Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Found

Ruby Rose hummed happily as she skipped on the way home from grocery shopping. Why was she in a good mood? Because Yang was going to cook her favourite dinner and she couldn't wait! Soon, her skipping turned into a short jog, then into a full on sprint towards home. It wasn't that far from home, only a fifteen-minute walk, but if she wanted to, she could run it in about five minutes.

She slowed to a stop when she saw someone leaning onto the wall weakly. Thinking that they were in trouble, she cautiously moved closer to them.

"Hey, uh… are you ok?" she asked. Now that she was closer… "A-Aren't you… Weiss Schnee?" she blinked and moved so that she was in front of her.

She saw that Weiss was holding onto her right side carefully, her lip was bruised, and… was that a hand mark on her right arm?

"We need to get you home!" she got up, pulling out her cell phone and was about to call her sister for help but looked down when she felt the other woman grab her wrist and shook her head.

"I'll… be fine. I was just resting." She huffed, struggling to stand up only to fall and lean onto the wall again.

"Yeah, sure you are…" she grumbled as she was about to help her stand then paused for a moment. "Hey, Weiss." She waited until she looked into her eyes. "Can I help you to my home so that I can treat your wounds at least?" Ruby didn't want to touch her in case she freaked out and knelt next to her. "I'm not going to tell anyone. Well… maybe Yang and Blake because we live together, but I won't take you to the hospital if you don't want to. I want to at least treat some of your wounds."

Weiss stared at her for a minute before nodding weakly, slowly standing up and allowing Ruby to help her up, leaning onto her for support as they walked towards her house.

"Uhm… I can take you home after we treat your wounds." Ruby spoke softly, unsure of what to really say or do with Weiss like this.

"I'll walk home on my own after."

She sighed at the answer then looked ahead. They were walking slowly, not wanting to move too fast to injure the other woman. Sure Yang and Blake are most likely going to be worried because she took longer to come home, but that didn't matter right now! Weiss was injured and she couldn't leave her alone like that!

"There you are!" Yang shouted as she moved towards Ruby. "I was worried about you! …uh who… what?" she looked at her younger sister, confused.

Weiss flinched when Yang yelled like that and struggled to move away from Ruby who didn't let her go.

"Yang, she's injured and I just want to treat her. She doesn't want to go to the hospital." The younger woman looked at Weiss, worried that they were scaring her. "Keep the shouting to a minimum, please."

"I… ok." The blonde scratched the back of her head and took the grocery bags that Ruby was holding. "I'll tell Blake to get the bath ready. Is that ok? Or should we just get the first aid kit?"

"Weiss, do you want to take a bath?" Ruby asked gently.

The white haired woman shook her head, not wanting to take too much of their time.

"No, can you start dinner? I'm just going to take care of her wounds."

Yang nodded as she headed home first to explain things to their other roommate. Ruby and Weiss took their time heading towards the house.

"Ok... we're here. Take it easy." The raven-haired woman slowly helped her up the steps and walked her towards the couch, slowly setting her down. "Can you… lift your shirt a bit so I can see that wound? I can treat your other wounds after."

Weiss hesitated. "I… can take care of that myself."

Ruby blinked, surprised by the answer then nodded slowly. "Alright… can I help you to the bathroom so you can take care of it?" This time Weiss just nodded and leaned onto the other woman, slowly walking towards the bathroom.

"I thought you said she wasn't going to take a bath?" Yang raised a brow.

"She's not, I just want to give her some privacy. She wants to take care of the wound on her side on her own." Ruby helped Weiss into the bathroom, closing the lid of the toilet and set her down gently. "Can I stay and help you? Or should I look away?"

"I'd… rather you not be in here…" Weiss looked away nervously.

"Alright, I'll just be outside. Call for me if you need help." Ruby smiled at her as she left the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

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"Weiss is here? Seriously?" Blake looked up at them as she started to make dinner.

Yang raised a brow. "Weiss as in… Weiss Schnee? The same girl that was in the same classes as Blake, the captain of the fencing club, lead in choir, and the student council president in high school, Weiss Schnee?"

"You didn't recognize her until now?" Ruby chuckled, staying near the bathroom door just in case Weiss needed her but close enough to chat with her two roommates. "Yang, you played when they had those choir competitions!"

"Well, when you consider the fact that at school she has her hair up, wearing her clothes properly, and has a different aura around her, yes, I didn't recognize her." She stuck her tongue out then frowned. "But what happened? Mugging?"

Ruby merely shook her head. "I was on the way home and found her like that already. She said that she was just resting and she'll be fine." She frowned, having a bad feeling about this. The young woman moved towards the door when she heard a soft thump and knocked. "Weiss? Are you ok in there?" Silence. She bit her lip and waited for a few minutes. "I'm coming in ok?"

As soon as she opened the door, she found Weiss on the ground without her shirt and scars all over her back, a nasty bruise on her side, and some red on her skirt. Ruby quickly moved towards her side to check her wounds and shook her head.

"Weiss! We need to get you to a hospital!" she was about to get up but was stopped when her shirt was grabbed.

"No…! I'm… fine…!" she huffed, struggling to sit up.

"You can't be serious right now!" Ruby looked into her eyes and saw how serious she was. "Weiss, you're hurt! Badly hurt! We need to take you to the hospital to get them checked out! And call your family!"

Weiss paled when Ruby said that they should call her family and shook her head frantically. "No! Don't call them!" she begged, her body shook with fear as she held onto Ruby's arms desperately. "Don't… call them… please…"

What? Ruby frowned but didn't like how badly Weiss was shaking, and it wasn't from the cold. Placing a gentle hand onto her hands, she sighed. "I won't call your family. Can we still call the hospital to check your wounds?"

Again, Weiss just shook her head. "Just… give me some bandages. I'll wrap myself up then leave… I'll pay you back for the medicine later."

"Weiss, this isn't something that you can wrap up and call it a night!" Ruby sighed. "Stay here for tonight at least. You shouldn't be moving."

"I assure you that I'll be fine, Rose. You can stop worrying." She huffed then raised a brow when Ruby was looking at her weirdly. "…what now?"

"You… know me?" she asked, unsure of how she knew.

Weiss blinked, now feeling a bit calmer. "You were the track star in high school... Hard to miss it over the announcements whenever we win any events… and I was the student council president, I should know at least all the student's names and faces…"

Oh… right. She forgot that the school announced almost everything that was going on and announced awards for the 'star' athletes every year.

Sighing, she looked at the older woman, thinking of a proposition. "…Ok Weiss, if I help you wrap up your body, will you stay the night?"

The white haired woman bit her lip, mulling over the choices in her head and sighed. It hurt too much to move right now so she had to agree. "Alright…"

"Thank you." Ruby reached for the medicine box and grabbed some rolls of bandages, carefully helping Weiss sit up and wrapped her side, frowning at how thin she was. Wasn't she the captain of the fencing club just last year?

"You can tie it tighter, dolt." Weiss huffed, leaning onto Ruby for support.

"Wouldn't that hurt though?" Ruby frowned. She didn't know much about medicine, but she was pretty sure that one wasn't supposed to tightly bandage their wounds like this.

"It'll be fine. It's nothing I'm not used to." She sighed, finally getting used to the pain.

Ruby didn't like the sound of that and bit her lip. "Weiss, seriously…?"

"Rose, I—"

"Ruby."

Weiss blinked. What?

"Call me 'Ruby' and I'll listen to you." Ruby didn't look at her as she lifted her arm. "You should ice this down…" she paused for a moment before some bandages to wrap up her arm. "You… can talk to me you know. I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Why should I trust you?" Weiss huffed, pulling her arm back and reached for her shirt to put it on.

"I found you, let you in my home, and treated your wounds. That should count for something." Ruby crossed her arms, frowning at her.

Damn, she was right, but that still didn't mean that she could tell her though!

"Is it… something you can't talk about?" she kept prodding, but was trying to be careful in case she hit a sore spot.

"…that is correct." Weiss nodded as she bandaged her arm to cover the handprint.

"So I can't ask anything about it?" Ruby crossed her arms, thinking about something then looked at her seriously. "You know, Weiss… It's sometimes easier to talk to complete strangers than your friends about your problems… because you have nothing to lose."

Weiss merely scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "Talking about it makes it worse." She moved her arm and slowly stood up. "Thank you again for the bandages. I'll pay you back later."

Well that was worth a try at least. "Alright, do you want to join us for dinner? Or do you want to go sleep?"

"I'll go to sleep. I don't want to bother you more than I have." Weiss grabbed her left arm nervously.

"Weiss, you're not bothering us." Ruby paused for a moment before continuing. "Ok… maybe I am a little bothered that you won't let us take you to the hospital or call your family about your condition, but it's your choice…"

Weiss sighed deeply, biting her lip as she thought about it. "I'll find my way to the guest room or living room…"

"Nuh-uh. You're gonna stay with me in my room where I can watch you." Ruby crossed her arms. "Say what you want Weiss, but it still has to hurt and feel uncomfortable when you move and everything."

"Rose, I—" she paused when the younger woman gave her a look and rolled her eyes. "Ruby, I told you that I'm used to this."

"Yeah, you did. But that doesn't make me feel better. I'd like to give you a nice warm bed to sleep on tonight, not just some smelly old couch." She blinked at what she said. "N-Not that our couch is smell or old! I just mean it's more comfortable to sleep on the bed!"

The white haired woman sighed and shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I—" she paused when Ruby gave her puppy dog eyes and took a step back. How was she supposed to deal with that?! "A-Alright… I'll accept your offer…"

"Alright!" Ruby cheered and took her hand gently. "I promise that Yang and Blake won't bother us too much so you can rest and I'll take you home tomorrow."

"Yang… Blake… Xiao Long and Belladonna?" Weiss blinked. What kind of small world is this?

"Wow, you really do know everyone's names and faces!" the younger woman was amused and grinned as she lead her guest towards the dining room.

"Uh… where are you taking me, Ruby?" Gods it felt so weird saying her name like that. The only person she was on a first name basis was her sister! And even then, she rarely talked to her.

"Dinner. I know that you said that you just wanted to go to sleep, but seeing as you're still awake and it's not good to skip dinner, you might as well have something small to eat." She grinned as if she's a child.

"Ruby—" Weiss started only to stop once she saw the other two women.

Yang and Blake was setting the table and looked up when Ruby walked in pulling Weiss behind her.

"Oh wow, it really is Weiss Schnee. You look like total shit earlier." Yang crossed her arms. "Glad to see you looking a bit better now."

"Very funny Xiao Long." Weiss rolled her eyes then looked towards Ruby, whispering to her. "Do I really have to eat something?"

"Yep, now sit down." Ruby was being gentle as she pushed her towards the table and walked to grab her a small dish so that she could eat.

Weiss bit her lip as she sat down and sighed, unsure of what to really say or do here.

"So…" Yang started slowly, eyeing Ruby as she came back with a small bowl of their dinner. "Small world, isn't it prez queen?"

"Xiao Long… we're not in school anymore." The white haired woman sighed, rubbing her temples. "And I still hate that nickname."

"Want us to call you Ice Queen then?" the blonde smirked.

"Yang…" Ruby narrowed her eyes at her as she took a seat next to Weiss.

Yang laughed with her hands up defensively. "Ok ok. Is she staying the night though? I don't think it's safe for her to go home now."

"She's staying." Ruby paused then looked at Weiss. "You didn't change your mind, did you?"

"No." Weiss shook her head. "We made a deal, I'm staying the night."

Blake raised a brow. "A deal?"

Was that supposed to be a secret?

"That is correct, Belladonna." Weiss nodded as she looked at the bowl of spaghetti, unsure of how to eat it.

"Weiss, the food isn't going to attack you." Ruby giggled at how cute Weiss looked right now. "You haven't eaten spaghetti before?"

"I've mostly eaten salad. I can try this though." She still looked at the bowl, glancing at the others on how to eat it.

Yang smirked, knowing that Weiss didn't know how to eat spaghetti and grabbed a handful, stuffing her face with it as Blake rolled her eyes.

"Yang, stop teasing the poor woman."

"I ain't teasing her." The blonde munched on her dinner, making sure that she didn't make too much of a mess.

Weiss was quiet as she watched Ruby who showed her how to eat it.

"How's the food?" Ruby grinned.

"…different… but warm." Weiss took another bite, eating it curiously then looked up at the trio at the same table at her who just smiled at her. "T-Thank you for the meal, I'll be going to bed now." She got up to hide her blush.

"Ah, I'll show you to my room then lend you a toothbrush and some clothes!" Ruby got up quickly, smiling brightly at her guest before she could protest.

"T-Thank you." Weiss followed after Ruby who was practically bouncing in her steps.

"Alright, let's go~"

Once the duo was out of sight, Yang spoke first. "Who knew that the Ice Queen could look like that?" she smirked, cleaning her hands and started to eat her dinner properly.

"She has her moments." Blake picked up the empty dishes. "But you're right, I haven't seen that look on her before."

"You're the one that probably sees her the most so I'll take your word for it." Yang twirled her fork and grabbed a large forkful of spaghetti, finishing it in one bite.

"But you're the one that talked to her the most before. You were her pianist." She chuckled as she washed the dishes. "I wonder what happened though…"

"Who knows. I'll ask Ruby about it later." The blonde shrugged and brought her dish to Blake, kissing the top of her head.

"Yang…" Blake leaned against her as she washed the plates. "Ruby's here you know."

"Yeah, I'm here." Ruby was at the table, finishing the rest of her dinner, then looked up at her sister with an unamused face.

Yang jumped back, not realizing that the younger woman returned from her little errand. "W-When did you get here?!"

"Just as you got up and kissed Blake on the head." She grabbed all the plates on the table and walked to help wash them. "Hey… can I ask you two something?"

Yang and Blake looked at each other before looking back at Ruby.

"You could always ask us about anything, Rubes." Yang ruffled her head a bit.

"I'm going to guess that this is about Weiss though?"

The younger woman nodded. "I don't know what happened to her and she doesn't want to talk about it, but I want to help her..."

"There's not much that you can do if she doesn't want to talk about it." Yang crossed her arms. "But I guess you could let her know that she's not alone."

"That's the best thing that you could do." Blake dried the dishes, putting them away and dried her hands, leaning onto Yang. "Having someone that you can trust when you're like that really means a lot."

Yang gave Blake a soft smile and ran her hand through her hair gently while holding her close.

"It's getting late, Rubes. You should go to bed now."

Ruby nodded and said good night to Yang and Blake, slowly opening and closing the door to her room so she didn't wake up Weiss. Just as she was about to get onto the bed, she heard Weiss whimpering in her sleep.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…please… stop…"

The raven-haired woman blinked as she heard that and moved close to her, frowning at the sight of tears falling from her eyes.

Whatever happened to her, she was angry and worried. Angry that whatever happened hurt her like this, and worried because Weiss wouldn't let her help with her problems. She just hopes that she could gain her trust so that she could help her later on.

"Weiss…" she carefully brushed the bangs out of her hair then blushed at what she was doing, quickly pulling her hand back.

Just what did she think she was doing?!

Ruby looked back at her and gently took her hand, giving a soft smile seeing the other woman looking calmer. Now that she got a better look at her, she didn't realize how beautiful she looked as she was sleeping like this, curled on her side with her hair down.

"Don't worry… I promise that I'll do whatever I can to help you. Rest easy Weiss."

Chapter Text

The next morning, Weiss stirred awake. For a moment she panicked, unsure of her surroundings until she saw Ruby next to her.

"Right… I stayed the night here…" she mumbled to herself and curled under the covers more, liking how warm it made her feel and closed her eyes.

It was an unusual feeling. She knew the concept of warm things, such as hand warmers, hot chocolate, and the like, but this was the first time her heart felt… warm.

Speaking of warm… her hand felt warm. Slowly opening her eyes again, she noticed that Ruby had her hand holding her own. Biting her lip, she gently squeezed her hand, unfamiliar with the gesture.

Stirring awake at the grip on her hand, Ruby slowly opened her eyes. "Mmm… Weiss?" she yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

Weiss bit her lip, feeling bad that she woke her up and quickly removed her hand. "I-I apologize… for waking you up…"

"Nah, don't be." Ruby sat up and stretched. "Did you sleep well?"

Now that she thought about it… "I did." She slowly sat up and saw Ruby's grin. "W-What now?"

"Nothin', it's just that you look a lot better than last night." Ruby then got off the bed. "You could sleep a bit more. You look like you haven't slept in a couple days."

Weiss frowned. While it was true, but she couldn't just sleep in someone else's bed… as comfortable and warm as it was.

"No… I'll get up. I should be going back to my house soon." She slowly got off the bed, missing the warmth.

"Awww... so soon?" Ruby pouted a bit then blinked.

Why was she pouting? It only made sense. This wasn't her home, she had a different place that she was staying at. But the thought of Weiss leaving made her sad for some reason. They just met last night for grimm's sake! And yet… she felt that she couldn't leave Weiss alone. Not after that fearful look she gave her last night.

"Rose? Remnant to Rose." Weiss waved her hand in front of the other woman. "Weren't you going to brush your teeth or whatever you do in the morning?"

Ruby snapped out of her thoughts then pouted. "Weiss…~ What did I say last night?"

"…are you kidding me?" Weiss groaned. "The deal that I call you by your first name and that you'll listen to me?"

"Yep! So if you want me to do anything for you, you'll have to call me 'Ruby'!" she grinned at her. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Listening to Weiss all day just so that she could listen to her say her first name.

"I don't have time for this nonsense, I have to go back to my house soon." Weiss shook her head. Wasn't it just a one-time deal anyways? Why did she care what she called her?

Ruby still just pouted then thought of an idea, smirking. "If you still want me to stay quiet, call me 'Ruby'. That should be simple right?"

"You wouldn't dare…" Weiss narrowed her eyes at Ruby, part of her believed that she was just bluffing, the other part just couldn't believe that she was being blackmailed just to call her by her first name.

"Would I now~?" Ruby said in a sing song voice.

Sighing deeply and not wanting anyone to know about her situation, she had no choice but to agree. "Fine, Ro… R-Ruby…" Gods it still sound weird for her to call anyone but Winter, maybe Whitley if he was lucky, by their first names.

Ruby merely smiled brightly at that. "Was that so hard, Weiss~?"

Oh was she going to strangle her later…

"You can use the bathroom first. I'll just use the other one. What do you want for breakfast anyways?" Maybe that was enough teasing… for now.

Weiss blinked. Breakfast? Oh right, the first meal of the day.

"…a piece of toast will be more than enough."

Ruby furrowed her brows at that. Was really enough to fill her up? She looked at Weiss seriously who just looked back at her with a confused expression. Ruby shook her head to stop thinking about how cute that looked and sighed a bit.

"Do you want any jam to go with it? Peanut butter?"

"No, just the toast." Weiss didn't understand why Ruby was asking that and got off the bed, starting to make her way towards the bathroom.

"Roger!" Ruby grinned, watching the older woman disappear out the door then frowned. So Weiss doesn't eat much at breakfast. That just won't do at all. Of course she wouldn't force her to change her diet, but she would try to see if she'll eat a bit more later.

Getting off the bed, she made her way towards the other bathroom, greeting Blake by the dining table.

"Ruby?" She stopped and looked at the raven-haired woman. "How's our guest?"

"She's alright… but I'm worried about just giving her a piece of toast for breakfast." Ruby pouted, crossing her arms.

Blake merely nodded. "She never ate that much in school either. The most I've seen her eat was some salad and an apple… other days I've never seen her eat anything, but she can take care of herself. She said so herself."

"But that doesn't really mean anything!"

"I know that you're worried about it, but why are you getting worked up about how much she eats? It's not like you know her as well as Yang and I."

Ruby blinked. She did make a good point. Why was she so worried about Weiss? This was the first time she talked to her. She frowned and looked away from her roommate.

"…the way she looked at me last night. I can't just leave her alone." She mumbled, sounding more as if she was convincing herself that was the reason and went towards the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

She looked into the mirror as she turned the tap on, waiting for the water to warm up a bit and stared at her reflection. She remembered the frightened look Weiss gave her when she said that she was going to call for someone to help her. She remembered how she begged not to tell anyone.

The way that she begged her not to tell anyone and how she held onto her arm as if she were a frightened child, wanting to be forgiven for being punished. Punished for doing something that she shouldn't have done. What happened to her?

"Weiss… what in the world happened to you…?" Ruby mumbled to herself as she washed her face, flinching at how hot the water has gotten and shook her head. She adjusted the temperature and started to brush her teeth and wash her face properly.

Once she was done, she left the bathroom and gave a soft smile when she saw Weiss sitting at the table with Blake, talking about classes that they were attending.

Silently, Ruby moved towards the kitchen to get some bread to toast up, humming to herself and occasionally glanced back to see how they were doing. What she didn't notice was Yang walking up behind her and ruffling her hair.

"See something you like kiddo?" she smirked while Ruby just groaned and swatted her hands away.

"Yaaaaaang! I don't see anything I like!" Ruby pouted and grabbed a small plate, putting two pieces of toast onto it then grabbed another plate to place a couple more pieces of toast onto it for herself.

Weiss looked up at Ruby when she placed the plate of toasts in front of her and silently thanked her, slowly eating the toast.

"Heads up!" The trio at the table looked up in time to see an apple being thrown at Weiss and Ruby quickly caught it before it hit her.

Weiss blinked, wondering what just happened while Blake sighed and Ruby glared at her sister.

"Two pieces of toast isn't healthy you know. At least take that apple before you go home. It's not poisoned or anything." Yang grinned at her as she turned her back towards them.

Weiss blinked. Why did they care about her health so much? She looked at the two pieces of toast in front of her and at the apple Ruby just placed down. Sure it wasn't ideal, but she never really felt that hungry.

"Sorry for Yang." Ruby apologized for her sister then started to put some strawberry jam onto her toast, happily eating it.

"She did something similar in school before. I'm used to it." Weiss shook her head as she continued to eat her toast, getting lost in thought of how different this morning felt.

It was warmer than waking up in a house where she was alone. Part of her liked how warm this was, but it was different. So different that it make her chest hurt and she didn't know why. Hiding that feeling, she quickly finished her breakfast and grabbed the apple as she stood up.

"Weiss?" Ruby blinked as she looked at her, licking her lips to get the last remnant of jam.

"I'm going back to my house now. Thank you for the breakfast and treating my wounds. I'll send you a check for everything I've used later." She started and started to head out the door.

"Hey! Wait! I'll walk you home!" Ruby stuffed the rest of her toast into her mouth and grabbed her shoes, quickly following after Weiss before she could protest.

Yang just laughed as she watched her sister insist on walking the former president home and took her seat next to her girlfriend.

"Maybe I should teach Ruby how to play the piano."

"I don't think that Weiss is singing anymore, but it'll give Ruby an excuse to hang out with her." Blake shrugged, not really caring what they do as she drank her tea.

"Rubes won't need a reason. She has that look in her eyes again." Yang laughed as she cut some pancakes and offered it to Blake. "Want some?"

"Even if I said no, you'd still try to feed it to me anyways." Blake gave her a soft smile and took a bite.

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Ruby was silent and she didn't like it. She knew that Weiss didn't want to talk about how she got her wounds and they didn't have much in common to talk about anything besides a curt 'yes' and 'no', but that didn't mean that she wouldn't stop trying!

"So uh… Weiss… is your side ok?"

"It's still the same as when you asked two minutes ago, Ro…. Ruby." Weiss sighed, still getting used to calling her by her first name. Damn Rose and her blackmail!

Shaking that thought out of her head, she gingerly held her side for a moment to check the bruise, thinking that she should've rewrapped her bandages before leaving but she didn't want to impose on them anymore than she had already.

"I know, but it looks like it hurts…" Ruby frowned as she looked around to remember how to get back home.

It didn't seem like Weiss lived too far away, heck it was just down the street too! Maybe she could spend some time with Weiss to check in on her wounds and how she's doing. Yeah! That sounded like a great idea! Sounded so great that she was smiling about it and didn't notice Weiss looking at her with a worried expression.

"…Do I even want to know why you're smiling that much?"

"Well it doesn't seem like you live that far from my house so… I was thinking that I could come and hang out with you. You know, so that I can check in on you and everything." Ruby smiled sheepishly at her.

Weiss blinked. Why was she going so far for her? They hardly knew each other for Grimm's sake!

"…why?"

Ruby blinked at her question. "Why… what?"

"Why would you go so far for me?" Weiss stopped walking and turned towards her. Her family never gave her the time of day so she never expected anyone else would, yet here was Ruby, giving her all her attention, but for what reason? "Is it because of my family that you want to be friends?"

"What? No!" Ruby shook her head. What the heck was she talking about anyways? "Weiss, I'm worried about you! I found you injured and you refuse to let me take you to the hospital!" She frowned and took a step forward. "I know that you said that you were used to this, but that doesn't mean that it's ok!

Worried about her? Ruby was… worried about her? It took a moment for her to process what she said and meant before turning around.

"Do what you want."

With how adamant Ruby was about sticking with her, maybe she'd go away after her injuries were healed up. Although, part of her would miss her by her side even though it was only half a day she spent time with her but with her family. Thinking about it now, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have Ruby by her side from time to time.

Ruby merely grinned at Weiss, glad that she had her permission to hang out whenever she wanted. She looked at the house that she was staying in.

It's a two-story white house, it looked normal so far and it was surprising. Weiss mentioned her family earlier, so did that mean that she had a lot of family members staying with her? Or did it mean that her family was rich?

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the gate open and saw that Weiss was silently inviting her in. Smiling at the gesture, she quickly caught up to the older woman and walked into the house with her.

Ruby looked around at the seemingly empty house. Everything was simple. A tan couch in the living room with a coffee table in front of it but no TV, and the white blinds were closed. What caught her eye was the piano in the corner. Other than that, everything seemed… empty and lonely.

Frowning at the sight, Ruby turned towards Weiss who was just walking towards the stairs. "Weiss? Where's your family?"

The older woman stopped in her tracks, not saying anything for a moment before Ruby felt a shiver down her spine from the cold tone Weiss gave her.

"I live alone."

Alone. So that's probably why she didn't eat much… or was it? Not wanting to bother her too much, and she knew where she lived now; she just gave Weiss a small smile.

"Sorry. I'll see you later, ok Weiss?" Ruby quickly moved up towards the other woman and gave her a gentle hug before leaving the house, remembering the address as she made her way back home.

Weiss blinked at the sudden hug, but didn't say anything or return it. She watched Ruby leave and raised a hand, feeling confused and… lonely.

This loneliness was different than what she was used to. It felt colder than usual.

Shaking that feeling out of her head, she made her way towards the bathroom on the second floor and took off her shirt to see how badly the bruises were before she took a shower.

She turned on the water to warm it up then looked into the mirror.

"Mirror… help me…" Weiss pleaded. Tears fell down her face, as she didn't recognize who she saw in the reflection anymore.

She saw two people that almost looked like her, but with her hair down, wearing a plain white sundress.

One of them had a rope around her neck, her wrists and ankles chained together, a black eye, and bruises on her arms, basically she looked as if she was someone's punching bag and her eyes looked dead.

The other looked… happy, as if she were confident in anything that she could do and her eyes were full of life, as if she were proud of everything that she has accomplished so far.

But… which one of them was the real her?

"…who am I…?"

Chapter Text

Ruby sighed as she walked back into her house and blinked when she heard a soft piano sound. Curious about the sound, she walked towards it and saw Yang watching a video with Blake next to her on the couch.

"Yang? What are you watching?" She blinked as she moved behind her and watched the video.

It was Weiss and Yang when they were in high school. Weiss was singing a song she vaguely recognized while Yang was playing the piano for her.

"This was 'Cold' right?" Blake looked at Yang, unfamiliar with the song.

"Yep. Most of the songs she sang solo were… interesting to say the least." Yang shrugged then looked at Ruby who was staring at the paused video then smirked. "Hey Rubes! Welcome back, I didn't expect you to come back until tonight!"

"What? Why would you think that?" Ruby snapped out of her thoughts then pouted at her. "Surprisingly, she didn't live that far from us. It's like down the street."

Yang and Blake blinked in disbelief. The rich Schnee was living nearby? Seriously? They knew that Ruby was filled with surprises but they never expected her to bring home Weiss and figure out that she lived nearby.

"So… why are you watching old videos of your concerts?" Ruby raised a brow, wondering what brought that on then blinked when Yang handed her the phone.

"Just figured that it would've been something you're interested in for some reason." Yang shrugged, looking at her sister's expression then smirked. "Seems like I was right. Want to learn the piano?"

Ruby looked at the phone then back at Yang then back at the phone again as she pressed play. "You can teach me?"

"Ruby, you've been watching me play for how long now? Besides, I'm sure that you want to spend more time with Weiss for some reason. Why not play some old songs with her again."

Blake narrowed her eyes at Yang, understanding what she's doing and looked back at Ruby who looked like she was studying the video playing on the phone.

After watching the recent video, Ruby looked up at Yang and nodded. "Teach me what you know."

"Great, pick a song from those four videos and I'll see if I can find a place that has a piano where we can practice with." Yang smiled at her and got up.

"Oh… Weiss has a piano at her place. I told her that I'd be seeing her later to check on her. It'll be like killing two birds with one stone! You can teach me the piano at her place and we can keep her company!" Ruby grinned at the bright idea.

Sure she might be inconveniencing Weiss a bit, but who cares? She wanted to keep Weiss company and Yang was offering her to teach her how to play the piano. Maybe she'll be lucky and Weiss would sing along with her!

"You actually went inside her house?" Yang raised a brow then smirked at her. "You're not just saying that because you want to spend time at her place are you?"

"Yang! Well…. Her house is pretty empty, but I do remember seeing a piano in the corner!" Ruby pouted, not liking that her sister was plotting something.

"Hey, I'm not the one that promised to see her soon." Yang snickered as she wrapped an arm around Ruby, ruffling her hair. "But you should at least ask her to borrow the piano from time to time. I doubt that she'd appreciate me and Blake just showing up with you just to play the piano."

"Yang!" Ruby grumbled as she tried to free herself then blinked. Right. Yang had a point. She should ask Weiss.

She gave Yang her phone back then was about to reach for her phone to call Weiss… only to remember that she forgot to ask for her number. Ruby looked at the time, wondering if she should run over to ask but decided against it for now. Something was telling her that Weiss wanted to be alone for now from their conversation that morning, but at the same time… she still couldn't leave her alone.

"I'll ask her in the afternoon or tomorrow." Ruby frowned.

Noticing the look on her face, Yang ruffled her hair again. "Hey. Cheer up, kiddo. You'll see your girlfriend soon enough."

"Thanks I…" Ruby then blushed madly when she realized what Yang just said. "Yang! She's not my girlfriend!"

Yang just let out a roaring laughter as Blake rolled her eyes and slapped her arm. "You can stop teasing your little sister for a few days after befriending the ice queen."

"Blake… not you too…" Ruby pouted at them. She loved them with all her heart, but sometimes they can be annoying.

"I just said 'befriend' I didn't say anything about Weiss being your girlfriend or anything of the sort." Blake looked at Ruby then back at Yang, taking the phone from her and played one of the songs that she performed. "Watch all of the songs then figure out which one you want to learn how to play first. Maybe get Yang to tell you some practice stories or something." She handed the younger woman the phone before getting up so that she could grab a book from the shelf then returned to the couch.

Ruby blinked when she was handed the phone, watching the videos in order. She didn't notice Yang guiding her to sit on the chair opposite from them and just cuddled with her girlfriend, holding her close.

"You and your plans…" Blake mumbled, not looking up from her book.

"What plans? Besides, out of anyone, Ruby's probably the one that could do something about that frozen princess." Yang mumbled into Blake's hair, playing a bit with her bow.

"As long as you keep out of trouble. For all of you." She placed a hand on Yang's arm, gingerly tracing her thumb over her scar.

Yang just smiled at her lovingly then looked up at her sister who was staring intently at the videos. "I think that we're all going to be fine."

After watching all of the videos a few times, Ruby looked up at Yang. "The last song she sang, 'Mirror Mirror', teach me that one."

"Alright, it's a pretty simple one to teach, but it's a bit hard to explain… and to play without a singer." The last part was a lie. Luckily for her, only Blake knew that it was a lie. "Why don't you go ask Weiss if you can borrow her piano and time, and set up a schedule or something so we can go over there and practice together?"

Ruby looked at the time. Did time really fly that fast? It was already after one pm and last time she checked it was barely before ten.

Maybe she could go ask Weiss now? She only hoped that she wasn't too busy with anything.

Getting up, the young woman tossed the phone back to Yang. "I'll call later."

Yang just waved at her as Ruby left the house.

______________________________________

"You're a disgrace to the Schnee name! How can you place second on this easy test?! Have you been falling behind on your studies?!"

"If only you weren't born… If only I didn't have you… I wouldn't have to be reminded of him all the time… Get out of my face!"

"Friends? With you? I have never been your friend, dear sister. All that you've been to me is a shield to protect me from Father. Now run along. I have some studying to do."

Weiss shot up from her nap, wiping the tears from her face and held onto her hands. Again with that horrible nightmare; even in her sleep, her family haunts her dreams. When will she ever be freed from them?

She blinked when she heard the doorbell ring and grumbled. Was it a salesman? She hoped not. Making her way off the bed, she walked down the stairs and moved towards the door to look through the peephole and blinked when she saw Ruby.

What was she doing back already?

Slowly opening the door, Ruby merely greeted her with that cheerful smile of hers.

"Hey, Weiss! How are you feeling? A bit better I hope!"

Weiss just stared at her for a moment, feeling oddly… calm seeing her smile. Almost as if that nightmare she had earlier didn't happen… almost.

"Weiss?" Ruby tilted her head and frowned. "Does that bruise still hurt…? I hope that you didn't break anything."

When hearing Ruby talk about breaking something, she snapped out of her thoughts. "It's nothing, you dolt. What are you doing here anyways?"

"Well… I wanted to hang out with you." She smiled sheepishly. "And Yang wants to teach me how to play the piano. Both of you two performed together back in high school, right? I uh… kinda wanted to hear you sing."

Weiss blinked. Twice. Was she hearing her right? She wanted to hang out and hear her sing?

"Ro… Ruby, why do you want to hear me sing?" Damn her and that look every time she didn't say her first name.

"You see… Yang showed me some old videos of you singing back in high school and…" Ruby shifted in place nervously. "I wanted to hear you sing again." That was an honest enough answer right? Oh she only hoped so.

"Xiao Long was showing you old videos?" Why would she do that anyways? Did seeing her again so soon after graduation make her want to reminisce their past concerts?

Ruby nodded slowly then frowned when she looked at Weiss' face, gently placing a hand onto her cheek. "Hey… are you ok?"

Weiss flinched at the sudden touch and looked into the other's worried eyes. How can she be so… forward and selfless? How can she be so worried about someone she never talked to? It hurt to breathe just thinking about it so she took a step back.

"Weiss?" Ruby frowned.

"I'm fine, Rose! Just leave me alone!" The words fell out of her mouth before she realized what she said and covered her mouth. "I-I'm sorry."

"Weiss, look at me." Ruby placed her hand onto the other's shoulder, being gentle with her. "Do you have some water?"

What? Weiss blinked and nodded, glancing at the kitchen and lead Ruby into the house.

Ruby gave her a gentle smile and followed her in, closing the door behind them and walked towards the kitchen, looking for a glass to fill up and give to Weiss.

"Did you have a nightmare or something? I mean… you look a bit paler than usual. Or did you have some wounds reopen?"

"Rose, it's—" she stopped when Ruby gave her a look, tilting her head in confusion then remembered what she just called her then sighed. "Ruby, I assure you that I'm fine." Weiss held onto her side gingerly then blinked when she was offered a glass of water.

Slowly, she took the glass and drank a bit of water then looked at the younger woman.

Silence filled the kitchen for a while before Ruby spoke up.

"So uhm… can I have your permission to come over with Yang and Blake to play with the piano from time to time?" Ruby asked sheepishly.

Weiss thought about it for a few minutes before giving her answer. "I… suppose that's alright." It wasn't like she was doing anything much besides studying and as long as she gave her monthly visits to her father, he wouldn't say anything… hopefully. If he did, then they were going to have some serious problems.

Shuddering at the thought, she quickly shook her head and looked at Ruby. "What days and time will you be coming over?" And why did she felt this sense of calmness around her?

"Hmm… Classes doesn't start for a few months so… every day?" Ruby was joking of course, but she wanted to know what days Weiss was free. And if she played her cards right, she could do some shopping for the poor woman. It didn't look like she ate anything besides that toast and apple from earlier.

"Every…. Ruby, are you being serious?" Weiss crossed her arms, frowning at her but part of her didn't really mind it.

"I'm just kidding! But I am pretty much free every day and Yang and Blake starts their part time jobs this weekend. When are you free?"

Weiss blinked when she was asked that then shrugged. "I'm mostly just studying for classes this semester." That was all that she could do to please him.

Ruby pouted a bit. She should be studying too but at the same time, it sounded boring.

"Don't you want to have some fun with your friends?"

"Friends…?" Weiss frowned.

That word sounding so foreign to her despite knowing what it meant. Would Pyrrha, Blake, Coco, and Velvet count as friends? She did spend a few times studying with them after all. Then there was Yang, practicing with her for the school concerts. Was that what friends were?

"…they have better things to do."

Ruby pouted at her answer and sighed, and then an idea came to her mind. "Hey, Weiss? Can we use the piano for a bit?"

"The piano?" Weiss looked at it then nodded slowly. "It might be out of tune though. I haven't touched it for a while."

"It'll be fine!" Ruby grinned as she made her way over towards the piano, carefully opening the lid and propped it up. She then sat down and opened the fallboard, playing a few keys to see how out of tune it was. Ok, maybe it would be difficult to sing along with the piano sounding like that. "Do you think you can still sing with the piano like this?"

Weiss raised a brow. Ruby was dead set on hearing her sing wasn't she? Sighing, she shook her head.

"It depends on the song, but I supposed I could sing something without the piano…"

"Really?!" Ruby smiled at her, "Then… can you sing this song?" she turned back to the piano, starting to play the intro of 'Mirror Mirror' before stopping.

Weiss' eyes widened at the music then took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

"Mirror… tell me something… tell me who's the loneliest… of all…"

Ruby watched Weiss. Hearing it in person and without the music was different. She can hear it clearly this time and she didn't like the tone.

She could hear Weiss almost begging for help. But help from what? What's going on in her personal life that was making her feel this way?

"I'm the loneliest of all…"

Weiss finished then looked at Ruby who was watching her closely. Blushing a bit, she turned away.

"A-Are you happy now? Did you figure out the days and time you'll be coming over?"

She didn't know why, but with Ruby looking at her so closely, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Ruby blinked and blushed. She was too busy thinking about Weiss that she didn't think about the times to come over.

"I uh… H-How does every Friday and weekends after lunch sound?" That was the first thing that came to mind.

"Friday, Saturday, and Sunday…" Weiss thought about it then nodded. "I'll see you then." She then turned around, about to walk back to her room.

"Ah, Weiss!" Ruby called out to her before realizing what to say next.

Weiss stopped and looked at Ruby, wondering what she wanted now.

"Uhm… take care of yourself ok? You know where I live if you need me, and well… you're not alone. Not anymore."

She blinked. Twice. "Don't worry about it, you dolt. I'll be fine."

I have to be fine on my own.

Chapter Text

A little over two months passed since Ruby started to go to Weiss’ house regularly and she was glad to hear her sing from her heart, though she was still worried about how lonely the lyrics sounded.

Today, Ruby went to Weiss’ house to just hang out. She did ask if she could from time to time after the second week and she needed to make sure that Weiss was eating properly. Every time she visited, it didn’t seem like Weiss was eating anything and she had to make sure that she was doing all right.

Humming to herself, she rang the doorbell and smiled when Weiss opened it, letting her in.

“Are you alone today, Ruby?”

“Yeah, Yang and Blake are at their part time jobs and won’t be out until later in the afternoon.” Ruby grinned at Weiss. “Besides, I want to know if I improved or not on my own!”

That brought a faint smile on Weiss’ lips. “We’ll see about that.”

“Oh! Before I practice…” Ruby looked at the other woman seriously, crossing her arms. “We need to do some shopping. I know that your fridge is empty, and I don’t even have to look.”

“Ruby… there’s still some things in there from the last time you were here.” Weiss shook her head. She was thankful that Ruby was looking out for her, but sometimes she had more things in the fridge than she knew what to do with.

Sometimes it seemed like Ruby was buying some things and putting them into her fridge so that Yang wouldn’t know about what she was eating over here.

“And you didn’t just throw them out?” Ruby was curious. The first few times, she always came back to an empty fridge.

“Check for yourself.” Weiss walked towards the fridge and opened it, revealing half a carton of milk, some vegetables, a cup of yogurt, and a few apples.

Ruby looked over the contents of the fridge then gave a small smile. “So you ate all the eggs and half the yogurt we bought last time?” This was good. Weiss was eating a bit more now.

Weiss rolled her eyes. “Are you thinking that I won’t eat anything in the fridge? Ruby, I do eat something other than toast, fruits, and salad, believe it or not.” She paused for a second and sighed. “And you’re not going to believe me now, aren’t you?”

“I haven’t seen you eat anything other than a plate of salad so of course not.” She grinned, glad that Weiss understands, and thought about it. “Though I would like to get some more yogurt for you before we practice. Maybe some more fruits and eggs.”

Knowing that she’ll be fighting a losing battle, Weiss just sighed and shook her head. “Come on, let’s go while we still have time then.”

“You going somewhere?” Ruby raised a brow. She didn’t know that Weiss went out. Well she did, but it wasn’t that often.

“I doubt that you’d want to go on a walk with me for a few hours while I think of new songs.”

“Oooh! You come up with the lyrics yourself?! Of course I want to go!” Ruby paused for a moment then tried to calm down a bit. “I-I mean, if you want me to come with you. I’d like to see how you come up with the lyrics.” And maybe it’ll be a hint on why her lyrics sounded so sad.

Weiss blinked. She didn’t think that Ruby would want to go with her. Giving her a soft smile, she started to walk towards the door.

“Alright, just don’t expect too much.”

“But I like to listen to you sing. You have a beautiful voice!”

“Ruby, I’m not going to be singing. I’ll just be thinking about the lyrics for the next song.” Weiss tried to hide her blush, but she was thankful for Ruby and Yang playing the piano. She forgot how fun it was singing, and already thought of some lyrics for a new song.

“Oh! Even better! I get to see where you get your inspiration!” Ruby grinned brightly, glad to see Weiss loosening up a bit.

“You’re such a—“ Weiss stopped talking as she checked her phone. “Winter?”

Ruby tilted her head as she was about to leave the house. “Who?”

“My sister is calling. I’m sorry, can you wait a bit before we go shopping?” Weiss turned away before she heard Ruby’s reply and answered the phone.

___________________________

“Weiss, where are you? Are you ok?” Winter sounded concerned when Weiss finally picked up her call. “I know that I shouldn’t be too worried, but you usually call me around this time and you haven’t yet.”

“Winter, I’m fine! I just… someone from high school… came over and we’re about to go shopping for ingredients to fill up my fridge.”

There was a silent pause for a minute before Winter spoke again. “You’re going shopping…. with someone from your former school…?” she repeated, not believing what she just heard.

Oh boy, she knew that she was in trouble. “Yes, we were about to leave.”

“I did not know that you still kept in contact with someone from school.” She sounded suspicious but as long as her sister was safe and happy, then she didn’t mind. “Did you inform them about… that?”

“I didn’t. They don’t know about that. We’re not that close.” Weiss bit her lip, not wanting to go into too much detail.

“Yet you are close enough to go shopping with them…” she paused for a moment. “Have they seen what fath—“

“Winter!” Weiss closed her eyes tightly. “Please… don’t… continue.”

The older Schnee sighed. “Weiss, I know that you want to take care of this yourself and I can’t be there to help you physically… but you have your schoolmates. They can help you mentally, or at least in ways that I am unable to. You can rely on other people… though I’m surprised that no one noticed this entire time. You must’ve gotten better at hiding it.”

“Winter… please…” she was trying her hardest not to break down, not when Ruby’s in her house. “I don’t know if I ca--”

“Weiss.” Winter interrupted her. “I’ll try to find some time off, but until then, I need you to stay strong.”

“I… I’m trying, Winter.” Tears started to fall from her eyes as she hastily rubbed them away.

“I know, and that’s all I ask. Just hold on for a little while longer and I’ll be with you.” She paused for a moment. “Though I don’t think that I can get more than a day or two off…”

Weiss continued to rub her face to stop the tears from falling. “It’s still something, Winter. It’s been a while since we saw each other in person.”

“I’m sorry, Weiss. I love you.”

“I… I love you too.” She sniffed, then thought of Ruby before deciding to talk about it. “Winter?”

“Yes, Weiss? Is there anything else?”

The younger sister took a deep breath. “I… one of them… she saw the scars and…” she didn’t know if she could continue, feeling dizzy as she talked about it.

“What did she say?”

“She… just said we needed to go to the hospital… When I refused, she offered to help me bandage the bruises… That was a two months ago…”

“Weiss…”

Oh wait. “Y-Yes, Winter?”

“Is that all she did?” Winter questioned.

Weiss was having a hard time figuring out her intentions but she was the only one she could trust, besides Ruby. “That’s all. Well she… gave me some dinner after, and let me stay in her room for the night. She walked me home in the morning… We’ve uh… ‘hung out’ a few times as well. She played the piano while I sang a few of my old songs.”

They were silent for a while before the older Schnee spoke again.

“That’s good.”

What?

“W-What…?”

“Weiss, you need someone to trust. I am still skeptical about her trusting you so easily, and vice versa; but if she’s taking care of you and not pushing you to say anything, I believe that you can trust her. You said that you two have ‘hung out’ together, correct?”

“I… yes.” She was confused. What was her sister getting at?

“When I have time off, I’d like to meet her.”

Was she serious?

“W-What…?” Weiss was unsure of what her sister was thinking about. “Why do you want to meet with Ruby?”

“So her name’s Ruby? Are you sure that you’re not that close? You’re on a first name basis with her, after all.” Winter smirked, knowing that her little sister wouldn’t call just anyone by their first name.

“S-She wanted me to call her ‘Ruby’! She wouldn’t listen to me otherwise.” She blushed as she said that. “…But she is the one that I’ve been ‘hanging out’ with lately.”

Winter thought about it then chuckled. “I’ll get all the details when I see you personally, Weiss. Take care of yourself. I’ll let you know when I’ll be visiting you.”

“I… Alright, thanks Winter.” Weiss smiled gently. “See you soon. I love you.”

“See you soon, Weiss. I love you too.”

__________________

Ruby looked up when Weiss walked out of the house. “Hey, Weiss! Are you done with that phone call?”

“Yes. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that I hadn’t called my sister in a while. She was just checking up on me.” Weiss apologized to her and bit her lip, unsure of how to tell Ruby that Winter wanted to meet her.

“Weiss? What’s wrong? Did the call not go well?” The younger woman frowned.

“N-No. The call went fine.” She waved her hand. “She… she wanted to meet with you when she visits me.”

Ruby blinked. “Your sister… wants to meet me?” she tilted her head in confusion. Part of her was excited that someone from her family wanted to meet her, but at the same time, she was worried. If this sister was like Yang, then she’s in for trouble.

“That is… correct…” Weiss bit the inside of her lip, still confused as to why her sister would want to meet Ruby though.

“Hey, Weiss. It’ll be alright.” Ruby placed a gentle hand onto her shoulder. “If she’s like Yang, she’s just worried about what kind of people you’re hanging out with.” She grinned, trying to lighten the mood as much as she could.

The thought of an older Weiss with Yang’s personality came into her mind and she started laughing, holding her sides from the pain.

“R-Ruby? Are you ok?” Weiss was worried about her, why was she suddenly laughing?

“I-I’m sorry. I know that your sister is nothing like Yang, but… AHAHAH!” Ruby continued laughing.

Weiss blinked then frowned. Here she thought that Ruby was worried about what kind of person Winter was and she was just imagining her like Yang?! She was worried for nothing! “Ugh, you’re insufferable!” she grumbled then started to walk away.

“Ah! Weiss! I’m sorry!” Ruby apologized and quickly ran over towards her, wiping a tear from her eye. “Really! I’m really sorry!”

Weiss merely rolled her eyes as she continued walking towards the store then stopped when she saw a familiar figure.

“Weiss?” Ruby stopped next to her then looked ahead before looking back at the other woman. “Do you know that person?”

“I…” she hesitated. He wanted to see her already?

“Ms. Schnee. It’s time to come home.” The older man said sternly as he walked over towards them.

“I was going to visit later this week.” Weiss held her hand to stop it from shaking and hoped that Ruby didn’t notice.

Unfortunately, she did.

“Weiss, what’s going on?” Ruby frowned as she placed a hand onto her shoulder and was quickly shoved aside by Weiss before the man punched her in the stomach.

“WEISS!”

“Ngh… I’m fine Ruby.” Weiss coughed as she held up a hand to keep her away and used her other hand to hold her stomach.

“Ms. Schnee, you can’t just have anyone touching you.” The man frowned, not apologetic at all that he missed his original target.

“Says the one that just punched me.” Weiss stood straight.

“Only because you protected a commoner. I’m sure that your father would agree with my decision to protect you when this… filth touched you.”

Weiss frowned. “She is not filth. She is… someone I went to school with.”

Ruby looked at her worriedly. What the heck was going on? Why did it seem like they knew each other? Why did he attack them just because she put a hand onto Weiss’ shoulder? Why wasn’t he apologizing to them? To Weiss?! And why would her father agree that protecting a friend was a horrible thing?

“W-Weiss…?”

“I-I’m sorry Rose, but go home for today. We’ll study later.” Weiss sounded cold as she started walking towards the man.

Ruby stood there, shocked that Weiss was calling her by her last name again. Just when she thought that she had some progress in their friendship too. And study? What were they studying? Or was that some code?

“I…” She was about to protest but saw how Weiss was looking at her, almost pleading her not to argue and just leave, then frowned. “A-Alright, I’ll see you later.”

Every part of her being was screaming at her to not leave her alone, but she didn’t know why as she watched Weiss leave with the man. It wasn’t until she was out of sight that she started walking home.

“Ruby? What are you doing home? I thought you were going to hang out with Weiss all day?” Yang looked up from the couch when she saw the door open and watched her sister walk in.

The young woman was quiet, causing the blonde to frown and get up, walking over towards her. “Hey. Remnant to Ruby? Are you lost in cookie land?” Yang asked as she placed a hand onto her shoulder, giving her a light shake.

“Yang…?” Ruby looked up to her. Oh right, she’s home now. She was so lost in thought about what happened earlier, tears started to fall from her eyes.

“H-Hey! What’s wrong?! Did Weiss do something to you?!” Yang pulled Ruby into a close hug, wondering why she was suddenly crying like this.

“N-No! She didn’t do anything! We were about to go shopping, then there was this guy that showed up and she took a punch for me when I touched her shoulder and asked her what’s wrong.” Ruby sobbed, still feeling guilty about it.

Yang frowned as Blake walked up and placed a hand onto her shoulder.

“He’s one of her father’s men. He usually comes pick up Weiss when she has to visit her family.”

“But Weiss didn’t say that she had to visit them. Just that she was going for a walk to come up with some new lyrics.” Ruby wiped some tears away with her sleeve, still thinking about it.

The way Weiss was acting and how she looked at her before leaving. Maybe she could talk to her about it the next time they met. For now, she made her way towards the bathroom, but was stopped by Yang.

“Yang, I just wanna wash my face then watch some videos to kill time…”

“I figured that you wanted to know a few things about the Ice Queen from me and Blake.” Yang shrugged as she walked back onto the couch.

Blake looked up, raising a brow then saw the look on Yang’s face before looking at Ruby, understanding her intentions and sighed, following her and sat next to her.

“We don’t know that much, just what we think we know.”

“That’s way more than what I know.” Ruby made her way towards the couch opposite of them. “After listening to her songs, they’re all… lonely sounding. And she doesn’t really hang out with other people aside from us.”

Yang was glad that her sister caught that little detail, now knowing that it wasn’t just her that heard it. “She cried a few times when we practiced. Everyone thought that it was an emotional song, and she pretended that it was, but it was probably something more since she practiced with me alone after that.” She frowned, remembering how she wouldn’t open up about why she was crying while singing. Weiss would always just say something like ‘for the impact’ or something along those lines.

“After test day, when she wasn’t the top of the class or didn’t have a perfect score, the next day she’d be wearing long sleeves. Even during the summer.” Blake frowned as she remembered asking about it once during a study session with her. Of course Weiss gave her the run around.

Ruby frowned. Singing lonely songs that make her cry and wearing long sleeves when she didn’t have a perfect score on a test? Adding how she found her once before and asked to tell her family…

Her eyes widened in surprise when she came to a conclusion. She didn’t have concrete evidence, but Ruby needed to hear Weiss confirming it for her. She looked at the time and sighed, Weiss probably wouldn’t be back home until tomorrow.

Sighing in defeat, Ruby pulled her knees to her chest, trying to think of what she could do to help Weiss.

Yang wrapped an arm around Blake and rubbed her shoulder. “So… seems like we’re all thinking the same thing.”

“With how she acts sometimes, you should know.” Blake sighed as she nuzzled her girlfriend’s shoulder.

“Do you two have to do that when I’m thinking here?” Ruby rolled her eyes as she turned away from them.

“Hey, we don’t know what you’re thinking about, and this is our home. We’re allowed to cuddle like this.” Yang grinned.

Ruby groaned and flopped back onto the couch, turning her back towards them. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Be yourself. I’m sure that you’re the only one that she’d want to talk to after things like this.” Blake looked at Ruby, wanting to give some advice for the younger woman, feeling as if she were her younger sister.

“…are you saying that I should be like what Yang is to you?” Ruby raised a brow as she turned her head to look at her.

“Well… not exactly what I meant.” Blake started.

“Do you want to make out with Weiss?” Yang smirked.

Ruby shot up and blushed madly. “YANG!”

“I’m kidding little sis! You’re too young for that.” The blonde laughed as Blake slapped her shoulder. “Ok, ok, but really. Just be there for her. It’ll take some time, but respect her boundaries. Let her know that you’ll always be there for her even if she pushes you away.”

Blake nodded. “She’ll be cold. Constantly pushing you away, but that just means that she’s scared. Don’t let that fear overpower her and let her know that you’ll be there to help her when she needs help.”

“Right…” Ruby thought about it. It did seem like Weiss was asking for her help through her body language, but she didn’t know how to ask directly. “I’ll check on her tomorrow. I don’t know when she’ll be home.”

“Hey.” Yang waited for Ruby to look at her. “Don’t overdo it ok? It’ll be alright. Just remember to take care of yourself.”

“Right… thanks, Yang.”

But I’m more worried about Weiss…

Chapter Text

Ruby stared at the ceiling, thinking about Weiss all this time and sighed. After talking with Yang and Blake, she figured that her father was most likely abusing Weiss, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She couldn’t straight out ask her about it either since every time she asked, Weiss kept avoiding the questions and changing the subject.

Sighing deeply, she turned, trying to get comfortable in the bed but she was just too worried about Weiss! Grumbling to herself, she sat up, tied her tennis shoes, then grabbed her red hooded jacket, putting it on as she left her room. Maybe a nice walk would help her calm down a bit.

Ruby put on her hood as she left the house and just walked, not really caring where she went but she did remember where she was so that she wouldn’t be lost later.

“Weiss… what kind of life did you have at home…? You’re calling for help with your songs aren’t you? I offered to help, but… why won’t you let me?” she sighed as she looked up at the sky, wondering what she could do.

Lost in her thoughts, she almost tripped on someone and quickly caught herself, looking down to apologize to the person then widened her eyes as she recognized who it was.

“Weiss?!”

“You’re a disgrace! What are you doing befriending commoners?!” A hard slap to the face. “The Schnees do not have time for friends that are not profitable!” He grabbed her hair and held her up. “I will not allow you to have someone who is unknown drag you down to their level! Do you understand me?!” A hard punch came to her stomach and she slammed into the wall.

Weiss coughed as she stood up, holding her side and nodded. “I… understand, father…”

She snapped her eyes open when she felt a hand onto her shoulder. She looked up and saw familiar, worried silver eyes looking back at her. Wait, what? Oh right… she was meeting with her father again and… what happened after she left was a blur.

Weiss remembered leaving the house, making her way back to the ‘home’ here and… nothing. She looked up at the sky for a moment and found that it was night before looking back at Ruby.

“Weiss, wh—“

Before Ruby could finish, Weiss forced herself to stand, leaning against the wall. “I’m fine, Ruby! I’m just… resting…”

“Yeah… you said that before…” Ruby couldn’t help but remember the first time she saw her like this and wrapped an arm around her shoulder carefully. “Don’t lie to yourself… to me. Please, Weiss. I just want to help you.”

Weiss bit her lip, her father’s cold words echoing in her mind. Yet Ruby’s warm words made her feel safer.

“Ruby…” she mumbled, leaning onto her. “Thank you…”

Ruby blinked at what she said and gave her a soft smile. “Any time. Come on, your home is closer than mine.” She stood slowly, making sure that she didn’t move too fast or roughly so that she wouldn’t hurt Weiss anymore than she was.

“Ruby, I’ll be fine… and it’s cold.” Weiss stumbled forward, trying not to lean onto the younger woman any more than she had to.

“Weiss… Last time I found you wounded, you were bruised and couldn’t walk on your own.” Ruby bit her lip and sighed in relief when they finally arrived at her house. “Come on, I’ll help you get cleaned up.”

“I’m not a child that can’t clean themselves.” Weiss growled as she opened the door.

“If you can walk five steps on your own, without help, then I’ll believe you, princess.” Ruby narrowed her eyes, remembering Blake’s words about not letting Weiss push her away. She needed to be firm, but gentle.

Weiss grumbled something and removed herself from Ruby’s arms, taking slow tentative steps before stumbling on her third.

Luckily for her, Ruby rushed by and caught her.

“See? What did I tell you?” Ruby shook her head and helped her towards the bathroom. During her visits, she made sure to memorize where everything was in the house.

“Fine…” Weiss sighed deeply, hating herself for being so weak.

Ruby closed the toilet seat and set Weiss down, kneeling in front of her. “I’m gonna help you change and wash up ok?”

“R-Ruby, you don’t have to do that!” Weiss’ eyes widened in fear, scared of what she’ll do and say after seeing her body.

“I promise I won’t call the hospital. I promised that before, remember?” Ruby frowned. “And I saw a few of your back scars… you don’t have to hide it from me.”

Weiss sighed in defeat. She was right. Again. And she hated it.

“As long… as you don’t ask questions about it…” she slowly took off her shirt, motioning towards the sink to get the first aid kit.

Ruby nodded, giving her a bit of privacy as she grabbed the kit then looked back, frowning at the bruises forming on her stomach.

“Weiss…” she started but was interrupted.

“No questions.” Weiss huffed, leaning back a bit.

“Can I at least ask about that guy that took you away?” Ruby didn’t like how secretive she was being and she wanted to know about why he just attacked when someone touched her. “Why did he suddenly try to attack me?”

Weiss frowned as she closed her eyes. “…That man is one of my father’s messengers. He sends someone to get me when I… have to visit him once a month.”

“And they attack anyone near you with a punch? Weiss, that’s not right! He can’t just attack anyone that you talk to! Let alone hang around!”

“I… he’s… protecting me. All my friends have to be people I can profit from.” Weiss was repeating what her father told her when she tried making friends once, before they all suddenly disappeared from her life.

“Weiss…” Ruby couldn’t believe what she was hearing as she got a warm, damp cloth, gently washing her face. “It’s still not right. What do you want?”

Weiss flinched when she felt the cloth on her face and looked into her eyes. As always they were filled with concern and her voice was patient. Almost as if she was about to spill everything but something was holding her back.

She glanced at the mirror, seeing chains on her wrists. The same thing that she saw almost every time she looked into the mirror after thinking about what her father did. Weiss let out a noise of surprise and raised her wrists, somehow expecting to see actual chains on them, and panted heavily, surprised that there wasn't anything.

“Weiss?” Ruby was surprised when Weiss suddenly raise her arm. Did she think that she was about to hurt her? She frowned and placed her hand onto her shoulder carefully, looking at her wrists and frowned seeing old, faded scars. “It’s me. You’re safe.”

“R-Ruby…” Weiss started, tears starting to fill her eyes. “I…”

“Hey… it’s ok.” Ruby bit her lip, scared that she’ll say the wrong thing but she needed Weiss to know that she was going to help her no matter what. “I’m not going to hurt you. I won’t let anything hurt you. I promise.”

She looked at Weiss’ wrists again, her fingers hovering over them, waiting for permission to touch them.

Weiss hesitated but relaxed a bit, placing a hand over Ruby’s and gave a small nod.

Ruby gave her a gentle smile and traced the scars on her left arm first, unsure of what caused all of these rugged slash marks but she promised that she wouldn’t ask about them. Hopefully in time, she’ll be trusted enough to know more about her scars. When she looked at Weiss’ right wrists though, she carefully traces the scars there, the slashes were straighter, and the way Weiss’ hand was shaking, she could guess what caused these scars.

“Weiss…”

“Ruby… please… don’t ask…” Weiss whispered. “You promised…”

“I wasn’t going to ask about your scars.” For now. “How are you feeling? That man punched you pretty hard… Why did you protect me? I mean sure, it’ll hurt, but seeing you like this hurts more.” Ruby frowned as she held onto her hand, looking into her eyes. “I just want to help.”

“I…” Weiss hesitated. Why did she protect her? Usually she wouldn’t even think of doing that for someone, but Ruby was different. “I just… reacted.” That was the only reason that came to her mind that could explain her actions earlier. “I don’t know why…”

“Weiss…” Ruby sighed as she moved towards the sink, warming up the damp cloth again before wringing it out, then moved back, kneeling next to Weiss and rubbing her stomach.

Seeing her flinch, she paused for a moment. “S-Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, dolt. I’m fine.” Weiss sighed, crossing her arms to keep herself warm.

“Cold?” Ruby looked up at her and frowned, taking off her jacket and wrapped it around Weiss’ shoulders. “This should keep you warm until I’m done bandaging you.” She smiled at her, continuing to clean her body.

“…why?” Weiss pulled the jacket over her more, almost as if it were a sort of security blanket for her.

“What?” Ruby raised a brow as she grabbed some bandages and looked up at Weiss. “Did you say something?”

“Why are you helping me?” Weiss looked at her seriously. “I… We’re strangers. Why would you go so far for a stranger?”

Ruby thought about it as she wrapped the bandages around Weiss’ stomach. “Well…” she started, tying the bandages then put the rest of the roll back into the kit. “We’re technically not strangers. We’re old schoolmates.” She then looked up at Weiss and grinned. “And do you really need a reason to help someone in trouble?”

Weiss blinked at her simple answer and sighed, deeply. There was no way that the answers would be that easy and simple.

“Come on. Let’s get you to bed. You must be really cold now.” Ruby offered to help her up, giving her a soft smile.

“Right…” Weiss stood up, giving Ruby her jacket back and grabbing her shirt to put it back on. She hesitated for a moment before looking at Ruby again. “Ruby… can… you stay the night?”

“Aww, are you lonely without me?” Ruby chuckled teasingly.

“You dolt, it’s late and you wouldn’t let me go home last time.” Weiss blushed, excuses filling her mind to ignore the truth.

“I’m kidding! I’d love to stay over. I just have to give Yang a text in case she’s worried though.” Ruby laughed as she helped Weiss towards her room.

She has only been there once and she still couldn’t get over the fact how lonely her entire house seemed. Even her bedroom seemed lonely!

All that Weiss had in her room was her bed, a desk with a laptop on it, and a bookshelf filled with books that she didn’t understand.

“Here we are… I’ll, uh… use the couch downstairs. Sleep well, Weiss.” Ruby was about to leave, but Weiss grabbed her arm. “Weiss?

“Don’t… leave. You don’t have to leave.”

Ruby paused a moment. She smiled at her and took a seat on the bed, placing a hand onto her head gently as if she were soothing a child. “Alright, I’m not gonna go anywhere.”

Weiss nodded weakly as she lay on the bed, weakening her grip onto her arm and clutched at her sleeve. She knew that she was being childish, but she couldn’t help it. Ruby made her feel safe for some reason.

“Sleep well, Weiss.” Ruby moved her hand so that she was holding onto Weiss’ hand, intertwining their fingers together.

She waited for the older woman to go to sleep before texting Yang where she was and yawned, carefully moving into the bed. This was almost like their first night together, except this time, Weiss seemed a bit more… scared of something.

“I’m not gonna leave you alone, Weiss… I’ll promise you that.” Ruby gave her hand a gentle squeeze and started to fall asleep, hoping that the older woman would trust her a bit more this time.

___________________________________

The next morning, Ruby stirred awake, feeling a bit cold even though a blanket covered her. She rubbed her eyes and slowly sat up, unfamiliar with where she was for the moment.

“Where…?” she looked around the room. Where’s the mess of clothes on the floor? Why was her desk clean and missing the little gadgets that she liked to tinker with?

It took her a few moments to realize that she had slept over at Weiss’ house and looked to her side. Weiss was gone and her spot was cold, indicating that she had been up for a while.

Frowning, Ruby sat up and looked at the blanket, noticing it was a little heavier than usual. Weiss was really lonely, wasn’t she? Shaking that head out of her thought, she got out of bed and looked for the owner of the house.

“Weiss?” she walked towards the bathroom first and saw her on the floor, curled into a ball and covering her ears. Seeing her like that, Ruby rushed towards her side. “Weiss?!”

“Is what you’re doing right? He’s just going to be angry with you again. You won’t be able to move and probably won’t heal from the damage.”

“Shut up! I just want a friend! Why is having one friend that I can make on my own such a bad thing?!”

“It’s pointless. He’ll just lock you up, have his way with you, make sure that you’re profitable for the Schnee name. After all, no one wants a broken friend.”

“It’s not true! That’s not true!”

“It’s not true…” Weiss mumbled as she held onto herself then jumped when she felt a hand onto her shoulder. “R-Ruby…?”

Ruby sighed in relief when she looked at her. “Are you ok?”

“I’m…” Weiss hesitated, looking down. For a moment she saw chains and closed her eyes, shaking her head quickly. When she reopened them, she didn’t see them anymore and instead saw Ruby’s gentle hands on her arm. “I’m fine… I’m sorry. Just… a nightmare.”

“Do you… want to talk about it?” Ruby hated feeling useless, but she couldn’t just push Weiss into talking about anything she was uncomfortable with. “I told you, I just want to help you. I promise that I won’t leave your side or abandon you. You can count on me.”

Weiss frowned. That sounded too good to be true. To count on someone that’s not Winter? Unthinkable. But even her sister told her to trust someone else.

“I…” she started but was interrupted by the younger woman.

“I just want you to know that... ok? You’re not alone. You’ve never been alone.” Ruby cut in, thinking that Weiss was going to say something self-deprecating again. “And I’m here to help.”

Weiss didn’t say anything, just looking at Ruby for a moment as if she were studying her. After a few minutes, she leaned into the other’s touch, placing a hand onto Ruby’s. “…Thank you.”

“Any time.” Ruby smiled. That was some progress at least. She carefully wrapped her arms around the older woman, giving her a gentle hug. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up? Why were you here anyways?”

“I…” Weiss leaned into the hug, thinking about her words carefully. “I was just getting ready for the day. We were supposed to go for that walk yesterday. Do… do you still want to come with me?” she bit her lip.

How could she tell Ruby that she was having a conversation with herself? And that she’s been trying to talk with that confident figure she’s been seeing more frequently in the mirror lately, but the only one that’s been talking to her is the broken one.

“Can I?” Ruby was excited and this time, she’ll protect Weiss! ….or at least try to.

Weiss gave her a weak smile. “Of course you can.” She already had some ideas for the next song. Maybe Ruby would like it when she practiced with her once it was done.

“Great!” Ruby grinned brightly and helped Weiss stand up. “But, we should get something to eat first. I don’t think you’ve eaten anything since yesterday.” She narrowed her eyes at the older woman, worried about her mental and physical health.

“Ruby, I’m fine.” Weiss rolled her eyes. “Now come on. We should get going soon.”

“It’s a date!” Ruby grinned then blushed at what she just said. “I-I mean not a date-date, it’s a friend-date! …right?”

“What are you talking about, you dolt?” she raised her brow at the younger woman, unsure of what she was talking about now.

Ruby just waved her hands in front of her. “N-Nothing! Forget about it!” she sighed and ran a hand through her hair in frustration.

Damn Yang and her teasing her constantly. She didn’t like Weiss that way. She was just a friend! …right?

Chapter Text

After stocking up Weiss' fridge, Ruby was smiling brightly as she walked through the park with the older woman, never knowing that the park had beautiful scenery like this!

The green leaves floated down once in awhile on the little pathway they were walking through; it looked like a great place to have a picnic near the lake off to the side.

Ruby looked around as if she were a child. She looked at Weiss, who stared at the sky with a distant gaze. The younger woman stopped in her tracks to match Weiss' pace and admire how she looked.

She remembers seeing Grumpy Weiss, Annoyed Weiss, Concerned Weiss, Worried Weiss, Sad Weiss, and the one she hated to see the most, Scared Weiss. This Weiss, however, was different from all the other Weisses that she's seen. Ruby never seen her so focused yet beautiful at the same time. It was as if Weiss took her breath away.

"Ruby?"

The younger woman blinked out of her thoughts when she saw that Weiss was looking at her with a concerned look.

"Ah!" Ruby blushed, shaking her head and waving her hands. "Yes! I mean no! I mean you're pretty! Gah! I mean yes you're pretty! I'm not being creepy watching you think and I just—"

"Ruby, stop rambling." Weiss sighed, shaking her head. "Your phone was ringing. Did you not hear it?"

Ruby blinked. Twice. Once she registered what Weiss asked, she pulled out her phone, seeing a missed call from Yang and a text that just arrived.

[Yang: Where are you?]

"Oh, it's Yang. Mind if I call her?" Ruby looked at Weiss who just shrugged and walked towards a nearby bench, sitting on it while pulling out her own phone to start typing something in it.

"Rubes, you ok?" Yang asked when Ruby called her.

"Yang, I'm fine! I texted you that I was with Weiss last night, didn't I? Did something happen?"

"Nope, just wanted to know where you were and how you're doing." Ruby could've sworn that she heard a smirk when she said that. "Are you still with Weiss?"

Ruby felt like something bad was going to happen and sighed. "Yeah, I am. We were taking a walk in the park. Yang… can you stop being so mean to Weiss for a day? Maybe an hour?"

Yang just laughed. "Ruby, I've never been mean to her! Just a little tease here and there, but I was just wondering if you wanted to come with me and Blake to eat out for lunch later. Weiss can come too if you're worried about her."

"Uh…" Ruby looked at Weiss, unsure of what she'd say.

"What?" Weiss noticed Ruby looking at her and raised a brow.

"Uhm… Yang was asking if you'd like to join us for lunch." Ruby chuckled nervously, part of her was hoping that she'd say yes the other part she just wanted to say no and continue on their walk.

Weiss thought about it for a moment then nodded. "Alright, when are we meeting her?" she asked as she looked at her cell phone for the time.

"What time are we meeting?"

"We can meet you in about an hour. Blake's shift is about to end for today..." Yang trailed off for a moment then quickly snapped out of it. "You're in the park near our house right? That's like... ten minutes from the store?"

"How did you know?" Ruby looked around, wondering if Yang was watching them.

Yang just laughed. "Ruby, you said that you were taking a walk with Weiss in the park. I doubt that you two would walk that far away from home. And I'm not watching you or anything…. Or am I?"

"Yang!" Ruby unconsciously sat next to Weiss, a little creeped out by her sister's antics.

"You know that I'm kidding! Gods, we need to watch a horror movie again!" Yang laughed, enjoying teasing her sister a little too much now.

"Nope! See you in an hour!" Ruby was about to hang up, but remembered that she didn't hear where they were going to meet. "…where are we meeting?"

"How does that sushi place in town sound? 'Black Cat' I think? Or was it 'Golden Dragon'? Anyways, sushi place in an hour. Until then have fun with your date with the ice queen!"

Ruby blushed madly at that. "It's not a date!" she groaned when she heard that the call ended and hung up.

"Is Xiao Long doing something to tease you again?" Weiss didn't look up at Ruby as she was typing something on her phone.

"You could say that. I think it's a big sister thing… does Winter do stuff like that to you?" Ruby tilted her head, curious about Weiss' personal life but couldn't really find the right time to ask about it. Though, anything she did ask, Weiss usually just brushed off, which gave Ruby the impression that it wasn't a great family life.

Weiss frowned as she stopped typing and sighed, thinking about her words before putting her phone away. "It's… complicated."

So that meant that Winter was as strict as her parents. Ruby made a mental note to stay on Winter's good side once they meet each other… whenever that was.

"Well… we have about an hour before meeting up with Yang and Blake for lunch. Do you… still want to walk around?" Ruby chuckled nervously. "Who were you texting to anyways?"

"I wasn't texting to anyone." Weiss started then continued when she saw Ruby starting to frown at her answer. "I was making some notes and writing few lyrics. That's all." She watched Ruby's frown turn into a smile and a child-like shine gleaming within her eyes. "…It's not ready yet, but once I'm done with the lyrics, I promise that you'll be the first one to hear it."

Weiss started to wonder when she learned to read Ruby's expression, and didn't know if it was a good or bad thing that she could.

Ruby grinned brightly when she said that. "Yay! Thanks Weiss! I'll do my best to read the piano sheets… unless you want to sing without it first?"

"I'll read the lyrics to you first and you can help me with the music sheets." Weiss stood up. "Where are we meeting Xiao Long? And I assume Belladonna will be with her?"

"Yep, how did you know?" Ruby tilted her head.

"Ruby… I studied with Belladonna. I practiced with Xiao Long. They both were waiting for each other after school. They were practically inseparable." Weiss rolled her eyes. "I'm surprised I did not see you as much though. Were the track and field practices that long?"

"Oh, yeah…" Ruby remembered Yang coming home late from piano practice. Something about being unable to spend time with Blake when there was a competition coming up or something like that. She shook that thought out of her head and remembered her own practice.

"Practice wasn't really that long… sometimes. I just like to run, so after practice, I'd just go for another run elsewhere. I can't go too far otherwise Yang would get worried." She laughed nervously. "One time I forgot to mention that I was out for a run for a while, and she went out looking for me. We were out all night and dad grounded us for a month!"

Weiss gave Ruby a soft smile when she was explaining it and went back to her neutral face when she mentioned her father. Mentally shaking that thought out of her mind, she stood up.

"Where are we meeting Xiao Long? You never answered that."

"Oh, right. Have you been to Black Dragon?" Ruby remembered the name of the place, unsure of how Yang couldn't properly remember the name.

"…What is that place?" Weiss didn't like the sound of it.

"Relax, it's just a sushi restaurant. We can get some other food in there too if you don't like sushi. I'm just guessing that Blake's craving it right now. We usually go there when she does." Ruby chuckled as she started walking. "But we still have some time before we meet up there. Do you still want to think more about your lyrics? I really wanna know what kind of song you're thinking of!"

Weiss gave her a weak smile. "Patience Ruby. You'll hear it in due time. For now… we can make our way over there."

"Aww…" Ruby pouted a bit, wanting to spend more time with Weiss then started to walk next to her. "Can you uh… lead the way out of the park? I'll lead you to the restaurant." She asked sheepishly, not wanting to admit that she was enjoying the sights and looking at Weiss.

"Sure." Weiss nodded and started to lead the way out of the park, looking at the sky again.

"How often do you come here anyways?" Ruby tilted her head as she followed Weiss, surprised that she was able to walk around the park without looking at the pathway.

"Believe it or not, this is the first time since high school." Weiss looked at Ruby. "But if you want to count how many times while I was in high school… almost every day. It's… relaxing."

Ruby nodded and smiled as she looked around. "I wish that I knew about this place before. It looks like a great place to have a good run!" And she probably could've learned more about Weiss too, but since she was younger and in a different grade, that wasn't happening unless she spent time with Yang.

Despite them being close, they didn't really spend that much time together because of their club activities. Ruby was constantly running while Yang was practicing the piano.

"There are some people that do run here. It's not like it's private property either, so you don't have to come here with me if you want to run." Weiss shrugged.

"I guess…" As much as Ruby wanted to run here, she'd rather spend time with Weiss. She could run whenever she wanted to anyways. Spending time with Weiss… she didn't have much of a chance for that.

Now that her mind was on that topic, she started thinking about how lonely Weiss seemed again. There was no way that she enjoyed being alone like this, and she was determined to spend as much time with her as she could… hopefully without annoying the older woman.

Weiss was quiet as she continued walking, only stopping once they exited the park then looked over towards Ruby. "Ruby, we're out… Ruby?"

"Huh? What? Hi?" Ruby blinked out of her thoughts and looked at Weiss. "Oh, right. Uh…" she looked around then started walking. "The restaurant is this way."

"Ruby, are you ok?" Weiss raised a brow, not used to seeing Ruby act like that.

"Of course I am, I was just thinking about some things." She grinned at her then smirked. "Were you worried about me?"

Weiss merely blushed and looked away. "O-Of course not, you dolt!" She didn't want to admit that she was worried and that it felt weird whenever Ruby wasn't saying or doing anything childish around her.

"Weiss~ If you were worried, you can admit it when it's just us two alone~" Ruby chuckled, able to tell when Weiss was worried… sometimes. But it was still progress!

"Just hurry up and lead us to 'Black Dragon' or whatever it's called!" Weiss huffed, almost glaring at Ruby.

"Alright, alright." Ruby laughed as she started walking, making a mental note of how cute Weiss seemed when she was worried when she wasn't talking or doing much.

Ruby thought about staying quiet around Weiss more often, but didn't know if she could really keep up the silence. Especially since she noticed that Weiss seemed a bit restless when it was too quiet.

"Ruby." Ruby stopped when she heard her name being called and looked back at Weiss. "Xiao Long has been trying to get your attention." She nodded towards the blonde who was waving at the pair.

"What?" They were here already? Ruby looked at where Weiss was looking at and sure enough she saw her sister starting to walk towards them with Blake in tow.

"Hey there! Glad to have you two join us for lunch." Yang grinned. "I hope I wasn't interrupting your date."

"Yang! I keep telling you it's not a date!" Ruby blushed, though part of her did wish it were for some reason.

Yang just laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, ruffling her hair a bit. "You know 'hang out' and 'dates' are basically the same thing between two friends."

Weiss and Blake merely rolled their eyes when Yang said that and seemed like Ruby was buying it.

"R-Really?"

"Xiao Long, if you have time teasing your younger sister, you have time to lead us to this sushi restaurant that Belladonna likes." Weiss crossed her arms.

"You knew that I like sushi?" Blake raised a brow, surprised that Weiss knew about it.

"Ruby told me that you three come here to eat sushi whenever you crave it." She blinked when the three of them looked at her. "W-What is it?"

"You actually listen to what we say?" Yang pretended that she was surprised, struggling to hold back her smile.

Weiss' eye twitched. "Xiao Long! I was the student council president! Of course I listen!" she huffed. "…Even your stupid requests, I listen to everything as much as I hate it." She mumbled the last part.

"The Ice Queen mumbled!" Yang laughed, letting go of Ruby and ran behind Blake.

"Yang, you promised that you'd be nice!" Ruby pouted at her, but was glad that Weiss was opening up to other people besides her, even if it did make her feel a little jealous.

She blinked. Why did she feel jealous that Weiss was opening up to Yang and Blake? They were all friends! And it's not like she liked her more than a friend… right?

"Yang, if you promised Ruby, try to keep it." Blake gave her a look.

"Anything for you." Yang kissed her cheek and nuzzled her head.

Ruby rolled her eyes at that and started walking ahead. "Come on Weiss. We can start eating without them."

"Agreed…" Weiss sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose, following after the younger woman.

"Ok ok, I'm sorry!" Yang laughed as she quickly followed them with Blake, not feeling regretful at all.

Blake gave a small chuckle. "Is it really that entertaining to tease them like that?"

"Of course." Yang grinned and looked ahead at them, noticing that Ruby was a bit distracted and missed the restaurant. "Hey Rubes! You walked right past the restaurant!" she pointed at the place with her thumb.

Ruby looked back and blinked. Oh right. Damn Yang and her teasing! She couldn't think straight for a minute!

"Ugh… I don't really like you right now…" she mumbled as she walked through the door that Yang opened for them.

"I love you too, Ruby." Yang grinned, watching them walk in before following after them.

"Hello, table for four?" The waiter greeted them.

"Yep." Ruby nodded, excited to eat sushi again, but was just happy to have Weiss join them. Maybe she can try something new again!

"Right this way, please." The waiter smiled at them and led them towards their small booth and handed them their menus. "What would you like to drink today?"

"Coke." Yang glanced at the waiter and looked at the menu for any specials.

"Tea." Blake nodded, knowing what she wanted already.

"Coke." Ruby nodded then looked at Weiss to help her.

"Water." Weiss looked at the menu, confused as to what to order.

"One water, tea, and two cokes. Alright, I'll be right back for your orders." The waiter smiled at them then left.

Ruby scooted closer to Weiss to help her pick out anything she found interesting. "So Weiss, see something you like?"

"I'm… not even sure what all of these are…" Weiss continued to look at the menu.

"Blake's getting tuna. I'm getting dragon and tempura. I'm gonna assume that Rubes wants ramen." Yang pointed to the pictures so Weiss could understand it. "Want to try the avocado roll and get a salad?"

Blake looked through the menu as well to see if she could help Weiss narrow down what she'd like to eat.

"I suppose I could try the orange blossom…" Weiss looked up at them and sighed, resting her face onto her hand. "I can eat more than salad when I feel like it!"

"Ah wish tha' ol' bitch woul' jus' die already!"

Weiss flinched at the voice. She knew that the voice was slurred, indicating that it was a drunken person saying that, but the words and the voice made her remember something back at home.

"Why did I even have you? I should've aborted you!"

"Weiss?" She jumped when she heard Ruby's voice and felt her hand onto her shoulder. Weiss looked over and saw familiar, concerned silver eyes looking at her. "Are you ok? You look pale. More than usual."

"I-I'm fine, Ruby. Don't worry about it." Weiss lied.

Ruby frowned at the obvious lie and got up. "Let's go get some fresh air?"

Weiss hesitated for a moment before nodding, getting up and following after Ruby. The younger woman led her about half way towards the exit before Weiss flinched when the same slurred voice started shouting.

"Dun tell meh wha' ta do! Da dum' bitch shoul' jus' die! She nevah wan'ed meh!"

Weiss was shaking as she listened, unable to move.

"Weiss?" Ruby frowned as she looked back, moving closer when she saw the obvious fear in her eyes. "Weiss, I'm here."

"Ru—" Weiss jumped when a bottle shattered near them. She couldn't hear anything anymore.

She looked around, wondering how she was back at the main house. She just saw her mother drinking and glaring at her.

"Wha' at yeh lookin' at? Jus' do this fam'ly a favour an' kill yerself."

"Why…?" Weiss mumbled.

"…iss?"

"Ge' outta mah face!"

Weiss flinched and ran, unsure of where she was going but she just ran.

"Weiss!" Ruby reached for her but stood in shock for a moment. What just happened? She shook that thought out of her head and left the restaurant, sending Yang and Blake a text.

[Ruby: Weiss ran away. Help me find her! Please!]

Chapter Text

"Ruby!" Yang caught up to her younger sister just outside the restaurant before she ran off too far and held onto her wrist. "What happened? We heard some shouting and glass breaking. Are you ok? Where did Weiss go?"

"I don't know! She looked pale, I wanted to give her some fresh air, then she just… freaked at the glass shattering near us and ran!" Ruby was about to cry, thinking that it was her fault for pushing Weiss into something that she was uncomfortable with and was pulled into Yang's arms.

"Hey, it's ok." Yang tried to calm her down and looked at Blake for help.

Blake frowned, thinking about it. "She got really tense when she heard the drunken shouting. Do you think it has something to do with that?"

"I-I don't know." Ruby whined, worried about Weiss. "We have to find her! Please! Help me find her! I promised that I wouldn't leave her alone!"

"Ruby! Calm down for a moment! I know that you're worried, but you can't help her if you're freaking out like this!" Yang held onto her younger sister closer.

"She's right." Blake placed a hand onto her shoulder. "Take a deep breath. We'll find her before you know it."

Ruby bit her lip and nodded, holding onto Yang for a moment to calm herself down. They were right. She couldn't help Weiss as she was now and used this time to calm down.

After a few moments, she slowly let go of Yang and looked at them. "Thank you."

They both smiled and Yang ruffled the younger woman's hair. "Any time, sis. Now come on. We might have better luck splitting up and looking for her. She couldn't have gotten that far."

"Right. Call or text if you find her!"

They all nodded and went their separate ways.

_______________________________________________

"Weiss?! Weiss! Where did you go?! Weiss!" Ruby looked around for the older woman. She couldn't have gotten too far after all. Frowning, she pulled out her phone and groaned. She remembered that she still hadn't gotten Weiss' contact number after all this time that they've spent together. She checked to make sure that Yang and Blake didn't send her a message and sighed.

"It'll be ok. I'll be able to find her." She told herself as she slapped her cheeks to snap herself out of it. "Weiss!"

As she ran and turned the corner, she almost ran into someone and quickly apologized. "Oh! I'm sorry! I'm in a hurry! Sorry again!" She made sure that the other person was alright before she turned to leave but stopped and looked at them again to make sure that her mind wasn't just playing tricks on her.

It was as if she were looking at an older Weiss, but more… serious.

"….Weiss?" she blinked. Wait, no. She just saw her, there was no way she could grow that quickly.

The other woman blinked when Ruby called her 'Weiss' then shook her head.

"You are… Ruby, I presume?" She folded her hands behind her back as she looked at Ruby.

"Oh… you're Winter, Weiss' older sister?" Ruby raised a brow. Didn't she say that she'd tell Weiss that she'd contact her before visiting? Weiss hadn't said anything about Winter visiting just yet. Or did she try to contact her earlier and Weiss didn't notice?

Winter nodded and gestured for them to walk. Ruby hesitated for a moment and followed after her. Maybe she would have a clue about where Weiss went or better yet, what their private life was like

"You… are more normal than I thought that you'd be." The older woman spoke first after walking for a few minutes.

"Uhm… thank you?" Ruby didn't know if that was an insult or not but given how little Weiss told her of her family, she expected that they didn't know how to or had a difficult time to complimenting other people.

"I'll get straight to the point, how is my little sister doing?" Winter stopped walking and looked at the younger woman. "I suppose that she is well… but that is what she always tells me. I would like to know what her… friends are thinking when you two are… 'hanging out'.'"

Oh, so that's how it was. Wait, why did she put it like that? She shook that thought out of her head and looked up at Winter.

"Weiss is doing alright. Better than when I first found her. Though the first couple weeks were… rough. We both had a few miscommunications, but that's how all friendship starts." Was it better to be honest here? She hoped that Winter would allow Weiss to stay friends with her. "But she's missing right now and we should be trying to find her."

Missing? Was she making the right choice trusting Ruby then? Shaking her head at the thought, she trusted Weiss enough to know that she at least cared about this person before her.

"I apologize." Ruby looked at her, confusion was clear on her face while Winter continued. "What has she told you?"

"Oh uhm…" She thought about it. "Not really much. Just that… she has to push herself to be 'perfect' for her father's sake. That's about it." She frowned. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

"So she's still scared…" Winter mumbled that under her breath then looked into Ruby's eyes. "She won't forgive me if I told you everything, but I can tell you how it began. It will be up to you to ask her for the full story if you think that you're both ready for it."

Ruby blinked. When they're both ready? What did that mean?

"It started about ten years ago when everything fell apart. Perhaps longer than that, but we didn't really notice the signs until it was too late. It was Weiss' tenth birthday and we were celebrating it. Back then, she was smiles and sunshine… just like how you are now." Winter chuckled as Ruby stared at her in disbelief.

When Winter frowned, that's when Ruby knew that this is where everything went badly. "Father was late as he had a phone call from the company. He was furious about a trade going wrong and… mother asked him to calm down and to enjoy the day with the family. He didn't listen. He never listened. He then angrily told her to shut up, know her place, and that he only married her for our family's name." Winter paused for a moment so that Ruby could process everything that was going on before she continued.

"Weiss was heartbroken that day and ran to her room when mother and father began to argue with each other. I went to comfort her… but I left for the military a couple years later." Winter closed her eyes regretfully as she folded her hands together. "I kept in contact with her when I wasn't busy and I knew. She has a horrible habit of keeping what she's feeling inside."

"Yeah, you got that right." Ruby frowned.

"It wasn't until I visited her a few years ago that I saw what happened. I found Weiss on the way home. She was… heavily injured... I took her home, treated her wounds, after which she told me what happened, and begged me not to tell anyone." Winter sighed deeply. "I couldn't refuse. We were both powerless, and we can't do anything against our father."

Ruby looked shocked at Winter, taking a step forward and placed a hand onto her arm. "What… happened?"

Winter looked at Ruby then sighed again. "Father… He was beating Weiss."

"…What?" The younger woman was shocked. So everything that she thought of... Now she had the confirmation from her sister of all people, basically telling her that she was right.

Weiss was being abused at home by her father.

"I'm afraid that if you want to know more, you have to gain Weiss' trust." Winter looked at Ruby seriously. "I'm sure that you can do it. After all… she seems to trust you already to be around your presence. I'll leave my sister in your hands." She placed a hand onto Ruby's shoulder.

"Leave it to me. I'll make sure that nothing bad happens to her." Ruby nodded then blinked when her phone gave a notification. She looked at Winter for a moment then looked at the message.

[Blake: I found Weiss in the park. Hurry.]

"My roommate found Weiss! Come on, I'm sure that she'd be happy to see you."

______________________________________________

Few minutes earlier:

Weiss ran towards the park, panting heavily. This was the only place besides her other home where she felt safe.

"Mother… do you still hate me…?" she mumbled, stumbling towards the bench and sat down, pulling her legs towards her chest and resting her head onto her knees.

She knew that she was safe with Ruby and that they were just going to have lunch, but the alcohol, the shouting, the words that were shouted. Weiss couldn't help but remember her time back at the main house and felt that she couldn't breathe.

"Weiss?" Blake sighed in relief when she found Weiss sitting in the park alone. Now how was she going to convince her to go back with everyone?

The white haired woman looked up to see who called her name and was about to get up and run. Blake wouldn't allow that, and quickly ran over and grabbed her wrist gently, making sure that she wasn't being too forceful.

"Hey, are you ok?"

"I'm perfectly fine, Belladonna. Please let me go." Her voice wavered as she struggled to free herself from the other woman.

Blake narrowed her eyes and didn't let her go. "Weiss, listen." She waited for her to stop struggling. "You're not alone. We care about you, especially Ruby. It's not your fault. You don't deserve what's happening."

"You don't understand." She bit her lip, knowing that they all cared. Knowing that Ruby cared, but she was scared. She was her first true friend after all and she didn't want to lose her because of her past. "She… couldn't understand…"

Sighing deeply, Blake slowly loosened her grip. "A long time ago, I was like you. Scared to trust people. Until Yang came and helped me."

Weiss blinked. Blake was like her? She couldn't mean-

"I… think I understand a little… I had… an abusive friend before." Blake bit her lip as she finally let go of Weiss' wrist and held onto her arm, looking away from her. "Yang helped me through it… and I'll never forgive myself, because she was injured trying to help me."

"…What?" Weiss was confused, staring at Blake dumbfoundedly.

Blake nodded as she looked down on the floor. "We were in middle school. One of my childhood friends was… clingy. I didn't think that… he was that possessive, and I lost a lot of friends because of him. But then I met Yang." She frowned at the memory of how much she lost but gave a small smile when talking about the blonde. "She didn't care about my past, all she cared about was helping me feel comfortable. And after a few months, I was comfortable around her." Blake gave a weak smile at Weiss.

"I didn't notice until you started to hang around Ruby and what she said. Weiss… I know that it's hard to tell someone about it but… if they notice, you can't run away." Blake looked at her seriously. "There are people that wants to help. I would like to help you, same with Yang and especially Ruby. She thinks of you as a close friend with the little time you've spent together."

"You… I…" she took a step back. She knew. She knew and… understood? No… Every time she gave a little hint, people thought she was lying and disregarded her, so she just kept to herself every time. Blake couldn't possibly understand!

But what would that make Ruby…? Ruby saw the scars and didn't ask questions like she asked… She was always there like she promised. She was always trying her best to make her comfortable and happy… What is she to Weiss?

"Weiss." Blake was being gentle, sending a quick text to Yang and Ruby about where she was while the other woman was confused. Now she just had to stall some time. "You don't have to believe me… but I think I can understand what you're going through. What it's like to be fearful. To be scared that no one will help you."

"Stop!" Tears threatened to fall when Blake was by the door she kept closed so tightly.

Blake frowned as she kept her distance, hands up to show that she's not going to hurt her while thinking of what to say to help her calm down. "I'm not going to hurt you. None of us will. We're all worried about you, especially Ruby. You've noticed how careful she is around you, haven't you?"

"I…" She knew. She knew that Ruby was trying her best to make her happy, to keep her promise. However, she was making it difficult for her. She was scared. She didn't know how to deal with friendships and was scared that it was just an act. That Ruby was faking it even though she knew in her heart that the younger woman wasn't able to do something like that.

Tears fell from her eyes as she hastily rubbed them away, not wanting to feel weak, but her heart hurt when she thought about how much she hurt Ruby by keeping her distance like this. By lying to her and never being honest with her past, with her family.

"I don't… know what to do, Blake…" Weiss stumbled back, feeling weak and vulnerable and she hated every second of it. "What… am I supposed to do?"

"Talk to us. It's not easy, I know… but you can't just keep it all to yourself. Take all the time that you need to talk to us about what you're going through. We'll understand." Blake glanced around to see if Yang or Ruby was coming or not then focused back on Weiss.

"I… it's too late…" Weiss shook her head. "I can't…"

Blake frowned and moved closer. "Weiss. It's never too late. We're always here to talk, to help you whenever you need it." What did Yang do to help her? She felt like she was in the same exact position. "You can."

Weiss looked at her, still confused.

"It's never too late. We can still help you. If you allow us, we can help you through whatever you're going through. You're not alone." Blake rushed forward to catch Weiss as her legs gave out, but felt a familiar gust rushing past her and stopped when she saw Ruby holding onto Weiss closely.

"Weiss…!" Ruby held onto her, scared to let her go.

"R-Ruby…?" Weiss was confused. One moment she was talking to Blake, the next… she felt her legs giving out. "W-What are you… doing here…?" Her arms awkwardly wrapped themselves around the younger woman's shoulders.

"She was looking for you."

Weiss snapped her head up to look towards the direction of the familiar voice. "Winter…?"

"It's nice to see you again, Weiss." She nodded, keeping her distance from everyone. "I tried to contact you, but you weren't answering." Winter frowned. "As I was walking, I bumped into Ruby, then I heard from her that… that you were missing. Did you have another at—"

"That's enough!" Weiss shook as she held onto Ruby closer, scared of her sister continuing that sentence.

Winter merely sighed, shaking her head then looked at Blake and Ruby. "I suppose that it'll be easier to talk and explain when we're not out in the open like this. Let's go home."

"Home…?" Weiss sounded scared but Ruby gave her a comforting squeeze.

"Home where I've been visiting you, Weiss. It's ok." Ruby cooed, nuzzling against her head gently. "You're not going anywhere near that other house without me." She promised, even though she wasn't sure if she could keep that promise. She looked at Winter for help, who merely nodded.

"Let's get out of here. I'm sure that you two have a lot to talk about." Blake suggested, giving a soft smile when Yang came running. "And Weiss… that story I started about Yang and I in middle school… if you're willing to listen, I'll be happy to continue it if it'll help you." She looked at Yang who looked back at her then nodded.

Weiss looked up, confused and refusing to let go of Ruby, then nodded. "Alright…" She was scared, but maybe it was time to tell Ruby at least about everything.

Ruby helped Weiss up, holding onto her closely and started their way towards her home. After they were halfway there, Weiss stopped walking, hesitating for a moment. "Weiss?"

"Can… we go to your place instead?"

Ruby looked at the others who shrugged then nodded. "Alright, let's go there."

Chapter Text

Ruby sat on Yang's left side and Blake sat to her right on the couch. She looked at Weiss and Winter, unsure of what to do or say.

Weiss shifted in her seat uncomfortably next to Winter when she felt everyone staring at her from across the coffee table.

Winter cleared her throat and all eyes were on her. "I suppose… we have some explaining to do, but first." She glanced at Weiss then back at the trio. "What would you like to know?"

"Why did you run away earlier, Weiss?" Ruby was the first to speak, wanting to know about her freakout from earlier.

"I…" Weiss hesitated and glanced at Winter, who gave her a reassuring nod. Sighing, she folded her hands in front of her and looked at the floor. "I remembered… something back at home, similar to what happened. It was an automatic reaction." Her hands were shaking as she explained, and looked at Winter when she placed her hand over hers.

Ruby frowned a bit, at both the explanation and at the fact that she couldn't comfort Weiss like how Winter was comforting her.

"So… drunk people make you uncomfortable, Weiss?" Yang raised a brow and crossed her arms, watching them carefully.

"Correct." She nodded hesitantly and looked at them, sighing when she knew that they wanted a proper explanation. "…Our father admitted to our mother that he only married her for the family name. She snapped and… she turned to alcohol to cope with the pain." Weiss sighed as she shook her head. "When she's drunk, she… says things to us. Things I'd rather not say right now…"

"It was on Weiss' tenth birthday when that happened." Winter added and shook her head. "Our family hasn't been the same since then."

"And… since when has your father been beating you…?" Ruby asked hesitantly, but she wanted to know.

Yang placed a hand onto her shoulder to calm her down, then looked at Weiss who looked at Winter then back at the floor.

"For as long as I can remember…" Weiss spoke just barely above a whisper.

"And you didn't try to report it?" Ruby was getting angrier by the second and Yang just kept a firm grip onto her shoulder to keep her seated.

"Our father is a powerful man. Even if we did report it years ago, he could easily pay off the charges and come up with fabrications of the truth to make sure it seemed we were the ones in the wrong, and would stay under his 'care.'" Winter frowned as she shook her head while Weiss gripped at her skirt.

"And when did he allow his messenger to beat you as well? And how did you get the scars?" Ruby pressed for some answers, letting her anger blind her, and didn't notice how uncomfortable Weiss was becoming. Winter looking at Weiss in surprise, unaware that the messenger was beating her little sister as well.

"Ruby." Blake looked at her. "Stop. Just calm down right now, you're letting your anger take over."

Ruby blinked when she looked at Blake and frowned, forcing Yang's hand off her shoulder and stood up. "But we have to do something! None of this is right! And you all know it! Why are you all looking at me like that?!"

All eyes except for Weiss were on the young raven-haired woman.

"Ruby, we understand how you feel but—" Blake started but was interrupted.

"But nothing! There has to be something that we can do! Like calling the cops, hire some investigator, heck we could guard her ourselves and vouch for anything that we see!" Ruby was frustrated, everyone could tell. "The evidence is all there too!"

"Ruby!" Yang got up and grabbed Ruby's arm, walking away from everyone so that the Schnee siblings couldn't hear their conversation. "Calm down and look at Weiss for a minute!"

Ruby grunted and looked at Weiss. She realized that she was struggling not to just get up and run away, but was probably staying thanks to Winter. She frowned as she shook her head and took a deep breath. "Weiss…" She looked away, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "I-I'm sorry."

"We know that you're frustrated, but you can't let your anger take hold over you." Blake walked up to them, looked at Ruby then at the Schnee siblings, who looked like they were having their own conversation, before looking back at the younger woman and her girlfriend.

"She's right, Rubes." Yang pulled her sister into a gentle hug. "It's hard to talk about these things. You can't just push someone into admitting what they're not comfortable sharing like that."

"It took me a year to tell Yang everything even though I trusted her within a few months." Blake gave Yang a guilty look. "But she was patient, made sure that I was comfortable as I explained everything."

"You've spent what? A little over two months together every weekend right? You should be able to tell when she's uncomfortable and whatnot. Just be careful with your questions." Yang encouraged Ruby. "I know that you'll both be fine."

"Let Weiss take her time. She does trust you, but she's scared. She told me that." Blake nodded, glad to see that Ruby was calming down a bit now.

Ruby sighed deeply, feeling calmer than she was earlier but was still frustrated. How could a family be so… broken like that? Maybe the world isn't all nice like she thought.

"Did you calm down enough? Do you think that you can talk to Weiss normally now?" Yang glanced back at the others then looked at Ruby again, not wanting to go back in case her little sister was about to stab someone.

"I…I think so. I need to apologize to her." Ruby hung her head low, ashamed that she let her anger take over like that.

"Hey… we're here with you. It'll be ok." Yang gave her another quick hug as Blake placed a hand onto her shoulder to let Ruby know that everything would be alright.

The trio walked back to the couch and took their seats again. Weiss shifted nervously in her seat, scared of what Ruby would say and do.

"Weiss… I'm sorry for my outburst." Ruby apologized, wanting to let her know that she felt guilty for her outburst and that she didn't have to be scared around her. "I-I won't ask anything from you anymore until you're ready. Thank you for telling me what you have so far." She gave her a gentle smile, hoping that it'll at least ease some tension.

Weiss looked up in surprise then looked back down, nodding slowly. "Th-Thank you…"

"Weiss." Blake waited for Weiss to look at her. "Remember that I had a story to tell you?" She took Yang's hand within her own before she continued. "About that childhood friend in middle school?"

"Y-Yes…" Weiss looked up at Blake, wanting to know how she could trust Ruby with her past. "How… did Yang help you?"

"Well, he sorta… left us alone after that day." Yang frowned as she clenched and unclenched her right fist and Blake placed a hand over her hand.

"What… how?" Weiss blinked. There was no way that it could be that easy… right?

Blake frowned. "I was talking with Yang on the roof, she convinced me to skip class with her. I don't know how he found out but… he did and came to the roof." She started to shake and Yang held onto her hand.

"He didn't like how I was near Blake and making her smile. He started yelling at me saying how I couldn't make her happy and that he's the only one for her." Yang rolled her eyes at the memory. "Then he came at me with a knife." She let go of Blake's hand for a moment to roll up her sleeve to show a scar. "He stabbed pretty deeply and it hit a nerve. My hand was paralyzed for about a year with rehabilitation."

Ruby frowned when she remembered her sister struggling to do her everyday tasks with just her left hand and looking at the piano, longing to play it again but she couldn't.

"What… happened to him?" Weiss asked quietly.

Yang and Blake looked at each other before looking at Weiss. "Last we heard, in the hospital."

"Remember how she said that he stabbed her arm? Well… he also tried to shove her off the roof." Blake continued.

Weiss and Winter looked at them surprised.

"We both fell off the roof, I held onto the ledge luckily and… I tried to save him." Yang was still confused on why she did and shook her head. "He was saying things like 'Fall with me! If I can't have her, neither can you!' while making it difficult to hold onto the ledge. A real creep if you ask me." Yang grunted at the memory then relaxed when Blake held her hand.

"I tried to hold onto Yang so that she didn't fall but… because of her wound, he… did." Blake frowned, remembering how he hit the trees and the ground. "We went to check on him after and called the ambulance. After that, we haven't heard from him. Besides the principal telling us that he had broken bones and a concussion."

"So… you haven't heard anything from him since…?" Weiss frowned, unsure if something similar would happen between her and her family.

"Nothing at all, but Weiss." Blake waited for her to look at them again. "Yang helped me to trust other people without feeling guilty. At first, I was helping her through her rehabilitation out of guilt, but she told me many times that it wasn't my fault and that I shouldn't feel that way."

Weiss frowned. She wanted to trust Ruby like that. Part of her already did, but the other part was still scared. She flinched when she felt Winter's hand on her shoulder and turned to her.

"They're opening up to you, Weiss. You can open up to them as well." She nodded, knowing that she was pushing Weiss past her comfort zone, but that was something between them. Weiss knew that it was for her own good if Winter was saying it.

'People are good or bad, but never judge people from what you hear. The answer lies within your heart.'

"I-I know…" Weiss sighed. I know that I could do so much if I could just believe in me… She looked at Ruby, then at Yang and Blake, then down at the floor, biting her lip as she thought about it. "Ruby… can we talk alone?"

Ruby's eyes brightened when she said that. "Of course!" She smiled, getting up.

"I'll leave my sister in your hands." Winter nodded at everyone as she got up as well.

"Y-You're leaving already?" Weiss frowned, wanting to talk to her sister later.

"I'm afraid so. I had a bit of free time today, which is why I came to visit you. I contacted you, but you didn't answer. I then ran into Ruby and she explained what happened." Winter frowned as she pulled Weiss into a hug. "I have a few days off next week. You're in good hands, Weiss."

"I'll see you soon, Winter." Weiss hugged her sister back and pulled away after a few moments, watching her sister leave before looking at Ruby and the others.

"Do you want spaghetti for dinner? I don't think Rubes wants you to go home tonight." Yang winked at Weiss.

"Yang!" Ruby pouted. Well she wasn't wrong but after her outburst, she felt that she took a few steps back from their friendship… if they even had one.

Weiss just sighed and shook her head, "Spaghetti is fine… just don't eat it with your hands again, you brute. And Ruby…?" she walked up to Ruby hesitantly. "I… I'm sorry for not being able to tell you everything. Just… give me some time. Please."

"Alright." Ruby nodded, still not liking how they couldn't do anything, and walked with Weiss towards her room. "Yang, like she said, don't you dare tease Weiss like you did the first night she was here!" she warned before she disappeared around the corner with the older woman.

"So… what did you want to talk about?" Ruby opened the door to her room, letting Weiss walk in first before closing the door behind them. She highly doubted that Weiss wanted to continue talking about her past, and it took everything within her power to not ask more about it.

"Actually… I promised to read you the lyrics to the next song I thought of. Did you forget?" Weiss was trying to change the subject and what better way than to read the lyrics to her unfinished song to distract Ruby? After all, the younger woman was so interested the last time they talked about it.

"You're gonna tell me now?" Ruby's eyes sparked and if Weiss imagined it, she could've sworn that she saw a tail wagging behind her.

Shaking that thought out of her head, she nodded. "Though I'm not sure if it's to your liking. Considering your reactions to my… other songs."

"Can I ask why your songs sound so… lonely and sad?" Ruby frowned, trying not to pry anymore than she had to, but they were on the topic of songs now. Maybe she could have a chance to ask through that.

"It's because… I'm letting off some steam. If that's what you call it." Weiss looked at Ruby, confused. "Uhm… venting? I don't understand what term you would call it to make it easier to understand."

"No, no, you got it right. I'm just surprised that you knew those terms." Ruby chuckled when Weiss gave her an embarrassed glare. "So… they're just your way of venting, huh…" she thought about it, pondering the lyrics again.

"Ruby…" Ruby snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Weiss who was patting the spot next to her hesitantly.

The raven-haired woman blinked then carefully moved next to Weiss, not wanting to make her uncomfortable again, and looked at the phone she pulled out.

"Do you usually use your phone to write the lyrics?" Ruby questioned, confused by the lists of notes that she had on there.

"I usually write a few key words to focus on, then go home to write the lyrics on paper." Weiss found the right notes she was looking for and looked over them again, coming up with the lyrics in her mind already. "Do you have some paper I could use?"

Ruby blinked then nodded. "Yep!" She quickly moved towards her desk, looking through her notebooks for an empty page then looked for a working pen before she took her place next to Weiss again. "Here you go! Did you come up with the lyrics already? You're pretty fast!"

"I've actually been in a slump lately…" Weiss frowned as she quickly wrote out the lyrics, reading them over once and sighed. "This is a prototype so far."

"You know that I'll like it either way. I love all your other songs." Ruby smiled at her as she took the notebook and looked over the lyrics.

Years of scorn will leave you cold. 'Forget your dreams do what you're told'.

When disapproval's all you're shown, the safest place becomes alone.

And isolation's the price you pay,

And every friendship is pushed away

Ruby frowned as she read those lines. They were still sad and lonely sounding, but it gave her a bit more insight about her past. Even if it was something she knew already.

But bit by bit now, a step each day

I'm slowly starting to find my way.

Ruby gave a small smile when she read that part of the song, glad that Weiss was heading towards the right direction.

"Sounds great so far!" she smiled, handing the notebook back to her. "It sounds a bit more positive than your other songs."

Weiss gave a weak smile as she thought about the songs that she sang for the school concerts. "Some songs… were in honor of my grandfather."

Ruby frowned. Did she accidentally hit a sore spot for Weiss again? She didn't mean to! "W-Weiss, I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry." Weiss frowned and held a hand up to stop Ruby from talking. "I… I've been a terrible friend. Truthfully, I don't know how to act around friends." She sighed as she looked at the floor. "And… as you read in the lyrics, I pushed every friendship I had away."

"But that's because of your father… not your own thoughts." Ruby placed a gentle hand onto her shoulder, not wanting her to berate herself over this. "You're friends with me. I think you're friends with Yang and Blake as well. And that's a good thing!"

She frowned and sighed. "I'm… really sorry. I usually don't let my anger take over like that. It's more of Yang's thing, but just the thought of you being hurt like you were? I couldn't stand it. I know that I'm not as close as you are to Winter, but I'd like to be there for you."

Weiss' eyes widened when she said that and a tear fell. She quickly wiped it away. "You… always have been. I'm just… I can't…"

"Weiss…" Ruby waited for Weiss to look at her before placed a hand onto her cheek. "Take your time. I promise that I won't push you for answers anymore."

More tears fell from her eyes as Weiss leaned onto Ruby's hand, placing her hand over hers. "Thank you… for listening."

"Thank you for trusting me with your past." Ruby smiled, pulling her close for a hug and let her cry out the feelings she was hiding for years.

Chapter Text

Ruby stirred awake and rubbed her eyes when she felt someone holding onto her hand. She blinked the sleepiness away and saw Weiss sleeping next to her, clutching her hand. She gave a soft smile at the sight and used her free hand to brush a stray strand out of the older woman's face.

After dinner, they spent most of the night talking more about lyrics and future songs. They even came up with a few completed lyrics! Though they still needed to figure out how the music sheet would fit with the lyrics later, but Ruby was glad that Weiss' lyrics were starting to sound more positive with a bit of her help.

Ruby watched Weiss as she slept, smiling at how much calmer she seemed now. Seemed like talking about songs and singing made her calm, something that she took quick note of!

"You really do have a beautiful voice, Weiss… I'd love to hear you sing forever…"

Weiss stirred awake when she heard Ruby's voice and slowly opened her eyes.

Ruby blushed at how cute she looked and quickly let go of her hand, sitting up. "G-Good morning, princess! How did you sleep?"

"How can you be so energetic so early in the morning?" Weiss mumbled as she sat up, ignoring the princess comment while rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and stretched.

"How can I not? We can practice those songs we came up with last night!" Ruby grinned, half lying. She was just trying to hide her embarrassment that she was looking at her face when she woke up and hoped that she didn't come off as a creep.

"You… want to start coming up with the music sheets for those already…?" Weiss blinked, trying to shoo the sleepiness away. She was surprised that Ruby was excited to work with her on her songs.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I? You know how much I love to hear you sing!" Ruby grinned. She was being completely honest this time. She always loved to hear the older woman sing anything, especially when it's the songs that they came up with together.

Weiss. With how the company is running now, I'd rather you not take over what your father created. It's beyond redemption. I'm sorry for any hardships that you'll face in the future. But please, promise me that you won't stop singing. That's one thing that I'll ask of you. Continue singing. You bring joy to anyone that hears your lovely voice.

Weiss frowned. Why did she remember her grandfather's words now of all times?

"Weiss? What's wrong?" Ruby didn't like seeing her with a frown marring her beautiful face. "Did… I make you uncomfortable again?"

"N-No, I just… remembered something my grandfather asked me before…" Weiss shook her head then blinked when Ruby gave her a look of hesitant curiosity. Rolling her eyes, she placed a hand onto Ruby's shoulder. "He just asked me to always continue singing. I was just wondering why I remembered him asking me that now."

"You weren't planning on continuing to sing? But you're so good!" Ruby tilted her head to the side.

Now that she thought about it, she didn't know Weiss' plans for the future and just assumed that she was going to take over her family's company. But… was that really what Weiss wanted to do?

"I… only sang around my grandfather and Winter." Weiss looked down at the floor. "They were the only ones that really enjoyed it. Father… only used my singing to bring in some profits from charities."

Ruby frowned. Damn it, and here she was trying not to hit any sore spots anymore!

"I—"

"It's fine. I know that you like to talk about how much you enjoy my singing." Weiss gave her a weak smile and got off the bed. "I'm… going to wash my face. I'll see you in a bit."

"Ok…" Ruby sighed as she flopped back onto the bed. What kind of friend was she if she couldn't help but bring up her past with simple questions?

She reached for her phone when she heard it ringing and answered. "Yang… we're up. What do you want?" She sighed, thinking it was her sister calling her to come out for breakfast.

"Is that how you talk to your mother?" a familiar voice teased her.

Ruby sat up straight and looked at the phone before giving her reply. "M-Mom?! What are you doing back already? I thought you weren't coming back with dad until the end of the year!"

"We just happened to come by for the weekend and wanted to see if you and Yang wanted to come visit. Yang said she'll meet us tomorrow because of work, and that you have a girlfriend now."

"What?! Summer, does Ruby really have a girlfriend?!" a deeper voice shouted.

"That's what Yang told me, Tai. Go back to sleep!" Summer shouted back, away from the phone before clearing her throat. "So… about this girlfriend of yours…"

"Mom! I don't have a girlfriend!" Ruby blushed madly. Damn Yang. She'll have to strangle her later! …or take away her cookies. Definitely take away her cookies and any that she's hiding.

Summer chuckled. "Sounds like you have a close friend though. Weiss, was it…?"

"Mom…" Ruby groaned, not wanting more teasing from her family. She had enough from Yang. "Yeah, her name's Weiss. I'm pretty sure that you know of her from Yang's Choir competitions from high school?"

"The lead singer, now I remember…"

"Mom? Are you ok? You sound distracted." Ruby frowned. "Did you get enough rest?"

Summer merely chuckled. "I'm alright, dear. Would you like to come visit us with Weiss? I would like to properly meet her."

"Please don't tell me that you want to meet her as my girlfriend…" Ruby groaned.

"Who's girlfriend now?" a familiar voice questioned.

Ruby nearly dropped her phone in fright. "W-Weiss?!"

"Oh, she's there now?" Summer questioned.

"Ack, mom I'll visit you later! Ok? Bye!" Ruby quickly hung up the phone and brought both her hands to her face, groaning into it.

"Ruby, is there something wrong?" Weiss raised a brow. She made her way over towards the younger woman and sat next to her, placing a gentle hand onto her shoulder. "Did… something happen with that phone call?"

"Well… apparently my parents are back in town…" she started slowly as she looked up then noticed a look on Weiss' face, shaking her hands in front of her. "It's nothing bad! I promise! They, er… my mom actually asked if you wanted to come with me to meet them later."

Weiss thought about it for a moment. Why would Ruby's mother ask to meet her? Part of her was scared. That Ruby's mother could be like her own, but she quickly shook that thought away. There's no way someone as cheerful as Ruby could have parents like that. Not all parents were like her own. That's what Winter's been telling her. Maybe she could experience what it's like to have different parents…?

"What… do your parents do?" she asked, wanting to know a bit about them before meeting them.

"What? Oh uh… my dad's a teacher and my mom's a translator. Kinda odd if you ask me, but that's what they've been telling me." Ruby shrugged. "I didn't know that those kinds of jobs would allow them to travel around so much though."

"They travel? You're not… lonely without them?" Weiss frowned. As much as she hated being around her own mother, she would suspect that Ruby missed her mother dearly.

"Sure it's a little lonely, but I have Yang." Ruby then grinned. "And I get to see my parents once in a while so it's not like they're gone or anything."

"I-I'm sorry. That's insensitive of me…" Weiss sighed, shaking her head.

Ruby just placed a hand onto her shoulder, giving her a gentle smile. "Do you want to meet them with me later?"

"I…" she bit her lip then nodded. "I'd love to."

"Field trip!" Ruby shouted as she fist pumped the air then remembered. "Ah! I need to yell at Yang! Stay here!"

With that, she ran out of her room. Faint yells of "Yang!" and "How could you!" and "Ow!" could be heard and Weiss just blinked at the door, chuckling to herself.

After a few minutes, Weiss stood up and left the room when everything was quiet. Though she wasn't prepared to see Ruby on Yang's back and having her in a headlock. How she was able to do that and Yang was unable to pull Ruby off her was beyond her understanding.

"Good morning, Weiss. Just a piece of toast for breakfast, or should I make some scrambled eggs to go with it?" Blake was in the kitchen pouring herself a cup of tea and offered the other woman a cup of coffee.

"G-Good morning, Belladonna. Shouldn't we be helping Xiao Long?" Weiss made her way towards the kitchen, accepting the cup and took a tentative sip as she watched the two sisters fighting… or what she assumed was fighting. "Or is this… normal for them?"

"I'm just going to assume that Yang told their parents something and Ruby found out and didn't like what she told them." Blake shrugged, knowing that her girlfriend would be all right. "So do you want some eggs with your toast?"

"Oh… right." Weiss looked at the ingredients. "I'll actually make them myself. It seems that Ruby and Xiao Long will be taking a while."

"You don't want them to know that you can cook?" Blake blinked and handed her a bowl, some eggs, and a fork. "If you need anything else, let me know." She gave her a small nod as she moved towards the side to give Weiss some room to cook without interruptions.

"Thank you…" Weiss hesitated as she cracked a couple eggs into the bowl. "…Blake."

Blake blinked. Twice. Did she hear her right? "You… you called me by my first name…?"

"Don't think too much of it, it's just…" Weiss scrambled the eggs, trying to gather her thoughts. "Thank you. For understanding the situation and explaining to Ruby to calm down."

"If you need someone to talk to, I'm here." Blake gave her a small smile, watching Ruby bring Yang down onto the couch. "I'm sorry for not stopping her sooner yesterday though. I'm glad that you stayed to listen to our story and… I hoped that it would help you figure out what to do. Our situations weren't exactly similar after all."

Weiss stopped whisking the eggs and bit her lip as she moved towards the pan. "It… wasn't similar, yes, but… I can at least trust Ruby to help. I just…" she sighed, shaking her head.

"It's hard trusting someone with your past and moving forward?" Blake tilted her head.

"Exactly." Weiss clenched her fist as she glared at the pan. "I want to move forward with Ruby… with a friend... but these shackles." She mumbled the last part, shaking her head as she looked for some butter and placed a bit of it into the pan, letting it melt before putting in the eggs. She then cooked it to how she preferred it and put it onto a plate.

"Weiss? Since when can you cook?" Yang rubbed her neck as she walked towards the kitchen.

"It's something that I've learned since I lived alone…. Yang." Weiss huffed, grabbing her plate and was about to head towards the dining table but was blocked by Yang. "…What now?"

"You… called me by my first name." She was shocked then looked at Ruby. "What did you blackmail her with?"

"I/She didn't blackmail her/me with anything!" Ruby and Weiss shouted at the same time. Which caused Yang to burst out laughing.

"Oh my god! You two are in sync!"

Weiss just sighed and shook her head as she took her seat while Ruby lunged at Yang again, who was ready and caught her, hoisting her over her shoulder like it was nothing.

"Ruby, no fighting in the kitchen!" Yang grinned as she ruffled her head and carried her sister back out of the kitchen before she could cause some damage, then looked at Weiss as she was eating her breakfast. "But really, why the sudden change of heart? It's gonna be weird hearing you call me 'Yang' now."

"I could easily go back to calling you 'Xiao Long' again." Weiss huffed, savoring her meal before she headed out with Ruby to meet with her parents.

"Whatever makes you more comfortable, Ice Queen." Yang grinned as she moved close to Blake. "Ruby, need me to buy anything for dinner tonight?"

"I don't think so. We should have some leftover ingredients to make something later. If not, you know mom and dad are probably gonna give me something to take home." Ruby groaned at the thought.

"Yeah, true." Yang snickered and patted Blake's shoulder. "Maybe we'll be lucky and they'll give us some tuna or something. Are you gonna stay for dinner again, Weiss? Ruby's worried that you aren't eating enough when she's not visiting you."

Ruby nearly choked on the milk she was drinking and almost spat it out. "YANG!"

"I will have you know that we do some shopping to stock up my fridge before we practice any songs. This is before she investigates my fridge." Weiss cleaned off her plate and walked towards the sink so that she could wash it.

"Ugh… you really didn't have to tell her that…" Ruby blushed as she hid her embarrassed face within her hands.

"I just assumed that she's the one that told you to do those pointless things?" Weiss raised a brow then looked at Yang and Blake, who just gave her a knowing smile. "You… did that on your own will?"

Yang just laughed again and walked over to Weiss, placing a hand onto her shoulder. "She's like this with people she cares about. And she really cares about you."

"Yang! If you're teasing Weiss again, I swear I'll eat all of your cookies!" Ruby threatened.

"You know that I'd give them to you anyway!" Yang grinned then looked at the time. "Welp, gotta go! Be sure to lock up before leaving, ok? I don't want to come home to see anything missing." She chuckled, giving Blake a quick kiss on the cheek before walking out the door.

"Yeah yeah." Ruby waved her off, still annoyed with her antics earlier and was sitting on the couch, waiting for Weiss. Part of her still couldn't believe that Weiss was willing to go with her to meet her parents.

Maybe some day she could go with her to meet her own parents and give her father a few words. Just thinking about it was fueling her rage again and just as quickly as that feeling came, she lost it when Weiss placed a hand onto her shoulder.

"Ruby? Did whatever Xiao Long tell your parents make you that angry?"

Ahh… there was Worried Weiss. She really liked how gentle her eyes looked, it was a nice change from that indifferent and annoyed look she always had. Blushing at the thought, she shook her head.

"I-I was just thinking about something else!" Ruby shook her head and gave Weiss a worried look. "Are you really alright with meeting my parents?"

"If I'm being honest, no." Weiss frowned as she admitted that then continued before Ruby could interrupt her. "But, I… would like to experience different parents. If that makes sense."

"Oh, yeah that does." Ruby smiled at her, glad that she was willing to meet other parents. From what she could tell, her parents and Blake's should be someone she should definitely meet to know what parental love is all about!

"But, I want you to promise me one thing." Ruby looked at Weiss seriously. "If, at any time, you feel uncomfortable, tell me and we can leave. My parents will understand."

"Ruby…" Weiss sighed. "Thank you, but I'd like to stay as long as I can. You haven't seen them for a long time after all. I wouldn't like to take you away from them."

"I think that they'd like you to take her away from them some day." Blake gave them a sly smile, walking towards the opposite side of the couch and pulled out her book.

"Blake!" Ruby narrowed her eyes at her. "Did Yang put you up to this too?"

Blake merely glanced up from her book before turning her attention back to it. "Of course not. Just stating what I think."

If Weiss wasn't in the house, Ruby would've screamed. Instead, she just buried her face into her hands for the moment to calm herself down.

"R-Ruby…?" Weiss was worried about her.

What did Blake mean that her parents would like her to steal Ruby away from them? What did Yang tell them earlier to make Ruby so upset? Why was she caring so much?

Weiss is here. Weiss is here. Calm down. You don't want to scare her away.

Ruby took a deep breath and looked at the road in front of her. "I'm fine." A lie. She was annoyed. Why did everyone think that she was crushing on Weiss? They were friends! She's a really cute friend that she wanted to give a big hug to, but still a friend!

"You two should get going before it gets too dark then." Blake advised, watching them from the corner of her eyes. "It'll take an hour at least by train."

"Right…" Ruby sighed, tying her tennis shoes and started to walk out the door. "No tuna for you." She huffed as she walked out the door, but made sure that she saw the horrific face Blake gave her as the door closed.

"…You're still going to get tuna for dinner from your parents, aren't you?" Weiss raised a brow as she followed Ruby down the street.

"If I threaten them enough, they usually leave me alone and stop teasing me." Ruby grinned at her. "But I'm not annoyed with you, just so you know."

"If you say so?" Weiss couldn't help but get the feeling that ever since Ruby found her, she's been the source of why Yang was teasing her.

She could see that Ruby was trying to reassure her that it was nothing, but… there was this nagging feeling that it was.

"Weiss." Ruby waited for Weiss to look at her. "Yang's been teasing me for years. It's a family thing. Please don't blame yourself if you think I'm getting frustrated from her."

Weiss frowned, giving Ruby a look that she didn't know before looking away. She noticed the loneliness, but was that a hint of… jealousy she saw just now?

"Please don't worry too much about it, Weiss. If there's anything to be worried about, it's probably my parents and what Yang told them…" Wait, that didn't sound reassuring at all! "I-I mean, I'm not completely sure what Yang told them! It's nothing bad, I'm sure, and they know of you from the school choir stuff!"

"Ruby, you told me not to worry and don't blame myself, so I won't." Weiss sighed. As much as she liked listening to Ruby ramble on, there were limits sometimes. "Though I am wondering what kind of people your parents are." Leaving you and Yang alone to travel most of the time.

"Oh, that I can explain more if it'll make you more comfortable!" Ruby grinned.

"Please." Weiss nodded.

"Alright! Well you see, my mom…" Ruby began to describe to Weiss on the way towards her old house.

Chapter Text

"Hey Weiss, thanks for coming. And sorry it's really short notice too. I didn't know that they were back in town, and I don't know why my mom wanted to meet you so suddenly." Ruby smiled at her as she held onto her hand, frowning a bit. "Are you nervous? You're shaking."

"Ruby, I'll be fine. You're by my side." Weiss didn't want to lie, but even though she was told what kind of people Ruby's parents were on the train ride over, she still couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. Though as long as Ruby with her, she knew that everything would be all right.

How bad would it be to meet her parents? Scratch that. It might go horribly. Considering that a drunken person made her remember her mother just yesterday. Who knows what would happen today.

"Just let me know if you're uncomfortable at any time, ok?" Ruby looked at her worriedly. "Remember, you promised." She gave her a gentle smile then knocked on the door. "And… think of them as your dream parents! It's ok to be selfish like that, after all!"

Weiss nodded, remembering that she did promise that and looked away when she said that it was all right for her to be selfish. What kind of person would she be if she were selfish? Just as she was about to argue about that, she saw the door opening.

"Ruby! How's my little girl?" An old man smiled brightly as he opened the door and ruffled his daughter's hair before noticing who was with her. "Oh, and you must be Weiss. It's nice to meet you. My name's Taiyang, but please, just call me Tai." He grinned at her.

"I… I-It's nice to meet you too." Weiss gave a weak smile. She wasn't scared of him, but with how outgoing he seemed, he made her a little nervous.

"So… Yang told me that you two are dating?" Tai looked between them.

"DAD!" Ruby pouted as she fixed her hair and helped Weiss inside. "Let's just ignore him. Go take a seat, want something to drink?" she was trying her hardest to distract Weiss from that conversation and grew worried when Weiss gave her that weak look.

"I'm fine, Ruby." Weiss gave her a weak smile. Her nerves about meeting Ruby's family blocked out the dating comment.

Even though Ruby described them to her earlier, she was still surprised by her father. So far Tai seemed like Yang in a way, and she didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.

But what was she supposed to think about her mother? Would she be another Yang? Or would she be more like Ruby?

"Oh, Ruby. Summer has a batch of cookies in the making right now." Tai pointed towards the kitchen with his thumb. "Weiss, would you like some cookies once they're ready?"

"I…. I'd like some." Weiss nodded. "Thank you for inviting me today."

"Don't mention it. It's nice to see you again outside of those choir concerts. You did an amazing job with Yang, by the way." Tai smiled at her. "We always wanted to talk to you for a little bit after the concerts, but you were usually gone right after it ended."

"Your daughter is an amazing pianist, it made it easier for me to sing." Weiss blushed a bit, unused to praises from a father.

A small frown started to show on her face when he mentioned how quickly she disappeared after each concert, and thought about her own father. She thought about how she had to go home quickly every day to work on her homework and study to please her father. About how she had to make sure that everything was running smoothly within the school as her duty as the student council president. About how little he cared about her and believed in her hard work that she put into just to please him so that she wouldn't face his wrath for 'not being good enough'.

Shaking that thought out of her head, she looked at her hand, surprised to see that Ruby hadn't let go of her hand since they arrived and was thankful for that. It helped her calm down more easily and relax a bit.

"Tai, can you… oh hello." Weiss looked back and saw an older looking Ruby coming down the hallway. Once they made eye contact, she quickly went towards Weiss' side and looked her over. "It's nice to meet you! You must be Weiss~! My name's Summer. Thank you for taking such good care of my daughters!"

"Mom!" Ruby pouted a bit when her mother was paying a lot more attention to Weiss, but was glad to see them interact. Maybe they could get along better than with her father. Sorry, dad.

Summer merely laughed and looked at Ruby. "It's nice to see you too, Ruby." She looked between them, thinking about something for a moment before looking at her daughter again. "Would you two like to come with us to go shopping?"

"Wha?" Ruby looked at Weiss who looked back at her with a confused look and a hint of fear in her eyes.

"I was going to make more of chocolate chip cookies, and I don't think that the batch I'm making now would be enough for you to take home later."

Weiss could see Ruby's will breaking a bit.

"It's just some milk and flour. It shouldn't take us too long." Summer gave Ruby a gentle smile. "Think about all the cookies you and Weiss can have~"

"I…" Ruby pouted then looked between her mother and Weiss. Damn her mother for using her weakness when she wanted to keep her friend safe!

"We'll all be together, so you don't have to worry too much about Weiss. You'll be there to make sure she feels safe right?" Summer looked at Weiss with a soft smile.

"I… would like to see the area around here." Weiss looked at Ruby. She wasn't sure that they'd be completely fine, but as long as Ruby was by her side, they would be ok. She was curious about her hometown anyways.

"Ok…" Ruby gave them puppy dog eyes then got up to grab some bags before returning to Weiss' side. "Remember our promise."

"I know." Weiss nodded and got up, hanging back a bit as she watched Tai and Summer leave the door first and followed after Ruby.

Ruby kept her hand onto Weiss', not wanting to let her go, and it helped her know that she wouldn't get lost.

The trip to the store was slightly eventful. Weiss was used to the ones in town thanks to Ruby, but this one was smaller, and the owners seemed to know practically everyone.

"Weiss? Is this too overwhelming for you?" Ruby looked at the older woman, worried about her.

"N-No. I'm fine." Weiss shook her head as she lied to Ruby. Yes, it was overwhelming, but not in a bad way. It all felt… nice. Just a bit odd to her.

Not trusting that answer, Ruby started to lead Weiss outside the store after letting her parents know that they'd be outside waiting for them.

"Ruby, you don't have—" she was about to scold Ruby for leaving so soon but then froze when she heard someone yelling.

"Hey! I saw you stealing that beer!" A young woman yelled.

"I did not! Don't lie!" A man growled at her.

"Oh dear…" The shopkeeper sighed and started walking towards them. "Break it up you two!"

Tai scratched his head. "We might be here for awhile. Summer, you can go with Ruby and Weiss to look around the store. I don't want the kids to see the fighting in case it escalates."

"Right, good point. Ruby? Weiss? Let's go wander around." Summer smiled then looked at Ruby.

"Ok." Ruby nodded then looked at Weiss, frowning when she froze at the people yelling. Oh no. Not again! "Weiss? Weiss. Are you ok?"

Weiss was shaking but calmed down when she looked at Ruby. "S-Sorry. I'm fi—" she jumped when she heard something crashing.

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"You're a disgrace to the family name!"

The wooden floor slowly turned to marble and the isles were disappearing. If she looked carefully, she could see three figures, two adults and a child. Weiss closed her eyes, not wanting to see that and tried to remember where she was.

Ruby frowned, trying to calm her down. There was no way that she was going to have a repeat of yesterday so soon. "Hey, Weiss. Look at me. You're not at your home." Ruby held onto her hand gently. "Can you repeat that? Can you see me?" She started to walk away from the entrance, wanting Weiss as far away from the commotion as possible.

Weiss shook as she held onto Ruby's hand, using her voice as an anchor to draw herself back to reality. She was still having a hard time but at least she couldn't hear his voice anymore… for now.

"Ruby?" Summer watched them move deeper into the store and noticed how scared Weiss looked. She seemed to be fine until… Then it started to click in her mind. "Tai? I'm sorry dear, but can you help Crystal?"

Tai looked at his wife, then at Weiss, then back at Summer. "Alright." He nodded then walked towards the shopkeeper to help her stop the two arguing and causing a ruckus within the store.

"Weiss, sweetie." Summer followed after them and placed a hand onto her shoulder, frowning when she flinched then pulled her hand back.

"Mom, I got this." Ruby looked at her mother apologetically.

Summer shook her head. "Can I try something?"

Ruby looked at Summer hesitantly then looked at Weiss. "Weiss, it's just me and my mom here. I'm not leaving you this time." She held onto her hand then looked at her mother, unsure of what she was going to do.

"Weiss." Summer gave a gentle smile to the younger woman and slowly pulled Weiss into a gentle, motherly hug while watching her reactions. "It's ok. I'm here and so is Ruby. Nothing is going to hurt you while we're here." She cooed gently, running a hand through her side pony tail gently.

Weiss was shocked by how warm her hugs were. Sure she was used to being hugged by Ruby, but this… was different. This hug was something that she wanted. She shook within Summer's grasp and slowly raised her free hand onto the older woman's arm.

A mother's hug.

"Mother…" Weiss whispered as she freed herself from Ruby's grasp and wrapped her arms around Summer, nuzzling against her shoulder and struggled not to cry.

Now she remembered where she was. She was in a small store with Ruby and her parents in her hometown. And this is Ruby's mother, not her own. But she had the right to be a little selfish, right? Ruby said so.

Summer blinked when she was hugged back like this, then looked at her daughter who looked back at her, surprised.

"How… how did you do that?" Ruby was shocked. Sure she's seen Weiss show weakness before, but not like this.

"A mother's intuition told me that she needed a mother's hug." Summer she chuckled weakly then frowned, unsure of what to think then looked at Ruby. "Did… something happen with her parents?"

Ruby frowned as she looked away. Summer watched her daughter carefully then looked back at Weiss, getting the confirmation that she needed. She slowly let go of Weiss and led her into Ruby's welcoming and protective embrace.

"I'm sorry for asking." She placed a hand onto Weiss' shoulder. "Weiss." Summer waited for Weiss to look at her. "I'm glad that you're here with us. Thank you, for everything that you've done so far."

Weiss eyes widened in shock and she buried her face onto Ruby's shoulder, trying to stop herself from crying in front of them. "Thank you…" she whispered.

"Is… everything ok?" Tai walked back towards them carefully. The cops arrived to take the disruptive man away, and he watched his wife and daughter comforting the latter's friend, wondering what had happened in the little time he was gone.

"I think… they'll be fine now." Summer gave him a reassuring smile and got up, walking towards him. "She's just tired and needs some rest. We should pay for the groceries and head home." She placed a hand onto his shoulder and kissed his cheek.

Tai raised a brow, unsure of that story, but nodded. "Alright."

"I'll tell you the real reason later when Weiss is resting with Ruby, ok? I need your help with something later." Summer gave him a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder then walked back towards the counter.

Tai just frowned a bit and followed after his wife, allowing his daughter to have some alone time to calm her friend down while they paid for the groceries.

"Weiss… are you ok?" Ruby looked at her worriedly, rubbing the last remnants of tears on her cheek away with her thumb.

"I-I'm fine now." Weiss took a few deep breaths, leaning onto the hand on her cheek, and held onto Ruby's other hand to ground herself.

"I'm sorry. People here usually doesn't steal things like that and cause a commotion." Ruby frowned, feeling guilty. Maybe that was her bad feeling that she was getting earlier when they were on their way to see her parents.

"They only raised their voice, I'll be fine." Weiss tried to reassure Ruby.

Ruby frowned. "And broke a couple glass bottles."

Well Weiss couldn't argue with that and sighed. She saw brief flashes of her home, but it probably would've been worse if Ruby didn't quickly remind her of where they were.

Weiss let out a small gasp when she felt Ruby holding her shoulder and hand then looked at her, seeing Ruby's usual concerned look, but there was also fear within them this time.

"W-What is it, Ruby?" she asked, holding her hand to calm her down a bit.

"That look… it just… scared me." Ruby looked away, feeling childish for admitting that. "You… had that same look when you panicked yesterday, I was worried that you were having another attack or something."

"Ruby, you're here with me." Weiss gave her a gentle smile, still holding onto her hand. "Not only that… you made sure that I was safe and knew where I was."

Ruby blinked when she said that and looked at her, smiling brightly. "I'm glad that you feel safe with me." She grinned.

Weiss continued to smile at her then thought about it. Why did she feel safe with Ruby? Yes, Ruby was patient and helping her through some of her problems without know the full story. But she felt a bit safer with Ruby than even Winter, her own sister. Was it because Winter wasn't there for her as much as Ruby?

"Weiss?"

She blinked when Ruby called her. "Ruby… I'm fine. Please stop worrying so much."

"I'm not worrying…" A lie. "Mom said that we're going home now. And that you look a bit tired, so you can go take a nap in my old room if you want to."

Weiss blinked. Twice. Did she look that tired? If she was being honest, she was a little tired from the nerves of meeting Ruby's parents, but she didn't think that she'd look that bad.

The family walked out and left the store, then started to walk home. Tai was talking to Ruby about how much he missed her and asked how she's been doing while Summer watched Weiss from the corner of her eyes.

"Weiss?" Summer started gently and watched Weiss jump out of her thoughts.

"Y-Yes, Mrs…?" Weiss realized that even though Ruby and Yang were sisters, they both had different names and didn't know what to call Summer.

Summer merely chuckled. "Please, call me 'Summer'. Anyways, would you and Ruby like to join Tai and myself for dinner later?"

"Dinner…?" Weiss thought about it then looked at Ruby who stopped talking with her father and looked back.

"Of course, you two can stay the night. I wouldn't want you two to walk home in the dark, late at night after all." Summer quickly added. She wanted to know more about Weiss, and was curious about her reaction earlier.

"I don't know, mom… Yang's expecting us back home tonight." Ruby frowned. Half a lie, she just wasn't sure how comfortable Weiss was feeling spending time with her parents like this.

As if she read her thoughts, Weiss took Ruby's hand. It was almost as if she was saying that she wanted Ruby to spend time with her parents because of how little they see each other.

"Weiss?" Ruby bit her lip, thinking about it then looked at her mother. "Alright, I'll just have to text Yang later that we'll be back sometime tomorrow."

"Of course." Summer smiled at them, silently thanking Weiss for agreeing with her selfish request as they entered their home again. "Ruby, can you show Weiss to your room?"

Ruby looked at Weiss then back at her mother before nodding and walked towards her old room. "Weiss, are you gonna be alright? I'm sorry, she usually doesn't ask requests like that on the fly."

"No, it's alright. It's… rather nice." Weiss mumbled and shook her head. Maybe she was exhausted. "I'll take a nap. You can talk with your parents. I should be fine here." She followed Ruby towards her room and sat on the bed.

"Alright… Sleep well, ok? I'll come get you in an hour or so." Ruby covered Weiss with the blankets and kissed her forehead. Part of her was still worried about leaving her alone, but trusted Weiss when she said that she'll be fine.

"I'll be fine, dolt." Weiss rolled her eyes as she rolled onto her side, watching Ruby make her way out the door.

"See you soon." Ruby laughed, leaving the door ajar in case Weiss called for her.

With a deep sigh, Ruby walked towards the kitchen and saw her mother pulling out some cookies out of the oven. "Ok mom… what are you planning?" she crossed her arms as she looked at her mother, expecting an honest answer.

"Planning?" Summer asked as she placed the cookies onto the cookie rack to cool down. "I'm not sure I'm following…"

Oh, it was going to be like that?

"Mom… you asked if Weiss could come here with me and suggested that we all go out together for shopping and dinner. I don't know what Yang told you, but people makes her nervous." Ruby huffed, knowing that her mother had good intentions.

"It's not people that make her nervous, Ruby." Summer looked at her daughter seriously. "Yes, some people makes her nervous, but, from what I've noticed, it's mostly shouting and something breaking that makes her more nervous."

Ruby frowned. How did her mother figure that out so quickly? Not to mention how she calmed Weiss down earlier too.

"Hey mom…Did you know Weiss before the concerts with Yang?"

Summer just gave Ruby a sly smile. "What makes you think that?" She then turned towards the cookies and grabbed a glass to fill it with milk. "These are ready, by the way. I'll make another batch for Weiss and then some for you two to take home tomorrow."

Ruby blinked. Twice. That answer… so did her mother know Weiss before? Since when?! She just pouted as she took some cookies, placed them onto a plate, grabbed the offered glass and watched her mother cook the next batch of cookies.

"I still want an honest answer, mom…" Ruby was watching her carefully.

"I'll tell you the truth… after I've made sure of something first, alright?" Summer didn't even have to look at her daughter to know that she was giving her a dissatisfied look. The older woman only hoped that what she was thinking was wrong and that she didn't have to step in and talk to a certain someone later.

Chapter Text

“Ruby, tell us what’s going on with Weiss.” Tai crossed his arms, sitting next to his daughter.

“Dad, you know that I can’t tell you. I promised her that I wouldn’t tell anyone anything.” She hated to hold the truth from her parents, but this was a promise that she intended to keep.

“You don’t have to tell us everything. Just about… her reaction earlier. She looked as if she was lost and confused.” Summer frowned, sitting on the other side of Ruby.

Ruby sighed deeply. Maybe she could explain that part? And maybe her parents can help her let Weiss know that she doesn’t have to feel alone, and that she can rely on her and her family if she feels lonely too.

“Ok… but I don’t know everything myself. I saw her act like that for the first time yesterday. I was getting lunch with Weiss, Yang, and Blake. Just as we were figuring out what to eat, some drunks were shouting and making a big scene. I noticed that Weiss looked pale and I offered to step outside for a bit for some air.” Ruby frowned as she looked down.

“The drunks shouted something. I can’t remember ‘cause I was more focused on getting Weiss out of there, and when I looked at her, the drunks threw a bottle at the wall and it shattered. I don’t think she even saw me or knew where we were. I tried calling her back but… she ran. Fast. I texted Yang and Blake about it and we went searching for her. Blake found her and convinced her to come back.”

Ruby sighed as she rested her elbows on her legs and buried her face into her hands. “I want her to trust and feel safe with me, but that time…”

Tai placed a hand onto his daughter’s shoulder. “That’s enough. Thank you.”

Summer was thinking the entire time, then placed a hand onto her shoulder too. “Ruby, you’ve done everything you could. How about you let us help you?”

“Wha?” Ruby looked up at her mother and father, unsure of what they could do to help.

“Let’s just say… we’re going to try to make her feel welcomed.” Summer winked at Ruby.

“As long as you don’t scare or hurt her.” She narrowed her eyes at her mother, causing Tai to laugh.

“If Yang was lying to us about you dating Weiss, fine. But I’d believe her if she said that you were crushing on her!”

“D-Dad!” Ruby blushed madly.

“We’re kidding, pumpkin. But you really do seem to care about her a good deal. We haven’t seen you this happy in a long time.” Summer giggled.

“Well… I am happy to spend time with her…” Ruby mumbled then looked at her father when he ruffled her hair.

“Don’t worry too much. You’ll know when you’re in love.”

Ruby just groaned and hid her face into her hands again while her parents just laughed.

______________________________

“Can you hear me? Am I getting through?” Weiss stared at the mirror, looking at both figures that she’s been seeing whenever she looked at the mirror.

The broken figure frowned as she looked up at her, blood dripping from her forehead and down her left eye.

The confident figure was just staring back, not moving or saying anything.

“I know that you can hear me… What am I supposed to do?” Weiss questioned, feeling how heavy her body felt.

“Nothing. Do nothing and just listen to father.” The broken figure sat down, pulling her knees to her chest.

“I’m not listening to him anymore!” Weiss shook her head. “And you… why won’t you say anything?”

The confident figure frowned and their mouth was moving as if they were saying something, but Weiss couldn’t hear them.

“What?”

“They’re saying that you should listen to father too.” The broken figure looked at Weiss.

The confident figure shook their head. Again trying to say something, but Weiss couldn’t hear anything.

“I don’t like it…”

Weiss looked at the broken figure, frowning at the look of pure hate that she was giving her. “What?”

“That girl… If only you were more obedient… If only you didn’t befriend her…” She then stood up and Weiss felt her wrists growing heavier. “If only you had listened to father, we wouldn’t be suffering the way we are now.”

“…ong.”

They both looked at the confident figure. “Yo--… --ong!”

“What…?” Weiss blinked. “Who—“

“…ess?”

Weiss looked around then looked back at the confident figure. “Who are you?”

“I’m… …ose.”

“…iess.”

She was struggling to hear. “Who?”

“Weiss!”

Weiss opened her eyes and saw Ruby looking at her.

“Mom was right. You’re exhausted.” She frowned as she moved back a bit. “How are you feeling?”

“What…?” Weiss looked around. This was… Ruby’s room. Right. “H-How long was I out?”

“About three hours. You missed lunch and mom wanted me to check on you.” Ruby sat on the bed. “And… you looked like you were having a nightmare. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Night…mare?” Weiss frowned. It wasn’t as if it was a nightmare, it felt like something different, and she couldn’t even remember her dream. “I don’t… remember what I was dreaming about.”

Ruby frowned, unsure if she could accept that answer, but she did for now. “We’ll be having dinner in a couple hours. Do you think you can handle that?”

Weiss nodded. “Can you show me to the bathroom so I can wash my face?”

“Sure.” She nodded and helped the older woman stand, still wondering what she was dreaming about. She walked Weiss towards the bathroom, letting her know that she’ll be close by, then left towards the end of the hallway. Ruby made eye contact with her parents, letting them know that Weiss was awake but didn’t want to stray too far away in case Weiss needed something.

“Is she awake, Ruby?” Summer looked at her daughter from the couch.

“Yeah. She should be out in a few minutes.” Ruby nodded.

“Great, we can prep for dinner. She’s not too picky about anything is she?” Summer got up from the couch and walked towards the kitchen.

Ruby crossed her arms. “She’s usually eating salad, but I’ve gotten her to eat other things.”

“Ruby, I keep telling you that I eat more than a salad most of the time. They’re just convenient to make.”

“AH!” The younger woman jumped when she suddenly heard Weiss’ voice coming from behind her. “D-Don’t do that!”

“Do what?” Weiss raised a brow and looked at Summer and Tai, feeling nervous about what happened just a few hours earlier.

“Did you sleep well, Weiss?” Summer smiled at her from the kitchen.

“I-I did, thank you.” Weiss bit her lip, worried about what they were thinking.

Tai stood up and walk towards Weiss, moving slowly when he noticed her flinch and gently placed a hand onto her shoulder once he was able to. “Would you like to hear some stories about Ruby when she was young?”

“Oh, that’s a great idea. Weiss, would you like to help me make dinner after that?” Summer smiled at their guest. “I’ll call you when I need help.”

Weiss blinked and looked between them and bit her lip. They were only trying to make her feel comfortable. Who was she to reject their kindness?

She looked at Ruby who just looked back with concerned eyes and sighed. “I’ll be fine, Ruby. You’re watching anyways.”

“Ruby, honey, come help me with some of the prep work while your father talks with Weiss.” Summer called for her.

“Call for me or look my way if you’re uncomfortable.” Ruby patted her back before walking towards the kitchen, setting out some ingredients.

Weiss merely rolled her eyes at Ruby then looked at Tai, biting her lip as they walked towards the couch. He gestured her to sit down and she did so, watching him as he walked towards the cabinets and pulled out some books before walking back towards her.

“We’re sorry for suddenly asking you to spend time with us and everything.” Tai sat away from Weiss, giving her room so that she’s comfortable and set the books between them. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but we’d just like to take a chance to get to know you a bit more. As much as you’re willing to share with us that is.”

“I-I understand.” Weiss looked at the books and gave a soft smile. So that's why Ruby's so kind and patient. It's because she got that trait from her parents. “Are these… photo albums of Ruby and Yang when they were children?”

“I wouldn’t be a father if I didn’t want to embarrass my daughter, now would I?” Tai winked then frowned when he saw Weiss’ expression drop. “A-Anyways! Here’s Ruby and Yang!” he quickly grabbed an album and opened it, showing a seven-year-old Yang holding a five-year-old Ruby, the latter struggling to attack another child.

Weiss blinked as she saw the photo. Yang’s cheek was red and Ruby… looked angry? What?

“Is this… really Ruby?” she looked up at the older man. In all the time she was student council president at school and the months she spent with Ruby personally, she had never seen the younger woman angry besides yesterday. She simply thought that Ruby was incapable of feeling anger. Seemed that she was wrong and it just had to be pushed past her boiling point.

“What… happened in this photo?”

“Well… the kid was teasing Yang and Ruby. Of course, they both were protective of each other. The kid went to punch Ruby, because she was smaller. Yang took the hit instead and, as you can see, Ruby didn’t take that lightly and… hence this photo.” Tai scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

That would explain why Ruby was… annoyed with Weiss when she protected her from the bodyguard.

“Your daughter is an amazing woman…” Weiss chuckled weakly, feeling a bit calmer and glanced towards the kitchen. She gave a small smile seeing how Ruby was concentrating on forming what she assumed was meatballs.

“I’m glad that you think so.” Tai was glad that Weiss finally seemed to be comfortable around him and thought of an embarrassing story to tell her. He started a bit quieter, in case Ruby could hear them. “You know… when she was a kid, she had this giant crush on someone she saw once on TV.”

Weiss looked at Tai, tilting her head a bit. “She had a crush on someone she saw on TV?” she asked, almost confused about where this was going.

“Right.” Tai nodded, trying to remember what they were watching. “Something about… talented kids or something like that. There were dancers, magicians, artists… but Ruby was mesmerized by a child singer and was upset when she never appeared again.”

“A child singer?” Weiss blinked and thought about it. “What was… the child’s name?”

“Hmmm… I think…. ‘Snow Angel’? She didn’t use her real name, so no one knows. All that we know is that she appeared once, won the competition, then never appeared again.” Tai then chuckled a bit at the memory. “Ruby really wanted to hear her singing again.”

Weiss blushed lightly as she listened to him. There was no way… right?

“Dad? What are you telling Weiss?” Ruby pouted from the kitchen.

“Your crush on that little singer from years before.” Tai grinned as Ruby blushed and dropped the meatball she was working on and sped her way towards her father.

“Ack! Don’t tell her that embarrassing story!”

“How cute you were, sulking for days when she didn’t appear again?” Tai snickered as Ruby waved her arms at him and jumped onto his back.

Weiss watched Ruby and her antics with her father and gave a little smile. So Ruby was like this with her father, not just Yang. For once, she was glad that she wasn’t jealous of that kind of relationship.

She looked up and saw Summer smiling at her and she glanced back at the father/daughter duo before getting up herself and walking towards the older woman’s side.

“Is Ruby always like this?” she asked and looked at all the ingredients around her.

“Sometimes. It’s always fun to watch, isn’t it?” Summer chuckled then wiped her hands, grabbing an apron and handing it to Weiss. “Would you like to help me until Ruby calms down from her embarrassment?”

“I…” Weiss looked at the apron and accepted it. She put it on and looked at the ingredients. “W-What should I do?”

“Hmmm… well can you help me with the sauce? Ruby will come back to finish the meatballs once she’s done.” Summer walked towards one side of the kitchen and set aside a few cans of tomato paste and sauce. “I’ll teach you how to mince garlic, ok? Be careful, the knife is sharp.”

Weiss nodded slowly as she watched the older woman mincing the garlic then was nervous when she was handed the knife. Her hands shook as she positioned herself to start, then flinched when she felt Summer behind her, placing her hand over hers as if she were a mother teaching a child how to use a knife for the first time in the kitchen.

“Like this. It’s ok if you mess up. Just don’t hurt yourself.” Summer spoke calmly and patiently.

Weiss nodded slowly, biting her lip. Her chest hurt as she followed Summer’s movements, then before she knew it, Summer removed her hands and Weiss was mincing the garlic on her own.

“Good job, Weiss.” Summer smiled proudly at her.

Weiss smiled weakly. So this is what it’s like to really have a mother…

“Weiss?” Summer frowned, not liking how her guest looked. “Are you ok?”

“I-I’m fine, I’m sorry. What else should I do?”

“Open the cans. I’ll teach you a recipe that I taught Ruby.” Summer winked at her and gave Weiss a can opener, showing her how to open one can before letting Weiss do the last three. Once that was done, she set a pan onto the stove.

“Alright, are you ready? It’ll use some oil so be careful about it splashing around.”

“O-Ok.” Weiss nodded and stood next to Summer.

Summer gave her a small smile. “First… put in a bit of oil, then put in the garlic. I’ll let you know when, ok?” She hovered her hand over the pan, feeling the heat before looking at Weiss. “Alright. Remember, a bit of oil first, then the garlic.”

“Like… this?” Weiss nervously poured some oil into the pan and glanced at Summer for approval before putting it away, then slid the garlic into the pan, almost jumping away when she heard the sizzle.

“It’s ok. Just be careful at this part.” Summer handed Weiss a spatula and gestured at the pan. “Stir it around for a minute then we’ll put some ground beef into it.”

Weiss nodded, determined to perfect this on the first try. After a minute exactly –she counted in her head- she took the ground beef that was set out and looked at Summer, unsure of how much to put into the pan.

“All of it.” Summer nodded, proud of how fast Weiss was learning how to cook. She watched the younger woman slide the beef into it before hesitating.

“Smash it around until it’s all broken up.”

Again, Weiss nodded and did as she was told, growing worried when she saw the beef changing colour.

“Is the beef all brown?” Summer moved close to Weiss to look at the progress. Just as Weiss was about to apologize, having a feeling that she messed up, Summer handed her the cans of tomato sauce and paste that she opened earlier.

“Now, you pour all of these in.” Summer poured a can of tomato sauce into the pan, gesturing for Weiss to stir the contents within the pan and smiled when she did so.

“L-Like this…?” Weiss glanced at Summer as she continued to stir the contents and gave a small smile, feeling useful to someone outside of school work and expectations.

“You’re doing a great job, Weiss. Keep up the good work.” Summer patted her shoulder and poured the paste into the pan, putting a bit of water into the can to make sure that she had all the paste inside the pan.

“Alright… while that’s cooking…” Summer grabbed a pot and filled it with water, setting it onto the stove next to the pan and started to let it boil. “Keep stirring that pan for now, then add the meatballs that Ruby made. I’ll let you know when I need help with the next step.”

Weiss nodded as she continued to stir the sauce, slowly incorporating the meatballs. She watched Summer grab a sugar container and pour some into the sauce. “It’s a secret.” Summer winked.

“Secret?” Weiss tilted her head while mixing the sauce then looked at the water boiling. “U-Uhm…”

“Alright, let’s switch.” Summer poured some salt and butter into the water before she switched sides with Weiss. “See that bag of pasta noodles? Pour all of that into the pot. Slowly, so you don’t burn yourself.”

“This bag?” Weiss nodded as she grabbed the bag, opened it carefully, and poured the noodles into the pot.

Summer smiled at her and grabbed a fork, gently pushing the noodles until they were all submerged underwater, then stirred them around. After that she placed a lid on top.

“And with that, we’re pretty much done making dinner. Why don’t you go talk with Tai and Ruby. I’m sure they could use a break from all that roughhousing.”

“Alright, if there’s anything else I can do…” Weiss started but Summer just smiled at her.

“I’ll let you know. Now just relax. Think of this place as your home.” Summer continued to smile at her and shoo her towards her husband and daughter.

Weiss carefully made her way towards the couch again where Ruby was caught in a headlock from her father who was also ruffling her hair.

“And you were humming that song she sang for months, hoping that she’d appear again on TV!” Tai grinned then looked up. “Oh, hello Weiss.” He let Ruby go. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ignore you like that.”

“It’s fine.” Weiss shook her head. “Summer asked me to help her a bit in the kitchen while you two were… acting like Xiao…. Y-Yang and Ruby this morning.”

“Oh?” Tai looked at Ruby. “Glad to hear that you two are getting along well.” He smirked and ruffled her hair again.

“Ugh… Daaaaaad….” Ruby pouted as she fixed her hair and looked up when her mother called them to have dinner. “Be right there!” She then turned to Weiss and smiled at her. “Come on! Mom’s spaghetti is the greatest!”

“If it’s like what you served me the first night I slept over, I think I’ll like it.” Weiss nodded and followed after Ruby.

The family took their share of the food and Weiss sat next to Ruby, glancing at them and was glad to be here to spend time with her family.

Weiss was listening to Ruby talk with her parents while they were eating. Sure, she ate with Ruby, Yang, and Blake before, but this… eating with someone’s parents, it felt nice.

How long has it been since she had a proper meal with her family? Her parents?

“And then Yang… Weiss?” Ruby stopped her conversation when she looked at Weiss to see how she was doing. “Are you ok?”

“What?” she blinked, unsure of what Ruby meant and looked at Tai and Summer as well, who looked back at her worriedly.

“You’re crying.” Summer frowned as she looked at her. “Is the food not to your liking?”

Weiss raised a hand to her cheek and felt tears. She quickly wiped them away and shook her head. “The food’s good. Everything’s just… warm.” She looked down. “I…. It’s been years since I had dinner with my family. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, honey…” Summer reached out and placed a hand onto Weiss’. “It’s ok. Remember, you can think of us as your second family. If you ever need anything, we’ll be here for you.”

Weiss looked at Ruby, Summer, then Tai, who just smile back at her encouragingly, before looking down at the food again, using a hand to cover her eyes as tears fell.

“Thank you… Thank you so much...”

Chapter Text

“Hey, mom?” Ruby started as she was washing the dishes. “Thanks, for helping me make Weiss feel comfortable.”

Summer chuckled. “Of course, Ruby. You know that I’m more than happy to help your friends… You seem to really care about her a lot though.”

“When I found her that night… she looked so scared and almost begged me to help her, even though her words were saying the opposite.” Ruby frowned at the memory. “Then she kept talking about paying me back for the medicine we used on her, and begging us not to take her to the hospital…”

“But… you have her trust now.” Summer smiled at her daughter as she placed the dried dishes away. “I know that you two will be alright… and if you two date, you have my blessing.”

“I guess…” Ruby sighed then blinked when she finally registered what her mother said. “M-Mom! I mean… ok yeah, I do like her… a-as a friend! But we’re not dating! I don’t think she’ll like me that way.”

“Ruby, I said if you two date.” Summer chuckled at how easily her daughter was teased when the idea of dating Weiss entered her mind. It was clear as day that her daughter did like Weiss. Now she just needed to know how Weiss felt about Ruby.

“Ruby?” Weiss walked into the living room, drying her hair with a towel, wearing a red short-sleeved hoodie and black shorts. “The bathroom is free… Thanks for letting me use it.”

“Oh, no problem! I’ll take a quick shower once I’m done with the dishes. Why don’t you watch some TV while you wait?” Ruby grinned at her and finished washing the last of the dishes before drying her hands and leaving the kitchen.

Summer used this chance to quickly dry the dishes, placed them away, then moved next to Weiss to help her with the TV.

“So, Weiss… how do you feel? I hoped that you enjoyed dinner with us.” She started, wanting to ease into talking with her. If the little time that they spent together told her anything, she couldn’t just jump into a conversation with her like her daughter.

“I… did. I apologize for my… poor reaction earlier.” Weiss looked down, embarrassed that she cried in front of Ruby and her family.

“It’s alright, dear.” Summer wanted to ask more about her past, but figured that Ruby would be a better person for her to talk to about this. Moving closer, she placed a hand onto Weiss’ shoulder. “I know that you may not know me as well, and that I’ve left Ruby and Yang for my job, but I would like you to think of me as your own mother. A mother that would be there for you whenever you needed a warm hug and a shoulder to cry on, someday.”

Weiss’ eyes widened and she nodded weakly with a small smile. “T-Thank you…”

“Any time.” Summer pulled Weiss into a motherly hug and rubbed her back. Weiss held onto Summer, nuzzling against her shoulder.

“Mother…”

“Weiss?” Summer was worried about Weiss’ relationship with her parents, specifically her mother. What in the world happened between them?

The younger woman realized what she said and blushed, pulling away. “I-I apologize.”

“You don’t have to apologize for that, sweetie. I told you that you could think of me as your own mother after all. If it’ll make it easier for you, you can call me ‘mother’.” Summer chuckled.

“N-No, I mean…” Weiss blushed madly, feeling embarrassed. What’s with Ruby’s family teasing them like this? Or was that a genuine offer? She didn’t know and her head hurt trying to think about it.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” Summer frowned, placing a hand onto Weiss’ shoulder.

“Y-You didn’t! I just… had a lot on my mind lately.” Weiss lied. She wasn’t uncomfortable per say, she just felt… awkward especially when she had absent parents. She just needed some time to ease into it.

Summer frowned then thought about it. “Would you like to see a video of Ruby when she was younger real quick? I overheard Tai mentioning to you that Ruby had a crush on a singer that never appeared in the talent show anymore.” She stood up and walked towards the TV, kneeling next to it and looking through the cabinet. Maybe this would be the quickest way to figure out Weiss’ feelings for Ruby.

“You… kept a video of it?” Weiss tilted her head.

“Of course.” Summer paused and thought of her next words but couldn’t think of anything that wouldn’t cause Weiss to think of her own parents. “She was really cute and looked like she was… entranced by the singer.” She put the video on and walked back towards the couch, fast-forwarding to Ruby sitting in front of the TV and Yang laughing at her actions from the couch.

“Ruby, you’re gonna hurt your eyes like that!” Yang laughed.

“But Yang! This girl is so pretty!” Ruby pouted at her sister for a second then looked at the TV.

“Now presenting Snow White singing ‘This Will Be The Day!’”

A small girl with silver hair, tied in a loose French braid hanging over her shoulder, and wearing a light blue dress did a little bow, taking a deep breath before the music started and she began to sing.

“They see you as small and helpless. They see you as just a child. Surprise when they find out that a warrior will soon run wild!”

“Wow…” Ruby looked mesmerized by the voice. It sounded so small and weak at first but it quickly grew more powerful. In fact, it made the song sound much more powerful that way!

Once the song ended, Ruby pouted and listened to the judges critiquing her and asking how long she’s been singing.

“You just started singing last week? Impressive! We thought that you had been training for years!”

“T-Thank you.” Snow blushed as she fidgeted in place before quickly standing straight, as if she were scared of her posture.

“Thank you Snow White, you sang very beautifully. We hope that you can come back again.”

“We’ll see about that.” She nodded.

“Now in a few minutes, we’ll announce the winner of tonight’s talented children!”

“Oooohh I hope that Snow White wins! She’s so pretty and has a really pretty voice!” Ruby practically bounced in place.

“And the winner is… Snow White! Congratulations!”

“YAY!” Ruby jumped and fist pumped the air.

“Mom!? What are you showing Weiss?!” Ruby screeched as she dived bombed the couch while blushing madly.

“Welcome back, Ruby.” Summer chuckled as she quickly moved away before her daughter could crash into her. “Wasn’t she adorable as a child, Weiss?”

Weiss blinked and looked between them and felt heat rising to her cheeks as she looked away. “S-She was… and still is…” she mumbled the last part.

Summer gave a little smirk when she heard that, and quickly hid it to help Ruby sit properly onto the couch. “You two should head to bed now. You have an early train to catch after all.”

“Mom… You’re gonna wake us up anyways.” Ruby rolled her eyes as she stood up and offered her hand to Weiss who accepted it and stood up as well.

“Only if you two don’t wake up on time.” Summer kissed both of their foreheads. “Good night, you two. Sleep well.”

Weiss blinked at the kiss and followed Ruby towards her room. “Good night, Summer.”

“Ugh… I can’t believe that mom showed you that embarrassing video!” Ruby groaned once she opened the door to her room and closed the door when Weiss was inside.

“It was interesting to see you as a child though.” Weiss chuckled weakly as she sat onto the bed. “I knew that you were always energetic, but I didn’t think that you were that energetic when you were a child.”

Ruby opened her mouth to retort that but remembered that Weiss most likely didn’t have the same experience at home and quickly shut her mouth before she said anything stupid. Instead, she just moved towards the bed and wrapped her arms around Weiss, pulling her onto the bed.

“R-Ruby?!” Weiss blushed at the sudden action and squirmed a bit, looking at the younger woman.

“I’m glad… that you’re a bit more relaxed here with my parents. I didn’t think that you’d take it that well, and… honestly? I was ready to take you away the second you were uncomfortable with them.” She whispered, resting her head onto Weiss’ shoulder.

“You dolt…” Weiss sighed and moved so that her arm was around Ruby. “I told you that I would let you know if I felt uncomfortable. Besides… You hadn’t really spent that much time with your parents. You should enjoy it.”

“I guess…” Ruby sighed, causing Weiss to shiver at the hot breath on her neck. “You don’t spend that much time with Winter either, you know.”

“She’s busy with the military. I can’t blame her.” She sighed, thinking of when they would meet again then thought of something. “Ruby…? Do you want to come with me to meet Winter? If I recall, she said that she wanted to meet you?”

Sure they met while they were looking for Weiss before, but did Winter want a proper meeting? She didn’t know.

“If you want me to, I’ll gladly go with you.” Ruby nodded, loosening her grip on Weiss and just rested her arm over the other’s stomach. “She’s the only one you trust… Out of all your family?”

Weiss frowned and nodded. “Correct…” she sighed and gently took Ruby’s hand to comfort herself. “I’m sure that you’re well aware that my family isn’t as pleasant as yours. Winter and Klein are the only two that I really consider my family.”

“Klein?” Ruby questioned, being careful not to push too much for information if Weiss didn’t want to share.

“Our butler. He practically raised me since I was a child.” Weiss sighed. “Well, raised me as best as he could. He took care of me after father…” she stopped, her hand trembling as she struggled to find her next words.

“Weiss… It’s ok.” Ruby gave her hand a comforting squeeze. “Klein sounds like a great guy.”

“He is.” Weiss gave a soft smile. “He’s the only reason why I tolerate going back home…” she sighed.

Ruby bit her lip before moving closer. “Why… are you living separately from your family? I-If you don’t want to answer, that’s fine! I’m just curious about you.”

Weiss raised a brow as she looked at Ruby then sighed. She supposed explaining that would be one of the easier things to talk about… Perhaps.

“I… convinced my father to let me live on my own, to ‘experience’ the outside world and learn more about it. But I’m still chained to him. He decided where and everything.” She sighed deeply then blinked when Ruby moved on top of her. “Ruby, what are you doing?”

“You’re not chained to him right now. You’re here, with me. In a safe place with me and my parents.” She grinned before getting off Weiss and sat up properly.

“What kind of logic is that?” Weiss raised a brow as she sat up. Sometimes she couldn’t understand Ruby’s way of thinking.

“Well…” Ruby took her hand. “I don’t see chains.” She raised a hand when she knew what Weiss was going to say. Or at least, thought that she knew. “I know that you probably mean metaphorical chains, but you’re here with me still. And… I like to think that you’re feeling better than the past few months that we’ve gotten to know each other.”

Weiss blinked and sighed, almost facepalming herself. “Were you always this simple?”

“Only with you to make you smile.” Ruby grinned. Life was too short to be worrying about every little thing! Though with Weiss’ case, she figured that she’d try to lighten the mood as much as she could so that she could take it easy and slow down a little bit.

“You’ve got to be joking.” Weiss sighed again then shook her head.

“Buuuut you have to admit, you were having fun. At least today, you had some fun.” Ruby didn’t stop grinning.

Weiss pouted a bit. She did have a point… Sighing in defeat, she laid back onto the bed. “I guess today was… fun.”

Ruby chuckled and lay next to her, looking at her with childishly bright eyes. “I’m glad that you had some fun.” She then took Weiss’ hand. “And I promise that nothing will change because you had fun.”

“How could you promise that so easily?” Weiss asked barely above a whisper then shook her head, turning her back towards Ruby. “Your mother said we should sleep. Good night, Ruby.”

“Good night, Weiss. Sleep well.” Ruby covered both of them and turned her back towards Weiss, feeling confused about why she felt like she was being shut out again. Shaking that thought out of her head, she just figured that she pushed Weiss too far again and silently apologized to her, falling asleep.

_______________________________

Weiss opened her eyes again and frowned seeing the same two figures.

“Are you two going to tell me who you are now?”

“We are you. Isn’t that obvious enough?” The broken figure swung her chains idly before they fell onto the ground with a loud thud.

Weiss winced. She almost knew what those chains were. She looked at her own wrists and found the same chains. The only difference is that they didn’t look as heavy as the ones on the broken figure.

“We are father’s dolls. His pets. We could have it easy if you just listened to him and cut off this fake friendship you have with that girl.”

“It’s not a fake friendship!”

“Then why haven’t you trusted her? It proves that you think nothing more of her. Poor girl. You’re just stringing her along and toying with her feelings!”

“S-Shut up! You’re wrong!” Weiss shook her head. Was she really just toying with Ruby? She really enjoyed spending time with her, so why? Why did her heart ache when she thought of Ruby?

“Yo…ov…er.”

Weiss looked up, seeing the confident figure trying to speak to her. “W-What…?”

“You…ve…he...”

“I-I can’t… understand. What are you trying to say?”

“That you should hate her and end this fake friendship.” The broken figure quickly spoke, knowing what the confident figure was really saying.

“Stop lying to me, you little brat!” Weiss glared at the broken figure. “You say that both of you two are myself, correct? How are you two myself in the first place if I’m right here?”

“You’re an idiot. You don’t have to think. Just do as he says.”

Weiss felt sick when the broken figure said that. It was something that her father kept repeating after all. Especially days when he was angry and just used her as punching bag.

“….ess?”

“You’re wrong!” Weiss glared at her. “I won’t listen to him anymore! And you…” Weiss turned towards the confident figure. “Why can’t I hear what you have to say?”

“In…me. So…Ke…lo…er.”

“Weiss?”

“Ke… What? What are you saying?”

“Hey Weiss!”

“Lov…er…”

“Weiss, time to take up!”

Weiss opened her eyes and saw Ruby leaning over her and sighed. “Do you really have to be over me like this every time I wake up now?”

“Maybe if you woke up the first time I shook you, I wouldn’t have to.” Ruby blushed a bit as she moved away, not wanting to admit that she wanted to kiss her awake, and failed every time.

Not failed per say, she didn’t know where they were in this friendship. She’d have to have a call with Yang later… or her mother… Or she could always delay it and try to figure it out herself before she asked Weiss herself. Yeah, that sounded better.

“Come on, mom made some breakfast for us to eat on the go.” Ruby made sure that she had everything that they brought the day before, then looked at Weiss.

“Breakfast… on the go?” Weiss raised a brow as she got up from the bed and went to check her bag to make sure that everything was in there, then looked at Ruby.

“Turns out that they have to go someplace in a bit, so we won’t be having breakfast together.” Ruby blinked then had a small grin on her face. “Did you like having meals with my parents?”

“O-Of course not!” Weiss lied as she blushed madly. “…Though it was nice to spend time with them.”

Ruby smiled and placed a hand onto her shoulder. “We can spend more time with them the next time they’re here. How does that sound?”

“…I wouldn’t be opposed.” Weiss turned away from Ruby.

“Great! Now come on. We should tell them that we’re going before they leave. We don’t want them to be late after all.” Ruby opened the door for Weiss and walked towards the living room. “Hey mom, we’re leaving now.”

“Have a safe trip home. I’m sorry we couldn’t spend more time together.” Summer hugged her daughter then moved to hug Weiss as well who stiffly hugged her back. “I’m glad to have met you, Weiss.”

Weiss loosened up a bit and hugged her back. “Thank you…” she pulled away and stood next to Ruby.

“You have work. It’s fine.” Ruby shrugged. “What about Yang though? She said she was gonna visit today.”

“We should be home by the time she comes by.” Tai ruffled her head. “Now get going before you’re late for the train!”

“See you later, dad!” Ruby threw her arms around his neck for a hug then jumped down. “Come on, Weiss.”

Weiss blinked as she looked at Tai, unsure of how to say goodbye to him and sighed in relief when he offered a handshake.

Tai smirked when Weiss took his hand then pulled her into a bear hug that rivaled Yang’s.

“DAD! You’re gonna hurt her!” Ruby was by Weiss’ side the second she was released and pulled her close.

“I-I’m fine, Ruby. It just surprised me.” Weiss tried to calm her down before looking at Tai. “I’ll see you two again soon.”

“Can’t wait to see you two again.” Tai grinned.

“Travel safely!”

Ruby gave them a look for a moment before leaving the house, wondering what’s up with her parents. “That… was weird.”

“…Now that they’re gone, are we really going to the Schnee house?” Tai made sure that the kids weren’t listening anymore before he turned towards his wife.

“Of course. There’s something that I need to make sure of. We’ll be back before lunch. You know how late Yang visits sometimes.” Summer gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Shall we go?”

“Let’s go. For them.”

Chapter Text

Weiss was silent on the way towards Ruby's house, and Ruby didn't mind it too much, thinking that she was just exhausted from meeting her parents. It had to be stressful, after all! Even though she didn't know what she went through, from her actions and little that she did know, she was still glad that she had Weiss meet her parents.

"Ruby…" She looked up at Weiss, wondering what she needed.

"Yes, Weiss?" Ruby blinked, tilting her head.

"…Thank you. For allowing me to meet your parents." Weiss closed her eyes and rested her head onto the younger woman's shoulder.

"Anytime." Ruby smiled. "You can take a nap if you want. Though we should be reaching our station in about half an hour." She looked up to see where they were and estimated the time.

"No, I'm expecting a message from Winter soon. I sent her one just before I showered last night." She pulled out her phone and looked at it to check if there was a new message yet or not. And she was being half truthful. She didn't feel like fighting with her mirror selves right now. In fact, it just made her a bit sick thinking about it.

Ruby thought about it. "About me coming with you to meet her? Are you really sure that I should come with you?"

"I know that I saw you two together, but I'm not completely sure if she said what she wanted to say with you." Weiss looked at her phone before putting it away in her bag.

"Even if she didn't, I have something that I'd like to ask her. But Weiss." Ruby placed her hand over the other woman's. "It's your time with her. I know that you don't really spend a lot of time with her."

"I could say the same thing about your parents." Weiss sighed as she sat up straight. "Though… Unfortunately for you, Winter doesn't have… 'blackmail' material like how your mother showed me that video of you enjoying, what's her name? 'Snowpea?' Snow's little performance."

"Snow White." Ruby blushed as she mumbled that.

"Right, but as I was saying." Weiss sighed again. "Since we don't spend time together as often, she does not have 'blackmail' material for you to tease me. Not that I would, though it would be an interesting topic to speak with Yang and Blake about some time."

Ruby's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Weiss in disbelief. "You wouldn't?!"

Weiss blinked, almost enjoying how Ruby was looking at her right now, though she mentally shook that thought out of her head. "I am pretty sure that Yang… knows about it considering she was there. Also, considering that Blake is almost always with Yang, I'm am almost certain that Yang told her that story about you."

"…I kinda hate how right you sound." Ruby pouted and let go of Weiss' hand to groan into her own hands.

"Y-You were cute though." Weiss placed a hand onto her shoulder, unsure of how to cheer her up.

Ruby blushed when Weiss said that she was cute and was glad that she was hiding her face within her hands. There was no way that she was going to let Weiss see her like this!

"Ruby?" Weiss frowned and scooted closer, worried about her. "You know that I wouldn't. You didn't tell anyone about my scars when you saw them. Why would I want to talk to people about your crush? It's your personal business. Not my place to share it with others."

"Thanks, Weiss." Ruby leaned over and rested her head onto the other's shoulder and took Weiss' hand into her own… "Uhm… can I ask you something?"

"Depends on the question." Weiss answered and immediately regretted the choice of words. "I-I mean… sure."

"Can I uh…" Ruby blushed as she glanced up before shaking her head and changing her question. Maybe Yang would be a better person to ask about that. "Can I stay the night with you? I'm pretty sure that my parents would keep Yang for the night like they did with us. And I'm sure that Blake went with her. I don't really want to be alone tonight."

Weiss raised a brow. "You don't have to ask to spend the night together." Why did Ruby seem so shy about it this time? It worried her, more than it should. "Are you worried about meeting Winter?"

"What? No. Why would you think that?" Ruby blinked, oblivious to her actions a few seconds earlier.

"You don't normally ask to spend time together like that. I assumed that you were worried about something." Weiss shrugged, unconsciously intertwining their fingers together. "And I already promised that I wouldn't talk about your crush anymore. If… there's something that you're worried about, you can talk about it with me, if you would like to."

"Well…" Ruby sat up straight and looked at Weiss. "Do you want to talk about your family a bit more? Or yourself?"

With how close they were, Ruby felt Weiss tense at the question and placed a hand onto her shoulder. "You don't have to if you don't wanna."

"If it'll ease your worries a bit… I could tell you a bit more about myself." Weiss sighed, feeling like she could trust Ruby a bit more than before after everything that she'd done for her. "What would you like to know? Be aware that there's still some questions that I'm not comfortable answering."

"That's more than enough. I don't want to push you after all." Ruby smiled at her and thought about her questions. "Hmmm… Oh, Klein and Winter. What's your time with them like?" Was that a safe enough question? Ruby hoped so, and she enjoyed that small, happy sparkle she saw last time. Maybe she could bring that back?

"My time with Klein and Winter?" Winter blinked and thought about it, trying to remember the happy times. "Well… Winter's the one that helped me become who I am today. Father… put a lot of expectations on my shoulders. Sad to say, it's still there. Anyways, Winter encouraged me to become a different person. Someone other than his…" she paused for a moment to find the correct word. "Pawn."

Ruby gave a gentle squeeze to Weiss' shoulder and hand. Weiss just placed a reassuring hand over Ruby's and gave her a small smile. "If Winter hadn't helped me, I wouldn't have met you. Or… Blake and Yang. I wouldn't have been living away to have some breathing room. If we're being honest…" Weiss stopped herself, looking away and removed a hand from Ruby's. "I… I wouldn't be here…"

"Weiss." Ruby looked at her. If Weiss faced her now, she'd see that Ruby's eyes were filled with fear. She didn't like how she implied that she wouldn't be here. Did that mean…?

"I-I'm sorry. You wanted to hear something happy, correct?" Weiss quickly changed the subject, unable to look into Ruby's eyes. "Klein… was more of a father to me than my real one. Whenever I had nightmares, he was there. He took care of me as best as he could while he was working. I owe a lot to him." She sighed and squeezed Ruby's hand. "I can't thank you enough for allowing me to meet your parents, Ruby. I didn't think a family could be so… warm."

"And I never knew a family could be so cold…" Ruby frowned then realized what she said when she felt Weiss tensing up again. "I-I mean uh… We're at our stop! Let's go!"

Ruby stood up quickly and took Weiss' hand, starting to walk out of the train.

"R-Ruby!" Weiss was surprised by her sudden change in attitude and followed after her, unsure of what to say to her now.

Weiss frowned as she followed after her, not really caring which house they go to. She thought about something, silently humming 'This Will Be The Day!' to herself.

Ruby slowly stopped walking and looked at Weiss when she was humming.

"You… learn music fast." Ruby blinked, amazed how good it was to hear that song again.

"If it's a short song, then I can memorize it. Though, you seemed to be enjoying it as well." Weiss blushed a bit, not wanting to admit the truth about that girl or how she knew that song. Maybe one day, but right now, she felt too embarrassed to really tell Ruby the truth. Heck, she'd rather tell the truth about her family more than her going to some talent show with her grandfather and sister because they wanted her to get out of the house.

"Something about it… it just made me fall in love." Ruby blushed as she admitted that. "And she's just so cute…"

Weiss let out a small chuckle and Ruby looked at her, still blushing but started to grin. "I hope that you don't fall in love that easily, Ruby."

"Of course not! Believe it or not, I hadn't fallen in love with anyone since Snow White!" Ruby paused for a moment and slapped herself, covering her face with a hand. "…That just sounded lame."

"Since Snow White, huh?" Weiss hummed, walking with Ruby. "Does that mean you're in love now?"

Ruby stopped walking, blushing harder as she looked at the floor. "Weiss…"

"What is it, Ruby?" Weiss stopped walking as well and looked at Ruby. "Your face is really red." She frowned, starting to get worried about her. "We should go to your house. Maybe you're coming down with something."

"R-Right." Ruby sighed in relief. Part of her was disappointed while the other part was glad that the answer flew over Weiss' head. She didn't know if she really was in love with her, after all!

Sure Weiss was smart, beautiful, and she loved spending time with her and holding her and… Shaking that thought out of her head, she really needed to talk to Yang and Blake about this. And hope that they wouldn't tease her.

They walked towards Ruby's house in silence and wasn't surprised to see it empty once they walked through the door.

"So…" Ruby started, realizing that they don't have much to do in her house. "Want to watch a movie before making something to eat?"

"If you don't mind me writing some lyrics down while we watch, then be my guest." Weiss looked at her phone, sighing when her sister still hadn't called yet.

"Did you have another idea in mind?" Ruby was excited every time Weiss wanted to write lyrics down. Sometimes they sounded sad but recently they started to sound more positive, and she couldn't wait to hear the lyrical version of it!

"Yes and no. Not for one specific song. A few I'd… rather have you listen to the full lyrics once I'm finished with it." Weiss blushed as she said that and shook that thought out of her head. "I-I have some other ideas that you can help with though. If you'd like to help."

"Well, if you need my help with anything involving your lyrics, then I would." Ruby smiled brightly. "Should we work on that instead of a movie then?"

"Didn't you want to watch a movie though? You suggested it first." Weiss didn't want Ruby to change her original plans just because she wanted to do something else. She loved to spend time with Ruby no matter what they did. It made her feel… happy.

"If I'm being honest, I don't really care what we do as long as I'm spending it with you." Ruby blushed as she scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

Weiss blushed as well when she said that, feeling butterflies in her stomach. She moved towards the couch. "A-Alright, then shall I show you some sentences for these songs?"

"Anything specific in mind?" Ruby plopped down next to her, trying to control her blush as she watched Weiss pull out a notebook, writing a few sentences down before Weiss handed it to her.

Don't be foolish

Give up your wish

Big things aren't for you

You said know your place

Accept your fate and show good face

And be thankful that you're there

"Weiss…" Ruby frowned as she read those lines.

"Keep reading, Ruby." Weiss knew those first few lines wouldn't sound appealing to Ruby.

"Ok…" she shook her head and continued to read.

I'm in control I own my soul

And I'll never go back there

I don't care what it costs me

I know I almost lost me

Won't spend another day confused

Ruby reread the lines again. "Yep! I like it better when it sounds positive like this!" She grinned, about to give her back the notebook but saw some faint scribbles and flipped back a few pages.

When I'm with you I'm at home.

And that's all that matters somehow

You make me smile when the world's come undone

Weiss blushed madly and quickly ripped the notebook from Ruby's hands. "T-Those aren't ready to be seen yet!"

"W-Wait, some of those were really cute! I wanna read more!" Ruby pouted. "Come on, just a few more seconds!" she paused for a moment then lunged for the notebook, thinking that she could grab it just like that without hurting Weiss.

Weiss backed away from Ruby seeing her pout at her like that. She hit the back of the couch, not realizing that Ruby was going to try and lunge at her, and they both fell off the couch, tangled in each other's limbs.

"OH MY GOSH! I'M SO SORRY, WEISS! ARE YOU OKAY?!" Ruby leaned up and looked down at Weiss, blushing at how good she looked below her like that. Weiss hair just disheveled, Ruby's hands on either side of Weiss' head. She was being careful not to put any weight onto her with her hands. It took her a moment to realize that as she was checking on Weiss' condition, she moved until she was straddling her waist as well.

"Ugh… my head hurts a bit, but otherwise I'm fine." Weiss winced as she rubbed her head and looked up at Ruby, blushing at how Ruby was looking at her like that. "R-Ruby…?" She propped herself onto her elbows, not realizing how close they were.

They both started at each other for a moment before they slowly closed the gap.

Their lips were five inches apart and they could feel each other's breaths.

Four…

Three…

Two…

One…

Then the phone rang, snapping both of them out of their trance. Ruby jumped off Weiss, blushing madly and hiding her face within her hands while Weiss scrambled to sit up and look at her phone.

"I-It's Winter. I'll uh…. Be right back." Weiss blushed as she stood up and left the living room.

"R-Right… T-Talk to you soon." Ruby didn't look at her, feeling too embarrassed by what just happened.

Once she thought that Weiss was out of earshot, she grabbed one of the cushions on the couch and screamed into it. She really needed help.
_______________________________________

"W-Winter, what is it?" Weiss huffed, trying to calm her heart from what just happened.

"Weiss? What's wrong? Are you ok?" Winter noticed the difference in her voice. "Where's Ruby and the others?"

"R-Ruby's still here with me. We were uh… watching a scary movie and you called during a scary part!" Weiss lied and shook her head, clearing her throat and trying to sound as normal as possible. "W-When are you free?"

Winter stayed quiet for a moment, as if she were questioning if her sister was watching a movie or doing something else. She figured that she could give Weiss the benefit of the doubt, she is a grown woman after all. She could take care of herself with Ruby.

"I'll be free in three days. I would like to meet with you and Ruby. There's something that I would like to talk to both of you about."

"A-Alright. I'll meet you in three days." Weiss then paused, thinking about it. "I… have to meet with father next week. Winter, I…" she paused, unsure of how to continue that thought.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. With Ruby, if you don't mind."

Weiss' eyes widened when her sister said that. "I-I haven't explained everything to Ruby. We shouldn't involve her!"

"Weiss, we've been avoiding this for long enough. She started to notice, and judging from the last time we met, she needs to know at the very least."

"I…" Weiss glanced back to where Ruby was, getting worried when she saw her face hidden within the cushion. "Ok… but I have a condition. I'll explain in person."

"Alright. I have to go now, Weiss. Stay safe. Say hello to Ruby for me. I love you."

"Love you too." Weiss sighed as she hung up the phone, slowly making her way towards the couch and sitting next to Ruby.

She glanced at the younger woman and hesitantly placed a hand onto her shoulder and jumped when Ruby jumped at the touch.

"Oh! Weiss! Hi! Uhm…" Ruby had a hard time controlling her blush, unsure of what to say and do and just held the cushion close to her chest.

"A-Are you ok?" Weiss raised a brow.

"Y-Yeah… just uh…" Ruby peeked from the cushion. "I'm sorry."

Weiss frowned. "Why are you sorry?" She thought about it then blushed a bit. "I-If it's about you knocking me over the couch, it's alright. Though I did tell you that there were some… songs that I wanted to show you once I was finished writing them."

"Sorry…" Ruby mumbled, hiding within the cushion again.

"Ruby…" Weiss sighed and thought about it, starting to sing softly. "Mirror mirror. I'll tell you something. I think I might change it all."

When Weiss looked up, she smiled when she saw Ruby looking at her again. She placed a hand onto her shoulder, rubbing it gently.

"Winter wants to meet us in three days. And… we have something to talk to you about." Weiss looked down, unsure of how to tell Ruby.

"Talk… to me?" Ruby was curious but didn't want to push it. "Only if you're ready, Weiss."

"If I want to spend more time with you, then…" Weiss looked at Ruby again. "It'll be worth it."

Ruby blushed as she said that and set the cushion down. She wrapped her arms around Weiss and held onto her closely.

"I'll do anything I can to help."

Chapter Text

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful after what happened. As expected Yang and Blake didn't return that night, and Weiss and Ruby were getting a little uncomfortable with the awkward silence between them after that happened just hours earlier. They didn't even talk much during dinner, besides asking if the food was good or not.

"Uhm… you can go to sleep if you want. I'll be uh… playing some games." Ruby suggested as she dried her hands from washing the dishes. She needed something to get her mind off things and didn't want to make Weiss uncomfortable by being near her.

"I-I don't mind… watching you play." Weiss didn't like the idea of being alone after all the time she's been spending with Ruby. "Maybe I'll be… inspired or something."

"Alright." Ruby didn't expect Weiss to say that, but didn't really mind it, so she set up a game she recently bought, 'Grimm Hunter.' After she set it up, she made herself comfortable on the couch.

Weiss sat next to Ruby, watching the game. While watching her, she didn't notice as she subconsciously rested her head onto the younger woman's shoulder.

Ruby stiffened a bit when Weiss did that, but continued to play her game. She grumbled as she tried a weapon combination, but it wasn't working right. She tried combining a sniper and a scythe together this time.

"Dolt… you went speed class with that weapon combination? Are you trying to be a lawnmower?" Weiss mumbled sleepily.

"Oh? What do you think I should've done?" Ruby chuckled. Weiss sounded adorable when she was sleepy like this. "You know… you could play with me if you're not too tired."

Weiss lazily shook her head and nuzzled against Ruby's shoulder. "Sleepy…"

"Alright, next time?" Ruby nuzzled her head, being careful not to disturb her.

"Mm-hmm…"

Ruby stayed quiet for a few more minutes as she played, liking this combination of weapons better than the shotgun/sword she created earlier. She glanced down at Weiss and smiled when she felt Weiss' even, steady breath on her shoulder.

"I hope that you don't have nightmares this time." Ruby kissed the top of her head, staying up to play her game for a bit longer in case Weiss did have a nightmare.

__________________________________________________

Weiss opened her eyes and sighed when she saw the two familiar figures again. She crossed her arms as she stared them down.

"You." she addressed the broken figure "Shut up about what we 'should' be doing." Weiss growled, knowing what she'll be saying as she turned and stared at the confident figure, wondering about the appearance of a red hoodie on them now, instead of the usual white dress.

"You… Why can't I still hear you?"

"Yo… re… un…re…" They stated, staring at Weiss sadly.

"What?" Weiss struggled to understand but at least she was getting some pieces together… at least she hoped. "I'm what now?"

"They said that you want to go back to Father." The broken figure was starting to sound quieter, the chains looked heavier, and the wounds… reminded Weiss of the time she was a child.

"I'm not going back to him!" Weiss shook her head.

"You're going back next week…"

"Because I…!" Weiss paused. Why was she continuing with these monthly meetings again? Was it to keep herself safe or… something else?

If she didn't meet with him, he'd hurt her and everyone she made friends with. Ruby was almost hurt. What if he did something worse with how close they've gotten? How close were they? She did enjoy being around Ruby, she knew that much. But why?

"You're… unsure…"

Weiss blinked and looked at the confident figure. "I-I can hear you now."

The confident figure gave her a weak smile. "For… Now… Love… Her."

"L-Love?" Weiss felt her face heating up. "I-I don't…!"

"Yo… do…"

Weiss shook her head. "W-Wait!"

"Weiss. You will go back to father and do what he says. We're all his pawns anyways. You know he's not afraid to dispose of you. He'll do the same for her. If you really care for her, which is stupid, cut her off. Stop this farce you have with her. She'll never accept the full truth. How would you live with yourself if she was hurt because of you? If she died because of you?" The broken figure's voice was suddenly stronger than before, causing Weiss to recoil in familiar fear.

"I…" Weiss shook her head. No. She couldn't help but let what the broken figure was saying to get to her.

If she could keep Ruby safe from her father, she'll do anything. Ruby's the first person she could call her friend after all.

"Ruby… I'm sorry…" tears fell from her eyes falling to her knees in defeat. She didn't want to let her go. She was enjoying her freedom, but they were right. Jacques would kill Ruby if it meant that he could still control her, and she didn't want that to happen.

Could she really break off whatever she had with Ruby though?
________________________________________

Ruby shifted and rubbed her eyes. She felt stiff and groaned when she realized that she left the game on. Groaning a bit, she looked at the time. It was almost noon and she sighed, reaching for the remote to turn off the TV. She glanced to her side and smiled seeing Weiss sleeping on her shoulder still, a hand on her arm.

"I'm sorry…" Weiss mumbled in her sleep, moving closer to Ruby for warmth and comfort.

"Weiss?" Ruby frowned as she heard her apologizing and caressed her face. "Hey, wake up."

Weiss stirred awake and leaned onto Ruby's hand. "Warm…"

"I guess it's a little cold sleeping on the couch huh?" Ruby chuckled as Weiss jumped up from her position and blushed. "You can go take a shower, I'll uh… lend you some clothes again."

"I'll be fine. It's your house. You can shower first." Weiss pulled her knees to her chest, unsure about how to feel about that dream and Ruby now.

"Weiss? Was that dream scary?" Ruby frowned as she moved close to her and rubbed her shoulders. "Do you want to talk about it? It might help even a little bit."

"N-No, I…" she paused and bit her lip, unsure of how to talk to Ruby about it. Maybe she could wait until they had a talk with Winter? Yeah, that seemed like a good idea right now. "N-Not now. I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright…" Ruby didn't like that answer but decided to respect it. "If there's anything I can do, let me know, alright?"

"Right…" Weiss nodded as she rested her head onto her knees, hiding her face within them.

Ruby moved a bit, trying to get a better look at Weiss. Why was she suddenly shutting her out now? "Weiss? Really, what's wrong?"

"I…" she shook her head. She wanted to tell Ruby about her dream. She wanted to tell her everything. But she was scared of what her father would do to her.

"Weiss?" Ruby's brows furrowed with worry.

The door slammed open and Yang walked in, humming to herself as she looked at the couch. "Oh, you know that the bed's a better place to make out unless you wanted us to watch?" She grinned.

"Yang." Ruby glared at her sister, this was so not the time for this now.

"Ouch, nice to see you too, Rubes." Yang winced at the tone then moved closer to them. "Oh… Blakey?" She looked at her girlfriend and nodded towards them.

Blake raised a brow and looked at them, shaking her head. "This would be so much easier if they could just open up to each other." She gave Yang her bag and walked towards Weiss. "Weiss, can you help me make some lunch?"

Ruby looked at Blake, not wanting to leave Weiss' side when she was like this but Yang wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her back.

"Hey, Rubes! I see you had a game on. Whatcha playin' last night?" Yang grinned as she turned on the TV and glanced to her side, seeing Weiss getting up and following Blake. Once they were out of earshot, Yang placed a hand onto Ruby's head, ruffling it a bit. "Ok, spill. What's on your mind? What happened?"

"I dunno!" She threw her hands up in frustration. "We were fine since yesterday and now she's shutting me out!" Ruby sighed as she looked at the game, waiting for Yang to create her character so they can start playing. "She must've had a scary nightmare though…"

Yang hummed in acknowledgement as she created her character and made her weapon. "Did you two kiss yet though?"

"W-What does that have to do with anything?!" Ruby blushed madly as she looked at her sister.

"Hide it all you want, Ruby. I can see how much you've wanted to kiss her for a while." Yang rolled her eyes.

"…I wanted to, but…" Ruby grumbled as she picked an easy mission, hunting fifty Beowolves. "Is it weird? For wanting to kiss someone you just became friends with?"

Yang laughed. "Ruby, we kiss friends all the time. Unless…" she smirked as she elbowed her sister teasingly. "You want to kiss her like how I kiss Blake?"

Ruby blushed madly as she remembered how she almost kissed Weiss yesterday and pulled her knees to her chest. "…Don't laugh at me."

"Rubes? Why would I want to laugh at you?" Yang chuckled as she ruffled her hair. "But… do you like her? Or you just want to kiss her 'cause she's cute?"

"Yang!" Ruby sighed. "I dunno ok! I just… she… ugh!"

"Right, right. And then?" Yang grunted as she killed off ten Beowolves and was on the way to help Ruby with her little pack.

"Is it weird? She probably doesn't even like me that way and we just met like… three or four months ago and-"

"Ok, ok. You're rambling." Yang hummed as she listened to Ruby. "You like her, so what's the problem? Talk to her about your feelings."

Ruby groaned as she sliced five Beowolves' heads off. "She doesn't see me like that."

"Could've fooled me." Yang mumbled.

"What?" Ruby looked at her, wondering what she said.

"Rubes. Talk to her. Like have a nice long talk about… I dunno, both your feelings?"

Ruby groaned. "How did you know that you were in love with Blake then?"

"Oh, simple. She's cute, when we spent time together it made the days better, and when she smiles, my day just gets brighter." Yang grinned at Ruby.

"…You're fucking with me, aren't you?" Ruby sighed, wishing that she could have some real advice.

"Do you think I'm lying? Rubes, you can't really define love. It's up to you what you think it means. For me? Blake just makes my day better whenever I'm around her. She's like… a cat that pulls me out of my slump." Yang shrugged. "You're smart. I bet that you can figure it out soon. Unless you want to have an awkward talk about how you want to smooch her? You could talk to Winter about it as well."

"About that… Winter wants to see me again in a few days…" Ruby trailed off, wondering what she wanted this time.

"Great! You two can talk to each other then! For now… help me finish off the rest of these Beowolves. We're under a time limit here!"
_______________________________________________

"You know that you're shutting Ruby out, right?" Blake hummed as she heated some water to make her tea.

"It's for the best." Weiss rubbed her head, sighing deeply.

"That's not what we all think." Blake crossed her arms, leaning against the counter. "You're scared. Aren't you? That Ruby's going to get hurt because of you?" When Weiss looked at Blake with shocked eyes, she knew that she hit the mark. "I told you. Adam… did the same thing with me. Threatened that he'd take away all my friends and people I cared about."

"I don't want Ruby killed because of me, Belladonna!" Weiss nearly shouted at her and clenched her fists. "I don't want any of you killed all because I've been spending time with Ruby!"

"Killed…?" Blake's eyes widened. Dear Oum, this was worse than she thought. "Weiss, you can't let that fear control you. How do you feel about all of this? About Ruby?"

Weiss shook her head, not wanting to answer that. She was scared of the answer.

"Weiss. It's just a question right now. But when the time comes, you have to make the decision. How do you feel about Ruby?" Blake pressed for the answer, or at least for Weiss to figure out the answer herself.

"I-I…" She paused, unsure of herself. "She's… the first person I can truly call a friend…"

"And?" Blake nodded. This was progress at least.

Weiss bit her lip and glanced at Ruby and Yang playing their game then looked back at Blake. "…I want to spend more time with her." She admitted quietly.

"What was that?" She raised a brow, unsure of she heard Weiss correctly.

"It's nothing, Belladonna." Weiss shook her head.

It was better this way right? She had to stop whatever she had before they got hurt. Ruby was almost hurt last time. Who knows what would happen the next time. But she didn't want to stop. Rather, she couldn't stop. Now that she had a taste of friendship and what a real family dinner was like, she wanted more. She craved it.

It was ok to be selfish once in a while... right?

"Hey, Weiss." Weiss looked up, seeing Blake close to her and hands on her shoulder. "You're here. In our house. No where else."

"What…?" Was she panicking again? "S-Sorry." Weiss shook her head, trying to get her bearings together.

"Was there something on your mind?" Blake slowly released her and took a step back.

"I…" Weiss frowned. Could she talk about it with Blake for advice? She glanced at Ruby again before looking at Blake. "…How did you know… If you were in love with Xiao Long?"

Blake blinked then thought about it. "I didn't know at first. It wasn't until we were spending time together outside her rehabilitation. She was like… The sunshine to my darkest times." She had a faint blush as she admitted that. "That's probably not the answer that you were looking for, but you can't explain a feeling to someone who hasn't experienced it, Weiss. It's like explaining scenery to a blind person. The sounds of music to a deaf person. I think you get the point."

Weiss sighed as she listened to Blake. Growing up without love, it'll be harder for her to understand but she did have some sort of feelings for Ruby. She just didn't know what.

"Just have a talk with Ruby later about it. Get your feelings out. It's scary, but you two need it." Blake placed a hand onto her shoulder to give her some form of comfort. "Weiss, Ruby really does care about you. More so than any one else that I've seen her spend time with. Think about it, she's happier when she's around you." She gave her a soft smile. "Now, while they're playing their game, let's make some pizza."

Weiss gave Blake a weak smile then glanced at Ruby and Yang again who were currently shouting at the TV before looking at Blake again. "…How do you make a pizza?"

_______________________________

Yang and Blake glanced at each other and sighed when they were on the couch watching a horror film.

Ruby and Weiss were awkwardly quiet during dinner and now they were sitting on opposite sides of the couch from each other with Yang and Blake in the middle. Yang glanced at Ruby and scooted closer to her.

"Hey, Rubes. I said that you should talk to her. Not be awkward like this." She whispered.

Ruby stiffened up and pulled her knees to her chest. "I-I know but…" she flinched at the jump scare and saw Weiss flinching as well. "I-It's awkward ok!"

"At least sit with her. She's scared." Yang elbowed her side. "You two can have a talk later or something."

"I-I guess…" Ruby was still hesitant about it.

Yang scratched her head in frustration and looked at her girlfriend. Blake raised a brow but stood up and moved close to Ruby, wondering what Yang was up to, then let out a small gasp when her girlfriend just grabbed Ruby and tossed her at Weiss.

"Y-Yang?!" Ruby blushed and glared at her sister before looking back at Weiss. Her hands were on either side of her head and resting on the couch arm. "D-Did we hurt you? I'm so sorry, Weiss!"

"I-I'm fine, Ruby." Weiss blushed at how close Ruby was and had her hands on her shoulders. She glanced at Blake who just nodded at her and sighed. "W-We should… go to bed. It's late."

"R-Right." Ruby nodded and got off Weiss, part of her wanting to stay like that. Maybe have Weiss on top of—NOPE! Bad mind! Blushing madly and shaking her head, she pulled Weiss up from the couch and took her hand, walking towards her room.

"Good night, you two!" Yang waved at them, wrapping an arm around Blake's shoulder as she pulled her close.

"Good night." Weiss and Ruby nodded before disappearing around the corner.

Once they were within Ruby's room, she closed the door and sighed deeply.

"Weiss/Ruby, I—" Ruby and Weiss started at the same time then blinked.

"Y-You can go first." They said at the same time once again.

They stared at each other for a few moments before laughing. "You can go first, Ruby." Weiss chuckled, moving towards the bed and watching Ruby moving next to her.

"A-Alright, well uh…" Ruby fiddled with her fingers. "H-How do you… I mean I kinda…"

Weiss frowned. Why was Ruby so nervous? Was this about yesterday when they almost… Just thinking about it made her face heat up and she placed a hand onto Ruby's shoulder.

"I-If it's about yesterday, I-I don't mind."

"W-What?" Ruby looked at her. She didn't mind that they tried to kiss? Did that mean that she liked her the same way? Ruby didn't want to get her hopes up just yet. It probably didn't mean anything. "I-I mean, do you… about me…"

Weiss raised a brow. Was it not about the almost kiss or was it about something else? "Ruby, what are you getting at?"

"I…" Ruby sighed, then looked at Weiss seriously, placing a hand hesitantly over hers. "I think I like you."

"Ruby I…" Weiss couldn't believe it. Ruby liked her? Really? Frowning, she looked away. "I-I'm sorry… I'm… disillusioned…"

Chapter Text

Weiss walked towards her house, coming back from grocery shopping as she was thinking back on what Ruby said the day before.

"I… I think I like you."

All she said was that she was 'sorry and disillusioned,' they went to bed, then she walked home alone the next day.

She felt like an idiot, disregarded Blake's advice, and listened to that damn broken part of her. Shaking that thought out of her head, she pulled out her phone. Weiss looked at Ruby's number that they finally exchanged and bit her lip.

Did Ruby still want to visit with Winter? After she probably broke her heart? Weiss gritted her teeth as she walked into her house, putting some food away.

"I'm such a goddamn fool…" She punched and banged her head onto the fridge. "Why can't I be more honest with myself…?!" She shouted and banged the fridge again.

Weiss continued to bang her fists and head against the fridge then jumped when she heard the door open.

"Hello, Weiss." Winter greeted once she saw her.

"Winter…?" Weiss shook her head. Bad idea. The world spun a bit from that head shake and hitting her head over and over again, causing her to place a hand onto her head to steady herself as she leaned onto the fridge.

"Are you alright, sister?" Winter raised a brow as she walked closer to her.

"Y-Yes, I am. I just hadn't eaten anything yet." A small lie about why she was feeling that way, but she didn't eat since she left Ruby's house.

"Weiss, what did I tell you about eating?" a familiar voice scolded her.

Weiss looked up and saw Ruby pouting a bit next to Winter.

"R-Ruby?!"

"Uhm… hi." Ruby waved at her awkwardly.

Winter looked between them. "I ran into Ruby on the way here. I do admit that I am surprised that she wasn't by your side. The last time she wasn't was when you had your… attack."

"I… I'm fine, Winter. We're both… fine." Weiss glanced at Ruby with a pleading look. She didn't want to hurt her and she only hoped that she understood how sorry she was for not giving her the answer she wanted to hear.

"Right." Winter decided to leave whatever happened between them, to stay between them. "About meeting with father next week—"

"He still wants to see you?" Ruby cut in, obviously not liking the news.

"If I'm to live here, alone, I have to see him once a month…" Weiss frowned as she removed her hand from her head and started to walk towards the couch, gesturing for Winter and Ruby to follow her and to take a seat.

Winter moved towards the couch and sat down, curious to see that Ruby sat next to her while Weiss pulled up a chair from the piano.

"Before Ruby interrupted." Winter glanced at Ruby who shrunk a bit apologetically. "I think it's time that you stand up to him now. Father, I mean."

"Winter, I—" Weiss started then noticed Ruby's fearful look then sighed. "I know, but I don't think that I can—"

"Weiss. Listen to yourself." Ruby interrupted her, not wanting to hear her berate herself like this. "I believe in you, Weiss. I believe that you can do anything if you put your mind into it."

"She's right. You don't have to be afraid anymore, Weiss. You're an adult, and I have Ironwood's help…" Winter frowned, unsure if it'll be enough to really put down their father.

Weiss clasped her hands together to stop herself from shaking. If anything happened to her, she didn't care. She was too used to the beatings, yelling, and being called useless. But now that Ruby's in the picture…

"Weiss…" she looked up at Ruby, who got up and moved in front of her. "How… can I help?"

"I…" she still felt bad for lying to Ruby. For keeping things from her. She watched Ruby take her hands into her own slowly to comfort her. "I'm sorry, Ruby…"

"What?" Ruby looked at Weiss, confused, then looked at Winter who shrugged, unsure as well. "Weiss, what's wrong?"

"I…" she bit her lip. Tell her everything. If she leaves, maybe it'll be for the best… "This… is going to be a long story for you to hear."

Winter looked at Weiss, surprised that she was willing to share what their family was like now. She nodded, getting up from her seat and guiding them both onto the couch.

"If… at any point you want me to stop, tell me." Weiss shook as Ruby held onto her hand.

Ruby nodded weakly, more worried about Weiss than herself.

"Well… I should start when I noticed everything fell apart." Weiss sighed, bracing herself and looked at Ruby. "After my tenth birthday… they -my father, mother, and little brother- started to ignore me for their own benefits." Her hand started to shake at the memory. "I had to be quiet when going through the company with my father, whenever I asked something or offered ways to change how he ran the company, he…" she took a deep breath. "He slapped me, told me to shut up and to just listen to him."

Weiss gave a bitter laugh at the memory. "After that, whenever I came home in second place, he'd… beat me on a regular basis. One time he tied me up and beat me with anything at this disposal. His fists, belt… There was a time it was broken glass bottles. He'd beat me with them until I was unconscious. I skipped school for a few days until the swelling on my face went down. Everything else was just wrapped in bandages to cover the bruises and hold my broken body together." She paused for a moment and looked at Ruby, who looked as if she were in pain, and raised a hand, hesitating before pulling back and looked away.

"I apologize, this is too—"

"Weiss, please." Ruby shook her head. "Yes, this… is a lot to take in, but I want you to feel safe with me. I want to understand you. And… I want you to understand that…" She gave her hand a firm, comforting squeeze. "That no matter what, I'm here to help and accept you for who you are."

Tears fell from Weiss' eyes again and she gave a weak nod, wiping the tears away before she continued. "Thank you, Ruby…" she whispered, feeling safer with her and rested her head onto the younger woman's shoulder.

"Any time Weiss." Ruby smiled and caressed her cheek with one hand while the other wrapped around her shoulder.

"I… suppose that's enough about my father…" Weiss sighed, causing Ruby to shiver, feeling her breath on her neck. "My mother… Ever since father told her that he only married her for the family name, she spent most of her time drinking." She scoffed at the memory of when she saw her starting to drink, at the memory of trying to get her to stop.

"Mother… Please, you have to stop this!"

"Go away and leave me alone! I never wanted you! Because of you, our family is falling apart! I wish you were never born!"

Shaking that memory out of her head, Weiss continued her story. "She usually drank until she passed out and, while drunk, she told me many times that she regretted having me. That I shouldn't have been born and that I should just kill myself. I… This scar on my face… It was from my mother. She threw a wine bottle at me, it hit the wall, the shards flew everywhere and… well, one shard hit my face."

"So that's why… you panicked with the drunks the other day." Ruby frowned and held onto her closely.

Weiss gave a weak nod. "My little brother lies and tells me false information on where mother was whenever my father needed to see me… Every time." She started to sob as she clutched onto Ruby's shirt. "Every… time… She's always drunk, then the second she sees me… she repeats the same thing over and over again. 'Why did I have you? Every time I look at you, I see him. I should've aborted you. You should kill yourself.' Every… time..."

Ruby frowned and rubbed her back, hating Weiss' parents and brother the more she talked about them. She looked up at Winter who looked away in shame. At least she seemed to be the only one that cared! What kind of parent tells their child that they should've been aborted?! That they should kill themselves?! It was no wonder that she melted into her mother's arms before. Why she seemed happier with her family.

She held onto Weiss closer, almost growling at the thought of meeting them or seeing any bodyguard picking up Weiss to bring her back home.

"R-Ruby…?"

"Oh, sorry…" she lessened her grip, not realizing how closely she was holding onto Weiss. "I-I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No… Are you ok? I know that this isn't easy to hear…" Weiss frowned as she looked at the floor, feeling guilty for telling all of this to Ruby.

"Weiss…" Ruby cupped her cheek and made eye contact, almost getting lost within her blue eyes and quickly snapped out of it. "This is harder for you, isn't it? Thank you. For telling me about your past. And, I'm glad… That you can have some peace here in this house, and not with your family."

"I… Thank you… For listening." Weiss sniffed and looked at Winter. "I-I'm going to wash my face. I'll be right back." After saying that, she got up and started to walk away from them.

"Weiss." Winter waited for Weiss to look at her and frowned when she didn't, continuing out of the room. "That girl…" she sighed and shook her head.

"I'll be honest." Winter looked at Ruby, who looked livid. Everything about her posture, her facial expressions, everything screamed that she wanted to murder the Schnees if she could. "I hate your family."

"Many do." Winter shook her head, unable to blame her.

Ruby forced herself to calm down and looked at Winter. "And you? What do you think of your family? Why did you leave Weiss?"

"I think the same of them as Weiss. I'm not fond of our father, though I wasn't aware of mother's… alcoholic ramblings towards Weiss. Whitley, our little brother, he seemed to have taken a liking to father. He saw how father treated us and adjusted his personality so that father could never touch him. At least that's how he was the last time I saw him." Winter sighed and folded her hands together. "As for why I left Weiss… I'm not proud to admit this, but I was thinking of myself at the time. I wanted out of the family and part of me thought that if I could leave, Weiss could have the courage to leave herself. Seemed like it partially worked."

Winter gritted her teeth, regretting that she wasn't there to protect her sister. "Because father beat her black and blue, she became afraid and protected herself. She became afraid of having friends because of what father would do to them if they didn't benefit the company." She shook her head.

"I joined the military, hoping that I could gain General Ironwood's trust and have him help, as he is not particularly fond of our father either. Now that I work directly under him, he finally trusts me enough, and I could ask him for his help. We just need Weiss to allow us to help her."

"So… if we have Weiss admit that she needs help, we can finally put down your father for good? Keep him away from Weiss?"

"That is correct." Winter nodded. "Over the years, I've gathered enough evidence of what our father has been doing. Blackmailing other companies when they don't comply with his negotiations and selling jewelry on the black market at a higher price. I just hope that Weiss can accept our help for once."

"She will." Ruby nodded. "I know she will." She then frowned when she looked down the hallway that Weiss disappeared to and heard something breaking and shattering. "I'll go check on her."

"Please do. And Ruby?" Winter's expression softened. "Please take care of my sister."

Ruby just grinned at Winter then disappeared down the hallway.
_______________________________________________________________

Weiss took a deep breath and looked into the mirror again after washing her face. She still saw the two mirror figures that looked like her.

The bruised figure was crying while the confident figure just watched her cry, unsure of what to do. After a moment, the confident figure looked back at Weiss then stepped away from the bruised figure.

Weiss looked at her hands then balled them up into a fist, remembering Ruby's words.

"I believe in you, Weiss. I believe that you can do anything if you put your mind into it."

She reeled her arm back and hesitated. It was time right? She grew tired of seeing these two over and over again. They made her head and heart hurt trying to understand them. Understand why she was seeing them.

Weiss figured that it had something to do with Ruby. She remembered seeing that broken figure every time before while the other one was just a blur, but now after meeting with Ruby… They were as clear as day.

Ruby didn't reject her. Ruby had accepted her. Broken pieces and all. She never left. She always encouraged her. Maybe it was finally time. Time that Weiss can finally be free.

Weiss saw the bruised figure looking back at her, shaking her head desperately.

"What if you're wrong?"

Weiss' hand shook. She saw chains appear suddenly around the bruised figure, bringing them to their knees.

"Are you strong enough to defy him?"

"Shut up… I can do this. I'm not his pawn! Not anymore! I want to be happy! I want to be with Ruby!" Weiss punched the mirror as hard as she could, shattering it to pieces.

"You'll regret this choice."

She breathed heavily, looking into the broken shards the shards that showed the bruised figure, not wanting to see her anymore. She looked up, gasping as she was finally saw herself. Really seeing herself for the first time.

She knew that she was actually seeing herself this time. Her hands were bleeding and so were her reflections. Her eyes were frantic, her hair was a mess, and she couldn't see the two figures anymore.

Weiss started to laugh at herself. She looked absolutely pathetic and it felt great!

"Weiss? I heard something shattering, is something wrong?"

Weiss looked up at the door, watching it open slowly to reveal Ruby looking at her with concerned eyes.

"Weiss! Are you ok?!" Ruby rushed over, being careful about the broken glass and gently took Weiss' hands into her own. "We have to clean the wound!"

"Ruby…" Weiss held onto Ruby's hand shakily, and tears fell from her eyes. Everything felt… different. Almost like she could breathe for once without all the pressure she's been feeling, but at the same time, she felt as if she were falling and holding onto Ruby. Knowing that she was there kept her grounded. "I…" she hesitated, before looking into the other's eyes. "I-I need your help."

Ruby blinked when she said that then smiled back at her, pulling her into a gentle hug. "You don't know how long I've been waiting for you to say that. But really, we need to clean your wounds. Come on… Up you go."

Weiss slowly stood, being careful of the broken glass around them. She was guided towards the toilet, sitting down once the lid was closed. Now this was a familiar feeling. She started to laugh at herself as Ruby scrambled for the first aid kit and knelt down in front of her, taking her hands gently. She pulled out any glass shards that were stuck onto her hand.

"Weiss?" Ruby looked up at her, worried if Weiss snapped. "Are you… ok? It's ok to not be ok, you know?"

"I feel fine." Weiss smiled, looking at her bloodied hands.

Ruby frowned. Ok, she must've snapped or something. She quickly cleaned the blood off and applied some medicine, biting her lip when Weiss hissed in pain. After muttering an apology, she wrapped her hands in bandages and looked at her again.

"Weiss. Look at me. You asked me to help you. How can I help?"

Weiss laughed weakly as she stood up. "Just stay with me."

"Alright, you're clearly not feeling so hot." Ruby shook her head as she took Weiss' arm and moved under it to help support her. "Winter still has a few things that she wants to talk to you about. Do you think that you can still talk to her?"

"Of course." Weiss leaned onto Ruby, walking with her towards the living room.

"What happened?" Winter frowned seeing the bandages on Weiss' hands.

Ruby just shook her head, unsure herself as she set Weiss down.

"Weiss, talk to me." Winter moved in front of her younger sister.

"Winter… I need help taking down father." Weiss looked into Winter's eyes.

Both Ruby and Winter looked at each other then looked back at Weiss. What brought that on? She was so scared then suddenly… They had a bad feeling, but now that Weiss was asking for help, they could figure out how to deal with Jacques.

"He'll want to see you next week. General Ironwood and I could set up a plan to capture him then. Just please… Stay safe, Weiss."

Weiss looked at Winter, then looked at Ruby, then down at her hands. "It's father. I can't make that promise."

"You're right." Winter looked at Ruby who looked back at her and frowned, shaking her head. "I'm not willing to risk Ruby either for this."

"Wait, what? But I could help! Him hitting a friend of the family could help!" Ruby tried to reason with them.

"I'm not risking that with you, Ruby!" Weiss growled and clenched her fists, ignoring the pain. "I can't… not with you."

Winter placed a hand onto Weiss' shoulder to calm her down a bit. "I suppose this will be enough for today. Ruby, would you like to join us for dinner?"

"I…" Ruby looked at Weiss then back at Winter, nodding. "Sure. I'll go see what Weiss has in the fridge before we decide if we should order take out or something."

Once Ruby was out of earshot, Winter looked at Weiss. "You know… I was hesitant at first. However, I believe that you two can find happiness together. I haven't seen you this happy in a long time, Weiss. You deserve this happiness. I know that you won't regret this choice."

"She confessed to me… But I didn't give her my honest answer yet." Weiss sat straight. "Until I'm completely freed from father, I can't reciprocate her feelings."

"Don't hurt yourself. Physically or mentally." Winter frowned then looked up as Ruby came back.

"What do you two want for take out? Pizza? Chinese?"

Weiss and Winter looked at each other before looking back at Ruby. "...What are those?"

"...You've got to be joking." Ruby stared at them in disbelief.

Chapter Text

Weiss bit her lip as she sent Winter a text of her plan. She knew that it was last minute and she knew that they wouldn't forgive her for it, but if it meant that it'll guarantee that she'll be free, then she'll do anything, especially for Ruby's sake.

She took a deep breath as she looked at her hands. They've healed now thanks to Ruby's help. Asking for help… It wasn't as bad as she thought that it was. Though she knew that she shouldn't always ask for it. Ruby and anyone else that she trusts wouldn't always be nearby to help, after all.

Weiss jumped at the sound of the doorbell and walked over to open it, revealing Ruby.

"Hey, Weiss. Ready to go?" She smiled brightly at her, wanting to give Weiss as much confidence as she could.

"Ready." Weiss smiled back at Ruby, grabbed her purse and walked out the door, locking it and leading Ruby towards the main house.

Part of her hated that she was keeping her plan from Ruby, but she knew that she'd be against it no matter what. She only hoped that Ruby would be able to forgive her once this is all over. Thinking about it now, Weiss couldn't believe that Ruby still wanted to be by her side like this, after lying to her before, and with how broken she seemed.

"Weiss?" Ruby frowned, seeing how deeply in thought she was in, and took her hand gently. Sure, it hurt when Weiss said that she was disillusioned by her confession, but that didn't mean that they couldn't be friends! …Right? Shaking that thought out of her head, she looked at the older woman. "Everything will be alright."

"I guess you're right…" Weiss sighed and stood in front of her when a familiar black limo stopped in front of them.

"Ms. Schnee. It's time for you to return home." A man dressed in black stepped out of the car to greet her.

"I'm not leaving without Ruby." Weiss said sternly, making sure that he understood that she wouldn't get into the car unless Ruby was able to go with them, or she'd walk all the way to the house herself.

The man narrowed his eyes at both of them. Ruby glared at him too, not wanting Weiss to leave without her this time. Muttering something under his breath, he nodded, opening the door for both of them.

"Please, get in."

Weiss took Ruby's hand, getting into the car and sighed when Ruby sat next to her.

"Weiss, everything will be fine. I'm here with you." Ruby smiled at her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"I only hope that you're right, Ruby."

The ride was uneventful, Ruby mostly looking outside the car and watching the scenery while Weiss steeled herself for what's to come within a few hours.

The car stopped and they both got out once the door opened. Weiss stood close to Ruby, making sure that the bodyguard didn't touch her, and lead Ruby towards the house.

She sighed deeply, trying to calm her nerves before looking at Ruby. "Thank you for coming with me, Ruby. Just promise me that… you won't do anything to father no matter what happens to me. Please."

"But if he touches you…" Ruby frowned.

"Don't worry. I'm more worried about what he'd do to you." Weiss shook her head as she opened the door.

Ruby just continued to frown when she followed Weiss and looked around the marbled home. No wonder Weiss wanted out. It almost looked like a white prison with nothing but pictures of who she assumed was Jacques on the walls. There was one picture that caught her eye.

It looked like a family photo, with a younger Weiss with a frown on her face on the lower right, and who she assumed was Winter on the opposite side of her. She continued looking at the photo... and was that her father and mother behind them? Who was that between Weiss and Winter?

"That's my family. I'm pretty sure that you figured everyone except for Whitley, my little brother." Weiss walked back towards Ruby and assumed that she was thinking at the family photo. "This was the only family photo that we took together. We hardly stood in the same room after…"

Ruby placed a hand onto her shoulder. "You're our family now, Weiss. Both you and Winter are welcome at my place."

"Thank you." Weiss nodded and started to walk again, only stopping when she saw a familiar face.

"Ms. Schnee?"

"Klein." Weiss couldn't stop the smile from forming on her lips as she quickly made her way towards him and threw her arms around his shoulders to give him a hug.

"How are you, my little snowflake?" He smiled as he hugged her back then looked over her shoulder. "And who is this?"

Weiss pulled away and cleared her throat. "This is Ruby Rose. A… friend from high school."

"Ms. Rose?" Klein raised a brow as he looked Ruby over for a moment. "I see." He gave a small smile and made his way towards Ruby. He offered her a smile. "Thank you, for taking care of my little snowflake. She told me a little bit about you and how you helped her after she left this place."

Ruby was nervous when Klein looked her over like that, but gave him a smile in return, remembering to ask about the nickname later. "It's nothing that I wouldn't do for a friend."

"I'm glad that Ms. Schnee has someone that she can call a friend." Klein gave them a knowing smile. "Please, take care of her. I'm afraid that I haven't been able to take care of her as much as I would like."

"Klein, it's alright." Weiss looked down nervously, worried about Ruby's reaction. "Can you uhm… help me show Ruby around?"

Klein raised a brow and looked between them before nodding. "Yes, of course." He smiled, glad that Weiss was able to befriend someone. His eyes changed to a golden-yellow colour. "I'm so happy for you, my little snowflake."

"Thank you, Klein." Weiss smiled back, giggling a bit when Ruby blinked.

"You can change your eye colour?! Wooooah!"

Weiss and Klein looked at each other before Klein chuckled, closing his eyes for a moment. Once he reopened his eyes, they turned light blue.

"Oh, hello Ms. Rose. It's so nice to ah… nice to AH-CHOO! Oh dear, please forgive me!"

Weiss just chuckled more, missing her butler's antics. Ruby was surprised. She didn't think that Weiss would be smiling at this place, but here she was, giggling like a child all because of her butler. She really liked Klein.

"I'm so happy for you, Weiss." Ruby grinned.

Klein gave her a soft smile then closed his eyes. Once he reopened them, they were red.

"Listen 'ere, little Rose. You better make my precious snowflake happy outside this house, ya 'ear?" Klein threatened.

"K-Klein?" Weiss blushed at bit when he said that but Ruby was unfazed and nodded.

"I'll make her happy. I promise you that. But we have to deal with her father first."

"R-Ruby?!" Weiss covered her face with her hand to hide how hard she was blushing. She was also hiding the smile she had, happy to hear Ruby say something like that.

Klein blinked and his eyes were yellow once again. "Thank you, Ms. Rose. I hope that you two are happy together."

"Klein." Weiss bit her lip and took a deep breath before folding her hands in front of her and looked at him. "I'm… planning on leaving the family after today. I refuse to listen to my father anymore and carry on the Schnee name. Thank you for everything that you've done for me."

"Weiss?" Ruby was shocked. She was going to leave her family? She looked at Klein who looked at her in shock but gave her a soft smile.

"I'm happy that you're looking for your happiness now, Ms. Schnee." Klein started to tear up and wiped a tear away. "Just promise that you'll stay safe once you leave. And I hope that I can still visit you when I can."

"Of course." Weiss nodded and hugged him closely. "Both you and Winter are always welcome to visit me whenever you wish."

"Thank you." He chuckled as he hugged her back then broke it to reach into his pocket to retrieve his phone. "Oh, please excuse me. It'll only be a moment."

"Weiss." Ruby moved in front of her. "Are you sure? About this?" She was worried, but she'll support her no matter what.

"I am. Now, let's—" Weiss nodded and was about to start the tour with Ruby but was stopped when Klein placed a hand onto her shoulder.

"Ms. Schnee, it's your father. He… wants to see you now."

Oh dear, that was faster than she thought. She looked at Ruby then back at Klein. "Take Ruby to my room. It shouldn't take too long."

"Weiss, maybe I should—" Ruby wanted to go with her, but Weiss shook her head.

"Please, Ruby. I promise it'll be fine."

"Bu—mmph?!" Ruby blinked when Weiss grabbed her hoodie to pull her in and awkwardly pressed her lips against hers.

After a moment, she pulled back. "I'll be back soon… and I'll give you a proper answer to your confession last week. Just wait. Please." Weiss hid her face with her bangs and quickly left.

Ruby stood there dumbfounded before the realization hit her, causing her face to turn red as her hoodie. Weiss kissed her. On the lips. In front of her butler/father figure.

"I do have to say… I've never seen Ms. Schnee that bold before." Klein had a faint blush on his face, then looked at Ruby seriously. "Give her five minutes. If she's not back by then, go after her."

"I… R-Right." Ruby touched her lips. She was happy for it, but she felt a sudden chill down her spine when she thought about Weiss meeting her father. "Weiss… Be careful…"

_________________________________

Weiss was shaking when her father summoned her and took a deep breath. Today's finally the day that she decided to finally be free and rid herself of the Schnee name! Ruby was there as mental support and she was glad that Klein supported her decision as well.

The hard part was telling her father… and making sure that he couldn't do anything to her once she was gone. Hopefully the plan that she made with Winter would work out.

Buy time until General Ironwood and I reach the mansion. Try to stay safe, please. We should have enough evidence without you being harmed anymore.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself as best as she could and knocked on his door.

"Come in, Weiss."

Weiss bit her lip, shaking the thoughts of what he could do to her out of her head before walking in.

"It's good to see you again." Jacques stated as he looked at his daughter. He watched her close the door behind her and take a few more steps into the office.

It was a lie, and they both knew it.

"Do you know why you're here?" he asked, folding his hands together.

"For our monthly meeting." Weiss answered, wondering when he'll get up from his desk and start the usual berating.

"That's not the only reason." He stood up and walked around his desk. "You have also invited that… worthless peasant into our home." Jacques walked towards Weiss, staring her down. "The same one I told you to stay away from. I guess your ears are just for decoration."

A shiver went down Weiss' spine when he said that but she still stood her ground. There was no way that she was going to back down this time.

Not even if he punched and kicked her. Or even slammed her against the wall. She had Ruby and Winter's support. Everyone was waiting for her back at Ruby's place. She won't be in this patriarchal prison any longer.

"I heard you before, but this is my decision. I… want to live on the outside, with my friends." Weiss stated confidently.

Jacques merely laughed at her selfish request. "Your ears are only decoration. You are not to live based on your desires. I'm the one paying for your life. It only makes sense that you pay me back with it!"

Weiss felt like throwing up, but held it in. This wasn't new. He was being selfish as usual and took a deep breath.

"I don't care. I'll find a job, work hard, and pay for my own needs." Her hands shook and she held onto her arm to calm herself. "I refuse to be tied down to you and the Schnee name that you destroyed. I want to live outside of this house! With people that actually care about me!"

"Young lady, I don't give a damn about what you want. I brought you into this life, I can easily take you out of it." Jacques threatened.

Weiss was about to say that she didn't care. That he should've done that a long time ago if he really meant it, but the image of Ruby flashed into her mind. Right. She was doing this for her. She was fighting her father because she wanted to spend and have more time with Ruby.

"Answer me, you ungrateful bitch!" By the time Weiss looked at her father, he slapped her face and she stumbled back against the bookshelves.

The door slammed open and Ruby rushed towards Weiss' side in an instant. "Weiss!"

"R-Ruby…?" Weiss had a hand on her cheek and looked at the younger woman. "Why are you here? I thought I told you to wait in my room?!"

"I had a bad feeling and heard that slap." Ruby glared at Jacques. "What kind of father doesn't love his daughter?! You're no father! You're a monster!"

Jacques' eye twitched when Ruby shouted at him and shook his head. "So the ungrateful failure's worthless peasant came to me instead. This will save me some time to dispose of both of you two." He turned his back towards them.

"Weiss isn't a failure! You take that back now!" Ruby growled at him as Weiss held onto her arm to keep her back, unsure of what her father was planning when he said that he'd 'dispose' of them.

"Weiss, I'm giving you a choice! Come back to my side and live in prosperity, or choose that worthless idiot and I'll make your life hell." Jacques growled at her.

Ruby was about to say something but stopped when Weiss took her hand.

"If those are the only two paths you set before me, then I'll just create and walk down a new one!" Weiss glared at her father then gave a soft look to Ruby squeezing her hand. "With her by my side."

"Then so be it." Jacques narrowed his eyes as he walked towards his desk.

Weiss didn't like how he just accepted it so easily, then her eyes widened when he pulled out a gun and pointed it at Ruby. "I gave you a choice. You have no one to blame but yourself."

Time slowed down as Jacques pulled the trigger and Ruby was just standing there, surprised that he actually pulled a weapon on them. From all that she heard, he wouldn't do any dirty work himself. Yet here he was, gun pointed at her. She was still processing that he pulled a weapon in the first place. She didn't notice that he pulled the trigger until Weiss pulled her aside and took a shot to her gut.

"ARGH!" Weiss stumbled back and fell, clutching her stomach.

"WEISS!" Ruby was by her side in an instant. She placed a hand over hers to stop the bleeding and glared at Jacques. "Just because she didn't listen to you, you shot her?! What kind of father are you?!"

"I wouldn't have to do this if she just behaved." Jacques stated as he continued to point his gun at Ruby. "Now leave my daughter's life now. I don't want my priceless carpet to be soiled by both of your worthless blood."

"You sick…!" Ruby was about to get up and fight him but Weiss grabbed her arm and stopped her, shaking her head weakly.

"D-Don't…" Weiss huffed, forcing herself to sit up.

"But…" Ruby protested then blinked when Weiss gave her a weak wink.

Was that a wink? Or was she just closing her eye in pain? Either way, she wrapped an arm around her shoulders carefully to steady her while her hand still pressed hard against her wound. She didn't know much about wounds, but she was certain that Weiss wasn't supposed to stay sitting up like this.

Once Ruby was sure that Weiss would be alright, she sent a glare at Jacques. "You won't get away with this…"

"So you really choose to stay with her? It's such a shame, Weiss. I thought that I raised you better than that." Jacques shook his head disapprovingly. "Then again, you'll be nothing more than a doll that I groomed. You won't ever have a normal life!"

"If you can even call that raising." Weiss growled at him. "And I may be who I am because of my past… but that doesn't define me! I'm not the same person anymore! I'm not your pet or doll!" She continued to glare at him as she raised a hand to point at him. "And… I will have a normal life… On the outside… With my friends…!"

"I believe you're right. Letting you live in hell is far too pleasant." His eyes hardened at her. "I'll be taking everything that you ever cared and loved and make you watch them all die one by one." He aimed his gun at Ruby. "Starting with her."

Ruby let go of Weiss, standing in front of her. "You won't hurt her anymore!"

"You dolt! Get down!" Weiss struggled to stand and held onto her stomach as she did so.

"Weiss?" Ruby risked to look at Weiss and stood by her side. They needed to get out of there, and fast.

"Seems like your worthless friend would like to start things off. I'm a gentleman. Who am I to refuse?" He smirked, pointing his gun and shooting.

Ruby held onto Weiss, tired of seeing her in pain but was shoved back with Weiss taking the hit to her shoulder while running towards Jacques. "Weiss!"

"W-What are you doing?!" Jacques was surprised by this action and shot at Weiss' leg prematurely.

Weiss didn't stop. She just lunged at his arm, trying to knock the gun out of his hand because she didn't know how many rounds were actually in the gun. Was it fully loaded with a round of six before this? Were there more? She didn't know and didn't want her father to shoot at Ruby.

Jacques just flailed his arm when Weiss grabbed it. "Get off me, you worthless, ungrateful brat!" He shouted as he swung her around like a rag doll then slammed her against the window, causing her to lose her grip on his arm.

"Weiss!"

Weiss' eyes widened as she felt nothing but air below her. She faintly heard Ruby calling her name and her father grunting as he hit something. She barely felt the pain on her back from the shattered glass and saw Winter and Ruby's frantic face as she fell. When had Winter gotten there?

Time paused for a moment as she turned and saw the broken figure smirking at her from the window, then time resumed quickly.

Suddenly, the world went dark.

CRASH

"I told you."

SNAP

"You'd regret this choice."

THUD

"WEISS!"

Chapter Text

Ruby didn't know what just happened. She barely registered the shouting and running in the room. The grunting from Jacques. Winter kneeling next to her and trying to get her attention.

"Weiss…?" She slowly moved from the spot she was frozen to when Weiss charged forward.

"Weiss… Where did you go…?" She asked as she walked towards the open, broken window.

"Weiss?" She looked around, her body shaking as she thought the worst. Just as she was about to look down she felt an arm wrapping around her shoulders and a hand covering her eyes, pulling her back.

"Ruby, wait. You can't look." Winter pulled her away from the window, knowing what she'll see if she peered over the ledge.

Below the window lay an unconscious Weiss, her arm and leg twisted in ways that they weren't supposed to. It was to be expected. Even if she crashed into the trees down below to cushion her fall, she would still have some broken bones and most likely a concussion or broken spine from the loud sound of that thud. A few soldiers arrived quickly to her side and carefully put her onto a stretcher. They loaded her up into the ambulance and took her to the hospital.

Winter knew that they would inform her of which hospital once they had arrived, but right now she needed to make sure that Ruby would be alright mentally.

"Ruby. Ruby Rose. Answer me." Winter frowned, unsure of what to really do here. She looked up to see her father being taken away by Ironwood and decided to follow after him, taking Ruby with her.

Ruby was vaguely aware of what was going on. Everything seemed… like a blur the second Weiss left her side. When Jacques threw her off of him.

"Weiss…? Where… are you?" Ruby muttered again.

Winter heard what she was asking and didn't have an answer.

If Ruby were to meet Weiss now, what would happen? Until she heard where her sister was, she had to take care of Ruby until then. Oh right, she could also contact the blonde woman. What was her name?

"Ruby, who lives with you?" Winter stopped walking, placing both her hands onto the smaller woman's shoulders.

"Who…? I don't…" Ruby looked around, unsure of where she was, then looked at Winter. "Weiss…? When did you have your hair up like this…?"

Winter frowned. "Ruby, I'm not Weiss. I'm her older sister, Winter. Do you not remember?"

"Win…ter…? You have an older sister…?" Ruby was getting more and more confused.

"Ruby, listen to me. My name's Winter. We have to go see Weiss soon." Winter's hands still held onto Ruby's shoulders firmly, worried about what she'll do.

"W-What are you talking about? You're right…" Ruby's eyes widened as it finally hit her like a truck. She finally saw Winter. She looked around frantically. The pale, marbled floor and walls. The random, expensive paintings. How cold this place seemed.

"I-I'm… in Weiss' house… Weiss…?" Ruby looked at Winter, fear clearly shown within her eyes. "W-Winter! Weiss she…! She…!" tears started to flow as she gripped onto Winter's arms, unable to control herself as she sobbed.

"Ruby, please calm down. Weiss will be…" Winter stopped herself. Would Weiss be alright? She fell four stories after all. Even with the trees slowing, and possibly cushioning, her fall, there was no guarantee that Weiss would be alright.

Ruby shook her head frantically. No! No no no! Weiss wasn't thrown out the window! She refused to believe that she took several bullets protecting her and was thrown out the window! She refused to believe it!

"W-Weiss is still here! Somewhere in this mansion…!" Ruby's breathing was erratic as she slowly let go of Winter's arms, preparing herself to run through the entire mansion just to find Weiss. She absolutely refused to believe that she was anywhere outside the mansion.

Winter sighed but kept her grip onto Ruby. Would it just be better for her to run around and tire herself out? Or should she just face the truth now? Deciding the latter idea was the quickest way to deal with this, she made sure that she made eye contact with Ruby.

"Ruby, listen to me. I don't know what happened, and apparently, you're too unstable to properly remember this." Winter sighed as she closed her eyes to gather the proper words. "Weiss was thrown out the window. Our father was arrested. He can't harm her anymore. She's currently on the way towards the hospital. She's safe."

After hearing that Weiss was safe, Ruby collapsed into Winter's arms, sighing in relief and sobbed as she passed out. "Thank Oum…"

_____________________________________________________

Ruby slowly woke up, looked around the white room and groggily sat up. "Where…?" She placed a hand onto her head, trying to remember the last thing that she could then it hit her. "Weiss!"

She scampered out of the bed, almost falling towards the floor but caught herself. As soon as she opened the door, she was greeted by her sister's chest.

"Woah there, sis! Are you sure you should be out of bed like that?" Yang placed her hands onto her sister's shoulder and pushed her back a bit, holding her down.

"Y-Yang… Weiss…!" Ruby whimpered, wanting to see her immediately.

Yang frowned. Ruby's eyes widened in fear. No… no no no! She can't…! Tears started to fall from her eyes and Yang pulled her close.

"You… can't see her just yet. She's still in surgery."

"W-Wha…? Why?" Ruby still couldn't calm down. Not until she saw Weiss. "W-Was it…?" She couldn't even bring herself to ask how bad Weiss was.

"Well…" Yang hesitated, unsure of what to tell her. She lead her back into the room, pushing Ruby back onto the bed. "Some short guy came in with a box… a big box." Yang motioned how big it was with her hands and Ruby frowned. "Anyways, he said it was Weiss' medical records that he recorded back at their place or whatever. I talked about it with Winter and asked if she could have some extra time in surgery because I glanced at one of the files and…" Yang frowned. "She had multiple broken ribs… I'm not sure how long, but I'm going to assume it was over the years."

"She…?" Ruby had a hard time forming proper words with how worried she was.

Yang placed a hand onto Ruby's shoulder. "First of all… breathe. She'll be out of surgery before you know it. Secondly… I asked for the extra time in the operating room. I knew that you'd be worried about her and since it seemed that she avoided the hospital all this time, I asked if they could check for any small bones that could've been broken and lodged into her organs or what—OOOMPH!"

Ruby just cried as she jumped into her sister's arms and wrapped her arms around her, holding onto her closely and sobbed. "Thank you…"

"Hey, I know how much you care about Weiss." Yang held onto Ruby closely, running a hand through her hair. She frowned and slowly pulled her back when Ruby seemed calmer. "Can you talk proper sentences now?"

Ruby shook her head, unsure if she could trust herself to not cry while talking right now.

"Can you nod and shake your head though? Winter… wants to ask you a few questions about what happened." Yang hated to push her sister too far when she wasn't feeling her best.

She hesitated for a moment then slowly nodded.

"Alright, just… wait here for a minute while I get her." Yang didn't want to leave Ruby alone for too long and quickly left the room to find Winter.

Ruby nodded slowly as she pulled her knees to her chest and rested her head on top of them. It was her fault. She went to check on Weiss because she was worried and now here they were. Weiss was most likely going to die because of her stupid decision.

She shook her head violently to get that thought out of her head. No! Weiss was going to live! She was going to live and Ruby was going to apologize for what happened!

Ruby barely glanced up when Yang returned a few minutes later and sat down on the bed next to her while Winter took a seat on the chair, looking at both of them guiltily.

"First of all, I would like to apologize for putting you in danger Ruby."

Ruby flinched and shook her head. "I-It…my... Wei—" She stopped when Winter held a hand up.

"Let me finish." Winter sighed deeply. "Secondly, Weiss came up with this plan as an absolute last resort." She looked at them, ashamed of telling them this. "She sent me that plan just before I was getting ready with General Ironwood. That if she had evidence that he'd harmed her and she admits it this time, and using General Ironwood's help of uncovering many of the things that he had done in the past, we would be able to put him away for a long time."

"So… What you're telling us is that… Weiss offered to be bait while you were hanging around in the background?" Yang raised a brow, unsure if she had the story right.

Ruby just looked horrified at the thought of Weiss being bait just to put Jacques away and held onto Yang's arm for comfort.

"When I left home many years ago, that was my plan. To get into a high enough rank to uncover whatever our father did in the past, and gaining trust so that he could not harm myself or Weiss again." She paused for a moment before continuing. "What I did not expect was our mother actually helping us."

"Wait… what? Back up a bit. Your mom?" Now Yang was getting confused.

"That is correct. She handed us the key that hid all the files that father kept. The files that contained all of his blackmail, underhanded deeds, black market, everything that you could think of. She also… apologized for leaving us." Winter frowned, unsure of what to think about that, but decided to think about that after Weiss was better.

"She saved us a lot of time and we were able to find more of what he did than what I uncovered on my own. I only wish that she'd helped us sooner." Winter still felt guilty about what had happened.

"Winter…. Safe…?" Ruby reached out for her hand. She didn't blame her for what happened. She just couldn't. The one that was to blame was Jacques and she only hoped that the family was safe from him now.

Winter looked at Ruby's hand, unfamiliar with the gesture and took it. "I have been safe. Weiss is safe now. She'll be out of the surgery soon. Our… mother and brother will be taken into custody for now."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Yang frowned. Did that mean Weiss was going to be taken away from Ruby? She didn't want that.

"Our mother will be charged with parental abandonment and will have to undergo counseling. Our brother will be taken into a mental school as we are unsure of how much our father hurt him. We'll be having family therapy together once everything settles down." Winter looked at Yang. "Weiss will be staying in the hospital until she's recovered. Which will take about a year at least with the damage that's been done. She was lucky that the trees broke her fall and softened the landing, but she still has multiple fractures in her arms and legs as well as a broken spine." She then looked at Ruby. "Though, it would make me feel better if there was someone by her side at home to take care of her once she's released. She'll need all the support she can get."

Ruby's eyes brightened when she said that and looked at both Yang and Winter. "I'll help!"

"Seems like you're feeling better now." Yang laughed and ruffled her hair.

"I'll leave my sister in your hands, Ruby." Winter nodded. "Now then…" her face turned serious. "You were there when our father threw Weiss out the window, correct?" She frowned, not wanting to ask anything of that so soon. "We just need you to tell us what you saw. It'll help give our father a life sentence."

Ruby nodded slowly, gripping the bed sheets. "He… yelled at her. Hit her. Then…" tears fell from her eyes again, still feeling guilty that Weiss protected her. "Then he… shot her. Multiple times."

Yang frowned and pulled Ruby into a hug to calm her down a bit.

"W-Weiss, she… she ran at him. Grabbed him. H-He… he threw her…" Ruby sobbed as she held onto Yang, crying onto her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. Thank you. That's enough." Winter felt guilty for making Ruby remember that.

"She'll be fine once she sees that Weiss is alive and well." Yang ran her fingers through Ruby's hair. "The surgery is going well, right?"

"We'll still have to wait a few more hours until Weiss is out of the operating room, unfortunately." Winter shook her head, unsure if her sister will make it or not. "We did say to make a thorough check after all. I highly doubt that she went to see an outside doctor in fear that Father would find her and do something worse."

"Please let us know once she's out and we can visit her." Yang nodded.

"Yes, of course. Please take care of yourself, and we'll check on Weiss' condition together later." Winter stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I still have things to check on. Ruby and Yang." She looked at both of them. "Thank you, for looking out for Weiss in my place. I can't thank you enough." She nodded at them and left quickly.

Yang frowned at how she seemed and looked at Ruby. "Think you'll be fine now?" Ruby sniffed and nodded, rubbing her eyes. "Alright… sleep and rest up a bit more. Maybe by the time you get up, Weiss will be out of surgery and we can see her."

Again, Ruby nodded and slowly let go of Yang, laying back onto the bed and closing her eyes as Yang tucked her in.

"Sleep well, Rubes." Yang kissed her forehead then left the room.

"Winter, what's going on?" Yang caught up to the other woman, finding her trying to keep it together.

The older woman flinched when she heard Yang close by and thought about it. If Weiss trusted Ruby and her family, could she do that too? Biting her lip as she thought about it, as fellow older sisters, she would be able to understand right?

"I… I've failed as an older sister." Winter sighed as she covered her eyes with her hand and took in a deep breath. "I apologize, but I am fine. You shouldn't leave Ruby alone in case she sneaks out."

Yang narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. Winter had a point, but Ruby looked too exhausted to move so she trusted that she wouldn't be able to sneak out for at least an hour while she gave Winter some pep talk. "Both you and Weiss are terrible liars, you know that? And you two keep too much in and don't let anything out." She sighed and shook her head. "I won't ask you to share anything, but like how Ruby was there for Weiss, I'll be here for you too. As older sisters."

"Thank you, Yang. I don't even know where to begin…" Winter shook her head, keeping her back towards Yang.

"Well… you could start with why you think that you failed as an older sister. There's no real failure- Scratch that, your dad's a failure of a father. Lemme rephrase what I said. There's no real right or wrong way to treat your sister. It's still a work in progress." Yang uncrossed her arms and scratched the back of her head. "Even though Ruby's eighteen, I still treat her like she's twelve."

"Funny." Winter gave a small chuckle. "I treated Weiss as if she were my age." She shook her head. "I basically told her that if she wanted something, she has to do it herself. I won't be there to help her."

"You taught Weiss the harsh reality. I didn't. I just coddled Ruby throughout most of our time together." Yang laughed at herself. "I guess we're both failures of an older sister."

"I've seen how Ruby looks at you. You haven't failed her." Winter noted, finally turning around to look at Yang.

"And Weiss doesn't think that you failed her either, no matter what you think." Yang walked up to her and placed a hand onto her shoulder. "Winter, Weiss loves you. Whatever you think you did to her, I'm sure that she doesn't think the same way. You two don't really talk that much together right? Maybe you could talk it out once she recovers?"

"I left her to fend for herself. I wanted away from our father. Our mother was practically nonexistent at the time. Instead of staying there for her, I just left. That isn't—"

Yang pushed Winter against the wall and glared at her. "Yeah. Alright. I get it. You left. But at least you were still there for her whenever you had the chance. It's not like you actually left for good or helped your family damage Weiss more than she was now." She loosened her grip a bit, still staring at Winter. "My mother left us. She didn't even send a message. You still tried with Weiss. And she still cares about you."

"Yang!" They both looked at Blake who panted as she ran over.

"Blake? What's wrong?" Yang moved away from Winter and moved closer to her girlfriend.

"It's Ruby!" Blake looked at Yang. "She wasn't in her room and the doctors that found her wandering around are trying to calm her down!"

Yang blinked then looked at Winter then at Blake again. "What do you mean? She was sleeping when I left a few minutes ago." She didn't like this and started walking towards Ruby's room after giving Winter an apologetic look.

"I went to watch her while you went to talk with Winter. She… had a nightmare or something and started freaking out." Blake frowned, unsure of how to really explain it to her girlfriend and held onto her arm. "Promise me that you won't blame yourself if you see her because you left her alone for a few minutes."

"Ok." Yang was confused but as soon as she walked into the room, she heard Ruby screaming for Weiss. "W-What?"

"Miss Xiao Long, I'm sorry but you should wait outside." The doctor warned her, ordering sedatives to calm Ruby down for now.

"That's my sister we're talking about! What's going on?" Yang demanded, Blake holding onto her arm tighter.

"We believe that it must be stress from what happened earlier today. With some rest, she should return to normal." The doctor watched Ruby slowly quiet down and went back to sleep.

Yang frowned, not wanting to believe that it was just stress. "Once Weiss comes out of surgery, can they room together? I think that'll help Ruby feel better than being here alone."

The doctor frowned. "If she continues to act up, I'm afraid that I cannot allow that. Miss Schnee will be asleep for quite a while as well." He paused to see the look that Yang and Blake was giving him then sighed, shaking his head. "I'll need you two to watch over Miss Rose if you want them to room together."

"Thank you." Blake thanked the doctor and walked Yang towards the bed. "I'll tell Winter. Can you watch Ruby?"

"Yeah. Thanks Blake." Yang gave her a weak smile and gave her girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips, missing what Ruby was mumbling.

"Weiss… Please come back to me."

Chapter Text

"Get off me, you worthless brat!" Jacques shouted as he threw Weiss off him.

"Weiss!" Ruby cried as she jumped to her feet and ran after her as fast as she could, but it was too late. Weiss disappeared into the darkness.

“Weiss!” Ruby shouted as she sat up, panting heavily then jumping when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She instinctively slapped the hand away, thinking it was Jacques, then simply stared at Yang. “Y-Yang…?” She looked around, unsure of where she was. “W-Weiss…?”

“Calm down. She’s still safe, but needs rest.” Yang frowned, nodding towards the other bed next to them. “Did you have another nightmare?”

Ruby looked at Weiss, placing a hand over the older woman’s and sighing in relief when she felt some warmth coming from it.

It was just a dream. Weiss wasn’t dead. She barely remembered Winter saying that they were all safe no thanks to that nightmare.

“Hey.” Ruby looked up at Yang hesitantly. It was almost as if she were afrid that if she looked away from Weiss for too long, this would turn out as a dream. “Weiss is fine. You need to get some rest. She’ll be worried about you if she sees how you’re acting.”

Ruby blinked. Twice. “What…?”

Yang placed a gentle hand onto her shoulder. “Ruby, Weiss is fine. Can you repeat that?”

“W-Weiss is… fine…” Ruby’s voice cracked as she said ‘fine’ and she shook her head, the image of her falling out of the window still haunting her as well as what Jacques did and said to them.

What kind of father would do such a thing? After what she experienced firsthand, it would explain why Weiss would flinch every time she hugged her without notice before relaxing and hugging her back. Why sometimes she’d flinch when other people started getting too loud.

Sure she heard a bit about it from Weiss and Winter, but experiencing it was a different story. Ruby was only there for a few minutes in the same room with Jacques. Weiss had to live with it for most of her life.

Ruby’s hand started to shake as she held onto Weiss’s hand, letting out a soft whimper as she started to think about it again. Weiss almost died because she was trying to protect her.

It was her fault that Weiss was in the hospital in the first place.

“Ruby.” Ruby snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at Yang, who looked back at her worriedly. “Hey, I know that you’re scared. I don’t know what you saw, but both of you two are safe.” Yang pulled her sister into a gentle hug. “You’re not in that awful place.” She didn’t like this. How could she help Ruby when she was like this now?

“Y-Yang…” Ruby held onto her sister, nuzzling onto her shoulder.

“Yang, is Ruby… oh she is.” Blake peeked into the room and gave Yang a bag of burgers and fries.

Yang silently thanked Blake for the food and slowly let go of Ruby, when her girlfriend pulled her away from Ruby.

“Ruby, there’s someone who wants to see you.” Blake looked at the younger woman, giving her a small smile. “I think that you’ll like what she’ll give you.”

Ruby looked confused then placed her hand over Weiss’s again, worried about what she’ll be given.

“Winter?” Yang looked up when she pulled out a burger to eat, then looked at Blake with a confused expression.

“I met her on the way over and she told me that she has something for Ruby.” Blake moved next to Yang, wiping some crumbs off her face. “Should we leave the room for a moment?”

Yang frowned as she looked at Winter. “She started to freak out earlier…”

“I’ll be quick, you two don’t have to leave.” Winter looked away, guilty that she couldn’t help them any more than this. She looked at Weiss, hoping that she’ll wake up soon before looking back at Ruby. “I found this in her notebook.” The older woman handed Ruby an envelope. “It fell out when I was cleaning her bag. It’s addressed to you.”

Ruby looked at the envelop with curious eyes then slowly took it, looking it over. It had her name on it and she recognized Weiss’s handwriting. A sinking feeling hit her and she tried to push that thought away. Weiss was fine. Just like everyone said. She looked at Winter, hoping that she’ll say the same thing and let out a sigh of relief when she gave her a small nod.

Slowly, Ruby opened the envelope and pulled out a letter. She glanced at Weiss to look at her sleeping face for a moment, then started to read the letter to herself.

Ruby Rose

I don’t know how I could ever thank you for appearing in my life and helping me that night. At first, I didn’t want to involve you in my life. You could’ve easily left me alone on the streets and carried on with your night, but you didn’t. For some reason you helped me, a total stranger at the time, and nursed me back to health. Watching me get better and spending time with me.

Yes, at first I did think that it was a little annoying, but I did enjoy the company. It made life feel so much brighter than I originally thought. Before I knew it, I was looking forward to our meetings.

After you saw my scars, after you heard a bit of my past, you didn’t reject me like I thought that you would. Instead, you accepted me. You still wanted to be my friend. And it scared me.

No one wanted to stay with me like you do. You’ve always showed concern for me. You were angry for me. You brought me into your life and fell in love with me.

I never knew what it was like to be loved. For as long as I could remember, everything was cold. Yes, Winter and Klein were there for me at times. However, even they weren’t there for me like you were.

I forgot what it was like to have a mother’s embrace. A father’s head pats ruffling my hair. You showed them to me. You showed me how warm a family can truly be, and not as cold and distant as I thought.

How could I not fall in love with you?

Whenever I’m with you, I feel like I’m at home. And that’s all that matters to me. I feel genuine happiness, something that I haven’t felt in a long time.

I know that I said that I was disillusioned when you confessed to me. And I apologize greatly for that. I was scared. Being by your side has filled me with so much happiness that it terrified me. I wanted to stay by your side. I want to be with you. I didn’t think that you would feel the same because I gave you nothing after everything that you did for me.

There isn’t much that I can give you, but there is one thing that I can promise you. Once I am freed from my father, I’ll do everything that I can to make you the happiest woman in the world. If you’ll still accept me after everything that’s happened.

I love you, Ruby Rose. I just hope that one day I’ll have the courage to tell you in my own words and become my own person, with how much you mean to me.

Weiss Schnee

Tears fell from her eyes as she read it and reread it again before she looked at Weiss. “You dummy…”

“Rubes? What’s on that letter?” Yang frowned as she stood up but Blake stopped her from going too close.

“Ruby Rose.” Winter started, waiting for Ruby to look at her before she continued. “I know that Weiss wouldn’t want you to blame yourself. Yes, our family has put her through hell, but you found her. I can’t thank you enough for saving her.” She clasped her hands together, feeling like she was repeating herself with what she was about to say. “Because of how we… she was raised, I didn’t think that she’d be capable of trusting someone as much as she does with you. So, thank you. For taking care of her in my place.”

Ruby just looked at Winter, confused about why she was talking like she was about to take Weiss back home? That Winter was thanking her for doing a good job and taking away someone important to her? Didn’t Winter ask her to take care of Weiss once they were out of the hospital?

Frowning, she scooted back a bit and continued to hold onto Weiss’s hand. “Not leaving her…”

Silence filled the room for a moment before Yang laughed, walking up to Winter and placing a hand onto her shoulder. “Rubes… Winter’s just thanking you. She’s not going to take Weiss away or anything.”

“Did I imply that was my intention? I apologize. It certainly was not.” Winter gave her an apologetic look. “Yang is correct, Ruby. I just wanted to thank you and your family for helping Weiss. For giving her what I could not.” The older woman gave her a look. “I know that Weiss has been much happier since you came into her life. So thank you.”

“Winter, why don’t you stay with us for a while?” Yang looked at Blake as if she were crazy, but she did have a point. If Yang were in Winter’s position, she would be restless as well and would need someone to watch over her. “You don’t have to stay too long. Maybe an hour or so.”

Winter looked at Blake for a moment, then looked at Yang and Ruby as if she were asking for permission. When they nodded, she let out a tired sigh and sat next to Weiss’s bed.

“I suppose I could spare an hour and make sure that Weiss will be alright.”

“This is mostly for you, Winter. You look like you haven’t slept in a week.” Blake frowned as Yang stood up and made her way towards the other woman.

“We know that you’re worried about Weiss as much as we are. Though she’d be pretty upset if she woke up and you were hurt.”

Winter merely gave a weak chuckle. “I suppose you’re right about that.” She gave a gentle look at Weiss and took her hand. “We’ve only had each other and Klein for years. But now, her family has expanded to you three. I still can’t thank you three enough.”

“Well, since you’re her sister and she thinks of us as her family, like you said, that means that we’re your family as well, Winter.” Yang grinned. “And family means being there for each other. If you two ever need anything, we’ll be there to help. You two deserve it from what we heard.”

“W-What…?” Winter looked at them. From her understanding, they only knew Weiss for a few months, yet they’re willing to go so far for them? Why? What will they get out of this? Why were they doing this in the first place? “Why…?” She saw their confused expressions before continuing. “Why would you three go so far for her? You only really started to talk with her just a few months ago. You weren’t that close in school. So why?”

Ruby looked at Winter then at Yang and Blake before she rested her eyes on Weiss, still holding onto her hand and gave it a firm, but gentle squeeze. “Mum, she… she always said to help those in trouble…” she started slowly, feeling a little better than earlier.

Jacques’ name and nightmares will still haunt her, but they were right. Weiss will worry about her if she didn’t calm down, and the letter did help her feel better. “Along the way, I… I don’t know why. I can’t explain it. She just makes me happier being by her side.”

“That sounds illogical…” Winter started. Everyone in the room gave her a disapproving look but she continued. “But I suppose that you don’t need to have a reason for being… in love.”

“You got that right.” Yang grinned as she wrapped an arm around Blake’s shoulders, holding her close.

“You’ll have to give us some time to adjust to it.” Winter shook her head. “Although, I’m sure that Weiss has adjusted to it by now.”

Blake frowned when she said that and tugged on Yang’s arm. “Yang and I will get you some food, Winter. What would you like?” Just as she was about to protest, Blake shook her head. “You deserve a break. I’m sure that you can watch over these two until we get back.”

“We’ll get you something too, Rubes. I’m sure that hospital food isn’t that great.” Yang snickered while Ruby pouted at her and stifled a yawn. “Or you can go back to sleep. It’ll still be a while until Weiss wakes up after all.”

In truth, no one knew when Weiss would wake up. It’s been a week since she got out of surgery and the doctors told them that she’ll be fine. All that she needed was to rest so that she could heal and it seemed like she would be able to recover quicker than they thought.

Ruby pouted a bit when Yang told her to go back to sleep, but curled up next to Weiss’s side, resting her head onto her shoulder and made sure that she wasn’t going to harm her before closing her eyes and trying to sleep.

“Winter.” Yang looked at the older woman. “You should get some rest too. We’ll be back with some salad or something soon.”

“It doesn’t have to be salad. I’m not picky like Weiss, but thank you.” Winter nodded then looked at the two younger women on the bed. “I’ll keep an eye on them, you two don’t have to worry.”

“Right. We’ll be back soon.” Blake nodded and left the room.

Yang gave a worried look towards Ruby, but Winter caught it and spoke up. “If she has a nightmare, I’ll snap her out of it. You don’t have to worry. Weiss was like this as a child as well.”

“Thanks, Winter.” Yang smiled at her then left the room as well.

Winter sighed when she was alone and crossed her arms, watching over them while she waited. After a while, she closed her eyes to rest, knowing that they’ll all be fine and that she’ll wake up if she heard Ruby having a nightmare again.

About half an hour later, Winter reopened her eyes when she felt something touching her hand, and saw that it was Weiss’s hand over hers. She looked up and saw Weiss looking back at her with a weak smile as she turned her head towards Ruby, who was still asleep.

“Weiss…” Winter started but Weiss shook her head slowly.

“The drugs… will make me sleep again soon. H-How long… was I out…?”

“After confronting father, you’ve been asleep for a week.” Winter frowned, keeping her voice low so Ruby didn’t wake up. “We’re all worried about you. Especially Ruby.”

“I’m… sorry.” Weiss sighed, closing her eyes for a moment to regain some strength before looking at Winter again. “…You have… something to say… don’t you?”

“That is correct.” Winter started as she looked at her sister, sitting up straight. “You have a good heart, and you’re a good person. Ruby and the others can see that. However…” she looked at her seriously. “With father in prison, everything that he has done will be made public. I know that you said that you do not wish to take over Schnee Jewelers, and that they are no more; but things will still be difficult. You will not be completely freed for a long while. People will not see you as your own person. They will see you as his daughter. Nothing more. Nothing less. Do you understand?”

Weiss nodded. “I do. That is why… I wished to end it.” She clenched the bed sheets tightly. “…Why are you telling me this now? That isn’t… all you have to say… so just tell me.”

“Do you really wish to bring Ruby down this path with you?”

They both stared at each other for a moment before Weiss spoke up.

“As I told father before… if there were set paths before me… I’ll just create a new one.” Weiss looked at her side, taking that moment to look at Ruby’s sleeping face. “With her by my side.”

“Weiss. I am not going to judge you for your choices. It is up to you on what you do with your life. I just wanted to remind you. No matter what path you take. No matter what hardships you face. Just make sure that it’s the path that you yourself will not regret. And know that I will always be there to help you.”

“Thank you, Winter.” Weiss quietly thanked her, feeling her eyes growing heavy again.

“Get some rest, sister. I’ll be back in the morning and inform the doctors that you were awake for a few minutes.” Winter stood up and kissed her head. “Sleep well. And try not to move too much.”

“Good night, Winter.” Weiss rolled her eyes and watched her leave the room before she nuzzled a bit into Ruby’s hair. That was the one action that she could do without feeling too much pain at least.

“Mmm… Weiss…” Ruby mumbled in her sleep, nuzzling against her shoulder. “Love…you…”

“…I love you too, Ruby.”

Chapter Text

Ruby stirred a bit the next morning and saw the doctors checking on Weiss, with Winter, Yang, and Blake off to the side. "Wha..?"

Yang didn't say anything and just placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder to let her know that everything was going to be fine.

"She woke up last night. It wasn't very long though." Winter informed her and thanked the doctor when she was done with the check up.

"Was Ms. Schnee in any pain when she woke up? Uncomfortable at all?"

Winter shook her head. "She was just exhausted. We only spoke for a few minutes before she went back to sleep."

"I see." The doctor nodded. "Please let me know if she wakes up again. I'll come back again in an hour."

"Thank you, Dr. Brown." Winter thanked her and watched her leave the room before looking back at the others. "I suppose that I could come back later. I have some paperwork to fill out and I don't have many days off I can leave."

"We'll make sure that Weiss is getting proper treatment." Blake nodded. "Thank you, Winter. Don't work too hard, alright?"

"Thank you. If anything happens with Weiss, please let me know." Winter thanked both Blake and Yang then left the room.

Ruby fully sat up and looked at Weiss, holding her hand.

"Rubes, Weiss is gonna be fine." Yang reassured her. "If she woke up for a little bit last night, she'll be awake soon enough. Before you know it, you two will be talking like you did before!"

"I hope so…" Ruby sighed, a bit sad that she missed Weiss waking up the first time. There were so many things that she wanted to talk to her about too!

"Just give her some time. She was hurt and the drugs were to help her sleep so that she can recover. They're probably wearing off soon, and that's why she woke up." Yang rubbed her little sister's shoulder. "How are you feeling though, Rubes?"

"I'm feeling fine. I don't really need to be here anymore, do I?"

Yang gave a light laugh. "Considering how much of a shock you were in? If you're really feeling better, then you can be discharged today." She paused for a moment then gave Ruby a serious look. "But you are feeling better, right? No more freaking out? You know that Weiss will be alright and everything, right?" Yang knew the answer. She just wanted to make sure that Ruby would be alright herself.

"Yang…" Ruby sighed then looked at Weiss. "I'm not… completely fine." She frowned then looked at Yang. "But Weiss will be fine. She woke up right? I… I-If we have a little talk when she wakes up, I think I'll be alright."

"I think you two will be alright." Blake smiled at them. "I should get going though. Yang, I'll take care of your shift too so you can stay with Ruby. Just contact me if you need anything. I'll swing by lunch time."

"Thanks, babe." Yang was thankful to have a thoughtful girlfriend like her around. "I'll let you know what's going on." They gave each other a quick kiss before Blake left the room.

Yang turned her attention back to Ruby, crossing her arms and leaned back. "So Rubes… you sure that you're doing alright?"

"Ugh… Yang, I know that you're overprotective…" She paused seeing that look that Yang was giving her and sighed. "Ok, with good reason. But I'm fine. Weiss is… fine."

"Hey, you're starting to get it now." Yang gave her a small smile. "You know… I don't want to see that look on your face again." Seeing Ruby's confused face, she continued. "You looked so… scared. Worse than when there were thunderstorms and you lost your stuffed animal. Heck, even worse than when mum and dad went on their trips and you couldn't sleep at night."

Ruby frowned. "That bad huh…?" She looked down at her hands with guilt. "Sorry, I was just… worried about Weiss. Even though mum and dad are gone most of the time, they never treated us like how Weiss's dad treated her…"

Yang placed her hand onto Ruby's shoulder. "You don't have to think about him anymore. Think about how much happier Weiss will be with us now."

"Y-Yeah. You're right." Ruby gave her sister a weak smile. "You know… she really was happy meeting mum and dad. Well yeah, she was scared at first, but she was… happy. I… I wanna have her join our family."

"Ruby, you know what you're saying, right?" Yang struggled not to laugh at this serious moment. "You could at least date before asking her to marry you."

"Wha…?" Ruby blinked then blushed when she realized what she said.

Sure she wanted to include Weiss in her family, but like that?! It was too soon! And Weiss did reject her a few days before that fight with her father. But that kiss and the letter… why was this so confusing?!

"Easy, little sis. You must be hungry, right? I'll go get you some food. Maybe some games or comics to keep you busy while your princess is still sleeping." Yang chuckled as she got up. "You know… I haven't really seen you happy with anyone else before. She must be really special to you."

"S-Shut up." Ruby blushed, hiding under the covers.

"See you soon, sis." Yang laughed as she left the room.

Ruby huffed and looked at Weiss, taking a hand into hers and cuddling up to her side. "You're recovering… That's good." She sighed in relief and rested her head onto Weiss's shoulder, closing her eyes and soon falling asleep.

_________________________________________________________

A few hours later, Weiss stirred awake when she felt someone holding her arm. "Ru…by…?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not 'Ruby,' Miss Schnee. She is by your side, asleep for now." Weiss was fully awake and saw that a young woman was checking her pulse. "My name's Dr. Brown. I'm your doctor and so far, everything seems normal. How are you feeling?"

"Tired." She answered, though she felt more awake than yesterday.

"That is to be expected. The painkillers will completely wear off later today, or maybe tomorrow morning. For now, I'm just checking your vitals and seeing how much pain you're still in." Dr. Brown placed two of her fingers into Weiss's palms. "Can you squeeze my fingers as hard as you can for me?"

Weiss struggled to squeeze as hard as she could before releasing her fingers.

"Did that hurt at all? Are you in any pain?" The doctor held her finger up. "Follow my finger without moving your head."

"That didn't hurt, nor am I in pain." Weiss figured it was because there were still some painkillers in her system and followed the doctor's fingers with her eyes.

Once the doctor was satisfied, she moved on with her next question. "Can you move your arms?"

Weiss tried to move her arms, but they were weak and she lifted them a few inches before she was too tired to move them anymore.

"Did it hurt trying to move your arm?"

"It didn't hurt, but it did exhaust me." Weiss sighed, glancing over to her side when she felt Ruby shifting in her sleep.

"Thank you, Ms. Schnee. Please let us know if you're in any pain at all. Your rehabilitation starts next month. I'll be back later to check in on you again. Have a good afternoon." The doctor smiled then got up to leave the room.

Weiss sighed and closed her eyes, opening them again when she felt Ruby nuzzling her shoulder. "Ruby…?"

"Mmm… five more minutes…" she mumbled.

"As much as I'd like to watch you sleep, get up." Weiss chuckled as she raised her arm, struggling to pat Ruby on the head and just settled to hold her hand instead.

"Weiss…?" Ruby stirred awake, looking up and seeing those beautiful eyes that she loved looking at staring back at her.

"Good morning, Ruby. Or rather afternoon from what the doctor said. I'm sorry to have awaken you like this." Weiss gave her a weak smile.

Ruby couldn't believe it. Weiss was awake! She sat up onto her knees and caressed the other's face, unsure if this was real or not. "W-Weiss…? You're… awake…?"

"Dolt, of course I am." Weiss huffed, trying to put up a brave front and act like herself so Ruby would know that this is real life. In fact, she tried to move to pinch her but just rested her hand onto her thigh.

"You're still weak though…" Tears of happiness fell from Ruby's eyes as she leaned closer to her. "B-But you're alive… you're still here."

"All thanks to you." Weiss smiled at Ruby and rested her head onto her shoulder.

"Don't move too much. Doesn't it hurt?" Ruby frowned and moved closer to Weiss so she didn't have to move that much.

Weiss shook her head, keeping her head on the other's shoulder. "It doesn't hurt. I just feel exhausted trying to move around."

"Then don't move. We can just talk or… watch movies or something. Wait, are you hungry? You haven't eaten anything for like a week after all. Not that you even ate much before, but still!"

"Ruby…" Weiss sighed and blushed a bit as she struggled to sit up properly. "There is something that I want to tell you before you call Yang or Blake to grab us something to eat."

"You're gonna be alright… right?" Ruby looked at her worriedly, unsure of what she wanted to tell her and tried not to assume the worst.

"Ruby, it's not about that." Weiss sighed, remembering the talk with Summer, Winter, and Blake.

Weiss, Ruby really does care about you. More so than anyone else that I've seen her spend time with. Think about it, she's happier when she's around you.

You know… I was hesitant at first. However, I believe that you two can find happiness together. I haven't seen you this happy in a long time, Weiss. You deserve this happiness. I know that you won't regret this choice.

I know that you may not know me as well, and that I've left Ruby and Yang for my job, but I would like you to think of me as your own mother. A mother that would be there for you whenever you needed a warm hug and a shoulder to cry on, someday.

Weiss took a deep breath, trying to stop her hands from shaking as she held onto Ruby's hands and looked into her eyes. "I… love you. And I wish to go out with you."

Ruby blinked. Twice. Was she… hearing this right? Heat rose to her cheeks as she processed it.

"I-I know that I most likely don't have the right to say it now. After all, I hurt you when you told me that you had feelings for me as well and I- mmph?!" Weiss started to ramble and stopped when she felt a pair of lips meeting her own.

Ruby slowly pulled away a moment later and blushed. Part of her knew that Weiss would've rejected her before, so she didn't think too much of it and why she took so long to say something. But now? Now that she knew that Weiss felt the same and they could be together, she didn't have to hold back as much.

"R-Ruby…?" Weiss blushed madly, unsure of what she was thinking of what that kiss meant.

"I-I'm sorry, I'm just so happy and when I read your letter… I really didn't think that you'd feel the same way." Ruby chuckled weakly as she sat up. "And well… you know how you said that I could've just left you alone that night? I couldn't. Your eyes were practically begging me to help you at the time and well… I fell in love with you along the way."

Just as Weiss was about to say something, Ruby shook her head. "Let me finish, please." She gave her a gentle smile and took her hand. "You may think that you gave me nothing after everything I did with you, but you have. You gave me this amazing thing called friendship. That is the greatest treasure that I care about. Who cares about pretty dresses and a fancy house? Or even a ton of money to buy all that? Yes, they give you something warm to wear and a roof over your head, but you know what? That means nothing if you're lonely. All that I care about is being with the person I love the most, and that they love me back."

"Dolt…" Tears fell from Weiss's eyes. "You took everything that I wanted to say out of my mouth…"

"I thought you said everything you wanted in that letter, and when you said that you loved me." Ruby laughed as tears of happiness fell from her eyes.

Ruby caressed Weiss's cheek and wiped the tears away with her thumb, leaning close then jumped back when she heard the door open.

"Rubes, are you—Oh you're both awake." Yang smiled seeing the duo awake and took her seat next to the beds. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Weiss."

"Yang…" Ruby frowned. It was too early for this kind of teasing. Well, early for Weiss because she just woke up again, but still!

"Hey, I really am glad that Weiss is awake. You look happier already, Rubes." Yang laughed, raising her hands defensively and handing Ruby a bag that had a sandwich inside and a box of juice. "But anyways, I won't take too long. Blake asked to see if you two were awake, and she'll be here soon. I guess I can tell her that you two are doing fine now. Oh, and the doc said that Weiss would be fine and that I should contact Winter so that they could have a little chat."

"The doctor?" Ruby frowned, worried about Weiss and what they would say.

"Ruby, I'm fine. The doctor came in to check on me a little bit before you woke up. They said that I was healing properly."

Ruby gave Weiss a worried puppy-dog look and held onto her hand. Yang tried not to laugh while Weiss blushed at how cute Ruby looked and gave her hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

"Really, I'll be fine. I promise. They said that my rehabilitation starts next month. Maybe if we're lucky, it'll start sooner rather than later." Weiss paused for a moment. "Will you… help me with my—"

"You don't have to ask! I will!" Ruby interrupted her. "I'll help you! It's my fault that you were shot and here in the first place…"

"Ruby, please." Weiss looked at Yang who nodded and left the room. Once the blonde woman was gone, she looked back at Ruby. "None of this was your fault. I'm sorry that you had to witness what my father did. In fact… I honestly didn't expect him to pull a gun on you. He wasn't that type of man. Or so I thought." Weiss looked down, guilt written all over her face. "Yes, he did… abuse me for most of my life, and there were times I could've gotten away, but I was scared. I was on my own, but only for a little while. It was to 'learn independence' and to get away from him. I couldn't trust anyone. And I was too scared to ask for help."

Ruby frowned and took Weiss's hand to comfort her and allowed her to continue.

"Then you found me. I can't ever thank you enough for that… and I still can't understand why you fell for me even though I was nothing but rude to you." Tears fell from Weiss's eyes, scared of how happy she was.

"Can I… talk now?" Ruby asked and smiled when Weiss nodded. "Well… It was the right thing to do. To help you, I mean. After all, do you really need a reason to help someone in trouble?" She laughed at herself, something that her mother told her since she was a kid. "Anyways, I helped you, and your eyes begged me not to leave you alone… I told you that earlier."

"You did… but not why you fell in love with me." Weiss was still confused about that.

"You… kinda remind me of Snow White. Both of you two were so pretty and have this amazing singing voice." Ruby blushed. "W-What I mean to say is uh… your voice is attractive and… over time I saw how kind you are and uh… D-Do I really need a reason to fall in love with a beautiful snowflake?"

Weiss blushed when Ruby called her snowflake and looked away. "I-I suppose… since we're on the topic of… 'Snow White…' Would you believe me if I told you…" She took a deep breath then looked at Ruby. "That I was 'Snow White' back then?"

"I… wa… you…?!" Ruby blushed madly. So the person she was crushing on since she was a kid and her new crush now were the same person?! "T-That could explain why I love your voice…"

"And that you've been in love with me for years?" Weiss decided to tease her a bit to lighten the mood.

Thankfully Ruby knew what she was doing and leaned close to her to give her a kiss on the lips.

"I've always wanted to meet you. I finally got my wish." Ruby grinned, feeling a million times better than earlier. She frowned a bit when she remembered that there was something she should let Weiss know.

"Ruby?" Weiss frowned, not liking the sudden change of mood.

"Just so you know… I… had a nightmare about your dad while you were out for the week." Ruby started slowly, holding onto Weiss's hand.

"I'll help you through it." Weiss tugged on her hand to pull her close. "Just as you will help me, right?"

Ruby smiled brightly and kissed her again. "I love you so much, Weiss."

"Dolt." Weiss blushed, unused to hearing those words, but smiled, closing her eyes as she leaned onto Ruby. "I love you too. I suppose… we are a couple now?"

"Right… Yang's gonna go crazy when she finds out…" Ruby sighed deeply.

"Find out about what now?" Yang poked her head into the room.

"NOTHING!" Ruby blushed madly. Oh she was soooooo not ready for this sister talk yet.

"Well once you two are done making out, I got some more sandwiches for you and some salad for your girlfriend. We may be in the hospital, but at least keep the clothes on. I don't wanna explain to the docs what's going on in here." Yang hummed as she closed the door, waiting close to it.

Ruby and Weiss blushed madly. Maybe telling Yang that they were official now was a bad idea.

"I guess we should eat. You need your strength." Weiss held onto Ruby's hand.

"So do you, Princess Snowflake." Ruby grinned at the nickname, then gave Weiss a loving smile. "We'll get through this. Together."

Weiss smiled back. "Together."

"Gods, you two are so sickening sweet. It makes me miss Blakey."

"YANG! STOP RUINING THE MOMENT!" Ruby pouted as Weiss laughed.

For now she just focused on recovering… and smiled at the show of Ruby climbing onto Yang's back out of embarrassment.

Oh, how some things didn't change.

This was going to be her new family one day. And she wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Chapter Text

"Sorry, Rubes. I don't think I can make it to your race on time." Yang frowned. "I have piano practice with the Ice Queen today, and there's the competition coming up soon…"

"It's fine, Yang. I just thought that I'd ask if you could make it." Ruby forced a smile. She really wanted her sister to watch her run in the finals at least. "You come to see me practice from time to time. That's more than enough. Good luck with piano practice!"

Weiss frowned as she heard that and walked towards the choir room to talk to the teacher.

"Miss Schnee, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"About today's practice. Do you think that we can cut it a bit short? I can practice on my own, and Xiao Long can practice with me during lunch." Weiss folded her hands together.

"Are you feeling alright?" The teacher raised a brow, unsure of what to think. "The competition is in a few days…"

"As much as I'd like to practice, I do need to give my throat a little bit of a break." Weiss tried to reason with her.

"That is true. You've been practicing non-stop lately. Alright. We can practice for about an hour then we can call it a day."

"Thank you." Weiss nodded and made her way out the door. A little walk would help her, and she didn't want to be here when Yang heard the news about the practice schedule.

Even if she couldn't have a good relationship with her family, that didn't mean that other people should feel the same way.
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"Blake, shouldn't you be going home soon to visit your family? It'll be winter break soon." Pyrrha raised a brow as she saw the other woman walking towards the library.

"They won't be visiting until later tonight." Blake shrugged. "We have a test coming up after break ends. Besides, Weiss would hate it if I skipped today."

"That's not necessarily true." Weiss frowned as she looked at Blake. Was she really that strict? Mentally shaking that thought out of her head, she looked at her study group members. "If you have something to do with your family later, we can cut our studies short today. I trust that you are able to keep your grades up even without studying for this break."

Blake and Pyrrha looked at Weiss, then at each other, then back at Weiss.

"Are you sure?" Blake tilted her head. It was extremely rare for Weiss to even suggest such a thing, but she did hear about cutting her choir practice short from Yang once.

"Belladonna, you're one of the top students. You can afford to take a break." Weiss waved her off. "We can review after break. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some things to do for the council."

"Weiss!" Blake waited for her to turn around and gave her a small smile. "Thank you... for understanding. Have a great break."

Break. One of the few times she was afraid to be home alone, but she couldn't show it. If she did, she'd be getting others involved. She didn't want that happening.
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Weiss stirred a bit when she felt a pair of lips on her own and slowly opened her eyes.

"Morning, princess. Did you sleep well?" Ruby smiled as she gave her another kiss.

"Mmm… I did. How did you sleep?" Weiss slowly sat up with Ruby's help. "You didn't get any nightmares?"

They had been living together for the past month since Weiss got out of the hospital, and they've been taking care of each other whenever they needed it. Ruby making sure that Weiss didn't push herself too hard when she needed something, while Weiss held onto Ruby whenever she had nightmares about the events that happened last year.

"Weiss… I'm not that bad." Ruby pouted then helped Weiss get out of bed. "Careful. Does it still hurt when you move?"

"No…" Weiss leaned more onto Ruby, resting her head onto her shoulder.

"Weiss?" Ruby blinked, frowning. "Hey, are you ok?" She asked as she rubbed Weiss's back gently.

"Mmm… just dreamt of the times we were in high school." Weiss held onto her girlfriend, wanting some warmth and comfort.

"Was it about the time you cut your choir practice with Yang and study sessions with Blake short?" Ruby guessed then chuckled when Weiss gave her a look.

"How did…?"

Ruby gave her a quick kiss. "Well, with how you're cuddling with me right now, I could guess that it's because you remembered something that made you feel lonely… or you just really like my cuddles." She laughed. "You should show your kindness more often. Or are you only showing it to certain people?"

"Only you…" Weiss mumbled. Did Yang and Blake tell Ruby about what happened before? Either way, she was glad to have met Ruby and the others. She only wished that she had the chance to actually talk with them before.

"Do you feel up to learning how to cook again?" Ruby grinned.

"After last time's failure? I'm surprised you ate the whole thing…" Weiss sighed, walking towards the kitchen.

"The pancakes might've been a bit burnt, and you're not used to cooking that often, but it was still good! I'm not that picky with food." Ruby laughed as she grabbed their aprons. "You made it with the love you have for me. It's good enough." She smiled at Weiss. "And remember, as much as I'd love to wake up to fresh breakfast in bed made by you, I'd be sad if you were hurt while you were cooking without me. You're still learning and just got out of the hospital."

Weiss blushed. "D-Dolt…" She put on her apron and grabbed some mixing bowls. "Should we try it again then?"

"Hey, at least you're learning!" Ruby grinned. "Maybe we should have our families meet again. You were so cute when you were so nervous and stiff last week!"

"S-Shut up!" Weiss turned away to hide her embarrassed face. "If you told me that you were planning on them meeting like that, then I wouldn't have been as nervous!"

Summer and Tai went to visit Ruby and Weiss to check in on how they were doing. That was surprising enough, but Ruby was happy and Weiss welcomed them while apologizing for putting Ruby in danger.

"Weiss, Jacques has been a horrible man for a while. I'm just sorry that you had to go through something like that." Summer apologized and gently held Weiss in her arms.

Weiss nuzzled against Summer's shoulder, struggling not to cry. "T-Thank you…" she mumbled then pulled away when she saw Winter walking into the room. "W-Winter?!"

"Hello, Weiss. I see that you are doing well." Winter nodded as she made her way closer towards the group. "Ruby has informed me that you were doing better and she invited me to dinner to celebrate…" she looked at Ruby who was nervously moving away.

"Ruby!" Weiss looked at her girlfriend who just laughed nervously.

"I wanted to surprise you! I forgot that Winter was gonna come early…" Ruby poked her fingers together. "…Are you mad?"

Weiss sighed but shook her head, mumbling to herself. "I could never be mad at you."

"Weiss. Mumbling is a bad habit." Winter scolded as she placed a hand onto her shoulder. "How are you feeling? Ruby has informed me that you two were planning on writing music together once you've…" She looked over Weiss. "Recovered a bit more. Is that true?"

"I'm still a little sore, but I think that I'll be able to move without crutches by next week." Weiss gave a small smile to Winter then looked at the others, a small blush forming on her face. "I-I wanted to surprise you… I wasn't sure if I wanted to go through it with or not, but Ruby convinced me to…" She glanced at Summer and Tai then coughed nervously. "I-I think some introductions are in order…?"

Ruby moved towards her parents. "Winter, these are my parents. Summer and Tai. Mom, dad, this is Winter. Weiss's older sister."

"It's nice to meet you, Winter." Summer walked up to her and offered her hand for a handshake.

"It is very nice to meet you too." Winter nodded, taking the hand and gave it a firm shake before raising a brow. "Have we… met before?"

Summer gave a sly smile. "I believe this is the first time we've met. Unless we passed by each other when Weiss was in the hospital."

Weiss looked between them, unsure of how to feel about Winter finally meeting Summer and Tai like this, then looked at Ruby who just smiled at her.

It wasn't as awkward as she thought that it would've been, and was glad that Summer and Tai had accepted Winter. It meant a great deal to her that they were all getting along like this, and she wanted to work harder to keep it like this.

If she hadn't met Ruby, if she hadn't stood up to her father… how much worse would this have been?

"Weiss." Ruby snapped her girlfriend out of her thoughts and gave her a gentle hug. "We're all here for you. Don't forget that alright? You don't need to handle anything on your own anymore."

Weiss gave Ruby a small smile. She was right. She didn't need to reflect on the past any longer. Now, all Weiss had to do was work hard with her girlfriend to maintain the happiness that she has.

And that's all that matters to her.

Chapter Text

Yang sighed as she leaned back on the floor, stretching her limbs and smiling when Blake sat next to her. It was a weird feeling, both feeling nervous, but happy to spend time together skipping class.

"I can't believe that you talked me into this…" Blake shook her head, giving the other woman a small smile.

"Hey, if you didn't look so stressed out, then maybe I wouldn't do something as impulsive as this then." Yang laughed, looking up at the sky.

"Yang…" Blake frowned. "You know that there's a reason why I'm a little stressed out."

"And I told you before that I don't really care about who you were before. I just saw a cute girl that looked troubled and wanted to help." Yang grinned at her. "And skipping classes together so that we can let loose usually helps."

Blake gave her a small smile and shook her head. "You're crazy."

"Isn't that why you're hanging out with me?" Yang smirked and looked up at the sky again. "At least you can enjoy the view, right? You can't really enjoy the view like this when you're stuck behind a desk."

"I guess that's true…" Blake gave a soft smile as she looked up at the sky.

It was a clear day, save for a few clouds here and there, but this was the first time she felt… relaxed in a long time.

"Got a lot on your mind, little cat?" Yang snickered as she glanced at the other woman.

"W-What did you call me?" Blake sat up, unsure if what she just heard was right.

"I called you a cat. 'Cause you remind me of one." Yang grinned at her. "Almost always alone… but cuddly with someone that you trust. Not to mention your bow reminds me of cat ears. It's really adorable and looks really cute on you."

Blake couldn't help but blush at what was just said to her, and gave a small chuckle. "I-I guess you're right about that."

"Aren't I always right?" Yang grinned, obviously teasing her, then jumped when she heard the door open. She was worried that it was a teacher and stood up to explain what was happening, but didn't expect to see someone their age, maybe slightly older.

A young man with short, spiky red hair glared at her, and Blake scrambled to her feet. "A-Adam…?"

"Hello, my darling." Adam gave Blake a sickening, sweet smile then glared at Yang. "You. What are you doing here alone with her? She's mine."

"Wha?" Yang blinked. It didn't take her long to realize that he was most likely the reason why Blake was stressed out. "First of all, she's not yours. Blake is her own person. She has the right to hang out with whoever she wants. Secondly, who the heck do you think you are?"

"Yang, do—" Blake started, worried about her, then yelped when she was suddenly pulled back so hard that she fell onto her butt.

She looked up to see Adam standing in front of her, and Yang looking worriedly at Blake before glaring at Adam.

"You can't treat her like that!"

"She's mine and I can do whatever I want with her!" Adam growled as he pulled out a knife and ran at Yang before she could react.

Yang screamed in pain as Adam stabbed her upper right arm and she kicked him away, clutching her wound.

"Adam!" Blake yelled at him as she placed her hands on Yang's shoulder, worried about her wound.

When Adam saw what Blake was doing, he charged at Yang. "WHAT THE HELL DOES SHE EVEN SEE IN YOU, YOU BITCH?!"

Seeing him charge at them, Yang pushed Blake aside to save her and braced herself, suddenly feeling air under her feet as both she and Adam were falling off the roof. She quickly grabbed onto the railing and onto Adam's arm, grunting as she struggled to hold his weight under her.

"Yang!" Blake ran towards the edge, being careful not to fall off herself and grabbing the other's arm, struggling to help her up.

"Ngh… I… can't…" Yang grunted, slowly losing her grip on both the edge and Adam.

"Fall! Fall with me! If I can't have her, then neither can you!" Adam laughed as he squirmed, making it as difficult as possible for Yang to hold onto the ledge and didn't care if Blake fell with them either.

Yang gripped harder onto the ledge, looking up at Blake who was looking back at her with frantic eyes.

"Blake, you gotta…!"

"I'm not letting you go, Yang!" Blake cried desperately, "Don't you dare let go either!"

"Blake…" Yang gasped. Her right arm felt numb and she could feel her grip loosening on Adam.

She didn't know why she was trying to save him. He was trying to hurt Blake, after all. But part of her just couldn't let him die.

"Yang!" Blake grunted as she readjusted her grip. "Yang, you gotta…!" Could she even finish that sentence? Let Adam go?

Could she tell Yang to just let Adam fall to his possible death?

He might've been a jerk to her, but even he didn't deserve death… did he?

"FALL! BOTH OF YOU TWO FALL WITH ME!" Adam kicked off the building in an attempt to make both Yang and Blake fall with him.

What happened next surprised him. Yang's grip loosened from the wound from earlier, causing her to let him go. They both watched as Adam fell to the ground, landing onto a dumpster below them.

Yang gritted her teeth then looked up at Blake, who was in shock, but still kept her grip onto her.

"B-Blake…" Yang tried to pull herself up and was thankful that the other woman quickly snapped out of it, helping her up.

Blake wrapped her arms around Yang tightly, tears falling from her eyes. "I-I'm so sorry…!"

"Hey, don't be." Yang frowned and wrapped her left arm around Blake's shoulders. She was ignoring her wound at the moment. Right now she needed to make sure that Blake was alright before doing anything else.

"B-But…!" Blake started then looked at her arm. "W-We need to take you to the nurse...!" She pulled out her handkerchief, pressing it against the wound. She then ripped part of her uniform so that she could use it as a makeshift bandage. "T-That should hold you over until we see the nurse."

Yang frowned at how much Blake was panicking and couldn't blame her. But one of them needed to be calm, as much as she wanted to scream in pain.

"Y-Yang?" Blake pulled her up by her good arm, helping her walk. She was terrified. For the first time, she was able to make another friend, and now she was hurt. Maybe she wasn't meant to make friends…

"Hey, do me a favour and stop blaming yourself. If you want to make it up to me, help me recover." Yang started walking with Blake towards the nurse's office.

Blake couldn't believe her ears. How wasn't Yang angry with her?! Deciding not to press the matter anymore for now, she just nodded and walked silently with her.

Once they arrived at the office, the nurse was horrified at the wound and called the ambulance just to make sure that there weren't any serious injuries.

Yang refused to go to the hospital unless Blake was by her side, not wanting her to deal with the school to explain what happened alone, which Blake was thankful for but she was still worried and scared of what Yang would say and do after this.

They were out of school for months dealing with the police, hospital, and injuries. The doctors said that Yang's right hand was paralyzed due to the wound hitting a nerve, but with therapy, it would be good as new.

"Yang…?" Blake walked into the room but stayed behind the curtain. She bit her lip and her gaze was fixated on the ground. She couldn't remember the last time she actually looked at someone's face.

"Blake? Stop looking at the ground and come over here." Yang called for her, frowning when Blake walked over but didn't raise her head to look at her. "Hey, what did I say?"

"I-I'm sorry." Blake tried to look up at Yang but quickly looked away when she met her gaze. She gasped when she felt something grabbing her wrist and pulling her closer.

When Blake looked, it was Yang holding onto her arm with… "Y-Yang? Your hand? Y-You can move it…?"

"Not that much. It hurts still and I can just bend the fingers a bit." Yang grunted as she let go of Blake's arm and rubbed her wrist. "Listen… I'm fine. We're both gonna be fine."

"How can you say that?! You're hurt because you were just there by my side! It's my fault that you're hurt! It should've been me tha—" Tears started to fall from Blake's eyes as Yang grabbed her arm and pulled her close, running a hand through her hair.

"I couldn't just abandon a friend. My super-mom Summer said so. Always help a friend in need. Though I did get an earful from her about fighting someone with a knife." Yang laughed weakly and frowned when she felt how stiff Blake was in her arms.

"Hey. You want to make it up to me and my family?" Yang started slowly.

Blake looked up, finally meeting her gaze and nodded quickly.

"Take care of me."

"W-What…?" Blake stared at her in disbelief. Just that? "H-How long…?"

"Until my arm heals or…" Yang placed her hand onto Blake's cheek. "Until you've forgiven yourself."

"I-I think that I can do that." Blake nodded, nuzzling against Yang's hand and giving her a weak smile. "Maybe I can teach you the piano or something as part of your rehabilitation."

"Oh? I think I'd like that."

Chapter Text

A white haired older woman sighed as she drank a glass of wine. She was unsure of how many glasses she drank today as she walked towards the window, opening it to look at the garden.

She took a step back when there was a sudden gust of wind and looked up to see a raven-haired woman on her balcony.

"Who are yeh?!" She was about to turn to call the guards but stopped when she heard the other woman laugh.

"It's only been what? Almost fifteen years since we last saw each other? You've really changed though, Willow."

"…Summer?" Willow sobered up a bit as she looked at Summer walking closer to her.

"Yep!" Summer then frowned as she looked around the room and saw empty bottles scattered around the floor. "This place is a mess. What happened to the organized bookworm from school?"

Willow frowned as she placed her glass down. "She died the moment she married Jacques Gelé."

Summer crossed her arms as she walked towards the bed and sat down onto it. "You know… I met your daughter, Weiss. Do you even remember that she's your daughter with how much you drink?"

"Weiss…" Willow thought about it then frowned. "Oh… the failure—"

SLAP

Willow blinked as she felt her right cheek stinging and looked at Summer.

"How could you talk about your daughter like that?" Summer glared at Willow. "Do you know how much she's suffered?! She didn't tell me anything but her body language was more than enough for me to know."

She closed her eyes, remembering how Weiss practically melted into her hug when she was panicking. How she clung onto her like she saw how Ruby held her. How she nearly cried when Summer told her that she was glad that she was there and friends with her daughter. How she saw tears falling from Weiss' eyes when they had a family dinner together. She remembered how Ruby gave a sad look when she held onto Weiss, unable to tell her everything that was wrong because of a promise. But she knew what was wrong. She was here a few times before, after all.

"Do you have any idea how lonely you made Weiss feel? Do you think that you're the only one suffering?! What about Winter? Whitley? Your children needed you." Summer frowned as she shook her head and gave Willow a disapproving glare. "But you just left them instead!"

"Who do you think you're talking to, Summer?! We may have been old classmates since we were children, but you don't know me anymore!"

"You're right. I may not know this Willow Schnee. But I knew who she was before. I remember how happy you were when you had Winter, when you were expecting Weiss." Summer frowned as she crossed her arms. "After that, you only spoke of how Jacques seemed to change. I came to check and what did I see? He hit Weiss! Surely you should've known about it!"

Willow just stared blankly at Summer. "She told me herself that she was fine, and that it was her fault for placing fourth on the test."

"Are you even hearing yourself?!" She was shocked. How could one of her old friends become like this? "Willow, are you that scared of Jacques?"

"Of course I am!" Willow threw her bottle at Summer who just dodged it. Both of them were glaring at each other. "By the time I noticed how much he changed, I was pregnant with Weiss! He was only talking about the company profits and how much disappointment he had with Winter. I tried to protect her as much as I could until Weiss was born. Only then he calmed down enough, and once Weiss learned how to talk and walk, he was already training her to become the next head of the company. I couldn't even come close to her!"

Summer was quiet, listening to her side of the story before shaking her head. "Did you really try? As I said before, I met Weiss. She didn't have to tell me anything, but her body language told me everything. She wanted to be close with you. You chose alcohol over your own daughter!"

"She did no-…" Willow frowned. Did Weiss try to be close with her again? She closed her eyes, trying to remember the last time she actually saw her daughter while sober. No, she couldn't. The most recent she could think of was on Weiss' birthday. Oh… "Weiss…"

"You know… my daughter told me something." Summer knelt down and carefully picked up a glass shard that was on the floor. "She told me before that when she went to eat lunch with Weiss, some drunken people spooked her. Do you know why?"

Willow looked at the glass shards, vaguely remembering shouting and throwing a glass bottle, then… blood. "Blood… Weiss, I…" She covered her mouth as the realization hit her.

Weiss did try to spend time with her, but over the years, she was nothing more than a blur. She couldn't remember the last time she spoke with her, saw her face, held her own daughter within her arms. If she was this bad with Weiss, what about Winter and Whitley? How did Jacques treat them? She was so self-absorbed into her own sorrows that she forgot her children.

"You might have a chance to redeem yourself. At least a little bit, but not completely. That's up to you to fix. No one else can really help with that. After all, you have at least what? Ten years to make up for everything." Summer crossed her arms and sighed. "Though the first step that you really need to do is break away from Jacques. Make sure that he's not able to touch anyone within this family again. We could help you, if you want us to."

"How could you possibly help?" Willow stared at Summer, still thinking about how she abandoned her children for so long.

Summer smirked. "Well… first of all, find some specific files. You know, the ones where he's blackmailing other companies, selling some illegal jewelry on the black market, and all that?"

"What?" Willow blinked. Twice. Just how far did he take down her father's company? "How…?"

"Jimmy told both me and Tai about it. Well, some things he heard from Winter." Summer paused for a moment to think about it. "You didn't know that Winter is working under James?"

Willow sighed. Some mother she was, not noticing where her children were. For all she knew, they could've died and she wouldn't noticed.

Died… die… I wish you were dead. I should've aborted you!

Oh Oum, she was going to be sick.

"M-Mother…? It's time for dinner." Weiss bit her lip as she tried to coax her mother out of her room.

Willow stared at Weiss for a moment before grabbing her hair and threw her against the wall. "Why did I even have you?! You're just going to turn out like him sooner or later!" she walked towards her bed, grabbing another bottle and tipped it so that she could drink form it then threw it against the wall when she found that it was empty.

She didn't even care about the pained cry that came from Weiss.

"M-Mother, please. I-I won't turn out like him." Weiss whimpered as she held onto her face to stop the bleeding. "Y-You need to eat and drink something other than win-"

"Don't give me that false kindness! He doesn't care about me or anyone else in this family for that matter! Why should I care about you?! Go away! I wish that you were dead! I should've aborted you a long time ago! I would've been happier without you here!"

"Will? Are you ok?" Summer frowned as she placed a hand onto the other woman's shoulder, seeing how pale she was.

"I… don't have the right to see Weiss anymore." Tears fell from her eyes, unable to look at the other woman, knowing what she'll see. "I-I… told Weiss that she… shouldn't have been born." She covered her face with her hands as she sobbed into them. "I-I told her… that I should've aborted her…!"

Summer frowned. How far had one of her best friends fallen? She couldn't help but blame herself for not checking in more often.

"I-If I said that to W-Weiss… w-who knows what I-I said to… W-Winter and W-Whitley…" Willow continued to sob.

"Willow." Summer placed both hands onto her shoulders and pulled her into a hug, sighing deeply. "All of you need help. Serious help. I can talk to Oz about what we can do to help after dealing with Jacques, ok?"

"I-It's too late… What I did is unforgivable. T-There's no wa—"

"Willow. Who do you think we are?" Summer interrupted her before she finished and shook her head. "Help us. Help them. That's the first step. After that, take it slow. Maybe start with looking at each other before you all start yelling or crying."

"Why… why are you willing to go so far for me…?" Willow sobbed. Her hands shook as she held onto Summer's hoodie.

Summer merely laughed and held onto Willow closely. "We're friends. Friends are always there for each other when we need it." She rubbed her back. "I'm sorry for not checking in with you more often. If it wasn't for Ruby, I wouldn't be here."

"Ruby…?" Willow pulled back, wiping her tears away.

"My daughter. We have a lot to catch up on, but now isn't the time. Help Weiss. Once everything has calmed down, we need to talk." Summer placed a hand on her cheek and wiped a stray tear away with her thumb. "I have to go now. We'll meet again soon."

Willow frowned and reached out, holding Summer close. "Thank you. For not giving up on me and my family."

"Any time." Summer smiled and held onto Willow closely. "But you really need to make things up to your children. Weiss especially. She's really hurt by what you did."

"R-Right…" Willow nodded and let go of Summer. "Are we… still friends?"

Summer flicked Willow's forehead. "Dolt. Of course we are. Now get those files and give them to James. I'll see you soon!" A gust of wind suddenly blew and just as she suddenly appeared, Summer was gone.

"Winter… Weiss… Whitley… I'm sorry. It might be too late for us, but this is the least I can do for you three as a mother." Willow went to wash her face before she headed towards her husband's office.

Summer was right. This most likely wouldn't repair the damage between herself and her children, but it was still the least she could do to free them from Jacques.