Inevitable | Darkest Minds

black eyes & smudged mascara

Side note- here's part five to my Darkest Minds fan fiction, please comment if you want longer/shorter chapters so I know what you guys prefer. I'm also ranking no.6 in #rubydaly which is insane and I'm so grateful! All characters/themes belong to Alexandra Bracken.
-Hannah xx

Liam's POV-
As soon as I rounded the corner away from Ruby I mentally kicked myself. I should've offered to walk her to class, I should've given her a meaningful goodbye or at least do something other than wave. Ohmygod I was literally such an idiot. As I walked through the football field towards the cafeteria, I looked over and saw Cole tossing around a football with his friends. Before I knew it, the ball was flying towards me and being the worst sports player on the planet, my hands decided not to catch it and I let it fly straight into my eye. "Ow shit." I said, stumbling round blindly trying not to double over. Gently pressing my forefingers to my eye, I felt a bruise instantly bloom on my face probably turning black and blue. Great. Just Great.

"Yo! Little bro, throw us back the ball will you?" My dick-face of a brother shouted across the field not even bothering to ask me if I was ok. I stood there for a moment, weighing my options. I could either attempt to throw the ball back to Cole and embarrass myself entirely, or  I could walk away and avoid the total embarrassment which was yet to come. Ugh, fuck it my inner conscience thought as I chucked the ball in the direction of Cole and his friend. It didn't exactly fly straight into his open arms but rolled to a stop by his feet which for me, was totally good enough. Cole lifted his hand in a salute, as I walked away to where I met Chubs every morning. 

Chubs was in his usual seat, at the back of the cafeteria, right next to the vending machines. As I approached the table, he looked up startled taking in the now black bruise on my face. His jaw almost hit the floor as I pressed two fingers to my eye, wincing in pain. "What the actual hell happened to you?" Chubs asked, anxious and he put his textbook down. He then ducked down beneath the table, fishing through his backpack until he finally pulled out a small first aid kit.

"Huh, now I see why Vida calls you 'Grannie'" I said, making air quotations with my fingers. He scowled, and proceeded to pull out antiseptic wipes and band aids from his kit.
"At least I'm prepared." He countered, unwrapping a wipe from its packet and bringing it towards my face. "This is gonna sting like hell, just so you know." He said as he dabbed at my ever-growing bruise not so gently.
"Ow, shit Chubs! Be a little more careful next time will ya?"
"You're such a wuss."

"Um, says you. I distinctly remember Vida treading on your toe only last week and you insisting that you needed to go to the nurses office..."
"Well sorry for being 'better safe than sorry'. She was wearing her military boots." I laughed at this, wincing in the process but I ignored it. After a while of me howling with laughter, Chubs started to join in too and we both ended up close to falling off our chairs. After we composed ourselves, wiping the tears from under my eyes, he proceeded to clean my bruise. "There, you're all patched up, you may want to get some ice for that though, you look like you've got smudged mascara all over your face."

"And how would you know what smudged mascara looks like?" I asked innocently. He flushed, covering his face with his hands trying to hide the crimson flames crawling up his jaw.
"I, Um... you know..." he stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse. Chubs was terrible at lying. "I've got to go now." He started, "First period and all that, don't want to be late." He stuttered, jogging down the corridor.

"First period doesn't start for twenty minutes!" I practically shouted after him, but he was already gone. I pressed a hand to my forehead, forgetting about my black eye and instantly cussed under my breath. Ugh, why did I have to have such an asshole as a brother?

Chubs' POV-
I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I practically sprinted down the hallway, earning stares from the people at their lockers- I wasn't usually the type to participate in sports being honest. Before my mind even registered where I was going, I realised I was standing at the bleachers. Without my backpack. "Ah, for fucks sake! Really?" I shouted into the empty field. Well, at least I thought it was empty.

"You alright down there?" A familiar voice asked as her figure dropped into view. Ugh, Ruby. She'd only been here for like a second and she already had everyone wrapped around her little finger. And I hated  it. Liam, Jude, Nico and even Vida. Fucking  Vida, who didn't like anyone! But no, her charms wouldn't work on me, I was much harder to crack. She couldn't just flash her adorable little smile and push her raven hair away from her face exposing her emerald eyes. Fuck. Charles, just stop it! I scowled, crossing my hands over my chest and glared at her from underneath my eyelashes. A confused expression crossed her face which was shortly filled with hurt. Good. Hate me. Then maybe you'll finally back off. 

She sat down on the bleachers then, mirroring my exact position. With her arms crossed across her chest and her mouth twisted into a scowl she said "Look, Chubs. I don't know what I did to make you hate me but I don't even know you. Fuck, I don't even know anyone here. All I wanted was to make some friends but you've been nothing but hostile to me! What is your fucking problem?" She stopped then, all her anger gone and her face filled with regret but I wasn't going to give in that easily.

"Yeah, exactly. You don't know anyone here! You've just strolled in and got Liam like a dog on a leash! Fuck, not everyone has to answer you beg and call twenty-four-seven. Who do you think you are?" My breaths were laboured as I let out my anger, my face flushed with frustration. A quizzical expression appeared on her face only momentarily which was so quickly replaced with realisation that I didn't even know if it had even been there in the first place.

"You're just jealous." She said finally, "You're just worried that I'm going to take Liam away from you and Vida and Judith and Nico. Well guess what Chubs they aren't yours to loose. And trust me on this, I want nothing more than to go back home to my old friends, but I can't. I didn't get to choose. I never even got a say in anything! And believe me when I tell you this, I do not want to take your friends away from you so don't worry. I'll just back off, especially from Liam if that's what you really want." She finally stopped, her face red as tears trickled down her cheeks. She placed her head in her hands and didn't say another word. I felt a pang in my heart, she was right 'they weren't mine to loose'. 

Unexpectedly, I sat down next to her, playing with my hands in the process. I couldn't think of the right words to say. "I'm sorry." I said, "I shouldn't have acted the way I did towards you, it wasn't fair. You're right, you haven't done anything to me. To be honest, I'm just scared I'm going to loose my only friends." She lifted her face up then, the tears dried and her eyes rimmed with black from her smudged mascara. She smiled a little then, tilting her face towards mine. "Shit." I said. "I have never opened up to anyone like that. You can't tell a living a soul and that includes  Vida. If she hears this I'll never live it down." She laughed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hands as I joined in. Then, without warning she held out her pinky finger towards mine. I stared at her shocked, did she actually think I was a fourth grader? 

"Truce?" She asked, nudging my hand with her own. I sighed, linking my own finger with hers. I couldn't believe I was actually going through with this. 
"Truce." I said as we shook pinkies. The first period bell rang in the distance as we unlinked fingers. I got up off the bench, remembering I had left my backpack in the cafeteria. I started to walk away as she picked her things up off the dewy grass. Just as I was about do round the corner I called out over my shoulder to her "And by the way, only my friends get to call me Chubs. It's Charles to you." I heard her laugh and left the field, leaving her smiling behind me.

Side note- so sorry I haven't updated in literally forever. I'm back at school now *sigh* so I'm a lot more busy and don't have as much free time. But, I'll try and update whenever I can. Please follow me for updates because I often post on my messages board about when I'm gonna post and etcetera. I hope you guys liked this chapter and please comment and add it to your reading lists! Love you guys so much.
-Hannah xxx