Hers 2 (Ruby Rose)

4| Fellow

"SO, WHERE ARE you from?" I asked, swaying my feet in the water. Matthew and I were seated on bar stools. There was a bar in the pool. I found that mind blowing for some reason.

"New York. Have lived there all my life." Matthew responded, and I felt excitement within me at the mention of my original home. It had been too long since I visited, and I missed Poppy. If she had a phone, I would be calling her every single day.

"Me too," I said, "except, not anymore. I moved to Los Angeles in the end."

Matthew looked surprised by this, or he pretended to be. "Would you ever go back?"

I thought for a moment. I never considered it. "I would go visit again, but I don't think I'd move there." I remembered that Ruby and I didn't have a home anymore, and suddenly realized that it was possible that we could move there together. Maybe we could rent a house, rather than an apartment, too. Then we could marry, start a family-

"Your partner, Ruby," Matthew started, "she's Spencer's cousin?"

"Apparently so," I replied. Matthew suddenly had a questionable look on his face. "What?"

Matthew leaned back, stretching his arms. "No, what?" I urged.

"Nothing, it's just interesting. I don't really know much about Spencer's family. He never talks about them."

I just nodded, stirring the straw in my third smoothie today.

"So," he spoke up again, "have you explored Cancun yet?"

I shook my head. "Not yet." Ruby and I hadn't even talked about that, and it wasn't like we could stay at the resort forever, even though we had everything we needed here.

"The beaches here are amazing." Matthew said. "And the festivals, too."

"Festivals," I copied, liking the sound of that.

"Food, music, culture, it's incredible to experience. Next time there's one going on, I'll let you know." He said, a grin on his face. I had no idea if he meant that he would take me there himself, but either way, Ruby was definitely coming along. Matthew could act as our tour guide or something.

As it fell quiet between us, although a comfortable silence, I decided that it was time to head back to my room and hope that Ruby was there. For a moment, I had completely forgotten about her, and her strange behaviour.  I had been so distracted by Matthew, who seemed like a genuine guy. The first genuine guy I have ever met.

I entered the room with the expectation of seeing Ruby there, dressed in the white robe that they gave us, lounging around on the sofa. But it was just me.

Heaven followed me into the bedroom, having been returned from 'daycare' as Spencer liked to call it. What it really was, was getting one of the maids to take her outside, feed her, play with her, and then return her. They really treated us like royalty here, because I doubted that any other place would allow pets at the resort.

I huffed as I collapsed backwards onto the bed, lightly wincing in pain as I had forgotten about my injury, before searching for Ruby's contact number on my phone.

As I had expected, she didn't answer.

I ate dinner on my own, my stomach remaining  so full of worry that I could barely eat three forkfuls of carbonara.

It was just as I flicked the TV on from the bed that I heard the door open, followed by footsteps.

When Ruby walked in, she looked guilty. It was written all over her face, and the way she looked at me, like she knew I was going to be angry, told me so as well.

"I know, Ruby." I said first. These past few hours alone allowed me to think more deeply, and the only explanation to her behaviour was that she was dealing again. After all, she had suggested it before, the night she took me out for pancakes.

However, I still felt disappointed when she didn't deny it, and she pulled out a wad of cash from the pocket inside her black leather jacket.

She tossed it towards me and I caught it, looking at her questionably.

She nudged her head towards it. "That's from just one night."

I turned it over in my hand, a rubber band secured around the folded notes. It felt so wrong, feeling the weight of it in the palm of my hand.

Ruby walked towards the bed, stopping at the end. She leaned over on her hands. "Ellis, this is our only option right now." She told me, staring deeply into my eyes.

It took me a few seconds to reply, and I shook my head. "It's not, Ruby, it's really not." My voice was quiet and gentle, hoping that then it would get through to her more easily. I didn't want to fight.

"Right now, it is. But I promise you-" she hoisted herself up onto the mattress, cupping my face in her hands, "-I promise you that once we're out of here, I will never do this again. Ever."

My eyes travelled downwards, starting to feel emotional. Ruby's thumb grazed my cheek and then she leaned in for a kiss, but for the first time, I moved my head away.

The hurt was so evident on her face, and that made me hurt even more. As she let go of my face, I dropped the money by her knee. I then laid down and rolled over onto my side, hugging the blanket tightly to my chin.

I somehow fell asleep while Ruby was in the shower, but throughout the night I felt her touch and hold me. I wasn't feeling anything like I usually felt, though, like the tingles of sparks. All I felt was tense. I really hated this.

But I knew I couldn't control her, either.