A/N: I love this book. So much. And I'm the only English person to write fanfiction for it.

Cool!

I guess there's not that much to write for it, fanfiction-wise. But then I started thinking, and came up with this. So yeah. Oh, I apologise if some of the timelines are a bit off. I think it works.

PS I love Ruth. So much more than Kathy. I think she's brilliant.

Enjoy. If I even get readers, enjoy.

SPOILERS. Kinda. You could call it spoilers, but it's not very spoily. The most spoily bit is probably my end A/N. Whoops.

I ramble! Onwards! (They're still in Hailsham. If you don't get that.)

Disclaimer: Never Let Me Go & everything related belongs to Kazuo Ishiguro.

Ruth didn't know why she hated that song so much. That Judy Bridgewater song that Kathy was always listening to – Never Let Me Go. It was just so jolly compared to everything at Hailsham – all of Hailsham's colours were monochrome, and that song just ruined it.

('Monochrome' was a word she'd overheard in a conversation recently, and Ruth was determined to use it as much as possible.)

But she really did hate that song. And Kathy played it all the time. Even Ruth knew all the words, and that really wasn't something to be proud of, considering how hard she tried to block it out. Really, really tried. But it stayed there, as a lingering doubt does, in the back of her mind.

It was like was Miss Lucy had tried to tell them. Ruth didn't want to know, she didn't want to know what she was created – and no-one could deny that they were created – but she didn't want to know, so she stopped thinking about it.

It was still there. And in the same way, so was this tape. Darling, kiss me…

Ruth wanted to scream. If she heard those words one more time…

But it was obvious. Take something out of the circuit, out of the equation, and it doesn't work. Not all the parts fit, and it can't do its job properly anymore.

Seeing as it would be hard to get rid of Kathy – and she didn't particularly want to, either – Ruth would have to get rid of the tape.

It wasn't that hard. After all, Kathy was always out nowadays with Tommy. She didn't keep the tape locked away. No, nothing like that. Why should she? Everyone at Hailsham was trustworthy, after all.

Ruth stole into the room and saw the tape there, lying carelessly on Kathy's bed. Her hand darted out, taking it, and Ruth slipped out of the room again, looking around to see whether anyone had seen her. They hadn't – who cared what she did?

If she kept it, Kathy might find it. Kathy might find it and they there'd be trouble. So Ruth tiptoed out into the garden, to the very edge. She stood just behind the fence that separated Hailsham from the outside world and let the tape slip between her fingers, before twisting her heel on it.

Her shoe smashed the plastic, grinding it into the grass and dirt until there was absolutely no chance of repairing it.

But, just to make sure, Ruth picked up the smashed bits and lobbed them over the fence. After all, who'd look there?

And maybe, Ruth might feel a little compassion, and maybe she'd help Kathy look for another copy.

Or maybe not.

She did know one thing. She was never telling Kathy the truth. Why would she want to give up something she'd fought this hard for?

She wasn't going to.

A/N: So, I typed this up from a notebook. And it looked a lot longer in the notebook. Only 500 words? It took 4 A4 pages of writing. Anyway.

Review? I'm genuinely not hoping for any. I don't expect it. I don't have any on my Chaos Walking one (granted, it's not that great) but there's a slightly larger CW readership.

Anyway. I'm a rambler. Please review! Even if it's just one word, so that I know you're there. I could check my traffic too, but I'm very lazy. :) And traffic can lie. There's a sentence I thought I'd never type… :D

i.n.u. xx