🖤The Last Flame Of Ruby

🖤Quiet Doubts

Being with Jake felt… easy.

That was the first thing Ruby noticed.

There was no pressure to impress him, no need to carefully choose every word or calculate every reaction the way she did with everyone else.

With him, things just… happened.

He would find her in the hallway without trying.

Lean casually against her locker like it had always been his place too.

Say things that made her roll her eyes one second and smile the next.

“You look like you missed me,” he said one morning, his voice low as he stepped closer, his presence already familiar enough to feel expected.

Ruby glanced at him, her expression calm, controlled—

but her eyes gave her away just a little.

“I saw you yesterday,” she replied.

“Not enough,” he said easily.

To anyone watching, it looked simple.

Effortless.

But the truth?

Ruby felt it.

The way her chest felt lighter when he was near.

The way her thoughts quieted when he spoke.

The way she didn’t have to pretend as much when it was just him.

And slowly—

without realizing it—

she started to depend on that feeling.

🖤 Private Moments

Alone, Ruby wasn’t the same girl people saw at school.

She laughed more.

Teased him without thinking.

Sometimes even said things that surprised herself.

“You’re actually annoying,” she said one afternoon as they sat at their hill, nudging him lightly.

“And yet,” Jake replied, glancing at her with a smirk, “you keep coming back.”

She rolled her eyes, but her shoulder leaned into his anyway.

“Don’t get used to it.”

“Too late.”

Moments like that felt small.

Unimportant.

But to Ruby—

they were everything.

Because for the first time, she wasn’t trying to be perfect.

She was just… being.

🖤 The First Crack

It started subtly.

So subtly that Ruby almost ignored it.

She was walking down the corridor one afternoon when she saw him.

Jake.

Standing near the back staircase—

with Chloe.

They weren’t doing anything wrong.

Just talking.

Close enough to feel personal.

Ruby slowed down slightly, her eyes lingering just a second longer than necessary before she looked away and kept walking.

It didn’t mean anything.

It couldn’t.

Right?

Later, when Jake found her, he acted the same.

Spoke the same.

Smiled the same.

And Ruby—

pretended nothing had changed.

But something had.

🖤 It Happens Again

A few days later—

Monica.

This time, it wasn’t even hidden.

They stood near the field, her body angled toward him, her laughter louder than usual, her hand brushing his arm like it belonged there.

Ruby saw it from a distance.

And this time—

she didn’t walk past.

She stopped.

For just a second.

Long enough to feel it.

That small, sharp feeling in her chest.

Not pain.

Not anger.

Something worse.

Insecurity.

She turned away before he could see her.

Before anyone could see her.

And by the time Jake found her later—

she was already back to being composed.

Untouchable.

Perfect.

But inside—

she wasn’t.

🖤 The Question

That evening, at the hill, the air felt different.

Quieter.

Heavier.

Ruby sat beside him, her fingers tracing invisible patterns against her own hand, her thoughts louder than her voice.

Jake noticed.

“Something’s wrong,” he said.

She shook her head slightly.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“Ruby.”

The way he said her name—

soft, certain—

made it harder to lie.

She exhaled.

Then finally—

she looked at him.

“If you love me…” she started, her voice quieter now, less controlled than usual, “why are you still friends with people who hate me?”

The words settled between them.

Heavy.

Unavoidable.

Jake frowned slightly.

“What are you talking about?”

“I saw you,” she said, her voice steady—but softer than before. “With Chloe. With Monica.”

A pause.

“They don’t like me, Jake. They’ve made that very clear.”

He leaned back slightly, running a hand through his hair.

“It’s not that serious,” he said. “I’ve known them longer than I’ve known you.”

That hurt more than she expected.

Ruby looked away, her jaw tightening just slightly.

“So that makes it okay?”

“It’s just conversation,” he replied. “You’re overthinking it.”

There it was.

That word.

Overthinking.

Ruby went quiet.

Not because she didn’t have anything to say—

but because she suddenly felt like maybe she had already said too much.

“I’m not asking you to stop talking to people,” she said after a moment, her voice calmer now, but distant again. “I just thought it would matter… a little.”

Jake sighed softly.

“It does matter.”

“Then act like it.”

Silence.

The kind that doesn’t resolve itself quickly.

The kind that lingers.

🖤 After

When Ruby got home that night, her room felt the same as always.

Perfect.

Quiet.

Controlled.

But she didn’t feel the same.

Because for the first time since everything started—

something didn’t feel completely safe anymore.

And that small, almost invisible c***k?

It didn’t look like much.

But it was there.

And slowly—

without either of them realizing—

it was starting to spread.