All Over Again

| Chapter Fifty-Three |

Emily noticed something was up with an elated Ruth the moment she showed up to class, with a glow shimmering in her brown eyes.

Her dark eyebrows rose, and she made no move to hide the confusion from her eyes. She leaned towards Ruth and trailed her gaze along the pretty dress adorning her body for the relatively decent 73 degrees Oklahoma was experiencing in mid-late January. The honey brown dress clinging to her figure was enough to gather the attention of half the people she walked by, Emily included.

"Hey Em," Ruth greeted, her smile bright. Her friend blinked to herself and then shook her head.

"Ruth, you look . . . wow, you look amazing," Emily complemented, swallowing almost nervously. "What's the occasion?"

Ruth bit her lip. She hadn't told Emily she was back with Raffo just yet, seeing as how it had just happened the previous day, so she wasn't sure how she was going to take it. But she couldn't hide it from someone who had become a close friend to her. Jana and Terry were ecstatic for her, showering her with songs of 'I knew it' and 'I told you so'.

But Emily was different. Ruth had never met another person with their head so fixed on their shoulder before Emily. She was practical and saw things differently than Jana and Terry. Jana and Terry were focused on the love aspect, not necessarily the reality.

Still, she told her anyway.

"Raffo and I . . . we got back together yesterday. And he wanted to show me something after school," Ruth admitted, her chest blossoming with excitement at getting to see him that day and figure out the minor surprise he had for her.

Emily's mouth opened for a second and then closed. Pursed, then flatted. Her eyes would blink a few times as well, like she didn't even think it was something Ruth was going to say. "Okay, hold on—wait. How did that happen? Weren't you guys just broken up like yesterday?"

"Well, I saw him yesterday," she admitted with a shrug. "And we made up at the courts."

A strange look crossed Emily's features that Ruth didn't understand and her body shifted just half an inch back from Ruth. A smile forced its way across Emily's flushed cheeks and she told her how happy she was for her that the two of them made up. Ruth, still not understanding why her reaction was so bewildering, accepted her words with a thank you.

"What are you guys going to do when you move?" Emily questioned after a minute of awkward silence.

"We're gonna try to make it work," Ruth admitted.

"He agreed to that?"

"It was his idea." Ruth took on a more defensive tone as she traced her pen over the cover of her notebook. "I agreed to that because I want to make it work. We love each other and we think we can do it."

"You think, or you know?"

"I know we can. Is that better?"

Emily gave her a look at the snap. "I'm not trying to ruffle your feathers, Ruth. I was just curious if you guys were thinking about this long term. I don't want you to get hurt again if things don't work out with the distance."

As much as it annoyed Ruth, she knew the questioning was coming from a good place. They were questions she would have asked Emily if the situation was reversed. Loving someone that deeply and not knowing if the outcome your friend was hoping for was going to work would stress any good friend out. She wouldn't want to see Emily hurt in the long run, but she also knew if it was what Emily wanted, she would support it. She'd choose her happiness over her fear any day.

"It'll work out. You'll see, Em. Everything will work out just fine," Ruth promised. It was going to. Raffo and Ruth loved each other enough for that.

Emily said nothing more, but nodded stiffly in agreement. They both turned towards the front then and paid attention to the rest of the class.