🖤The Last Flame Of Ruby

🖤The Way He Took Control

Ruby told herself it was nothing.

Just a conversation.

Just someone new.

But somehow—

Evans didn’t feel like “nothing.”

“Why are you ignoring me?”

Ruby didn’t look up from her phone.

“I’m not.”

“You are,” Evans said, sliding into the seat across from her like he belonged there. “You’ve read my message three times.”

Ruby paused.

Then slowly looked up.

“You’re watching me now?” she asked.

Evans leaned back slightly, a small smile playing on his lips.

“I notice things.”

“That’s not always a good thing.”

“It is when I’m right,” he replied.

Ruby shook her head, but she didn’t tell him to leave.

And that was all he needed.

🖤 Later That Day

“Come with me.”

Ruby glanced at him.

“Where?”

“You ask too many questions,” Evans said.

“And you give too few answers.”

He smirked slightly.

“Exactly.”

She hesitated.

Just for a second.

Then stood up.

“Five minutes,” she said.

Evans shook his head.

“Ten.”

Ruby raised an eyebrow.

“Five.”

“Fine,” he said. “But you’re not leaving early.”

That wasn’t a request.

And somehow—

Ruby didn’t argue.

🖤 The Shift

They weren’t at the hill.

Evans didn’t do “soft places.”

Instead, he leaned against the side of the building, watching her like he was studying something he intended to understand completely.

“You’re trying too hard,” he said.

Ruby frowned slightly.

“At what?”

“At pretending you’re okay,” he replied.

“I am okay.”

Evans shook his head slowly.

“No,” he said. “You’re just used to looking like it.”

Ruby went quiet.

“You don’t have to do that with me,” he added.

She let out a small breath.

“And why not?”

“Because I see through it anyway.”

That line—

that confidence—

that certainty—

It did something.

🖤 Closer

“You think you know me,” Ruby said, her voice quieter now.

“I don’t think,” Evans replied. “I observe.”

He stepped closer.

Not too close.

Just enough to change the space between them.

“And what have you observed?” she asked.

“That you don’t like being told what to do,” he said.

“That you don’t trust easily.”

“And that you hate feeling like you care more than the other person.”

Ruby’s breath caught slightly.

“And?” she asked.

“And,” Evans continued, his voice lower now, “you’re trying not to care about him anymore… but you still do.”

Silence.

Ruby looked away.

“That’s not your business,” she said.

Evans didn’t argue.

Instead—

he reached out and gently tilted her chin back toward him.

Not forcefully.

Not aggressively.

But deliberately.

“Look at me,” he said.

Her heart skipped.

She did.

“You’re not going to forget him by pretending,” Evans continued. “You’re going to forget him by replacing the feeling.”

Ruby frowned slightly.

“And you’re going to help me do that?” she asked.

Evans’s lips curved slightly.

“I already am.”

🖤 The Pull

After that day—

he didn’t disappear.

He texted.

Called.

Showed up.

Not constantly.

Not desperately.

Just enough.

Just enough to stay on her mind.

Just enough to make her respond.

Evans: You’re thinking again.

Ruby: I always think.

Evans: About him?

Ruby: No.

Evans: Good. Keep it that way.

He didn’t ask.

He directed.

And slowly—

Ruby started listening.

🖤 The Dangerous Part

“Why do you always sound so sure?” Ruby asked one evening, her voice softer than usual as they stood outside again.

“Because I am,” Evans replied.

“About everything?”

“No,” he said. “Just about you.”

That made her pause.

“You don’t even know me like that,” she said.

Evans stepped closer again, his presence calm but overwhelming in a way she didn’t fully understand yet.

“I know enough to know,” he said quietly, “that you don’t need someone soft right now.”

Ruby’s breath slowed slightly.

“You need someone who won’t let you go back to what hurt you.”

“And that’s you?” she asked.

Evans didn’t hesitate.

“Yes.”

That confidence—

that certainty—

that control—

It didn’t feel like pressure.

It felt like… stability.

And that was the dangerous part.

Because Ruby didn’t realize—

She wasn’t just moving on.

She was being led.