Chapter Twenty-Four
Saturday
Ruby:
I should have known that Oscar being aware of the attack would make things a million times more dramatic than they need to be.
He has barely let me out of arm’s reach since the police finished taking my statement, and now, on the walk back to his flat, he has positioned himself on my left, while Josh walks on my right, and Cam trails directly behind us, effectively boxing me into the middle of some ridiculous human barricade.
I glance between Josh and Oscar. “You guys are aware the bad guys have been taken away, right? I don’t need a protective convoy.”
Oscar keeps his eyes ahead, scanning the face of every person who comes anywhere near us. “Are you aware that you were attacked tonight?”
“Yeah.” Cam backs him up.
Oscar shakes his head. “Excuse the shit out of us if we don’t want to take any risks.”
I fight to roll my eyes. “Does not taking risks require Cam to be so far up my arse we might as well form a circle?”
“Sorry,” Cam mutters, dropping back a step.
“Thank you,” I breathe over my shoulder before turning back to Oscar. “Please don’t panic about all this. I’m okay, I swear.”
“You’ve got a black eye, bruises all over your arms and blood on your clothes, Rubes.”
“I know, Oscar. But this is overkill a little bit, don’t you think?”
“No.” Josh answers for him, stepping a little closer when a group of lads comes towards us from the opposite direction. He puts himself between me and them until they’ve passed before looking down at me. “It’s not. It gives us peace of mind, so let us have it.”
I can’t really argue with that. “But it’s only going to be for tonight, right?
” The idea that this might give Oscar even more provisions to breathe down my neck makes me want to pull my hair out.
I’m not badly hurt. Well, I’m bruised, my face looks horrific and every muscle in my body aches, but none of that means I need somebody following me around campus for the next six months.
Oscar glances at me. “How about we just get through tonight first?”
“That sounds a lot like a no, O.”
“It sounds like I’m not trying to lose my shit, and I need to get you to safety.”
“Am I not safe with the three of you around me like this?”
Josh tuts. “Just tonight, Rubes. Let us fuss over you for one night.”
I tut right back. “I don’t think I like being bossed about like this.”
Josh puts his hand on my lower back to guide me. “I don’t think any of us care right now. We need you to be safe, and we have to get you there.”
I glare at the side of his face but make no effort to stop him from steering me.
We walk the rest of the way in silence, the only noise being other people and Oscar unlocking the front door of his flat.
I’m surprised as holy hell when we get inside and Abi and Brooke shoot up from my brother’s sofa like bullets.
Emma is in their open-plan kitchen with the kettle boiling, and on the counter next to her is a little stack of pyjamas, fluffy socks, Oreos, and painkillers.
Abi moves towards me first, but the second she gets close and really sees my face, she slows down, tears welling up in her blue eyes.
Brooke is right behind her, one hand hovering near her mouth, and neither of them says anything.
They just stare with these matching horrified looks etched across their faces.
I rub my arm subconsciously, causing Josh to move closer, offering comfort without a word.
Abi reaches for my hand instead of hugging me, her fingers wrapping carefully around mine, and Brooke comes in on my other side, keeping her distance.
A huge lump forms in my throat.
I’d expected Oscar to be dramatic, Cam to crack jokes, and Josh to hover, but I hadn’t expected this, hadn’t expected them to come over or really worry at all.
Emma quietly switches the kettle off and starts making the tea while Oscar guides me towards the sofa by my shoulder. I sink into the corner of the cushions and Abi reaches for the pyjamas, holding them up with this tiny hopeful smile while Brooke grabs the fluffy socks beside them.
“We went to Big Asda,” Abi tells me, dropping them onto the sofa. “Oscar said you’d be staying with him for a few days and we wanted you to have something… new.”
Don’t cry. Please don’t cry. “Guys… this is so sweet.” I fondle the fabric of the PJs. They’re navy with funny cat faces on. “But I’m okay, honestly.” And I’m not staying with Oscar for days.
Josh picks up the blanket folded over the arm of a chair and shakes it open before draping it across my legs, tucking one side under my thigh.
“Are you okay, Rubes?” Brooke softly asks. “Did they really hurt you?”
“She beat the shit out of one of them.” Josh tells the girls.
“No,” I narrow my eyes at him. “That was you.”
Josh shrugs, lowering himself onto the sofa next to me. “It was both of us.”
“Were you super scared?” Abi moves to sit on the sofa opposite. “I wouldn’t have been able to do what you did.”
“She was very brave,” Oscar announces, moving to stand near Emma who puts a comforting hand on his arm. “She punched one of them in the face and elbowed the other. She even potentially broke one of their thumbs, before pulling the girl out and running for it.”
How does he know all that? Was he listening when I told the police? Did he hear me and the girl talk about it? Did I really do all that?
I can feel myself start to shake, my hands trembling beneath the blanket while the bruise across my face burns hotter with every heartbeat.
I remember pieces of it, the grip around my arms, bark against my cheek, somebody shouting, my elbow connecting with a body, the girl’s hand in mine as we ran, but hearing it said back to me makes it sound incredibly violent.
I was only trying to get us out.
Who knows where I would be if I had never had self-defence classes. I make a mental note to thank Mum profusely.
Josh snakes an arm around the back of the sofa and moves as close to me as he can.
“You were brave, Ruby. But if something had happened to you—” he cuts himself off abruptly and glances across the room at Oscar, a sort of knowing passing between them.
They’re both exhausted from holding themselves together and trying not to show how much my being hurt is affecting them.
With Oscar, I understand it. He’s my brother.
He has known me my entire life and has spent years being terrified of losing me in ways I try not to think about.
Josh is harder. Josh has known me for six weeks, and yet there is something in his face that looks far too close to the same fear, which feels impossible to make sense of when he’s also the person who told me we should only ever be friends.
Oscar looks away first, jaw tightening as Emma rubs her hand slowly up and down his arm.
I pull the blanket higher over my lap and look down at my hands, there are tiny uncontrollable movements running through my fingers even though I am trying to keep them still.
“I didn’t think,” I admit to the room, rubbing my thumbs together. “I heard her say she wanted to leave and I just went over. I didn’t stop to think about what they might do to me.”
Abi shakes her head, tears slipping down her cheeks. “That’s exactly why it was brave.”
I look up at her. “Or stupid.”
Josh’s hand moves from the back of the sofa to my shoulder. “You took on two men, Ruby. To save a random girl. It’s really fucking stupid but it’s also really brave.”
I turn to him. “That doesn’t sound like a good thing?”
His thumb moves against my shoulder. “I haven’t decided whether I’m more impressed by what you did or fucking furious that you put yourself in that situation.”
I blink up at him, feeling an overwhelm of emotion. “I really am okay, though.”
Besides, he’s hardly one to talk. He could have run straight into a knife, or another five people, or somebody bigger than him, and the fact he came back with nothing worse than split knuckles and a bruise makes him just as lucky as I am.
I wring my hands out and shoot him a look. “You can’t be mad at me for putting myself in danger when you did the same thing.”
Josh presses his mouth into a thin line. “I did that because they hurt you.”
“And if I hadn’t done what I did they would have hurt that girl.”
His eyes move over my face, taking in the bruising. “I know.”
“So,” I prissily huff. “You shouldn’t be angry at me.”
“I’m not.” He blows out a breath. “I don’t really know what I am.”
Emma comes over then with the tea she has been making and sets it down carefully on the coffee table in front of me alongside two painkillers and a glass of water, while Brooke reaches for the fluffy socks and starts peeling the cardboard label off them.
Abi is looking at me with damp eyes, Cam has gone unusually quiet in the hall doorway and Oscar is hovering near the kitchen with one hand braced against the counter.
We all drink the tea, and slowly Abi and Brooke leave with promises they’ll be back tomorrow. Emma tells me she’s going to set up their spare room, Cam goes to bed and Oscar hovers, moving from space to space like he’s full of rage and doesn’t know what to do with it.
When I yawn, both he and Josh notice.
“You should go to bed,” Oscar firmly mutters. “It’s been a long day.”
“I’ll help you.” Josh clambers to his feet, glancing at Oscar as he reaches for the edge of the blanket. “You okay with that?”
“Yeah,” Oscar grunts.
I’m in half a mind to tell them both to stop discussing me like I’m not in the room, but Josh is peeling the blanket carefully away from my legs and holding one hand out towards me.
I look at it, then place mine in his and let him pull me to my feet, our fingers slipping together naturally as I find my balance. The room tilts slightly when I stand, and Josh’s grip tightens, his other hand coming to my waist as he steps closer until my shoulder brushes his chest.
“Easy,” he murmurs.
“I’m fine,” I grumble, even though I’ve said it so many times tonight the words are starting to lose all meaning.