Chapter Text
It was Saturday morning and Anna Milton was in the middle of her first shift working for the university’s Department of Parking and Transportation. Basically, she drove a truck around and gave out tickets to all the illegally parked cars on campus, of which there were a lot. The pay wasn’t great, but it provided plenty of opportunities to steal away and read a book under the guise of “taking a break.” Overall, it could have been much worse.
She was in the middle of one of her so-called “breaks” when a sudden knocking interrupted her. She startled and almost dropped her book in a hurry to roll down the window.
“Did you put this on my car?” a very angry looking brunette held up a parking ticket. She looked familiar.
“Uh, no,” Anna lied. “I only just got here, that must have been someone else.”
“Uh huh. Listen, I work here, see?” she held up a card that identified her as the vice president for the university’s LGBT resource center. At the bottom it said in marker: My name is RUBY, be QUEER and PROUD today. “I was just stopping by to check on the house, and this is literally the only place I can park. What do you guys expect me to do?”
“Uhhhh, well,” Anna floundered.
“This is such bullshit, how do I protest this?”
“The office is over by the student union, you can go ask there, I think.” Anna prayed the girl would go there and leave her alone.
“Fine. Thank you.” She turned and huffed in frustration. Anna watched as she walked back to her car and slammed the door.
Anna sat in stunned silence. She knew she should be scared; that Ruby looked like she was used to kicking in the skulls of people who rubbed her the wrong way, and Anna had been really close to doing just that. Still; her only thought as the girl drove off was: damn, she’s really hot when she’s angry.
---
It was Monday morning and Ruby was running late to class. She wasn’t super concerned; the professor was pretty cool about stuff like punctuality. As long as you showed up, that was all he cared about.
It was 5 minutes past the start of class when Ruby slipped in. The professor was mid-lecture so she took a spot right by the door and got out a notebook so she could pretend to take notes. In her fumble to get settled she dropped her pen and it skittered under the desk next to hers. The girl sitting in the desk picked it up and handed it to Ruby and her heart skipped a beat. It was the parking ticket girl!
The girl looked as surprised to see Ruby as Ruby was to see her. Ruby was so shocked she forgot to glare. She still had the parking ticket in her back pocket. The office had been closed for the weekend so she hadn’t had a chance to go in and forcibly correct the problem.
Ruby took her pen back and the girl quickly turned away to stare at their professor. Ruby thought about doing the same, but ended up staring at the girl instead. What was her name? Their professor had said everyone’s name when he took attendance on the first day, but Ruby couldn’t remember what it was. Shit!
Class ended too quickly. Ruby tried to concentrate on the lecture, but that didn’t work. She tried to think of what to say to the girl, but nothing came to mind. “Hey you told me where I could protest this stupid parking ticket, but I don’t remember your name even though we’ve been in the same class for weeks now” just didn’t have a very good ring to it. And besides, why did she want to talk to her, anyway?
Thankfully, the girl beat her to it. “Hey,” she began as soon as their professor dismissed them, “I’m sorry about Saturday, you just caught me by surprise. I’m Anna,” she held out a hand for Ruby to shake.
“Uh, Ruby.”
“So, I forgot to mention the office is closed on weekends, but you probably already found that out. Totally my bad. I wanna make it up to you, though. Do you have a class after this?”
Ruby was caught so off guard she couldn’t even think of a proper excuse to get away from the girl with the mesmerizing eyes and flaming red hair. “Er, no, not for an hour.”
“Good!” Anna smiled and something inside Ruby clinched pleasantly. “So, I know this is totally lame, but, would you wanna get coffee or something? My favorite place is just up the hill and I didn’t get a chance to get my caffeine this morning.”
Ruby’s brain screamed at her to keep her cool and say something, anything, to get out of this. Something about Anna made Ruby feel lightheaded and a little dizzy, almost like being drunk, and that was definitely not good. Instead she said, “Oh, coffee? Uh, sure.”
Not good. Not good at all.
---
Ruby seemed more than a little hesitant, but Anna knew she’d warm up once she had some coffee in her hands. It was still early in the morning; the caffeine would do them both good. When Ruby paused at the classroom door, Anna thought for a moment she was going to make some excuse and bug out, but she only swallowed hard and continued on. There was something on her mind, Anna could tell, but they’d only just met. There would be plenty of time for heart-to-hearts later.
“So,” Anna said, trying to break the ice as they waited for traffic to clear so they cross the street, “You work for the university too?”
Ruby nodded. “I help run the queer club.” She said “queer” like it was a challenge, staring hard at Anna as if expecting her to respond with hostility.
“Oh, that’s cool,” Anna smiled. “Can’t say I’ve ever been, but I’ve heard good things.”
“Liar.” Ruby’s tone was harsh, but there was a hint of a grin on her lips.
Anna laughed nervously. “Okay, okay, so I’ve never heard anything about it. But I drive by it a lot, I mean, it’s on my route.”
Ruby grinned for real this time. “Right, your ‘route.’ Give many tickets out over there?”
“Yes,” Anna responded honestly without thinking, then realized what she’d said. “I mean, only on the weekends. Parking’s restricted in that area on the weekends. Weekdays are fine though, that’s when your meetings are, right?” She swallowed uneasily.
“Yeah, we’re only open during the week.” Ruby smiled and it melted some of Anna’s worry. “I’m just pushing your buttons.”
“Oh, right, of course.” They reached the doors of the mall and Anna held one open for Ruby. The coffee shop was right inside. Anna led them both to a table to dump their stuff before going to the counter. “So, you ever get coffee here before?” It was a lame question, but it the only one that came to mind.
“Yeah,” Ruby shrugged. “It’s not as good as the Java House.”
“Oh,” Anna nodded, “You’re probably right. I only come to this place so much because I know the barista.”
“Baby sister!” the barista shouted, as if on cue. Anna smiled and skipped the rest of the way to the counter, Ruby in tow.
“Gabriel, this is—“
“Ruby!” Gabriel supplied, his eyes going from happy to mischievous. “Anna dear, what are you doing with this delightful creature?”
Anna turned to Ruby, confused. “Wait, you know my brother?” she asked.
Ruby rolled her eyes and matched Gabriel’s smirk. “Yeah, you could say that. He’s dating my ex. They’re insufferable at the queer club meetings.”
“You only find us insufferable because you’re jealous.” Gabriel stuck his tongue out at Ruby and turned to Anna. “Anyway, what can I do for you, kiddo--the usual wake-me-up?”
“Yeah, thanks, Gabe.” Anna looked at Ruby, suddenly wondering if this was such a good idea after all.
“I’ll have one too, short stuff,” Ruby said.
“Coming right up, don’t think this is finished between us, though.” Gabriel pointed to them both with an accusing finger and went to make their drinks.
Anna and Ruby took their seats and waited for their order to be called. Anna groaned inwardly. What had she just gotten herself into?
---
Gabriel brought their drinks to their table instead of calling it out. He whispered something in Anna’s ear and winked at Ruby before retreating to behind the counter.
“So, Gabriel is your brother, huh?” Ruby asked once the barista was out of earshot.
“Yeah, kinda.” Anna took a sip of her coffee and smiled thoughtfully. “We were foster kids together.”
“Oh, I didn’t know,” Ruby mused. “Gabriel mentioned once he had an absent father, guess that’s what he meant.”
“He doesn’t like to talk about it. Can’t blame him. I’m glad he’s part of a club though, I had no idea. He go to your meetings often?”
“Well he’s technically not a member because he’s not a student, but yeah, he’s there all the time these days. Have you met Sam?”
“No I haven’t, should I?”
Ruby took a sip of the coffee and almost choked. It was the sweetest drink she’d ever tasted. She glared at the empty packets of sugar Anna had added to her own coffee and wondered how she wasn’t diabetic ten times over. “Sam’s the guy Gabriel is dating. They’ve only been seeing each other for a couple weeks now but they’re all over each other, or at least Gabriel is all over him.”
“Oh that’s right, you said he’s your ex?”
“We had a thing, but that was a while ago. Sam was still in the closet and I was looking for something.” Ruby tried to keep the memories from surfacing; it was still a touchy subject. The relationship had never been cut and dry, at its best or worst. But that had been freshmen year, and that might as well be ages ago now.
“Did you find it?” Anna pulled Ruby from her thoughts.
“Hm?”
“What you were looking for, did you find it?”
“Oh, no, not yet.” Ruby took another sip of the awful sugary concoction and forced a smile. “So any other siblings I might know?”
Anna tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and grinned. “Well, none related by blood, but Balthazar is a junior here like me, and Castiel is a freshmen.”
“Oh yeah, I know Balthazar. Lanky blond polisci major, likes to party?”
“That’s the one.” Anna laughed. “I’d say he’s the black sheep of the family, but I honestly don’t know if any of us could be described as white sheep. Except maybe Castiel, but that won’t be for long if Bal has his way. So how about you, any siblings?”
Ruby shook her head. “Nope, it’s just me. The queer club is the closest thing I have to family. I like it that way. You should come by sometime, by the way. It’s not just for queers; I just like calling it that.”
“Oh!” Anna nodded, “Yeah, I’d love to, I have to work until 8, though.”
“That’s okay, we close at 10. You know where it is, right?”
Anna grinned. “Yeah, that house where I gave you a parking ticket?”
“I knew you gave me that ticket!” Ruby declared in triumph and Anna tried to hide a laugh behind her hand.
“I know! I’m sorry! I panicked!”
“It’s okay, I’ll get my boss to harass whoever it takes to make it disappear. He can be very convincing.”
“Well I’m glad you won’t have to pay it. And I know what you drive now, so no more tickets from me, promise.”
“Thanks. And thanks for the coffee, how much do I owe you?”
Anna shook her head. “Don’t look at me, Gabe paid for it.”
Ruby looked up and caught the eye of Gabriel, who winked and went back to helping a hipster couple. To Anna, she said, “Guess I’ll pay him back later. Will I see you tonight?”
“Yup, should be sometime after 8.”
“Good, see you then.”
“Yeah, you too!”
Ruby took one last look at Anna before turning and walking to her next class. She was even more sure now than before. If the butterflies in her stomach were anything to go off, Anna was going to be trouble for Ruby. Big trouble.