When Weiss was eight, she felt her life was ending.
"I...probably won't be able to come out as much anymore…" Weiss mumbled, staring down as she kicked the dirt on the ground, trying to ignore the hurt expression on her best friend's face.
"What?" the six-year-old Ruby asked, tilting her head in confusion. "Why? Are you going somewhere Weiss?"
"Father says...it's time I focus more on the family...and my future," she responded, finally looking up at her her best friend. "I...don't really know what that means but...I always do what Father wants."
"So you're not going anywhere?"
"No, I'll still be in school but-"
"Then it's fine!" Ruby grinned.
"How?" Weiss' eyes widened.
Ruby just laughed, grin widening before sticking her hand out, her pinky up. "It's simple. We just need to swear to play together at school, and be super besties forever."
Weiss smiled, intertwining her pinky with Ruby's. "Okay! Super besties forever, it's a promise."
When they were ten, Weiss was quiet.
Ruby wasn't having it.
Walking over to Weiss during their lunch break, she slammed her tray on the table, making her best friend jump.
"Alright Weiss, something's up…" she began before jumping back, pointing dramatically at Weiss, making the white-haired girl roll her eyes. "And you are not telling me! As your super bestie, this is unacceptable!"
"Dolt," Weiss groaned, her new nickname for Ruby slipping out as she tried to ignore the stares from the other students after Ruby's outburst. "It's nothing."
"Weiss," Ruby frowned, sitting down suddenly, gently grabbing her friend's hand. "Please. Really. What's wrong?"
Weiss sighed. She really couldn't hide anything from Ruby, not these days.
"My birthday was last Saturday," she whispered, hands shaking slightly. "Father told Mother that he only married her for...our name? She hasn't come out of her room since."
Ruby's eyes widened. She knew the Schnees were having some issues, but that was too much. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Weiss whispered, her voice betraying her emotions. "Some things just don't last forever I guess."
"We will," Ruby interrupted, just wanting to see Weiss smile once more. She stuck her pinky out. "It's a promise."
Weiss smiled. Ruby always knew what to say. "Alright. It's a promise."
Ruby beamed.
When Weiss was sixteen, she didn't know what to do.
She was gay, and while she had known of her own attraction to the same sex for a while, it wasn't until she got lost in the silver eyes of her best friend that she realized how bad she had it.
She was a Schnee.
She was tactful.
She waited until after school one day before pinning Ruby against a wall and kissing her.
"I…" Ruby stammered, blushing furiously after Weiss' soft lips finally detached from her own.
"Sorry…" Weiss mumbled back, staring anywhere but at Ruby. "I'm...not sure what came over me."
When Weiss was sixteen, she tried to run.
It took about a minute for Ruby to catch up, grab her by the shoulders, and kiss her back.
Blushing brightly, Ruby held up her pinky finger. "Together forever, remember?"
Weiss rolled her eyes. This was the girl she had chosen to fall for. She intertwined their fingers once more. "You dolt. Of course."
Ruby leaned in. One more kiss couldn't hurt, right?
When Ruby was twenty-two, she had a promise to keep.
Dressed in a black and red suit, she stood in front of a crowd, trying her best to hold her composure.
The piano played a soft tune that she could barely hear as she sat there mesmerized as her fiance walked down the aisle.
Weiss' smile was wider than they had ever seen before as she walked in her pure white wedding dress and while she was always perfect to Ruby, she had never been so beautiful in her eyes before.
The priest spoke the words of holy matrimony.
Ruby stuck her pinky out. "Forever?"
Weiss intertwined her fingers in Ruby's. "Forever."
They didn't need vows. After all, they already had a promise to keep.
Their eyes closed, they leaned in, and their lips met.
And so their life finally began.
