Ruby and Liam AU

Chapter 10

A/N - Hi!
I don't really get that many comments, and it may be a little late, but thank you to Xx_Mimic_xX for supporting this story since the beginning, and sophiedophiedo for being such a nice commenter.☺️
Enjoy!

Ruby's POV
Ok, so that just happened.
It did.
Oh my...
I kissed Liam, or he kissed me, or we kissed each other, or something along those lines...
But it was my first kiss.
And it was deep, yet soft, but light yet passionate.
I have no perspective, obviously, but I wanted to live in that moment forever. I didn't want to pull away, and the warmth form his body was so comforting, even in this 80 degree heat.
He walks away, leaving me standing in the middle of the sidewalk. I turn toward my house, and see the indoor curtain move a little.
Crap
I quickly run up the pathway, and open the door.
"Hey, Grams" I say, wearily. "Were you, by any chance..uh.. Looking through the window." I try to sound offended, but it's not convincing enough.
"Well, Ruby, you tell me this" she says, sitting in the couch, "If your granddaughter came home over an hour after the expected time, without even bothering to call, or text, or write a letter for God's sake, what would you do?"
I can tell she's angry since her voice is all high pitched and tight.
But write a letter?!
"Uh... Well, I would accept her apology, and make her a batch of forgiveness cookies" I say hopefully. "And isn't it like 3:00? I'm supposed to be back by 5."
"Check again" she says, and I take out my phone.
It's 6:00...
I spent around 6 hours talking nonstop to Liam!
And all I ate  was ice cream!
No wonder I'm so hungry...
At least Grams was able to recognize my real shock, so she was a little lenient with the punishment.
I got sentenced to the basement for the rest of the night, and I have a 4 p.m curfew for tomorrow. It's not bad, really. I don't plan on seeing Liam tomorrow anyways, and if I did, what would I say?!
"Hey, how are you. Do you feel the same way I think I feel about you?!"
Damn.
I didn't think this through.
I had a feeling Grams was going to ask about Liam, so I quickly went into the kitchen to make popcorn. The best ending to a day like this is with one of the best movies ever... The Princess Bride.
I fell onto the sofa, and found the movie on demand.
Only 5 minutes through and I was already bawling like a baby. It's not even a sad movie, except the initial beginning, but something about it always moves me.
Maybe it's the way the movie depicts two people falling in love so fast, but pure, yet has this enticing comedy aspect.
It's full of enough fantasy that you aren't bored by the seriousness, but yet not too much that it feels too fake.
I ended up falling asleep before the end, missing my favorite part, but it doesn't matter.
I was just so tired

.......

The next day

By 12:00, I've already sold a bunch of ice cream, and was on the brink of getting a bonus for all my hard work.
Except somebody came through the door.
"Uh, Olivia? Could you just help out the next customer? I have to uh..."
....
Seriously! I'm blanking out of excuses NOW!
"Uhh...bathroom. Yes! That! I need to go to the.. Bathroom" I manage to say, and start to untie my smock.
"Yeah, sure, but could you just do that after you serve that guy. He'll be the last one for the day" Olivia says.
I am internally groaning!
I'm prepared to argue back, but then the little decorative bell on the counter is being rung.
"Hello? Anyone here!" He says, annoyed.
He's annoyed!
"Yes, this young lady right here will help you" Olivia says, giving me a thumbs up.
"Hi, Chubs. How may I help you?" I say through gritted teeth.
"Ruby? What are you doing here?" He says sounding genuinely surprised.
"Running a very secret ice cream stealing operation. I'm the person who gets all the Intel from the inside. What about you?" My voice contains no humor, especially since I'm not in the mood to be criticized by Chubs at my own job.
He senses the tension, and doesn't make any rude comments. "I just want some ice cream. One chocolate and one strawberry. Both in cups."
I get him his order, wondering who's going to eat the second cup. Does he have a date?
I burst our laughing at the very thought of anyone going out with him. I get many weird stares from people, but as long as chubs doesn't see, I don't care.
As he's paying, a little girl, the same one who was with him when he gave me directions to Liam's house, hops in the shop. She comes over to the counter, and instantly takes the strawberry ice cream cup. She digs in immediately, but keeps her back toward chubs, an expression of anger on her face.
"What'd you do to piss off your little friend," I mock.
He glares back, and looks down at the little girl, his expression softening.
"She's mad because I can't tutor her anymore." He says with regret, and I kinda feel bad.
When did he start tutoring little kids rather than bragging about his brains to everyone at school?
"Why?" I ask.
"Extra Curriculars for my AP classes are starting a few weeks before school starts, and are from 3-5 everyday. It's a new system where the school likes to kill us before we even make it to college."
Now I feel kinda bad for teasing him. Though he's giving up helping a kid to satisfy his own college requirements, it was still sweet when he actually did help her out.
"Is she going to get a new tutor?" I ask.
"Uh, I don't really know anyone, at the moment, that's... Qualified" he responds.
Qualified? What's that supposed to mean? Not everyone is "qualified" to tutor an 8 year old?
"Uh, what about me?" I say, kinda hopeful.
Then, he doubled back laughing hysterically.
Very offensive might I add.
"Hey! I'm serious! I can tutor a kid, come on! Plus I already work here, so we have a natural meeting place."
He suddenly became serious. "Ruby, have you ever took care of and taught a kid?" I shake my head, "Then why are you even offering!" He raises his hands in exasperation.
Like I'm not already boiling with anger.
"Because, after spending so much time with you, she needs to be disinfected of your boring ways!"
"Yeah right. Like you even know the difference between addition and subtraction" he scoffs.
I bring my hands up to my face. "What the hell is your problem! You are making a big deal out of nothing!" My voice rising a little too high.
He's about to respond, but then the little girl elbow's him in the ribs. She starts scribbling something on a pocket notebook probably from her...Well, pocket.
She shows him what she wrote, and his eyes bug out of his head.
His teeny tiny eyes bug out of his too small glasses.
"You can't be serious!" He exclaims, followed by vigorous nodding from the girl.
"But she can't! She doesn't know anything!"
"Hey! You are just on fire with the insults today aren't you?!" I respond, and I just know that my face is flushed from anger.
This is exactly why I didn't want to serve him! We always get in a fight!
"Zu, please. I'll help you find another tutor. Trust me, they'll be sooo much better, I promise" he says, but she shakes her head.
I can't help smiling.
She's rooting for me, and all I know is her name.
"Zu, right?" I say. "That's a really nice name. And I will be a great tutor. What grade are you in?"
She holds up six fingers, so I assume she must be 6 years old. Little kids are so cute when they don't understand questions.
"Six huh? Well I can tell you I aced first grade, so you have this year in the bag." I smile proudly. For what, you may ask. Oh, maybe just since I beat Chubs in an argument.
It gives me a nice warm feeling in my chest knowing that I wiped that smirk off his face.
"Actually, she is 11, in 6th grade." He says, and the smirk is back.
I'm pretty sure I succeeded in not looking too surprised.
But it's mostly my fault. I can never figure out a person's age by their looks, and she is a small child.
"Well, that's great news too. I also.. Uh, rocked 6th grade too. Go.... Algebra...?" There's my attempt at a comeback.
It could've been worse.
"Great! Study up, since pre-algebra is a big part of the lessons" and with that sour note, he stormed away.
Then came back 5 seconds later to pick up his ice cream.
Then stormed away.
Zu wrote something, and showed it to me.
I can meet you here after three every weekday."
I nodded, and wondered why she didnt talk. I chose against asking her just yet, just in case it brought up bad memories.
She waved, and I was left to clock out, and head home. I read and listened to music once I got there.
Maybe a 4:00 curfew wasn't that bad.

A/N - 😮there are over 100 reads!!! This is really exciting for me, but hey, I'm not a famous writer so literally any read makes me sooooo happy. But comments are nice too.... And votes..... No? That's alright, hope you liked this chapter, and you may express that happiness or dislike in anyway you like.😅
Panda out☺️🐼