drowning | ruel van dijk

twenty three

KATE

ruel glances quickly at me, wanting to say something, but he's cut off by the smiling girls heading in our direction.

"oh my god, ruel! my name is lena, and this is my best friend, julia," the first girl says. she has gorgeous blonde hair that's chopped right at her collarbone.

"we actually met because of you, ruel. we were next to each other on line at a tour show, and became really close!" words rush out of the second girl, julia, as her and her other friends approach ruel and i.

"oh my god, can we take a quick picture!" another says.

ruel smiles at them compassionately, allowing all of them to pose next to him for a photo. i try not to bring attention to myself, but lena notices me.

"hey, do you want to be in the picture?" she asks me kindly. she looks like such a sweet girl, maybe only a few years younger than myself.

i consider being in the picture, but i brush the idea off. "oh, that's ok. i could take the photo for you guys, though," i say with a smile.

lena aggres, so i hold her up phone to take the picture of ruel and the girls. when i hand lena her phone back, she admires the photo and shows it off to her friends and ruel.

"thanks so much! this means a lot to us. your music has helped us more than you'll ever know," she says to ruel.

as the other girls and ruel talk more about music and life, lena turns back to face me. "so..." she starts.

why do i have a feeling she's going to ask me if...

"are you and ruel friends?"

dammit.

i nervously take a sip of my drink, trying not to look uncomfortable. "yeah, we're friends," i reply almost too forcefully.

"you're so lucky! what's it like, i mean, being ruel's friend?" lena continues to talk.

i say something along the lines of 'it's-not-much-different-than-being-friends-with-anyone-else' and 'he-considers-his-fans-his-friends-too' kind of thing.

as lena attentively listens to me speak, i look towards ruel every so often for guidance. he smiles, distracting me from lena for a split second.

suddenly lena places her phone in front of me. "is this you?" she asks.

snapping back to reality, i take a glance at her phone and she shows me a private instagram page. my instagram page to be exact.

nervously and without thinking, i nod my head. "yeah... that's me."

lena smiles proudly as he pulls away her phone. "cool! is it ok if i follow you then?"

why does she want to follow m— oh... it's because i'm "ruels friend".

with a bit more confidence this time, i nod my head again. "sure, go ahead! but i'll probably accept the follow a little later, if that's alright."

lena agrees and thanks me before turning to face her friends and then ruel.

"alright, well it was nice meeting you all", ruel states after speaking to the girls for one last minute.

the girls look disappointed that they have to leave, but ruel makes sure to give them both a hug before they leave.

"bye, ruel!" leans waves. "bye, ruel's friend!"

i wave goodbye back, exhaling a breath i didn't know i held in.

after the girls walk far enough away, ruel turns his attention back to me. "are you ok?" he asks kindly.

honestly, i expected his fans to be more "fan-girly", i don't know. but i was proved wrong; those girls were really nice.

if all of ruel's fans are like the girls i just met, then i think i could get used to meeting more people... just maybe.

"i'm good," i reply, looking down to take another sip from my drink. i don't know how to put it, but i feel... exposed.

i feel ruel stare, and he's obviously not giving up.

"hey, you did perfectly fine," he reassures me, probably noticing my hesitance.

"yeah, the girls were really nice," i tell ruel. "but i feel bad for not being in the picture."

ruel keeps his gaze fixed on me. "what do you mean?"

"well, i was afraid i would've looked terrible in it, so i just chickened out," i explain while rambling. "but i also feel like i should've just done it."

i start to tuck my hair behind my ears, but ruel stops me. "you are perfect." he says, making me feel better.

my cheeks blush, and i quickly shush ruel with a whisper. "shhh! you're supposed to be only my friend, remember!"

ruel smiles wide, defenseless. "okay, okay! but my friend does look pretty perfect..."

—————

"phew, finally i can kiss you."

the bright yellow sunlight that was once streaming into the side of ruel's car has passed, and now pink and orange shadows cover our faces.

ruel and i ended up walking and chatting for a while longer, stopping at other places like a park to get away from the crowds of people.

but now ruel and i are completely alone, in his car, in my driveway.

"i've been thinking the same thing", i say. i lean closer to ruel, and press my lips against his, letting it be known how much i missed the taste of him.

ruel kisses me back, sliding his hand around my side, enjoying the moment too.

"kate...," ruel rests his forehead against my own. "promise me we won't ever pretend to be 'just friends' again? i don't think i can manage—,"

"then just be my boyfriend," i boldly i cut him off, along with a smile. 

———————

: )  i've got nothing to say lol