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Liam had thought hard about what he wanted to get his friends for Christmas.
He thought about getting Ruby a special edition of Watership Down - one with slight cracks in the spine that had to be delicately handled. It would’ve been a superficial gift though.
They’d spoken about that book together not long ago. She’d found her old copy still at home - her parents had saved it for her in those years since the accident without quite knowing why. The look of delight on her face when she’d seen it... Liam knew then that his present idea would be a bust. No copy of Watership down would mean as much as that one.
That left him back to square one with Ruby so he moved on to the next person on his list: Chubs.
Somehow, Chubs was an even harder person to think of a present for. The boy was ridiculously smart. He’d spent the most part of their reintegration into society catching up on the school they’d missed, and there had been a lot to catch up on. Every day they’d spotted him with his head in a school book, desperate to make up for lost time. None of the others understood his fascination at all.
All this mitwo and mitoe- whatever wasn’t really a priority for the rest of them anymore. They’d had things to deal with that school wasn’t going to solve.
But Chubs dealt with things differently and in his own way and it wasn’t their place to get involved in that. So rather than start a conversation he wouldn’t know how to finish, Liam ruled school stuff as out of the question for now.
That meant he really had no idea what to get him.
Zu was the only person he’d knew he’d brought right for. He’d got her a copy of that newspaper article. Her newspaper article. It had been in circulation for only a few hours before the government had decided to pull the plug, but Liam had seen it floating around. Zu’s face, her words, in bold on the front cover. She looked the most powerful he had ever seen her, which was hard considering she was a pretty powerful girl. He wanted to get that for her, and maybe a little bit for himself.
Most didn’t understand the need for Newspapers anymore, not with the internet, tv, & film. Zu would understand though - he knew Zu would want her achievement immortalised in her palm and Liam had found a way to do that for her.
“Where are we going, Liam?”
Liam blinks at the road, forcing his mind back into the car.
“Just wait and see.” He flicks one of his smiles over his shoulder at Chubs who rolls his eyes away to the window, slumping against it.
They’d been in the car for a while, driving down long quiet stretches of motorways. Ruby and Zu were asleep on each other in the back, the daylight pouring over their skin through the sunroof. Vida had taken to reading something Chubs had recommended, which had all but shocked him to death.
It felt like old times, except it wasn’t really.
Where the roads had once been silent, now there was life. People had finally been given reasons to get up and go somewhere rather than hiding and hoping the new world might spare them. If Liam ignored the lingering children’s league posters and east river symbols tacked to the back of signs, it almost seemed normal.
“Liam you know how much I hate surprises,” Chubs says over the soft beat of music lapping through the car.
Now it’s Liam’s turn to roll his eyes, his gaze falling on a road sign just ahead.
7 Miles.
“If you’re taking us to six flags, I’m going to be livid,” Chubs huffs. “I hate roller coasters.”
“Charles, please be quiet.” It’s Vida, finally having been coaxed out of her book by pure annoyance. “You’re making it hard to read.”
Liam had thought very, very hard about what to get Vida, but in the end, he’d settled for something simple - a knife. An army one to be specific, from way before President Gray and the PSF’s he called soldiers. It had a hilt decorated in a camo print and a harsh serration on both edges. It could kill someone almost instantly.
In the rearview mirror, Liam catches Vida’s murderous glare to the back of Chubs’ still complaining head. Quite quickly they beginning bickering.
Maybe the knife wasn’t such a good idea...
Hands rest gently on his shoulders, sliding up into his hair, and he feels a gentle breath behind his ear.
Ruby’s awake.
“What’s going on?” She murmurs, sleep still clinging to her voice.
Liam can’t help but smile as he speaks, “Chubs is impatient and Vida is sick of it.”
She breathes out a laugh, crawling forward so that she can give him an embrace from behind. Her touch made Liam’s body settle like a calm ocean. He cared about her so much that when she touched him it was hard to care or even think about anything else.
Even the argument blurs out until Ruby says, “bet you five dollars Vida wins.”
Liam’s grin gets impossibly wider and he takes his eyes off the road to meet Ruby’s dark eyes. “I’ll take that bet, darlin.”
She gives him a sleepy grin before untangling herself and slinking back into her seat for a better view of the argument. Liam turns himself back to the road, listening keenly.
“Aren’t you the slightest bit interested?” Chubs questions.
“Of course I am, but I don’t feel the need to voice it every second, unlike someone.”
“I’m expressive - what’s your point?”
Vida leans forward, her fists clenching her book. “My point is that some of us want some peace and quiet.”
“Well if you wanted that then you shouldn’t have agreed to be my girlfriend.”
Vida bristles, mouth open. Had Chubs really just revealed to them all that they were official official? Yes.
“I knew it!” Ruby gasps excitedly, her hand going to Vida's knee who immediately stares at it like it‘s bright purple.
From between the two girls, Zu opens one eye to survey the situation. Loud noises were still a bit alarming for her- for all of them. Alarms, screaming, shouting... for the past five years none of those had been good things. They could be now though, and at this moment Ruby’s excited shout was.
It was slightly out of character for Ruby if Liam had to be honest. She’d been doing a few things he thought were out of character lately, but none of it in a negative way -not at all.
She’d become a better version of herself in these past couple of months. He realised that he’d met the scared version of her, the one that was always thinking about their future and whether or not they’d have one.
This Ruby lived in the present and it was clear to them all that she trusted that their future would be bright.
“I-I-“ Chubs stutters, casting a worried look over his shoulder at Vida who had since collected herself and removed Ruby’s hand from her knee.
“Okay, yes,” Vida exclaims, “we’re official now. We were gonna wait to tell you guys together after Liam’s surprise but...”
Chubs’ smile is practically audible. Maybe it hadn’t been the announcement they had wanted, but it was an announcement nonetheless. It really was a mistake on Vida’s part to think that Chubs could keep a secret.
“You hadn’t told them?” Says Zu, finally finding space to talk in the car. Ruby blinks, twisting in her seat to stare properly at Vida. Vida stares back unflinchingly, ready for whatever was about to come at her.
“You told Zu first!?” Ruby yells. “Vida you literally live with me, how could you!”
Oh, that was another important development that you should know. Vida’s parents, wherever they are, hadn’t contacted her yet. She’d waited for a while, putting off Ruby’s offer of the spare room for a few weeks with Cate. It had been an odd day when she’d finally decided to move in. She’d seemed almost ashamed to ask but all her worries had been flushed at Ruby’s excited grin.
So Vida moved in the next day, and that was it. They all thought it was hard to tell if she was upset about it or not. She’d happily adjusted into Ruby’s family dynamic and hadn’t said anything to reveal otherwise. Well, Liam didn’t think she had. There was a possibility that she might’ve said something to Ruby but Lee didn’t hold it against her that she hadn’t said anything.
Ruby and Liam did tell each other everything but both of them were aware that sometimes it just wasn’t their secret to share.
Vida just shrugs and apologises, and that was it with that conversation. Vida had a talent for shutting down conversations. If she didn’t want to speak about something, she wouldn’t and she’d make sure you knew it too.
“Where are we going anyway?” Vida finally asks, completely sealing the door on the whole girlfriend thing.
The car attention rests on Liam who in turn rests his attention on the road ahead. Couldn’t they just let a surprise be a surprise?
“I’m convinced he’s kidnapping us.”
Liam lifts his eyes to the rearview to meet Ruby’s amused ones. Trust her to make a comment like that.
“Can’t you guys wait? We’re not far.”
They really weren’t far at all. They’d slipped off the motorway and were edging closer to civilisation. Houses were speeding by, as were children out in the open - unafraid. Every now and then a sign would pass them by with their destination in bold and Liam made sure to avert everyone’s attention by asking a question or pointing something out on the other side of the road. It worked for a short while, but one of them was bound to guess or see eventually.
Ruby’s the one to realise first.
Liam hears her breath catch and risks a quick look over his shoulder at her. He watches her lift her fingers to her cheek and wipe away a stray tear. He expects her to say it out loud - to give away his surprise to them all - but instead, she reaches a hand forward and Liam slides his backward. Their fingers brush in a quick, intimate way before Ruby pulls back to her seat, smiling softly to herself.
Ten more minutes in the car and Chubs catches sight of a sign and the game is over.
“Virginia Beach?” Chubs yells. “Is that where you’re taking us? In mid-winter?”
Vida hits him softly on the arm at that, “shut up, it’s a nice idea.”
Liam was glad they thought so. He knew Ruby would love it, they’d spoken about it together as a dream that couldn’t be guaranteed. It meant a lot to them, and it was Lee’s hope that he could make it so for the rest of them.
Grinning, Liam says, “thanks, Vida.”
Zu sits up, glancing out the windows at the sun-stained buildings flying past. You would’ve thought that after not talking for as long as Zu did, she would’ve become the loudest person in the car; that couldn’t be further from the truth.
It was as if her silence had put a price on every word she spoke and so she rarely said anything.
Not that anyone minded - it meant that hearing her voice would always be important to them and would always be heard.
They drive in a comfortable silence the rest of the way, the music on the radio playing a recent pop song. That was another difference in the world now, kids were back to requesting songs on the radio. It was the most minor difference in the world, not important at all to probably anyone else, but Liam had spent everyday tuned in to the radio and to him... this was big.
New songs had gone completely unplayed for years, settling only on the specific new music playlists. Now they were everywhere.
It was another stamp of their presence. Children were back and they’d be staying.
Liam was just as happy about it as he was sad. What did a guy have to do to hear a bit of Oasis every now and then?
They turn down a road and the ocean glitters in front of them in the winter light. The sea is rough, beating at the sand with high waves. It’s beautiful - in a kind of scary way.
Ruby, Zu, and Vida lean forward to share the space between the front seats as the horizon pulls closer. They all needed this. The change in scenery meant they could change themselves; in this car with strangers speeding by their window, nothing was expected of them. They weren’t the darlings that saved the “new” America, they were just Ruby, Liam, Zu, Chubs, and Vida. Just kids.
Liam knows it disappoints his friends when he makes a left and turns into a side road just behind the seafront.
“The car park is the other way?” Ruby says lowly, still leant forward over the console.
“I know,” Liam tells her, slowing to a stop outside the back of a restored house. The engine rumbles to a stop and Lee pulls out the keys, slapping his hands excitedly on the steering wheel. “Come on!”
“We can’t park here-“ it’s Chubs, of course. “It says residents only.”
Liam’s smiles ear to ear at that - his cheeks bunching up below his eyes. “Exactly.”
So, maybe he had struggled to think of individual presents, but a group present? That had been easy.
They’d spoken of having a place together ever since the camps had been shut down. Living with their family was great and had been all they’d ever wanted, but they’d made a new family on the road too. They knew that life couldn’t just return to how it was before, they needed a place where they could be together - just them.
So when Liam had asked Cate - begged her - she’d been able to pull a few strings.
His friends in the car twist their head towards the house. The smell of paint was practically visible when looking at the stark white exterior and black bordered windows. It looked hastily brought to life, with the old image of the building covered in modern decor.
It was, for lack of better words, really nice. Maybe not as homely as Liam had wanted, but a home nonetheless.
He casts a look to his friends and their smiles and knows any worry he might’ve had was pointless. He’d done this for them and that made this house a palace.
“This is ours?” Zu murmurs, eyes glued to the spot of clouds reflected in the windows.
Liam hums a response, sliding out of the car and making his way to the door. His friends follow in a daze, pushing out of the car with loud movements. Ruby catches up and slides his arm through his. She doesn’t need to speak to tell Lee how much this means to her; it’s clear on her face - in the glint of happiness in her eyes.
Liam pulls the key from his back pocket and unlocks the door, pushing it open.
The first thing they see is the ocean that yawns in front of them on the other side of a glass wall. The entire living room, sprinkled with a mixture of modern and classic furniture, is bathed in soft sun. Through the glass the thrum of the ocean plays like a gentle song, singing a calm atmosphere into the house. It was-
“Amazing...” Chubs murmurs. “This is amazing.”
Amazing probably wasn’t the word for it - this was more than Liam could’ve asked for... Cate had gone above and beyond.
They all step forward on the pale wooden floorboards cautiously, like they were all waiting for the illusion to fade. It wouldn’t though because this place was theirs now. It was their home. Well, whenever their parents let them come down.
“Liam I...” Ruby pauses, lifting her head to stare above her friends to the second floor. She had been the bravest of them, stepping so far into the room that her shoes had gone onto the white central rug. It meant that she could see where the spiral staircase led to a mezzanine.
“How did you-“
“Don’t ask.” Liam quickly says, not really wanting to go into how he had to literally beg Cate to sort it out.
Vida gives him a suspicious glance but drops it, as do the rest of them.
“There’s something else,” Liam finally says after a minute, wandering over to the adjoining kitchen and opening the first drawer. Four presents sit one on top of the other in black wrapping. He pulls three out and places them on the desktop. The fourth he slips into his jacket pocket for later.
“Vida, this one’s for you,” Liam sings while sliding the first rectangle box over to her. She rips into it carefully and gleams at the serrated silver. She lifts it out of the box carefully and runs a wandering finger over the serration.
Chubs casts a worrying look over her shoulder at the gift, then raises a glare to Liam as if to say, seriously?
Liam is quick to look away to the next present.
“Zu...” he smiles, passing her the only present that wasn’t in a box.
Zu’s lips part in a gentle gasp and her hands shake as she opens the newspaper fully. Lee doesn’t expect her to say anything and would never openly ask for her opinion on something unless absolutely necessary. She’d tell him in her own time how she felt about it.
Instead, he drops a hand on top of hers and gives it a quick squeeze. She raises her head and gives him a small and grateful smile.
The penultimate is Chubs’. Liam was worried about this present, just as he was about Ruby’s. He’d thought endlessly about whether or not this had been a good idea and in the end, he’d decided to just take the risk.
He’d gotten him an old disposable camera and a mostly empty photo book. Chubs was the quietest about the past when it came to their group conversation. They knew his new role was all about how to change the future and he’d been so eager to take it because he hated the past.
Liam wanted to give him a chance to love the past again, despite the hardships. If he documented important moments from now, he hoped he might be able to see his history in a positive light.
Lee slides the box over slowly, holding his breath.
Chubs is smiling when he takes the present but it falls when he opens it, careful to angle it away from his friends. The look on his face isn't disappointed, more curious and contemplative. The others lean over to see as he puts his hand in the box and flips open the book inside. There was a collation of images in there, all from their recent group outings in and around their hometowns.
They’d all gone exploring together, showing each other places that once meant the world to them. It had been a sobering experience but an important one that Liam had been sure to document. Those places might not have been important to them now, but they had been, and everyone wanted to be in the know about their friend’s lives before everything went sideways.
“Is it-“ Liam gives an unsure and embarrassed cough and casts a glance downward at the box. “Is it alright?”
“It’s more than alright,” Chubs murmurs, his voice tight. “Thank you, Lee...”
Liam just nods instead of saying anything, worried that his mouth wouldn’t close once it opened. He had far too much to say but didn’t have the words to say it... hopefully, these gifts could say it for him.
“And where’s my gift?” Ruby, who had been watching silently as Liam handed out the three presents he’d shown them, finally asks. “Our first Christmas together and you’ve forgotten me?”
“Never.” Liam looks up, smiling softly. “Follow me, would you?”
Vida makes a cooing noise and wanders away towards the sofa, her new blade flipping professionally around her fingers. God, she really was kinda scary.
Chubs glances after her, his hand glued to the expert way she flung the knife through the air. It was hard to tell if he was frightened or just impressed... maybe both?
Ruby leads the way off towards the glass, sliding open one of the doors. Wind rockets into the room, smothering Zu’s excited squeal when Vida sends the knife flying straight into the centre of an empty frame on the wall. It also covers Chubs’ disapproving tut and his following complaints.
Liam closes the door behind them and takes Ruby by the hand out into the sand. They find a spot without stones and sit close together to hide from the softening wind.
“So, why did you drag me out into the cold?” Ruby says, trying to sound annoyed but coming off amused.
Liam falters, finally feeling nervous about this final gift. He had felt so confident about this present ten minutes ago. There hadn’t been a single doubt in his mind that he’d made the wrong decision, but now, looking at Ruby with the wind blowing her hair into her eyes, he was kinda worried.
“I wanted to be the first person to see your reaction,” Liam finally whispers after swallowing his fear.
Ruby just smiles and places her hands between them, waiting.
Lee gathers his courage and pulls the square present out of his pocket. Ruby watches, her eyes widening at the velvet box.
They were too young to get married, Liam knew that, but he also knew that there was no one that he’d ever want other than Ruby. She was the first thing he saw when he closed his eyes, and the first thing he wanted to see every morning when he woke up. She made flowers bloom in his chest, colouring his heart in hundreds of different shades of emotion.
He wanted to be with her until the end, whenever that may be, and she deserved to know that.
So Liam puts the box in her hand and holds his breath as she opens it.
The flat silver ring and the written engraving stares up at them both and still Liam waits, his heart caught in his throat.
Ruby pinches the card between her fingers and turns it over, reading the short well thought out note.
‘There are many things I can’t promise but I can promise to stay with you for as long as you’ll have me.’
Her hands shake as she puts it down, pulling the ring from its cushion.
“Liam...” she murmurs on a breath. “What is this?”
“I’m not asking you to marry me,” he replies hastily, cupping Ruby’s hands in his own. “I just wanted you to know that I’ll be here, with you, for as long as you want me to be here...” he looks down at her hands, so small and dainty looking inside his own. “It’s a promise ring.”
Ruby sniffles, lifting her hand to wipe away a tear. “God, Liam.” Another tear follows the first, and then another and another. Ruby chases after them to no avail. “You’re too good at this romance stuff.”
That makes Liam smile, his gaze still on the ring in Ruby’s palm. “Can I put it on?”
Ruby grasps at composure before she nods, having to look up at the rolling clouds to stop from crying anymore.
Liam lifts her free hand, pressing a soft kiss to her fingers, her palm, and to the back of her hand. Ruby watches completely mesmerised by him as he glides the ring onto her finger.
A promise.
Not a promise of marriage or a promise of something unattainable, but a promise of love and of a family for as long as she needed it.
Ruby flips her hand over, admiring how the silver looked against her skin.
“I love you,” she whispers, lifting her eyes to his.
His smile is slight but there all the same. “I love you too.”