A/N: This first chapter is just a small peek of what's going on, and the situation that Ruby has been placed in. I will post trigger warnings at the beginning of each chapter, so if any of them bother you, I'd advise you to think before continuing to read the story.

Trigger Warnings: Physical and Mental Abuse

Chapter One: Harsh Jealousy

"Gah!" Ruby's body hit the floor with a thud, the young huntress in training holding her cheek as her hair concealed her face. Her body trembled with fear as her mind went a million miles a minute trying to overcome the shock and process what just happened. She slowly looked up to meet the eyes of the man before her. His normally cool, cloudy eyes were now a cold, dark stone, seething with rage. She froze in terror as their eyes met.

"Ruby..." His voice was low but held such poison and hatred that Ruby's heart sank. "What did I tell you about him?" She could see that he was controlling his anger, but just barely. His fists clenched by his sides, his cold stare pinning the girl to the floor before him.

"A-about... Wh-who?" The words that stumbled their way out of her mouth were so quiet, she doubted that he could hear her.

"You know exactly who I'm talking about. Don't play stupid with me." Sudden realization struck the huntress. Of course, that is what he'd be upset about. The grey-clad man saw in her eyes that she knew, but waited for her to respond.

"Are... Are you talking about... J-Jaune...?" The man before her clenched his teeth and tensed up as she spoke his name, the barely audible words floating throughout the room. He screamed with rage and turned to punch the wall beside him. A loud thud and crack echoed through the room as he removed his fist from the newly formed hole. Ruby gasped in both fear and disbelief as he suddenly spun back around to face her.

"WHO ELSE?! JAUNE, JAUNE, JAUNE! I DON'T LIKE HIM, I DON'T LIKE HIS TEAM, AND I DON'T LIKE SEEING HIM WITH YOU!" Ruby cringed, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "DID I NOT MAKE MYSELF CLEAR LAST TIME?!"

The girl was full-on crying at this point. She knew he didn't like her hanging around Jaune, but he was still her friend. The small huntress put her face in her hands and sobbed between her words, "I'm s-sorry... I-I... I'm so s-sorry..."

The man crouched down and put his hand on Ruby's shoulder causing her to jump and quickly look up at him.

"I don't ever want to see you with him again... Are we clear?" She stared at the floor and slowly nodded, tears streaking down her face. "Good." He kissed her on the cheek-the one that he had backhanded just moments before-and looked her in the eyes for a moment before standing and walking to the door.

He paused in the doorway and looked back at her, broken and shattered, curled up on the floor. "I love you, Ruby." Without waiting for a response, he left, the door closing silently behind him.

Ruby was alone. She curled up into an even tighter ball, hugging her legs and burying her face in her knees as she continued to sob silently.

"I love you too... Mercury..."

oOoOoOo

The door to the room opened and Weiss, Blake, and Yang all rushed over to Ruby.

"Ruby! Are you okay? Where have you been, it's nearly past curfew!" Yang hugged her sister, worried after not hearing from her all day. Yang pulled slightly away and was about to say something else, until she caught a glimpse of the bruise on Ruby's cheek. Upon a closer look, her little sister's eyes were red and puffy, and she looked beyond exhausted.

Noticing the change in Yang's expression, Ruby backed up and put her arms out to calm her sister before she exploded with rage. "Sis, don't worry. I'm fine!" She faked her best smile, trying to convince her older sister that everything was alright.

"Fine? FINE?! What happened to you! You're face is all banged up! Grrh, if I find whoever did this to you, I'm gonna-!"

"Yang..." Blake put her hand on her partners shoulder the moment her hair started glowing. "Shouldn't we let Ruby explain what happened before we jump to conclusions?" Yang slumped her shoulders slightly and looked back to her sister.

"Alright, what happened?"

"Well... You guys have to promise not to laugh..." Ruby brought a hand to the back of her head as if she was embarrassed and cast her eyes down to the floor.

"We promise." Blake removed her hand from Yang's shoulder and all three girls looked to Ruby.

"Okay..." Ruby let out a small sigh before speaking, "I was out in the woods practicing with my semblance... Aaand I kinda crashed into a tree." She bowed her head to hide her face, acting as if she was ashamed of herself. Ever since she had started dating Mercury, she's gotten pretty good at acting and making up excuses.

A small snicker could be heard and Ruby looked up to see Yang covering her mouth and averting her gaze to hold in her laughter. Weiss rolled her eyes and put her hand on her hip, the other one motioning to Ruby, "You dolt! I was worried that something happened when it was just you being clumsy? I don't know why I bothered..." She turned around and climbed into her bed, rolling over and closing her eyes to sleep.

Yang reached over and ruffled her little sisters hair, "Get some sleep Rubes. You can try again tomorrow!" She smiled before hopping up into her own bed for the night.

Blake on the other hand wasn't so easily convinced. Her and Ruby locked eyes for a moment. Blake knew exactly what was going on, and Ruby saw it. She averted her gaze causing Blake to shake her head slowly. She spoke under her breath, "Ruby... If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you. You don't have to go through this alone."

Ruby wanted to reach out and hug Blake. She wanted to cry into her arms and tell her everything, but she stayed quiet out of fear. Blake had told the team about her past with Adam, and how abusive he could be at times. She knew the signs and she knew the pain. And she knew that Ruby was in the same situation. Blake was the one that understood what Ruby was going through, even if she denied it. There was no hiding the pain in her eyes. Ruby was just grateful that she hadn't told the rest of the team. She didn't want Yang to overreact and end up hunting Mercury down like a dog and ending his life. Blake understood that that would only make things more complicated, both for Ruby and for the team. So she kept her mouth shut, waiting until Ruby felt the need to come to her. And when she did, Blake would be there for her. Her team would be there for her.

"Good night, Ruby." Blake took one last look at the huntress, her eyes full of sympathy, before heading to bed herself.

"Thanks... Good night." Ruby quietly changed into her PJ's and hopped into the bunk above Weiss. She curled up into a ball under her covers and hugged her pillow. Where did things go wrong? Why didn't she realize how horrible Mercury was sooner? This was all her fault... Mercury only did cruel things because of her. I got what I deserved. It was all my fault. She told herself this over and over, eventually burying her face into her pillow and quietly sobbing herself to sleep.

Hi guys! Rosewick here!

This is my very first fanfic, so I hope you guys enjoy it, and we'll see where it goes from here.

I'll admit that I'm not one to stick to commitment, so don't expect regular updates, sorry.

I mostly work on this during my free time, whether it be at home, school, or just out and about. I also have an initial plan of where I want this story to end up, and what major events I want to happen throughout it, I'm just working on getting to those points, and putting some filler in between them.

Please, rate and review! Give tips, advice, opinions, anything really. Just no negative and hateful comments. Nobody likes a Negative Nancy.

Also, a little side note: If you haven't noticed from the name, I ship Rosewick! It's one of my OTP's! If you don't care for that ship, or are strongly opposed to it, then I'd advise you not to continue reading this story, as it will mostly center around this ship. Again, if you don't like the ship, then that's your opinion. Keep it to yourself, and don't read my stuff. It's that simple.

Thanks for reading, and I'll try to post the next chapter soon!

Rosewick out! ^_~