Ruby X Reader

But You Are Not Alone

"So you asked to transfer somewhere else and asked to not be placed on a new team?" Without looking at me (Y/N) nods his head. He's still shaking. Wait (Y/N) said that he can feel the pain of those he links with and that was his old team so he probably linked with them so that they could work in sync. Oh. Oh Oum, no.

"Don't tell me you were linked with them when they-" I stop when he nods his head. I don't know what to say to comfort him. How do you comfort someone who not only watched his friends die but felt it too? He lets his head turn forward and I see tears falling down his face. Trying not to cry myself I wrap my arm around him and pull him into a hug. He rests his head on my shoulder and continues to cry. He doesn't sob but I can tell how much this is hurting him. We sit there for a while in this reverse of events that happened just a short time ago. He starts to pull away from and hug and I resist the urge to pull him back in. He puts the necklace around his neck and wipes a couple of tears away.

"S-sorry I d-didn't mean to get s-sappy on you." I shake my head.

"No don't be. Don't ever be."

"B-but that's why I s-said that I tried to not hurt you when w-we linked and why when you linked with m-me earlier you g-got hurt or at l-least felt like you g-got hurt. Y-you were feeling Auburn's pain though from what y-you said you d-didn't f-feel his death." My eyes widen at that statement. "That's also why I d-do some of the things that I d-do.

"What does that mean?"

"S-since the l-links were severed s-so quickly I retained some of my old teammates' h-habits. A-auburn used a whip and t-talked with a st-st-stutter and R-rudi used two p-pistols and really liked to eat steak." Well, that explains some of his behavior. "The only one that I didn't keep their habits was Jay. Ha lucky me." His sarcasm doesn't elude me. He looks down stays quiet.

"So that's why you keep your distance from everyone. You don't want to accidentally hurt them?"

"That and I j-just d-don't want to feel that pain again." He starts to shake again but not nearly as bad as before. "F-for months I felt so hollow and I c-couldn't do anything. N-not that I didn't w-want to. No, I l-literally couldn't do anything. Even n-now I still f-feel their deaths in my nightmares." He looks down at his hands. I put my hand in his and he looks a little shocked.

"I'm not going to pretend that I know how you feel. I've lost my mother so I know that but..." I trail off for a little bit. "But you never should have kept all that to yourself. You should have talked to someone." He smiles sheepishly.

"I j-just didn't want to b-bother anyone." I shake my head.

"No, you wouldn't have bothered anyone with that. At least you wouldn't have bothered anyone with a heart. That's all too much for any one person to bear alone."

"I guess s-so." I make him look at me.

"I know so." He blushes and I realize that I moved to where our faces are inches apart. Quickly I pull away from him. "Okay just from now on when you feel like that again or have one of those nightmares talk to someone alright?" He shrugs his shoulders.

"I d-do not really feel comfortable with anyone to talk about th-that."

"But you told me all this. You could come to me if you want." He thinks a little.

"Okay. If th-that will make you happy." I smile and pull him into another hug.

"It will." He hesitates before hugging me back. I move so that I'm sitting on the bed with him. Now we are just sitting there in a hug. After a few minutes pass, he stops hugging me and I pull away with a questioning look.

"It's g-getting late and we have probably kept your team and the headmaster waiting for a while." No, I don't want to go. He just opened up to me and now he's cutting me off.

"I can stay with you if you want." My heart falls when he shakes his head.

"No, I'm f-fine. Thank y-you though. I think it b-best if we call it quits for the night." Wait he means just for the night?

"So we can talk more later? And you don't want to stop studying together?" He nods his head while talking.

"Yeah, l-later is good. I j-just want to sleep some and b-be alone for a little bit. That's all really." He tries to give me a reassuring smile. With great reluctance, I get off the bed and head to the door. Before I can leave. "Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." Excitedly I run over to him and kiss him on the cheek and then run out the door.

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What the what?!? How does this story have over 1k views? That's awesome! I want to thank you guys and gals for reading this it means a whole lot to me. Just know that I am truly grateful. Anyways I should stop being mushy. Have a great day/evening depending on when/where you are reading this.