Fighting Butterflies (BoyxBoy)

Twenty Eight

Ruxie's heart dropped as they watched their friend coming toward them slowly, as if moving her legs was a hassle. They could almost feel Nora's shock as the girl neared them. Ruxie never thought they'd be put in this situation, not even when they'd found out about Ryan and Drew that night.

It seemed all their worry since that night was finally rearing its ugly head. Not once had they imagined that Ryan's secret would somehow come out in the open like this. They'd assumed and even imagined Ryan telling Nora the truth himself. Ruxie was sure that there would be some animosity after the truth was revealed, they just didn't know by how much or how far that animosity would go.

Ruxie was now even more scared for what was to come as they watched on anxiously as the black haired girl made her way slowly to them until she reached the table.

"Ru..." Nora whispered, on the verge of tears. "Wha- what is going on?"

"Nora," Ruxie said slowly as they stood up, reaching out for Nora's hand.

"Drew... and Ryan... they just passed me," Nora whispered again, her hands holding onto Ruxie's tightly as if they were an anchor and withdrawing from them would make her fall.

"I know... I saw," they answered, glancing toward the gates of the cafeteria.

"Why- tell me why Drew had his arms on Ryan's shoulders... why they walked away like they know each other!" Nora demanded, her voice suddenly becoming stronger. "I thought Ryan hated him!"

"I know," Ruxie stated calmly despite the urge to throw their hands up in frustration. These were her friends, and they couldn't let some guy from nowhere break them apart. Ruxie wanted to reveal everything they knew, but they were painfully aware that by doing so, they'd pick a side and that was not what they wanted. They wanted Ryan and Nora to solve this issue on their own, and hopefully, they'd all remain friends.

Ruxie was aware of how difficult a situation this was. Being the only friend between Ryan and Nora was not an easy feat, let alone with the two of them liking the same guy. Ruxie had never wanted to keep it a secret, but they couldn't also tell Nora about it behind Ryan's back. The only reason Ruxie didn't push for Ryan to come out with it as much was because of how soon his "relationship" with Drew ended after they found out. Despite it, they wished they'd done more. Because Nora wouldn't be standing in front of them with tears in her eyes and on the verge of crying if they'd done more.

Ruxie bit their lip and breathed out as frustration set in. "Come with me," they told Nora, letting go of one of her hands and pulling her along with the other.

"What? Just tell me what's going on, please Ru. I can't- I don't know-" Nora's voice cracked.

Ruxie shook their head. "If you really want to know what's going on, you'd come with me."

"But to where? Why can't you just tell me now?"

"Just trust me on this, okay?"

Nora nodded, feeling even more frustrated than before, but wanting nothing more than to figure out just why her best friend and boyfriend who didn't know each other at all looked like they were even more than friends.

It seemed like a bad idea at first when Ruxie made the decision to find Cain. But there was no one else they knew who cared enough about Ryan to save him from whatever bad decision Drew was probably talking him into. Knowing their friend, Ruxie could only imagine that the popular senior was getting him to agree to do something that would ruin his friendship with Nora, if not more than he already had. And though Ruxie didn't know enough about Cain's relationship with Ryan, they did know that Cain was not someone to mess with. So it wasn't a shock when they made a beeline toward the senior who was sitting on a bleacher next to the football field. And he was by himself as usual, but Ruxie was thankful for that added fact.