𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬

SIXTEEN.

Ben and Ruby had gone to Ben's room for some privacy to talk and, sitting on his bed, Ruby had no clue where to start. Ben wasn't going to push her in any direction, he just wanted Ruby to talk to him, vent to him about what was bothering her. But Ruby was not used to this and she had no clue where to start or what she even wanted to say. She'd agreed to talk, and she still stood by that decision because some gut feeling told her she needed to, but this was way out of her wheelhouse.

Luckily for her, Ben had somehow learned to figure her out well enough to know she needed some words of encouragement. He pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and cupped her cheek.

"Hey, you can tell me anything, okay? I'm not going anywhere." The pad of his thumb brushed her cheek as she looked up and met his eyes, "Even if it's something I don't like hearing."

Ruby breathed a chuckle and shook her head, "How do you do that?" She muttered, more to herself than to Ben. Ben smiled cluelessly,

"Do what?"

Ruby looked back up and met eyes and she was surprised to find that he was genuinely clueless about what she meant. Ruby figured Ben would know this about himself, but apparently, she was wrong. She searched his face, but he truly didn't seem to know what he was doing.

"This," She put her hand over his, where it was still cupping her cheek, "Be so kind and accepting no matter how messed up you find out I am. How are you this amazing?" It was Ben's turn to look down, but Ruby caught the shy smile and small blush that coated his cheeks. Ruby didn't want him to look away at such a compliment and reached her hand to lift his chin. "You are. You know that right?"

Ben smile widened a little, "Thank you." He was still a bit bashful and it was a side of him that Ruby wasn't quite used to. She always considered Ben to be a secure person, but as it turned out, everyone needed to hear such a compliment sometimes. Ruby was quite proud of herself for realizing this, since she knew for a fact that she would not have picked up on this a few months ago. She had Ben to thank for her new perceptiveness, she knew. She realized Ben had unknowingly taught her a lot in such a short time, and she didn't think it was a bad thing.

She blew out a soft breath and tore her eyes away from those compassionate hazel green eyes that she admittedly loved getting lost in. She knew she'd drifted off-topic with her comment and Ben was both too kind and currently too bashful to force her back on it. She knew it was up to her to breach this topic, and she had decided back of the practice field that it was something she had to do. And the Ruby Princess never backed away from a challenge, even if this wasn't the kind she usually faced.

Ben noticed her shift in attitude and his smile faded away, a look that reassured Ruby it was okay took its place.

"I'm not sure what to say. I'm not even sure what it was that made me so-so... upset, I guess. It's pretty stupid, really."

Ben wrapped an arm around her shoulders, rubbing her arm as Ruby rested her head on his shoulder. "Your feelings aren't stupid."

"They kinda are, though. I don't like feeling this way."

Ben couldn't help but smile and kissed the top of her head, "No one likes feeling upset, but you're justified to be upset and that's not stupid."

"You sound like a shrink," Ruby deadpanned. Ben laughed softly.

"Sorry," He apologized, "But I'm serious. It's not stupid that seeing your mother upset you. She's hurt you, and you don't have to be okay with that."

Ruby stayed silent for a moment as she thought over Ben's words. No one had ever told her that feeling this way was okay. Mostly, because she never really talked about it to anyone. She'd never had someone validate how she was feeling, and it was almost as if a weight had been lifted off her chest to hear someone say that she was justified in feeling the way she did.