"I love you."
The words linger in the air like a fine mist, dissipating into the atmosphere and unable to be taken away. As the seconds tick by and Blake's expression remains frozen, Yang sucks in a breath, hoping she could someone pull the words back into her lungs.
Blake's ears flatten and her gaze averts, and Yang's heart beats quicker. She shoves away the dawning realization that haunts the edge of her thoughts.
"I'm sorry." Blake says.
Her beautiful amber eyes are shiny, swimming with guilt and pity, and her posture is stiff. Yang knows what she's going to say next but clings to the threads of hope that she's misreading the signs-
"I don't love you that way, Yang. You're my best friend."
Yang's heart shatters. The jagged pieces stab the inside of her chest and make it ache. She spent nights imagining the horrible words, preparing herself for them, even convincing Weiss to say them so she might be desensitized to that reply. She never really thought this would happen. When she convinced herself to go for it and confess to Blake, she never thought her... her friend would not feel the same way. All the hand-holding, all the touches, all the vows of protection, all the shared secrets... they had to mean something, right?
But they don't. Blake doesn't feel the same way. She watches Yang and shifts her weight from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable, and averts her gaze to the side, long black hair covering part of her face.
"I... love someone else." she whispers.
Yang swallows. Her head bobs, because she knows who. "Sun."
Blake's cheeks redden and Yang knows she is right. "Maybe." Yellow eyes slide to Yang and away once more, like she cannot bear to look at her for too long. "But even if I do not love him, I don't want to give you false hope." She takes a breath. "I don't like girls like that, Yang."
Yang's muscles lock so she does not flinch, because a part of her hoped that Blake's rejection was only because she liked Sun, so maybe in the future she might have a chance...
Yang looks at Blake's face, her discomfort, and the apology and pity in her eyes, and knows she will never have a chance. Because she is a girl, and Blake does not love girls. She does not feel the same way as Yang.
"I hope this doesn't change anything. We're still best friends." Blake says.
The words are straight out of Yang's nightmares. She smiles but her hands (both flesh and robotic) grip her elbows hard enough that they hurt. "Yeah. Friends."
Blake relaxes and smiles back. Her arms twitch like she intends to grasp Yang's hand but thinks better of it.
Yang stretches lazily, keeping her hands away from Blake's. "Well, at least I know now. I'd better go help Ruby with that thing she wanted me to do."
Blake nods, and Yang thinks she is a bit too eager to end this conversation. Yang does not try to continue it and leaves, heading to her room. Weiss and Ruby are sitting on her bedspread, side by side.
Ruby brightens, a beaming smile on her face. "How did it-?" She sees Yang's face and her excited expression falls.
Weiss inhales softly. "Oh no..."
Yang's smile falters. "Blake doesn't feel the same way."
Her sister and friend hug her, and she bursts into tears.
A/N: Rejection really hurts. Excuse me while I act cliché and go eat a tub of ice cream.