OUTBREAK: ZERO is a semi post-apocalyptic pandemic roleplay set in the fictional city of Lethford, USA. Current season: Winter, 20/21.
March 2020. The world is in pandemonium as one month ago, GHNv-20 was confirmed, five months after the beginning of norovirus season. The number of the infected are in the higher hundred thousands, and the death toll is at an estimated 250,000, with about seventy percent of the rest of the population experiencing mild to moderate illnesses connected to the S. pyogenes bacteria.
The fear of the unknown has caused mass hysteria and panic.
In an attempt to provide a semblance of safety and control, military personnel patrol the streets, even here in Lethford City, and the police force is trying to keep up with the rising street violence, assault, and theft.
Welcome to OUTBREAK: zero. Will you survive?
HAYANA
SITE OWNER + HEAD ADMINISTRATOR
Hi! I'm Haya. I'm pretty much your girl for everything! If you have any questions regarding our plot, membergroups, etc. don't hesitate to ask me. I'm also in charge of coding, graphics, anything skin related, and advertising/affiliates.
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ADDI
ADMINISTRATOR
Hey! I'm Addi. Hit me up if you need help with anything. I'm always for plotting so don't be shy. I like coffee, booze, and working out. I'm back from a long hiatus the dead so if you need anything, best ask the others until I get back into the groove of things!
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FINNLEY
GLOBAL MODERATOR
Hi hello! My name is Finnley, or Finn, call whichever and I'll be there for you (yes like the FRIENDS theme song). I am in charge of the claims and helping with miscellaneous things. Let me know if you have any questions!
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outbreak
/ˈaʊtbreɪk/ zero /ˈzɪərəʊ/
a sudden occurrence of something unwelcome, such as war or disease. number, no quantity or number; nought; the figure 0.
Ruby stood in front of the floor-length mirror that was stuck on her apartment's hallway wall. Her reflection was one that she was still getting used to. Her hair was a little longer, she looked a little tired, but the thing that held the most of her attention were her pants. An older pair, they had been on the tighter side before, but they fit her perfectly now, if not a little big. There was no tightness, no pregnant belly that they refused to cover.
Her hand moved to the spot where she and Will's child had been. The memory still caused a stabbing pain in her chest. It still made her breath hitch. She had lost the baby almost a month ago and she didn't think there would ever be a time that it wouldn't hurt.
Three months had passed since the last time she had seen Will. Three months ago she had gone in for a routine doctor's appointment and found out she was infected. There was no such thing as civil liberties when it came to virus control. She wasn't allowed personal effects, nor allowed to make preparations with her career or personal life. No, that was out the window when you had the virus, and especially so when you were carrying another life.
She hadn't gotten to make any calls, not that she could have, even if it had been allowed. The virus had almost claimed her life, and in truth, the weeks passed in a blur to her. Two months in and she had finally started to recover, but the virus hadn't been done with them. The next passing weeks had been spent fighting for her and her child's life. The only thought she had as she had left the facility with a clean bill of health and took a cab to her old apartment had been that it had taken the wrong one.
She had gotten in late the night before, thankful that she had paid a few months in advance. She hadn't been able to sleep much of course, so when the sun began peeking through her curtains she had showered and dressed. Ready to get this hard part over with. She took a car to the base, hoping that he hadn't been sent off on a mission, that he hadn't been transferred to another base or God only knew what else.
As the houses on base began to come into view, she tried to steady the shaking in her hands. She missed him, that was undeniable, but in a span of weeks what little fabric they had linking their lives together had been shredded to pieces. She was left with an icy rock in her chest that harshly and effectively reaffirmed that playing wife and mother was not in her cards, nor would it ever be. As the car stopped in front of her place she silently prayed again that he was home. That he hadn't moved. She barely had the fortitude to walk up his driveway, she couldn't imagine searching the base and dropping this bomb on him at work.
Ruby paid the driver and walked up to his door, knocking twice. She held her breath as what felt like hours passed before the door opened, his handsome face showing behind the door. Without thinking she loosened the breath she had been holding, the corners of her mouth tilting up slightly, "Hey Goldenboy."
William had been going crazy these past couple of months. Everything was going smoothly back then. At least as smooth as they could have at the time. Ruby was pregnant with their son. Harper had come to live with him, but she took a liking to the brunette. He was starting to get into a rhythm of having her with him. Something that he was really loving. The waking up to her when she would stay over, and being there to try and help during those first months of pregnancy. The tank, as he affectionately called her, was his woman.
And then, like magic, she vanished. No trace of her. No answering her phone, even to the point he went to put a missing persons order in. But they wouldn't take him seriously. A lot of people were in and out of the city. Trying to get away from everything and the moment he mentioned she was pregnant they seemed set that they she definitely skipped out and went to a safer place.
He looked for her for weeks. Until weeks turned into months. He would look for her on every day off he had when he still had a babysitter to watch Harper. His limp slowly got better over time. Till it was barely one. His girlfriend and his baby, gone. He lost sleep and eventually had to focus himself completely on Harper. Ruby had skipped town on him. She was always a flight risk. But he just really thought that now she'd stay. He offered himself to her... wouldn't that be enough?
Eventually, he settled into his new routine. Taking care of Harper, having a passing conversation with the babysitter, dinners, sleep. Repeat. Today was one of those days. He was off and Harper was not up yet. So he set off to dressing in gray sweats and a black tee. He went for the kitchen and started up breakfast. Eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy. The kinds of things that him and Harper could devour together before he had to get her up and going for virtual school. With the lovely shut downs, it was all on the computers now.
He went to her room and pounced on the bed. Playfully growling at her like he was some big scary monster. "Wake up my child! It is time to rise and scare the day away!" Will laughed as she groaned and tried to hide her head under the pillow. He laughed and shook the bed a little to get her awake. "Breakfast will be ready in a few. So get up sunshine." He told her, just in time for him to hear the knock at his door.
He got up and made his way down the stairs, not quite sure what he was expecting. Perhaps a package or someone coming to ask if he could come in for the day. It was a hard no. But as he pulled the door open, his jaw almost hit the floor. His blue eyes growing wide in disbelief on what, no, who he was seeing outside his door. Her voice was enough to smack him out of it and he reached forward for her. If she allowed, he would wrap his arms around her tightly and bury his face into her neck. "Kitten, where have you been?"
When he opened the door, the smell of bacon and coffee drifted out. An ache hit her heart at the memory, at the familiarity. Whenever Will was off of work he always made breakfast. She hated cooking anyway so she had no qualms with snuggling on the couch with Harper watching cartoons while he was in the kitchen on Sunday mornings. It felt like those moments had taken place years ago, not months.
Her nickname on his lips was another ache and when he pulled her into him, she wrapped her arms around him. His scent enveloped her and she closed her eyes and spoke, the words softly coming out, "I missed you." His face moved into her neck, sending chills down her. Forget the apartment, forget the base, the town they were in, none of it mattered. That wasn't home. He was home. As terrifying as that realization was, being in his arms was home. He asked where she had been and she ignored the question, at least for just a moment. She wanted to enjoy being so close to him again. She wanted to let herself have just a minute of forgetting what had happened. She moved her head and shifted so she could see his face, pressing her lips to his tentatively.
Her hands found his chest, running softly over his muscles as her lips met his with more urgency. She didn't care who was watching, she didn't care who thought what about them making out on his front lawn. She had an undeniable need to feel him, to kiss him, to know that he was real, that they were real. As the sound of little footsteps bounding down the stairs drifted to her though, she made herself stop and pause, kissing his lips softly one last time before speaking up, "Can we talk?"
William couldn't believe his eyes. It didn't feel real that she was there. And even when his arms wrapped around her and she held him back, he still felt like perhaps he was sleeping. That this was some odd alternate universe and he'd wake up alone in his bed once more. He didn't get to hear anything from her. Nothing. He left voicemails until her cellphone mailbox was full. And yet here she was.
He leaned back a little when she shifted and then her lips were on his. He was stunned for about two seconds before he jumped into action. She was his comfort and her kissing him made him realize how much he had been uncomfortable. How much he had been suffering without her. He hungrily met her kisses with his own and his hands gripped her back as he pulled her close. And thats when something didn't feel right. When the gears in his head started turning as she was flush against him. No rounded stomach making it awkward for her to come closer. She should have had one. A noticeable one at this point.
He felt sorrow fill his sense as he pulled back, hearing Harper's little feet bouncing towards them. His eyes moved from her to between them. The tears already stinging his eyes as he had a feeling that her 'can we talk' was just going to shatter him into pieces. He looked back to her, trying to form some words when Harper's voice captured him instead. "Daddy?" He turned to look over his shoulder at the little blonde. Who only lit up as her blue eyes landed on- "Ruby!" She rushed out, and wrapped her arms around the two of them, as Will had not quite let her go just yet.
"We've missed you! Where have you been? Daddy and I were worried. But you are here now! Come inside! Daddy made breakfast! Bacon and eggs and all the good stuff!" Will patted the girls head. "Why don't you go set the table, and we will come in in a little bit okay?" He asked her, and she nodded happily as she skipped her way back into the house. Will reached out to hold the door open and gestured for Ruby to make her way inside. "Our... room?"
Ruby caught the look on Will's face a moment before Harper came down the steps. The realization was heartbreaking and she looked away quickly, her attention going to the little girl. If she let herself look at his face she wouldn't make it. She'd break down and she couldn't, at least not right now.
Will's arms were still around her as those tiny footsteps came running towards them. Harper's little blonde hair was wild, the bedhead making the curls frizzy and adorably cute. A part of her, maybe larger than she would have thought, ached to hold her. To scoop her up and listen to every little story she had to tell. She wanted to hold her, but if she did, she wasn't sure she'd be able to put her down again. She wasn't sure she'd be able to have the courage to say the words she didn't want to say.
She crouched down, embracing Will's little mini-me in a hug, a smile on her face, "I missed you too. I'm sorry, but I'm here now, and after your dad and I talk, I want to hear all about what you've been doing okay?"
Will asked her to set the table and Ruby watched her go skipping into the kitchen. She didn't ever remember a time in her life when she was like that, perfectly content and happy, safe in a loving home. She couldn't remember far enough into a time where she had that much innocence. Will held the door out, mentioning their room and she nodded.
His place was exactly like she had remembered. The steps giving up the soft sounds that they always had as they climbed up them. The room where they stayed together as comforting and familiar as he was. She stepped inside, Will's scent hanging in the air. She couldn't help the small smile as she let herself take a good long breath in. She had been around the sterile smell of a hospital for months. Being so near him in the home they had grown so close in was as close to perfect as she had ever gotten. Exhaling slowly, forcing herself to get it done, she turned to him.
"I had a doctor's appointment. I don't think I even told you, looking back at it now..." The words dropped off as she briefly tried to remember. "It wasn't a big one, just a routine, quick in-and-out. But while I was there, I had a fever. I wasn't even feeling bad that day, but they ran my blood and then they told me I had the virus." She could still remember the sheer panic and fear that had set in. She had immediately asked for her phone, "I wanted to call. I asked for my phone, but it was in my purse and they confiscated everything. Suddenly they were all wearing hazmat suits and I was sealed off from everything and it was...." awful, terrifying, hell, all of the above but that didn't matter. She had to focus.
She cleared her throat. "I'm clear now though. I was in isolation for three weeks before they let me out. No traces of it in me, so don't worry about you or Harper. I mean, I would never endanger her or you of course, but..." She was rambling again, the part of her brain that allowed her to make clear and concise arguments in court abandoning her. "I don't remember a lot of it. I was in and out for a few weeks. Then, at the end, I..."I thought I was going to die. I thought I would never get to see you again. I thought dying would have been preferable to losing our child. The sentences she couldn't say catching in her throat. She closed her eyes, trying to summon the strength from somewhere. "I pulled though, but I lost him."
Will found himself easily focusing on Harper as she made her appearance. On the way she lit up when she saw Ruby. The girl had missed Ruby a lot. She talked about her just as much as Will had thought about her. Which only made it worse. Made him miss her more than he was already doing. It made it worse when his mind had taken the turn it did. That deep down, he had always thought she might run from him. That she’d try and escape. It made it worse when he had convinced himself that she wouldn’t. That the love the two had shared... that should have been enough to keep her around... right?
He watched the little blonde disappear before the two adults were headed to what had been their room. Is this where she told him it was over? That the two of them were nothing but a wild dream that was short lived? The numbness in his chest was starting to grow, making the palms of his hands ache as he tried to stretch his fingers to gain back feeling in them. When they entered the room, he slowly shut them in. Crossing his arms over his chest as he looked at her with unease in his gaze. He wasn’t sure what was about to be said, so when she turned to him, he braced himself.
But he didn’t brace himself enough. The words that came from her had a wide range of emotions run through him. Annoyance for her not telling him about an appointment. Fear as she spoke about the virus. Anger that they wouldn’t let her contact anyone to make sure they knew she was okay. Heartbreak thinking of her being alone during all of this. That he hadn’t been there to help her through the process. Though he wasn’t sure what he could have done besides fuss over her. A sense of relief to hear that she was cleared and no longer sick. That Harper was not in danger.
Will almost swayed at the last part of what she had to say. ‘I lost him’. He knew who ‘him’ was. It was why her stomach had been too flat. Too sunken in for being several months along. His son. Their son. Gone. Before he even had a chance to make it out to the real world. Before Will could meet him and hold him... and Ruby. She had to do all of that alone. Losing her son as well. His eyes screwed shut and he let his chin almost hit his chest as he squeezed his arms from where they were crossed. Trying to swallow the lump in his throat. To stop himself from crying.
It didn’t work. By the time he was looking back to her, tears threatened to fall onto his cheeks. He opened his mouth to say something... anything to her. And yet he wound up looking like a goldfish, opening and closing his mouth a few times. He shook his head to try and restart his brain and vocal cords. But when it didn’t work, he moved to start pacing. He was glad Ruby made it. He was extremely glad for that, and as that thought seemed to kick him in the back of the head, he moved towards her. Gathering her back into his arms if she allowed.
“I’m sorry.” That he wasn’t there. That their son hadn’t made it. That she got sick. That they were going to have to live with the knowledge that they wouldn’t get to meet their son. “I...” He wished he could find more words, but as a few tears escaped him, he fell silent and went to hold her tighter to him.
Ruby couldn't say anything more. She had already said enough. She didn't know where the strength to get the words out had even come from. She felt as far from together as someone could be. Then she looked up at Will and felt as if her heart was breaking all over again. Tears were threatening to spill and his face was the definition of heartbreak. He opened his mouth to speak and she found herself holding her breath.
Her mind became a thunderstorm of questions and fear. Was he mad at her? Did he regret all of this? Was he going to ask her to leave? Was she about to lose him too? Then he moved to her, taking her in his arms and she wrapped her arms around him, burying her head in his chest. Tears fell freely from her but she remained fixed onto him. For weeks upon weeks she had gone without his embrace, without his smile, without hearing the sound of his voice and she needed it all now more than she needed air.
She wasn't much of the prayer type but she was thanking whoever had made it possible for her to be in his arms again. She could hear his heart beating, feel his arms securing her and she'd be damned if she didn't feel safe. She was always the person she depended on. Throughout her whole life there was never a big brother or father that she sought out when she was feeling scared. There was no one who she relied on other than herself, period. She had been a one-person team all of her life. As he held her though, she realized with absolute certainty that she hadn't felt safe since leaving the hospital. She hadn't felt together or whole at all, until this moment that she was in his arms.
Will said he was sorry and Ruby's brows furrowed in confusion. There was anything at all that he was in fault for. She couldn't fathom why he had the need to apologize. She shook her head,
"You're sorry? Will, this is my fault." She felt her chest squeeze tighter as she began to speak. "If I had stopped taking clients this might not have happened. If I was a better mom or if I had been more careful we might not be here without him. You didn't do anything wrong. Will, I didn't even tell you about the appointment."
She learned quickly when she was growing up that it was best to not get her hopes up, not about anything at all. No matter how things began or how nice things looked, the bad part would always come. The proverbial shoe would always drop. As she stood with Will's arms around her she felt like the shoe was indeed about to drop again.
She had finally thought that she had found happiness and something as close to a family as she might ever get. It only made sense that because of her actions or perhaps that whatever being saw her and realized she was the farthest thing from a good mother, she lost it. The baby was gone and Will had to see now what she had been telling him all along: she wasn't commitment material. She was damaged goods if there had ever been one.
She took a breath, demanding her body to pull herself together, forcing her words to come out, even if it killed her. Her arms slowly moved from him, the action gutting her. She leaning her head up just barely enough so that she could see his face as she spoke, meeting his eyes. She had made the mess, that didn't mean he had to deal with the repercussions. They didn't have anything holding them together anymore and she knew her absence had more than likely only cemented the fact that she didn't belong in their picture.
"Look, I know you and Harper were alone for a long time and I understand if you need some time to think things through. Or if you want some space to figure out what you need. You don't owe me anything okay?" She braced herself for the words, for the dismissal. She would go, without hesitation. If that was what he needed. She just didn't know if she could stay away. If in some awful role reversal she'd be the one knocking on his door, calling him relentlessly asking for a date, time together. Did she deserve them? No. The idea of never seeing them again though was too painful for words. She supposed though that just because she wasn't the kind of wife or mother material that they deserved didn't mean that she couldn't, even in some small way, still be a part of their life.
"Will, I didn't even tell you about the appointment."
She hadn't told him. Hell, he had no idea where she went. He figured just another day in the office. And then she never came home. Never said a word and it all made sense now. His arms tightened around her. Lips pressing to the top of her head and lingering for a long pause. "It's not like I could have gone even if you did tell me," He was trying to say anything to fill that silence. His eyes screwed shut as he spoke against her hair. He wanted to go to every appointment since she started making them. But with the state of the world. He knew it wasn't possible. Didn't make it any better.
And then something else she said sank in finally. Making him frown and pull away just enough to reach down, his hands resting on her jaw and cheeks, trying to angle her head to look up at him. There was an intensity in his voice and eyes as he spoke to her. "No, you did what a lot of women do. This has nothing to do with being a 'better' mother. You were a fantastic mother. You fought and kept our son alive even when your life hung on the line. That is a perfect mother. Don't you ever think that Ruby. Do you understand me?" His voice might have been rough but it was because it was filled with emotion.
To not feel like a good mother because she tried to do what millions upon millions of women did when pregnant? To continue on their daily lives? She did what she could to prevent it. He was sure of that. Washed her hands, sanitized, wore a face mask. All of it. But things happened. The fact that cases rose instead of fell when they had tighter and tighter guidelines and restrictions made that very clear to him.
"You don't owe me anything okay?"
She moved away from him and that furrowed brow deepened, a frown pulling his lips down. No. This is not how they were supposed to end. They were not supposed to end. That baby... to him sealed that deal. And not because he felt trapped. If anything, he was afraid she felt trapped. So when she tried to push it off, he reached for her. "I want to owe you everything." He told her, looking to wrap a hand around the back of her neck and the other to pull her closer from around her waist. "Harper and I love you. We don't want you to go anywhere. That girl looked for you while you were gone. She asked for you all the time."
His eyes moved to her side of the bed. Where he hadn't moved any of her things. Everything just how she had left it. "You belong here." He told her, blue eyes moving back to her with a serious tone. He meant it. Every word. Every syllable. "Please Ruby. I can't... I can't lose you again."
Ruby exhaled slowly. The pressure in her chest easing up bit by bit with every word that came out of Will's mouth. He gently moved his head from her cheek, giving her a soft nudge to meet his eyes. Somewhere in the back of her mind, all of her instincts that had kept her afloat were quietly threatening that this is it. This is that moment. The moment when he says those words and you part your separate ways. It was coming of course. This was it.
Then he actually spoke and she found tears coming to her eyes, falling swiftly down her cheeks. She listened to every word. Every kind and gentle word that came out of his lips, like a merciful pardon that she hadn't thought she deserved nor saw coming. She wasn't honestly sure that it was deserved, at least not in her mind. She didn't think there would ever be a time when she wouldn't always hold herself accountable for the actions and consequences that lead to this moment. But he didn't. There wasn't a drop of anger in his voice and she barely managed a nod when he was through speaking.
Yes, this was it. It just wasn't the it that she had been expecting. It was love. This was it. There was no going back from this. This is what all of those love songs and poems and doe-eyed cheesy romance movies were hitting on. This kind of unconditional feeling of acceptance and devotion that was wholly fragile yet as solid as the knowledge that she needed oxygen to breathe. It was steel and air, fire and water all rolled into one. Consuming and life-giving at the same time.
Her brain was having trouble processing it all as she wiped her eyes. Will reached for her, his hands moving to her as he pulled her towards him. She obliged willingly, moving into his embrace and putting her arms around his neck. He said he wanted to owe her and a relieved and slightly stunned smile came to her lips.
"Harper and I love you…"
The words caused her heart to do a somersault. She listened to him softly speaking words that six months ago would have had her running like a shot. When he spoke about Harper looking for her she realized that wiping the tears away was a wasted effort. They were going to keep spilling down her cheek, and the more he spoke, her heart filling with blinding happiness, the less she cared to stop them from coming.
"I missed her too. I missed you both." She searched his eyes, halfway unbelieving that she was admitting to it all, laying everything, all the cards she always kept close to her chest out in the open. "I went to my apartment late last night after I was cleared, I didn't want to wake Harper, and it didn't feel right. I didn't…it just wasn't home anymore."
Will met her eyes again, his blue eyes that made her pulse quicken boring into hers as he said she belonged there, that he couldn't lose her. She was smiling still, as if there was any other alternative? She didn't think about their odds, she didn't let herself think about all of the things they had against them. She just met his eyes and took the metaphorical leap. "I don't want to go anywhere else. Will, I love you. I love you more than anything I've ever cared about in my entire life. I want this. I want you and Harper." God help them both, it was all out there now. No going back. "I want to see where this goes. All of it"
The tears that fell from her eyes were quickly swept away by the pads of his thumbs. It didn't halt his words, if anything it only pushed him to make sure they were filled with meaning. He wasn't lying to her when he said that Harper had looked for her. She had. The little blonde went around the house and was calling for her at first, as if they had started a game of hide and seek and she just couldn't find her yet. Will had even caught her staring out the window at times, trying to see if he could find a familiar car or head of brunette hair. Harper even played in her room sometimes and he could hear her pretending to be Ruby. It shattered his heart each time he heard her.
"I went to my apartment late last night after I was cleared, I didn't want to wake Harper, and it didn't feel right. I didn't…it just wasn't home anymore."
Late last night. So she was just cleared, truly just cleared. Part of him thought maybe she had been released a little while ago and she had just held off until recently. He wasn't sure if it was better to know she had been under watch for longer than what he thought. But he also knew that he was glad that she was here. A small laugh left him, parting his lips under his beard. "That's because this is home." He told her. It really was her home. He didn't move any of her things. When she'd actually get time to look around and dive into her space at his place, she'd see that he still had everything of hers.
And then her words were washing over him in a way that was rocking his world. If his feet weren't planted on the ground and held there by gravity, he was sure that he would be falling over. That if they were outside and a breeze picked up, he'd be knocked to his ass and he'd be light headed. That he'd have to hold onto her just to know which way was up. Her words were drowning him. And he as desperate to swallow them. His head nodded eagerly, not cutting her off but clearly reassuring everything that she had to say.
"We want you. I want you Ruby. I love you, you stubborn little brunette. My kitten." He pulled her closer, his lips grazing over hers as he spoke again. "So when do we finish pulling your stuff here? Tomorrow?" He said with a small laugh. Then he closed the space between them and kissed her as if his very life depended on it. As if he needed her to breathe. He wouldn't take half of her anymore. Or any hesitation. He wanted all of her. Everything that she'd give him. Anything and everything because he was selfish. Because he loved her.
Ruby felt his fingertips on her face, gently wiping the tears away and none of it felt real anymore. He spoke about this place, their place, being her home and she laughed, an actual happy sound that was coming out of her lips after all of this hell that they had been through. She had fallen into his world and brought nothing but chaos, pain, and stress but along with all of that there had been passion and attraction. She hadn't thought that would have ever been enough and maybe it wouldn't have, but they had something else: love. That four letter word that had come out of the blue and now settled as assuredly as his arms were around her.
They had that and the bonus of a beautiful little blonde-haired girl who had made her feel welcomed and wanted just as much as her father had. He called her stubborn, her nickname coming out of his lips and she grinned with a nod. "Yours." Not a question anymore. She angled her head forward, her hand moving to where his dog tags were, pulling them gently to pull him closer. "And you are mine goldenboy." In the back of her head, some small voice was pleading with her to think about those dog tags and what that meant exactly but she wouldn't give in. Especially not as he asked about moving her stuff, his lips meeting hers.
The kiss was like in the movies, where the guy had been gone away at war or where the woman had almost slipped away. One of those movie kisses where you could feel the impact and passion radiating through the screen. That kiss blew all of those others away. Ruby's heart began beating wildly as she returned it, moving her arms around his neck. She wanted to let the kiss go further more than anything else in the world, but she also knew Harper was a floor below them, patiently waiting on breakfast. She lingered once more on his lips before pulling back, putting her forehead to his. "I'm ready when you are."
Will was filled to the brim with an overwhelming happiness. A stupid amount that made him not want to leave the moment. If he knew how to live in this forever, he would. They had always been a question mark, even though they had a child together, even though they had said 'I love you', there was always this moment of doubt that she'd run from him. She had been so against him the moment they met. Had basically curled her lip up at him and said a big 'hell no'. Well, except for when she kissed him. Then it was just confusing from there. From her showing up at the base, him helping her escape to his home, then their morning together.
And now he was hers. Even more importantly, she was his. A grin broke across his bearded face as he nodded at her. He was most definitely hers. He was eager to get her moved into his place, and when she confirmed whenever he was ready, he pulled back just a bit to jokingly check the non-existent watch on his wrist. "So we leave in an hour then." He teased. Hell, he'd say now but he also knew that breakfast was an important part of the day. And there was a little girl downstairs waiting for them.
The very same one who was yelling up the stairs to them. "Daddy! Ruby!" As if they could have forgotten about her. He chuckled, giving Ruby a tight squeeze to his chest as he held her for one more moment. Pressing a brief kiss to her forehead before he hollered back to Harper. "Here we come!" He was serious about the next day going to get her stuff. She'd be moving in officially. No more shared places.
