Chapter Text
Penny met Ruby in kindergarten, when Ruby was the only one who would sit next to her because the other kids thought Penny was weird. But then Ruby plopped herself down in the seat next to her, dumped the box of crayons on the table, and proceed to talk to her while they both colored. Penny remembers thinking it was amazing because she didn’t have to look at Ruby’s eyes and since Ruby was focused on her pictures she didn’t have to worry about whether or not her face was being weird.
And then, in fifth grade, Penny’s dad took a job all the way in Atlas, and the pair of them fell out of contact. She spent a lot of middle school miserable and lonely.
But now it’s tenth grade and they’re moving back to Vale. Penny had very tentatively emailed Ruby to tell her, and the response had been mostly incomprehensible but with a lot of happy emotes and exclamation marks, so she’s pretty sure Ruby is excited?
“Penny!”
Penny turns. She and her dad have just gotten off their flight, and there by the baggage claim is-
With a delighted gasp, Penny sprints the rest of the way down the hall and collides with Ruby hard enough that they fall to the ground. “Sal-u-tations! Oh, I’m so happy to see you!”
“I missed you so much!” Ruby sniffles, clinging to Penny with all of her might (which is more might than Penny remembers).
“Come on, kiddos,” Summer says with a grin, “You’re blocking the way for everyone else.”
“Oops,” Ruby says, and Penny laughs even as they stand up.
Tai steps up to Penny’s dad, shaking his hand. “Pietro! Good to see you again, man.”
“C’mon, let’s go get your stuff!”
Instead of doing that, Penny pivots and sweeps Yang into a hug. “Yang! I’ve missed you!”
Yang laughs. “I missed you, too, Pen.”
——
Ruby is staring again.
She’s been staring a lot, lately. Ever since Penny got back, she catches Ruby looking at her a lot.
“What?” Penny asks, head tilting a little in confusion.
Ruby goes the same bright red as the hoodie she always wore in fourth and fifth grade. “N-nothing! Just- just not used to the long hair yet.”
“Oh, okay,” Penny says, and goes back to her homework.
——
They’re sixteen and in Ruby’s backyard. Penny’s barefoot, because it’s nice outside and she likes the feel of the grass, and she’s looking down at her toes digging into the dirt a little when Ruby says, “Hey, Penny?”
“Yes, Ruby?”
“IthinkI’vehadacrushonyousincelikethirdgrade.”
Penny looks up. “Um. Can you say that slower?”
Ruby’s bright red, staring a little to the left of Penny’s face and wringing her hands in her lap, and it takes a couple tries but she still says, “I think I’ve had a crush on you since, like, third grade.”
Penny stares. For too long, apparently, because Ruby starts to curl up a bit the way she does when she’s embarrassed. So she says, “Me too. I mean, I have a crush on you, too. I just- well, I didn’t know if you...”
“...Liked girls?”
“Yes. That.”
They fall quiet. It should probably feel awkward, but it doesn’t. They’re both just processing. “Can I sit next to you?” Penny asks eventually, gesturing vaguely to the swinging bench Ruby is lounging on.
“Oh! Yeah, of course!” She swings her legs around so she’s sitting upright, and Penny sits down beside her. Then, hesitantly, she scoots a little closer until they’re almost touching. Their hands between them do touch, however, and Penny watches Ruby’s fingers entwine with her own with something like fascination. She looks up, and Ruby’s blushing again. Well, still blushing. She never really stopped blushing.
She looks... really pretty.
Penny leans over and puts her head on Ruby’s shoulder.