tw: mention of doing drugs and a bit of blood
rain pattered on your window, the noise echoing through your empty house. you were the only one home as your parents were away on a business trip, so you'd decided to spend the evening watching a horror movie. you clutched the popcorn close to your chest as you watched attentively. just as the character was opening the door to the room with the killer, someone pounded on your door. you jumped enough that popcorn had fallen all over your shirt. you sweeped the kernels off before pausing the movie and getting up with an annoyed sigh.
you looked through the peephole before unlocking and opening the door, revealing a soaked rue with blood running down her hands and knees and a small cut on her cheek.
"rue, what're you doing here? it's like 2 in the morning," you asked
"i, uh, fell off my bike," she said.
you urged them into the house, closing the door behind them. you walked further into the house but soon realized rue was still standing awkwardly by the door, her clothes dripping onto your doormat.
"you coming?" you said.
"i don't wanna get your floor wet," they said.
"okay, well, you can just take your clothes off there. the bathrooms down the hall on the left. you can shower here. i'll lend you some dry clothes and put yours in the dryer," you offered.
"i don't wanna be a burden. i just need some bandaids," she said, referring to her hands and knees.
"don't be ridiculous," you said, urging them in.
you entered your room, closing the door to give rue some sort of privacy as she undressed and walked to the bathroom. when you'd heard her footsteps past your room and a door shut, you came out with folded clothes and a towel. you knocked on the door and she opened it a little, enough to exchange the wet and dry clothes. you then walked away and threw the soaking clothes in the dryer. you took your seat on the couch again, but this time put on some sitcom as you knew you wouldn't finish your movie tonight. about 15 minutes later, rue re-emerged in your clothes, your heart jumping to your throat from the sight. you noticed her cuts now, still bleeding slightly. you went back into the bathroom and got band-aids, rue had already followed you in.
"sit," you said, patting the counter.
"i can do it myself, y'know?" they said, jumping on.
"i've got it," you assured, crouching down so you were eye-level with their knees.
"rue, can i ask you something?" you asked as you patched her up.
"sure," she answered, looking down at you.
"are you high?" you asked, almost scared of the answer.
"nah, i make a rule not to ride my bike when i'm high," she answered nonchalantly.
"so," you laughed, now looking up to make eye contact with rue, "you have a rule not to ride your bike while high, but no rule against riding it in the pouring rain?"
"hey! i can't think of everything, alright?" she joked, throwing her hands up in surrender.
"okay, okay," you giggled, moving onto their hands.
soon, you'd put a band-aid on the cuts everywhere but her cheek. you stood straight now, eye level with rue.
"you know, i really appreciate this. thank you," rue said as you rummaged through the first aid kit.
"no problem," you said, offering them a smile which they returned.
you pulled out a smaller band-aid and rue watched you attentively. as you placed it onto the cut, you could feel rue's light breathing on you, making your heart thump harder than before. when you looked back up, you were inches away from her face, your hand still on her cheek as you rubbed the band-aid to make sure it had adhered properly. you hadn't noticed just how close you'd gotten to her until that moment.
rue's eyes met yours and when they glanced down at your lips, your breathing hitched. she noticed, and without a second's hesitation put her hand on the back of your head and pulled you closer, closing the gap. the kiss was gentle and slow, not needy but it still carried emotion. when you pulled away, rue's face was slightly flushed. she offered you a small smile before giving you a shorter kiss and hopping off the counter.
you'd offered to let rue spend the night, and they happily took you up on it. you spent the rest of the night on the couch, cuddling and watching tv before you'd ultimately fallen asleep in each other's arms.
