ruby knew walking the streets of freeridge in the night was dangerous, extremely dangerous. he debated if he should've called cesar to keep him company, but only due to the fact of his affiliation with los santos as he thought about it the more he realized he was just using him for his own needs and fear. the young boy walked through the streets that had flickering street lamps and the dogs that barked aggressively at him as he passed each house. quickening his pace when a car would pass by in hopes it wasn't a prophet or a kidnapper. he talked quietly to himself to keep his mind at peace and stop thinking about all the bad things that could happen at 2:40 am in freeridge, stopping mid way and contemplating if he should turn around. after an unnecessary debate in his head he decided to continue his journey to the store, which was now only a few streets away.
athena's drive home was rather peaceful, empty streets, blinking traffic lights and dark sky full of stars. she was excited to get home to her beautiful baby boy who was in the hands of her best friend. athena was extremely exhausted, working as an emergency room registered nurse wasn't the easiest thing, especially the night shift. thankfully her shift ended early tonight, which she was extremely thankful for the head nurse for making a mistake on the schedule and obviously volunteering to go early. blasting her music and singing obnoxiously loud through the empty streets, athena saw a young boy walking, quickly glancing down at her dash she saw it was nearly 3 am, worry filled her heart for the young boy and debated if she should pull over and offer the young boy a ride.
ruby saw the car and he was instantly filled with fear, the white bmw, who which he may notes music was a tad too loud for his liking, but nonetheless he was scared. athena argued in her head if she should just mind her business and drive away, but as a nurse at the local hospital she knew how many injured people came in, especially at this time, and decided to drive a little further ahead of him and wait. ruby saw the car slow down a few feet away from him, panic filled his body and began to walk a tad slower but nothing too noticeable in hopes that the person in the vehicle didnt want to slash his throat or in the worse case, drag him to somewhere unknown and dump his body. as he came closer to the vehicle he could no longer hear the music only the sound of his heart beating a million beats per second. athena knew what the town would say about her and how mysterious and dangerous she was, but that didn't stop her from a harmless act of kindness to the young boy.
ruby rehearsed in his mind what he was going to say to the young girl, he wanted to scream, to run back home. regret filled his body for not calling cesar, knowing no one would roll up on them. ruby's thoughts were cut off by the sound of the window rolling and a soft voice " where are you headed at 3 am" as soon as these words left athena's mouth she instantly wanted to crawl in a hole of embarrassment knowing how creepy she sounded. ruby's heart started to beat even faster as he heard those words roll off her tongue. "i uuhhh , im um" the young boy stuttered in fear and pointed down the street, athena followed his finger and saw he was pointing at the corner store a few streets away. ruby knew telling her where he was going was a terrible idea but he had nothing to lose. " i didn't mean for that so sound that creepy, im sorry. it's just not safe for you to be out here at this time, the least i can do is offer you a ride" athena said with a light laugh and hoped the young boy would take her offer or the worry in her heart would stay with her forever not knowing if he made it home.
ruby stood there shocked at what the girl had just offered and debated if he should get into the vehicle with girl that's caused so much fear in the town. athena saw the young boy was scared and didn't want to pressure him into coming into her car, she took the chance to look at the young boy. his body was covered in a black hoodie, grey pants along with black and white vans covered his lower half, she had seen him a few times walking with his group of friends. ruby just stood there scared and speechless. "my names athena, i'm a nurse-" ruby took the opportunity to finally look at her, her curly hair was in a messy bun at the top of her head, baby blue scrubs covered her body only making a sleeve of tattoo visible and a ear full of jewelry, the young girl continued " i have a son at home and i know i wouldn't want him walking around, especially at this time and this neighborhood alone" as soon as she said that ruby felt bad for the young girl, everyone really had the wrong idea of her. ruby knew her mother instincts wouldn't let him walk alone and he felt sorry that he would assume she would do such a thing to him, she's a harmless mother. as if she could read the young boys thoughts ruby decided to accept her offer . " i'm so sorry i was so stuck and if anything rude, this town just fucks with your head about people, but i accept the offer of a ride to the store" ruby said as he got into the white vehicle that smelled like black ice and weed, a weird combination but the smell was somehow relaxing.
athena was happy the young boy decided to get into her car knowing he would get to point a and b safely. although athena didn't want to ask for his name and make the young boy uncomfortable. the ride to the store was quiet, but not awkward as a song by kid cudi played in the back softly. athena thought about what the young boy said about how the town had fucked with his mind about his thoughts on her but she didn't question it. ruby felt surprisingly comfortable in the car with her and he quickly realized he didn't even tell her his name. " oh shit sorry-" "thank you for -"he began talking but realized athena had also said something and he quickly shut up, athena only laughed and began to speak again to only realize they had said "you first" at the same time which only lead them to laugh.
the car ride was short and athena dropped, who's name she learned was ruby, at the store and waited from him to return with his items. ruby walked into the store and took a deep breath, thinking about the consequences if anyone found out he was in the car with athena. he quickly grabbed a few snack for himself and a bag of skittles for athena. moving quickly as he remembered she has a son at home who she's probably dying to see . as ruby walked to the register he wondered if he would ever see athena again and if he should even mention it to his friends that he was with her for a short period of time.
athena sang quietly and tapped her fingers on her steering wheel to the beat of the song and started to think about her baby boy back at home and how she was finally going to spend the day with him. she wondered if she would ever talk to ruby and quickly made up her mind to offer him her number incase he needed anything, she felt a weird need to protect him. ruby walked out of the store and quickly made his was into the white vehicle to only startle athena as she let out a scream and clutched her heart. "im so sorry i didn't mean to scare you" ruby said quickly and touched her arm softly.
the short two minute car ride consisted of ruby giving the young girl instructions of where he lives, they both agreed that it would be best if she stopped a few houses ahead incase someone was looking. they slowly approached the designated house and ruby fumbled with the plastic bag that consisted of random snacks and stuck his hand looking for the bag of skittles to give to athena. the least he could do was buy her a candy for driving him around . "i uuhh got you these" ruby said nervously and turned to athena as she was putting her car in park. " awh rubs you don't have to, but thank you and lucky you these happen to be my favorite" she said with so much excitement and only made ruby smile wide as he hear the nickname and the joy in her voice. " look i know this was a weird thing but i'm glad i offered you a ride and i never want you walking alone at this time ever again-" she said in a concerned voice which made ruby roll his eyes playfully "i saw that mister, but here's my number and please don't bother to text or call if you need a ride" athena said with a laugh and ruby's heart began to swell at the though of the stranger and dangerously mysterious woman's offer. they quickly exchanged numbers and said goodbyes with ruby promising the mother to text her when he entered his house. athena was happy she became friends with the young boy and the feeling were mutual as ruby thought about how crazy it was that he was now friends with the mysterious girl that lived down the street and he was determined to keep it his secret.
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hidden // oscar diaz
Fanfiction" it's not safe for me to be out in the open like this, especially with you"
