Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“For Good”

When Otis walks out of her room, he spots Ruby’s dad in the same chair where he smoked the blunt Ruby rolled up for him that night a few weeks ago now. 

“Hey Otis man!” 

Otis is visibly emotional and hurt by what had just happened but after reading up on MS all summer, he knows that visions are often blurred so this perhaps explains his cheerfulness despite Otis’ clear contrast in emotions. 

“Hi, Mr Matthews,” Otis replies rather weakly. 

“Hey, it’s Roland to you considering we’re practically family now ey!” Roland trails off into a fit of his own laughter. 

“He’s a funny guy.” That’s what he told Ruby on the phone just mere moments before disaster. 

“I’m only kidding son.” Roland picks up on Otis’ lack of a response. “Still a long way to go yet I know, but you’re a good kid.”

“Thanks.” Otis offers a smile back as he clutches his jacket a little tighter. 

“Bathrooms just on the left.” Roland nods in the direction of said bathroom door.

“Oh, I’m going actually.” 

“What? So soon?” 

Otis really doesn’t know how to respond. should he tell him the truth that he just broke his daughter’s heart? Or should he think of some elaborate excuse to save himself from the awkwardness of the situation which would only make it harder for Ruby to break it to him later on. 

So Otis opts to go with something he has gone with most of his life. Silence. 

“Alright kid, you take care of yourself.” 

“You too.” He means that so much more than Roland would ever know. 

With those last two words, Otis opens up the door to the Matthew’s household and then shuts it behind him. 

For what he didn’t hope, but seemed like for the final time.

Ruby locks herself in her room the whole time, even during the periods before and after Olivia and Anwar come round to support her. 

So she's finally coming out when she is fully dressed for the next day of school. 

There is something different this time around when she exits the bedroom door. Her mother is home. 

Ruby had heard her come through the front door late in the night after she spent most of the night sobbing into her pillow. 

“Ruby honey come and sit down, this nut milk has been calling your name!” Sharon Matthews was far too enthusiastic for Ruby’s liking in the morning, particularly this morning when Ruby was going to have to tell her parents that she and Otis had broken up. 

“Good night’s sleep darlin?” Her dad asks as she places herself down on her usual stool. 

“Yeah good.” It was the worst night sleep of her life but yeah, same thing. 

“You missed a heck of a circus show last night hun, Otis, Liv and Anwar all came round while you were out,” Roland said to his wife. 

“Oh wow!” Sharon gasped, she was surprised enough when she was told that Otis came round after their date a couple of weeks ago the fact that these ‘friends’ she had talked about for years actually showed up was equally as surprising. But there is no doubt who Sharon wanted to focus on. “How was Otis?” 

Her mother was obsessed with Otis from the moment she started coming home in the summer with an unusually long smile on her face. There was no doubt Ruby would ‘go on and on about Otis’ anyway but it does mostly occur from the fact that her mother was always actively pushing her into talking about him. 

“He was Otis mum.” Ruby bluntly responded, not able to even look up at her parents. 

“When do you think he will be round in a setting like this? You know a meal all of us… together?” 

Ruby finally lifts her head up so she is facing her parents. Right here we go. 

“Mum, Otis-.” 

Otis likes me a lot, but he doesn’t love me. He would need to say that in his own time. He questioned my own love for him and then suggested ‘we could keep hanging out’. 

He broke my heart. 

Despite all that, he is still one of the best things to ever happen to her. 

And she wasn’t ready to let go just yet. 

After the France trip, Ruby really wishes she could let go. 

She accepted that Otis wasn’t able to love her, not yet. 

But seeing his gangly form so close to Maeve Wiley when the bus pulled up, nearly tore her apart. 

What does tare her apart moments later is Kyle’s speech at the front of the bus. 

“If you love someone you should let them know.” 

Ruby did tell someone she loved them and she had regretted it every day since. If she didn’t tell him would he be sitting next to her right now and would she be running her hands gently through his hair, just like she did when they would watch a film together at his place? 

She looks at him and said dark hair as Kyle continues to drone on about love. 

Her heart flutters when he turns around, Oh my-

But no, he’s not looking at her. 

He was never looking at her. 

If she wasn’t on a bus full of people now she’d be burying her head into the coach seat and sobbing into it, like she found herself doing nearly every night since Otis made it pretty clear that he didn’t love her. 

But she’s Ruby Matthews, she has a stupid fucking reputation to uphold. 

Ruby had let Otis see past that reputation and more recently Olivia and Anwar. 

“Are you okay Rubes?” Olivia asks when they hop off the coach back at Moordale. She can see Otis and Maeve chatting in the corner and she’s doing her absolute best not to glance fully in that direction. 

“I’m fine Liv” They were fantastic with her the other night when they came round for the first time, but right now nobody could help the way she was feeling. Well maybe one person could be he- well he was the boy in the corner standing close to Maeve Wiley. 

When she gets through the front door back home, she’s thankful her mum is on shift tonight and her dad’s signature snore is filling up the whole house as there was no hiding the tears still streaming down her face after the almighty cry she had in the car when she pulled up outside the house. 

Now she is back in her home, she changes her lock screen back to him and her at the bowling alley and then places the polaroid’s back up with all the others. Because back at home that’s where she and Otis Milburn as one still existed. 

A couple of days later when she let’s baby outside for a piss, she notices a small blue card on the floor of her driveway. 

Moordale Game Club 

Otis Milburn 

ID -0078923

She picks it up and chuckles at the small photo of him in the top left photo of the card. Otis wasn’t made to be put in front of the camera, that was evident by the countless times Ruby shoved a camera in his face so they could take a selfie together, he would always end up pulling some dorky face, almost like he wanted to ruin it. 

In this particular photo, he looks like he has been taken by surprise rather than purposely trying to ruin it. But he’s still so cute, ever so cute. 

She knows exactly how it had got there. When Otis said he needed to get back home after she asked him to stay over, she walked him to the door and they made out on the edge of the driveway, she held onto him extra tight so she could take in his extra warmth to counter the cold October night. 

The perfect night. 

Well almost perfect. 

She also knows she has to give it him back, Otis loved going to his game club. She wanted to stop him from going when they were together, but she was done with changing Otis Milburn she liked him- no, she loved him exactly the way he was. 

Ruby hesitates on it for a few days, it’s hard enough having to look at him when they pass in the hallway, never mind talk to him. 

But when she hears about his mum in hospital she decides to bring it along with her when she drives to his house to check if he was okay. That’s what she was there for first and foremost, she still cared for him deeply. 

She had been round once earlier in the day but there was nobody in, so she tries again later on at night. 

“I’m going out to see Otis mum!” Ruby calls from the front door of her home. She isn’t lying, it’s just not in the context her mum thinks. 

“Okay darling, have a nice time.” Her mum pops her head around the corner from the living to tease her. 

Ruby doesn’t have a good time though, she only makes it to the top of those annoying steps when she spots Otis and Maeve sharing a short and awkward kiss. 

Again her whole world feels like it’s been rocked, completely breathless as she is routed to the spot and yet again she realises that she really needs to move on. 

But she sucks at the whole moving on thing. 

She tries going back to having casual hookups with Moordale’s elite but that feels even worse than it did before. As it’s all hilariously dull compared to Otis soft touch and his voice in her ear asking her if she’s okay. 

Then her mother doesn’t stop with the relentless questions. 

“How was Otis today dear?” 

“When’s Otis coming round?” 

"What did Otis think of the school's plans?"

“Did Otis do well in his test today?” 

“How’s Otis’ new baby sister?” 

Ruby manages to find answers to all of her questions over the next couple of weeks, but it’s pretty obvious that her mum is starting to get a little suspicious. 

If only Baby could talk, this would be so much easier.

She thinks about what she and Otis would be doing if they were still together to keep the illusion alive that she has something precious. 

Ruby likes to think they would have definitely have had a second date by now, well probably a third and then a fourth, so on and so on. Well, she would have liked that, no loved it but Otis, on the other hand, would probably be daydreaming about Maeve Wiley when Ruby pressed their lips together. 

But nevertheless, she’s in front of the mirror getting herself dressed up for her’s and Otis’ ‘date’. 

She smiles at the thought of him, knowing that she didn’t even need to try at all to impress him with his awful dress sense. But in the end, even that wasn’t enough. 

Just as she’s fading into a sulk again, her mother’s walking into the room all smiles as she examines her daughter. “Oh, Ruby don’t you look wonderful.” 

Ruby rolls her eyes at such a compliment. “Thanks mum.” 

“I hope that Otis knows how much of a lucky boy he is, where is he taking you again?” 

“Rollerskating,” Ruby replies firmly. 

Sharon Matthews just laughs as she rests her hands on the back of Ruby’s chair before the mirror. “He’s very odd this Otis, first bowling, now this, do you even like those things honey?” 

“Yeah, he is very odd.” 

Her daughter's response tells her all she needs to know, that’s exactly why she likes him. “Well as long as he makes you happy darling, he’s good enough for me.” 

Ruby’s smile drops slightly, but not enough for her mum to notice. That’s one of the reasons Ruby can’t tell them just yet. Her mum and dad don’t do hate, but if they found out somebody broke the heart of their pride and joy, well Ruby doesn’t want to imagine what they would do. And Otis, despite all the hurt he has caused her, doesn’t deserve anyone to think Ill of him. 

So instead of clinging onto the arm of the boy she loves as they move around in more ridiculous footwear she would be forced to wear on a date with him, Ruby’s in the woods, more specifically their spot in the woods. 

Ruby’s eyes are flickering to the passenger on the left, where she and Otis did the most unimaginable things to one another. 

It’s where her feelings for him first started to grow unbeknown to herself of course, when she would sweetly kiss him doing foreplay for far too long or when she would catch eye contact with him as they came together, totally trying to shake off how much more it made her feel. 

She pictures all of his little rambles and rants as he hopped in the car, all sweaty from his cycle over. They would usually be about his mother’s pregnancy or his dislike for his best friend’s new boyfriend and Ruby would only be able to shut him up by jumping onto his lap and scolding him with “Personal talk, no. Your dick in my vagina, yes.” Before she would slam her lips onto his. 

Ruby smiles at the thought of said memories, but it’s quickly fading when she realises she is here in the woods, alone, all alone. Her feet up on the space above the steering wheel as she tucks into a bowl of ice cream she bought along as she waited for an acceptable amount of time to pass so it would seem conceivable to her parents that she and Otis had been on a date. 

In the darkness in front of her, amongst the sound of the trees swaying in the light breeze, there’s the sound of some footsteps scraping against the gravel path. 

It makes her reiterate from her slouched position and shoot straight up. Ruby’s hearing had become more and more advanced over the past year or so, so she could listen out for any potential disturbance in her father’s room so she could react in an instant. So much so during her summer affair with Otis even at the height of their shared moans, Ruby would be able to pick out the sound of a rare passer-by. She would demand that Otis pull out of her immediately and hide in the space below the passenger seat, he would only use this as an opportunity to torture her by eating her out as they waited for whoever was passing to disappear again, bastard

There are no moans this time though, so the footsteps amongst the darkness are so much clearer in her ear. So clear, that Ruby could swear she recognises the sound and…

Oh no….

It can’t be…

Right now Ruby want’s to be hidden from the world, nobody could know that she’s on a fake date with her fake boyfriend, Otis Milburn of all people, the boy who broke her heart. 

If she would draw up a list of people she didn’t want to find her in this mess right now, one boy would be at the top of the list with a very large gap to probably Olivia in second place. 

Unfortunately, that one boy is the one walking with his head down just yards away from her. 

“Shit!” Ruby mutters as if she’s just received an untimely text message in an abandoned asbestos-filled toilet block. 

She ducks down, hitting her head off the steering wheel as she did so, hoping to avoid the boy's detection. 

Unfortunately again for Ruby, the footsteps just get closer and closer and closer and closer, until…

Three knocks at her passenger window followed by. “Ruby! Ruby! Are you okay?” 

Of course he asks that, because that’s what Otis Milburn does, he asks Ruby Matthews if she’s okay. 

Ruby in the mess that’s she’s in slowly begins to crawl up and back into the car seat, How embarrassing. She presses the button to slowly pull down the passenger window and reveal to her, Otis Milburn in his full lanky form. 

“What are you doing down there?” 

It’s the first he’s spoken to her in a little over a month, the first time they had spoken in this country since she told him to go for good. Since then whenever they passed in the hallway it wouldn’t be shy old Otis, but Ruby who would duck her head in a mixture of hurt and disgust, while Otis would stand there all open-mouthed, knowing he should say something, but unable to follow through. 

Now here they were, her pretending to be on a date with him and him miles away from home on foot as a roar of thunder sounded out and the rain began to fall.

“I was picking something up.” 

Otis narrows his eyes at her, noticing absolutely nothing in her hands. 

“What are you doing out here?” 

Ruby falls silent at his questioning, unable to think of a viable response. As the rain falls harder and another screech of thunder comes from above, Ruby watches his face squirm as he gets pelted by the rainfall. “Get in, it’s pissing it down.” 

So Otis opens up her passenger door and settles himself down into the seat next to her. Where he had sat as she straddled him as her summer fling, where he had sat as she drove him to school, as a guy she had casual sex with but ‘would never date’ and where he sat as her boyfriend who she would make out with in her unofficially reserved car parking space before school. Now here he was for the first time, sitting in that seat as her ex-boyfriend. 

“Wow, sorry for getting your seat wet, you always used to shout at me for that.” Otis catches his breath for a moment as he tries to tidy up the mess he had made. 

Ruby would normally shout at him for moving anything out of line in her precious car, but her heart is beating too fast to shout at him with them this close. But then that heart of her’s is sinking as she realises Otis had just referred to them in the past tense. 

Otis is staring back at her too, perhaps with the same realisation at their closeness and the memories this place held for them or maybe as always he’s just thinking about Maeve Wil-

His phone begins to buzz. 

Ruby’s heart’s bouncing around again as she realises as who it might be, but fortunately, she manages to catch the called ID of ‘Mum’ when Otis pulls the phone from his pocket and immediately declines the call. 

As he does this a hurt expression of his own begins to form as he stares out into the night sky.

“What brings you here then?” Ruby decides to flip the attention away from her own presence. 

Otis sighs as he slowly flickers his eyes over to her direction. “Jakob’s not Joy’s father. He stormed out.” 

“Jakob?” Ruby narrows her brows back at him. 

“Oh you know Swedish guy, my mum said you called herself and him a good looking couple for old people.” 

“Oh.” Ruby softly responds, remembering that specific moment, but more the ability to rock up to Otis’ house whenever she pleased. “Joy?” 

“My little sister.” 

“That’s a nice name.” Ruby smiles with a hint of sincerity for once, something she used to reserve for him and looks like she still did. There were a few moments of silence again as Otis ducked his head. “Still doesn’t explain why you walked for an hour to get here.” 

“It’s pretty hectic back there, needed to get away, so you know- here.” 

Ruby nods back at him, remembering that he used to come to this spot to get over a hurt as well as herself. But unlike herself with her father, it seemed that Otis had gotten over his hurt, now that Maeve Wil-

For the second time when she tried to form cockbiters name in her head, Otis’ phone rings and it’s still his mother. 

“She’s probably worried, I should get back.” 

“What happened to your bike?” 

“Oh erm, chain’s all tangled up.” 

“Why haven’t you fixed it?” 

Otis smiles lightly and Ruby curses the things it does to her insides. “Do I look like I know how to engage in manual labour.” 

“Yeah, good point,” Ruby replies as she lets off a small laugh back, briefly, just briefly the unbearable tension between the two of them is put to the back seat. 

But then of course it’s back, very much present in the front two seats of Ruby’s car as they stare at eachother again. Otis is the first to break the eye contact, awkwardly smiling as he ducks his head. “Look I best get-.” Otis begins as puts a hand on the door handle before Ruby sharply interrupts him. 

“Don’t be fucking stupid Otis, I’ll drive you.” 

There’s still that tension between them as she drives him home in complete silence.

Ruby keeps her eyes on the road, but she can’t help but notice Otis glancing across with that same look he gives her in the school corridors, wanting to say something, but not knowing what or how to begin. Ruby doesn’t entertain him though, firstly because the rain is now torrential and she doesn’t fancy wrapping her car around a pole and killing them both, but more importantly, she knows what her heart would do again if the experiences from five minutes ago are anything to go by and she can’t continue to be seen as weak in front of Otis Milburn and she absolutely needs to move on. 

One thing Ruby is doing is pulling the handbrake when she comes to a stop outside his house, not with the sharpness on the brakes as she used to. 

Otis doesn’t jump straight out and Ruby doesn’t ask him to leave either. She’s taking in the surroundings of 43 Ashford street again, noting the absence of a specific van on her right, a van she may or not have dragged Otis into the back of one time. “So, who’s the father?” Ruby calmly asks. 

“Oh erm-.” Otis clears his throat as he shakes his head. “I couldn’t hear much over the shouting, but something about before they started sneaking behind mine and Ola’s backs at the start of the year.” 

“Bit like If you got me pregnant before you finally got your way with cockbiter.” Ruby says blankly as she just stares out of the windshield as the rain continues to smash down in the background. 

“Ruby-.” Otis breathes softly as he turns towards her. 

“Maybe it runs in the family, running around with different people.” Ruby knows Otis didn’t cheat, but maybe what he did was even worse. 

“Ruby…” Continues the same tone with her, sighing through his own pain. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am for what happened and I’ll do anything to at least make us civil again, I can’t live with hurting you, Ruby.” 

So much for not being weak in front of him. Ruby thinks as she feels her eyes beginning to water again. “That’s thing Otis, you’re not sorry, took five minutes of our relationship ending for you to snog her outside a fucking petrol station. Is that what you did when you kissed me? Did you think of her lips?” 

Otis lets off a big sigh, shutting his eyes as he did so. He knows how it all looked, but when you’re kissing Ruby Matthews it’s impossible to think of anyone else, not even the girl who captured his heart. “No Ruby, I’d never. And again, I know it’s not good enough but I’m really sorry Ruby.” 

“Whatever.” Ruby grunts as her first rests on her temple, just staring out of the driver’s window. 

Only the sound of the rain thrashing against the car can be heard as the silence returned once again and not for the first time Otis is trying to break up. “Erm, what are you doing all dressed up.” He awkwardly nods towards her yellow leopard print blazer dress. 

“I’m always dressed up Otis.” 

Ruby’s deadpan tone as she continues to stare out the window makes Otis laugh lightly, she always made him laugh. “Yeah, that’s a good point.” He continues to lightly chuckle as he plays with his fingers. “You look really nice.” She looked more than nice, she’s Ruby Matthews, she’s stunning, radiating the hottest energy imaginable. He has a girlfriend, a girlfriend he loves, a girlfriend thousands of miles away from him, but still he’d be stupid not to at the very least recognise Ruby’s beauty 

“Thanks.” Ruby lets off a light smile, still looking away from him, but she still smiles as she did get dressed up with him in mind still, she knows how much he loves her in yellow. No Ruby, he liked you in yellow, well really liked apparently, but not loved. 

“Erm, were you going to a party or-.” 

“I was on a date.” 

“Oh-.” Otis doesn’t know why it hurts him slightly, he should be happy, Ruby moving on, might give them a better shot at being fri-.

“I was on a date with you.” Ruby finally decides to turn towards him as she built up the courage to spill the truth to him. 

“Oh.” That’s all Otis can offer as he’s completely shaken to the core by her answer. 

“Don’t worry, I didn’t drug you so I could steal you away from cockbiter.” 

“Oh.” 

“You say that a lot don’t you.” Ruby narrows her brows as she picked up on his third consecutive use of the word ‘oh’. 

“Do I? Oh yeah.” Otis finally realises his pattern and notices his fourth use of the words when Ruby’s raising her brows at him this time. 

That was cute- No Ruby, fuck. 

Ruby’s battle in her mind leaves a huge pause again, leaving Otis to fill again. “Erm so, how we’re we- you know, on a date.” Otis voice slowly trails off, almost graduating into a whisper by the time he said ‘on a date’. 

Ruby momentarily drops her head to the floor as she sighs, Come on Ruby, it’s only Milburn. You told him you loved him once. “Erm, my mum and dad don’t know we have broken up yet.” 

Otis nearly says ‘Oh’ yet again, but stops himself as he continues to process the information he’s just received. “I’m not angry or anything, I’m just wondering why-.”

“Why would you be angry?” Ruby sharply interjects. 

“Right sorry.” Otis quickly shakes his head, He broke her heart, she’s the one whose supposed to be angry. “I-I was just wondering why you haven’t told them, It’s okay, I understand that- that could be hard.” Otis looks anywhere but Ruby as he comes to the end of his response, knowing full well he’s the reason why it would be so hard. 

“Because I still love you Otis.” Ruby softly replies, not getting emotional at all, he can’t win not again. “It’s sort of nice, a world where things are me and you are okay and it’s hard Otis, really hard to tell them you lost something so special.”

Otis is mumbling, chills being sent down his spine, exactly the same as the first time she confessed her love for him. 

Then that, ‘something so special'. He’s brought back to when they were sitting in her front room with her father and the drug dealer he would later find out lived so close to his current girlfriend. More specifically Otis is brought back to the Irishman's words. “It’s nice to see her happy since she’s been dating you.” It makes him feel more and more guilty by the second. 

“Don’t you dare so ‘oh’.” Again Ruby sharply responds before she’s letting off a sigh again. “That’s the main reason. Do you ever wonder why I have so much expensive shit?” 

“Erm-.” Otis isn’t too sure if that was supposed to be rhetorical, so he tries to begin but when Ruby quickly cuts him off, he gets his answer. 

“Because they fucking adore me, I’m not the raging bitch I am at school at home, but I suppose you saw that.” It’s still surreal to her that she showed him that world. “Fucking goody two shoes, so they shower me with whatever I want.” What Ruby wants, Ruby gets. Unless it’s Otis Milburn’s heart of course. “And if somebody hurt me, I’d think they hunt them down across all of Moordale until they are dead and buried.” 

Otis lowers his head, picturing the scene from the Simpsons movie when Homer opens the window to see all of Springfield waiting outside with flaming pitchforks shouting “Kill! Kill! Kill!” Expect everyone had the face of a raging Irishman. 

“But you don’t deserve that Otis, you’re the last person who deserves that.” When Ruby softly said “You’re the best.” moments before disaster on the phone, she truly, truly meant it. 

“I do Ruby, I hurt you, so badly and I deserve everything that comes my way.” 

“My dad wouldn’t actually kill you, poor bastard can’t even move properly.” Ruby laughs to herself, a little bit of self-depreciation for once. “But he’d hate you and I don’t want that to be his lasting impression of you as, after all that’s happened, it’s certainly not mine.” 

‘I don’t hate you Otis, but it would be so much easier if I did.” 

The few moments of silence while Otis gazes at her softly, allows Ruby to think of an idea, a stupid and far fetched idea, but an idea nonetheless. “You said you’re sorry and you’d said do anything to fix things.” 

“Anything.”

“Help me break up with you again… Come over, we’ll show my mum and dad that things are working and we can- you know, break up in a way that’s less dickish than the last time.” 

It takes Otis a few seconds to process the idea, staring blankly back at her. 

Ruby is instantly cursing herself what a stupid, stupid idea. “Or you don’t have to, I under-.” 

“I’ll do it.” Otis smiles, a little at how crazy it all sounds but mostly at the thought of getting things somewhat straight with Ruby again. “Of course, I’ll help.” 

Chapter Text

The day after their little encounter in the woods, when she locks eyes with him at school for the first time since their breakup Ruby isn’t cowering away from him, she’s walking directly towards the couch he and Eric are placed on in the library with some purpose.

The library is more active these days, even Ruby’s finally discovered where it is. That’s because with the financial restraints the school is under, students have been told that low grades could result in you being a part of the cuts being made. “Bullshit!” Everyone cried at the assembly and it was, the teachers agreed, but there is nothing they could do. 

But Ruby isn’t arsed about being kicked out of school right now, she’s more bothered about finally kicking off Otis Milburn’s hold on her.

Otis spots her from a mile off, completely blanking away from Eric’s discussion about the assignment as feels the nerves shaking through his body again. 

“Otis! Otis!” Eric tries to regain his best friends attention before he notices where his gaze is directed. “OH MY GOD! IT’S RUBY!” Eric squeals as he jumps up a few inches in the air, briefly earning them the attention of the whole library. 

Eric then just proceeds to hang his head in shame, he knew that Otis’ fumble with Ruby had truly ruined their biggest chance yet of climbing the social food chain. But deep down Eric’s happy that his best friend had finally got things somewhat on track with his one true love. 

“I’m not going to kill him Eric,” Ruby says blankly as she stares down at them. “Not yet anyway.” Ruby’s mouth twitches into the smallest of smiles as her’s and Otis’ eyes connect. “But I will have to kill you if you don’t skedaddle, now come on, chop, chop.” 

As Ruby claps her hands at him Eric is shooting up from the sofa as fast as humanly possible, picking up his bag before he decides to race away. “Okay, okay, I’m leaving, I’m leaving.” 

Ruby hears Eric’s nervous whispers as she places herself down where the Nigerian boy was placed. Sitting opposite Otis as she does a trademark Ruby hair stroke and he’s twitching, unsure whether to begin. Yes, this is more like it. She’s the confident one and he’s the nervous one, not the other way around. 

“Erm- are-.”

“Tonight, my place.” Ruby sharply interjects. “Better getting it over and done with sooner rather than later, so I can get on with my life and you can get on with… whatever it is you do.” Ruby sort of disgustingly waves her hands in the air, to signifying shooing him away to do whatever it is he does. 

Otis nods along to her words, not too sure himself at ‘what he does’. “So-so what do we do?” 

“Just make it seem like we're not working, lot’s of tension, shouldn’t be too hard.” 

Otis ducks his head again, because no it wouldn’t be hard at all, because there is a ridiculous amount of tension between them and that’s something he still wants to fix. 

“That way, they’ll just understand, we don’t work.” Ruby’s already collecting her bag, sighing as she stands up, indicating her exit. 

It hurts Ruby again because it’s not true, they do work, strangely but they do. She thinks Otis knows that too, but do they work better than him and cockbiter? God, why the fuck does she care?

“I’ll text you the details.” She calls back with her back turned to him swaying out of the library in a way that only Ruby can. She’s proud of herself there, she said everything she needed to say and got out of there with only the smallest amount of pain in her heart. Maybe she can do this, maybe she can move on. 

But when he turns up to her house, 30 minutes late as by design and he’s standing there in the worst brown tweed suit Ruby’s ever seen, she’s struggling again. 

Going a little breathless, she’s kicking herself because he looks so shit, but she wants to do nothing more than lean down, cup those cheeks and kiss that adorable bastard. But she can’t, he’s here as her pretend boyfriend just to create the illusion that their breakup wasn’t as shitty as it was in reality. 

“Erm.” Otis finally croaks as Ruby had been staring for far too long. “Am I late enough?” 

“Yes.” Ruby finally manages to get a word out. She had told him to come late on purpose, the more sloppy this all seemed, the better. 

“Erm, can I come inside?” It’s actually quite cold.” Otis uncomfortably laughs through his light shivers. “You know, it is November and all.” 

“Right. Come in.” Ruby jolts her head and Otis walks through the porch door. 

He’s almost standing right on top of her as Ruby shuts the door behind him, almost stepping on her toes as his lanky form towers over her just as he would when she’d be dressing him for school, that’s how close they were. But when they look up at one another, there’s none of that sense of unadulterated fun or spark between them. 

It’s actually Otis who notices it the most, thinking back to that time and how there is a massive hole in his life as far that energy is concerned. But what he has now is better, what he has now is what he has always wanted, right? 

“RUBY! IS THAT OTIS?” 

The shout from Ruby’s mother in the kitchen, breaks Ruby’s and Otis’ little intense stare off in the doorway with Ruby pressing her lips together and angling her head in the direction of the doorway for Otis to follow her. 

As he does that, Otis is absolutely kicking himself for making those comparisons between Maeve and Ruby. What is he even doing here! He looks back at the door, thinking about running away, but then he remembers. He messed around with this girl really badly and the hurt he left with was even worse. One last night of pretending to be her boyfriend before she can tell them that they have broken up is the very least he can do.

Speaking of whom, there they were at the table on the other side of the room, probably the only two people in Moordale who thought Ruby Matthews and Otis Milburn were still together, those two people being the former’s parents. 

“AH! Otis son! Thought you’d got lost!” Roland says whilst he scoffs on his rice, which forces Ruby into a hard eye roll. 

What annoys Ruby more though is Otis’ smile shyly aimed in her direction, he always seemed to like it when she was embarrassed, but was that genuine or all part of their little act? Either way, it’s again tugging at that bruised heart of her’s. 

Otis’ smile is fading though when he turns his neck away from Ruby and back towards the kitchen table. Expect one of those previously occupied is now empty and Ruby’s mother is charging towards them. 

For one split second Otis thinks he’s been set up and he’s going to get a fully deserved slap across the chops from Ruby’s mum. He doesn’t get that, but he’s still surprised by her actions as she bussed both of his cheeks. 

“Hello, Otis honey! It’s so nice to finally meet you! After all these years we’ve been desperate to meet one of her friends! But to meet her boyfriend..” Sharon turns to Ruby and let’s off a forced gasp. “Well imagine our shock!” 

Otis still flushing from feeling a Matthews kissing his cheeks again just nervously ducks his head as he puts his hands into his pockets. 

“Well let’s get you sat down and do feel free to take that coat off, Ruby did tell us you are attached to the thing!” Sharon continues to beam out as she pats down Otis’ bomber jacket. 

Ruby’s blushing again, as she finds herself in a little bit of a sequel of “ Otis this and Otis that.” 

And once again Otis is grinning at her, CAN YOU PLEASE STOP DOING THAT! 

Otis eventually takes off his jacket and hangs it up with the rest of the Matthews’ family coats and jackets. Again it makes Otis smile when he notices there must have only been one apiece for Ruby’s parents but around 12 for the teenager and that wasn’t even counting the one’s in her room. 

He’s then settling himself down in the chair next to Ruby and opposite her parents on this extremely, extremely cramped table. So cramped in fact he can feel Ruby’s bare legs rubbing up against his pants. Feeling the touch of her skin again when scintillating, made him feel so much more alive, so much… No, stop this. 

“Do you want me to warm that up for you Otis? Just you were running late and we’ll we just had to start!” Sharon giggles as she nods down towards Otis’ curry. “Oh I haven’t even properly introduced myself, I’m Sharon and oh! I didn’t even ask if you like curry!” 

“Calm down love, poor kid probably thinks your gonna explode!” Roland comments on Otis’ startled face due to his wife racing at 100mph, desperate to make a good impression for her daughter's boyfriend. 

Otis is startled because Sharon’s bubbly energy isn’t anywhere near what Otis would have associated with Ruby Matthews a few months ago. Secondly, it’s time for his first little fumble of the night in their weird script Ruby had devised for them via text. 

“Oh erm- I don’t really like hot food.” He wouldn’t say it’s his favourite, but he certainly enjoys it, but while he’s still Ruby Matthews’ ‘boyfriend’, no he must despise it. 

“Oh.” That cheerfulness and joy is dropped from Sharon’s face in an instant. 

“I thought you told me you loved curry.” Ruby turns to him with narrowed brows.

Otis knows what he’s supposed to say next. This is only supposed to be something small, showing maybe they don’t understand each other too well, just planting the seeds of what was going to be a disaster of an evening. But Otis does, what Otis does and he panics. “I do!” He blurts out far too loudly and it nearly makes everyone at the table jump. “Just not too hot, I normally have yoghurt with it.” 

That smile returns to Sharon’s face as she’s rising up. “Lucky we have some in then! Oh and I’ll fetch you both a tea towel so you don’t get it all over your clothes.” 

Ruby’s groaning not just because Otis completely bottled it but because her mother has gone to “ Fetch the tea towels”. It’s Ruby’s stupid idea, her mother and father don’t quite invest in the etiquette that she did. So she forces everyone to shove a tea towel down the top of their shirts. She partakes in it herself because so much as a smudge on one of her items of clothing could push her over the edge, but she really doesn’t want to wear one in front of Otis. 

“There you are.” Sharon returned with Otis’ now much cooler curry and a tea towel for them both. 

Otis looks at it as if it’s an alien artefact. His look changes though when he watches Ruby put her’s on, ever so gracefully. It’s just so funny, Ruby Matthews and her stylish white sleeve knit top with this very ordinary and old chequered tea towel shoved down the top of it. For Otis, it’s one of those moments big bad scary Ruby Matthews looked completely adorable. 

Before she catches him staring, Otis turns away to attend to his own tea towel but Roland and Sharon definitely catch him. He wants to hide, that’s terrible. But he has to quickly remember tey are the only people who can catch him looking at Ruby-like that. 

When Ruby does finally turn towards Otis, it’s a pathetic sight. Him struggling to get the tea towel positioned properly, constantly crumpling it up. Constantly letting out embarrassing little “whoops!”

Ruby lightly groans at the sight before rotating herself in her chair. “Come here.” Ruby puts her hands on the tea towel, straightening it out for him and tucking it deeper into the top of his hideous shirt. As she does this, Ruby’s fingers connect with Otis’ skin on his chest sending chills down her body, not remembering the ridiculously hot sex they had when they were touching, but the more tender moments. Like the few times, Ruby stayed around at the Milburn household and she pressed little kisses to his bare chest as he slept. 

That’s what’s a widened eyed Ruby is thinking about as Otis thanks her for her help. 

Ruby returns it with a light a smile, a genuine Ruby smile. 

When they shift around its finally time, 30 minutes plus a few Otis mishaps later than it should have been, but it’s time to eat dinner. 

“So then Otis, this is normally the part where we get to know you, but Ruby’s already told us so much about you as you already know!” Sharon is still absolutely high on life, she’s so excited for this, finally, her daughter bringing someone home. 

Roland has to put his unsteady hand over her’s to calm her down, again, whilst Ruby’s rolling her eyes, again. 

“She’s been talking about you a bit less recently though, thought you had broken up! Sharon laughs. “But alas here you are!” 

Otis ducks his head during Sharon’s giggles, hoping to avoid looking at Ruby in any way for a few seconds, but he manages to recover it all with a shy smile. “Well thanks for having me.” 

“Bloody hell Otis, don’t worry about that, I think she wants to keep ya!” Roland tilts his head over so slightly in the direction of his wife. 

Otis gets a little uncomfortable at the thought, just what did ‘ wanting to keep him’ mean? 

“Aw, no it’s just your exactly how our Ruby described you, very shy and very sweet.” Sharon again beams back across to him. 

Otis doesn’t blush or act ‘shy’ as his ex-girlfriend had described him to her parents, instead he’s turning towards her raising his eyebrows. “Did you now?” 

Ruby’s brows aren’t raised, they are narrowed. “Well I’m not wrong am I?” Ruby is mostly referring to the ‘shy’ part, completely forgetting about the fact that she just referred to him as ‘sweet’ but it’s definitely true. 

“Do you ever say anything nice about me?” 

“Well, there would have to be something nice about you for a start Otis.”

It’s something that was creeping in before the end of their relationship, Ruby retaining her meanness and teasing Otis but in a context where it was understood by the pair of them that this was playfully teasing. 

One of the ways this was understood would be Ruby showing him some sort of affection straight after, so rather instinctively she moves a hand across and entwines it with Otis’. 

As she suspected it’s tense, very tense but when Otis gives the lightest of squeezes back she feels a whole lot lighter, feeling a fraction of the sensation she received from Otis’ hand when they were dating. 

For Otis his head’s spinning when Ruby first entwines their hands. It feels wrong and he instantly runs through a random chain of events where Maeve finds out about this. But then the logical Otis reappears, telling him that friends hold hands all the time and that’s what he desperately wanted to be with Ruby, friends. In addition to that, he has to remind himself again that he’s here to do her a favour, a favour he needed to do after he did one of the worst things imaginable and that’s breaking her heart. So holding her hand for one night was again the very least he could do. That’s when Otis offers the squeeze back. 

When Otis feels the tension in their entwined hands evaporate he starts to enjoy the feeling of having his hand in Ruby’s again. 

He’d never held Maeve’s hand, as much as he wanted to through the computer screen. Holding Ola’s hand was nice, if not extremely awkward at times. But then there was Ruby…

For all of her talk that she’s embarrassed of him, Ruby loved to claim his hands whenever possible, proudly parading him around the school, squeezing his hand as if her life depend on it. Looking back on it he knew the reason she did that, She loved him. 

Maybe despite the obvious holding back from them both, this feels all the more special, having someone hold on to your hand who cares about you that much. 

Sharon and Roland note the hand-holding and there’s a smile on both of their faces, particularly when Ruby’s mouth makes the smallest twitch before they let go of one another so they can return to their food. 

“So Otis, what do you think about the school's propositions to keep afloat?” Sharon moves the conversation on as she takes a sip of her wine. 

“I think it’s terribly unfair, exams aren’t always a proportionate representation of a student’s academic progress and you have to factor in stuff at home, learning disabilities, abandoning those students is quite literally the worst thing you could do.” 

Sharon nods rapidly in agreement  “That’s exactly what I said, wasn’t it darling?” Sharon turns to her husband. 

“Yeah, you did indeed love,” Roland says with his mouth full of rice. 

“Dad, don’t talk with your with your mouth full.” Ruby politely warns him. 

Roland playfully scoffs back at her. “Oh, so it’s okay when your fella does it, ey.” He correctly points out as when Otis replied to Sharon’s question he, in turn, had his mouth full. “Is that how far the pecking order I’ve slipped!” Roland trails off into some laughter. 

“Otis…” Ruby slowly turns around to her not boyfriend before warning him as well. “Could you not speak with your mouth full please.” 

Otis is frozen as he already had a big piece of chicken curry in his mouth, he takes one careful bite and awkwardly mutters out. “Sorry.” 

Ruby shakes her head as head at him as he continues to bite, idiot. But again, she’s still smiling. 

Otis decides to speak again when not all, but nearly all of the food in his mouth is gone. “We were thinking about planning another mutiny, but that kind of got us into all this mess.” 

“Well I disagree, that headteach-.” 

“Mum, I don’t think Otis came round to discuss school.” Ruby interrupts her mother. 

“Right you are Ruby.” She concedes back. 

Otis is whipping his head back around to Ruby with narrowed eyes and a hint of a smirk. “What happened to speaking with no food in your mouth?” 

Ruby glares at him as he was correct, she had fallen foul of her own rules. 

Otis’ smirk just widens. “And where’s your misophonia when it’s at home?” That Otis is returning, the carefree and cheeky Otis Milburn who is able to stand up to the big bad Ruby Matthews.

Ruby joins him in a little smirk as she hears her dad in the background call out “Misa- what now?” Otis was right, it’s an inconsistency. That’s what Ruby Matthews was full of, inconsistencies. She retaliates by picking up a pile of napkins and whacks him with them on the arm. 

Again Roland and Sharon turn to one another and smile as they observe the playfulness in front of them, said playfulness reminding them of something similar, a long time ago. 

“What about that brand new sister of yours? Must be terribly exciting?” Sharon takes on her next line of questioning. 

Otis smiles, trying to picture the few moments of peace he’d had with Joy. “Yeah, it is.”

“Ruby tells us the father’s a Swede?” This time it’s Roland with the question. 

Fuck, Ruby scans the worry on Otis’ face at her father’s questioning, she’s ready to try and save the day and get him out of this mess, but Otis is quickly forming a smile on his face and replying. 

“Yeah he is, he’s a really good dad.” 

That’s when it clicks for Ruby. 

He’s here to escape from his own problems too, telling lies to paint a happier picture of the reality of his life just as she was. 

That’s what Otis and Ruby do, they come to one another in their hour of need. 

So that’s what they do, subconsciously abandoning their original plan and just focusing on having a good time, Otis and Ruby doing what they do, coming together for escapism.

It’s very easy for Otis to have a good time surrounded by Sharon’s constant optimism and Ruby and Roland’s wit. Especially from the latter. 

“ He’s a funny guy.” 

That’s what he told Ruby on the phone and he might have to upgrade that tonight after some of Roland’s stories, especially about Ruby. 

They transition to the living room after dinner, just as they did on the night after the double date, just with Sharon taking Jeffery’s position on the couch opposite Roland. 

Ruby also takes a hold of Otis’ hand again but for a more extended period of time, but Otis still doesn’t let go, not even when Ruby gets extremely comfortable in the facade they had created by running a thumb over his knuckles as they chatted away. 

Again like that night with Jeffery, there is weed and again Roland is snoring loudly around them. 

Otis doesn’t need assistance to get him to bed this time, not wanting to disturb Sharon or Ruby despite their willingness to help. 

“Thank you Otis.” Sharon smiles across to Otis once Roland is settled in his bed again. 

“It’s no problem.” Otis takes a step back and joins Ruby’s side close to the door frame. 

Again Sharon’s beaming at what a polite and wonderful young man her daughter had chosen to be her’s. 

“Well you have been an absolute sweetheart, I hope you had a nice time.” 

Otis blushes a little as he ducks his head. “I did, thanks for having me.” 

Ruby eyes up as he nods back at her mother and it’s genuine, sincere, he did have a nice time. That’s what 95% of this night had been, genuine. 

“I know you particularly enjoyed the story about Ruby and the swimming b-.” 

“Right, that’s enough of that, good night mum.” Ruby in a panic of hearing that story again cuts her off, taking Otis by the hand and dragged him out of her parent's bedroom and into her own room, hearing a call of “Good night dears.” on their way. 

“I can’t believe you got lost in a swimming pool for four hours, how does that even happen?” 

“You know why, no need to bring it up again! It was a very traumatic experience for me!” Ruby protests lightly and they both just start laughing.

When they are in her bedroom and out of sight, Ruby lets go of his hand immediately, the facade is over but they are both still smiling. 

“We forgot to break up,” Ruby says between their heavy breathes. 

“Yeah, we suck at that.” Otis chuckles back.

It’s not that they sucked, they just instinctively stopped trying. Otis is too nice to be awful with Ruby and on the other side of the coin, Ruby just loves him too much. And most importantly as Ruby thought earlier, they do work together. 

As the laughter calms down, Ruby and Otis keep glancing up to one another's eyes in the doorway. Both of them were aware of how close they were and how previously, how easy it would be for Ruby to reach up and kiss him hard. Otis doesn’t just think about Ruby’s lips, he thinks about the absence of her hand locked with his, the warmth it provided, the human touch of someone who feels so strongly about you, something he had been missing. 

They are just so close as their eyes fix onto one another permanently, the feeling of one another’s breath radiating onto one another and Ruby starts to lean in….

But it’s all cut short as Otis jumps up at a phone call. 

Unlike last night in the woods, the person calling is the person who Ruby feared as she scans his phone. 

Maeve 

FaceTime Audio…

They both gulp in unison as Otis presses the accept button, turning his camera off immediately. 

“Hey Muppet, tried your laptop, did Jakob throw it out in a fit of rage?” Maeve’s sat in some kind of apartment, a sandwich and drink next to her on a desk, must be on some kind of lunch break. 

“Hi, Maeve…” Otis nervously flickers his eyes up towards Ruby, a drastic change in emotion on her face, as if she’s caught them standing close to one another in the French woodlands, a face of hurt. 

“So what’s up with your camera then?” 

Otis again continues to panic, looking around Ruby’s room for some sort of answer. “Oh- erm, nothing… I’m- I’m just out…” He winces by the time he gets to the end of his sentence. 

“Oh are you at Eric’s again?” Maeve asks, her voice starting to sound a little weak. 

Fuck, Otis is now looking up at Ruby but she’s still offering him nothing. “No, just busy, can’t really talk right now!” Otis rushes out at 100mph, in one explosion of noise. 

“Right…” Maeve responds, a very strong hint of annoyance in her tone. 

“Erm, what’s wrong?” Otis weakly asks back. 

Maeve sighs before she responds. “Nothing’s wrong Otis, just every time I can’t talk you make it into one big drama, but when you can’t talk, no that’s okay, that’s just fine.” Maeve snaps back at him. 

“What? No- I didn’t say-.” Otis tries to rescue this disaster but Maeve’s quickly cutting him off. 

“Whatever.” 

“No Maeve, don’t - I love you-.” 

But it’s too late, Maeve’s hanging up, not the first time a call had ended like that. 

Otis slowly raises his head up from his phone, which was telling him nothing but how short the call was, up towards Ruby. 

Ruby’s reflecting on those words. ‘ I love you.’ Otis Milburn stood so close to her, saying those three little words in the flesh, But they weren’t for her, they were never for her. God what was she doing?

“You need to go.” Oh boy, she’s said that before. 

Otis shyly nods as he keeps his head arched firmly down and starts to limply creep towards the exit of the Matthews’ home, again. 

Ruby’s reflecting as she watches the sorry sight of Otis walking away from her. Reflecting on that warm feeling she’s had since she took his hand at the start of the dinner, having Otis back in her life again. It may not be in the capacity that she wants him to be, but again, she’s not ready to let go. 

“Wait-, I’ll drive you home.” 

Ruby is still furious with herself in the silence during the drive home. 

What the in flying fuck what she doing trying to kiss him? 

A boy who was in love with someone else. Not to say that ever bothered her when she was seducing someone at a Moordale party, but this was different, this was someone she cared about and she shouldn’t be messing around with him like that. 

But more importantly, it’s a boy who viewed her, for whatever stupid fucking reason, as second best. Ruby Matthews doesn’t settle for second best. 

Ruby’s also thinking about her earlier thoughts, about Otis using this opportunity to escape his own problems also. Was cockbiter one of those problems? 

She has to know, so when she parks up and they are viewing his house from her car windshield again, she decides to ask. “What happened back there?.” The poor boy looks lost at her questioning, or is just trying to avoid it?  “With cockbiter, seemed pretty shitty.” 

“Maeve.” He tries to correct her, but from her glare back at him it seems like she is not going to budge on that, especially after what had just happened in her bedroom. Otis lets off a sigh before continuing. “Yeah it is pretty shit…” 

“Why?” Ruby asks pretty weakly, not wanting to jump to any conclusions, but if she heard correctly… him and cockbiter, not working. 

“Oh you know, it’s hard, time difference, she’s always working, really hard and rightfully so. But you know- doesn’t leave a lot of time for calling, even then one of us always burned out…” Otis keeps ducking his head throughout, but he tries to spin the situation back on its head. “But she’s just getting settled and I’ve got a lot on at home, so we’ll work it out.” 

Ruby doesn’t buy it one bit. “And you get annoyed? When you can’t talk?” Ruby asks, thinking back to Maeve’s words on the call. 

“Yeah… But it’s-.” 

“And you’d be right,” Ruby speaks firmly as she cuts him off. “You always make time for those who care about you the most.” Ruby’s speaking from experience, she drops everything for her dad, parties, school work, even spending time with Otis. She was nervous as she got closer and closer to Otis, thinking about how she would be able to balance her time with the two men she cared about the most. But she made it work, because as she said, that’s what you do when you care about people that much. 

“Yeah but time diff-.” 

“I’d call you every night.” Ruby softly interrupts this time as her heart beats fast in her chest. “I did call you every night, remember?” That’s right, she did. Every night she and Otis were apart because she had to care for her dad, she’d ring him just before bed, because she feels like that’s what a girlfriend might do, but also because she liked him, she really liked him. But then she realised she really loved him and it was that nightly tradition that cost her this relationship. 

“I know you did Ruby.” He softly responds, the warm feeling of Ruby checking up on him every night returned, sometimes they wouldn’t be able to put the phone down, Ruby getting more and more talkative as time went on. The hours of talking leaving them shattered for the next day at school. 

Silence fills the air for a few moments, with Otis reflecting on what Ruby had said about, but it is the girl who finally breaks that silence. “Thank you for tonight, it was fun.” Ruby had been down in the dumps for a month, only slight moments of relief from her friends who she was opening up to more, but of course, it was Otis who made her feel alive again. 

“Yeah it was.” Otis smiles as he looks up at his house, a house of chaos since Jakob and Ola stormed out, leaving his heartbroken mother struggling with Joy. “You have an amazing family Ruby, I just think you should know that.”

You wouldn’t notice that one of them had a potentially life-ending neurological disease. There’s just so much love between the Matthews’, so many laughs, so much harmony. It’s something Otis had always craved and was something that he thought he was finally getting before it was all ripped away from him with his mother’s bombshell. He isn’t even jealous of Ruby, he’s just delighted for her, it’s what she deserves. 

Ruby mouth breaks into a small twitch. “Yeah, I know.” Ruby’s again thinking about how great tonight was, how great he was and how telling him to ‘go for good’ was a fucking horrific idea, anyone who has Otis Milburn in their life is a very lucky person. “Is your bike still broken?” 

“Yeah.” 

“I’m not surprised, the way you kept dropping it on the floor in the summer, I did warn you” Ruby takes a much lighter tone with him this time around. 

“Yeah, you did actually.” Otis has a wide smile on his face as he thinks back to the summer, a couple of times Ruby warned him about how he dropped his bike as she straddled him. Otis would then fire back asking why she cared so much as she wriggled his belt off after all of her talk of ‘no personal conversations’. Ruby would just brush it off, saying she couldn’t have her boy toy being late. But now looking back Otis could see that she just cared, a lot more than even she knew. 

“Just you were so fucking desperate to get in my knickers.” 

Otis just flushes red from the passenger seat. “What? No-.” 

“Oh, so you didn’t want to fuck me?” Ruby just raises her eyebrows as she further teases him. 

“No- no, I didn’t mean that, I’m attracted to you erm- obviously, but I’d never want to think- I wanted to violate you, like you a more than just a pair of knickers. I mean that sounds really weird- and erm I-.”

“Otis,” Ruby smirks as she stops his typically messy, but typically adorable, bumbling response. “I’m just teasing.” She has his hand on his knee as she does this and when he eyes that hand up, it’s a role reversal of that day outside the chemist when Otis promised to quit school and get a job to support her and their hypothetical baby. 

“Oh okay.” Otis smiles as he nervously nods back at her. 

Ruby continues to smile as she flicks her hair and settles herself back into the driver's seat. “I was thinking then, I can pick you up tomorrow, for school.” 

Otis smiles wide again at the prospect, it seemed that it had worked, Ruby wants to spend time with him outside of this pretend relationship for her parents. “Yeah, that would be great.” 

“Can’t take you all the way though, pretty embarrassing to be rocking up to school with your ex, I mean Imagine if I turned up to school with Tom Baker, ugh and you're even lower down in the hierarchy, I don't think I'd ever be able to recover.” 

Otis just lightly laughs back at her, all just typically Ruby. “That sounds great.” 

Ruby offers another small smile back before she wishes him on his way. “See you tomorrow then, I’ll text you.” 

“Yeah.” Otis continues to beam back, he hadn’t made it up to her fully, maybe he could never do that, but he was on his way to the best he can. “See you tomorrow.” 

And with that Otis is climbing out of Ruby’s car, heading towards his steps as he hums to his favourite song. This is the best he’s felt in weeks. 

“Otis!” 

Otis stops when he reaches the first couple of steps and spins around at Ruby’s shout. 

“You’ve still got your tea towel on.” 

Otis shoots his head downwards and Oh shit, he did, how embarrassing. “Argh!” He cringes as he attempts to wriggle it off him. 

Ruby smiles as she watches him panic whilst she’s stretched across the car, with her head leaning out of the passenger window. “It’s fine, you can give it be back tomorrow.” 

Otis’ worry fades as he is reminded that he’s going to see Ruby tomorrow, three days in a row now. “Yeah, tomorrow.” 

Chapter Text

So the day after their ‘date’, Ruby isn’t approaching Otis at school, she’s approaching him outside of his house to drive him to school, just as she did every day since she kissed him in front of the bike stands, well, everyday bar the final day of their relationship. 

She’s not thinking about that now though, for the first time since their breakup, she’s thinking about what’s ahead rather than what’s behind, thinking about whatever this is she and Otis have. 

Ruby’s looking in the mirror, giving herself the once over as she straightens her hair out and adjusts her red headband, Otis said he likes it. Ruby does try and tell herself that she’s not being very particular about her appearance just because of Otis, nobody in the whole of Moordale is more particular about their appearance than her, but Ruby’s brain definitely knows what it’s doing. She doesn’t go all the way though, when they were together she’d somehow make her skirt even shorter for the car journey to leave Otis squirming in the passenger seat. 

A little bit earlier than she expected, Otis is bouncing up the steps and she has to drop her mirror act in a hurry. Fuck, he definitely noticed that. 

That’s not the only thing annoying Ruby as she awkwardly repositions her hands to act like nothing was going on, it’s how he looks which is pissing her off. 

Otis looks shit, he looks shit in everything. Everything except his school uniform. School being the only place she is required to spend time with him and it’s very fucking distracting for her. 

Fortunately for Ruby, there is something else distracting her this time around and that’s what’s gripped in his hand. It’s a sparkly purple… Kids party bag? She’s not so sure, guess she’s about to find out…

He doesn’t jump over like he used to, instead opting to just open the door and place himself beside her, you know, like a normal human bean. It does pain Ruby a little bit that he doesn’t feel comfortable enough to do that anymore or maybe it’s because of that fucking thing he’s holding. 

“What’s with the bag?” Ruby asks straight up when Otis adjusts his feet as he settles himself into the passenger seat. 

“Oh.” A bemused Otis looks over his shoulder at the standard issued grey school bag he had half leaning off one shoulder. “It’s the same ba-.”

“No idiot.” A frustrated Ruby cuts him off. “The fucking party bag.” 

“Oh.” Otis lightly chuckles at his error as he lifts it up in the air. “Erm well- it’s for you.” 

This just causes Ruby to narrow her eyes further as Otis levitates the bag in the space between them. 

“Well I got you, your mum and your dad something for our ‘date’.” Otis wags his fingers in the air at that word as Ruby peers inside the bag to see some flowers, bottle of wine and a vinyl record. “But then I remembered it was supposed to be terrible so I decided not to bring them, then it went great so I thought I’d give them to you anyway, I couldn’t come to your house again and now you're picking me up to scho-.” 

“Otis.” Ruby stops him in his tracks. 

“Yeah-.” Otis says a little bit out of breath, just from the pure speed of his ramble.

“I’m just taking you to school, no need to be nervous.” 

Since they started their summer affair, Ruby had noticed Otis likes to go on his signature rambles for a number of reasons. Because he’s really passionate about something ( Ruby’s personal favourite. Even if she doesn’t understand what he’s on about half of the time), he wants to avoid something or because he’s nervous. Right now he’s definitely nervous. Again it annoys her as to why he might feel that way. They are just two… friends? Ew, associates?  school students? People, who share a close bond? She genuinely has no idea, but whatever they are, Ruby doesn’t want him to be nervous. 

“Right, right okay.” That one little comment from Ruby seems to calm Otis down a little as he nods his head back at her. After that Otis then, proceeds to slowly hand over the bag. “Well I erm, I hope you enjoy it.” 

Ruby’s just narrowing her brows at him hard again, refusing to take a hold of the bag. “And what am I supposed to do with this now?” 

“Oh well, I thought you- you could keep it in the car boot and you know, take it home at the end of the day.” 

“Locking it in the car boot, won’t be very good for the flowers Milburn.” 

“Neither is keeping your dog in your locker, why do you do that by the way?” 

Now Ruby’s pulling off one of her own tricks when she wants to avoid something and that’s just glare at him for daring to question her methods of mothering her dog. She’s avoiding a response, because he’s made a good a good point and she can’t let him think he’s winning here. 

“Take it back inside, I’ll take it off you at the end of the day.” Ruby finally responds after nearly ten seconds of silence. 

“You’re taking me home as well?” Otis’ face seems to light up at the prospect. 

“Well, I’m hardly going to let you walk all the way home with those cheese strings legs of yours.” 

“Huh, cheese string…” Otis laughs back and it’s far too dorky for Ruby’s liking. 

“But only if you behave.” Ruby’s grinning lightly and Otis is full-on smiling, this is what she wanted, to feel lighter again. “Now come on we are going to be late.” Ruby shoos him out of the door so he can put the bag back inside.

Otis nearly makes one more quip about since when did Ruby care about being on time for school, but he decides to keep the words in his throat beyond the smile on his lips as he heads down the steps to his house. 

He’s missed this. He always knew he did, but now he’s sort of back in Ruby’s life again he never realised how much. It’s not sex this time, but just a few seconds of her strange wit and overdramatic hair flicks helps him forget all of his problems. The problems are still the same, Maeve, Eric’s relationship with Adam and his mothers baby troubles.

Each situation is different though, the love confession is no longer lost, him and Maeve have finally found one another but long-distance, is well… long distance. Otis is no longer worried that Adam might hurt Eric, he finally got ‘the whole Adam thing’ but in the end it was Eric who hurt Adam, leaving both of them quite the mopey mess. Finally, the baby had arrived not without its complications during and now after the birth, the paternity of the child destroying the family that was finally bubbling inside the walls of 43 Ashford street. 

But for the first time in a while, Otis woke up with a smile on his face this morning at the thought of fixing things with Ruby. 

He’s thinking about bringing up that joke about school attendance as he rises back up the steps but it’s all been ripped away from him…

Ruby’s gone… 

Well her car’s gone and his school bag with it. 

He drops his shoulders and sighs, he should have known this was going to happen, he deserved it. 

He should have known it as well, he broke her heart, why was he so stupid to believe that she would forgive him so eas-

Just as Otis is thinking of turning back around to ask his mother if she can drop him off at school before her first scheduled session of the day, Ruby’s car is reappearing around the corner, with Ruby beeping at him as she grins. 

Otis sighs again, this time in relief as he carries his form over towards Ruby’s car. 

“Had you there Milburn.” Ruby extends her smirk as she watches Otis awkwardly get in next to her. 

“That’s not funny Ruby.” Otis lightly groans as he does up his seatbelt and a still grinning Ruby begins to get them on their way at the wheel. “I’ve always prided myself on never getting a late sticker… well I’ve had one in 14 years, that isn’t bad.” 

Ruby lightly narrows her eyes as she continues to drive them across town. “What was the one for? Too much of that Smash Bro’s shit?” 

Otis lightly smiles, for some reason he’d just imagined she’d quickly forget the title of the game that drove her up the wall when they were together. The smiling is fading though as he realises he will have to tell the truth about his one late sticker, he could go along with the smash bros story, but that’s one thing he and Ruby always did, tell eachother the truth… “Erm, er- it was the Friday after my party.” Otis hopes by avoiding saying ‘the night we first slept together’ will make things sound a little less uncomfortable. 

But Ruby isn’t uncomfortable at all, she’s humming at the wheel. “Hmmmm, I would say that was my fault but you were pretty wasted anyway.” 

“Yeah…” Otis smiles upon the thought of the memory, it should have been a terrible memory, hurting Maeve and Ola like that, but he’d more than patched one of those relationships up but without that night, he wouldn’t have this with Ruby, again whatever it is now. Plus the actual relationship they had which was the happiest Otis had ever been, expect for finally getting together with Maeve obviously… Obviously right?  “Did you get a late sticker that day?” 

“Not had a late sticker in four years.” Ruby produced a trademark hair flick as they pulled up at the first set of traffic lights. 

Otis narrows his eyes as he turns towards her. “But you’re always late for school.” 

Away from his vision, Ruby’s mouth forms the smallest smile, the boy she loved noticing these things about her. “Yes, but then I started flashing my tits to the attendance officer, perv.” 

Otis gulps, widening his eyes as he tries his hardest not to think about them himself, all the times they bounced as she rode- NO! No, no, no, no, no… “So-so, what’s your first period?” 

“Bit upfront asking a girl about her period don’t you think Milburn?” Ruby asks deadpan as the lights turn to green. 

“No, no, I- I meant-.” Otis bumbles before Ruby cuts him off. 

“I know what you meant Milburn. Besides I thought you knew all about my periods, both menstrual and educational.” 

It’s true, naturally throughout the summer Otis learned quickly when Ruby was on her period, she started slating him when he started to buy her tampons, but secretly she adored it knowing that it wouldn’t have entered the brains of any of her previous partners. Then he studied her timetable and was always reminded her when and where her classes were. Nothing new, because that was normally an honour bestowed on Olivia and Anwar as she ‘ didn’t have the energy’ to look at her timetable. But the difference being, she never asked Otis, he just did it. Some of the many reasons why she didn’t just adore him but loved him.

Her heart does drop a little bit when he doesn’t respond straight away, thinking he might have forgotten, but then…

“Wednesday period 1, Ruby Matthews will be partaking in her business studies class.” He says in a mocking graceful voice. 

“Yes she will Milburn, yes she will.” 

Eventually Ruby pulls the car up, a street and a half away from the school entrance, students still in those hideous grey uniforms making their way to said entrance at the bottom of the street. 

“Right this is as far as I’m taking you,” Ruby says as she pulls the handbrake. 

“Let’s hope my cheese string legs make it the rest of the way,” Otis replies leaving a smirk on Ruby’s face. 

“I would save you a few more yards, but people might spot your gangly form getting out of my car, it’s quite the juxta… juxta…” Ruby really concentrates hard trying to think of the term she really should know from class, if only she wasn't so distracted by… well anything but the class, but in more recent months, the skinny nerd sat next to her, for all the right and wrong reasons. 

“Juxtaposition.” Otis smiles at her struggles as he corrects her.

“Alright don’t think you're all high and mighty because you're such a smartarse.” 

Otis chuckles as it’s hardly a revolutionary word. But he decides to protest anyway, but it’s nothing serious, that playfulness is returning “Hey, I thought you liked that I’m smart.” 

It’s true and it’s a massive turn-on for her. “I said I liked your moustache once, look where that went. There’s a difference between being smart and being a smartarse and right now your being the arsey one. Now go on piss off.” Ruby angels her head towards the pavement for him to leave. “If you aren’t here by quarter past three, I’m driving off.” 

Otis smiles back at her, he thinks he might try and put that to the test to see if she would still be waiting for him, but maybe not today, the first day on the road to recovery. 

“I’ll try and be on my best behaviour.” Otis quotes her words from earlier as he grabs his bag and opens the passenger door. 

Ruby smirks as she watches him the whole way out, she’s aware she should probably be driving off by now but she just keeps, looking. 

Otis notices her looking and looks back himself, but this coincides with Otis taking a step up onto the pavement. His distraction causes him to trip up over the very large kerb losing his balance, but just about manages to compose himself when he’s fully on the pavement, it’s ever so clumsy as he let’s out a very loud “Wowwww.” 

Ruby shakes her head as she watches proceedings, she really confessed her love for this absolute idiot.

Their paths don’t clash for the rest of the day, not in the classes due to their difference in sets or in the canteen due to their difference in the social hierarchy and the fact that Ruby rotates the location of the Untouchables dedicated lunch spots depending on the day of the week. 

But at the end of the day Otis is still leaning against the lamppost next to the cobbled alley where Ruby dropped him off earlier this morning. 

He’s there until exactly quarter past when Ruby sharply hits the brakes in front of him. 

“You really shouldn’t lean on that thing, dogs have probably pissed on that.” She says as she removes her sunglasses which really shouldn’t go with the November weather and the scabby school uniform, but she’s Ruby Matthews of course they go together. 

“I was actually expecting some sort of joke about how that would improve the way I smell.” Otis smiles as he opens up the passenger door. 

Ruby can’t quip back at that one even when he gives her an open goal as she had previously been very open about how she felt about the way he smelt. And yes, the smell of him had kept her company throughout all of the day. So she has no choice but turn around put the car in gear again and get on their way. 

“So how was your day?” Otis warmly asks.

Ruby narrows her eyes at him through the mirror. “Do you really want to hear about how Anwar and Nick fell out over cheese?” 

Otis stays firmly in the back of his seat but gently angles his head towards her as he gazes. “Yeah, I do actually.” 

So that’s the main topic of discussion on the way home, just how Anwar and Nick were going through a blip because the wrong type of cheese was placed on the latter's burger. 

“Right, that’s enough cheese for today,” Ruby says as she pulls the handbrake outside his home. “And that includes your general presence as well Milburn.” 

“I’m not cheesy!” Otis playfully protests back. 

A cock of a single Ruby Matthews eyebrow is enough for him to concede to her. 

It leaves Otis smiling at her from the passenger seat for far too long and left feeling far to warm for someone who just picks up for and drops him off for school. 

“Are you going to stay there all day? Because unlike you I have a life to be getting on with.” Ruby asks, somehow getting over how fast her heart beats when he looking at her like that. 

“Oh.” Otis kicks himself into life. “I will get going, but I shall be back with your gift bag.” Otis undoes his seat belt and climbs out of the car. 

As he does that Ruby watches him all the way down the steps as she reflects on just how… ironically ‘ nice’ today had been. She’s get’s to enjoy his presence and his quirks and apart from a few brief moments she’s not longing for more. It’s a routine that she thinks can work and overtime, she’ll begin to accept it, just a friendship with Otis. 

With that final thought Ruby’s shooting her eyes up to Otis who isn’t hoping back in the car but moving around to the drivers side to stand over her from the gravel path. “So the flowers are for you, the wine’s for your mum a bit presumptuous of me, she might not have drunk alcohol, but last night proved she did-”

Again Ruby’s cocking an eyebrow at him. 

“Oh no, I’m not saying she’s a drunk! I’m just saying she might not have drunk and she does and she you know- likes it, but not that much, nothing like that-.” 

And Again Ruby’s smirking at one of his little rambles, but this time she’s not interrupting him as she’s slipping again, caught up in how adorable he can be. 

“-And erm, the vinyl for your dad.” 

Ruby picks up said vinyl from out of the bag to examine it. 

“It’s from my own collection, had a spare, was going to give it to Ola  but then you know what happened, and is it bad I didn’t spend any money on it?” 

Ruby’s not bothered about his question, right now she’s posing a question of her own. “What if my dad already has one of these?” 

“He doesn’t.” 

Ruby narrows her brows at his confident response. “How do you know that?” 

“I just know.” His response results in Ruby somehow managing to narrow her brows further. “I’ve got a good memory, all in here.” Otis taps his index finger on his temple twice. 

Ruby’s heart is warming at how Otis is able to memorise her father's pile from just a couple of glances, but is she surprised? That’s what Otis does, he notices. 

“So I hope he enjoys it, it’s a real classic, 1967 edition.” He smiles brightly across to Ruby, as if that was supposed to mean anything to her. 

“I’m sure he will.” Ruby begins as she slots the vinyl back in the bag. “You are the two saddest people in Moordale.” Part of it’s true, they both are pretty sad and probably the only two people who still wish it’s still 1967, but they are also the two best men she knows. 

“Well if Ruby Matthews says it, it must be true.” Otis beams across as he leans on the side of her car, with her smile somewhat matching hers. 

“See you tomorrow Otis.” 

“See you tomorrow.” 

So that’s their routine, everyday Ruby’s outside his house at quarter to nine and dropping him off outside the same cobbled alley before picking him up from the same place at quarter past three. 

Becoming more and more comfortable with eachother and the tension between them draining with each journey. 

But of course, it’s Otis, he has a habit of being weird. 

Like one time when Ruby’s picking him up in the morning in the pouring rain. 

“Jesus.” Ruby cringes as a sodden Otis gets into the car. “Watch your fucking self.” Ruby starts to wipe bits of the seat he’s soaked. 

“Sorry Rubes, I can’t dictate the weather.” 

‘ Rubes’ her nickname has reappeared and it makes her feel weak every single time, Oh and the way he’s shaking up his messy wet hair right now, really, really isn’t helping her thoughts. 

“Yes, well do better Milburn.” Ruby sighs as she begins to restart the car. 

“Oh.” Otis almost jumps up before reaching down to his bag. “That reminds me, won’t be the only one getting wet.” 

Ruby moves her head back slightly as she narrows her brows, hard at him. What a very odd statement to make. “Who?” 

“You.” He says without a care in a world as he retrieves something from his bag. 

Okay, What the fuck? What a very, very, very odd statement to make. 

“Or is period blood dry or wet? I’ve never really asked.” 

With yet another crazy statement, Otis produces of course, a box of tampons. 

“It’s this week isn’t it, tomorrow on average if I remember correctly.” 

Despite his extremely weird approach, Ruby can’t help sigh softly at him as her heart flutters. Of course he’s remembered as well as the brand she prefers. 

“Yes, yes it is.” Ruby shyly steals the box from him, will save her a trip to the shops. “Thank you, Otis.” She almost whispers as she tucks it into her own bag. 

“It’s no problem.” Otis produces a small smile as he watches her. 

“Although you are really, really weird,” Ruby says as she faces him again. “Like they should put you on some sort of register.” 

Otis winces back as he shuffles round and Ruby puts the car in gear. “Yeah, I went about that a bit weird, didn’t I?” 

“No, you just went about it like a boy.” 

No, he did something even worse. He went about it like Otis and he’s really not making it easy for her. 

“Your car used to be green,” Otis says when he opens the car door when Ruby pulls up to their spot after school. 

“What?” Ruby is taken a little by surprise as he hops in and she’s immediately pulling away.

“First year of sixth form, up until like just after Christmas, it was green.” 

Ruby raises her brows as she slows down for the speed bumps. “I suppose it was.” 

Otis laughs. “What do you mean, ‘I suppose it was’, you do remember your actual car being green?” 

“Are you accusing me of being thick Milburn?” 

“No I-.” 

Ruby decides to spare him the bother this time around and cuts him off straight away. “Of course I remember Otis.” 

“Then why did you change it?” Otis relaxes after realising he’s not going to get hammering from the girl he once described as ‘terrifying’. 

“Green went out of fashion, don’t you remember?” Ruby asks as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“In the same way that I don’t remember that coke zero became the new diet, no actually.” 

Ruby smirks slightly as she shakes her head. “It wouldn’t hurt for you to engage in a little bit in the latest social trends you know?” 

Otis keeps his lips shut as he shakes his head, the only verbal response being a cheeky disagreeable hum. 

“Well, you’ll always have those three episodes of the Kardashians we watched.” 

After that Ruby can’t work out just why Otis is so suddenly anti talkative and for once it’s her pushing the conversation for once. 

But at least he perks back up when she’s pulling up outside his house for the final time this week. 

“Well, I hope you have a nice weekend.” He smiles sweetly across to her. 

“Yes, you too, doing ‘whatever it is you do’.” Ruby’s quote reapers but she says it with less disgust this time, genuinely wishing him well and they're in a joined smile this time. “Oh, that reminds me.” This time Ruby’s the one bending down for her bag to retrieve something for him. “Considering you started the week by giving me one of life’s necessitates I could give you one in return.” Ruby then hands out a small blue card for him. “Well in your weird little world anyway.” 

Otis almost gasps when he realises what it is. “My game club card!” He gently takes the card off her before he scans it in amazement when he has it gripped in both hands. “Aw Rubes, I’ve been looking everywhere for this!” 

“Yeah it was in my front garden, must have dropped it…” The use of her nickname again isn’t the only reason her hearts is racing, it’s the memory of how that card got there. Her kissing him hard with her hands resting on the back of his neck, when they said goodbye after the night of the double date. She decides not to say that, but judging how her’s and Otis’ eyes softly lock on, he knows. “Sorry I feel quite bad, I would have given it back to you ages ago, just-.” 

Otis interrupts her so she doesn’t have to explain herself, she couldn’t face him because he broke her heart and he doesn’t want to take her back to there considering how well things have been between them as of late. Plus there is another reason. “Oh it’s fine, I just got a new one.” Otis retrieves his latest card from his wallet and waves it in the air for her to see. 

“Shame…” 

“Why?” 

Fuck, she shouldn’t have said that. The reason she said that is because as she stated previously, he looks so fucking cute on the one she had kept a hold of, but on this new one he looks miserable or… “Cause you look like shit.” She opts for her said. 

Otis turns and smiles at his new game card ID before looking back to Ruby. “I can always rely on you to cheer me up can’t I Rubes?” 

Ruby’s smile extends. “That’s me.” There’s a few seconds of silence mixed in with yet more gazing before Ruby decides to wish him on his way. “Well as I said, have a nice weekend OT.” She says across to him, softly. 

Again this allows Otis to act weird, like weird even for Otis’ standards as he squeals “Okay!” Like a little child before jumping up and out of the car in record time. “Bye Ruby! Have a nice weekend!” That’s what he manages to get out before he and his bag are racing away.

The reason he’s acting weird, well no, there are multiple reasons, but they all lead to the same point. 

That’s the first time she’s called him ‘OT’ since they had reconnected. It’s a nickname that he hated at first, all part of her ‘re branding’ of him as it were. But even after they became official it seemed to stick and it was slowly growing on him, but then… the relationship ended. 

That’s what he had been thinking about a lot recently, their relationship. 

Whether it be the odd nicknames, kissing her outside her house or snuggling on his sofa while they watched her favourite reality shows. 

How easy it was to kiss her, to touch her. He’d been thinking about that kiss in question, how alive he felt, looking back it’s probably because it was the kiss of someone who just realised they were in love, it’s intoxicating and he wants to feel that-

NO! NO! 

He has to stop this. 

He does want to feel that again, with Maeve not Ruby, but fuck……

She’s just taking him to school and back and she’s not even doing anything! She’s just being Ruby and she’s not making it easy for him.

Otis is running late, running late for the first time after school, well past the quarter past three deadline as he sprints out of the school entrance. 

Miss Sands just wouldn’t stop going on about context this, context that. Context that Otis is already well aware of. 

Otis had to make a strange excuse about some diapers going out of stock at the store for Joy as his reasoning for his sprinting away from Eric. 

He’s out of breath spinning around the corner, but eventually, his sprint turns into a jog and his jog turns into heavy breaths while walking as he sees that Ruby’s car is still there, still waiting for him, despite him being well over the agreed time that Ruby would drive off, leaving him with a long walk home. 

She doesn’t even look disturbed, comfortably resting her car seat, one hand running through her perfectly coiled hair and the second scrolling through her Twitter timeline. 

“How’s Kardashians land?” Otis surprises her as he jumps over the side of her car and straight in, something that he’s picked up again over the past couple of journeys. 

Ruby's head jolts back slightly, phone jumping up as well as her eyes widening, Otis can only presume this was a Ruby Matthews version of ‘surprised’. “Fucking hell Otis” She then eyed him up and down, quite disturbed by the state of the lanky boy next to her. “Your sweaty, gross.” 

Otis then quickly wiped off some of his sweat away with his own blazer which only makes Ruby cringe harder, imaging if she dare did something similar. “Well, I didn’t want to make you wait any longer. Hey, what happened to ‘If you aren’t here by quarter past three, I’m driving off’.” Otis smirks as he mocks her previous statement. 

Ruby blushes as she knows she probably would have waited for up to an hour for him, even then she wouldn’t drive off, instead, forming a search party for him. “Yes well just be grateful I’m here Milburn.” Ruby brushes it off as she pulls the car out of the row of parked vehicles and back onto the road before she’s venting at him. “You’ve made me fucking late for my tan now.” 

Otis just smirks across to her, they are from totally different worlds, but he loves that about her and he’s wishing he was more engrossed in it, Ruby’s world. More than her picking her up and dropping him off for school, then taking him home and repeat. 

And, Oh no, he’s doing it again. 

He thinks about those thoughts and all the other ones that had been bubbling in his brain the past couple of days now. He’s thinking about it on the way home, in bed at night and in the morning. 

How great things with Ruby had been compared to Maeve as of late. 

As he’s said, he shouldn’t compare them. 

Firstly because one’s his girlfriend, the one he loves. While the second is as he said, the girl who takes him to school everyday, nothing more, nothing less. 

But from the outside looking in, a stranger would presume that the two were the opposite way around. 

It had taken over a year for him and Maeve to get where they were. A year of pain, of hurting others, miscommunication, all to lead to three kisses, three spectacular kisses, even the short and sweet one outside his house, it’s all he ever wanted. But then Maeve was off to America, he was hurt, but he was proud of her and he knew they could make it work, because they love one another. 

It hadn’t quite gone to plan thus far. While Otis and Maeve know and understand one another perhaps more than anyone else in the school. 

Boyfriend Otis and girlfriend Maeve don’t even know one another at all. 

They had kissed three times, with no official declaration of a relationship and now they were supposed to manage said relationship thousands and thousands of miles apart. Even that's after months on end of no talking post the voicemail incident.

There’s still poor communication as they awkwardly tiptoe around one another through the computer screen, always at an ungodly hour for one of them, while being drained with their work loads. 

It’s hard.

That’s why it’s unfair to compare Maeve to Ruby. 

But with Ruby everything is so much more easier, he feels so much lighter around her, she makes everything so easy, even when things should be so hard. He broke her heart and yet there she was every day, the best part of his day. 

Not stressing out in front of a computer screen, wondering what time Maeve will be able to talk, if the connection would hold up and planning out what he was going to say, not as Otis Milburn her business partner but Otis Milburn her boyfriend. 

But with Ruby there is none of that, he looks forward to how much he makes her laugh with her weird quirks, hearing stories about the 'struggles' at the top of the Moordale heritage and well perhaps most importantly, it’s how even in the smallest ways Ruby’s love and care for him radiates off her. As Otis said previously it’s intoxicating and he’s starting to want more. 

Right there you go! He’s finally said it. He wants Ruby and Maeve. 

No that’s terrible! Terrible, terrible, terrible! 

He has a girlfriend, he should not be thinking about other women like that. 

But is it telling enough on his current relationship that he’s actually having these thoughts? 

He’s been there before, well sort of…

God this is terrible! 

Whatever happened to being the guy in the corner?! Why does he have these two amazing, beautiful girls vying for his attention? And why does he sound like his dad there? That sounds like a problem he would love to have. 

But he’s not his dad, he’s Otis Milburn, the guy in the corner, the guy who just wants all of this to stop.

And… And…. And… 

And what is happening with his eyes fluttering open? And why is he in the corner of his room? And why is he in nothing but his boxers? 

Oh no, he’s had a panic attack. 

He can make out two figures peering over him. He thinks one of them is his mother, but the other figure he can make out as clear as day, It’s Ruby. 

“Ugh!” He jumps back, covering himself up as if Ruby hadn’t seen him with even less clothes on before. 

“Are you okay darling? I think you’ve had a panic attack.” The softness of the voice and clear,calm instructions, it could only be his mother and then as his eyes adjust, he gets the confirmation. 

Otis still shaking a little as he nods back. 

“Why don’t we get you some clothes on and get you sat down okay.” Jean offers her hand out to her son and he takes it, being lifted off from the ground. 

He’s still a little dazed out by it all, but he can hear one interaction though. 

“You really can go Ruby, I have it all under control.” 

“No, I want to stay.” 

Otis does feel a lot better when he gets sat down at the kitchen table, follows his mother's breathing tips and he gets something to eat and drink down him. 

Ruby stays throughout, offering him little supportive smiles from across the other side of the table. 

Unbeknown to her she may have been making it worse with what it does to his heart, to have Ruby supporting him like that. But right now it’s the embarrassment that’s taking over. 

He thinks having a panic attack is bad enough, but having one in front of your ex-girlfriend who he definitely still harboured feelings for and his mother, oh no, that’s awful. 

When those two, get caught up in a conversation about what Ruby puts in her hair, Otis decides to make his escape. 

“Right! I’m going to school!” Otis explodes into life as he races up from the chair and starts putting his blazer on. 

“Otis no, you shouldn’t be going in until at least lunchtime!” His mother cries out. 

“Well, I’m going, Ruby, there is no need to drive, I like the walk, good for my head!” 

“Otis!” There is one more cry out before Otis shuts the door behind him. 

As he walks up the steps, he hears the door open behind him, then shutting again, hard. It’s Ruby who is following him. “Otis don’t be fucking stupid, you're getting in my car.” She says as she joins his side. 

“No-no, I don’t want to go in your car.” He rushes out like a little child again. 

“Otis.” Ruby stops them both when they reach the top of his steps as she grabs an arm of his, there standing inches apart as Ruby softly asks. “What’s wrong?” 

He gazes back at her, registering how close they are standing from one another as he blinks multiple times. “It’s, it’s just-just you know…”

“Just what?” 

“Embarrassing…” 

Ruby playfully scoffs as she tilts her head to the side. “Otis, I’ve seen your cum face remember? Now there's something to be embarrassed about.” 

Otis lets out a little laugh, as the worry washes away, she always makes him laugh.

“I just want to know if you’re okay?” The hand that had gripped Otis’ arm was still there, but now the thumb of that hand was making comforting little partners, up and down. “What happened?” 

I had a panic attack because I realised how serious my feelings still are for you, despite the fact that I’m in a relationship with someone else who I am supposed to be in love with and I really don’t know what to do with so much information, probably isn’t the best response. “I don’t want to say.” He finally responds as he keeps his head planted downwards. 

Ruby lets off a little nod back, understanding. “It’s okay, there are lot’s things I didn’t want to say too.” 

Otis lifts his head back up, letting off a little smile, knowing how many cards Ruby kept firmly placed in her chest and it truly meant the world to him that she felt so safe with him that she started to share some of those cards with him.

Ruby then notices what her hand was doing and more importantly what her thumb was doing so she takes a step back, sighing before she spins around to the car. “Right come on, let’s get you that second-ever late sticker.” 

Otis sighs, completely forgetting about that as he hopes in the car. “Oh no, I presume you won’t be getting one.” 

Ruby narrows her brows as if he were stupid. “Of course not, You really should get a redeeming physical feature Milburn, like a six-pack.” 

Otis just looks down at his chest, no longer exposed like before. “I don’t really think I’m a six pack sort of guy.” 

Ruby smirks back across. “No, I don’t think you are.” After all the dreams of her perfect boyfriend, it’s this scrawny idiot that she wants, seeing him topless earlier had brought back one-two many intimate memories. 

“You’re not going to tell anyone are you?” Otis asks after some time of silence with Ruby’s reflecting on her rather seductive thoughts. 

“No Otis.” Ruby laughs as they both do up their seatbelts. “We only care when someone with relevance fucks up, we expect the tragic people to be tragic.” Ruby doesn’t think that Otis having a panic attack was tragic, she was genuinely worried for him, but judging by his face he understands that this is part of their banter. “Besides it wouldn’t be very wise, consider you know my big secret.” 

Otis' heart completely sinks, blown away that she would even say that out loud again, then as her face begins to form into an expression of worry, it seems like she can’t believe she said it either. Her secret, she loves him. 

“Right.” Ruby sighs as she turns away, breaking off their little stare off, turning her keys in the ignition and then they are on their way, yet again.

Nobody finds out about Otis’ panic attack, that’s because nobody knew that Otis and Ruby were hanging out anymore, well everyone expect Jean now. 

But even that was about to change. 

Ruby’s rotation of where the Untouchables eat their lunch had landed them on the canteen today. After spending Monday where Otis first had lunch with them and discovered Ruby’s misophonia and spending Tuesday on the Untoucbales exclusive bench. 

Otis is in there too, sat alone waiting for Eric to join him. He catches the eye of Ruby Matthews on her table as she looks up from her salad. 

A year ago he would have ducked his head, hid behind his bag and not looked up for half an hour, fearing the wrath of an Untouchable for even daring to disturb their presence with as so much as a look. 

A few weeks ago, Ruby Matthews would have been the one ducking her head after how he handled things with her. 

But not now, they have a strange and weird connection but a connection that works. Maybe a better connection than when they were in a relationship, because now they are completely open with one another about where they stand. Well, that was starting to become untrue with what Otis had been feeling lately. But was it? He told her that he liked her, he liked her a lot. But maybe the a lot had upgraded a bit. To whatever was next. 

He offers her a small smile, small enough for nobody to notice that his smile is directed for her and Ruby responds by doing the same in reverse.

It’s all interrupted by a passer-by blocking Otis’ view of Ruby and then Eric jumping down next to him. 

“What’s got you in such a good mood!” Eric takes Otis by surprise as he attacks his best friend's shoulder. 

“Ow! Eric!” Otis complains as the squeezing of the shoulders was a little too much for his liking. But he’s definitely giggling. 

“Have you and Maeve sorted out the broadband connection? So to speak!” The excitable Eric continues to press for info beyond Otis’ grin. “Is all ‘oh I love you Maeve’ ‘oh let me kiss you through the computer screen Maeve’ Yeah, yeah?” As that final bit of repetition takes place Eric shakes Otis’ whole body, as if that would get the answer out of him. 

“No, no, no Eric stop.” Otis protests through the giggles. “No, no it’s not that.” Otis follows up with once he’s calm, pressing his lips together, seeming a little more serious. 

Eric just laughs. “Hang on.” Realising that it’s something else, what else does Otis have going on in his life?  “What is it then?” The perplexed boy asked. 

“Nothing.” Otis quietly mutters as he plays with his fingers. 

“Otis.” Eric continues to press as he bends his head around so Otis can’t escape. “We tell each other everything remember?” 

There is no response from Otis but Eric catches his sly gaze over towards Ruby. He can’t help himself sometimes, admiring in her beauty especially when her name is spinning, round and round in his head.

“Ruby!” Eric exclaims through a whisper. “I thought she hated you now?” 

“Not anymore…” 

“OH MY GOD! ARE YOU HAVING AN AFFAIR?” Eric’s shouts earn them the attention of the entire canteen. Eric hangs his head in shame, while Otis’ eyes just widen. Thankfully due to just how fast it came out of Eric’s mouth, not many people can clearly articulate what he said. Thankfully Ruby is not one of those people as she and the rest of the Untouchables curiously scan the two outcasts. 

“No Eric, I’m not having an affair, I’d never do that,” Otis whispers back when enough eyes have left them, but Otis is still keeping his own eyes away from Eric. “Ruby just takes me to school every morning.” 

Eric’s brows shoot up. “Yeah, I was wondering why I couldn’t see your mum’s car in the mornings. Still, I don’t see you arriving with one Untouchable Queen.” 

“She drops me off around the corner.” 

“Right… And how does Maeve feel about this? You know you hanging around with your extremely attractive ex-girlfriend every day!”

Again Otis just plays with his fingers in the few seconds before a response. “Maeve doesn’t know….” 

“But…” Eric can’t say partners are supposed to tell eachother everything because while he told him eventually he kept his kiss in Nigeria from Adam for a little time. “You and Maeve tell eachother everything right?” 

“No…” That’s what he and Maeve suck at, communicating what needs to be communicated. 

Eric sighs as he glances over at Ruby who is watching from across the room before he leans in a little closer to Otis. “While I’m glad you have managed to get Ruby to stop hating you. But are you sure it’s good for your own relationship, sneaking around with someone you used to ‘really like’. And for the girl in question Otis! Since she still looks at you like that-” 

Otis really wants to look up, he knows the look of softness in Ruby’s eyes he can catch in the car mirror sometimes when he does something ‘cute’. It’s really started to affect him more over the past couple of days since he admitted his feelings to himself. But they can’t be both be seen to be staring, even at the great Ruby Matthews. 

“Because you love Maeve…” Eric is quickly mythed by Otis’ lack of response. “You love Maeve right? Still no response. “Right Otis? 

If he loves Maeve then why can he not stop thinking about Ruby? Thinking about wanting to touch her. Wanting to kiss her. Dreaming about her…

Otis finds an escape from Eric’s questioning by glancing up at the clock. “Oh is that the time! I have a revision group! Ow!” Otis hits his knee as he jumps up from the table before grabbing his bag. 

“Otis you can’t escape from this, people are just going to get hurt again.” 

But Otis does want to escape, desperately and when you want something desperately, you do something stupid, something out of character. On this occasion, it’s Otis snapping. “Eric, I’m going to be honest, you are the last person I want relationship advice from.” With a slight hint of aggression, Otis is leaving Eric behind. 

It was true, Eric and love triangles had ended terribly, both times. He can’t accuse anyone of having an affair. 

He wants to apologise, he doesn’t like having tension with his best friend but add his girlfriend on top of that, it’s torture. 

But at the end of the day he gets his daily escape, his daily escape being with the one person he should have genuine tension with, but no it’s the person he finds everything ever so easy with. Well, when he’s not having those thoughts. 

But today after school, unlike the morning, Ruby is looking like she doesn’t want to engage for once. 

“Hey Rubes.” He bounces over the side of the car again. “Do you know how you hate loud eating in the canteen? Do you hate noise in general in the canteen? Because I’m sure you saw or heard sorry, Eric shout and he does that a lot hehe and-.” Otis’ million mile an hour ramble is cut short when he catches Ruby staring blankly into the middle distance. “Rubes?” 

Ruby just lets off a sigh, still refusing to look at him. “Don’t worry about me, do your rambling thing, it’s nice.” 

“You see that’s what I do Ruby unfortunately, I like to worry.” Otis shifts the top half of his body fully in her direction.

“God don’t think I haven’t noticed.” She groans before finally facing him and taking her still out of place sunglasses off. “Okay it’s school, yes Ruby Matthews is shit at school and yes Ruby Matthews is worried about it. Because I’ve been placed on the warning list, you know those who might be cut. God does the board know I’m the best thing to ever happen to that school!” Ruby tries to distract with humour, but the long pause causes her to sigh and she’s doing her best to compose herself, she can’t break down in front of Otis Milburn, again. “I can’t go to another school Otis… I can’t be far away from mum and dad, especially dad.” Ruby’s voice goes that bit weaker at the mention of his name.

“Ruby… You aren’t terrible at school.” 

“Yes well my grades say otherwise, Milburn!” She snaps as she turns her head away from him again. 

“Well.” Otis slowly shuffles himself closer to Ruby from the passenger seat. “What if I told you there was a way to change grades?” 

“What?” Ruby turns back towards him and narrows her eyes at him. “Are you going to hack into the school system or something?” 

Otis lets off a little laugh back at her. “No, I mean revision Rubes.” 

Ruby’s eyes and brows narrow either further, bewildered to how that could help. “How’s getting high going to help me?” 

Again Otis repeats the same laugh, just a little louder. “No, I mean actual studying, with textbooks, mind maps and notes.” 

“Oh.” Ruby sits on that thought for a little while before coming out with. “I’ve never really done it before.” 

Of course, they had a conversation similar to this before and they actually have revised together before, textbooks, mind maps, notes and all. But those were in the final days of their relationship and Otis doesn’t blame Ruby for not really being present and forgetting the whole ordeal. 

“Well now’s the perfect time to start, how about my place, after school?” 

“As in right now?” 

“Well, it is after school Matthews.” He says in a tone akin to Ruby’s own tone when she’s explaining something simple to him. 

But Ruby doesn’t fire back, she’s just left smirking at him, always smirking at him, always smirking with adoration.

So they are in his bedroom again, Ruby Matthews and Otis Milburn with all sorts sprawled out in the space between them on his bed. 

Even though they aren’t together anymore, there’s a much better atmosphere between them the last time they did this. 

Not to say there isn’t any tension at all in the air…

As Otis glances up at her, he’s not thinking about how the most beautiful body he had ever seen walked around this room naked before, he’s thinking about the more tender moments they shared in this room. Like when he discovered how much of a cuddler Ruby Matthews was, or when he caught her singing when he returned from the shower and how he at least attempted to play smash bros with her. And yes, maybe he’s thinking about her naked body a little bit. 

Across from him, during her glances, Ruby has the same thoughts, except her sexual memories of just how many times she made him moan her name on this very bed. 

But enough of that, work. An actual achievable goal. “Why are you helping with this again? Don’t you have your own work? And We share one class!” Biology being the class in question.”Even then you are two sets higher than me.” Ruby groans at the thought again, her school struggles. 

“Well firstly I want to help you and my grades are more than satisfactory, so I have plenty of time to help my favourite Volkswagen driving Kardashian loving Matthews and I do think I am smart enough to assist you with classes I don’t take.” Otis smiles as he turns his attention back to one of Ruby’s previous assessments, making notes for improvements. 

“Otis.” The smirking Ruby poises. 

“Yeah?” He innocently asks as he pops his head back up all open-mouthed. 

“Your doing that thing again, bragging about how smart you are, makes you sound like a bit of dick.” 

“Oh.” The still open-mouthed Otis says back to her. “I’m sorry.” 

Ruby leaves him like that for a moment, enjoying how flustered he had become. “Now come and then smartarse, can you tell me just what the flying fuck a surd is?” 

“I’ve never thought about it that way,” Ruby says after bringing her head up from the piece of paper in front of her, finally putting one of Otis’ unique methods to practice. 

“Yes well, surds are a weird and wonderful thing.”

“Only you can make surds sound mysterious Milburn.” 

Otis ducks his head as it was a little true, a little weird, but whatever he manages to do he still, somehow manages to make Ruby Matthews smile. 

“Thank you Otis. I think I finally get it now.” Ruby breaks that smile as she looks down at the piece of paper they had worked on together, enjoying how close it allowed their fingers to be. 

“It’s no problem.” 

Now they are up to meet one another’s eyes again. Otis sat with his legs crossed on the bed, while Ruby’s bum is parked on the side with her legs dangling down. 

Not just reflecting on how amazing the past couple of weeks had been, enjoying each other's company again, so much so that they were now ‘hanging out’ outside of their routine. But reflecting on past experiences, experiences on this bed, all the intimate moments and the kissing.

As they stare at one another, hearts beating faster during their heavy breaths as their eyes remained planted onto one another, that’s what they are thinking about, the kissing. And how right now, they are both feeling the urge to…

And that’s when Jean comes through Otis’ bedroom door, with Joy in arms. “Sorry to disturb you both, just I need to collect some materials for tomorrow's vagina workshop, So did you mind looking after your little sister for just half an hour? Pretty please?” 

His mother has to ask the follow-up question all, smiling as wide she could, showing the teenagers the full whites of her teeth, as Otis is just left completely stunned by what nearly happened back there. 

“Yeah yeah.” Otis finally nods across, the distraction of his baby sister will hopefully be enough to avoid a repeat of what again, nearly happened. 

“Right.” Jean settles the just over a month old child into his arms and Ruby’s heart continues to flutter at how endearing it all is. “And Ruby.” Jean now shifts her attention to the teenage girl. “I’m once again delighted to have you back in our home, post break up many participants of a past relationship struggle to find common ground again and you two-.” 

“Mum.” Otis finally buts in. “How about that vagina workshop?” 

Ruby just lightly shakes her head at how that can be a common phrase in this household. 

“Right yes.” Jean nods and points towards her son. “Getting on with, getting on with it.” She continues to repeat all the way out of Otis’ bedroom door before she shuts it behind her. 

As soon as it’s fully closed, Ruby just turns back around to Otis. 

“My little sister,” Otis says as he bounces lightly up and down with her in the air, presenting her to Ruby like she was some little project he was very proud of. 

“I hate kids.” Ruby fires back firmly. 

“Aw, why?” Otis cries back, super defensively as he continues to bounce with his sister. 

“They're very loud on the ear Milburn, besides they are all hideously ugly.” 

Otis almost gasps, childlike. “You can’t say that! Babies are cute.” He then turns his attention to Joy, producing his ‘baby voice’. “Especially you Joy, yes you are, you’re the cutest.” He lightly bops her nose. 

No Milburn, you’re the cutest. Ruby thinks in between a heavy sigh. 

“Joy this is Ruby, she’s really scary.” Otis carefully rotates her around so Ruby and Joy can get a good look at one another. 

“Give her here then, I can judge the cuteness for myself, I’ve got a good eye.” Ruby purposely eyes him up as the final part of her response leaves her mouth. 

“Okay Ruby, take Joy.” Otis then slowly passes the baby over to Ruby. “Be careful, you-.” 

“I know what I’m doing Milburn, The Kardashians know how to handle their children, so, I picked up a few tips,” Ruby says as she expertly cradles her. 

Just as Ruby was doing earlier, he can’t help but stare in adoration as he watches his baby sister enter Ruby’s warm and protective arms. ‘ Warm and protective’ Otis is speaking from experience there, an experience he now knows he wants to live again.

So that’s their next routine, studying every day for a couple of hours after school. Otis gets to see a new side of Ruby, actually working and studying hard, it’s hilariously cute watching Ruby Matthews go through equations and essays. 

But is it a new side to her, really? She’s trying this hard because it involves her family, and Otis knows how much Ruby’s family means to her. 

One time they end up studying well after dark, Otis is kind of grateful when Ruby finally announces she’s leaving close to ten o’clock because he’s got a call scheduled with Maeve soon. But also on the other stand, Please stay. 

But he can’t quite say it and he knows she has to be there for her family. But he made her promise to text him when she gets through the door. 

That’s another problem though when he’s sat in front of his laptop at the computer screen instead of looking forward to hearing about his girlfriend’s day, about how the accents are going through her head again and whatever pedantic stuff they all get up to in her class. Otis actually looking forward to a text from Ruby more. Just one simple text letting him know that she made it through her front door okay. Constantly glancing over to his phone resting on the right of his desk, looking forward to whatever wit she might muster up in said text. 

But the text doesn’t come, leaving Otis, more and more agitated as time goes on. 

Just as he begins to reach over, it starts buzz instead, with her caller ID displayed at the top. 

“Hey, is everything okay Rubes?” Otis quickly worries, fearing there might be a serious reason for her calling instead of leaving a quick text. 

His worries are quickly swept away when Ruby lightly laughs on the other end. “Yes Milburn, I’m fine, I’m not calling you from a phone box while my car is wrapped around a tree if that’s what you are thinking.” Ruby grins as she makes her way over to her bed. 

“Oh right, good.” Otis breathes back in relief 

“Just thought I’d call you…” Ruby softly returns as she settles herself on her bed, lying on her back as she gazes up at the ceiling. 

It makes Otis feel weak again, her wanting to call him before bed, just like old times… 

“I’m not keeping you from any of those nerd tournaments am I?” 

Otis glances at the computer screen, at Maeve’s profile, still not online. She is definitely keeping him, keeping him in good company that is. “No, no you’re not.” 

“Good.” Ruby’s smile increases, realising she has him locked down to the phone. “The school sent my mum an email.” 

Otis isn’t too sure how to react there are many possibilities that could lead to the school sending an email out to a parent or a guardian, most of the time it isn’t good, but the warmness in Ruby’s silky phone voice, remains. 

“They said if I keep up my most recent assignments, they will take me off the list before Christmas.” 

“Oh my god Rubes that’s amazing!” Otis blurts out in excitement on the other end. 

“I know.” She says firmly. “You were amazing. Thank you Otis .” She finishes by softly whispering his name. 

Even though they are on opposite sides of the town, Otis is still blushing and ducking his head. “It’s no problem, you were the one who did the work in the end.” Otis tries to redirect the praise back onto her and it was right, he didn’t just give her the answers, she didn’t want that herself, he taught them to her.

“Well of course I’m brilliant.” Ruby starts off confidently before her voice softly trails off again.” Just you being extra brilliant helps.” 

Otis can’t help but smile at that, he knows that they work, he knows they make a strange, but brilliant pair. 

“I can’t thank you enough Otis. I don’t think you know how much this means to me.” Ruby follows up with as she still beams up at the ceiling. 

“I do know Rubes, I do.” Otis does know because he’s one of the only people she’s let into her world, he’s seen how much she loves her family and he’s definitely the only person too she would be this vulnerable and soft with over the phone late at night. Again, it’s intoxicating. 

They talk long into the night, so engrossed in the conversations that come and go, Otis doesn't notice when Maeve finally video calls him as he made his way onto his own bed, getting more comfortable. 

But in the early hours of the morning, it had to come to a halt as Ruby’s mother walks past her open bedroom door. 

“Ruby love, I get that you’re all loved up but some of us have got to go to work in the morning.” A sleepy-eyed Sharon says across to her teenage daughter on the bed.

Ruby pulls the phone further away from her mother, hoping Otis didn’t pick up what her mother said, but surely he still knew how she felt, right? “Sorry Mum, It’s just-.” 

“I know love.” Sharon gives a very knowing smile before she crawls off to her’s and her husband's bedroom.

Ruby moves the phone back to her ear, slightly blushing as she knows through sweet stories how much her mum and dad called one another when they first found one another, as teenagers. “Sorry about that Otis it’s my mum, I’m going to have to go now.” 

“That’s okay Rubes.” Otis should have put the phone down hours ago, he’s struggling to keep his eyes open, but just as before, he didn’t want her to go. 

“Again, I’m so grateful for your help Otis.” 

“Hmmm, you are more of a clever clogs than you think Ruby Matthews.” 

Ruby scowls on her own, still lying in the same position on her bed as she had been for hours now. “Otis, don’t say clever clogs.” 

“Right sorry.” Otis lets off a little laugh. “I’ll try not to.” 

“Okay.” Ruby lets off a soft and content sigh as she grins lightly up at the ceiling. “ Good night then Otis.”

“Good night Rubes.” 

Ruby definitely doesn’t say ‘I love you’ this time around, but my god, does she definitely feel it. Perhaps now more than ever.

So pick up from school, drop off at home, revise and a phone call before bed. 

All part of Ruby’s and Otis’ routine. 

Right now on this Tuesday after school, it’s the studying part. 

While she won’t be getting cut from Moordale anymore, she still wants to get better, you know, better prepared for her final exams in the new year and well, she wants to spend more time with him. 

“And the metaphor Otis.” Ruby tries to re-grab his attention, now they are both lying on their fronts on Otis’ bed, feet dangling up in the air. 

“Yeah.” Otis doesn’t look up just yet, making his own notes. 

“Going back to that shit from two lines ago, that’s a juxtaposition, no?” Ruby asks, annoyingly nervous, not wanting to embarrass herself over something so simple. 

Otis shoots up, taking her work from her, scanning it. He washes away Ruby’s worries with a wide smile as he moves his eyes back in her direction. “That’s good Rubes, really good.” 

“Really?” 

“Yeah, it’s what happens when you actually put a bit of effort in.” Otis lightly teases. 

Ruby shakes her head back at him. “No, getting high is definitely more fun than this."

“Aw…” Otis pitifully cries back as he puts a hand over his heart. “You hurt my feelings. Come on, you love this.” 

“I know I do.” Ruby whispers back softly, far too softly for her liking. 

That brings up yet more unspoken tension, as yet again, their hearts race when their eyes meet, so close on the bed. 

There is no Jean this time around to interrupt, Otis is the one doing the interrupting as he rolls over before standing up from the bed. 

Reminding himself of the situation he is in. Maeve = girlfriend, Ruby = … Well, he still has no idea, to be honest. 

But as much as he wants to, he can’t kiss her, that would be destroying every moral he has. 

“Erm, I have something for you.” A red-faced Otis tells her as Ruby shifts herself to a sitting up position on his bed. 

“What?” 

“Oh, you had something of mine, I have something of yours.” 

Ruby narrow’s her brows as she watches him exit, deeply curious for just what he had in store for her. But she’s putting it to the back of her mind as she’s left alone in his room for the first time since they broke up and she’s got one thing on her mind. 

She spotted it in the corner of her eyes, last week. But she didn’t act upon it, fearing he’d notice and have it removed. 

But as she crawls over to the far corner of his room, yes, yes, yes. 

There is one of the polaroids she gave him, still up. It isn’t overly romantic or anything, okay they are holding hands in the photo, but it’s there, definitely there. She doesn’t know if he kept it up the whole time or he’s put up it back up since they started hanging out again. 

Either way, Ruby doesn’t care, she’s happy, her heart is very happy, like it had been on the constant over the past few weeks. 

As Otis had told her a lot lately, she’s not stupid. So she knows when he’s glancing at her when he thinks she’s taking no notice of him. 

And she fully well knows that’s how she looks at him, basically… all of the time. 

She also knows that his relationship was cockbiter wasn’t going as planned. Sometimes dreams don’t turn out the way you want them to, Ruby knows that more than most. 

But sometimes they can come true….

No Ruby, NO! 

What you and Otis have is perfectly healthy now, don’t go and try and ruin it, again…

But come on, the stuff on the bed, eyes locking on.-

Ruby’s little intra-head argument is cut short by Otis reappearing from the other side of his door. 

She turns away from the polaroid, pretending she was looking at literally anything else. 

Thankfully Otis is too twitchy himself, to notice. That’s because of what he’s lightly dangling down from his index finger. 

A pair of knickers, her knickers. 

“You er-, erm.” Otis tries to laugh off his nerves as he approaches her. “When you-.” 

“I remember Milburn,” Ruby says firmly as she steals the white lace from him. It’s from back in the days when they were still casual, but Ruby wasn’t embarrassed enough by him to hide him away anymore. Ruby, as usual, had just ridden him to hell and back and as a breathless Otis lay there looking up at his ceiling, seeing stars, Ruby threw the knickers at him, telling him it was a little treat. Before he could get as so much as syllable out, Ruby was already slamming his bedroom door behind him. 

“I- I, erm, I’ve washed them.” He gets across about as awkwardly humanly possible as he points at said washed item.

Ruby examines them further. “And just how many times have you washed them?” Ruby could push further, but the poor boy is already red enough, the teasing could wait until later when she calls him. “Come on then El pervo, are you going to be a gentleman and walk me to the car?” Ruby doesn’t even need to ask, he just always does it. 

Otis laughs lightly, still a little embarrassed as he watches Ruby collect all of her textbooks. “Did you get that from Anwar? He asks, remembering the first day of sixth form. 

“No Otis.” Ruby stops in her tracks and turns towards. “He got that from me, everything comes from me.” 

They continue to share a laugh when they are on the landing and then heading down the stairs with Ruby mocking the way Otis was holding her knickers. 

“Why were you holding it like that?” Ruby lightly laughs as she mocks him by placing the knickers on her own index finger of the right hand. 

“Well, you know- it’s just a little, weird.” 

“Weird?” Ruby almost snorts back, as she walks backwards down the steps. “You’ve done a lot worse to them before.” She says with two raised brows

Again it leaves Otis embarrassed, but it seems like he should be more worried about the situation in his living room as Otis and Ruby come into view. 

There’s his mother chatting away with a client post-session. 

The client in question being Aimee Gibbs. 

You know Aimee Gibbs, his girlfriend's best friend.

And here he was, coming down from his bedroom with his ex-girlfriend, whom both Aimee and Maeve hate, while said ex-girlfriend was swinging a pair of knickers around and around on her index finger. 

God only knows how this one looked…

Everyone in the room froze. Aimee and Jean in the living room. Ruby and Otis on the stairs, with the latter a few steps higher than the former. Each one of them knowing each other's position, in this weird Otis Milburn love merry go round. 

“Erm Otis!” Aimee finally broke the silence with a scoff and a look of pure disgust on her face. “What’s she doing here?” 

Ruby doesn’t think she’s ever been referred to as she in her whole entire life, especially in that tone. She scoffs herself, tilting her head to the side, eyeing up her former ‘friend’, ready to go on the attack. 

But before she could do that, Otis is stepping in. “Because she’s my friend,” Otis says confidently and passionately. 

Because that’s what they are, friends. Friends who often have deeply romantic and sexual thoughts about one another, but yeah, friends. 

Chapter Text

The next day after the Aimee fiasco, Ruby’s parked outside his house a little early, ready to take him to school. 

He couldn't call her last night, sent a sent saying he was all tied up with Joy. Ruby doesn’t blame him, she does hate kids, but Joy isn’t too bad, well maybe that’s just a Milburn thing. 

Despite her being there early, he certainly isn’t. Whatever happened to all that ‘on time is late bullshit’, he’s always nagging on about? 

He isn’t on time either, he’s running late. 

Just as Ruby is about to thrash the car horn like she used to, a rather limp looking Otis begins to carry himself up the steps. 

He looks extra shit today, not even the uniform could save him. Looks like he’d had no sleep, all of the life drained from him. 

It’s almost like this was a roles reversed from a few weeks back when Ruby picked up, outside the cobbled path, all stressed about the school situation. 

“Hey.” Otis groans when he opens the car door, not jumping over it again. 

“Wow.” Ruby shuffles back a little in her seat. “What’s gotten into you?” 

Otis keeps his head low, aimed down at the passenger seat carpet, sighing, still with his lips pressed together before he mumbles. “Me and Maeve broke up.” 

Well, that was a fucking bombshell. 

That’s all Ruby can think of as her mind is wiped completely blank trying to process that information and she stops breathing. You should probably start breathing again Ruby.

“Aimee told her about what happened yesterday…” Otis sighed again. “She went ape shit, then I told her everything else. When she called me at your house one time, the driving around together, the studying together…” 

Ruby thinks Otis has come to a stop as he stares blankly out of the front window. “I’m sorry about that.” 

“No, you’re not.” Otis quickly replies as he swiftly turns his neck around towards her. 

“I know.” Ruby drops her own head this time around as she softly whispered those two words in response. 

Otis almost tuts as he shakes his head, returning to the front window. “That’s not how friends are supposed to respond you know? You’re supposed to be upset.” 

Ruby is upset, now she is anyway. Otis has never been properly aggressive with her, not when he was calling her ‘mean’ in the woods or even when she was dressing him like magneto ( Whoever the hell that was?) but that, the way he just spoke to her, that hurt. 

“I spent all this time chasing after Maeve, we finally get together and then you come along and… and but in!” 

Now Otis wasn’t just hurting her, he was outright lying to her. 

“I didn’t but in anywhere Otis! You get in my car every day, you help me revise every day, you answer the phone every fucking night!” Ruby seeths back at him as this had just gotten personal. 

“Yeah- because you insisted on us ‘fake dating’ who in their right mind even does that?” 

“You know why I couldn’t tell my parents Otis...” Ruby’s volume lowers, but the aggression is still there. 

“Why?” He asks back, totally bemused, like a total fucking boy. 

“BECAUSE YOU BROKE MY FUCKING HEART OTIS!” Ruby knows she’s an overdramatic person, but she never thought she’d reach this level of fucking over the top bullshit, but it’s true, as she wipes a few tears from her eyes, and it’s happening all over again. 

“Ruby…” Otis suddenly wakes up from seeing nothing but red, now seeing nothing but Ruby, a hurt Ruby. 

“Don’t fucking ‘Ruby’ me!” Ruby sniffles again through her rage. 

“R-.” He shouldn’t say it, but he wants to, badly. 

“Fucking piss off Otis!” Ruby’s shooing him in the direction of the passenger door.

Otis is frozen in his seat, remembering the last time she told him to leave and for some reason, this hurts even more. 

Ruby hates herself for even entertaining this stupid fucking arrangement they had going on, so fucking stupid. 

All that time, despite Maeve feeding him scraps and Ruby giving him everything she had, it was still quite clear from his rage that…

Maeve Wiley is number one and Ruby Matthews is number two. 

She should tell her mum that they have broken up now, it’s the perfect time. 

Ruby’s been moping around the house for days, not driving in the direction of his house to pick him up and no more nightly phone calls. 

“Hiya Ruby darling…” Sharon joins her daughter on the couch, also with a cup of tea and also with the same Christmas onesie, considering it's only two weeks away now. 

God if people at school found out that she matches shitty Christmas onesies with her mum and dad, that might be worse when people found out she had been dumped by Otis Milburn. Not true, she dumped him, remember? Well of course her mum and dad don’t know that, they still think they are fucking together. 

“Hey, mum...” 

“What’s been eating you up love?” Sharon begins rubbing comforting circles on her daughter's back. “Is it Otis?”

Perceptive bastards, why does she get herself surrounded by them? “Yeah.” Ruby breathes back weakly as she stares into the fire in front of them. 

“What’s up? You can tell your old mam…”

Just do it Ruby, just tell her. Right okay, here we g-

“You know me and your dad argued so much at your age.” The amount of time it took Ruby to pluck up the courage to say something had only told her mother that she didn’t want to say the reason, that’s why Sharon Matthews jumped in. “You’re young honey, these things happen, teenagers are silly.” Sharon then slowly glances over to her snoring husband in his armchair, smiling at him, a smile that had years of love and affection behind it. “But everything turns out okay in the end.” 

Ruby liked that, she really liked that and she snuggles up closer to her mother, head now resting on her shoulder.

“But you love him right?” 

Ruby shuts her eyes after her mother's questions, trying to compose herself. “Yeah. Yeah, I love him a lot.” 

Sharon smiles at the softness and the sincerity of her daughter's tone, before placing a kiss on the top of her head. “Then I’m sure things are going to be just fine.”

Otis is knocking on a door. 

A door he has knocked on many times up and down the years, but never whilst he’s holding onto a pram with his baby sister strapped in the buggy. 

There’s all sorts of commotion and shouting from inside the house about what to do with the knock on the door. 

Otis just nervously whispers his lines again, just wanting to for once in his life get this right. 

As he’s doing that the door fly’s wide open with the wide smile of the teen responsible for that action, fading quickly.

“Hi, Eric,” Otis mutters. 

See life’s a bit shit at the minute, he’s pissed off his best friend and both of his now ex-girlfriend’s not with the last name Nyman who he cares about a lot. 

Hopefully, he can at least repair one of his failures. 

“Erm.” Otis awkwardly chokes out as Eric just continues to stare at him blankly from the doorway. “I was thinking you could walk Joy with me, considering you’re her Uncle Eric.” Otis just narrowed his brows. “At least I think you are.” 

“Yes. I’m absolutely her Uncle Eric.” Eric confirms before they fall into a few seconds of silence again. “I’ll go and get my coat.” 

There are a few moments of Eric communicating to his mother and sisters about who was at the door and where he was going before he’s shutting the door behind him and is walking side by side with Otis out of his driveway with the pram leading the way. 

As soon as they turn the corner, Otis breaks yet more silence by twisting his neck around to his best friend. “I’m sorry, for what happened the other day. For what I said about you and-” 

“It’s fine.” 

Eric’s quick acceptance startles Otis, completely shattering his script “But- but-.” 

“I said it’s fine.” Eric, now with a smile on his face interrupts the bubbling Otis. “It’s actually kind of true.” Eric lets off the smallest of laughs as he tucked his hands into his pockets as he stared at the pavement whilst they continued to walk. “I do suck at relationships.” 

Otis isn’t taking any of it in though. “So- so you forgive me?” 

“Yes, Otis!” Eric exclaimed, loving his best friend's bemusement. “You’re my best friend Otis, I can forgive you for one stupid comment. Beside’s you’ve been through some shit lately. Well shit for a privileged straight white guy, but yeah, some shit.” 

Otis nods, perspective. His mum’s raising a baby without a father and he’s really messed up two of the most special bonds any person would be extremely blessed to have, but there are obviously a lot worse things going on out there.

“There’s been some more shit hasn’t there?” Eric deduces as he looks his best friend up and down as they take another turn. “Because you look even more shit than usual, which as of late is really saying something man.” 

“Yeah.” Otis breathed back, it’s all terribly true. 

“So go on man, what’s up?” Eric lightly nudges him as to not disturb Joy. 

Otis stutters on air a little, but he gets there. “Me and Maeve broke up.” 

“Oh.” Eric lets off a huge sigh as he stops in his tracks, joining Otis in his hurt. “Mate.” Eric just throws himself at Otis, holding his waist ever so tightly. “I’m so, so, sorry man.” Eric shuts his eyes in the embrace, expecting his best friend to be crying, the love of his life who he had chased after for so long and it’s fallen apart due to what he thinks is long distance, but when he looks up, there’s just… an emptiness. “Are you even upset?” A baffled Eric asks as he takes a step back. 

“Yeah, yeah it’s just…” Otis reacts in an instant, it’s just where his mind has been, well where his mind has always been over the past few weeks. “I upset Ruby as well, again…” 

Eric sighs again as he shakes his head at him. “Your life is a mess oatcake.” He can’t just help but smile, the drama surrounding him is ridiculous. “And no I won’t be offering you any relationship advice.” 

Otis ducks his head before turning to Joy. “Maybe Joy’s got the answers.” 

Eric joins him in gazing down at the small child in the pram. “Life was so much easier when you were a loner.” 

“Yeah.” Again Otis just softly breathes back.

“God.” Eric sighed with a smile on his face. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but maybe it’s time for Otis Milburn to put girls aside for a minute.” 

Otis smiles as that actually does sound like a good idea. 

“Back to the good old days, me and you against the world!” Eric announces rather melodramatically. 

“I mean if you call getting an erection in front of the whole school ‘the good old days’, sure.” 

“IT WAS A SEMI!” Eric protests before they both laugh at the mention of the tromboner memory. “Come on Oatckae, bring it in.” 

Eric hugs him, probably this time with Otis returning the comfort. As they said, Otis and Eric against the world, no more girls. 

It’s at that moment, Joy begins to cry. 

They both let go of one another, creeping their attention towards Joy. 

“Okay, maybe we can’t leave this girl aside,” Otis says and Eric joins him in a laugh.

Even that doesn’t go to a plan. 

Part of Oatcake and Eric versus the world results in Eric dragging Otis to a swing band members' party on the final Saturday before the Christmas break.

But how stupid were they to think that there would be a party in Moordale and Ruby Matthews wouldn’t be there. 

More specifically, as they walk in she’s right there in the middle of the makeshift dance floor attracting the attention of absolutely everyone, especially Otis who immediately feels himself growing weak all over. 

Ruby herself is trying to put Otis aside, once again. 

By doing what she knows best, going to a party and looking for… well not a nerdy boy. Ever since she and Otis broke up she swore she’d never hook up with a nerdy boy ever again, because they don’t help you when you are feeling sad, they only make you feel worse, worse than you have ever felt before. 

So it’s back to plain old jocks for Ruby, this one looks like a jock, really strong arms that grip her waist as they dance, she has no idea what his name is but all that matters is that he looks like he’s going to be good in bed, well not as good as Otis…

Fuck off Otis.

Get out of my head. 

That’s when she notices. 

Fuck off Otis. 

For real this time. 

What is he doing here? 

She stops completely still when she notices him and his stupid jacketstanding limply in the doorway. She can hear the voice of the boy she was dancing with go faint in the background as she zones in on him, Only him. 

Fuck. “I need to go,” Ruby tells the boy as a wave of shame and embarrassment washes over. 

Then she’s walking firmly away, out of the party. Otis Milburn making her storm out of a party. 

Fuck, she hates him. 

Otis pretends not to notice Ruby, but that’s quite hard, she is Ruby Matthews after all. 

Thankfully for Otis, Eric is completely caught up in the latest swing band gossip so he can slip off and immediately violate their ‘against the world and no girls’ plan. 

He knows it’s probably healthy for him to just follow through with their plan but once again having Ruby feeling a type of way which results in her not being able to even look at him...

That hurts, more than anything. 

He wants to fix it, as soon as possible and there is no better time than now. Otis and Ruby have a thing for parties. 

He doesn’t want to sleep with her, not to say that he doesn’t want to one day. But right now, he’ll more than settle for them being friends again. 

He searches all over for her, until he looks in the last place he expects Ruby Matthews to be. 

Sitting on the damp decking floor, looking out into the never-ending garden all on her own, with smoke coming out of her mouth? 

Ruby means what she thought before, she wants to leave but she knows if she leaves right now her mother will be all questions by the time she gets back, worrying. But it’s her father who should be taking up all the worry up in their house, there’s another reason she lied, lied about Otis that is. 

So she’s outside in the garden, waiting for another time to pass so her mother would be asleep by the time she’s walked home. She’s using her E-cigarette to help pass the time, she knows, not very vegan. 

She then hears footsteps behind her, she quickly attempts to hide the vape but there’s no point, it’s probably one of the only people at school who wouldn’t try and taear her down for being such a hypocrite. But it’s still the person she wants to see least in the world right now. 

“Is- is this seat taken?” Otis awkwardly chuckles before he places himself next to her on the edge of the decking. 

Ruby’s not entertaining his dorkish banter whatsoever, giving him a firm glare before turning back to the ridiculously massive garden. 

“That’s new.” Otis nods down to the vape which is resting on the edge of her skirt. “Not very-.” 

Ruby sharply cuts him off, “Yeah I know, some studies say it’s quite healthy.” 

“I don’t think that’s true.” Otis chuckles off again, but still all he earns from Ruby is a glare. “Besides I saw how you scoffed on that burger on our date, I think you know your secrets safe with me.” 

Otis finally makes a breakthrough as Ruby smiles back across to him. Smiling at the sincerity of his tone, knowing he would absolutely hold any secret for her, but mostly at the memory of the date, how warm and alive she felt, how in love she felt. 

“Erm.” Otis croaks out, getting ready for his apology, he knows Ruby definitely won’t be nearly as forgiving as Eric was. “I am sorry for how I spoke to you the other day Rubes-.” 

Ruby finally turns towards him fully, mostly at the mention of her nickname, never failing to make her heart flip.

“I was just a mess and-.” 

“Yeah, that’s what you are Otis, a complete fucking mess.” Again Ruby’s sharply cutting him off. 

Otis is frozen for a few seconds, but then he’s nodding back at her in agreement. “Yeah, I know.” His nodding is coming to its end when he’s taking a deep breath. “And ruining one of the best things to ever happen to me doesn’t help one bit.” 

Ruby’s heart is racing at his words, is that really what he thought of her? Exactly what she thought of him. “Otis…” Ruby softly breathes across to him. 

“No Rubes, I’m sorry, I’m really, really sorry. I should be blessed that for some reason the Ruby Matthews wants to be in my life.” Ruby manages to break off her frozen little panic to join him in a small laugh. “And, and I keep messing it up…”

Ruby smiles weakly back across to him. “It’s okay Otis, I forgive you.” 

Again Otis is startled at how easy he is being forgiven again, but he supposes that’s what the people who love you do. 

“I shouldn’t have been running around with someone’s boyfriend like that and- why are you shaking your head?” Ruby narrows her brows when she notices said action. 

“It wasn’t that. It was never going to work like that or at all, maybe I don’t know.” Otis quickly shakes his head at his thinking. “It was just the straw that broke the Camel’s back.” 

Now Ruby is really freaked out. “Did you just compare me to a fucking camel?” 

“What? No- no.” Otis responds in a panic “You’re the straw and I suppose me and Maeve are the camel.” Otis narrows his brows as he thinks about it, but when he supposes their relationship could be summed up as a camel at the speed they were moving at. That thought just makes him narrow his eyes further, What is it with him always comparing stuff to animals? 

“Still no improvement Milburn,” Ruby responds with a smirk this time. 

“Right sorry.” Otis chuckles, before playing with his fingers, gazing into the night. “I suppose life doesn’t turn out the way you expect sometimes…”

“Tell me about it.” 

When Otis turns back to Ruby, she’s softly gazing at him, knowing she means that more than most and it’s driving him crazy, more specifically his heart and the speed it’s beating. “Erm…” Otis eventually has to break eye contact, because one just can’t stare at Ruby Matthews that long. “I saw you dancing with Bryce.” 

“Oh is that what his name is?” 

That makes Otis feel relieved a little bit, but still, nothing states that she would forgive him in that way. “Are you and him-.” 

“I still feel that way about you Otis.” She interrupts him but her tone is ever so soft. "As in I still love you." Ruby takes a big gulp, momentarily dropping her head to the floor “Just- thought you should know.” 

Well… wow… there it is. 

“I know you don’t feel guilty about going off with other people after we broke up. But I do, I really do.” Ruby get’s to the end of her sentence with a slight sniffle.

And there it also is, he’s a fucking idiot who doesn’t deserve any of this. “You shouldn’t love me Ruby, you really shouldn’t.”

Ruby just laughs as she shakes her head. “I know, I think the same thing, a lot of the time.” She’s now turning her attention back towards him and softly following up with. “But other times I think I’ll never stop loving you.” 

It’s ridiculous, she knows it is, but it’s also ridiculous because it’s what she truly feels, in her heart, a heart she wants to share with him. It’s also ridiculous that she wants to kiss him again, as they are softly gazing at eachother, again. But she has to remind herself what this boy has done to her and she promised herself, no more nerdy boys. “Right.” Ruby shifts away, breaking off the intense stare off as Otis catches his breath back and Ruby straightens out her skirt. “You said you’re sorry?” 

Otis weakly nods back, still feeling the heat from yet another ‘nearly moment’ between them. “Yeah.” 

“Yeah well, I’ll fully forgive you if you walk me home.” 

Otis breaks out into a smile as he rises up from the decking and offers his hand out for her to take. “It would be my pleasure.” 

Ruby smirks as she takes his hand, him gently helping her up, the feeling of her hand in his again.

Fuck, she loves him. 

So they are walking back from the party, it’s a long walk, really long walk. 

“So you and Eric are fine again?” Ruby asks as they walk side by side in the middle of the road. 

Otis had told Ruby that he and Eric had a falling out, couldn’t tell her that it was about this crazy love triangle he had ended up in. Just it was over ‘nerd things’. “Yeah.” He smiles thinking about how things were getting back on track but also thinking about the lie he told. 

“Did you finally come to the agreement that Daisy is better than Peach?” 

“Something like that.” Otis laughs off as they continue to walk onwards on the road back, inching that bit closer to one another. 

When they were together, there was lots of comfortable silences between them, just enjoying each other's company. Sometimes though Otis would presume that he had done something wrong  for it to go on for this long and would just come out with something weird to break the silence. 

But this time around, it’s that one day of the year where it’s Ruby Matthews’ turn. “Would you rather shag Peach or Daisy?” 

“W-what- what? Why would you-.” A completely flustered Otis tries to ask before Ruby’s jumping down his throat again. 

“Oh come on Milburn, You’re a teenage boy obsessed with those weird fucking games who grew up in a weird sex house, as much as you pose as really sweet and innocent, you’ve definitely thought about it. Now come on which one?” 

“No-.” Otis shakes his head through his blush. “You would be quite wrong to suspect that I have those thoughts. Some rumours suggest that Princess Peach is only fifteen or sixteen when we first meet her-.” 

Even in his nerd talk, it manages to grab the attention of Ruby. “How old is Mario then?” 

“In like his 30’s I think.” 

“Ew.” Ruby narrows her eyebrows at him. “So that makes Mario a nonce?” 

“What? No- well, there’s been debate amongst the forums about these sources and-.” 

“Would mean the characters match the target audience.” Ruby interrupts him with a quip.

“What? Paedophiles?” Otis is completely taken aback by Ruby’s claims that he might be a-

“No Milburn.” Ruby just laughs at his worry. “I mean fucking creeps. Like yourself.” 

“Oh.” Otis breathes a sigh of relief as Ruby smirks up at him. Probably the only person who could be relieved and happy at the fact that he had just been called a ‘fucking creep’, that’s Ruby Matthews for you I suppose. 

That smile of Ruby’s is fading though, fading into one of pain and discomfort again. “Ow!” Ruby’s stopping for the umpteenth time on this journey home because of her- “Fucking heels!” Ruby groans in pain as she tries to adjust her feet inside her very expensive Ruby red heels as she had pointed out to Otis several times on the journey thus far. 

It’s amazing to Otis how she has never fallen over or broken them in some of the long walks they have shared as a couple and now as friends, it’s like a special talent, one of many Ruby has. Otis likes to imagine how badly he would do in them-

Oh 

As Otis watches Ruby in her continued discomfort, it gives him an idea. 

“Hey erm- how about we swap?” 

“Swap what Milburn? Bodies? Because that would be quite the fucking a-” Ruby continues to vent as she’s still bending down. 

“No our footwear.” Otis interrupts her. 

Ruby slowly begins to lift herself back up and scoffs. “You want to wear my heels?” 

Otis is frozen, fearing her mickey-taking and well the position she’s angled at, back half hanging in the air, gives him a very clear view of her cleavage, she definitely knew what she was doing. “Yes-yes.” 

“Why?” Ruby asks once she’s stood back up straight. 

“Because it will save you the pain and I’m not insecure enough about my masculinity not to wear heels for the last twenty minutes of a walk.” 

Ruby smiles back at his ramble, again knowing not a single boy she knows would offer such a proposition. Again he’s annoyingly fucking endering. “Okay, but I don't know what masculinity you have to be insecure about in the first place Milburn.” 

Otis chuckles. "Good point."

Ruby’s then kicking her heels off in the middle of the road while Otis is taking off his trainers. 

“Don’t know what’s worse though, these bastards.” Ruby holds her heels out for him before she’s looking down at his trainers, stains all over them, they look at least fifteen years old, clearly some kind of hand me downs with a horrific white and blue pattern and she could swear there are holes in them. “Or those things.” 

“These are my best ones!” Otis protests. 

“I know. That’s the scary part.” 

They are then swapping their footwear, Ruby’s relieved not to be standing barefoot on the cold road anymore, even though they are as she said, hideous and yes there is definitely a hole in there somewhere but there is something so comforting about wearing Otis’ manky trainers. 

Her little smile and moment of reflection are beginning wiped away as she watches Otis hilariously try and fit himself into her heels. “Oi watch those, they are-.” 

“Very expensive, you said.” He says through a grunt. 

Ruby continues to smile as she just watches him struggle until he has found a somewhat adequate degree of comfort. 

“Woah, woah!.” Otis takes a few steps forward, nearly tumbling on several occasions. 

Ruby doesn’t think she’s ever giggled before, well at least away from her parents but she’s definitely giggling now watching Otis adorably trying to move around in her fucking shit hot heels. But eventually, she has to step in as she doesn’t fancy her heels being broken or more importantly she doesn’t want Otis’ face to be broken either. 

“Come here Bambi.” Ruby threads her right arm through his left for support, it’s not fake or for show this time, they really are holding onto one another again as they begin to walk at a very steady pace.

“Well, I have no idea how you do it Ruby.” Otis laughs when they are sitting on the wall outside her house, swapping their shoes around again. 

“I have no idea how you made it.” Ruby takes back her heels, she’s taking her time taking Otis’ shoes off, enjoying their strange comfort for as long as possible. 

“What because of the heels or my cheese string legs?” 

Ruby just can’t help but stare back in adoration at him again at that little callback. “A mixture of both.” 

After a few more seconds of staring Ruby has to concede defeat and passed over his shoes. 

“Wow, that feels better.” Otis feels like a massive weight has been lifted off his shoulders as he settles himself back into his trainers while Ruby all heeled up is standing over him. 

“Are you insulting my heels Milburn?” 

Otis smirks when he stands back up, shoes on but laces are undone. “I would never do that, Matthews.” 

They are staring at one another for what must have been the 37th time since she started taking him to school at back and this time as their very visible cold breaths in the December nights hit one another Otis has decided, no more nearly moments.

Ruby’s just taking him in, he was towering over her before when he had her heels on and he’s still doing it now, so pale and unusually long. 

But why does he make her heartbeat this fast? 

She fucking hates him. No remember, she fucking loves him. 

But he doesn’t love her back, not yet. But she still won’t settle for second best just because Wiley wasn’t all that she was cracked up to be, 

“Do you want to come inside? Have a cup of tea? That’s what British people do right?” Ruby’s trying to do anything to avoid just how fucking close he is to her and how he is beginning to inch that little bit further in. “Although I’m half Irish, you know that, you’ve met my dad. God all this rambling, she’s worse than him somehow right now. Ruby Matthews, shouldn’t ramble. She also shouldn’t want to kiss the boy who broke her heart. “He’s very Irish…” 

Ruby’s voice trails off into a whisper as Otis is now almost standing on the heels he was once wearing and is now cupping her cheek with her right hand, the gentleness of his touch and palm almost making her collapse right there. 

“Don’t kiss me Otis, please.” Ruby almost begs in a whisper as he continues to move in closer. “I won’t stand a chance.”

“Sush, Rubes.” 

With that Otis bends his neck down and gently presses his lips to her’s and Ruby kisses back. 

When they kissed previously, it was normally full of hunger and passion, desperate to tear one another’s clothes off. 

This is different though as Ruby copies Otis on resting her right hand on Otis’ left cheek, it’s so slow, so soft, so full of gentleness and care and so, dare any of them say it, full of love. 

Ruby’s desperate to lean in for more as she feels a tear crawl down the cheek where his hand lay, but gently kissing Otis Milburn outside her house is already wanting to make her heart explode and it’s still so fucking beautiful. 

So that’s where Ruby leaves it, immediately missing the softness of his lips as she pulls away, but they can definitely still feel one another’s breaths as their foreheads rest against one another, hands still cupping cheeks. 

“Was that a good enough apology?” Otis says in between heavy breaths as they continue to hold eachother close. 

Ruby gently nods back, scraping up and down on his forehead. “More than good enough Otis.” Ruby would stay here all night as she notes his subtle smug grin, but even Otis’ warmth isn’t enough to distract from this cold December night. With one last heavy breath, Ruby whispers across. “Good night Otis.” 

“Good night Ruby. I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that whisper and one last gentle peck on the lips, he’s walking away. 

Checking back on her, stranded in her driveway, all breathless as she processes what the hell just happened. Again she’s the strong one, she can’t have him leaving her like this. “Why would you see me tomorrow?” 

Otis twirls back around again, stopping this time observing her from the other side of the driveway before he glances at his watch. “Well it’s 11 minutes past midnight, so tomorrow’s Monday so I presumed that you’d, you know- pick me up for school.”

“Oh, you presumed I forgave you that much?” Ruby cocks an eyebrow as she rests a hand on her hips.

Otis smirks as jolts a little. “Well, you did kiss me.” 

“No, you kissed me.” Ruby makes a correction as she joins him in a smirk. 

“Yeah but you kissed me back.” 

Ruby drops her head, no smirk, just a smile, a plain and ordinary smile, but that’s only half the story. Yes she did kiss him back in what might have been the best kiss Ruby’s ever had. 

“Hey what would be so bad about seeing me on a Sunday anyway?” Otis asks, filling in the silence as Ruby continues to reflect on the thrill of the kiss. 

“I’ve got church.” 

“You’ve got church?” That definitely took Otis by surprise. 

“I go with my dad sometimes.” 

“What’s the special occasion?” Otis asks, picking up on the ‘sometimes’. 

“I need to pray…” Ruby purposely leaves that open-ended. 

“Pray for what?” 

Ruby turns around and starts to walk to her porch door, leaving Otis to call back with the same question one more time before she turns around a few meters away from the door. “Pray I never see you again Milburn.” 

“You don’t mean that!” Otis hands in pockets calls as he walks backwards up Ruby’s street. 

“No, no I don’t,” Ruby whispers to herself, but Otis was definitely still looking at her before he disappeared behind a bush and judging by the extended smile on his face, definitely had the ability to lip read. 

When she unlocks her porch and then front door after Otis is out of sight, Ruby’s glowing, beaming with all the happiness in the world as she checks on Baby and then her mum and dad comfortably resting in one another’s arms. 

Maybe she and Otis can do that again soon. 

But all Ruby can think about now is tonight's sleep and how fucking good it’s going to be for once, well that’s if she can even get to sleep in the first place… 

Chapter Text

Ruby can’t stop…thinking.

Thinking about last night- or the early hours of this morning as Otis liked to point out.

Otis….

Hmmm. He kissed her outside her house this morning. 

The softness and the gentleness of his lips, that feeling can’t escape her. Replaying the moment, over, over, over and over again. 

Ruby doesn’t normally settle for gentleness, normally full of fire and fury instead. 

But my god Ruby wants to kiss Otis like that again, maybe forever. She’ll live with never having sex again, Okay maybe she won’t go that far, maybe just for a long period. 

The point Ruby is trying to make is that it was fucking fantastic, it was the feeling of someone who cared as well. 

She always knew Otis cared a lot, even if there was always Maeve…

Fuck…

She’s kissed him even though nothing has changed. 

But again, surely’s she’s stupid to expect him to love her back straight away. “I like you a lot” Isn’t awful and well Otis’ version of “Like you a lot” Is fucking amazing and better than the ‘love’ any other boy can offer her.

But second best she still won’t accept. 

Is she second best though? 

Maybe that idiot had finally come to his senses. He had failed with Maeve on a computer screen, while he was kissing her outside home in the early hours of the morning. 

Still she could just be a rebound, again…

Fuck, maybe she shouldn’t have kissed him. Tried harder to push him away with her tea decoy. 

But she knows what she want’s, how she feels, more importantly how he makes her feel. 

Double fuck. 

Oh god, why did that scrawny idiot have to enter her life, he makes it all so much harder. 

Ruby’s starting to fall out of her trance, such was the constant warfare in her brain she’s completely forgotten where she is. 

There’s a voice out there somewhere. 

“And Malek just wouldn’t stop moaning, god he’s getting on my-” 

That’s right, she’s with Olivia in a coffee shop before they get their nails done this afternoon and it looks like her rant about how shit the party was last night had come to an end when she finally clocked on that Ruby, with her fist resting on her cheek and empty stare into the middle distance, wasn’t listening. 

“Rubes come on please? I promise you this story has a funny ending.”

Not as funny the ending to my night. 

“Rubes? What’s up?” Olivia follows up with when she notices Ruby is still lost in a world of her own. Olivia sighs as she begins to notice that look , a new look for Ruby but it’s still been a frequent one. “Look about Otis, I know it’s hard but you can do it, you can move on Rubes, I know you won’t like it, but the guys a total dic-”

“I kissed him last night.” Ruby maintains the same look, vaguely recognising her own reflection in the shop mirror as she plainly cuts off her best friend. 

Olivia definitely doesn’t maintain the same look, gasping as she slowly falls back into her chair. “Oh no.” 

“Oh no.” Ruby copies Olivia’s tone down to a tee. 

Olivia quickly becomes disgusted, eyebrows transitioning into attack mode. “Were you drunk?” She raises her tone, catching the attention of those on nearby tables. 

With her hand still resting on her cheek, she manages to shake her head from right to left and then left to right ever so slowly.

“Then what the hell did you do that for?” Olivia whispers across, but she still appears to be absolutely seething. 

Ruby finally falls out of her stare, sighing as she also settles her back against the chair. “Because I wanted to kiss him… I think.” Ruby narrows her own brows upon her correction.

“You think?” Olivia’s still in her own state of shock. 

“I was trying to stop him, parrying him away and everything.” No you didn’t Ruby, it truly was pathetic. “But then he just… did it.” Ruby breathes back softly as again she remembers the sensation of what Otis ‘did’. 

“Ruby, you are-.”

Before Ruby can get a lecture off her best friend she is cutting her off again, finally ready to let it all go and tell her the truth. “We’ve been hanging out for just over a month or so.” Again Ruby’s smiling reflecting on just how great it had been having Otis’ company again. “I take him to school, take him home and he’s been helping me revise, it’s been nice. Ironic I know.” Ruby raises her brows at that one as the word ‘ nice’ has only had negative connotations when it came to her relationship with Otis. “But it’s just been really nice.” 

Olivia’s really in two minds, as nobody but Otis could make Ruby look like the way she looks now, all warm, fuzzy and well, In love… but Olivia also knows Otis is the only person who could make Ruby cry, well that and a chipped nail. 

But it’s definitely the latter half of her mind that’s taking over. “Ruby. He broke your fucking heart.” Olivia begins firmly. “And I know you think he’s different, but all boys are the same and he’ll do the same shit again.” 

“I know.” Ruby sighs as Olivia’s tapped straight into her brain, well the surface of it anyway. “But he’s Otis… And he broke up with Maeve and-.” 

“Wait.” It’s Olivia’s turn to do the cutting off as she completely forgot about the fact that Otis was supposed to be managing a long-distance relationship with his fellow outcast. “He broke up with Maeve?” 

“Yeah, It didn’t work out and… I think he might have finally!” Ruby grunts out that final word. “Have come to his stupid fucking senses.”

It doesn’t do anything for Olivia though, who is still shaking her head at Ruby. “Ruby you deserve-.” 

“I love him.” Ruby softly interrupts. “You always say you forgive Malek because you love him.” Ruby lets off a big sigh before she finally get’s round to it. “And I think I forgive Otis…” 

Olivia sighs a little more contently this time. “Well ‘thinking’ isn’t really good enough. But I can’t make your decisions for you, but I will support you… mostly as I still think Otis is a prat.” 

Ruby’s smiling lightly at her best friend's lack of affection for the boy she loves, but there are no smiles on the inside, she’s super, super fucked.

Rubes: I can’t pick you up this morning, mum’s gone in early and dad needs bathing. Don’t even dare offer to help Milburn, we know how you feel about late stickers anyway. I’ll see you later x 

That’s the text Otis receives in the morning and half of him is actually kind of glad Ruby can’t pick him up on the final Monday before the Christmas break as he’s an absolute mess, pacing up and down wondering how to act around her and more importantly what to do. 

The kiss on the end of the text doesn’t help at all, because that’s what he can’t stop thinking about, his kiss with Ruby and how he now knows that he wants to do that over and over again, the sweet taste of her lip gloss hasn’t left him for the past 30 plus hours, including in his dreams.

That’s why the other half of him, want’s to jump over her once green car door and give her, her ‘morning kiss’, just as they used to. 

But how is he supposed to expect that things will just go back to normal, he’s still a mess and he still broke her heart. 

It was a kiss, just a kiss, a spectacular one mind, but god knows how many people Otis kissed at his ‘gathering’ earlier in the year before Ruby dragged him upstairs. 

God, why did she do that? Why did she have to take interest in a dweeb like him? And why did Maeve have to help him that day the video of mum got leaked and suggest they rob students blind by offering them sex advice!?

No. 

He won’t do that again. 

Or have a panic attack again. 

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. 

When he’s got himself down and at least reasonably well dressed for school by his own low standards, he’s creeping downstairs, doing what sad and pathetic people do when they are lost, go looking for their mummy. 

“Now then Marj, I recommend not having a donkey in the home when trying to engage in sexual intimacy.”  

Otis hovers in the hallway as he watches his mother put an arm around the client of the hour. He can’t help but smile fondly at proceedings, his mother, her way with words and wisdom even in the most peculiar of circumstances. 

“Do you mind making your own way out love?” Jean asks before she’s pointing to Joy strapped onto her front. “Baby.” 

As Marj confirms and slowly makes her way past Otis, he’s left wondering if he was strapped in like Joy as a child, observing such crudeness at an early age. One can only hope Joy can end up the sane one of the family. However, she’s not off to the best of starts. 

Otis again is creeping forward, into his mother’s office from home, eyeing up the client's usual seating position. 

“Is everything okay darling?” Jean looks up from her notepad, which was difficult to get a solid look at anyway with Joy blocking her. 

Otis doesn’t respond, just settles himself into the chair opposite his mother which only raises Jean’s interest further. 

It takes Otis a few more seconds of shuffling around to get himself comfortable, he’s the one used to doing the  therapising not being therpaised. “Erm mum, do clients ever come back and realised they changed their mind?” 

“What do you mean?” Jean asks, crossing her legs and continuing to ensure Joy’s comfort. 

“Erm.” Otis clears his throat as his eyes remain low, not in the direction of his mother. “Like you- you give them some advice and later they realise that they didn’t need such advice.” 

Jean hums lightly at him before she responds. “All of the time darling, people often come to their problems or dilemmas on their own terms, my advice can be a matter of perception. Situations and feelings can change in an instant, human emotions are the most wonderful and complicated things sweetheart.” 

Otis nods along to her words, as they resonate with him, situations and feelings had certainly changed. Before his mother can ask him what’s wrong, Otis decides to just get it out. “Remember when I told you that Maeve was my person…”

There’s silence briefly, both of them reminiscing on that specific memory in the hospital. “You changed your mind?” Jean asks when she realises that she won’t be getting a follow up from her son. 

There’s still no response as Otis is just hanging his head down again. 

Jean sighs, placing her notepad on the side and straightening herself up. “A long time ago darling, I thought your father was my person, my love and dreams, I even married the man,  I think we all know how that turned out… But not to say our relationship had its upsides.” Jean smiled directly across to her son as she finished. 

Otis sat on that thought for a moment, he and Maeve might not have been the fairytale romance that it had always been destined to be, but they had definitely changed each other’s life’s for the better. 

“Then the biggest surprise of my life came along.” Jean didn’t mention him by name, but they both knew the Swede she was referring to. “Sometimes it’s the people who we don’t expect who are the ones to steal our heart honey.” 

Again it hits Otis. His mother never expected to establish such a connection with the  Swedish plumber when she was ‘not looking for a relationship’. And Otis never expected to establish such a connection with Moordale’s Queen bee when recovering from serious hurts. 

“But I hurt that person really badly…” Jean sniffled, hoping to prevent the incoming tears as she stroked Joy, the person caught in the middle of the mess of her own creation. “Love can be the great healer, but also the great destroyer.” 

“I hurt Ruby mum, a lot, I don’t know if I’ll ever be good enough to get back her trust.” Otis softly spoke, messing with his hands as the direction of his eyes, rotated from down at the floor to flickering up to his mother. 

Jean let off a heavy sniffle this time before she responded. “I know exactly how you feel darling.” Jean lifted up her glasses to wipe an eye. “But I think you have a significant advantage.” 

“Why?” A perplexed Otis asked back. 

Jean smiled, her predicament had left her in a deep hole of shit, but for her darling boy there was definitely still hope. “You are very lucky to have somebody who will stand by you no matter what.” 

She was right, the fact that Ruby still wanted to be at least friends after what had happened to them was a testament to her and her love for him. It’s one of the many reasons he’s been drawn to her so much lately. 

“And you’re so young darling.” Jean breathed across, her voice breaking a little, she should be envious, Jean would love to turn back time and rewrite so many wrongs, but at the end of the day she is more than pleased that Otis has that time. “You’ve got so much time to make mistakes and learn from them.” Jean increased her smile. “Who knows? Maybe in ten years' time we will sit back and laugh at all of this.” 

“You see that’s the thing, I don’t want to laugh at what happened with Ruby mum.” 

Jean again smiles fondly across to Otis. “Well, I think that tells you all you need to know darling.” 

Oh shit, she’s right. He doesn’t want to laugh at what happened, he wants to laugh with Ruby, over and over again. 

“But I’ll say it again Otis, you’re a young man now, it’s up to you for you to stand on your own two feet. But I’ll always be there to help you.” 

“I know.” Otis twitched into a smile of his own this time. “Sorry for coming in here and bothering you, bit sad a pathetic running to my mum for help.” 

Jean sighs before she shakes her head with a warm and loving smile radiating off her. "It's never sad and pathetic to run to your mum Otis or anyone you might love."

-Tied up after school, so no need to pick me up. Speak to you later x 

That’s the text Otis sends to Ruby after school. 

Their paths didn’t cross all day at school which wasn’t unusual, considering their respective classes and opposing social groups. But maybe it’s a little unusual considering they are two people whose thoughts had been full of one another since they had shared an intimate kiss in the early hours of the previous morning. 

Again Otis is kind of glad about this development as it gives him a clearer path to do what he want’s to do. 

He’s sneaking around, again and this time it’s Ruby who would be the one disapproving. 

Disapproving? 

Why is he acting like he’s her’s again? 

Even if he was her’s she shouldn’t be disapproving of his actions. 

Uneasy, he could accept especially how Rubes feels about the person in question. But disapproving, no. 

He’s nervous as he knocks on, especially as he remembers what happened the last time he was at this house, with the rain pouring down….

The door opens and Otis is brought back to life, but the life in the smile of the person opening the door, realising it’s Otis in front of them and he can’t blame them one bit. 

Anna. 

“You have got a lot, a lot of explaining to do young man!” 

Otis almost jumps back in freight, fearing that she might just chase down the limited distance between them and lamp him. 

Thankfully there’s a voice, much deeper into the house. A voice he has heard a lot of in the past nearly two months now, but that’s it really, only the voice.

“God, don’t take his head off will you?” 

It’s the voice of Maeve Wiley, but it’s not behind a computer screen for once, she’s really there in front of him as she comes out of the living room and joins Anna’s side in the doorway. 

Maeve Wiley back from Christmas. Otis had dreamt about this reunion, kissing her at the airport, making her cringe with a big over the top romantic gesture. 

But slowly as things fell apart, it slipped further and further into the back of his mind. 

Now here they were stood face to face as recently broken up partners, just dawning on him that their last meeting was outside his home, sharing a sweet kiss and holding onto one another with the promise that it wasn’t goodbye. So full of excitement, Otis excited for Maeve and Maeve excited for herself, not a single thought to whether this could go south, they had finally figured it out. 

Otis had been examining his feelings a lot, especially in the last 24 hours in particular, but he still cared about Maeve, a lot, just as he cared about Ruby post their breakup and he can’t live with people like that hating him. 

“I just live in your house, you’re not my mum. I can handle this myself.” Maeve firmly tells Anna who sighs in defeat. 

But Anna’s not disappearing just yet, directing one final glare at Otis. “I’m still watching you.” 

With that final ominous line, Anna is returning to Elsie in the living room, leaving Otis and Maeve well and truly alone. 

Maeve folds her arms as she slouches in the doorway, raising her brows waiting for him to start. 

“I’m really sorry Maeve for what happened.” Otis sincerely breathes up to her, seriously feeling the hurt, he never wanted any of this to happen. He never wanted to hurt anyone, but his stupid, stupid love life had hurt far too many people, far too many times. 

There’s a lot of dead air in the following seconds after Otis’ nervous beginnings. He’s regretting it now, he should have said more, a lot more, that’s always been their struggles, not saying the right thing. Just as he’s prepping to go again, Maeve’s jumping in. 

“What are you sorry for?” Maeve asks plainly. 

Otis process that thought, he feels like there should be something, something he should be down on his knees for, begging for forgiveness. But no, they just didn’t work out, stuff like that happens all the time, with all sorts of couples. If it was sneaking around with Ruby, he’ll say exactly what he said at the time, he won’t apologise for hanging out with and helping a close friend. 

“Erm, er-.” Before Otis’ stuttering can go on for any longer, Maeve is jumping down his throat. 

“You know, since I’ve been in America, I’ve had people going on about how smart I am. “ Oh English you’re so clever'.” Otis can’t help but smile at Maeve’s attempt at an American accent, even in her sigh she seems to be grinning at her weak attempt. “But actually I’m really stupid.” 

Otis is smiling anymore, she’s got him completely lost. Thankfully Maeve is going to help out there again. 

“Stupid to think that after all that time, all the shit we went through and we were just going to hop on a laptop, hours behind and thousands of miles apart and think it's all just going to be fine.” Maeve laughs at the thought and ‘the shit we went through’ was very much putting it lightly. “You could have put more effort in.” 

Otis just hangs his head in shame at that one as he knows it to be true. 

“And I know I could have put more effort in.” Maeve followed up with, much softer this time, establishing that they were both of the same terms, not just in that sense, but what she said before about the challenges they faced told him that they were definitely on the same wavelength there too, the happiness of finally getting together had masked over some of the problems they were destined to encounter. 

“But I don’t regret it.” Maeve eyes him, passionate about what she was about to say. “You remember when I told you about the placement for the best scholar?” Maeve halts for Otis to nod back at her. “Well at the halfway point my tutor told me I’m well on track to get it.” 

“Oh Maeve-.” Otis breathed back softly, the endless possibilities for Maeve if she was to reach such an achievement racing through his head in an instant. 

“I know.” Maeve twitched with her hands as she looked to the floor briefly. “You know I only get one chance at this Otis, It’s not worth losing it all for a stupid boy.” 

Again Otis lowered his head slightly, even though he knew that her words were very much in jest as it comes from her’s and Aimee’s little sayings. “I’m really proud of you Maeve.” 

“Thanks muppet.” Maeve offers a small smile back, but she still knows she has to clear stuff. “I didn’t mean it, you being a stupid boy…” 

Otis blushed shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. “No I am pretty stupid, it’s unnatural for that much chaos to follow a seventeen-year-old.” 

Maeve let off a small laugh with her mouth still shut in a smile. “That may be… but I still think you were the right person Otis… just at the wrong time.” 

Otis truly is frozen, not sure how to follow up from that sudden change in tone. 

“Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to say anything, I know that you-.” 

Maeve has to stop, stop at the sound of Otis’ phone ringing in his jacket pocket, her eyes moving down to said location. 

Otis doesn’t want to grab it, knowing fully well who it good be, but it’s clear Maeve isn’t going to stop glaring until he answers it. 

He then proceeds to pull the phone from his jacket pocket and with Maeve peering over, the Called ID is clear for them both to see. 

‘Ruby’ 

Maeve just sighs. “You know I can accept us not working out, but…” Maeve laughs as she shakes her head. “Her? Why her Otis?” 

“Erm-.” Otis really could prepare a powerpoint presentation to defend Ruby’s honour, but he realises this call has been ringing for some time now and he probably should accept- but blast! He just misses it as the ringing dissolves back into his lock screen, with a notification waiting for him letting him know that he had missed a call from Ruby. 

Maeve’s still resting at the doorway, clearly waiting for some kind of answer. 

Otis doesn’t want to give it to her, knowing giving away the reasons why he feels the way he feels about Ruby could hurt her and Otis is done with that, hurting people over his chaotic love life. 

Thankfully there is something else to help distract from that, a notification popping up on his phone, still held out for them both to see. 

New Voicemail (1)

- Ruby

Otis nervously grits his teeth, filled with uncomfort yet again. 

“Play it.” Maeve almost demands. 

He nearly squirmed at her tone. 

“Play it.” 

One more time and Otis’ shaking right index finger taps the phone to play the voicemail. 

God, what was it with him and voicemails? 

His heart beats fast as the answer machine tells him what he already knows about having a new voicemail, wondering what could be on such a message and whether it could make him look terrible in front of Maeve, kissing Ruby so soon after their breakup, Ironic. But mostly it’s racing at the thought of hearing her voice again. 

“Hey.” Ruby’s voice finally comes through and he can immediately tell by the sizzling in the background that Ruby’s in the kitchen, frying something up, he lights to imagine frying pan in one hand, phone in the other, she’s one hell of cook, learning every trick in the book to keep her dad happy. She’s cooked him up some dishes over the past few months and again, it’s just what Ruby does for the people she loves. 

“I’m cooking up tea and there’s going to be an extra plate for you. Don’t worry, I’ve met your scrawny requirements” 

Maeve definitely makes a note of Otis’ smile at Ruby’s version of a ‘joke’, but to be fair Maeve’s always been one for insulting him with a hint of fondness as well, also she observes how zoned in he is at the sound of her voice through the phone. 

“You don’t have to come, just mum and dad won’t stop talking about you again and….” 

As Ruby pauses, drawing a breath, Otis momentarily flicks his eyes up to Maeve, nervous to how Maeve was reacting to all this, Ruby sounds so different in her own home, so much more joyful, and easing going, well all up to that last sentence when Ruby sounded uncharacteristically nervous. 

“And I can’t stop thinking about you…” 

That makes Otis’ heart flip this time around and he’s absolutely rooted to the spot. 

Ruby then clears her throat acting like nothing happened. “Right so I’ll see you later then, well just let me know. And also let me know if you want picking up, save those cheese string legs of yours. Alright, see you later Otis.” 

There is a few moments of silence but doesn’t switch off the phone as the voicemail is still playing. 

“ Fucking hell how do you fucking end it? Never actually done one of these before.” Ruby’s muttering under her breath, clearly oblivious to the fact that she was being picked up by the sound of her phone. “Thought it would be personal you know? Otis might like that, no fucking hell- Oh there it is.” 

With that the voicemail comes to an end and Otis is still smiling at the phone, picturing how adorable it must have been with Ruby struggling over the most simple of things. 

“Huh cheese strings legs?” Maeve repeats through a little laugh. 

That’s what brings Otis back to life, snapping out of his trance and looking up to Maeve. 

“Maybe she’s not that bad after all.” Quite the wit. 

“No, she’s not…” Otis breathes back a little too softly before he nervously smiles back across to Maeve. 

“Otis…” 

“Yeah.” Again Otis lifts his head up after tucking his phone back in his pocket. 

“You know what you want. How about you go and get it this time?” 

Otis nods back at her, he knows what he wants, more accurately who he wants. 

So Otis is knocking on Ruby’s porch door again , for dinner with her parents again. 

But when Ruby opens the door this time, it’s different, there’s still tension between them, but this time it’s a tension of wondering if it’s real this time, no more pretending. 

One thing Ruby is sure of is the desire to kiss him again, he’s not wearing that brown suit that does the funniest of things to her heart, he’s not bothered at all tonight, a stripy shirt and an equally shite pair of jeans, just plain old Otis. For some reason that just makes her want to kiss him more. 

After far too long of staring at one another, with heavy breaths and little smiles in between Ruby decides to make her move. 

It’s the most tragic thing she’s ever taken part in, as she slowly leans in, stuttering in her movements twice on her way as she places a kiss on his left cheek. 

If Ruby could see this act in the third person, she’d be having a very stern word with herself, Milburn’s the awkward one, stop getting dragged into his ways. 

But deep down, Ruby knows it’s not tragic, it’s just really sweet, just these feelings are still all relatively new to her. 

“Hey.” She finally decides to speak, that’s probably a good idea, speaking. “Coming in?” 

“Yeah.” He smiles awkwardly and as ever Ruby somehow finds it endearing. 

He’s stepping inside, following her lead and she’s subtly leaving a hand dangling behind her, desperate for Otis to take it, but she can’t be showing him that. 

Ruby’s just so delighted that he’s here, she’s completely put the battle in her head as to whether what she was doing was right to the back of her mind. 

The only people more delighted than Ruby at Otis’ presence are as ever her parents. 

“Ah Otis son! Glad Ruby couldn’t keep you away from her embarrassing parents for much longer.” Roland says when he first lays eyes on the lanky boy behind her. 

Ruby rolls her eyes before they place themselves in front of Sharon and Roland Matthews respectively. 

Again dinner’s already on the table, Otis isn’t late by design this time, he had to rush back from Maeve’s after school and then, well… practice what he wanted to say. 

“How are you Otis darling?” Sharon asks, smiling sweetly across. 

“I’m well thanks.” Otis removes his jacket, placing it on the back of the chair, he’s ready for this. “I hope Mr and Mrs Matthews, you are okay with me saying something before we eat…” 

Ruby narrows her eyes at him, but then again, it would be Otis who decides to make a formal announcement before the Thai dish she’s made for all of them. 

Roland and Sharon just laugh, the former a lot louder. 

“Otis, I think Roland and Sharon will do just fine for our daughter’s lovely boyfriend.” Sharon words leave both of them blushing. 

Once Otis calms down his blush and nervous chuckle, he takes in a deep breath knowing he has to do this now with the setup Sharon’s just given him. 

“You see I’m not your daughter’s boyfriend.” 

Ruby snaps her head around to him, her heart sinking and she’s left in a total state of shock at how he just came out with that. What. The. Fuck. Are you doing?

Otis' heart is racing, but he knows he’s started this now, he has to finish. “Erm, we broke up two months ago… erm, she told me she loved me and I- I wasn’t ready to say it back.” 

Roland and Sharon are just completely mythed at how events had turned so quickly, while Ruby’s feelings can be summed up by Otis’ next words. 

“ I broke her heart and erm- despite all of that, Ruby’s heart was still too good for me or anyone I know really and she didn’t want to let you know how badly I hurt her. So she invited me back here, so we could break up in a way that was ‘less shity’, her words, not mine, sorry for swearing.” He awkwardly laughs it off, he was doing so well, but at the end of the day, it wouldn’t have been him without a little ramble. 

Thankfully everyone is still too shell shocked to respond, even Ruby who knows the story inside it, she’s left devastated that he wants to do this now, finally break up with her to her parents. 

“We messed it up, because well- I think we work, really, really well and erm, then we got to spend time together.” Otis turn slowly over to affectionately gaze at Ruby, who was still devastated but was now left with a little bit of hope at Otis’ more bright tone he was now taking. 

“And it made me realise how much an idiot I had been, leaving behind someone as incredible, caring and loving as your daughter.” 

Otis had turned back to Sharon and Roland to say that and Ruby was glad of that, as he left her all breathless, looking across to him. 

“And it also made me realise how much I want her back. But- I- I know how much you both mean to her and I want to let you know that I probably don’t deserve her, but I know that I’ll never ever hurt her again… That’s all I really have to say about that.” 

After Otis’ rather awkward finish and the duck of the head, everyone is left speechless, only the sound of the radio in the background and Baby making her way from room to room could be heard.

Ruby’s heart is racing at a million miles an hour, more than it had ever been with her time with him but she also has a million and one things she wants to say to him right now. But it can’t be done, not here. 

“Otis,” Ruby says firmly, not even glancing in his direction. “Can I have word with you?” 

Otis’ eyes dart between Sharon and Roland, trying to get a read on them, but they almost look like they are lying in state, but with the slightest ability to process what just happened. 

Eventually, Otis weakly rises up and tucks his chair in before he limply follows Ruby to her bedroom. 

She’s holding the bedroom door for him to enter, glaring at him as he entered. 

It felt like he was being escorted in for a police interview or perhaps worse, an execution. 

He has no regrets though. 

Once he’s inside and hovering awkwardly in front of her, Ruby slams her bedroom door hard, before taking a firm step towards him. “Why. The fuck. Did you say that?” Ruby says through gritted teeth. 

For the second time in a couple of hours, one of the two mean girls he fell for was reducing him to squirming with their demanding question. “Cause- cause, because it’s the truth Ruby and I’ve always given you the truth and your mum and dad deserve it too.” Otis struggles for breath himself manages to get his reply out, before he reaches to grab her hand, missing slightly and instead he’s gripping her wrist. “And- I meant every word of it, I don’t ever want to hurt you again Rubes…”

The use of her nickname spoken so softly, has its opposite effect than the usual and it actually calms her down, realising that she actually had no reason to be angry at him, he had said almost everything she had wanted to hear from him. “You meant every word?” She asks through a heavy breath. 

“Yeah.” He quietly responds with a nod. 

“And that bit… about wanting me back?” Again Ruby’s softly breathing back at him, as her heart continues to beat at a rate of knots.

“I don’t think I’ve meant anything more…” Otis’ heart had also reached a dangerous beating pace as Ruby locks eyes with him, she’s probably going to slap him and it would be deserved. “And I understand if you don’t want the same, I just wanted-.” 

Otis is interrupted, not by Ruby slapping him, but by her lips thrashing onto his, that beating heart exploding in the process as she furiously kissed, not letting him breathe as she cupped his cheeks. 

She’s then throwing him against her closed bedroom door, the rack of coats shaking at just how hard she thew against it. “Don’t you dare say you don’t deserve me again Milburn!” Ruby’s returning the gritted teeth as she grips his t-shirt tightly. 

Otis lets off a little smile but he still has to make a point. “No it’s tru-.” 

He can’t even get to the third word of his sentence before she’s slamming her lips onto his again, this isn’t like their kiss yesterday, it’s that hunger and that want again. 

“I’m the high school bully Milburn, I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you, even if you’re a skinny idiot.” 

“Rubes You’re not-.” 

Again Ruby’s shutting him up with her lips as she presses her full body against him and Otis gets the words to go with it this time. “Shut up.” 

Ruby’s gasping for air as she moves down to his neck, many hickey’s had been left there before and she’s working on leaving a few more now. 

Otis is making those funny noises that he always thought would lead her to dropping him an instant, but it just encourages her to suck his neck harder. Through his moans he manages to ask. “So- you want me back too then?” 

Ruby bites down on his neck and he makes him wince through the pain of the pleasure, Yes there’s definitely going to be a hell of a mark there in the morning. “No I just want to shag you.” Ruby’s sensual tone, with her head buried into his neck nearly shatters into thousands of tiny little pieces.”

Ruby moves herself out his neck flicking her hair before she cups his cheeks and kisses him, much sweeter and softer than she had done so far in this explosion of fire and fury. 

She’s breathing heavy as she pulls away, resting her forehead on his, thumbs making comforting circles on his cheeks as she gets out. “Yes, I want you back-” 

It almost sounds like a laugh back from Otis, but’s it’s definitely a nervous indication of relief and sheer happiness, it’s really happening. 

“But I also want to shag you.” Ruby laughs on to him and the effect is simply electrifying. 

Otis grins down at her. “That’s more than okay.” 

A few seconds of wild smiling at one another is ended by Ruby gripping his shirt and is kissing him again. 

They are twirling around Ruby’s room, holding eachother close and securely as their mouths and then tongues do battle. 

As they start to lose their sense of balance and well… everything else, Ruby crashes against her wall, hitting her head off it hard.

“Are you okay?” Otis pulls his mouth off of hers and runs his hands down both sides of her face as it was quite the hard hit. 

It makes her heartache, him asking her if she’s okay in these circumstances again. But just as he said before, she’s more than okay. “Yes, I’ll be a lot better if you start taking those shitty jeans off.” 

Otis just responds by attempting to get his belt undone in record time, Ruby’s also moving at the same speed as she unravels her emerald green cocktail dress, revealing her underwear matching the same colour. 

It just makes Otis freeze, gasping “Oh…” He doesn’t deserve this. “Oh you’re so beautiful Rubes.” He falls down to his knees, pressing kisses on every little inch of her skin, staring from her tummy moving upwards, breathing words like “ Beautiful” and “Gorgeous”, 

Leaving her to throw her head back against the wall again, as she moans whilst trying to get a grip of his hair. 

Otis’ trail of kisses leads him up to her bra, slowly tugging it aside so he can put his mouth on her left breast, sucking on it with everything he had as he squeezed it tight with his right hand. 

Ruby gasps in pleasure again, she doesn’t know how she coped without this for so long or how she can ever go without it ever again. 

But then it all seems to be taken away from her, as Otis just completely stops, seeming to be staring off to the right. 

Otis has his brows narrowed while he grips the fabric of her bra lightly in his hand. “What happened to green going out of fashion?” 

Ruby sighs, not in pleasure this time but in frustration, her hard nipples screaming out to be played with and Otis for once is bringing up fashion trends? It halts the pure fucking passion of their reunion thus far, but again Ruby wouldn’t have it any other way, Otis and his little quirks, that she loves so fucking much it makes her heart hurt. 

“That’s on cars Milburn, nothing goes out of fashion on me.” 

“Right…” Otis looks up at her, still all lost. 

Ruby raises her brows, “Now get back on with it, before I change my mind.” 

“Right.” As if nothing had happened Otis back to kissing her breasts, but not for long as he moves up her body again, up her neck, making a detour to her most sensitive spots before he moves his hands down her body to lift her up. 

Ruby gasps again, complying by wrapping her legs around his waist as he moves them across her room. Yes even the stickman can carry her. 

She makes sure to kiss him messily all the way over to her bed crashing into wardrobes and drawers on the way, just before they get there she takes her hands off his shoulders to unclasp her bra, tossing it aimlessly across the other side of the room, before returning to kiss him hard. “I wouldn’t change my mind you know. I’ve missed you so much.” She says before she returns to the kissing. 

Otis gently settles her down on her bed, towering over her as he tucked a hair behind her ear. “I’ve missed you too.” 

They both smile warmly at one another, before they engage in another kiss, Ruby moving her hands over the back of his neck and starting to pull his top off, which then becomes the second piece of clothing she’s throwing across the room. 

Otis then lifts himself up on the bed so he can dispose of his jeans probably this time. “Rubes do you have a condom?” He asks in a breathless rush as he wriggles his jeans off. 

Ruby simply shakes her head and Otis freezes, fuck he knew how she felt about the prospect of pale and unusually long children. 

“Hey.” Ruby pulls him back down onto her, washing his worries away with another kiss. “You know what to do. Besides, another trip to the pharmacy could be fun.” 

Again their smiling at one another in such an intimate moment, thinking about another one, that strange day where the first strands of sentiment towards one another grew and what kickstarted this crazy journey Otis and Ruby had been on, a journey that looked like it was about to get its happy ending. 

Otis leaves one last sweet kiss on her lips before he’s shifting himself up to pull down his boxers, pulling Ruby’s knickers aside slightly, taking in the wetness for a second. He looks up to Ruby, normally at this point Ruby gets embarrassed at how fucking gone she is for him but not this time, she’s breathlessly staring down at him, desperate for him to get on with proceedings. 

“Rubes? Are you sure?” Otis asks as he lines himself up at her entrance. 

Ruby gulps, Otis always asking questions, it’s what it’s been like since day 1. “Yeah I’m sure.” 

With that last affirmation of consent, Otis pushes inside Ruby Matthews again. 

Ruby gasps twice back to back at his entrance, desperately clenching onto his back, digging her nails into his bare skin. 

The sensation of Otis filling her up again, leaves more pleasure in her heart than anywhere else as she holds him close as if his life depended on it. He’s really here. 

As Otis kisses her in between his thrusts and moans, he notices the stray tear running down from Ruby’s left eye. 

He stops in an instant, Ruby’s about to worry that something’s changed his mind, she isn’t even aware that she’s crying until he’s wiping away said tear with a finger. 

“Rubes? I didn’t hurt you did I?” 

“No.” Ruby breathes back in between a wide smile as she cups his right cheek. “I’m just glad that you’re here.” 

Otis blinks back across at to her, realising how much this meant to her, considering how he had left her crying the last time they were on this bed together. He’ll never be able to take that back, but he knows he’ll give everything he has to make it up to her. 

He leans in and kisses her chastely, before moving down to her neck again as she runs her hands through his hair. “I’m here Rubes, I’m here.” 

With that whisper, Otis proceeds to carry on where he left off. 

They had sex so many times, in so many different places, but this time, the first time in her bedroom, Ruby notices a difference. 

As he thrusts into her at a gentle and caring speed, Ruby notices how each incision of pleasure makes her heart flips. 

Having sex with Otis was always glorious, but having sex with Otis the boy she loved takes her to a whole new stratosphere. 

He hadn’t said those three little words, not yet, but whatever the boy on top of her was feeling, what he was giving her was more than enough. 

It’s also surprising how this lovemaking, pushes her closer to the peak a lot sooner than usual. 

Judging by how Otis had picked up the speed and how he had become much more grunty in his moans, he was on the same wavelength. 

“Oh- Rubes.” Otis manages to get out in between those heavy moans. 

“Otis…” Ruby breathes back softly, as their eyes don’t leave one another, both of their hearts flipping as the intensity of the incoming climax builds. 

Ruby can’t help herself, as he towers over, the intensity rising, the way he holds her with all the care in the world, softly gazing at her, doing his best to hold in one of his ‘ugly grunts’, “ I love you.” She squeaks out ever so softly. 

It’s quiet and so weak that Otis doesn’t hear it, before he’s cumming inside of her, attempting to pull out realising he had got caught up in by how quickly it had crept up on her. 

But again Ruby just pulls him in closer kissing him, holding him firmly to keep him exactly where he was before she’s moaning heavily, as she reaches her own release, her leg’s spasming around him and now Otis is the one holding her safely. 

She’d never felt anything like it before. 

In the morning as they lie under the covers with Ruby awake, watching Otis sleep she can’t help but think they should break up more often if that’s what makeup sex was like. 

No. 

Ruby shuts that thought down straight away, because as good as the sex was, she wouldn’t be able to do this. 

One hand still wrapped around his waist whilst the other hand was giving his cheek the gentlest of strokes as he in turn was gently let out sweet breaths in his sleep. 

It’s so adorable. Ruby always liked to watch Otis sleep with him not being much of an early riser, even taking chunks of time out of her makeup routine just to watch him a little longer. 

She always thought if Otis had ever caught her, she’d jump back, act like nothing had happened and deny any potential allegations as it would be too much of an insight to her deep affection for him. 

If he’d wake now there would be none of that, she’d just kiss him lightly and wish him a good morning. She’d been far too vulnerable with him for her liking too many times. 

No. 

Ruby corrects herself again, as, despite the hurt, she now feels so much lighter with Otis. 

She opts for pressing a kiss to his chest just as she used to, as much as she would like to lie in bed with him a little longer, Baby needs feeding and is probably a little upset at the fact she was locked out of her bedroom all night. 

Ruby doesn’t want to wake him though, letting him sleep instead, he deserves it after last night. 

Once her bedroom door is open, Ruby is trying to move as slowly as possible not wanting to disturb her still sleeping paren-

“Morningggggggg.” 

Ruby winces when she hears the call from the joined kitchen and dining room, slowly rotating her head around to see her mother already sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal in front of her. 

Fuck. 

Ruby doesn’t know why it feels like she’s partaking in the walk of shame as it’s nothing like that, but yeah this was definitely going to be awkward, the walls in their house were… thin.

“Good morning mum,” Ruby says as she lays out Baby’s food in her bowl. “There you go girl.” Ruby gives her dog a stroke as Baby gets stuck into her food. “Sorry you couldn’t stay with Mummy last night-” 

“I bet you are.” Sharon almost chokes out leaving Ruby to turn around from her crouched position by the bowls and glare at her mother. 

Ruby sighs as she lifts herself up, joining her mother at the table, ready to face hell. 

“Well.” Sharon slowly twirls her spoon around her bowl over and over again. “You didn’t eat any of your tea last night.” Sharon glances over to the two full meals for Ruby and Otis resting on the kitchen surface. “But it sounds like you were well fed anyway.” 

“MUM!” Ruby slams her hand down on the table, turning a shade of red she doesn’t think her face had seen before. 

“Thank god your dad’s got dodgy hearing that’s all I can say.” 

Ruby’s sighing again, looking deeper into the kitchen, away from her mother more accurately. 

“I mean that’s why I’m up so early, hardly any sleep, I think it was the third time when I finally clocked off-.” 

“MUM! Can we not talk about this, please!” Ruby pleaded with real intent this time around. 

“Okay love.” Sharon smiled, observing her thoroughly embarrassed daughter. “I’m just teasing. As long as you used protection honey.” 

Ruby’s eyes widened as she almost forgot about that whole ordeal. Looks like they were going to have another trip to the pharmacy after all. 

“But there is something we do need to talk about dear.” Sharon softness her tone further and Ruby’s finally looking up at her mother, wondering just what there was to talk about. “What Otis said last night, about him not loving you back.” 

“Mum.” Ruby tried to interrupt, she wanted to look forward with Otis, not behind her. But her mother is her mother and she knows what she’s on about, maybe it was right to address it. 

“You know me and your dad first got together at your age as well.” 

Ruby just rolled her eyes, she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t thought about the comparison herself, but come on Ruby, getting ahead of yourself. 

“And I said I love you almost instantly.” 

“And what did dad say?” Ruby asked, seriously intrigued, she’d heard many stories about her mother and father through the years, but never the first love confession. 

“Nothing, the football was on.” 

Ruby just tutted, her dad forever glued to the TV when the football was on. 

Sharon smiled fondly at the sudden flush of memories. “You know me all excitable and running around, I dived straight in and I just kept saying it and saying it and saying it, while your dad would just kiss me every time” 

“And you didn’t dump him?” Ruby with her narrowed brows was clearly perplexed by the thought. 

“No love, because I wanted him to say it and mean it.” 

“What if he never said it?” A still lost Ruby asked. 

Sharon just chuckled lightly. “I knew he would.” 

“How?” 

“Because of the way he cared for me, he did better things for me than say three little words darling… don’t get me wrong when he finally did say it, it meant the world.” 

“When did he say it?” 

Again Sharon has to pause, taking it all in, all the warmness and nostalgia is just what she needs after these tricky two years. “I was going on this big rant, annoyed at him for how much he was hogging the TV remote at your Nanna’s house and then he just turned to me and said ‘I love you’.” 

Ruby joined her mother in a warm smile, just how homely it all sounded and how it was what she desperately craved. 

Sharon then reached over to lightly hold one of her daughter's hands. “You know, you are wrong to expect someone to say it back straight away, especially at your age, but you definitely have a right to be hurt, I was hurt when your dad say it back to me the first couple of times.”

Ruby holds her head down for a moment, remembering the feeling when the line when dead the first time she confessed her love for him. 

“But your age, I’ll be totally honest I don’t know much about it.” Sharon laughed. “The style, the slang, why coke zeros are the best and why it’s cool to keep your dog in your locker.” 

Ruby can’t help but laugh at her mother, clueless. 

“But, I certainly know there aren’t many good ones like Otis out there,” Sharon whispers across softly, squeezing Ruby’s hand. “You shouldn’t let someone that special go darling.” 

Ruby smiles back, knowing Otis is more than special to her. 

After her nut milk, Ruby’s walking back into her room, finally ready to wake Otis up. 

She’s wondering how to play this as she stands over him in her bed, which is still a hilarious sight, she could kick him? Kiss him? Or maybe she should just jump on him, that will annoy him. 

Before Ruby can prep herself, Otis’ phone buzzes on her table. 

There are two texts. 

Mum 

- That’s okay darling x 

That’s a response from the text Otis sent last night, letting his mother know that he was staying the night at Ruby’s before she decided to jump him again. 

But it’s the text which had just come through which is catching Ruby’s attention. 

Maeve 

Ruby only reads a few lines, because there are sticking out of the page. 

Something about ‘thanking him for coming round yesterday’ and ‘being open with their feelings like that and how it was the right thing to do’ and ‘the future’ 

Ruby just slams his phone back on her bedside table, unable to look at it any further. 

So, so, stupid Ruby. 

She’s absolutely waking him up now, opting for the ‘kicking him’ option, but it’s not the playful kick she was intending a minute ago, her leg is high and it’s landing into his chest. 

“Owww.” He groans as he rolls onto his side, squinting to get the full view of Ruby towering over him. 

“Get dressed Milburn. School. Now.” 

Otis is totally lost to why things had fallen so south and everything was so tense. 

After the promises of wanting one another back and then the moaning of each other's name’s through mindless pleasure. 

The drive to his house to fetch his school uniform is similar to that of when she found him wandering in the woods, the night before their first fake date. 

Otis is half expecting Ruby to have driven off, like she did last time when she pranked him last time. 

But there is no pranking this time around, she’s still there and still not even glancing in his direction. 

He wants to say something, but the words won’t come out as he isn’t too sure what he’s done wrong. 

Or maybe it’s even worse than that and she’s decided to change her mind. 

Looks like he’s going to get his answer though when she pulls up at their usual drop off point, a street away, so Ruby can’t be seen with the boy who broke her heart, because that’s what he’ll always be. 

Pulling the handbrake, she turns sharply towards him, pulling off a trademark Ruby hair flick in the process. “Where were you yesterday?” She asks, seriously pissed. 

“Oh- your house.” Otis nervously squeaks back in response. 

“Before that.” Ruby presses further. 

“School….” Otis weakly replies. 

Ruby raises her brows, sitting taller. “Wouldn’t have happened to pop round to cockbiter’s would you?” 

Otis is left stunned, all opened mouthed, how did she know that? “M-Maeve’s.” He just about manages to correct. 

“Oh, so you were there then.” With Otis’ lack of challenge, Ruby has the confirmation she required. “What was it then? You get one in there, you get one in with me?” 

“Ruby, I’d never do-.” Otis almost laughs it off, but Ruby certainly isn’t laughing. 

“So what was it then, shes back for Christmas, try to win her back, don’t worry if that doesn’t work out you’ve always got me on the subs bench, because god!” Ruby scoffs as she feels the emotions bubbling, again. “I can’t believe how thick I am, thinking shit would just go back to normal, because I’ll always be second best won’t I Otis? And I can accept you not loving me, not yet but I won't ever a-.” 

“I love you.”

Before Ruby’s rant can come for a shattering conclusion, Otis just comes out of it, those three little words. 

“What?” Ruby’s voice is shaking, her whole body is probably shaking, she might be able to observe it as this feels like an out-of-body experience. 

Otis himself is a nervous mess, it’s what he felt, he’d known it for a little while now in the back of his mind, but he wasn’t prepared to blurt it out just yet, it just happened like a natural reflex when Ruby mentioned that he didn’t love her and the hurt on her face caused by him, again. He wanted it to be right, to be special after the messes of his last two love confessions. But he meant it when he said he didn’t want to hurt Ruby ever again. 

“I- I said I love you.” 

Ruby’s kind of getting used to being left speechless around Otis, but this is a whole new world apart. Otis must be thinking if anybody was truly in there, the way she was sat motionless in front of him, letting out the tiniest breaths at a time. 

“Erm.” Otis clears his throat. “I was at Maeve’s, not cockbiters, you should probably stop calling her that. Hehe.” Otis lets off the most out of place nervous laugh imaginable. “I was there to let her know that, I’m sorry for the way things turned out, but I’m not sorry about you, I’ll never be sorry about you.” 

The softness in his tone just does nothing more than make her heart beat faster and the way his eyes flicker up to her, makes that beating heart of hers want to jump out of her chest. 

He’s still quiet in his tone as he continues “Despite how mean you are, which is funny at times but quite horrible at others.” 

Ruby’s now scanning him with intent as this had to be the strangest love confession of all time, but it’s not like she has anything to compare it with as it’s the first love confession she’s ever had. Not a nerdy boy desperate to worship her love confession, but a genuine love confession for the real her. What she really knows is that it’s incredible and it’s made all the more amazing by the fact she loves him back, so very much. 

“Despite how obsessed you are with fashion makes me look like an idiot when I stand next to you, but I don’t care about looking like an idiot, I think you know that, but erm- I do care about standing next to you. Erm.” There’s another throat-clearing interval for Otis as he’s spoken a lot so far and still has more to say. 

“You make me, somehow, feel like I’m the only person in the room when I’m with you or the only person in the car.” Otis laughs up at the roof as it was where they spent most of their time together. “Well, I am often the only person in your car, but erm, I think you know what I meant, you make me feel loved and erm- I’m always happiest when I’m with you Rubes and I don’t think that’s a coincidence and I want to love you too Ruby, truly.” 

With his mouth breaking into a little awkward smile, his speech appears to have come to a close and the still breathless Ruby only has one thing on her mind. “Is this a joke?” 

Otis laughs in a heavy breath. “No.” He reaches over the gear stick to hold one of her hands, which still seems pretty lifeless from the state of shock Ruby’s been left in. “Rubes, did you ever think you’d love with me?”

Ruby stares him down with her narrowed brows. “No, you’re a sad and pathetic low life.” 

“Right.” Otis laughs a little again. “I also didn’t think I’d fall in love with you either.” Otis sighs as he holds her hand that bit tighter, stroking her fingers in the process. “What I’m trying to say, is that Sometimes it’s the people who we don’t expect who are the ones to steal our heart.” 

Ruby narrows her brows further. “Why are you talking like a weird wizard?” 

Otis laughs for the third time in a matter of moments. “It was my mum who said that actually.” 

For the first time since this whole ordeal started Ruby’s mouth twitches into a small smile. “You should come up with some original work Milburn.” 

He chuckles again. “Yeah, I’ve gone and used all of my best hits in a year of shady therapy.” 

Ruby now squeezes his hand back and the feelings electrifying for the both of them. “I can think of one of your best ones.” 

“What?” Otis breathes lightly back across as he can fill both of their desires to move forwards. 

“Three words, eight letters. Say it again.” Ruby almost demands back across to him. 

“I love you.” He says just as soft of the first time, but it means, even more, this time around with their eyes locked on. 

Ruby smiles wide in between a heavy breath. “Again.” She says almost like a toddler.

“I lo-.” 

He can’t get it out because Ruby’s slopping her mouth onto his as she jumped over to his car seat to straddle him. 

They had done that so many times over their summer of passion, even then the idea of falling in love with one another seemed a laughable thought. 

“I love you too, so fucking much.” Ruby breathes onto him, still resting in his lap as moved her lips away, but their foreheads are still rubbing up against one another. 

She’s expecting to be woken up any minute now, when she was crying on her bed, telling him to go for good, she’d never felt that low before, this was all too good to be true. 

When she closes her eyes for a few moments and then reopens them, he’s still there and she makes sure to get a better grip of the back of his neck, because she doesn’t want to let go.

He’s running a finger down her cheek, again because there is a sole tear running down her cheek, again. 

“Are you okay?” 

Ruby laughs as more tears trickle down from her eyelids, still totally overwhelmed by what was happening. “I think you know that I am.” 

Otis smiles back and Ruby gives him a wet kiss. 

They are disturbed by a dog barking on the pavement next to them, being led by an old woman. 

When they turn back to one another Otis decides to speak first. “Good job we parked on this street, you crying and in Otis Milburn’s lap.” 

Ruby laughs before she kisses him again. “I’d never recover.” 

Even now it is still laughable, Ruby Matthews and Otis Milburn in love.

Otis smiles up at her as he moves his hands down her rib cage, continuing to provide comfort. 

“Say it one more time.” Ruby pushes him again through a grin. 

“Say what?” He decides to play along. 

Oh if you want to play, Ruby can play. She leans into his ear, biting down on his ear lobe, something he went totally weak for. “You know what I want.” Her breathy voice then proceeds to fill up his ear. 

“Oh.” Otis squirms as Ruby pulls away, putting her hands on his shoulders waiting for him to relax. When that time comes, Ruby get’s what she wants. “I love you Ruby Matthews.” 

Ruby grins back at him. “I love you too Milburn.” 

And they are kissing yet again, Ruby could stay here all day, kissing the boy she loved, the boy who loved her back. But there are things to be getting on with. “Otis.” Ruby breathes as she rests her forehead on his again. “As much as I would love to snog you senseless all day, we do need to go to school.” 

“Right. School.” Otis laughs as Ruby removes herself from his lap and is moving over back to the driver's seat and her lack of presence in his lap is immediately noticeable. 

“And we need to go to the pharmacy.” Ruby begins as she takes a hold of his hand again. “Because as much as I love you, pale and unusually long children still aren’t on my agenda.” 

“Right of course.” Otis nods before he’s attempting to free his hand from Ruby’s and open the passenger door. 

“Erm, where do you think you are going?” Ruby asks as she stares him down. 

“Oh, kiss.” Otis leans in to kiss her as it was part of their old routines, no hellos or goodbyes without a kiss on the lips. 

Ruby still isn’t satisfied though when Otis’ lips leave her’s again. “Otis, yes I want you to kiss me but that’s pretty much all of the time anyway. I also don’t want you to get out, now seatbelt on.” 

“But- but-.” Otis points back towards the car door he should have been heading out of before realising Ruby was putting the car back in gear so he better be getting his seat belt on. 

He does that in a hurry just as they are making their way down the road before turning onto the main path that leads them to the school car park. 

“You see Otis I like to show off the best of me when I arrive at school, my car, my clothes before we started wearing these pieces of shits.” Ruby looks down at the school uniform. “My designer bag and now…” Ruby reaches over to take his hand again. “My lovely boyfriend.” 

Otis' heart flips at the words, the sincerity of her tone and their entwined hands, but he is quickly nodding to the car wheel. “You- you should probably have both hands on the wheel.” 

Ruby simply shakes her head. “Otis. I’m amazing at everything, which also means I’m an amazing driver.” Ruby smugly smiles before she’s redirecting her attention to the road. 

She is amazing at everything. Otis thinks as he watches her and he truly loves her for it. 

Ruby completes the short journey to school and more specifically her specially reserved parking space. 

She knows she’s in deep when it bugs her that she’s going to have to let go of his hand for a few seconds as they both make their way out of the opposite sides of the car. 

“Wait, you called me your boyfriend back there.” Otis points out, all wide smiles as he makes his way around the left side of the car, while Ruby locks said car making her way around the right. 

If they weren’t so engrossed in eachother they would already be able to hear the vast amount of whispers about them being seen together again. 

“Yes, well I wouldn’t have said I want you back last night, then slept with you, then told you I loved you and would be going to a pharmacy with you after school if you weren’t my boyfriend, because that would make me a slag and I’m not a slag am I Milburn?” Ruby responded as they now stood face to face in front of her car, the whispers continuing to rise around them. 

“Absolutely not,” Otis replied through a smile. 

“Good.” 

“You also called me lovely.” Otis further teases as he bends his head to the side with a smug grin present. 

Ruby takes a step forward, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck. “That’s because you are Milburn.” 

With that, the gap between them was closed and Ruby Matthews was making out with Otis Milburn in front of a large portion of the school, again…

There are a few familiar faces in the crowd watching them like Aimee whose jaw nearly drops to the floor and Anwar, who next to his boyfriend he manages to grunt. “Oh not again.” 

There is no building being demolished this time to separate them, it just comes to an end on their own comforting terms, knowing there would be plenty of time for them to do that over and over again in the near future. 

“Right Milburn.” Ruby pats his chest once they separate. “School to be getting on with.” Ruby pretty much drags him away with her hand. 

Up the main path to the school entrance, there is still so many stares and whispers but Ruby doesn’t care for them anymore and she only squeezes his hand tighter. “Oh, but you are definitely still carrying my bag.” 

With that, Ruby is swiftly forcing her cute designer bag into his chest and Otis takes a hold of it in his free hand. 

He’s beaming at her as they continue to walk “I wouldn’t have dreamt of anything else.”