Ruby Sutherland Doesn't Break

Chapter Two

~~~

JEREMY'S CAR WAS still in the driveway of her house—her childhood home that she had taken over the rent of after her folks retired and moved to a cheaper place in town—even though she had told him to leave. She glanced around the street, making sure it was empty. She didn't want to make any of her neighbours accessories or witnesses to the aftermath of her last hetero breakup. Especially not Claire and Delilah, though she was pretty sure they'd just become full accomplices instead.
As she slowly pulled her ATV into the driveway and opened the garage, Tess growled at the Subaru as if it was an animal she could spook. She wanted the fucking vehicle and the man who drove it out of her life, now. So she parked her ATV next to her dad's old ford maverick and quickly made her way inside.
It took her a mere moment to find Jeremy. The man was sitting in her living room, watching a movie on her TV. She had planned to surprise him and immediately kick him out, but instead he turned to glance her way as soon as she was in the living room.
"Welcome back. Do you think you could grab a couple of beers from the fridge, Babydoll?"
Tess clutched her fists to keep herself from doing something stupid. She hated that pet name. There was not a measurement big enough to express how much it made her want to break her hand on his face and then rip out his throat with her teeth. But she kept her cool and walked over to look down at him on her couch.
"No, Jer. I don't think I will grab those beers for you."
"Jesus, don't go all Women's Lib on me. I wasn't trying to imply anything by it. I just thought we could both have a beer and watch a movie together and you were already hovering closer to the kitchen than I was. I can get them myself."
He was speaking to her like she was jumping to conclusions, trying to make her think she was looking for an excuse to pick a fight. But she felt it was pretty clear what was actually going on considering the reason she had gone out into the woods was because she had already told him to leave and that they were breaking up before he laughed at her coming out and acted like he, an allo Cis Het white guy from Portland, knew more about her own sexuality than she did. She had warned him to leave before she got back and he hadn't listened. So instead of doing what he asked, she stood there. And when he rose with a huff to do it himself, she shoved him towards the front door.
"Fuck! Hey, watch it!"
He looked at her, incredulous, but she just pointed at the door.
"I told you to leave already."
"Serious, Babydoll? All this because I simply asked for you to get two beers?"
That caused her to roll her eyes. Because of course that's what he would say. Like the conversation before she had left couldn't possibly hold any weight. Like she was just a dumb girlfriend throwing a ridiculous fit and not literally throwing him out after breaking up with him. It was Wesley all over again. When the man doesn't get what he wanted the misogyny comes out, apparently. And when it's a break up, it's up to the man to decide if it's real or just an overreaction by a woman. But then, she wasn't a woman. She was NonBinary. Sure, she was femme presenting, but that wasn't the same thing. Besides, why would that really matter? She had a whole coven of women across the street that wouldn't blink before destroying his misogyny. She didn't owe him the knowledge that his messed up views on women didn't really apply to her, because they shouldn't have applied to anyone. So instead she just sighed and glared at him with an are you really this dumb look on her face.
"Don't even pretend like that's what this is about. I already told you that we're breaking up today."
Jeremy shook his head and chuckled, like she was being adorably naive.
"What? You mean your stupid little fucking joke? Come on, there's no way you expected me to take it seriously."
The way he laughed at her. The way he sneered at the very thought. The condescending patronising lilt to his smug confidence. It was all just fuel for her now. She had tried before to do this gently, and just now she had still been holding back, but not anymore. It was time to just set the whole thing on fire.
"And why not, oh wise one who knows everything? Please dispense your wisdom on us mortals. Why the fuck wouldn't you believe me when I told you I was a lesbian?"
"You mean besides the city census of guys you've been with in this town? And I'm talking people you've fucked not just dated. How about your skills in bed being perfect? How about the fact you're so eager for it you go down on me at the slightest suggestion? And there's the fact I'm sure your neighbours have heard you scream when you come."
Of course, he would choose those options. As though there was nothing called a closet. As though she didn't have a copy of Evelyn Hugo that she had seen him looking at before learning that it was about queer women in Hollywood. Like a body count invalidated anything instead of just showed the lengths she'd gone to in order to hide. And it was awfully convenient for him to have left out the one key detail about their sex life: the speed and brevity of it when performed by someone who sought to master it simply to prevent the men from taking a second longer.
"Oh right! Because it couldn't possibly be that I know you're all basically one and done so the sooner I can get you off the sooner it's over, or that you've literally never fucked me sober because I don't want to think about what I was doing to look normal."
Tess wasn't proud of herself for what she had done, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to own the fact that she had been clever enough and strong enough to see such nightmares through. And now that she was finally coming out, she looked forward to never forcing herself to forget about having sex again. She'd revel in the memories of being with women. But first she was dealing with Jeremy Graham, who was still grasping for any proof his entitled dick could claim.
"I still made you scream, and I know for a fact that I'm not the only one."
She wanted to laugh at him. Because, Seriously? He was going with that?! Jeremy Graham, whose only saving grace was the fact he enjoyed old movies like she and Ruby always had, was leaning on that argument? She did laugh at him.
"Yeah, it's not like the diner scene in When Harry Met Sally is famous for being about faking a wild orgasm. Sure, no I'm not capable of doing something even remotely like that when you can barely see straight or realise that you had come a minute before I pretended you entered me and I literally faked the entire penetration while you were plastered."
His face went scarlet with anger and he tried to shove her back into the living room.
"Oh fuck you!"
It was like he forgot that while she was still someone who enjoyed dresses and makeup and even heels, she ran a hardware store and could build a house with furnishings all by herself. But then he saw her as just a girl. So while his shove forced her a step, her retaliation sent him sprawling. She moved quickly and opened the door for him as he got to his feet.
"Get out of my house!"
Jeremy glared at her for a good minute before he shook his head. Then a sneer crept back onto his face.
"Not a chance, because we both know you'll come chasing after me eager to prove that it was all a fucking lie. So I might as well just make it easier for you, Tess the Mess."
She did not break his neck on her door jam. She knew that she didn't, even as she could swear she felt the satisfying crackle it would make if she had. Instead she closed the door, pushed passed him, and went back out into the garage to open the garage door. As soon as it was fully open, she went to her ATV. Jeremy then popped up in the door to the interior from the garage, arms folded casually and a smirk on his lips.
"Take all the time you need to cool off, Babydoll. I'll be here for your apology when you get back."
She ignored him. She should have never trusted that her high school nickname would die. Even though he hadn't gone to school with her, he still had discovered it. Probably during the early days when they'd go to Stella's. It wasn't as if she had ever had a good breakup in her life before, so any of her exes could have decided to inform Jeremy after seeing them together. Though of course it wouldn't have been Steven. If it had been Steven, then why the fuck would Jeremy ever have doubted she was queer? It didn't matter anyway. If she was a mess, then she'd give him a fucking mess to deal with.
She unstrapped the keepsake she had taken when she'd felled her tree—a foot and a half portion of scarred tree trunk she had taken to turn into...something—and made sure to get a good hold of it before lifting it off the back grid.
"What the fuck is that?"
Jeremy sounded amused, but she knew it wouldn't last much longer. So she continued to ignore him. Instead she widened her stance and adjusted how she held the bit of log so it was like she was going to eventually lift it to set on a high shelf. And then, she turned and walked out of the open garage door.
"Babydoll, what are you doing?"
Exasperation and confused curiosity tinged Jeremy's voice. She heard him slip into the garage so he could watch her move, but she didn't go far. After about three steps, she lifted the log above her head.
"Tess?! Fucking shit!!! What the fucking hell are you doing?!"
She brought her arms down in an arc, letting go of the log as soon as the momentum and trajectory would send it crashing down with devastating force. Right into the front hood of Jeremy's Subaru. It didn't even touch the windshield but the glass shattered anyway. Then Jeremy was by the car, staring wide-eyed from it to her in panicked shock. He guppied for a moment, rage or fear or disbelief preventing him from getting his words out. It was the moment she needed. He was finally going to shut up and listen.
"When someone tells you they're breaking up with you, or they're a lesbian, or any other form of queer... do yourself a favour and just believe and accept it. Because this..."
Tess motioned at where the log had sunk into the warped metal.
"Was the least violent option I thought of."
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!"
He sounded angry, but he had sagged to the ground in front of his car. She just shrugged.
"I kept telling you to leave, you didn't."
She went back into the garage and closed the door, careful to noticeably grab her hatchet from the ATV just in case Jeremy decided to be an even bigger moronic asshole. Once it was closed, she rushed inside and locked her exterior doors. Then she called Billy at the local car garage to have him tow Jeremy away and repair the damage. She had wanted to make a point, not commit a crime. He'd need that fucking car if he was going to ever go back to his apartment in Portland. Plus Billy would automatically make sure she got the log back.
    Once that was done, she turned on the radio and cranked the music. She had to get into the right mood. It was her first night going out as herself. She needed to get ready to finally—finally—have some real fun.

~~~

STELLA'S WAS ALREADY busy when Tess arrived at 9:30pm. It wasn't just the typical nighttime crowd either. There were quite a few people her own age or somewhat younger dispersed in clumps throughout the bar. It was the first sign that the college crowd had started coming home for the summer. She even recognised a few of her old school mates, mostly those who had periodically returned from college during breaks. Others, she could only place because of who they hovered around. Several of the more popular men were the exes that she never saw after they broke up. Sadly, she doesn't see any of the Bright Falls Coven. She kinda wanted to show off her new look and everything it meant. But she wouldn't get the chance tonight. Also no Susan Willows. One of Ruby's exes who had always been vocally on Tess's side on the whole Tess the Mess thing—if a little repressed and cold in the delivery. For some reason, Susan was the only person from high school that Tess actually liked to bump into from time to time. She didn't have any friends in high school outside the guys who were now her exes, so even though Susan was someone Tess had been completely jealous of at first, they now had the closest thing to a friendship that Tess had ever had aside from the bond she once had with Ruby. She really could have used Susan as a coming out buddy tonight. But this would have to do.
As she walked up to sit by herself at the bar, Tess could feel eyes drift over her. Had it been any of the previous nights she had come, they would have easily recognised her. Hell, even if they had spotted her earlier that day, she would have heard the cat calls of her hated moniker. But that had been super closeted Tess. Tonight was her coming out party, and she dared them to recognise her now.
She had on a pair of comfortable loafers that fit like a glove, a slim pair of palazzo trousers that both made her legs look long and yet trimmed down her feminine figure, an off the shoulder oversized tank top that both showed off her cleavage and straightened the lines of her torso, and a denim jacket she had spent an hour personalising with hopefully subtle nods to her sapphic and NonBinary status. It was nothing like she'd have worn outside of her work coveralls, but if that had been all, she would have been spotted right away.
She was still nervous that she had gone too far. She was known for her long tangling waves of almost indigo-black hair. Now it was a dark crimson with tabby orange streaks. Moreover, it was short. Barely to her shoulders in the back and messy as all hell, a cross between a mop of sex hair and the sort of style she had seen in Instagram pictures and clips of k-pop boy bands. A typical boy's hairstyle with a twist that suited her more than she would have imagined.
She took a deep breath and dared to glance around the entire space. She felt people look her way too. To her joy, most of the men moved on like she wasn't anything special or not for them and yet most of the women's glances lingered in a way she could only guess she understood. They were checking her out. Checking them out. Tess was sure of it. They recognised that the person they were drinking in with their eyes was some form of NonBinary. And a few took a bit longer to look away. Tess felt seen, even by the indifference of the men.