Chapter 1: Found
Ruby Rose hummed happily as she skipped on the way home from grocery shopping. Why was she in a good mood? Because Yang was going to cook her favourite dinner and she couldn't wait! Soon, her skipping turned into a short jog, then into a full on sprint towards home. It wasn't that far from home, only a fifteen-minute walk, but if she wanted to, she could run it in about five minutes.
She slowed to a stop when she saw someone leaning onto the wall weakly. Thinking that they were in trouble, she cautiously moved closer to them.
"Hey, uh… are you ok?" she asked. Now that she was closer… "A-Aren't you… Weiss Schnee?" she blinked and moved so that she was in front of her.
She saw that Weiss was holding onto her right side carefully, her lip was bruised, and… was that a hand mark on her right arm?
"We need to get you home!" she got up, pulling out her cell phone and was about to call her sister for help but looked down when she felt the other woman grab her wrist and shook her head.
"I'll… be fine. I was just resting." She huffed, struggling to stand up only to fall and lean onto the wall again.
"Yeah, sure you are…" she grumbled as she was about to help her stand then paused for a moment. "Hey, Weiss." She waited until she looked into her eyes. "Can I help you to my home so that I can treat your wounds at least?" Ruby didn't want to touch her in case she freaked out and knelt next to her. "I'm not going to tell anyone. Well… maybe Yang and Blake because we live together, but I won't take you to the hospital if you don't want to. I want to at least treat some of your wounds."
Weiss stared at her for a minute before nodding weakly, slowly standing up and allowing Ruby to help her up, leaning onto her for support as they walked towards her house.
"Uhm… I can take you home after we treat your wounds." Ruby spoke softly, unsure of what to really say or do with Weiss like this.
"I'll walk home on my own after."
She sighed at the answer then looked ahead. They were walking slowly, not wanting to move too fast to injure the other woman. Sure Yang and Blake are most likely going to be worried because she took longer to come home, but that didn't matter right now! Weiss was injured and she couldn't leave her alone like that!
"There you are!" Yang shouted as she moved towards Ruby. "I was worried about you! …uh who… what?" she looked at her younger sister, confused.
Weiss flinched when Yang yelled like that and struggled to move away from Ruby who didn't let her go.
"Yang, she's injured and I just want to treat her. She doesn't want to go to the hospital." The younger woman looked at Weiss, worried that they were scaring her. "Keep the shouting to a minimum, please."
"I… ok." The blonde scratched the back of her head and took the grocery bags that Ruby was holding. "I'll tell Blake to get the bath ready. Is that ok? Or should we just get the first aid kit?"
"Weiss, do you want to take a bath?" Ruby asked gently.
The white haired woman shook her head, not wanting to take too much of their time.
"No, can you start dinner? I'm just going to take care of her wounds."
Yang nodded as she headed home first to explain things to their other roommate. Ruby and Weiss took their time heading towards the house.
"Ok... we're here. Take it easy." The raven-haired woman slowly helped her up the steps and walked her towards the couch, slowly setting her down. "Can you… lift your shirt a bit so I can see that wound? I can treat your other wounds after."
Weiss hesitated. "I… can take care of that myself."
Ruby blinked, surprised by the answer then nodded slowly. "Alright… can I help you to the bathroom so you can take care of it?" This time Weiss just nodded and leaned onto the other woman, slowly walking towards the bathroom.
"I thought you said she wasn't going to take a bath?" Yang raised a brow.
"She's not, I just want to give her some privacy. She wants to take care of the wound on her side on her own." Ruby helped Weiss into the bathroom, closing the lid of the toilet and set her down gently. "Can I stay and help you? Or should I look away?"
"I'd… rather you not be in here…" Weiss looked away nervously.
"Alright, I'll just be outside. Call for me if you need help." Ruby smiled at her as she left the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
"Weiss is here? Seriously?" Blake looked up at them as she started to make dinner.
Yang raised a brow. "Weiss as in… Weiss Schnee? The same girl that was in the same classes as Blake, the captain of the fencing club, lead in choir, and the student council president in high school, Weiss Schnee?"
"You didn't recognize her until now?" Ruby chuckled, staying near the bathroom door just in case Weiss needed her but close enough to chat with her two roommates. "Yang, you played when they had those choir competitions!"
"Well, when you consider the fact that at school she has her hair up, wearing her clothes properly, and has a different aura around her, yes, I didn't recognize her." She stuck her tongue out then frowned. "But what happened? Mugging?"
Ruby merely shook her head. "I was on the way home and found her like that already. She said that she was just resting and she'll be fine." She frowned, having a bad feeling about this. The young woman moved towards the door when she heard a soft thump and knocked. "Weiss? Are you ok in there?" Silence. She bit her lip and waited for a few minutes. "I'm coming in ok?"
As soon as she opened the door, she found Weiss on the ground without her shirt and scars all over her back, a nasty bruise on her side, and some red on her skirt. Ruby quickly moved towards her side to check her wounds and shook her head.
"Weiss! We need to get you to a hospital!" she was about to get up but was stopped when her shirt was grabbed.
"No…! I'm… fine…!" she huffed, struggling to sit up.
"You can't be serious right now!" Ruby looked into her eyes and saw how serious she was. "Weiss, you're hurt! Badly hurt! We need to take you to the hospital to get them checked out! And call your family!"
Weiss paled when Ruby said that they should call her family and shook her head frantically. "No! Don't call them!" she begged, her body shook with fear as she held onto Ruby's arms desperately. "Don't… call them… please…"
What? Ruby frowned but didn't like how badly Weiss was shaking, and it wasn't from the cold. Placing a gentle hand onto her hands, she sighed. "I won't call your family. Can we still call the hospital to check your wounds?"
Again, Weiss just shook her head. "Just… give me some bandages. I'll wrap myself up then leave… I'll pay you back for the medicine later."
"Weiss, this isn't something that you can wrap up and call it a night!" Ruby sighed. "Stay here for tonight at least. You shouldn't be moving."
"I assure you that I'll be fine, Rose. You can stop worrying." She huffed then raised a brow when Ruby was looking at her weirdly. "…what now?"
"You… know me?" she asked, unsure of how she knew.
Weiss blinked, now feeling a bit calmer. "You were the track star in high school... Hard to miss it over the announcements whenever we win any events… and I was the student council president, I should know at least all the student's names and faces…"
Oh… right. She forgot that the school announced almost everything that was going on and announced awards for the 'star' athletes every year.
Sighing, she looked at the older woman, thinking of a proposition. "…Ok Weiss, if I help you wrap up your body, will you stay the night?"
The white haired woman bit her lip, mulling over the choices in her head and sighed. It hurt too much to move right now so she had to agree. "Alright…"
"Thank you." Ruby reached for the medicine box and grabbed some rolls of bandages, carefully helping Weiss sit up and wrapped her side, frowning at how thin she was. Wasn't she the captain of the fencing club just last year?
"You can tie it tighter, dolt." Weiss huffed, leaning onto Ruby for support.
"Wouldn't that hurt though?" Ruby frowned. She didn't know much about medicine, but she was pretty sure that one wasn't supposed to tightly bandage their wounds like this.
"It'll be fine. It's nothing I'm not used to." She sighed, finally getting used to the pain.
Ruby didn't like the sound of that and bit her lip. "Weiss, seriously…?"
"Rose, I—"
"Ruby."
Weiss blinked. What?
"Call me 'Ruby' and I'll listen to you." Ruby didn't look at her as she lifted her arm. "You should ice this down…" she paused for a moment before some bandages to wrap up her arm. "You… can talk to me you know. I promise I won't tell anyone."
"Why should I trust you?" Weiss huffed, pulling her arm back and reached for her shirt to put it on.
"I found you, let you in my home, and treated your wounds. That should count for something." Ruby crossed her arms, frowning at her.
Damn, she was right, but that still didn't mean that she could tell her though!
"Is it… something you can't talk about?" she kept prodding, but was trying to be careful in case she hit a sore spot.
"…that is correct." Weiss nodded as she bandaged her arm to cover the handprint.
"So I can't ask anything about it?" Ruby crossed her arms, thinking about something then looked at her seriously. "You know, Weiss… It's sometimes easier to talk to complete strangers than your friends about your problems… because you have nothing to lose."
Weiss merely scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "Talking about it makes it worse." She moved her arm and slowly stood up. "Thank you again for the bandages. I'll pay you back later."
Well that was worth a try at least. "Alright, do you want to join us for dinner? Or do you want to go sleep?"
"I'll go to sleep. I don't want to bother you more than I have." Weiss grabbed her left arm nervously.
"Weiss, you're not bothering us." Ruby paused for a moment before continuing. "Ok… maybe I am a little bothered that you won't let us take you to the hospital or call your family about your condition, but it's your choice…"
Weiss sighed deeply, biting her lip as she thought about it. "I'll find my way to the guest room or living room…"
"Nuh-uh. You're gonna stay with me in my room where I can watch you." Ruby crossed her arms. "Say what you want Weiss, but it still has to hurt and feel uncomfortable when you move and everything."
"Rose, I—" she paused when the younger woman gave her a look and rolled her eyes. "Ruby, I told you that I'm used to this."
"Yeah, you did. But that doesn't make me feel better. I'd like to give you a nice warm bed to sleep on tonight, not just some smelly old couch." She blinked at what she said. "N-Not that our couch is smell or old! I just mean it's more comfortable to sleep on the bed!"
The white haired woman sighed and shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I—" she paused when Ruby gave her puppy dog eyes and took a step back. How was she supposed to deal with that?! "A-Alright… I'll accept your offer…"
"Alright!" Ruby cheered and took her hand gently. "I promise that Yang and Blake won't bother us too much so you can rest and I'll take you home tomorrow."
"Yang… Blake… Xiao Long and Belladonna?" Weiss blinked. What kind of small world is this?
"Wow, you really do know everyone's names and faces!" the younger woman was amused and grinned as she lead her guest towards the dining room.
"Uh… where are you taking me, Ruby?" Gods it felt so weird saying her name like that. The only person she was on a first name basis was her sister! And even then, she rarely talked to her.
"Dinner. I know that you said that you just wanted to go to sleep, but seeing as you're still awake and it's not good to skip dinner, you might as well have something small to eat." She grinned as if she's a child.
"Ruby—" Weiss started only to stop once she saw the other two women.
Yang and Blake was setting the table and looked up when Ruby walked in pulling Weiss behind her.
"Oh wow, it really is Weiss Schnee. You look like total shit earlier." Yang crossed her arms. "Glad to see you looking a bit better now."
"Very funny Xiao Long." Weiss rolled her eyes then looked towards Ruby, whispering to her. "Do I really have to eat something?"
"Yep, now sit down." Ruby was being gentle as she pushed her towards the table and walked to grab her a small dish so that she could eat.
Weiss bit her lip as she sat down and sighed, unsure of what to really say or do here.
"So…" Yang started slowly, eyeing Ruby as she came back with a small bowl of their dinner. "Small world, isn't it prez queen?"
"Xiao Long… we're not in school anymore." The white haired woman sighed, rubbing her temples. "And I still hate that nickname."
"Want us to call you Ice Queen then?" the blonde smirked.
"Yang…" Ruby narrowed her eyes at her as she took a seat next to Weiss.
Yang laughed with her hands up defensively. "Ok ok. Is she staying the night though? I don't think it's safe for her to go home now."
"She's staying." Ruby paused then looked at Weiss. "You didn't change your mind, did you?"
"No." Weiss shook her head. "We made a deal, I'm staying the night."
Blake raised a brow. "A deal?"
Was that supposed to be a secret?
"That is correct, Belladonna." Weiss nodded as she looked at the bowl of spaghetti, unsure of how to eat it.
"Weiss, the food isn't going to attack you." Ruby giggled at how cute Weiss looked right now. "You haven't eaten spaghetti before?"
"I've mostly eaten salad. I can try this though." She still looked at the bowl, glancing at the others on how to eat it.
Yang smirked, knowing that Weiss didn't know how to eat spaghetti and grabbed a handful, stuffing her face with it as Blake rolled her eyes.
"Yang, stop teasing the poor woman."
"I ain't teasing her." The blonde munched on her dinner, making sure that she didn't make too much of a mess.
Weiss was quiet as she watched Ruby who showed her how to eat it.
"How's the food?" Ruby grinned.
"…different… but warm." Weiss took another bite, eating it curiously then looked up at the trio at the same table at her who just smiled at her. "T-Thank you for the meal, I'll be going to bed now." She got up to hide her blush.
"Ah, I'll show you to my room then lend you a toothbrush and some clothes!" Ruby got up quickly, smiling brightly at her guest before she could protest.
"T-Thank you." Weiss followed after Ruby who was practically bouncing in her steps.
"Alright, let's go~"
Once the duo was out of sight, Yang spoke first. "Who knew that the Ice Queen could look like that?" she smirked, cleaning her hands and started to eat her dinner properly.
"She has her moments." Blake picked up the empty dishes. "But you're right, I haven't seen that look on her before."
"You're the one that probably sees her the most so I'll take your word for it." Yang twirled her fork and grabbed a large forkful of spaghetti, finishing it in one bite.
"But you're the one that talked to her the most before. You were her pianist." She chuckled as she washed the dishes. "I wonder what happened though…"
"Who knows. I'll ask Ruby about it later." The blonde shrugged and brought her dish to Blake, kissing the top of her head.
"Yang…" Blake leaned against her as she washed the plates. "Ruby's here you know."
"Yeah, I'm here." Ruby was at the table, finishing the rest of her dinner, then looked up at her sister with an unamused face.
Yang jumped back, not realizing that the younger woman returned from her little errand. "W-When did you get here?!"
"Just as you got up and kissed Blake on the head." She grabbed all the plates on the table and walked to help wash them. "Hey… can I ask you two something?"
Yang and Blake looked at each other before looking back at Ruby.
"You could always ask us about anything, Rubes." Yang ruffled her head a bit.
"I'm going to guess that this is about Weiss though?"
The younger woman nodded. "I don't know what happened to her and she doesn't want to talk about it, but I want to help her..."
"There's not much that you can do if she doesn't want to talk about it." Yang crossed her arms. "But I guess you could let her know that she's not alone."
"That's the best thing that you could do." Blake dried the dishes, putting them away and dried her hands, leaning onto Yang. "Having someone that you can trust when you're like that really means a lot."
Yang gave Blake a soft smile and ran her hand through her hair gently while holding her close.
"It's getting late, Rubes. You should go to bed now."
Ruby nodded and said good night to Yang and Blake, slowly opening and closing the door to her room so she didn't wake up Weiss. Just as she was about to get onto the bed, she heard Weiss whimpering in her sleep.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…please… stop…"
The raven-haired woman blinked as she heard that and moved close to her, frowning at the sight of tears falling from her eyes.
Whatever happened to her, she was angry and worried. Angry that whatever happened hurt her like this, and worried because Weiss wouldn't let her help with her problems. She just hopes that she could gain her trust so that she could help her later on.
"Weiss…" she carefully brushed the bangs out of her hair then blushed at what she was doing, quickly pulling her hand back.
Just what did she think she was doing?!
Ruby looked back at her and gently took her hand, giving a soft smile seeing the other woman looking calmer. Now that she got a better look at her, she didn't realize how beautiful she looked as she was sleeping like this, curled on her side with her hair down.
"Don't worry… I promise that I'll do whatever I can to help you. Rest easy Weiss."
A/N: Alright, here's a little fic that's been stuck in my head for awhile (aside from like.. 5 others). Hope that you'll enjoy this! Please read and review!