"I know," Ruby murmured back. There were still some of the guys around Summerland who liked to give them shit, but usually a well placed glare or rude retort from Ruby was enough to make them piss off. She didn't take shit from anyone, and she didn't expect Emma to either. It made the brunette crack a definite smile to hear that the other girl, despite her usual demeanor, wanted to stand up for her. "You'll protect me?" she asked, somewhat rhetorically. She knew the blonde would, even if they didn't say it.

She shook her head again, letting out another loud sigh. It depressed her just to think that back to school shopping was going to suck this year. They were sophomore now, which meant they got to buy way more interesting textbooks and they could start taking elective classes. But then when she thought about being anywhere near Victor, or having to split her time with Emma up with Sawyer, it sucked all of the fun out of the entire year to come. She shifted uncomfortably, digging her heels deeper into the sand as she leaned forward, tighter against Emma's back. "Not even excited to go shopping," she agreed, disheartened.

With Emma staring at her for a moment, Ruby's eyes flicked aside, the tiniest sign of apprehension. She felt as if she was under sudden extreme scrutiny, the intense way that her friend was eying her, and just the sight of the blonde licking her lips for a split second almost made Ruby groan out loud. What was getting into her? They were just hanging out, and they both had significant others already, shit as they were. But then there was this, and nights like the one they were having, and Ruby found that she didn't care one way or the other about Sawyer or Vic.

"Anything," Ruby agreed without another second of hesitation.

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"I'll always protect you," Emma said determined to reassure the brunette. Even if she hated standing up for herself, she would do anything for Ruby. She could find the courage and strength so the other girl could keep smiling. The other girl always did so much to protect her and make sure that she felt safe. She wanted to do the same for the other girl. "I'll always protect you and make you smile, even if it just means trying to cheer you up about back to school shopping. You're my best friend Ru, I know you love school and back to school is like, your Christmas."

When Ruby reassured her that she would promise anything, Emma turned her head to look at Ruby. Her heart was pounding harder than she had ever felt it, even the few times she had tried speed. It was a different kind of racing heart beat, one that she was positive could never be recreated by a drug.

"P-promise me," she said, her voice cracking. She reached out her shaking left hand out and cupped Ruby's cheek so they were face to face. Emma's best case scenario in her head was that Ruby would just tell her she wasn't interested but that they could just be best friends without worry. Her worst case was that the girl would be completely disgusted with her and punch her. She didn't even weigh in the chance that Ruby might return the kiss.

"Promise me you won't hate me." Emma leaned in and pressed her lips gently against Ruby's.

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Ruby sighed heavily, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly with a smile. "Yeah, it's almost better than Christmas.. normally it is, anyway. This year just isn't going to be the same as before," the brunette murmured. She had been trying to pump herself up for school, but it just wasn't working. It was the first year that she felt so upset about the fact that she and Emma were in different houses.

She stiffened up a little when Emma's head turned to suddenly to look at her, and she almost jumped at the sudden feeling of the blonde's hand against her cheek. Her eyebrows furrowed a bit as the other girl struggled to get her words out, and once they were out, Ruby didn't have much of a chance to question them before Emma's lips were pressed against her own. There was a split moment of shock, that this was actually happening, and then the brunette was already leaning right back in. She was never the hesitant or nervous sort, but she was pretty sure that she was shaking.

In an effort to keep her hands from shaking, she lifted them up instead, clumsily placing them on either side of Emma's face as she kissed the older girl.

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Emma almost stopped kissing Ruby when she felt the girl kissing her back without a moment of hesitation. She was shocked. It was impossible, good things didn't happen to her like this. Then Ruby was placing her hands on her face and Emma pulled the brunette girl closer, deepening their kiss. She couldn't explain why, or how but she felt tears starting to trickle down her face. It was like something inside of her had broken down a damn, and she was suddenly filled with such a feeling of relief that she couldn't handle it.

She pulled away from Ruby after a few more moments had passed, still crying. Without any kind of explanation, she buried her face in the crook of the younger girl's neck, her arms wrapped around her neck. She was as close as she could get to Ruby at this point, and she was sure that she could hear the girl's heart beat. It was soothing along with the noise of the waves.

"D-did you mean it?" She managed to choke out after a few minutes.

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