"Dad, can I talk to you?" I ask him, standing by the doorway. He stops stirring the food and dusts his hands off, turning towards me.

"Of course, what's wrong?"

"Privately?" I suggest, giving him an apologetic look. He nods at me, his jaw still clenched slightly as I step outside onto the porch. The wooden decking creaks underneath me and I take a seat on the swing, staring aimlessly out into the dark woods. Despite it being pitch black and resembles something from a horror movie, it doesn't scare me.

Dad silently takes a seat next to me, the swing creaking from the weight of both of us. I turn towards him, chewing nervously on my bottom lip. I rarely get nervous.

"I'm sorry."

He remains quiet and the guilt inside of me increases. I sigh deeply and swallow my pride, taking his hand in mine.

"I shouldn't have called you and Mum hypocrites. I know I shouldn't listen to the rumours about you two. I want you to know I really am grateful for everything you've both done for me, I'm just a teenager with hormones that get in the way sometimes," I mumble. The corners of his lips twitch slightly and I know he wants to make fun of the hormonal teenager thing. Before he can, I continue -

"The only reason I don't want your surname is because of Uncle Tobias. He really hurt me Dad... I love your name, you know I do. It's just that whenever anyone mentions it, it reminds me of him. Do you understand that?" I ask him, clinging onto his hand tightly. He squeezes it in response and nods slowly.

"I understand Ruby."

I let out a small sigh, pulling my knees up to my chest and resting my head on his shoulder. His arm automatically wraps around my shoulder and he places a kiss on my forehead just like he's done a million times before.

"Thank you for apologising." He says quietly, both of us glancing out into the dark shadows of the trees. The sound of owls and grasshoppers fills the silence between us and I close my eyes, feeling comforted by it.

"I love you Dad."

"I love you more, Ruby Wentworth."

He doesn't turn to look at me but if he did, he'd see the corners of my lips turn upwards into a small smile.

*****

"Ruby, go help Tori with the fire please. We need more wood." Mum smiles, poking the fire pit with a stick. I nod and push myself off my chair, heading into the woods with Tori.

"I'm so glad you're coming with me, these woods creep me out so much," Tori shudders and I chuckle, taking her hand in mine.

"It's not creepy, I come here all the time. If anything does happen, I'll scare them off. Rawr!" I yell into the darkness and Tori giggles, squeezing my hand in hers. We both continue walking and stop at a clearing in the pathway. I begin to pick up sticks and pieces of wood that we'll need for the fire and Tori does the same.

"Are you scared of anything Ruby?" Tori asks me, her voice echoing through the dark trees around us. I pause for a moment, thinking hard about her question.

"I'm scared of being lonely."

I nibble nervously on my bottom lip and frown at myself in the dark. I don't like to show people my weaknesses, even my best friend.

"Lonely?"

"Yeah, I'm scared of losing my family and friends. I think the worst feeling in the world is to feel lonely." I say quietly, keeping my back turned to her. I can hear her breathing behind me and the occasional rustle as she continues to collect wood from the forest floor.

"You're always surrounded by people, girls like you and guys like you too. You won't ever be lonely..." she drifts off, her voice also becoming quiet. It's rare that me and Tori ever have deep conversations with each other. We usually play fight, call each other bitches and gossip.

"Let me re-phrase my answer," I turn, smiling slightly.

"I'm scared of losing people who I can be myself around, not crazy Ruby. I like crazy Ruby too but it's exhausted to do that all the time. People in school like crazy Ruby, they don't know the real me." I reveal, running my free hand through my dark hair. Tori watches me intently, her head slightly tilted to the side.

"Where do I belong?" She asks me quietly. Even though we're surrounded by darkness, I can see the glimmer in her eyes.

"Do you even have to ask?" I respond, shaking my head. When she remains silent, I answer her question.

"You're someone I'm afraid of losing, you're someone I can be myself around Tor."

A beaming smile spreads across her face. She walks up to me, one hand clutching a pile of sticks. I watch as she stands inches away from me, looking directly into my eyes. I'm about to ask if we can cut the soppy behaviour when she does something that takes me by complete surprise . . .

She leans forward and presses her lips against mine.

My eyes widen in shock and I quickly spring backwards, stumbling on a piece of wood.

"Shit!" I curse as I land painfully on my ankle, squeezing my eyes shut tightly. I ignore the flare of pain and look at Tori instead who's standing over me, her hand slapped over her mouth.

"Oh god, Ruby, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that, I am so sorry." She apologises, hesitant whether to help me up or not. I grimace as I push myself up off the floor, my ankle throbbing painfully.

"Tori, its fine, honestly."

"No, it's really not. I don't know why I did that, can we take it back? Oh god, this is so awkward," Tori babbles, her cheeks blushing dark red. I've never seen her blush before.

"Tori!" I yell at her, snapping her out of her babbling state. She immediately silences and turn towards me, her eyes wide. I hold her stare for a few seconds, my face expressionless.

"It's fine, I promise."

She's my best friend. I don't want her to feel awkward around me because of one silly kiss. Tori exhales deeply, her shoulders slumping in relief. I let out a small chuckle, hobbling on one leg due to my sprained ankle.

"I guess you couldn't stay away from my leechy tongue, right?" I joke, sticking my tongue out at her. The awkward air between us completely dissolves as she chuckles loudly, her laughter ringing through the air and trees.

I smile because I'm good at what I do.

Making people laugh to forget about their worries.