BXBX NOVEL Chapter 368: 368: It Seems Like the Time Has Come (8)
Chapter 368: 368: It Seems Like the Time Has Come (8)
At this point, Ruby suddenly thought of some past events and giggled as she tilted her head, looking at Steve Burton: “I used to not like eating dinner, and I would always wake up hungry in the middle of the night. I would come here and call for you, and then you would come out of your room looking very unhappy. You would throw me a bag of food and then just go back into your room with a straight face.”
“Was I really that unhappy back then?” Steve laughed softly, recalling that there was indeed a long period of time when he would stay up every night, waiting for Ruby, who would wake up from her dreams hungry. She would call out to her “big brother” Steve in her childish voice. At that time, he would happily get out of bed, grab the snacks he had prepared in advance, and hurry to the porch. But when he stepped out onto the porch, his facial expression would involuntarily droop, and he would toss her the food, then silently return to his own bedroom. Then, with his face pressed against the door, he would secretly watch her squatting on the ground, drooling over the snacks he had given her, and he couldn’t help but to smile.
It was such a beautiful time. Enabled by these accompanying thoughts, Ruby lifted her head and became less frightened of Steve. She nodded solemnly and confirmed: “Yes!” Then, she pouted: “But one time, I woke up hungry in the middle of the night, and no matter how much I called for you, you wouldn’t respond. So, I tried to climb over here by myself to get some food. I saw how easy it was for you to climb, so I tried to mimic you. But then, I accidentally fell from here.”
As she spoke, Ruby even demonstrated the falling motion.
After all these years, Steve would never tell Ruby that on that particular night, he wasn’t actually in deep sleep. Instead, he had grown impatient waiting for her and started chatting with Howard Coleman. Somehow, the conversation turned provocative, and his thoughts began to fill with steamy scenarios of him and her. Unable to control his urges, he went to take a cold shower, missing the sound of Ruby’s cries for help. By the time he came out, he heard her loud sobbing.
He didn’t even have time to put on clothes. Draped in his bathrobe, he ran out and saw her lying below, blood seeping from her head.
He was genuinely terrified. He quickly ran downstairs, picked her up, and took her straight to the hospital.
That night was chaotic for both of their families.
Steve thought about it and chuckled: “Yeah, I remember that incident very clearly. When you woke up and faced your father’s blame, you pointed at me and said, ‘seeing him climb so easily, I followed suit.’ Just like that, with your light-hearted words, I was forced to stand against the wall and reflect on my actions for a whole day and night.”
Although Steve’s words sounded like complaints, Ruby couldn’t detect any resentment. Instead, she smiled cheerfully, staring at Steve, opened one hand, and playfully imitated her old self, saying, “Steve, big brother, I’m hungry.”
It was just a casual conversation about the past, with Ruby acting a little cute. However, to her surprise, Steve actually picked up a bag from the side and threw it to her.
When Ruby opened the bag, she found it filled with small snacks.
Some things may have never touched her heart, but they had become his precious habits that he had carefully cherished and protected throughout his life.
PS: That’s it for today, to be continued tomorrow