life at home was great, in every way. We defiantly didn't have as horrible projects as this one" she chuckled softly " and I had closer friends".
"Hey..." I said, playing with her shoelaces. "I'm your friend".
"You know what I mean", she said, sitting up. " I just didn't ask for everything to change so...abruptly. Meaning my views on the subject aren't gonna be the most positive".
And I get that. Even being really young, I still kinda remember the day we left North Carolina, and I even more vividly remember when Claire got hit by that...car.
I told Ruby all this, and I'm not even sure why.
She just seems like someone I can trust.
"Gosh, I'm sorry" she said, her features distorted by sadness.
"Don't be" I said tugging on her braid lightly. "It's not you who needs to be sorry".  I smiled a little, though it must've seemed odd to after talking about Claire's... You know. But it feels like I just had a weight lifted off my chest.
" We don't have to talk about you or me. I don't even know why,but talking to you just feels so easy" I said very straight forward, in a Liam- like fashion.
Everyone can see right through me through me anyways, so why bother hiding the truth?
She smiled shyly "that means a...a lot" as I started leaning in, staring straight into her eyes. They were incredibly bright at this moment. Her lips, beautiful.
My heart's beating rapidly.
What am I doing?
And I just know that my face is bright red.

Ruby's POV

Liam's leaning in... And I'm not backing away.
It's like I'm not even in my own body, and I'm watching a scene from a distance. His lips coming toward mine.
My thoughts are all like jello. If he's doing what I think he's doing, then I have a million reasons to back away. Or a million reasons to lean in...
It's too late to make a pros and cons list... And the moments gone right when it starts.
The once soft music suddenly is cranked up to like 50 times its original volume, and both of us are jumping off the couch, clutching our ears. The sound was horrible, but is lowered once we are standing.
And a guy who looks just like Liam is standing near the CD player.
"Well please, introduce me"

A/N - soooo, comments? For me, this was a VERY long chapter, but hopefully not TOO dry. The next chapter's purpose might only be to tie up loose ends, but the chapter after that will probably be better😅
Panda out☺️