A Bullet (Ruby Rose fanfic)

TWELVE (ISELEN POV)

A bit of clam is a good thing for a change and I was grateful to get some at first after all those crazy weeks adjusting to my new life in Bayview: Corona is not a problem now, inmates are relaxed and no one has tried to attack me again, the guards ignore us, the Irish car keeps working on their smuggling business but we haven't got a big shipment recently and no one has ordered anything out of the ordinary. It's summer on the other side of these walls and I guess everybody has gone on vacation, Adara is staying at The Hamptons house while my goddaughter is growing healthy inside her, I've almost served half of my sentence... It's hot in here and days go by slowly, hours seem to be longer while we sweat under our uniforms despite Owen payed for a new ventilation system last year, but it's not as good as a real air-con. Sometimes, one of the girls says it's a pity he hasn't built a swimming pool too... exactly what this prison would need to look like a summer camp.

I sigh and lean back on my chair, wiping the sweat away from my forehead with my uniform sleeve and looking around tiredly... How is it possible that doing nothing is so exhausting? The girls are lying around on the couch, the tables and even on the library floor, Pilar has gone to the kitchen carrying the chocolate bars from the commissary to put them in the fridge so they don't melt while we all wait quietly staring at the clock hands moving slowly on the wall. Ruby is sitting next to Moina on the couch with a book on her lap that she doesn't read, actually, despite turning the pages absentmindedly, her wet hair curls on her nape and a bead of sweat runs down her neck... God, she's so beautiful... my official girlfriend?

I don't know, she behaves like my girlfriend inside Bayview's walls but she hasn't talked about it again since that day she called me wife and suggested she wanted to continue the relationship outside, and I don't feel confident enough to mention it. My tongue gets stuck to the roof of my mouth every time I try to bring up the subject, I'm scared that she might change her mind after debating about it so I clench my jaw and shut up, trying to enjoy my time with her while she takes care of me and protects me. My nights are pure ecstasy despite the prison limitations, the lack of privacy, narrow bunk beds, shared showers... Beautiful, smart, loyal, powerful, confident... I've met few women like her and none of them deigned to look at me, much less date me; I feel like I don't deserve her, I'm not good enough for her and Ruby will realize when we leave this prison. She's perfect... if we ignore the fact that she's a convicted criminal... but I'm one too so, who cares? I wave my hand to fan my face, sighing again, and my elbow pushes my sketchbook.

"Iced dark chocolate mocha..." Jasmine mumbles dreamily licking her lips sitting in front of me before blinking and bending down to pick it up from the floor. "Iselen, you dropped this... Oh wow... Boss, it's you..." My stomach turns when I realize they're all looking at Ruby's portrait and I try to take the sketchbook back from the mulata but my girlfriend is faster and jumps from the couch to grab it, I can't help blushing beet red when they all get closer entranced.

"It's gorgeous, I love it... Did you draw it? I thought you only designed buildings..." I nod and shrug, feeling embarrassed.

"It's not that good, I need to improve some things... your eyes aren't right..." I grimace when noticing that my girlfriend turns the pages to take a look at other drawings: her tattooed hands, her profile, another portrait of Jasmine, a quick sketch of Glenna and Moina sat on the yard bench... The Irish car whispers excited, they look really impressed and start begging me to draw their portraits promising that they'll pose for me for as long as necessary. I stare at them with my mouth open, feeling overwhelmed and not knowing what to answer while Ruby tries to calm their down saying that she'll pose first, of course, she's my girlfriend after all...

"Ruby, this has arrived for you, it's from Owen and one of the guards gave it to me... You know who..." Pilar runs in the library and they all turn around, silence falls like a stone on the room and my girl drops the sketchbook on the table forgetting about her portrait while I frown, confused.