Ruby and Liam AU

Chapter 16

A/N - Ok, so that person could be Liam, if he gets blonde hair, maybe. Thanks so much for being awesome people and for reading 📖 all this... randomness😊
Enjoy!

Ruby's POV

I'm not sure if I should be laughing at Clancy's girlish screams, or apologizing to Liam for kind of getting him in this mess.
He didn't do anything wrong, and now has a purple jaw.
We run onto the front lawn, our faces barely visible to each other unless we're really close.
Which we are, courtesy of Liam.
"Gosh, are you okay?" I say, trying to cup his chin gently.
He hastily pushes my hand away.
"I don't care about this stupid bruise. Are you okay? That Clancy is a grade A jackass", he says, scowling.
I drop my hand to my side.
"Yeah, he is" I agree weakly.
I don't want to seem all helpless and say he rescued me like I'm a damsel in distress. But he deserves some credit.
"Thank you" I look up into his eyes. "You took a punch for me...though you shouldn't have" I stress.
He chuckles slightly, shaking his head.
"Almost had a compliment there," he says, and I roll my eyes.
"But that doesn't mean a thing as long as Clancy didn't do anything. Right?"
He asks, his eyebrows scrunched up in worry.
I'm touched, but my mind wanders to how cute he looks...
I nod. "Everything's good. You came at just the right time."
He nods, then hesitates for a second. "H-how do you exactly... know him?"
I was afraid he'd ask this.
It's not like it's a traumatizing story or anything, so you can breathe now.
   But let's just say that at my time at Thurmound, the security guards weren't the only annoying block heads.
I take a breathe in. "I mean, he's not the most pleasant person in the world, but when he went to Thurmound, he was a different person each day. He one time came too close for my liking, and I knocked over a bunch of beakers during lab. I got major bathroom duty for a month," I wrinkle my nose in disgust, "and Sam couldn't come with me since she had other work to deal with. I was really ticked off, and vowed revenge, but then he apologized so sincerely the next day, that I let him off the hook...A few days later, he messes with me again, in a way I won't say, and he's in my bad books again. He apologizes, and I kind of think of accepting... It becomes a kind of pattern. He messes up, and I forgive him too easily."
I finally look up at Liam to see his reaction.
Ha! Like I can see it in this "lighting"
But because of our close proximity, I can feel the anger radiating off of him.
I grab his hand gently to try and calm him down.
"Don't worry, it gets better. His initial charm wears off, and his true bipolar colors are shown. But just to me and Sam. We plotted a scheme where I kept watch while Sam shaved his head during the middle of the night. He didn't seem so eager to bother us after that," I smirk slightly. "But we've never really been on the best of terms with each other either."
I wait for his reaction.
I didn't go into details on the ways Clancy bothered me, but since they weren't extremely traumatizing, why mention them right?
"Huh, um, ok" he drawls out. "Well, I'm just going to get some, um... water from the, party. So... yeah" and he turns around so quickly, that I almost don't drag him back.
"Please... don't do that" I say.
Even in the dark, Liam's intentions are always obvious.
I grip tightly to the front of his shirt, to keep him steady.
"Beating him up more helps nothing."
"Yeah, but it helps me feel like he gets at least a tenth of what he actually deserves" Liam retorts with clenched teeth.
He's angry. Definitely
But he's not the type of person to exert violence for no reason
"He's not worth it," I say.
And yes, I am pulling out every movie line I know.
Thank you Netflix.
"You don't know how I felt. When he was with you..." he shakes his head like the thought is too horrible to bear. "and whenever I even just hear about some guy bothering you, it pisses me off like crazy!"
Now he's rambling, but I've never been more captivated.
My heart's pounding in my chest, and I'm not even sure why.
"In fact, thinking about you with another guy drives me crazy. Even thinking for a nanosecond that you liked Clancy made me want to..."
He sighed, his chest moving up and down under my loose grip on his shirt.
His eyes slightly visible in the dark.
That's how bright they are.
".. made me want to kiss you, change your mind... and kill him at the same time" he added as an afterthought, but I'm not paying attention.
He's cupping my cheek, bringing my face up to his.
My grip on his shirt tightens as his lips meet mine, and his arms encircle my waist.
My hands are in his soft hair, and I deepen the kiss.He responds with more force, and I can feel his rapid pulse.
It's the same as mine.
I can hardly comprehend what is going on.
It's like my main focus is on this moment, just this one moment.
And this is just about the most exhilarating moment I've had in awhile.
I have to pull back, I need to breathe, but I keep my forehead against his.
I'm breathing hard, no surprise there, and I can feel heat flushing up my cheeks.
See, this is the time where I usually start getting paranoid, and ramble on about all my doubts about Liam.
But I don't have the energy to concentrate on that.
And I have some hope for Liam and I.
But not too much to jinx it.
"I don't think about other guys, except you" I say, blushing like crazy.
He sighs softly in relief, then smiles widely.
I got the pleasure of seeing one of his full-on genuine smiles, saved only for special occasions.
"I only think about you" he whispers, trying to look me in the eyes.
But my fingers are too busy playing with the buttons on his shirt, and my eyes are glued to them.
I don't know how to respond to that, and I don't want to say anything stupid...
I cough nervously. "Oh, um...thanks...?" I visibly cringe after hearing what came out of my mouth, but Liam tilts his head back, chuckling, and I'm grateful.
"No problem darlin'," he buries his head in my neck, his whole body literally engulfing me in an embrace.
I let out a breath of relief into his chest, but then I suddenly remember where I am...
"Um... I kind of have to go home", my voice muffled by his shirt.
I feel his laugh, and then he pulls away, leaving me cold.
"Alright, I'll walk you" and he wraps an arm around me, me leaning into his side.
We only walk a few feet before I realized I forgot something.
More like someone.
"Vida!" I gasp, gazing at Liam in panic.
"She led me to the party. Shouldn't we take her back to my place?"
There's silence.
Then laughter, uncontrollable laughter.
And it's not me.
"What?" I ask, confused.
He doesn't stop laughing, so I punch him in the arm.
Don't worry, it's not too hard...
"Seriously, what's so funny?"
He tries to catch his breath, and I'm waiting "patiently", eyeing him suspiciously.
"I came with Chubs too" he croaks out before he snickers afterward.
I raise an eyebrow.
"And you're happy because... you are finally ditching your brainiac best friend at a wild party...??" I'm still not getting it.
I motion for him to continue, and luckily, he does.
"I brought him here to give him a... normal high school experience, you can say. And in a most chubs-like fashion, he was really awkward and fidgety while I tried to get him to loosen up. I went to go get some soda, and return to a drunk Chubs, which is quite a sight I must say" he chuckles. "Apparently Mike let him have a few beers, my bad for leaving him alone, and he went crazy. I dragged him along with me to find Mike, then lost him in the crowd. When I found him, he was in a corner... making out with Vida."
My eyes widened.
But I'm not really that surprised. I mean, opposites do attract.
But this can also be just a drunk coincidence...
"Did you say anything to them??" I eagerly pestered.
"Of course!" He smiled proudly, while I rolled my eyes.
"I interrupted them, then asked Vida if you were here. It didn't sound like she really knew where you were, so I went to find you. Then I saw that Clancy guy," he grimaced, and I punched him in the shoulder, not so nicely.
"What the hell!" I whisper screamed.
"You just left Vida and Chubs, alone, while they are drunk to find me!"
I try not to think about what situation I'd be in if he didn't come to find me, but the sudden worry doesn't help me think practically.
"Number one: Ow!" He says, rubbing his arm while laughing.
I just stick my tongue out in response.
"Number two: relax, I saw them when we were heading out, and it seemed they were going to enter a-"
"Okay! I don't need to know! I just hope they're careful..." I trail off.
"Don't worry. Chubs is a responsible guy. Even immense amounts of alcohol can't change that" Liam says, with a hand on my shoulder.
"Don't remind me. Vida better loosen him up" I say. "But not too much" I correct myself, and we finally start up walking again.
I bid Liam good night, and I climb back through the basement's window.
I crash on the sofa bed, and drift off to sleep.
I wonder what Vida and Chubs's ship name will be.

A/N - this was a kind of wordy chapter. I'm not one who likes long monologues, but I had to fill in some answers to previous chapters.
Also, I don't really like those lines where the guy asks the girl to be his girlfriend. Sorry if you do, since I won't be writing that😬. It's already assumed that Ruby and Liam are now officially Together.
Took like 17 parts, but yay!
Panda out☺️🐼