Hers 2 (Ruby Rose)

5| 32

BREAKFAST WAS AWKWARD. Extremely awkward. I hadn't planned on eating with her, but she happened to wake up as soon as I did, mostly because I had to pry myself out of her arms. I had a sickly feeling in my stomach, sleep having not helped much.

I sipped my tea, avoiding eye contact with her. The TV was on, so I didn't have to worry too much about the silence between us.

"So..."

I looked at her.

"What are your plans for today?"

She made it sound like we would be doing things separately. Even though we weren't exactly on great terms at the moment, I still had expected to spend the day with her. I tried not to show offence.

"I don't know..." I muttered my reply, looking down at my food.

Ruby gave a shallow nod. When she didn't say anything else, I decided to be the one to ask her.

"What about you?" The words came out harshly, and they weren't meant to.

"I don't know, either."

Awkwardness washed over us once more, and I ran my fingers through Heaven's fur. It had been so long since we experienced anything like this.

After breakfast, I changed into my black bikini and threw on a summery dress over it. When Ruby walked into the bedroom to grab something, I felt the urge to grab and kiss her like I usually did. I really didn't want to fight. I also reminded myself that this was all temporary, and one day we would move back to LA, whether she liked it or not.

"I'm-" I paused until she gave me her full attention. "I'm going to the beach. Wanna come?"

Ruby twitched her lips to the side as she thought about it. "Okay, sure." She got up and walked into the bathroom. I stayed in my spot for a little while longer, feeling salty over the fact that she had to think about it. She was obviously more busy now, which would have been okay if it weren't for the wrong reason.

THE BEACH WAS bare, located behind the resort. There were chairs set up on the sand, yet no other body occupied them. I didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

On the plus, the water looked absolutely stunning. It was a clear blue and flat, glistening at the surface. I couldn't wait to submerge myself in it.

I dropped the towel in front of me along with my bag, and began to lather on sunscreen. I kept my eyes on my arm, rubbing until the white streaks were gone.

Ruby leaned down and picked up a bottle of water, before turning to face me while she undid the cap.

"Need help with that?" She asked, squinting from the sun.

"No, it's fine." I said, rubbing my shoulders. It is always a struggle to put sunscreen on your own back, maybe even impossible.

"Alright," Ruby shrugged, before taking a long sip from the plastic bottle.

I ran my fingers across my collarbone and felt sadness at the thought of my tattoo. I was hoping we would be together forever, but what if that weren't to happen anymore? Although I completely disapproved of her work, I was willing to stick it out until the end.

But was she?

I walked towards the water first, tears slowly trickling from my eyes. The water was very cold but tolerable, and I kept walking until half my body was completely under.

I stared out at the distance and silently cried. I didn't want to lose her.

I dunked my head under the water to get my hair wet and to wash away the tears. When I came up, I turned around to see Ruby in the distance, lounging in the chair and holding her phone. Of course.

I was shoulder deep now, and I was subtly watching Ruby, waiting for her to put her damn phone down and come swim with me.

Thirty minutes later, the skin of my hands were telling me it had enough by wrinkling up. I gave up on waiting, and went back towards the shore.

Sand stuck to the bottom of my feet as I approached Ruby, who was next to my bag. As I dropped to my knees and searched through my bag for my towel, Ruby turned her attention to me.

"Already done?"

"Yeah," I muttered, pulling the towel out along with all the other contents of my bag.

"How was the water?"

"Fine." I threw everything back into the bag and then stood up with it over my shoulder.

"Ellis-"

"I'm going back to the room, okay?" I would have said 'see you later' but I didn't know if that was true.

I fought back tears as I walked back to the resort, passing the pool that now held more people than usual. It was difficult, especially when I felt like I was suffocating. It hurt a lot.

"Hey, Ellis!"

When I heard his voice, I broke. A straight-up sob escaped my lips, and I quickly clasped my hand over my mouth, not daring to look at Matthew who had caught up to me.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He sounded extremely concerned, like he really cared about me even though he barely knew me.

I finally looked at him, but I could barely make out his face through the tears.

I sniffed. "Yeah," I let out the breath I had been holding in, "sorry, I'm just being stupid."

"Maybe a drink will make you feel better-"

"I don't drink." I snapped, having told him this before. Matthew opened his mouth in realization.

"Right, sorry." We just stood there in silence and I wanted to leave, but I also didn't want to be rude, but he probably wouldn't let me. "Do you want to talk about it?"

As soon as he said that, tears made their way down my cheeks again. "No," I croaked, that suffocating feeling returning.

"Okay," he nodded in understanding.

"I'm- I'm going to go now." I said, taking a step backwards.

"Ellis, wait." I stopped moving. "If... If you ever need anything," my heart began to race, "my room is number 32."

I let out a breath in relief. That was good to know, although I doubted there was anything he could do to help me.

"Thanks, Matt-" He appeared surprised. "-hew. Matthew." I corrected, a slight smile appearing on my tear-stained face.