joe
"It's so weird for me to come to your house." Zoe says as she hugs me. I don't remember the last time Zoe had actually came to see me. She usually just invites me over, and I take the long trip from London to Brighton. She pulls back and sets her umbrella by the front door.
"Well, I didn't want to leave Ruby here by herself." I answer as Alfie comes through the door. He is carrying two gifts bags that scream my sister's name. One of them is a bright blue bag with blue and white tissue paper sticking out the top. The other is a bright pink bag with black and pink tissue paper. Ruby will definitely be thrilled to see the pink bag.
"She'd have Caspar." Alfie says, pointing to the blonde coming up from the lower level of the flat.
"I can't necessarily be trusted to take care of people." Caspar comments, laughing at himself, while Zoe takes the bags from Alfie. She shoves the blue one into my hands.
"I saw you eat one my of products on your channel, even though it specifically says 'do not eat', so I brought you another bar that doesn't have a bite taken out of it." She explains. She smiles brightly like she always does when she surprises me with something.
"I'm pretty sure it would still work the same way, but thank you." I respond. I sit the bag on to the dining table in the only empty space. I've been meaning to clean it up the last few days, especially since Ruby has been here. I know it bothers her because every time she walks past it, she glances at it out of the corner of her eyes, annoyingly.
After a few days ago, Ruby hasn't woken up again. I'm starting to think that I judged her too soon. Maybe it was just nothing, and I completely overstated it. Either way, she's still forgiven me. There was never an actually apology said, but once she got back from looking for a job, she began talking to me, without the pissed off look in her eyes.
As far as I know, Ruby has gone out three consecutive days to different places around London, trying to find somewhere for her to get a job. Caspar and I keep telling her that she is welcome to just chill for awhile, but she's really persistent about getting a job soon.
"I brought Ruby one, too, because I didn't know what she had been able to bring over with her." Zoe says, looking into the bag that is remaining in her hands. "Is she here?"
"No. She's out looking for a job." I answer. I watch as Alfie joins Caspar on the couch while a sports program plays on the large TV. It's still slightly strange to think that at one point, Caspar and Alfie lived together.
"You haven't been accompanying her on her trips out in London?" My sister asks, bewildered. I shake my head quickly, and she groans. "What if she gets lost, or something?"
"She's not going to get lost." I say, laughing at Zoe. Just then, the front door opens revealing Ruby in an old tie-dye shirt and grey leggings. Her trainers are wet as well as her hair.
"It's raining outside." She complains, shaking her hair out of the ponytail it is in. When she looks back up, she finally sees Zoe. "Wow, you're Thatcherjoe's sister." She smiles. While Zoe happily accepts it, I begin laughing. I wish I would've thought to tell Ruby to do that, but she ended up doing it by herself.
"It was not that funny, Joe." Zoe says, but she's trying to hold in her laughter as she talks to Ruby. "Your hair is gorgeous. Is that your natural color?" She says, turning her attention back to Ruby. I watch as the younger girl combs through her black hair with her fingers a few times before answering.
"Um, yeah." She answers, smiling. She looks at me shortly before handing me back my keys. "Another miss." She says.
"You don't have to worry about getting a job, love." Zoe cuts in. My sister smiles at Ruby brightly, who tries to match her enthusiasm. I can tell that Ruby is uncomfortable, but she's trying to not be rude. "Joe and Caspar will take care of you."
"I'm not even sure Joe and Caspar can always take care of themselves." Ruby jokes. Zoe giggles quietly before holding the bright pink bag out to Ruby. She gives me a small look before taking the bag. Zoe begins telling her about why she brought her presents, and I can see that Ruby is not used to socializing with girls like Zoe.
Zoe came in vibrant like she does anytime she goes out of her house. Her hair is curled, and she's wearing a long, new dress. Ruby, on the other hand, is wearing the same clothes she wore yesterday. She hasn't brushed her hair, and she replaced her diamond stud in for a hoop yesterday so she wouldn't have to worry about it as often, since the stud irritates her. She still looks good, though. When I told her that this morning, she flipped me off before laughing.
"Thank you." Ruby smiles at Zoe after she finishes explaining everything in the bag. Zoe seems happy to see Ruby, much happier than Ruby looks to see her. I can't blame Zoe, though. Every other time she has come over to just boys here, and now, she actually can come over and talk about girl things. Though, I'm not exactly sure how Ruby feels about it.
Ruby sits the bag down beside mine on the table, pushing aside her jumper that was thrown over the rest of them. Alfie comes up beside me to introduce himself to her, but she goes completely white when she sees him. She's already very pale for living in LA, but there is almost no color left, except for the small, light brown freckles.
"You're Alfie Deyes." She says, simply. "Oh, my God. You're Alfie Deyes." Does Ruby watch every YouTuber Caspar and I know? Ruby is starstruck by Alfie. I bet she'd be starstruck by the Maynards, too.
"Yeah." Alfie answers, chuckling. Ruby continues to stand there and stare at the dark-haired boy in awe. Zoe and I both begin laughing at Ruby's speechless state. I'm not upset that she watches Alfie and not me; it's just slightly strange to see someone who watches Alfie, but not Zoe or me. Usually fans will watch at least two of us, just because we are all on each other's channels quite often.
"I've been watching you for years. Oh, my God." Ruby laughs at herself. She offers Alfie a hand to shake, but he pulls her closer into a hug. She is no taller than Zoe, so the top of her head just passes Alfie's shoulder.
"You're Regina's friend, right?" Alfie asks Ruby as she pulls back.
"Yeah. That's why I'm living with Caspar and Joe." She answers. She fiddles with her nose piercing. She turns to me and grins.
"That's how you know who I am, isn't it?" I ask her, laughing. She laughs and nods her head. Her laugh is light and melodic; her green eyes glitter. Her laugh is a beautiful sound that I haven't heard enough of. Ruby looks so happy right now. I can't imagine that just a couple days ago, she was laying in her bed, screaming out of fear from the nightmares in her head.
"That's also how I know Zoe." She says. Zoe smiles toward her, and Ruby returns one. Caspar begins screaming, scaring both girls. Zoe shouts his name while Alfie laughs, wrapping his arm around Zoe's shoulders. I turn around to look at Caspar, who is still screaming and waving his arms at the television.
"Do you watch football?" I ask Ruby, as she begins walking toward the kitchen. I follow Alfie and Zoe towards the couch. I sit in the recliner as the other three occupy the couch.
"I watch soccer." Ruby says, smirking. We haven't had anytime where we could just sit down and talk. I barely know the girl who lives with me. She is always trying to find a job or working on her art. I am always either editing videos or planning videos.
Ruby throws me a bottle of water from the kitchen before coming around the counter to sit at the bar. She opens up her Mac and continues to work on the drawing of Regina.
The past few days, Ruby has been working on her sketchbook drawing more than the digital one. I never asked who it is because once she started working on the eyes, I realized that it is Jack Maynard. It is an amazing representation of the younger brother, but Ruby doesn't seem to like it as much as I do. She keeps complaining about how she didn't start with a proportional body shape and how she couldn't get the eyes symmetrical.
"I though you said you liked football." Caspar says to Ruby.
"I said I watch it, not that I like to watch it." She responds, not bothering to turn to look at him.
I sit in the old recliner by the wall and end up watching more of Ruby than the actual game. Zoe interrupts every once in a while to show Alfie something new for their house. Caspar screams almost the entire game, and Ruby has to threaten to hurt him to make him shut up.
"We need to film, don't we?" Zoe asks after the game is over. I had originally planned to do another sibling tag video with Zoe, but Caspar had beat me to calling her about filming, leaving me to find another video idea. It's only the beginning of the week, so I have plenty of time to figure it out.
I stand from the chair while Zoe stretches her hands out for me to pull her up. "You're getting old, Zoe." I laugh at her. She begins protesting as Alfie agrees.
"Isn't she? She turned twenty-seven almost a week ago." He grins.
"I'm not old yet." Zoe argues. "I hardly think twenty-seven is old." Caspar rubs her head and reminds her about filming. She nods and begins following Caspar to the stairs.
"Can I still use my room to film, Ruby?" He asks, as I start walking towards the black-haired girl.
"I don't care." She waves him off, concentrating on the drawing at hand. She has a drawing pad plugged into her computer, and the more frustrated she gets with the drawing, the harder she pushes the pen into it.
"That's quite cool." Alfie says, looking over Ruby's shoulder at the drawing. From over the laptop, I watch her blush before continuing. The concentration on her face makes her cuter than normal. I can see the reflection of the laptop's screen in her wide eyes. The yellow of Regina's hair hits right in Ruby's bright green irises. The freckles under her eyes aren't as predominant as they were a bit ago.
"She's probably got one of you somewhere, mate." I tell Alfie. Ruby shoots me a glare over the screen. "You do, don't you?"
"Shut up, Sugg." She says, her voice threatening. It doesn't scare me, though, and I continue to poke at her.
"She's got one that's she is working on right now that is Jack." I say.
"How do you know that?" She asks. Alfie stands still behind her as she tosses the stylus on to her computer.
"I saw it yesterday when you left it on the coffee table." I reply. She narrows her eyes at me before hopping down from her stool. I walk behind her as she marches to the stairs. I stand at the top and look down the stairs to see if she's coming back up or if she is going to lock herself up in the bathroom.
I hear Caspar say, "Ruby, tell the viewers 'hello'."
Her reply is, "Fuck off." I laugh as I see her returning to the top floor of the flat. She's holding the sketchbook in her hands firmly, as she runs up the stairs. She flips through the book while standing in front of me on the second step. I'm not much taller than most people, and I've only got a small advantage over Ruby, so it seems better that she's now just coming up to my shoulder, instead of my eyes.
Somewhere towards the front, she shoves the book into my hands. "Happy?" She mutters, trying to sound angry, but I can see something in her eyes. It almost looks like confidence. She seems proud of what she has done, and honestly, she should.
The drawing is of Alfie, Zoe and Nala. It's not a perfect drawing, but it's still one of the best drawings of the trio I've ever seen. It's dated to almost a year ago with Ruby's rough initials etched in the corner. "Damn." I say, looking up to find her. She's made her way back to the computer, where Alfie begs to see the picture. I can see Ruby cracking the closer I get to her. I can tell she kind of likes it, and I think Alfie knows it, too, but he is trying to have some sort of connection to her.
I walk up behind her and hand the sketchbook to him. He stops asking and holds the book as carefully as he can. I know how he feels. It's something so amazing when you see something a fan has done for you. You just imagine the hours it takes and all the dedication that was put into it.
"Wow." Alfie says, staring intently at the page. Ruby sits up straighter to peer over the top of the book and look at it. I can see a bit of discomfort in her expression, as if she scared he won't like it. I don't know why she would be worried. It's incredible. "That's so good. I'm amazed. How long did it take you to do this?"
Ruby's cheeks are a pale pink as she smiles over the pencil drawing. I watch her as she smiles, causing me to smile in return. "I probably worked on it for at least a week, probably longer. I did it forever ago."
"Do you show anyone you art? Like, do you show who you've drawn?" Alfie asks, beginning to turn the page.
"Well, no. I feel like you'd never really have time to look through fan art." Ruby says. I look over the sketchbook, too, watching as all the familiar faces go by. Some are YouTubers, some are actors, and then there is even some singers mixed in.
"We pay attention." I answer her. "Sometimes we just don't react to it exactly like we should." I remember all the times I had gotten something from somebody and completely forgot to thank them or show any form of appreciation. I would get caught up in whatever I was doing before and forget. It's a horrible thing to do, but sometimes it's almost inevitable.
"Look. It's Marcus." Alfie stops on a picture of Marcus Butler. Young Marcus Butler, like before he went blonde. It's really good, but before I can admire it for long, Alfie is turning the page again.
On the next page is a drawing of a boy I've never seen. There's no remaking of a signature off to the right like there is on the rest, and I assume that it's not a celebrity. The boy is sitting on a wall, his face turned forward. I can tell that it was drawn on the spot. There are a few other scratches around the drawing like the boy had been moving around when Ruby had tried to draw him. So, it is obviously someone Ruby knows. Boyfriend? Surely Ruby wouldn't have just left her boyfriend in America and came to live in London by herself. So, ex-boyfriend?
"Sorry." Ruby apologizes quickly, pulling the sketchbook from Alfie's hands. "Sorry, I just..." Without another word, the dark-haired girl rushes downstairs. I turn to Alfie who is giving me a strange look.
"Is Ruby okay?" He asks as a door slams below us. I shrug and look at the drawing of Regina still pulled up on her computer.
"She definitely has her secrets, but who doesn't?" I respond. I glance back at Alfie. "But, she's not too bad."
"Oh? Is this like a secondary school crush?" The younger boy mocks. I laugh sarcastically.
"Hardly." I answer finally.