97 What Am I Going To Do With You?

Ruby had fallen asleep waiting on the couch for Ash to come back and he felt a bit guilty because she didn't look the slightest bit comfortable lying on her stomach with her limbs hanging off into space like that. He sighed and gingerly picked her up to carry her to bed.

He had missed out on the chance to spend time with her alone all because he needed his pills and she wasn't able to leave Flora alone. This wouldn't be a problem in another thirty or so years—she would be able to handle things herself for an hour or two then—but that was so far away.

Ash set her down on the bed but she ended up grabbing his arm in her sleep so he was forced to sit next to her for a while. His gaze was impossibly soft as it focused on her face.

Time had not diminished his feelings. If anything, they grew stronger every year that passed. He wanted to spend the rest of his long life with Ruby more than anything. He needed her; there was no one else on earth that could possibly make him as happy as she did.

He made up his mind as soon as he got her back from the Cromwells—they would never be parted again if he had any say in the matter. But she didn't think that way. From the beginning, she was set on taking things one day at a time.

Ash hadn't minded that at first but now more than fifty years later he was dissatisfied with that. He wanted Flora to know they were together. He wanted a guarantee Ruby would never leave him.

Unfortunately, that would only happen if they did a marriage contract and she would never go for that. She had always been more self-conscious about the nature of their relationship than he was, thinking it was impossible from the beginning.

It had been tricky working some things out to be sure but it hadn't been impossible. They had a really good thing going but he selfishly wanted more. He wanted all of her. Forever.

"What am I going to do with you?" Ash asked the sleeping fairy beside him, slightly exasperated.

Ruby did not answer.

===

The following afternoon when Ash woke up, he met up with Ruby and Flora in one of the greenhouses where they were tending to the plants as usual. His girlfriend noticed him coming this time and smiled at him.

"Hey! Sorry I missed you last night; I guess I was pretty tired. How did your trip to the witch coven go?"

He sighed inwardly thinking about the near disaster he experienced. "I ran into an Averill and Arisa was as chatty as usual."

Ruby suddenly turned so she wasn't facing him anymore and cut a rose off of a bush with a loud snip. "The Averill coven is the one somewhere else in Alaska, right?"

"Yes."

Ash had been trying to avoid them for decades because he was afraid news about him had traveled this far north. Blair had known about what the Cromwells did when he first went down to California even though they were two states away but that might have been because it had happened in her coverage area.

Alaska was pretty far from Washington but the witches did tend to keep each other informed of things that happened in their territories. It was better to be safe than sorry.

He wanted to avoid getting on anyone's radar because he loved the life he had here with Ruby. He was done with covens and all of their restrictions after having a few decades to enjoy modern amenities.

Sure, it would be nice to be on the same sleep schedule as the fae he lived with but that was minor compared to all the other benefits of being by the side of the one he loved.

Ruby abandoned her task of cutting roses and flew out of the greenhouse without another word, startling Ash out of his thoughts. He watched her go, confused as the door slammed behind her.

Flora sighed and turned to look at him with her gloved hands on her hips. "You really are hopeless, aren't you?"

He was used to getting attitude from her—she was rather precocious for an eighty-six-year-old—but what had he done this time? He had barely woken up and said approximately two sentences!

Ash was automatically defensive. "What?"

"Ruby doesn't like it when you talk about other vampires, dummy. She's afraid you're going to go back to them someday," the fairy said as she rolled her eyes.

He blinked at her bewildered. How on earth had she come to that conclusion? She didn't even know the two of them were dating!

Noticing the look on his face, Flora shook her head at him like he was an idiot and continued. "You guys seem to forget I can talk to trees. Anything said or done near them can make its way back to me now that I've had time to practice my powers and Ruby talks to herself a lot outside.

"I don't care that you didn't tell me you were dating because it was kind of obvious already. Why would I? The two of you have raised me for half a century; you're basically my second parents.

"Ruby didn't want to tell me because she knows I like you and is afraid we're both going to get crushed when you eventually leave. As if it'll make a difference whether it's a roommate or her boyfriend going. We would both be upset either way because you're part of our family."

Flora eyed him shrewdly. "You aren't going anywhere though, are you? If you really weren't going to stick around you would have left already. Honestly. Quit being wishy-washy and marry her already."

Ash gaped at her. He just got told off by a child who had been alive about 1% of the time he had. And she was probably right too.

Ruby did get upset when other vampires got mentioned but he always thought it was because she was reminded of her time as a prisoner of the Cromwells. Had she really been jealous and insecure this entire time?

The thought made him happy in a petty sort of way but only for a moment. He had to go set her straight immediately.