𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬

TWELVE.

Ben had driven Ruby toward the edge of the forest and parked the bike, letting her get off before doing the same himself. He gestured to the woods and gave the redhead an expectant look, which Ruby answered with a flat, unimpressed one. 

"So, what do you think?" Ben grinned. Ruby raised an eyebrow at the smiling boy.

"I'm wondering what part about me gave you the impression that the woods are the place to take me for a date." Ruby smiled sarcastically. Ben chuckled, not at all offended because he didn't expect any other reaction from the girl.

"Come on. We're not there yet." Ben held out a hand for her to take and Ruby looked at it with narrowed eyes.

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"I don't like surprises," Ruby muttered. Nevertheless, she took Ben's hand and let him lead her into the woods. Ben grinned at her.

"Trust me. You'll like this one."

"And what if I don't?" Ruby challenged. Ben gained a thoughtful expression and then looked her way.

"If you don't like it, and I mean honestly don't like it, then I'll let you give me a lesson in knife-throwing," Ben proposed. Ruby started grinning widely. She had offered to teach Ben multiple times before, but Ben always said no, not being too fond of the whole idea of knife-throwing. He was okay with Ruby doing it—or at least he didn't try to stop her—but he didn't want anything to do with it himself, not liking the idea of throwing knives at anything.

"Really?" Ruby asked. Ben nodded, a bit reluctantly. "Alright deal."

"But only if you don't like it. But you will, so..." Ben said a bit smugly. Ruby just smirked.

"Whatever you say, Beastie."

The couple continued walking through the woods for a few minutes, talking about idle little things. Well, mostly Ben because small talk was still far from a quality that Ruby possessed. Especially when that small talk couldn't involve violence or 'bad' things. So, Ruby opted to listen to Ben talk, something she found herself enjoying more than she knew she should. For some reason, listening to Ben talking or telling a story was comforting to Ruby. She could listen to Ben talk for hours and she wouldn't actually mind.

During their walk, Ben had tripped over roots multiple times when he wasn't paying attention, while Ruby didn't even have to look to keep her balance. She could run through uneven cobblestone alleys in her heels, slowly walking through the woods in them was nothing. When Ben tripped for the fourth time during their walk, Ruby couldn't help but bark a laugh as she caught the back of his shirt before he fell down.

"Thanks." Ben looked down at her when he stood on his own again and shook his head. "How have you not fallen once in those heels, while I have nearly face-planted the ground four times now?"

"Maybe you just have poor balance," Ruby smirked, passing Ben to keep walking. They reached a narrow bridge and Ruby started walking across it, Ben following behind.

"You'd almost think so." He chuckled. He grabbed onto Ruby's hand and linked them together as he walked behind her on the narrow bridge. Ruby glanced back, only to see Ben smile, looking somewhat innocent. A tiny smile tugged at her own lips and she turned back to face the front without saying anything before Ben could notice the slight upturn of her lips.

Once the two left the bridge, Ben pulled Ruby to a halt. Ruby shot him a questioning glance, but before she could open her mouth, Ben had put his hands in front of her eyes.

"And what do you think you're doing?" Ruby asked, her tone letting Ben know that she was getting annoyed.

"We're almost there," Ben said, unaffected by her annoyance.