off limits ( m.s. )

SEVENTEEN

"goodnight guys, happy fucking festival day to us. see you bright and early."

"night christina." ruby calls, and he flips her off without even turning around.

nick is quick to follow, bidding each of them farewell for the night. it's close to twelve, and she can feel the exhaustion weighing her body down now. busy days never hit her until the very end, when she finally takes a breather.

ruby flops back down next to josephine, who pulls her in for a side cuddle.

"ew, you smell like matt." she comments.

"hey, i smell just fine, thank you very much." he objects, finally pushing himself off of the couch.

he locks eyes with ruby, and it looks like he's about to open his mouth and say something, but he never does. she wonders briefly if he's thinking the same thing that she is.

    "you out for the night?" she asks, and matt nods.

    "yeah, i'll see you two in the morning."

    "sleep well."

    and with that he leaves them on their own. josephine gets comfortable on one end of the sofa, while ruby grabs an extra blanket and takes the other.

"want to watch flapjack with me?" her friend asks quietly, all bundled up like a burrito.

"oh my god, yes."

ruby puts the cartoon on, and within ten minutes of the first episode, jo is asleep. she watches her, mouth open as she snores lightly, and smiles to herself.

what a day.

    matt wakes up at three a.m. in a cold sweat. he almost instinctively reaches over, like he's expecting ruby to be there. she's not, of course, but he wishes that she was.

    he pushes his hair back from his face and sits against the headboard. he must have been having a bad dream or something. matt reaches for his water bottle, which is empty. he sighs and rolls out of bed, padding down the stairs as quietly as possible.

    the apartment is still, but when he rounds the corner to the kitchen, he stops in his tracks. ruby is rummaging around in the pantry, frown etched onto her features.

   she looks so cute in his clothes, and it makes his heart pound. he's never let anyone else wear his things like this, and he didn't expect to like it so much.

    "funny seeing you here." matt finally says, leaned up against the entryway as he watches.

    the girl nearly jumps out of her skin, dropping the bag of potato chips that she had in her hand. they crinkle loudly as they hit the ground.

    "jesus christ, why would you sneak up on me like that?" she mutters, bending down to grab them and put them back in the cabinet.

    "sorry," he lets out a breathy laugh, "just need some water."

    "by all means." she steps out of his way, and he starts to fill his bottle up.

    "what're you still doing awake?"

    ruby shrugs. the circles under her eyes look even more sunken than normal in the dim lighting. "can't sleep. the usual."

    "you could come upstairs with me." he offers, trying way too hard to be casual about it.

    she smiles softly, but to his dismay, shakes her head. "i want to, but i can't. at least not tonight."

"why not?"