The room was silent; no one spoke.
Just when Christopher Moore thought Ruby Mercer might fall asleep again, he turned to see her wide eyes staring at him.
Christopher smiled gently, "Can't sleep?"
Ruby nodded with a smile, "Hmm!"
In fact, she had been awake the whole time, waiting for him.
"Well, since you can't sleep, let's chat a bit!"
Christopher looked at her, eyes full of warmth. "That morning when you returned to Westwater City, did you run into Alvin Hargreaves?"
Ruby was startled, "What's wrong?"
Christopher shifted closer to Ruby. "What did he mean by self-harm?"
Finally, Ruby's eyes flickered, and she lay down flat.
"It's all because of you, leaving marks all over me!"
The fear of that day took her a long time to slowly forget. Bringing it up again, she could still recall the pain of pinching herself.
Christopher reminisced about that time, "I remember not having the heart to leave too many marks!"
