This is Part I of a two-part White Rose/Bumblee fanfic I've thought about these past few days. This part focusses on White Rose, the relationship between Ruby and Weiss. The next part, Part II, will focus on Bumblebee, Blake and Yang's relationship. I hope you enjoy!
Weiss Schnee was not unaccustomed to waking up to darkness in a cold sweat. It left her with a sticky, unclean feeling, the sheets glued to her skin like a white prison. When she was younger, she'd have struggled and panicked until she tumbled out of bed, and would wander down the hallways, calling out for someone, anyone until her tiny legs failed her and she curled up in a corner. Nowadays, she'd become so used to the feeling of waking up with a choking feeling, her heart seizing up, that it only took a few moments to realise she wasn't there anymore, she was safe. Well, safer, at least.
Too bad the memories followed her wherever she went. It didn't make those moments in her dreams any less real. They'd still happened, or maybe they were still going to happen. Whatever the cost, Weiss didn't want to go back home.
The ice queen gazed around the room, though it was swathed in darkness. She couldn't see Blake or Yang in their beds, but by the lumps beneath the sheets, she assumed they were both fast asleep. Yet, peculiarly, the door stood slightly ajar. Weiss assumed it would have been one of the others, taking a midnight bathroom trip. Whatever the reason, it let in the breeze, bathing the room in frosty air.
Just as she was about to peel away the sheets from skin, and go to close it, she heard a squeak from above her. Weiss creased her eyebrows. She used was to hearing Ruby shift around in her sleep, she'd assumed the girl was naturally an uneasy sleeper. As Weiss settled back under the covers, she heard a sniffle. The girl's eyes opened, irritated. This was unacceptable, she decided as she heard yet another sniffle come from above her.
"Ruby," Weiss hissed, standing on the frame of her bed and peering over the frame of Ruby's, "what the hell are you-"
Weiss cut herself off as she saw Ruby, knees hunched to her chest, and tears falling down her face. As soon as the girl saw Weiss staring at her, she wiped her eyes and put on a false smile, sitting upright. The girl's body shook.
"O-oh, sorry Weiss, did I wake you up?" she said, her voice trembling and quavering. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"
"Ruby…" Weiss cut her off with a 'shoosh' to the girl's lips. "…why are you crying?"
Ruby looked from side to side, wiping her eyes again before returning her gaze to Weiss. The little light coming from the hallway shone on the wet streams on the girl's cheeks, making it obvious for all to see that the girl had been crying.
"What do you mean? I'm not-" Ruby tried.
"Ruby." Weiss cut her off again, insistently, and narrowed her eyes. "Tell me why you're crying."
Silver eyes met blue, and they locked, staring for a moment, and then another, and then another. Finally, Ruby seemed to realise Weiss wasn't going to relent, and exhaled, softly. Weiss felt her breath, warm and ragged, on her cheeks.
"I…had a nightmare," Ruby admitted, hunching her shoulders. "When I have nightmares usually, I go sleep in Yang's bed, but…"
The girl looked behind Weiss, at the bunk beds on the opposite side of the room. From where the ice queen had looked before, they'd looked like the two girls had been sleeping peacefully beneath the blankets, but standing up? It was blatant Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna were elsewhere.
"…but, Yang isn't here and I don't know where she's gone." Ruby finished, drawing her knees to her chest again. Her voice wavered again, and Weiss knew she was about to cry. Yet, what struck the blue-eyed girl the most was the way Ruby sounded…just like a little kid.
Weiss suddenly came to the realisation that maybe the reason for Ruby's disturbed sleep wasn't so innocent after all.
Before Ruby could say anything else, Weiss began to pull herself atop Ruby's rickety bed.
"W-weiss?" Ruby stammered, "What are y-you doing?"
Weiss said nothing, instead focussing on climbing up. Suddenly, her knees slipped, and Weiss felt her heart compress as she began to fall-
-and then stopped. Ruby's hands gripped her arms, holding her up. Weiss inhaled sharply, then allowed Ruby to help her climb all the way up.
On top of the bed, Weiss felt...unsteady. Still shaken from her own nightmare, the creaking and swaying of the bed did nothing to calm her nerves. Ruby stared at her questioningly, tears still forming at the corners of her silver eyes.
This was Weiss's responsibility, as the best teammate ever, right? At least, that was how the ice queen justified it as she crawled behind Ruby, and leaned into her, wrapping her arms around the girl's waist and pulling her close. The blue eyed girl felt Ruby press back against her body, and she rested her chin on Ruby's shoulder.
Weiss knew she had to take the first step – Ruby Rose was far too dense to know how to deal with tough emotions. But Weiss? She knew nightmares like the back of her hand.
"I get nightmares too," she breathed, keeping her voice soft. "Every night, sometimes."
Ruby seemed to relax into Weiss's awkward embrace, but then the silver eyed girl turned around, hugging herself close to the ice queen. Weiss felt herself fall backwards, crashing to her back with a quiet thud. The bed creaked, sending pangs of nerves into her stomach.
"What do you think you're doing, you dolt!?" she hissed, feeling Ruby wrap her arms around her torso, then bury her face into her chest. The girl sniffed, hiccupping, and Weiss felt a little guilty. They lay there, on their sides, for moments and moments. The blue eyed girl stroked Ruby's hair rhythmically with the back of her hand, gently murmuring 'shh' over and over again until Ruby's shuddering subsided.
Eventually, Weiss mumbled, "Are you okay now, Ruby?"
Slowly, the girl's breathing returned to normal, and after a few stretched-out moments, Ruby nodded, her grip on Weiss's waist loosening just a little. The ice queen held Ruby's shoulders, putting a little distance between their faces so she could look the girl in the eyes.
"Now," Weiss breathed, "are you going to tell me what's wrong?"
Ruby avoided Weiss's eyes at first, looking away.
"You're not…mad at me?" Ruby asked, refusing to meet her partner's gaze. Weiss shook her head, keeping her expression.
"I can hardly be mad at you when you've had a nightmare, you dolt," she mumbled in response, stroking Ruby's hair again. Ruby's face curved into a tiny smile, and Weiss felt a little shocked.
Had she really been that upset simply because she thought Weiss had been mad at her? The ice queen wasn't sure whether to feel wounded Ruby thought she'd be mad at her because of something like or flattered Ruby cared so much about her opinion.
"You're fine," Weiss admitted, and she saw Ruby's mouth curve into something resembling her normal, goofy smile. "Now, tell me about your stupid nightmare so I can go back to bed and get some sleep."
Ruby hugged Weiss closer to her, smile unfaltering, causing the bed to sway and rock. Weiss instinctively grabbed onto Ruby as fear and anticipation forced her throat to seize. Ruby must have taken that as a sign of acceptance, as she snuggled closer to Weiss, pressing their bodies even closer together, and tucking her head in the nook beneath Weiss's head, and above her chest. After a few moments of awkwardness, Weiss relented, and rested her chin atop the girl's head, wrapping her arms around the girl's waist. Ruby was warm, Weiss noted. Despite the draft coming from the open door, she didn't feel cold.
"My nightmare," Ruby began, mumbling into Weiss's chest, "was about my mother. Her name was Summer."
Ruby seemed to tense up a little, as she retold her bad dream. "My parents were hunters; we lived on the edge of Remnant, just the four of us in a little house – my mother, my father, Yang, and me."
The silver-eyed girl pulled Weiss closer, burying her face in the older girl's neck. Weiss reluctantly tightened her grip on the younger girl as Ruby started to tear up again.
"But one day, a whole bunch of Ursii attacked the village," Ruby continued, trying to keep her voice from wavering. "A-and then….my mother d-died protecting me and Yang."
Ruby exhaled heavily, seemingly satisfied she'd gotten out that much without breaking again. Weiss felt something wet dribble down her shoulder. The younger's tears were cool, cold against her skin, and Weiss just wanted to wrap herself in something warm. Slowly, the ice queen felt the younger girl's goofy smile return to her lips, until she could feel Ruby giggling into her neck. It tickled, almost, but the older girl refused to react. That would be silly.
"Thanks, Weiss, for listening," Ruby murmured, cuddling closer to the older girl. Weiss rolled her eyes.
"If you're feeling better, can I go back to bed now?" she said, yawning, and motioning to get off of the bed.
'No!" Ruby suddenly protested, her face falling, and clung to Weiss like a baby sloth. The ice queen sighed, falling back down sideways
"What is it now?" she asked, rolling her eyes again.
Ruby pouted, staring straight into Weiss's eyes. "I told you about my bad dream. You have to tell me about yours."
Weiss groaned, yawning. "Do I have to?" she said, scratching her head. Ruby nodded fervently Weiss groaned again.
It wasn't like it was something she wanted to revisit any more often than she had to, anyway.
Regardless, Weiss sighed. She wasn't going to get any sleep tonight unless she played along with her partner's wishes.
"You know how I said my family has always been the victim of White Fang attacks?" Weiss said, breaking their mutual gaze, her eyes occasionally flicking back toward Ruby. "I wasn't kidding. Ever since I was tiny, people around me have been dying." Ruby's eye were sympathetic, like a tiny dog's. Weiss tried not to look at her, and closed her eyes.
"Watching friend after family friend die can be somewhat traumatic for a child," she finished bitterly.
Ruby, like a mirror of what Weiss had done only moments before, held Weiss by the shoulders, worry and concern on her face.
"Weiss! You should have talked to me about it! We're teammates, aren't we?" Weiss could hear the hurt in Ruby's voice, and she didn't like it. Hadn't she told herself she was going to be the best teammate ever?
"Shouldn't you have told me about your own nightmares?" Weiss retorted huffily, turning her head away, and refusing to make eye contact.
Yet, instead of more wounds, as she'd expected, the younger girl wrapped her arms around Weiss, burying her face into the ice queen's chest.
"Well then," Ruby mumbled, "maybe we've both been keeping secrets. We should be more honest, shouldn't we?"
She finished her sentence with her signature goofy grin, and chuckled into Weiss's shoulder.
"…I guess," Weiss admitted, letting Ruby bury into her chest. The younger girl just chuckled, hugging Weiss close to her.
After a few minutes of cuddling Ruby, Weiss acknowledged she wasn't going to get any sleep in her own bed that night. So, instead, she said one last thing.
"You know, Ruby," Weiss began, trying not to blush, "if you have a nightmare, you're just going to wake me up if you try and go to Yang. So…"
Weiss felt her face go a little hot, but hid it by resting her chin atop Ruby's head. "Mmhmm?" Ruby grunted in acknowledgement.
"…you should just come wake me up. I won't get mad at you, I promise."
Weiss exhaled smoothly, releasing the tense breath that had accumulated as she'd built up the boldness to say what she'd just said. Ruby just giggled, giving the ice queen's torso a little squeeze.
"You got it, Weiss," the younger girl replied, smiling into Weiss's neck.
Weiss sighed, accepting her fate and snuggling closer to the warmth that was Ruby Rose.
"Good night, Ruby," she said, closing her eyes.
"Good night, Weiss," Ruby replied, yawning. "I love you."
"I lo-" Weiss's eyes flew open as her face turn a pale shade of pink. "Wait, w-what?"
Ruby sat up suddenly, her face much the same colour.
"I-uh, it was an accident! I swear!" Ruby stammered, "I-its 'cause I always say good night like that to Yang! I-I'm sorry!"
Weiss lay back down, her face still hot. "W-whatever," the ice queen said. "It doesn't matter."
Ruby nodded, slowly relaxing back into Weiss's arms. The older girl marvelled at just how warm she was, and wondered why the bed suddenly felt so welcoming. She didn't even feel like pulling up the covers - just the body heat between the two of them was enough. Eventually, she felt Ruby's hold on her slacken, and the younger girl's breathing slowed. She was probably asleep.
"I love you too, you dolt," she breathed, closing her own eyes, and letting herself drift away in what she hoped would, for once, be a peaceful sleep.
Weiss was asleep before she could feel Ruby's lips curve into a small, pleased smile.