[center][img=http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/Malfoys_one_and_only_girl/Signatures/240x160Knox.jpg][img=http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d94/Malfoys_one_and_only_girl/Signatures/240x160Ruby.gif?t=1408682776][/center]

Ruby did what she could to keep herself occupied in the unfamiliar house. At first she just spent some time sitting on the couch with her hands folded in her lap, afraid to touch anything really but looked around at the decor. It was then that she realized that she could [i]really[/i] use a shower; especially from her events last night both at the bar and at the bartenders apartment.

Making up her mind (although she really didn't want to) Ruby left Knox's house, locking it up with the key he had given her and made a the short walk to Granny's. She hoped to God that she wouldn't run into the old woman as she gathered her belongings, most importantly her showering supplies. When it came time to pick out some clothes that would last her a few days, she hesitated.

Knox's voice seemed to fill her head, remembering his comment about her clothes. It wasn't there in his words exactly, but it was implied. The way she dressed made him...what was the word? Uncomfortable? Well, something...and she couldn't do that to him anymore, not when he opened up his home to her for the time being. Ruby pushed towards the back of her closet and found some older clothes that didn't reveal so much and packed them up before leaving Granny's and then went back to Knox's place.

She got the shower she wanted, dressed in a normal pair of blue jeans and an burgundy sweater that only showed the skin of her shoulder that the neck didn't cover up (as it was the style to expose one shoulder). She found herself in the kitchen, looking up at the clock to check the time and had to wonder when Knox would be coming back...[i]if[/i] he came back at all. He worked nights after all, but then again, he hadn't slept since Granny's this morning...

Reaching a gloved hand over to a particularly small cobblestone, Knox pulled it up and plucked the spare key hidden underneath. Not a spare key anymore, not if someone was using either, not really. Rubbing some dirt off of it, in the darkness, he stared down at the grimy mini rubber chicken attached to the key ring.

“…”

More than his surprise at his sense of sight, getting better at seeing through into the darkness (though, admittedly, the eye sensitivity happened to also become a problem during the day), he was surprised that he’d finally have to put this set of spare keys to use again. Taking step after step up onto his porch, the wood creaking under him, Knox unlocked the front door and stepped inside.

Almost immediately falling into routine mode, he kicked off his shoes and popped the top buttons of his uniform shirt open, going to the kitchen then the fridge…the security guard stopped short of grabbing his bottle of beer, when…grabbing hold of two bottle necks with one hand, Knox slowly turned to look at Ruby suspiciously, “What…tell me, what happened?”

Ruby stood there in the kitchen feeling even more awkward about being there than when she had first arrived at his house, alone. She fidgeted with her nails a bit, trying to hold his gaze but didn't find it to be all that easy. it didn't help matters either that he had automatically assumed that something was up.

"Nothing!" She said honestly, shifting her weight to her opposite hip, realizing she was picking at her nails and then shoved her hands into her jeans pockets. "Well, I mean I went to Granny's to get a few things of mine, and uh, I took a shower here - oh God, was I not supposed to do that? I could shower someplace else -"

There was something off about her; it couldn’t just be her off choice of clothing, could it? It did indicate that she returned to her home at some point to pick up a change of clothing. With a bottle now in each hand, using the cap of one bottle against the other bottle, Knox popped both the tops off and caught them in his hand. Then, he offered Ruby one of the cold beers, though the look on his face said that he definitely needed a brief report of what she did since he had left her alone.

Ruby took the beer from him, but didn't seem all that interested in it. Her hangover was still nagging at her at the back of her head, and she didn't think that alcohol for her would be the best choice since her drunken actions were...unpredictable. She set the bottle of beer down on the table, looking away from him with a deep blush on her cheeks. God what he must think of her...pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.

Seeing Ruby become uncomfortable under his questioning and gaze, Knox rubbed the back of his neck, setting his own bottle on the counter before getting back to the fridge, “I don’t mean to unsettle you with an interrogative tone…just…I admit, your change in outfit threw me for a bit.” Trying to reassure as honestly as he could, he hefted two bags from fridge…hesitating momentarily before pulling the zucchini, then another kind of squash from the first bag. The man didn’t look happy about these, but Knox did make a small ‘happy’ sound as he pulled out two plastic wrapped raw and seasoned steaks from the other bag.

"I um...I didn't have a whole lot of clean clothes at home." Ruby lied, unsure if the change in clothes was what he wanted...or not.

Not a fan of the whole squash garden fruit-vegetable series, but the health benefits were superb…Knox wasn’t allowed to just let that go. A single cough, “Can you help me and prepare the vegetables?”

Ruby stood there, dumbly, trying to register his words and put the missing pieces together as if she had [i]just[/i] realized that he had been pulling food out of the fridge.

"Uh, oh yeah! Sure!" She exclaimed happily and rushed over to him, finding a knife in a holder that had been on the counter. She quickly ran the knife under some hot water, a quick clean, and then began to wash the vegetables in the sink.

"I um...I wanted to thank you again...for uh, helping me out." Ruby said into the silence, not sure if it was the silence that was bothering her or the way that he seemed to not really...notice her the way other guys did. "I'll um, do the dishes, and clean, like I promised before..." She glanced over at Knox. "But...you gotta give me permission to touch stuff first." She added on as a bit of a tease, a pathetic effort to lighten the mood and clear the air.

Raising a brow at the girl’s teasing as he got out the grilling pan, Know nudged her gently as not to jostle her as she cut the vegetables, and then leaned in when he was sure Ruby wasn’t going to chop off a finger, “You’re free to [i]touch anything[/i] you want,” Moving back, he set the pan on the stove and set the heat High, for now. Paying attention to the stove carefully, he finished what he was saying offhandedly, “So long as you swear not to break a thing, intentionally or no.”

"I break it, I buy it?" Ruby asked with a white smile having to crane her neck to look up at him. She finished chopping up the freshly washed vegetables and took the initiative to go to the fridge to find some butter and put a couple scoops into the frying pan, waiting until the butter had melted into it before adding the vegetables. Okay, this was getting easier. Not much...but a little. "You work tonight?" She asked, remembering that he did have the previous night off, and wondered if that was all he got.

“You break it, you buy it? No, no…you break it, and I won’t be trusting you again.” Despite how it was phrased, his tone was lighter than normal. Taking it easy with the pan, Knox greased and lowered the heat, flicking his eyes over at Ruby’s own work. Sure, her cuts of the vegetable weren’t the neatest, as was plainly evident…but somehow, her cooking looked more appetizing then when he usually prepared…somehow.
 
Getting the steaks on the hot pan, “I’ve taken the rest of the night off, which isn’t much. I’ll be returning to the hospital early enough in the morning, anyhow.” With the short answer, he fell silent in thought. The raw steaks sizzled pleasantly, the smell were a treat to the nose, “How cooked would you want yours?”

Ruby looked from her sizzling vegetables in her pan to the steaks cooking over by Knox, an audible growl coming from her stomach. Oh God, steak! When was the last time she had a steak?

"I like it pink, but not bloody." She answered it truthfully. She enjoyed the added flavor of rare cooked meat; for as long as she could remember. She remembered once getting upset with Granny because Granny didn't want Ruby making 'special' orders for her hamburgers, wanting them a little more raw than not. The memory made her laugh out, just a bit, but she quickly covered up her smile and added salt and pepper to the vegetables. 
She didn't know what she was doing; not really. Granny and the cooks in the diner had always done the cooking, she had just been the waitress, but she felt that she had watched them cook enough to get a brief idea of what needed to be done.

"Tomorrow morning, you'll be coming with me to the hospital."

Ruby shot Knox a sideways look, her brown eyebrows raised in question.

"Look, I got your unspoken message, I don't really think I need to go and see your dad again." Ruby replied, of course assuming that she already knew what this was about. "I'll...I don't know what I'll do but before I leave to Boston I'll...talk...to her at least...maybe say goodbye..."

Taking a plate and setting it down on the counter beside the stove, quite loudly, a medium cook steak was dropped onto the plate rather unceremoniously, “And how, exactly, do you plan to pay for your trip to Boston? Your stay in Boston, till you find a job?” Saying this rather pointedly, Knox gave Ruby a sharp look as he continued to cook his own steak, “I’m setting you up with a temporary job at the hospital’s cafeteria.”

"I-oh..." Ruby brought in her lower lip, wishing that was all she had to do to suck her words back, wishing she had never said them. Again, he was helping her...far more than she ever thought he would. So it wasn't about his father, it was helping her to leave for Boston, like she wanted.

Ruby sighed, taking the vegetables off the burner and separated them evenly between their two dinner plates before taking the pan to the sink and ran hot water over it. She would rather it be cleaned up now while it was still hot rather than letting it sit on the counter while they ate. She might not have known how to cook, but dishes, dishes she did often.

"Why...are you helping me?" Ruby asked, keeping her eyes on the pan. The conversation he had, explicitly stated that he would be her friend (though she knew it to be more of an acquaintance) and nothing more than just the guy she brought cheese fries to everyday.

Knox set his well done steak onto his plate, “’I don't really think I need to go and see your dad again’, wasn’t it? It’s been a long time since I could even consider the idea of leaving this town, especially now, since he’s…” It had been a long time since Knox had accepted the fact he could never just leave, even if his father didn’t want him to stay, even if he couldn’t do anything for the old man. “Everyone should have the right to make their own choices, to make their own mistakes…”
 
Taking his bottle of beer, he downed it in one go, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and turning the stove off with the other, “You should leave this town while you still can, Ruby.”

"I tried once." Ruby said trying not to stare at Knox when he downed the whole beer. "I got to the boundary line when I got a phone call..." Her voice lowered almost in a whisper, looking back down at her soapy hands in the sink. "...she had a heart-attack."

Knox leaned very slightly against the counter, having a hard time finally looking at Ruby again, his eyes sympathetic, “I’m sorry that you both went through that.” Lowering his gaze again, he caught sight of her near untouched beer…in a rare act fueled purely by impulse, Knox took it and downed it quicker than the last, “And even so, you still want to just go?”

Ruby turned from the sink, wiping her soapy hands on the towel before resting her palms on the counter behind her.

"Yes?" She asked, more questioning herself. When he put it that way..."No...?" She sighed and threw her hands up in the air with a quiet, "I don't know..."

Pausing for a moment, almost stuck on what to say, “If you leave, I’ll take care of your grandmother for you.” What was another person to take care of, to watch over…? Equal parts honest, bitter, and tired...

"I-" Her words caught in her throat again, now unable to look away from Knox, contradictory to not being able to look at him just moments ago. "Look I don't know what I want right now, I quit because I was angry. She's trying to make me like her and I'm...I'm not ready for that!" And there it was, the truth, something even Ruby didn't know until the words tumbled from her mouth. She looked surprised and clamped a hand over her mouth, repeating the words she had just said over in her head. She was scared, scared of what her future held, scared of having to take over Granny's position if something...if something were to happen...

Blinking in surprise, clarity of the situation… “And truth of the matter has come to light now, I see.” This was an odd situation, Ruby was afraid of becoming like her grandmother. In actuality, Knox was sure that they had very similar personalities; they were both quite stubborn if the fight was anything to go by. Neither yielding to the other, like two stags tangling horns.

Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes at the mere thought, and she quickly turned back around to look at the sink, nearly feeling like she just might hurl into it.

With Ruby in tears and turning away to the sink, Knox had the obvious choices. Of course, he didn’t have time to list and think on them, and instead, he clasped Ruby’s hand in his. Pulling her close, slowly reaching his free hand up, he rubbed circles carefully into her back, “Shhh…Ruby, Ruby…”
This situation…just…it was getting harder and harder to deal with. Only managing to murmur the girl’s name back at her, he couldn’t help but be struck by how exactly he ended up here, and how worried he felt now. It seems like all Knox could do was meet new people, then worry about them and their problems, “No need to cry. Everyone is okay, everything is okay…”

Ruby felt herself being turned and with her mind clouded with everything and nothing at the same time (as well as her eyes being blinded by the un-shed tears) Ruby had little choice but to hold onto what was feeling like an embrace of comfort and let her head rest on his chest, Knox being too tall for it to fall on his shoulder.

She nodded blindly at his comforts, holding onto the only thing that felt solid anymore, the only thing that felt real and right. Him. Before she could make a fool out of herself though, Ruby found the willpower to pull away from him and quickly wipe away the one tear that slipped down her cheek.
"I um...didn't have much of a chance to look around. Is there a particular room you want me to sleep in? The couch is fine, really...I'm just...really tired right now."

Knox stared at Ruby’s eyes long and hard…before crossing, uncrossing, and crossing his arms again in a rather peeved manner. His mouth was set in a firm line, “What are you—running from your own feelings, even?”

Ruby felt her jaw drop. What? Where had he come up with that? Sure he was right if she really wanted to give him that credit, but actually calling her out on it...? The tears immediately left her eyes and she felt a sort of fire ignite in her chest, burning down the short fuse that had grown only shorter throughout the day.

"I'm not running from anything!" She practically shouted back, her pride obviously hurt from being called out on. "It's just...been a long day, and I didn't get much sleep last night." She explained. Well, at least that last part was true, but given her...reputation, she knew immediately that was exactly the wrong thing to say.

"I meant...I'm just...just...just stop caring about me okay? You're making this [i]really[/i] difficult!"

There was an angry noise that came from his mouth, and with it, Knox stood over her in an instant. Hand out tilting the girl’s chin up and forcing a rather angry, deep kiss upon her, he growled into her lips one final word, “Fine.” With this, Knox turned and left the kitchen, then the house entirely—the door slamming loudly behind him.

Ruby didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She watched Knox storm out of the room, and then hearing the front door slam shut, the sound seeming to jostle what she was really feeling aside from what she thought she was feeling. She swallowed hard, refusing to touch her fingers to her lips where she could still feel his kiss lingering. It was different than kissing any other guy in Storybrooke, she just didn't know how. She shook her head and took it upon herself to put away the untouched food into plastic containers. 

She only spent a short amount of time cleaning up the kitchen before grabbing a red knit scarf from her packed bag and a matching red knit beret. She needed air. A lot of it. She adjusted the beret and then went out the back door, not wanting to risk bumping into Knox on her way out and headed to the Toll Bridge where she would just sit and think. Not just about him, but what was becoming of her, what she really wanted to do with her life, and how she was going to fix things with Granny.