5: Reunion

Ruby Rose was in Heaven. Images of the only man for her flashed through her mind. There were memories from when they were kids of Adam standing up for her and always being there. There were memories from the worst day of her life when her Mom died and Adam skipped school to come and comfort her.

Then the memories took on a darker tone. She remembered Adam waving at her as she, Dad, and Yang piled into their car and left town for good. She remembered how awkward it was to try and keep up a long-distance friendship. She remembered how she and Adam slowly drifted apart.

But still, there were specks of light during the darkest time in Ruby's life. Every text or call from Adam warmed her heart, even when they grew infrequent and she felt like she didn't deserve his attention. There was the legacy her Mom had left her, begging to be explored. Ruby threw herself into it wholeheartedly. And there was the hope for the future she felt when applying to Hallowed University, so close to seeing Adam again.

She'd even been able to use her Mom's legacy to spy on-… Observe! Just observe! To keep him safe! Definitely not to stalk Adam 'cause she missed him so much!

Those scrying sessions were few and far between though as Ruby found all of her time taken up by studying and exploring Mom's grimoire. During the last two years of high school, it felt like she didn't have a single moment of free time. But that was fine. She was preparing for the future, preparing for her reunion with Adam.

Ruby felt herself begin to stir as she remembered that the day she was waiting for was finally here. She'd been so close to Adam yesterday but ultimately chickened out… Don't blame her! This was important! It had to be perfect and serious and all grown-up and stuff! They weren't just kids anymore and Ruby had a lot to make up for!

And she'd just had the bestest dream of the coming reunion going well! She'd gone to his room in the morning and knocked, closing her eyes to bolster her confidence. And he hadn't immediately turned her away! Even after she'd rambled and made a fool of herself, Adam accepted her!

Of course, after (finally!) happily reconnecting with Adam, the dream took a ~spicy~ turn. She'd opened her eyes to see Adam as a vision of shirtless perfection! Wowza, Ruby's future hubby (shut up, she'd make it happen!) was looking absolutely drool-worthy!

But unfortunately, the dream ended before it could really get naughty and filthy and fun. That made Ruby pout a bit as she slowly woke up. She wanted to eat him up like cookies and drink all his creamy milk! But maybe it was a good thing 'cause Ruby was all sorts of motivated to do it all again in real life now! Plan-Perfect-Reunion was a go!

Ruby yawned, stretching as she did. Well, maybe Adam could wait a few more minutes. She was comfy. Like, really comfy. Like, comfier than a dorm bed should have been. And there was a certain delicious, almost-familiar, musky, masculine smell tickling her nose… And there was a hand stroking her hair…

Ruby's eyes shot open and she found herself staring up at Adam's smirking face. She totally didn't blush or squeak or do anything else embarrassing though! She was cool! She was suave! She was-…

"L-Lap pillow…?!" Ruby was hopeless.

Her whole body felt like it was on fire. She couldn't think, her position and the situation she found herself in threatening to overwhelm her poor cinnamon roll mind. It wasn't a dream! Oh, God, it wasn't a dream!

And Adam was still shirtless! How was that fair?! Ruby's breath came in short gasps on the verge of hyperventilation. She was s-so close! She could feel the warmth radiating off of Adam's skin and his scent made her stomach do flips and something soft but oh-so-dangerous was pressed up against her cheek and-…

Wait, what was that last thing? Ruby shifted slightly, never taking her eyes off Adam's face. She watched his expression twitch as she rubbed up against the b-b-bulge in his crotch. How l-l-l-lewd…!

Oh, how would she ever recover from this?! Adam probably thought she was some kind of f-filthy pervert now! And they'd only just reconnected! This was bad… Ruby felt like all her hopes and dreams were about to dissolve right before her eyes. Well… if this was how she died, Ruby was gonna go out with a bang!

"Hey, Ruby… Good to see you're alright. You had me worried there for a moment. Fainting like that can't be good for you…" Adam said, looking down at her with undeniable joy at seeing his bestfriend again in his eyes.

Ruby's shifting body froze at his words. Her hands had been reaching up to cop a feel of Adam's magnificent pecs and her tongue was already out to drool all over those abs of his. Adam's tone, most notably the lack of anger or shame in it, stopped her in her tracks, however.

"Y-You don't hate-…" Ruby quickly abandoned her instinctive, vulnerable question. "A-Ahem… You aren't mad at me for seeing you naked?"

Thankfully, Adam didn't say anything about Ruby's naughty, questing hands, instead just shaking his head with an amused smirk, "That's what you're worried about? It's not a big deal, Rubes. I'm hardly naked. It's just some nipple."

"J-Just some nipple!? You take that back! It's not 'just' some nipple! It's… all of that! It's the abs and tiddies and biceps and the way it all comes together!" Ruby was actually offended, surprisingly passionate about her future hubby's bare chest.

She scoffed, "Henry Cavill's red-carpet nip-slip was 'just some nipple'. This is… This is the manly version of strawberry milk and chocolate chip cookies!"

Adam was stunned into silence for a second before he broke out into genuine laughter, "Ahahahaha~! Oh, Ruby, it's so good to have you back. You have no idea how much I missed you…"

Ruby blushed and tried to sit up as her words caught up to her. Adam's arm wrapped around her upper chest, unintentionally preventing her from putting distance between them in her embarrassment. Adam hugged her to his lap as he let all the stress of this morning escape via peals of laughter. The position was a bit awkward but neither of them seemed to mind for some reason…

Eventually, Adam managed to stop laughing and leaned back against the wall his bed was set against with a sigh. He really needed that. After all the stress and changes of last night and this morning, it was nice to have something familiar return to his life.

Ruby's arms had wrapped around Adam as well at some point and she stayed like that with her face pressed against his lower stomach. His scent filled her world, calming and nostalgic yet also spicy and new, sitting like a heavy blanket of comfort over her senses. Ruby felt like she was completely safe and loved in Adam's arms. Like she could finally relax after four years of stress and grief and anticipation for this moment.

She mumbled something into Adam's abs that he didn't catch, "What was that, Rubes? I couldn't hear you."

Ruby shifted her head so she was facing away from him, still pressing her cheek against his stomach, "… I'm sorry… For leaving… For abandoning you… For drifting away… For everything…"

"Hey, I never blamed you for any of that," Adam soothed. "Life can be difficult but it's in the past now. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you worked hard to get here and see me again. I'm not gonna let my best and only friend be down on herself like that. Where's the perky Ruby I know and love, huh?"

"L-Love…?" Ruby stuttered in a very small voice that Adam pretended to miss.

'Pussy~' Inky whispered in the back of Adam's mind. 'Just fuck her already. We both know you want to claim her~'

'Shut up. Don't ruin this for me,' Adam thought back with a fierce growl, denying nothing but still making Inky instantly back down for once. 'Let me at least get to know my bestfriend again. There's no rush…'

Inky was relegated to the back of Adam's soul once more and Adam turned his attention back to Ruby, "Have you eaten?"

Ruby just shook her head, blushing as she prayed that Adam hadn't heard her little vulnerable slip-up.

"How about we go check out the cafeteria together then? I was there for dinner last night but I didn't really get a chance to look around. And we can… catch up? Unlike me, I'm sure you've got some stories to tell. It's been way too long, Rubes…"

"I… think I'd like that…" Ruby said, her heart suddenly jumping up into her throat as her mind raced with implications.

Was this a date? A friend-date? Or a real, lovey-dovey, couple-date? He said he missed her… Did he miss her as a friend or as… something more…? Did he know how she felt about him? He had to, right? Oh God, oh God, why was this so difficult!? She was so bad with boys! Why couldn't she be smooth like Yang or cute enough that it didn't matter like Zwei?!

And she didn't have any stories she could tell to distract Adam from her social awkwardness! All she did in high school was learn about the legacy her Mom left her and study for college. And it wasn't like she could use either of those things.

'Surprise! I'm a self-taught witch now!' Yeah, right… Adam would think she was crazy! She wasn't crazy. Ruby was a normal girl with normal knees! Who just so happened to also be a witch now… Which she couldn't even prove because they'd be in the cafeteria and she can't just whip out some witchy-magic-stuff to convince Adam in public and Adam is totally gonna think she's boring and there will be prettier girls there who will try to steal Adam's attention and then Ruby would be alone again and ahhhhhhhh!

Ruby's internal freakout lasted the entire walk from Adam's dorm to the cafeteria. She didn't even notice Adam finally finding a shirt that fit him. Or how genuinely happy he seemed with just her company. Or how he stood by her and led her like he was staking a claim on her. Or anything else, really, because she was having a not-so-mini panic attack.

Thankfully, all it took to snap her out of her panic attack was smelling cookies as soon as they entered the cafeteria. In an instant, Ruby blurred and seemed to disappear from Adam's side in a flurry of rose petals. One moment she was standing by his side and the next she was over by one of the buffet tables, piling a plate high with cookies.

No one but Adam and his Shadow seemed to notice the red-cloaked reaper's sudden burst of speed. Adam just laughed it off, having seen the phenomena plenty of times during their childhood. Ruby was just like that when it came to cookies.

It wasn't weird or magical or anything. He probably just blinked at a bad time and missed her running off… every time it happened… without fail… Yup, just one of Ruby's quirks. His Shadow, of course, knew better but decided it would be more fun to say nothing and let this play out naturally.

"Adam! They have cookies for breakfast! Breakfast cookies!! The sign even says they're healthy!" Ruby said as Adam caught up to her before quickly starting to ramble about her favorite food. "Which, like, duh… All cookies are healthy. Anyone who says differently is a liar. These ones aren't chocolate chip but they're still good! It's got, like, peanut butter and honey and nuts and dark chocolate and cinnamon and-! Just try one!"

Adam knew better than try to say no when Ruby offered cookies. She didn't share easily, even with him. He obediently opened his mouth, letting Ruby shove a cookie between his lips. He just enjoyed seeing this side of Ruby again as he chewed. She'd been rather quiet during their walk to the cafeteria and it was good to see her acting like nothing was wrong.

Of course, Adam's night and the changes it caused in him still weighed heavily on his mind. But having Ruby back in his life was a very good way of distracting himself from the Shadow demon in his soul. He knew he'd eventually cave and claim Ruby like Inky suggested but for now, it was nice to just have his bestfriend back. He could worry about never letting her go again later…