A/N: Hello again, everyone! First of all, I'd like to express how thankful I am to everyone who read and reviewed my Freezerburn oneshot called "Dancing Queen." I was overwhelmed at how many people enjoyed it and every piece of feedback I got made me beyond thrilled :)
And now, as promised, here is the Freezerburn multi-chapter fic I mentioned I had in mind! Freezerburn and Cinderruby will be the endgame pairings and the main pairings focused on in this fic, but there will be several other pairings as well.
I would also like to say that this fic is rated M for a reason. These reasons include intense violence, language, sexual situations, alcohol and drug abuse, and many others that will become apparent as the story continues. This story will get extremely intense, so if you feel that you cannot handle that, then feel free to press the back button.
Also, thank you to everyone who has clicked on this story and is willing to give it a chance! It will be quite lengthy and I have put a good amount of time and effort into thinking up the plot. So without further ado, I hope you all enjoy Chapter 1 of Trust Me (I'm Lying)!
Chapter 1
As 5:00 a.m. struck, the chaos of a recent mainstream pop hit screeched from Yang's alarm clock and aroused said girl from her slumber. She groaned throatily in annoyance and turned her head to glare at the irritatingly loud device, lilac eyes squinting at the bright red numbers suddenly illuminating her blackened vision, before reaching over with the only arm she was able to move and shutting off the alarm with the push of a button.
Yang sighed deeply; both in relief that her ears no longer had to suffer hearing a song about wrecking balls and in exasperation from being woken up so early. She rubbed the sleep out of the corners of her eyes with her free hand and then pinched the bridge of her nose in a vain attempt to wake up faster. Despite having to wake up this early four to five times a week, it never got any easier no matter how much sleep she got beforehand.
Not like she actually got much sleep last night. The soft groan she heard on her left reminded her why.
Looking in the direction of the noise, Yang felt rather than saw a person cuddling in bed with her. Her arm was pinned against a pair of full, exposed breasts, silky tresses brushing against Yang's bare shoulder. The twitch of a cat ear tickling her chin made it obvious that the person in her arms was her best friend, Blake, but Yang was already aware of that.
She would recognize Blake's groans anywhere.
Displaying a lazy grin that was swallowed whole by the darkness of her room, Yang found the energy to lower her head and quietly ask, "You awake, Kitty Cat?" The lilac eyed girl accented her statement by gently nibbling the tip of Blake's cat ear.
The feline faunus whimpered, the exact reaction Yang was hoping for.
"You always did like it when I played with your ears," Yang whispered, the words rolling sultrily off her tongue.
"S-Stop it, Yang," Blake murmured, her voice a mixture of irritation and tiredness. Yang could picture the splashes of pink on Blake's cheeks and she really wished she could see it for real.
"Oh?" Yang questioned playfully, her voice dropping an octave. "That's not what you were saying last night."
She felt Blake attempt to headbutt her chin, but the cat faunus was so exhausted that it came off as nothing more than a gentle bump. "It's just been awhile since last time," she retorted softly.
"True," Yang agreed with a shrug, her mind briefly supplying her with images of the time Blake had mentioned. Images that she certainly shouldn't be picturing first thing in the morning when she had things to do. "And as much as I'd like to go again," Yang gently nudged her captured limb against Blake's abdomen, "I need you to let go of my arm so I can get ready for work."
Blake groaned again—probably from the effort she didn't want to use so early in the morning to unwrap herself from Yang's arm—but complied with Yang's request. Yang smiled down at the smaller girl in her bed even though Blake wouldn't be able to see it, even with that excellent night vision of hers, then swiftly peeled the bed sheets away from her form and stood up from the mattress, bare feet meeting thin, purple carpet.
"Light," Yang warned quietly before turning on the lamp next to her alarm clock. A soft yellow glow blanketed the room, but clearly it was too much for Blake to handle because she squeezed her already closed eyes even more tightly shut and rolled onto her other side so that she wasn't facing the lamp. Yang shook her head and chuckled at the sight.
It was rare to see Blake act so immaturely. Given Blake's quiet and composed nature, one would figure that she would be a morning person, but she actually despised them just as much as everyone else. This immature side only tended to be released when she and Yang were alone, which Yang was thankful for. She was glad that she could keep this side of Blake all to herself.
Not to mention how much of a bonus it was to wake up next to the naked, disheveled cat faunus.
Staring at Blake's bare and sexy shoulder blades—were those some scratches?—reminded Yang that she was just as naked as the girl in her bed, so she hurried to her closet to pick out an outfit. Blue skinny jeans, a slightly faded grey T-shirt that she remembered was tight around her bust, some yellow undergarments, and her signature orange scarf. She threw the clothing onto the edge of her bed and then walked around the mattress, kneeling down so she could be eyelevel with Blake.
Said faunus must have sensed her close proximity as she slowly cracked open eyelids that were free of their usual purple mascara, revealing a pair of mysterious, and awfully tired, eyes, amber alike to the bright shade of Yang's hair. Blake blushed slightly, probably because Yang's well endowed chest was near to her face, but she didn't say anything. Yang fondly remembered how, back in the day, Blake was so shy about seeing Yang naked that she couldn't even meet her gaze.
Those times have long since past now, but it was cute that Blake still retained a bit of that timidness.
"I'm gonna get ready now and then head off," Yang explained softly, gaze flickering between Blake's half-lidded orbs. "Which means I'll turn off the light again and let you get back to your cat nap."
"Thank God for small—" the black haired girl was interrupted by a short yawn, "—miracles."
"Last I checked my name wasn't 'God,' but that's close enough I guess."
Yang grinned toothily at her own joke. Blake just shook her head groggily, causing some dark locks to spill over her face.
"Anyways," Yang began, using her hand to tuck the rebellious strands behind Blake's human ear, "have a good day at school. Make sure Ruby gets there okay."
That sentence brought some alertness back into Blake's gaze.
"Thank you, and I will," the amber-eyed girl responded. "Just like always."
Yang nodded and smiled. "I trust you." She leaned forward a few inches and gave Blake's forehead a long, gentle kiss. "Goodnight, Blake."
Blake smiled tiredly and closed her eyes, burying herself further into the blankets.
"Or should I say good morning, because technically—"
"Yang, no. Just leave."
The blonde pouted even though the faunus couldn't see it. She watched as Blake curled herself into a ball under the covers, seemingly ready to hibernate. She looked extremely warm and comfortable and Yang wanted nothing more than to jump back into bed with her, but, unfortunately, work was chanting her name in a similarly dreadful tune as the mainstream song from earlier.
Thus, she stood up, knees giving a satisfying crack as she did so, snatched up her clothes, turned off her light and then headed to the upstairs bathroom. It was the only one out of the two that had a shower, after all. She felt no shame walking the upstairs portion of her house in all her naked glory as Blake had already seen her naked several times, and Ruby was, well, Ruby. She wouldn't even care. She'd probably just throw a random article of clothing at her and tell her to cover up.
Yang was half-expecting that event to actually happen when she walked past Ruby's room, but then she remembered that her little sister was enjoying dreamland just as much as Yang wished she still was.
Shaking away all thoughts of sleep and dreams and the gorgeously naked creature she called a best friend that currently occupied her bed, Yang finished her trek to the small bathroom, set her clothes down on the toilet seat, and quickly hopped into the shower. She twisted the knobs and sighed blissfully as the scalding hot water damped her hair and cascaded down her body, steam quickly fogging the room.
Unfortunately, as much as Yang adored long showers, she knew she didn't have that luxury. And that wasn't just because she would be late for work if she took too long. So she scrubbed her body and washed her thick, wild mane as thoroughly as she could in a tight time-span before turning off the faucets and stepping out.
Her body, dripping with scorching streams of water, was immediately assaulted by the regular temperature of the bathroom, which felt freezing compared to the sauna she had enjoyed within the shower's walls. She hastily wrapped herself in a white towel to combat the cold, comforted slightly by the feeling of cotton on her bare skin. Yang proceeded to plug in the hairdryer and use the hot air the device provided to dry her waist-length strands. Her hair was so thick and long that it normally took most the morning to dry, but the treatment of her hair was something Yang refused to rush. Her golden mane was the one thing Yang took the most pride in, and she refused to treat it with anything but the gentlest care. She never left the house until she had her hair just the way she wanted it.
Besides, she had an eight-hour shift at the Superstore today, so her hair better look damn pristine.
After what felt like an hour, her hair was dry enough to meet her standards so she unplugged the hairdryer and left it on the white ceramic tile countertop. She stripped the towel from her form and rubbed away any remnants of liquid before dressing in her chosen outfit. After brushing her teeth, applying a quick touch of makeup and dragging her hairbrush in several long strokes through her hair, she left the bathroom and quietly tiptoed downstairs—avoiding all the squeaky spots she had memorized over the years—to the kitchen.
She popped two slices of white bread in the toaster and then spun on her heel to take a peek in the refrigerator for a drink. Like always, alcohol outnumbered every other product in their fridge. Not like there was ever much in their fridge to begin with. She snatched one of her little sister's 2% milk cartons that was hiding behind a 6-pack of Budweiser and downed the drink in a couple gulps, the carton leaving her lips just as her toast popped up. She lathered her toast with butter and wasted no time in devouring both pieces.
Once she finished her hasty breakfast, the tall blonde glanced over at the time displayed in little green numbers on the old microwave stained with tomato sauce and Blake's spilt tea. 6:32 a.m. Time for her to go. It normally took her about an hour to walk to work, even if she cut through the shady alleys, so she would have to leave now if she wanted to make it in time.
Some days she wished she had possession of bus tickets, but she always remembered shortly after that she would rather walk an hour to and from work than let Ruby go to school without a lunch.
Remembering that she left her bag stuffed with her work uniform—black dress pants, a white collared shirt, a watch, and a yellow vest with the Superstore company's logo on the left side—by the coffee table in the living room, she hurriedly marched in that direction. As she reached over the side of the microfiber green couch, aged with rips and stains of many varieties, to grab her bag, her nostrils were raided with the stench of strong booze. Her lilac gaze drifted to the side and she paused.
Her dad was passed out on the floor, his short blond hair dull and greasy and his skin clammy and covered in muck. His grey Fall jacket was dirty and unzipped to reveal a bunch of dark stains on his wrinkly red T-shirt. His baggy, faded blue jeans had some new holes in the knees since last weekend, and his black combat boots were layered in years old mud. He was snoring lightly, like he didn't have a care in the world, an empty glass bottle in his grimy hand.
Yang took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through her mouth. She took a moment to stare with tired eyes at the filthy lump of a man occupying the once clean beige carpet of her living room that would no doubt be soiled with dirt and beer once he left.
"Morning, Dad," she muttered under her breath.
She speedily gripped the handles of her work bag and stepped towards the front door. She slipped her light, tan jacket over her shoulders—mornings could be chilly in September—and then slid her feet into her knee-length brown boots. She checked her pockets to make sure she had her keys, wallet, and the cell phone she and her sister shared before looking over her shoulder at her dad.
"Have a good day at work, Yang..." the blonde murmured to herself.
She waited a few more seconds but the man never moved. She let out a familiar dejected sigh, her shoulders slumping slightly as she left her house and locked the door behind her.
"Ruby? Ruby, hey!"
Said girl jumped as someone snapped their fingers right in front of her face. Her slumping back was now ramrod straight and her silver eyes burst wide in attention.
"I-I'm awake!" Ruby stuttered loudly. She thumbed away the drool she felt spill past her lips and then turned to peer at the person who snapped their fingers in front of her. It was her good friend, Blake, a worried look in her catlike eyes that were accented with thin lines of black eyeliner and a wave of purple eye shadow, unlike that morning when they woke up. Her wavy black hair reached her lower back, her cat ears hidden under a black bow. She was clad in a loose white tank top that barely reached her waistline along with black skinny jeans that were tucked into ankle-high heeled boots of the same colour. An ebony shaded scarf concealed her pale neck, and thin black ribbons wrapped around her wrists and reached halfway up to her elbows.
They were sitting together on a wooden picnic table outside of their high school enjoying their meals during their lunch period. The Sun was warm but not so much that Ruby would overheat in her red hoodie and baggy blue jeans, and there was a soothing, gentle breeze, making it perfect for dining outdoors. Well, as perfect as it could get in the ugly and uncared for backyard of their school. The wood of the tables were moldy and the grassy fields were browning, not to mention the amount of uncouth graffiti on the backside of the school building.
But at least it was quiet out there. For Ruby, and no doubt Blake, too, that made it a million times better than eating in the cafeteria with a bunch of overly obnoxious children.
Ruby shook her head to break out of her thoughts when she noticed Blake was still staring at her. She felt a little bad when she realized Blake was probably saying something to her when she started falling asleep.
"Are you okay, Ruby?" Blake asked, her normally nonchalant voice tinged with concern. "You look really tired."
"Oh, I'm fine. Don't worry about little ol' me," Ruby replied, lips parting wide in a huge yawn before taking a bite of her granola bar. "Didn't get a lot of sleep last night, is all."
It was true. She was so exhausted that she caught herself nodding off at least five different times in second period and actually slept for at least half of her third period. Although she had no friends in her grade—she was two years and two grades younger than Blake and the rest of their friends, much to her dismay—her classmates were kind and never attempted to wake her. And, from some glorious miracle, neither Mr. Port nor Ms. Goodwitch slammed a hand on her desk to wake her up this time.
Blake cocked her head. "Nightmare?" she questioned gently.
"Close," Ruby affirmed with a nod, finishing up her snack and throwing the wrapper into the trash can beside her. Then her orbs glared in Blake's direction, the unusual look catching the cat faunus off guard. The red clad girl's next words were stern and accusing, "You and Yang kept me up all night."
The effect was immediate; Blake tensed, the bow concealing her cat ears drooped slightly, and her pale cheeks flared a massive pink.
"O-Oh," Blake breathed, wide amber eyes darting away from Ruby's. She nibbled timidly at her tuna sandwich.
Ruby sighed loudly, her chin-length dark brown hair with red tips wisping in front of her face as she slumped back down in her seat. "Why do you guys still do that stuff?" the younger girl asked, feeling heat rush to her cheeks at the words coming out of her mouth. She didn't dare say it any more lewdly in fear that her head might explode. "You're not even dating anymore."
Blake curled in on herself, as if she were trying to disappear or warp through the ground. "Yang can be very... persuasive," she answered quietly, cheeks burning brighter.
"I don't even want to know what that means," Ruby replied, desperately trying to erase the image of her older sister seducing their mutual friend. "Even so, why can't you guys do that stuff in your house then? You live right beside us. Well, really, your house is conjoined to ours, so you wouldn't even have to leave our house to get to yours; you could just use the doors behind our kitchens that connect our houses. Plus, you guys could actually be alone then since Adam is, like, never home, right?" Blake gave a hesitant nod. "See? Foolproof plan!"
The black haired girl parted her lips to respond, but Ruby's elongated groan interrupted her.
"Then again," Ruby began, thumping her forehead on the bumpy wooden table and resting it there, "you guys were so loud that I probably still would've heard you even with all those extra walls."
Blake covered her eyes with her hand, head angled at the ground. "I'm sorry, okay? Can we please stop talking about this?"
"Oh? Talking about what?"
Both Ruby and Blake turned in the direction of a third voice. There stood Weiss Schnee, Ruby's best friend, a plastic tray full of mediocre cafeteria food in her hands.
"N-Nothing important," Blake promptly replied, the blush swiftly vanishing from her cheeks. "Just some movie we were watching last night. Right, Ruby?" The raven haired girl with red tips never responded. Blake looked away from Weiss to raise an eyebrow at the younger girl sitting next to her. "Ruby?"
But Ruby couldn't even hear her. She was too busy drinking in the stunning sight of her best friend. Weiss's snow white hair was held by a silver pin in her usual off-centre ponytail, the silky strands lengthy enough to brush her hip, her bangs swept away to showcase the mysterious crooked scar on her left eye. She was clad in a tube top that matched her hair colour with a light blue, long-sleeved bolero jacket overtop, offering full view of the silver studded necklace that rested over her sharp collarbone. Her thighs were hidden under a loose, navy blue skirt, a pair of white, heeled, mid-calf length boots completing her outfit.
Ruby wet her lips nervously. God, Weiss was gorgeous. She always looked gorgeous. How did she get so lucky as to claim the honor of being Weiss Schnee's best friend? After all, Ruby was just ghetto trash and she knew it, while Weiss was beautiful, smart, rich, sophisticated...
"Ruby!"
... And irritated, apparently.
"Huh?" Ruby blinked, shaking away her thoughts of her friend's beauty to notice a pair of amber eyes and another of ice blue staring at her worriedly. Well, Blake looked worried, anyway. Weiss just looked impatient.
Ruby couldn't help but find it attractive.
"Sorry guys, guess I kinda spaced out there," Ruby continued with a shy giggle, rubbing the back of her neck, a nervous habit she picked up from Yang.
Weiss shook her head, her ponytail swaying with her movement. "You dunce," she sighed, claiming the seat at the table across from Ruby. She set her tray down and used her fork to poke through a tomato in her salad and popped the juicy vegetable—or was it a fruit?—into her mouth.
Ruby just smiled at the insult, hoping it didn't appear as bashful as she suddenly felt. Weiss had called her names akin to 'dunce' and 'dolt' since they had first met, and at the beginning those names irritated Ruby to no end.
And now they made her heart skip a beat. Funny how things like that work.
"So, what was it about?" Weiss asked, lifting a forkful of lettuce into her mouth.
Ruby and Blake's heads snapped up to look at the white haired girl. "What was what about?" Ruby echoed cautiously.
"The movie," Weiss clarified plainly, as if it were obvious that's what she was referring to. "What was it about?"
Ruby bit her tongue and sensed Blake have a similar internal reaction. They had to come up with a response quickly, lest they have to explain that the moans that kept Ruby up all night still unfortunately resonated in the back of her brain.
"Hehe... well, you know..." Ruby began, silver eyes darting away from Weiss's. She was an abysmal liar and she knew it, so she hoped and prayed that Blake would be able to save her here. The faunus was the one to invent the lie, after all.
"Don't worry about it," Blake said with a wave of her hand, the calmness in her voice probably the exact opposite of how she was feeling inside. "It's probably nothing you've ever seen."
Weiss huffed. "Just because I have more important things to do with my time than waste hours of my day away on mindless television doesn't mean I wish to be excluded from these conversations."
Blake rolled her eyes. "Rich kids," she commented drily, making Ruby snort in agreement.
"Excuse you." Weiss's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I didn't ask to be born a Schnee."
Blake frowned in turn. "And I didn't ask to be born a faunus."
A thousand red flags burst forward in Ruby's mind. Although Weiss herself was generally accepting of faunus now, it was clear that the Schnee family was not. The Schnee's uncomfortable history with the faunus was baggage that Weiss had to carry with her everywhere she went, and this was initially an obstacle in Weiss and Blake's friendship when Ruby first introduced them. It's been months since then and Weiss and Blake have grown closer over time. Not enough to be great friends or anything, but enough that Ruby thought they had put their original problems behind them.
Apparently, the ashes of those problems still remained.
"H-Hey guys, c'mon, don't fight," Ruby began timidly, forcing her arm in-between the two glaring girls just to be sure they wouldn't jump across the table and claw each other like animals in a jungle. "You guys are friends. I thought you two were past this."
Ruby's gaze shifted between those of her two closest companions, her stomach churning nervously at how, even a full minute later, they were both still in a silent, angry stare down.
How did a conversation about Yang and Blake's night-time activities stem into something like this?
Oddly enough, both conversations made Ruby feel equally uncomfortable, but she would much rather suffer talking about her sister's sex life than see her closest friends fight.
After another tense minute, Weiss finally relented with a heavy sigh, her eyes losing their hardness. "I'm... sorry," the white haired girl grumbled in a way that made it fairly obvious that she wasn't used to apologizing for anything, "I didn't intend to be rude."
Thankfully, Blake's shoulders relaxed, her gaze losing its edge as well. "I'm sorry, too," she replied softly. "I didn't mean to sound so bitter. I know you have nothing to do with anything your family has done."
Weiss gave a small, grateful smile at that, an expression so rare that it made Ruby's heart flutter wildly in her chest. It would be hard for a stranger to believe, but Weiss was, like, ten times prettier when she smiled. Not like she wasn't already pretty to begin with, but seeing Weiss happy about something just sent a warm sensation flowing through Ruby. She loved seeing Weiss happy.
She wanted to make Weiss happy.
And right now, she was just thankful that her friends had made up so quickly. So thankful that she flopped her head against the table in relief.
She heard Blake chuckle and then felt the faunus girl's warm hand pat her shoulder comfortingly. "Sorry about that, Ruby," she said sincerely. "We didn't mean to scare you."
"I know," the short raven haired girl replied, raising her head to look at both of them. "I just don't know what I would do if you two hated each other. Like, how would I be able to choose who to spend lunchtime with?"
Weiss didn't even try to hold back her displeased groan while she pinched the bridge of her nose. "That's what you're concerned about?" she questioned.
"Well, yeah." Ruby sat up straighter and shrugged. "I want to spend time with both of you. Would be kinda hard to do that if you two couldn't stand each other."
Weiss sighed, lowering her arm back to the table. "Just when I thought you couldn't become any more of a dunce..."
Ruby grinned widely in reply, pulling out a small bag of cookies from her paper lunch bag.
"I stand corrected," the white haired girl stated in a monotone voice. "That's your lunch? Are you kidding me?"
"What?" Ruby questioned, cookie crumbles tumbling from her mouth. "Got a problem?"
"Yes!" Weiss winced at Ruby's poor table manners. "Why are cookies the main assortment of your lunch?"
"It's Ruby," Blake chuckled, finishing off her tuna sandwich with a graceful gulp. "You've known her for nearly half a year, so I'm not sure why this surprises you."
"... True. But still, she should be eating healthier."
Blake raised an eyebrow. "Like you're one to talk."
Weiss frowned in confusion. "Huh?" She glanced down at her meal and then looked back up into the amber eyes of the cat faunus. "It's a salad," Weiss clarified as if it were obvious.
Blake nodded. "From our school's cafeteria. That changes everything."
Weiss blinked. "A salad is a salad. It will be healthy no matter where it's from."
"Clearly you haven't had a salad from McDonald's, then."
"Of course not. I am above such a barbaric establishment."
"They have good fries," Ruby chimed in with a shrug.
"Not helping, Ruby," Weiss sighed, briefly massaging her temples. Then she scooped a portion of her salad onto her fork and held it in front of Ruby's face. "Here, eat this."
"What?" Ruby's jaw opened in surprise just enough that a large chunk of cookie plummeted down her lower lip and shattered on the table. It embarrassed the short haired girl for a split second until Weiss's fork, only a few inches from her face, came into clear view again. "But, I—"
"Do it," Weiss commanded firmly, shoving the fork closer. Ruby parted her lips; more to avoid being stabbed in the mouth rather than actually following Weiss's order. The feeling of new, solid food in her mouth caused her lips to instinctively wrap around the utensil so no food would tumble out. There was nothing wrong with the lettuce and tomatoes swirling along her tongue, but they were a bit bland. Made sense for cafeteria food. She already missed the sweetness of cookies on her taste buds.
Weiss was just looking out for her, though, so she couldn't be upset with her for interrupting her cookie lunch. Plus, Ruby was never one to turn down free food. Weiss's ice blue orbs were staring directly into Ruby's, as if she were waiting for something. It took Ruby a second, but then realization struck like a freight train.
Weiss was feeding her. Weiss's lips had touched this fork. They just shared an indirect kiss.
Ruby's heart slammed against her chest and she sputtered. Weiss took advantage of this opportunity to pull back her fork from the prison of Ruby's mouth.
"So? How was it?" Weiss asked, using the same fork to take another bite of her salad.
Ruby was enchanted; her eyes were like a hawk as Weiss wet her pink lips with her even pinker tongue and then wrapped them around the fork that was just previously in her mouth. The white haired girl pulled the fork free and thoughtfully chewed, her sharp jaw tantalizing with every movement. Weiss swallowed and Ruby's eyes followed the crushed food as it travelled down Weiss's creamy neck, leading to a mesmerizing view of a collarbone that shouldn't be allowed to be that alluring.
"Ruby!"
"Huh?" Ruby's head snapped up instantly, meeting Weiss's eyes again which gleamed in annoyance.
"How was the salad?" Weiss repeated, and Ruby had the uneasy feeling that that wasn't only the second time Weiss had asked her that.
"O-Oh! It was okay," Ruby admitted sheepishly, fighting a war with the blush that wanted to appear on her cheeks. She buried her hands under the table so she could fidget her fingers together without Weiss seeing; it was an embarrassing nervous habit that Yang had teased her about since they were kids.
"See? It doesn't hurt to have something healthy, sometimes," Weiss exclaimed. Blake rolled her eyes, making Weiss do the same in return. "Okay, fine. Somewhat healthy." The white haired girl looked back to Ruby. "Regardless, it's much better than those piles of sugar and salt in your bag. I expect you to have something healthy in your lunch tomorrow."
"S-Sure, Weiss," Ruby replied quickly, a bit startled from Weiss's bluntness. "No problem."
"Good." A small smile formed on Weiss's face, brightening her entire expression.
And it made Ruby melt.
The silver eyed girl felt her heartbeat accelerate, finally losing the battle with the redness in her cheeks. Ruby knew for a fact that she and Yang had nothing even remotely healthy that she could bring to school in her lunch—healthy food was unreasonably expensive—but that didn't stop her from agreeing with what Weiss expected of her. Despite how her agreement was akin to telling a small lie to the white haired girl, it didn't matter.
Anything was worth seeing Weiss smile at her like that.
"Hey, guys! Whatcha talking about?"
The arrival of a fourth voice caused Weiss's smile to drop immediately, and Ruby couldn't help but feel a twinge of resentment towards the person who just arrived, despite being his friend. Jaune planted himself on the seat next to Weiss, an oblivious smile on his face. Weiss sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of her nose as if she were fighting off a growing migraine.
"Hey, Jaune," Ruby acknowledged the blond haired boy who was sitting closer to Weiss than she appreciated. Over his shoulder she noticed Pyrrha, Nora and Ren walking towards their table; they must have all been walking together before Jaune rushed ahead. Probably so he could sit next to Weiss. Ruby instantly cast that thought from her mind and raised her arm high to wave at the group of three. "Yo!"
"Hello again," Pyrrha greeted when their group were close enough to be heard without shouting, smiling and giving a graceful wave that suited her perfectly. Ren gave a curt nod in reply to Ruby's greeting, the three girls at the table nodding back to him in turn. Nora reached across the table and fist-bumped Ruby, then rushed along the side to place herself next to the red clad girl, dragging Ren with her by the arm. There wasn't enough room for her to sit properly, though, so she ended up half sitting on the bench and half not while the black haired boy with a magenta streak stood stiffly at her side. The orange haired girl didn't seem to mind her awkward seating position, though, a shit-eating grin on her face as she began devouring Ruby's remaining cookies.
Normally it would have upset Ruby to see her beautiful cookies get eaten right in front of her, and internally it still kind of did, but she wanted to keep an indifferent external appearance in the high hopes that it would impress Weiss. Even after feeling a low rumble in the pit of her stomach, Ruby still didn't ask Nora to stop.
Not like Nora would listen to her if she asked, anyway.
"So, Weiss," Jaune began nervously, looking directly at the girl he was addressing. Weiss sighed deeply before turning her head to leer at him. Ruby bit her tongue; she already knew what he was going to ask. No doubt everyone else at the table did, too. "That new horror movie just came out today—"
"No."
"Wha—you didn't even let me finish!"
"I already knew what you were going to ask, and from what I can gather, everyone but you already knew what my answer would be."
"So cold..." Jaune sighed and slumped in his seat. Pyrrha gently patted the blond haired boy on the shoulder and smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Ruby wasn't a fool; the redhead's feelings for the blond were clear as day—to everyone but him, apparently. But despite how much Pyrrha cared for him, she's never dared to confess her feelings. She just stood by and helped Jaune recover every couple of days that Weiss rejected him.
It was one of the saddest things Ruby's ever seen.
"'Sup, losers?"
Everyone turned to look at Sun, the blond monkey faunus approaching the group with a casual wave. His good friends Neptune, Sage and Scarlet trailed closely behind him.
"Hey, Sun," Blake greeted her childhood friend with a small smile. Ruby noticed the monkey faunus blush and smile in return.
Ruby and a few others said their pleasantries to the new arrivals as well, and as the large group communed amongst themselves, Ruby couldn't help but feel nostalgic. When Ruby first joined Signal Academy, she was worried no one would like her. She was shy and socially awkward and really had no clue how to make friends. But Blake and Yang had saved her by introducing her to all of these beautiful people, giving her a spot in their friend circle.
This friend circle originally didn't include Weiss, though. Weiss was the only friend Ruby had made on her own. They definitely didn't start off that way, but after they overcame their differences Ruby helped the frosty heiress ease into the friend group. This wasn't until Yang had already left the school, though, so her older sister never got the chance to meet Weiss.
Laughing and sharing lunch with her ten closest friends made her wish Yang was with them more than ever. She deserved to be here.
"So, Snow Angel," Neptune started, stepping close to Weiss and leaning on the table. Ruby silently grit her teeth at the pet-name the bright blue haired boy used to refer to her best friend. Ruby took back her statement of sharing lunch with her ten closest friends—it was more like nine. She remembered now why she wasn't the fondest of Neptune. "That new horror movie came out today and I was wondering if you wanted to see it with me after school."
"Are you kidding me?" Jaune whined, earning some risen eyebrows around the table.
When Weiss realized his statement was directed towards her instead of Neptune, her ice blue eyes glared at him and she asked in an accusatory tone, "What?"
"Why did you let him finish and not me?" he complained.
"I'm not even going to bother answering that," Weiss replied with a sigh. "Look, I don't plan on accepting his offer either, so don't have an aneurysm about it."
Ruby snickered at that.
"Aw, c'mon Snow Angel, don't be like that," Neptune urged, earning a glare from the silver eyed girl. "Why won't you go with me?"
"Because I'm not interested in you anymore, that's why." Weiss took a calm sip of her water. "You should've asked me a year ago."
"Well, it's not like I can go back in time to change that, so why don't we just make up for it now? C'mon, one date won't hurt—"
The extravagant noise of school bells rang across the premises and alerted the students that lunchtime was over and they had to hurry to their next classes.
"Oh, would you look at that," Weiss stated blandly, swiftly standing and grabbing her tray. "I simply must be off. Can't afford to be late to class. Have a good day, everyone."
Weiss walked off to enter the school but mid-stride she looked back to give Ruby a wave and a small smile, and that was all it took for Ruby's heart to lodge itself in her throat. She managed to smile and wave back, but she was thankful no one asked her to speak in that moment because she knew she wouldn't be able to.
Everyone departed shortly after that, following Weiss's example and making their way to their respective classes. Ruby, being two years and two grades under all of her friends, unfortunately had no classes with any of them. She hated going to class because of it—she got bored and lonely really easily—but she knew Yang would kill her if she started skipping class again.
In fact, Weiss would kill her, too. Perhaps even more brutally than Yang would, and that was all the motivation Ruby needed to grab her English books from her locker and head to her last class, taking her particular seat in the back near the window.
She was the first one there, but soon enough the classroom was filled with bustling students her own age. None of them talked to her.
"Alright, class is starting now, everyone," her teacher, Ms. Lehane, announced at the front of the classroom. Her grey wolf faunus ears were perked high until all of the students ceased their chatter. With a gentle swish of her fluffy tail, her teacher spoke, "I hope you all finished the readings I assigned to you last night. Today, we are going to cover..."
The short haired girl sighed, burying her cheek into her palm. This was going to be a long class. To stop herself from falling asleep like she had in all her other classes, however, she just thought of Weiss. How beautiful she looked in that outfit. The way she fed her at lunch. The smile she gave her when she left...
Ruby's heart throbbed. Yeah, it was going to be a long class.
"I can help whoever's next!"
Yang watched as the next person in the express line skipped over to her cash, her large purple ponytail bouncing with her movements. The tall, teenage customer proceeded to dump an abundance of scissors onto the counter, a wide, toothy grin on her face.
Yang raised an eyebrow—this girl looked way too happy considering what she was buying, and quite frankly it creeped Yang out—but she didn't question it, instead choosing to just check out the items for her customer.
"Did you find everything okay?" Yang asked professionally, swiping the several pairs of scissors across her scanner.
"Oh yes," the purple haired girl replied in such a sickeningly sweet tone that it made Yang uneasy. "This store has a wonderful selection."
Yang didn't even want to know what that meant, so she remained silent while scanning the rest of the items. She told the girl the price of the objects, accepted her money, gave her back her change, and turned her head to watch the girl's ponytail bounce as she skipped out the Superstore's front doors, humming a cheery tune.
Yang had an inkling that she just unwillingly assisted in something diabolical, so to distract herself from those disturbing thoughts she took a quick glance at her watch. 3:30 p.m. That meant she got to go home in half an hour. Her incredibly boring—and suddenly unnerving—eight hour shift was almost over! Just thirty more minutes and she could get out of this shithole.
Well, it actually wasn't that bad. For minimum wage, anyway. Yes, her manager was cruel, and yes, some of the customers were total assholes, and yes, it was extremely boring and tiring standing on her feet for eight hours, but fact of the matter was that it wasn't a hard job and it got food on the table for Ruby.
That's all that really mattered. The last thirty minutes of her shift would pass by quickly if that thought was at the forefront of her mind.
So with a deep breath that passed through her whole diaphragm, Yang turned around and announced loudly with a large wave of her arm, "I can help whoever's next!"
The girl who arrived at her cash seconds later was one of the prettiest girls Yang had ever seen. Her snow white hair was pulled into a long, off-centre ponytail, something that both fascinated Yang and made her breath catch. The short white haired girl was clad in a white tube top, shoulders concealed by a sky blue, long-sleeved bolero jacket. A silver studded necklace hung over the girl's collarbone, enhancing her pale skin and enticing neckline. From her position behind the counter, Yang could also see that the girl was wearing a loose, navy blue skirt, flaring outwards the further it traveled down slim legs.
What intrigued Yang the most, however, was the crooked scar that ran down the girl's left eye.
Yang quickly realized she was staring and shot her eyes up to the ones of her customer, poorly masked impatience swimming in those ice blue depths. The porcelain skinned girl then gracefully set a four pack of coolers next to Yang's cash register.
Yang couldn't stop her chuckle fast enough, earning a frown from the girl at least five inches shorter than her. It was just comical to the blonde to see a girl who seemed so prim and proper shamelessly purchase alcohol at her Superstore and nothing else. Not even some red solo cups or anything, just the alcohol.
"May I please see some ID, Miss?" Yang asked. It got tiring, but she had to ask that to anyone she thought looked under twenty-five. And if this girl was over twenty-five, Yang would be sure to ask what kind of anti-aging cream she used.
"You may," the snow haired girl answered smoothly, her voice sending a foreign chill up Yang's spine. She fished out her passport from her handbag and offered it to Yang, the blonde flipping open the small booklet and taking a good look at the girl's identification.
The picture on her passport matched the girl in front of her perfectly, Yang noticed in amusement, from the scar on her left eye down to the permanent scowl. Alright, so her name was Weiss Schnee, she was seventeen years old—certainly old enough to drink and purchase booze—, she's a citizen of Vale, her birthday was...
Yang paused. Wait a minute. Her lilac eyes drifted back up the passport to the girl's full name, squinting at the tiny, printed black letters.
"Is there a problem?" the ponytailed girl asked shortly, crossing her arms.
But Yang didn't even hear her.
Weiss Schnee. Weiss. Schnee. Where had she heard that name before? That name felt so close, yet so distant. It was right on the tip of her tongue...
Yang's eyes suddenly lit up, causing the girl in front of her to flinch in surprise.
"Hey! I know you!" Yang announced with a grin, handing Weiss back her passport.
The white haired girl huffed. "Of course you do," she said proudly, stuffing her identification back in her bag. "I'm Weiss Schnee, heiress to the—"
"No, no, I don't care about that," Yang waved her off, running the coolers across her scanner. She punched some digits into her cash register and a green number ten appeared on the screen facing both girls, indicating the amount of lien required for the item. Then a big smile graced Yang's expression, exposing rows of gleaming white teeth. "You're the girl Ruby never shuts up about."
"Huh?" Weiss cocked her head curiously. "How do you know Ruby?"
Yang blinked. "Well that's a weird question. You've known her for this long and she's never brought me up in conversation before?" Weiss just continued to stare at her in confusion, her silent response answering her question better than words ever could. Yang pouted slightly. "Wow, I'm so hurt." Her confident grin swiftly returned, though. "Well, my name is Yang Xiao Long, and I," she pointed a thumb at her chest, "am Ruby's dashing older sister."
"Really? Ruby's never mentioned anything about having a sister before," Weiss replied, not bothering to comment on the 'dashing' part.
Yang shrugged. "I guess she wanted me to be a surprise."
Weiss frowned gently. "I don't understand the logic behind that."
Yang somewhat did, actually, but she felt like if she blurted out the scenario of, 'Hey, Weiss! Normally when people bring their partner home, their partner is forced into a special 'talk' with their parents, but because I don't have any responsible parental figures, you get to have the 'talk' with my sister instead,' Ruby would never look at her again.
So, instead, the lilac eyed girl responded with, "Yeah, my baby sis is a weird one."
Weiss's frown deepened, her eyes flickering between Yang's, as if she were searching for something. "But you two have different surnames."
"Different birth mothers," Yang replied coolly, hoping that Weiss wouldn't question her further about that. Thankfully, she didn't.
"As you are Ruby's sibling, I assume you live with her, correct?" Yang nodded. A sudden scowl manipulated Weiss's features, almost making Yang jump in shock. "So are you the one who packs her lunches?"
The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Uh, no? I just buy the food. Ruby packs her own lunches."
"So you admit to being partially at fault."
"Huh?" Yang frowned in pure confusion. "What are you on about, Princess?"
"First off, it's heiress, actually." Weiss pointed an accusatory finger at Yang's abdomen. "And second, her lunch today was horrendous. It was nothing but junk. Why do you buy that stuff for her?"
Yang shrugged casually, trying hard to ignore Weiss's frosty tone. "Ruby's a big girl. She can eat whatever she wants."
Weiss sighed heavily. "At this rate, she'll just end up getting fat."
Yang released a hearty laugh, attracting more than a few stares to her cash. "Well, I did say she was a big girl." Yang let out an uncontrollable string of giggles at her pun, but Weiss just shook her head, clearly unimpressed. Once Yang calmed down, she continued, "Honestly though, gaining weight is the last thing on Ruby's mind. I've seen that girl eat five pounds of cookies and not gain a single pound herself, so you don't have to worry." Yang smirked. "It's cute that you are, though."
"What?"
"Worried."
Weiss immediately blushed, the red that splashed her cheeks an unbelievably amusing and astonishing sight. "M-Me? Worried about that dolt? D-Don't be ridiculous!"
Weiss abruptly shoved twenty lien into Yang's hand, making the blonde laugh. Before Yang could even gather Weiss's required change, the girl had already grabbed her liquor and was storming her way towards the front doors.
"Have a good day, Miss!" Yang bellowed out in between fits of laughter, fighting to control her voice. "P-Please come again!"
Weiss glared at her over her shoulder before rushing through the sliding doors, somehow able to keep all her grace despite her flustered state. Yang watched her—unable to take her eyes off her—until that swaying, off-centre white ponytail was out of sight.
When her laughter finally died down, she smiled to herself. With the image of the flustered, and no doubt intriguing, Weiss Schnee still fresh in her retinas, Yang thought:
Good job on that one, Ruby. Don't let anyone take her from you.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who read all the way through that! For anyone who is concerned about the White Rose and Bumblebee in this chapter, don't worry; as I said at the beginning, this story will have several different pairings, but Freezerburn and Cinderruby are no doubt the endgame pairings. Trust me, I'm not lying (see the pun I made there? Ahaha).
I would genuinely love hearing everyone's thoughts about the first chapter. I would appreciate knowing if people enjoyed this intro and if people are interested in this story being continued. So if you have the time, please drop me a review! I would love hearing from all of you! :)
Have a good day, everyone! Thanks again to everyone who gives this fic a chance! :)