Based off Eldenfirefly's suggestion of how Weiss would handle her first hug.

Dedicated to Xenon! Thank you for drawing scenes from my fics!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

First Hug

Every first-year student at Beacon Academy knew that Professor Peter Port's "Knowledge of Grimm" exam was one of the hardest tests ever concocted.

With over three hundred questions and 3 full-length essays that needed to be written by hand, the exam took almost an entire school day.

Months of studying – or lack thereof – would come to fruition and demonstrate just how acquainted with the material each student was. On the day of the exam, once it was over, hundreds of first-year students limped from their classrooms and retreated to their dorms to nurse aching hands and vacant stomachs.

However, the most tormenting part of the process was yet to come. Results of who had passed or failed the exam were announced a week later.

Therefore, for seven anxiety-ridden days, they all lived without knowing what the fates would hold in wake of their futures.

Until the day that would seal their fates arrived at last. Lines of people congested the hallways, eager for results. At the end of the day, most students came away in tears, either from hopelessness at being forced to take the make-up exam, or tears of sheer joy at having passed.

Either way, the building was full of blubbering students.

Somehow – likely due to militarily-vigorous studying implicated by a certain heiress – all four members of team RWBY had managed to pass the exam.

When their team had been called up to the Professor's desk for the verdict, Weiss had held her chin high. As expected, she had received one of the highest grades in the entire student body. She assumed if she had not been fretting over the rest of her team, she could have walked away with an even higher score. Yet she settled for accepting what she received.

Blake also received a fairly high score, and was commended by the Professor.

When his eyes rested on Ruby, she squeaked and ducked behind her partner, but Weiss threw her forward to face her fate head-on.

"Ah, Miss Rose!" Port chuckled. "Well, you certainly gave me a scare on the essay portion of your test, but it seems you faired quite well on the multiple choice and matching. Be it intelligence or luck that was on your side, it matters not. Congratulations! You passed!"

Ruby was sure she was dreaming when she heard those words. She swayed, and Weiss needed to dart forward to prevent her from collapsing altogether.

"You dunce!" she hissed. "Stand properly!"

"B-But Weiss-!" Ruby looked up at her with dewy eyes that wavered with emotion. "I-I passed...!"

The heiress rolled her eyes a bit, but could not help smiling – just a little.

"Yes, you did. You worked hard these past few weeks in studying, even if you did do a great deal of complaining," she added quietly. "But it's over now. You've passed and you don't have to take the exam again. Don't you think that feeling is worth all the time and effort you put in?"

"Y...Yeah!" Ruby nodded passionately, still shaking a little from relief. Weiss allowed her leader to lean on her slightly as they tuned back around to hear Port address their final teammate.

"Miss Long!" He clapped. "You received perhaps one of the most... interesting scores I've ever seen on my exam."

Yang swallowed audibly.

"Is that... good or bad?"

"Well, that depends..." he said. "Your mark landed right on the line between passing and failing, but for various reasons - such as your zealous performance in participation in my class on a near-daily basis - I have decided to award you with the passing grade. Congratulations!"

Yang very nearly cried right then and there. She leaned over the desk and grabbed his hand with both of hers and shook it for dear life.

"Thank you! Thank you, sir! Thank you so much!"

"Dear girl!" He laughed a bellow that echoed about the room. "No need to thank me! You earned your grade!"

The blonde sighed in relief as Blake finally managed to pry her away.

"Good job," the Faunus girl said proudly, patting Yang's shoulder.

The four girls exited the lecture hall, the constricting air of nervousness that had previously been suffocating them now beginning to unwind and dissipate. They walked until they had passed the end of the line of still-waiting students.

When at last they came to an empty hallway, Yang sunk to her knees, utterly baffled.

"I passed..." she babbled. "I actually passed. Holy crap..."

Blake chuckled as she knelt beside her.

"Like he said, you earned it."

Yang lifted her face to show her partner shimmering lavender eyes. Overcome with a sudden rush of relief, Yang threw her arms around the other girl. "Blaaaaake!" she cried. "I passed! We all passed!"

"Y-Yes..." Blake managed to reply even after the breath had been crushed from her lungs. She lifted her arms up to pat her partner's back. "It's all over now."

"Y-Yeah!" Yang nodded, burying her head into Blake's shoulder.

"Are... you crying?"

"No!" She sniffled.

"Riiight..." Blake shifted in Yang's vice-grip a little so she could breathe easier and continued to rub her back.

Meanwhile, Ruby was also wiping her own tears on her sleeve.

"Don't do that!" Weiss chided, pulling a tissue from her uniform's pocket. "You'll get mucus all over your clothes! Here." She dabbed the tissue beneath the younger girl's eyes before holding it to her nose. Ruby trumpeted into the tissue and Weiss made a face before quickly tossing it into the nearby trash bin and running her hands under a hand-sanitizer dispenser. "Honestly, you are such a child sometimes..."

"But aren't you happy?!" Ruby's lips quivered in a pitiful smile. "We passed! All of us!"

"I'm quite aware. And I'm running out of tissues," she remarked, handing Ruby another as the tears continued to spill. "We all studied hard for this, so it's only natural we passed, though some were a bit sketchier in their performances than others..." she muttered.

"I'm just... still in shock..." Ruby went to her other two teammates and knelt down beside them. "Yang, that's enough! Let me hug Blake!" She pried her sister away from the Faunus girl so she could throw her arms around her instead. Blake blinked in surprise but returned the contact nonetheless.

"Hey, what about your big sister?" Yang wailed.

"You're next just... gimme a minute, okay?! I'm relishing my happiness and Blake doesn't crush me like you do!"

Yang's expression turned stricken at that, and she pouted.

The entire time, Weiss put two fingers to her temple and prayed no one would come by this way.

"You three..."

"Alright!" Yang shouted. "Time's up, lil sis!" She snaked her arms around her partner and her sister and crushed them both - sputtering - to her chest. "Stress-relief hug!"

"Yang..." Blake wheezed. "You're going to relieve us of life in another minute..."

"Oh, sorry." The blonde loosened her grip on the two of them, allowing for a more comfortable embrace. Ruby sighed, savoring her sister's trademark hug for a minute.

She then heard the the patter of a shoe tapping impatiently against the floor and looked up to see Weiss standing with her arms crossed.

"Are you all quite finished?" she quipped. "You look like a bunch of lost puppies."

"Aww, princess, do you want a hug, too?" Yang asked suggestively.

The tapping stopped.

"What? How did you ever get such an idea into that head of yours?"

"It's pretty obvious," Yang smirked. "Here Ruby, go give the poor girl a hug! She worked herself half to death in preparing us for this test, after all!" She gave her sister a slap on the back, encouraging her to stand.

"M-Me?" Ruby squeaked as she got to her feet and looked at her partner.

Weiss was never exactly... the first on the list of huggable people, and even though they had been partners for a while now, the closest they had ever gotten was the time Ruby had put a hand on her shoulder.

Even at the mention of a hug now, Weiss's eyes widened a bit and she remained still. She looked very lost and unsure of how to react to the situation Yang had proposed.

Ruby flashed her eyes back to Yang who nodded and grinned, then back to Weiss. "Um... would that be... okay? I-I mean do you want me to...?" she asked awkwardly, shuffling her feet a bit.

To be honest, she had wanted to hug her partner countless times before for one reason or another, but was always deterred by something at the last second.

Now, she almost felt pressured to do so, and Weiss did not seem very open to the idea either.

"I'd prefer if you didn't..." she replied in a quieter voice than was usual for her. She sounded... lonely. "My family was never one for physical contact. At least not on the affectionate level." She looked away, and Ruby caught sight of her scar for a brief instance and shivered.

"There, see?" she growled down at Yang. "Now she's uncomfortable and now it's all awkward!"

But Yang scoffed, addressing Weiss next instead.

"Come on, princess. Why can't you give it a try? Do you hate my little sister that much?"

That comment livened the heiress's tone again.

"I don't hate her!" She stomped her foot defiantly.

Ruby blushed a little.

"If that's true, then let her give you a hug!" Yang bargained. "You deserve it, after all."

"I deserve nothing of the sort." Weiss was miffed. "You all passed the exam on your own skill."

Blake interjected from where she was still kneeling before Yang. "Yes. Skill we wouldn't have been able to utilize without your guidance."

Weiss said nothing. She glanced at Ruby who looked hopefully up at her with uncertain silver eyes.

A moment of silence passed by as the heiress weighed her options. Did she really... want this? After seventeen years of minimal contact, did she really want to start now?

Her mask must have been starting to show its cracks, for she swallowed a little roughly as her eyes darted about. Ruby waited patiently for her answer.

"Come on, Weiss," Yang murmured. The heiress shot her an icy glare, conflicted and even a little scared. Yang merely nodded to her, telling her it was okay.

Weiss inhaled sharply before turning back to Ruby. She let her crossed arms fall slowly to her sides, removing the barrier from herself as her mist-blue eyes flashed tentatively up at her partner.

"Well..." she huffed. "Get on with it, then."

Ruby lifted her head hopefully. But her smile faded as she saw how uncomfortable Weiss looked, her posture stiff and her left hand clutching her opposite arm tightly.

"Are... Are you sure...?" she checked.

"Quickly, before I change my mind!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" Ruby gave a brief salute and straightened up.

There was a good six feet between Weiss and herself at the moment, and Ruby wanted to run those six feet and throw herself at her partner more than anything. But she pushed down the hyperactive desire that had been building within her since the first day they had met; the last thing she wanted to do was mess this up.

It was obviously a big deal for the heiress, therefore it was a big deal to Ruby as well.

So Ruby walked up to her slowly, and without hesitating a second longer for either of them to step away, she initiated the embrace.

Ruby slipped her arms around Weiss's sides and hugged her back, resting her chin on the heiress's shoulder. She felt her partner freeze, holding in a breath, at a loss for what she should do. She could feel Weiss's heart thumping quickly, and was torn between thinking it was adorable and feeling nervous about making her uneasy. She held tightly to the other girl, hoping she would not be pushed away – not yet, at least.

Ruby had wanted to do this for so long...

Her eyes widened as she felt hands wrap around her shoulders, resting lightly and uncertainly on her back.

Both girls remained frozen for a moment, unsure of what they were doing, whether or not they were hurting one another somehow.

Then, Ruby hugged a little tighter experimentally, and sure enough, she felt Weiss's grip grow stronger in return. Ruby smiled. Weiss was so soft...

The heiress tried breathing normally as she felt the brunette squeeze her tighter still. She was not used to such... warmth, nor the feeling of another person being so close. It felt strange, and yet it was as though it was the most natural thing in the world for them to be like this. They fit together quite nicely.

Weiss was finding the thought of pulling away to be growing more and more difficult to grasp as the seconds went on – she wanted to stay like this...

Then, she heard Ruby's voice.

"We passed..." she whispered.

"Ruby...?"

"We passed, Weiss!" she squealed, louder now. "We all passed and it's all thanks to yooou!"

"W-Wha-? Ruby?!" Weiss could feel her feet being lifted off the ground as Ruby's embrace tightened more and more. Before she knew it, she had been lifted entirely off the floor and was being spun around in her leader's arms. "R-Ruby! Put me down, you dolt!" she shrieked.

Their other two teammates who had remained silent until now could not keep their voices down any longer.

"Oh, my..." Blake muttered, pressing the back of her hand to her mouth to stifle a chuckle.

"Geez, sis. You might be better at that than me!" Yang cheered.

"Ruby, put me down this instant!"

"But we paaaassed and it's all thanks to you!"

"Ruby, I'm serious, we're going to-!"

But it was too late. Ruby was too focused on twirling Weiss and was not paying attention to where she was going. She ended up tripping over Yang's ankle and there was a collective shout as the two partners came crashing down onto their teammates in a tangle of limbs and hair.

There was a good deal of moaning after that as they all pushed themselves up.

"Ow."

"Yowch!"

"Owwiiieee..."

"Ruby, this is why you need to listen when people are talking to you!"

The four girls got to their feet at last, helping one another up. Weiss chided Ruby for a moment longer before she heaved a heavy sigh. "Alright, let's just focus on the positive here."

"That we all passed?" Ruby bounced happily.

Weiss smiled a bit. "Yes, that."

"Perhaps we should celebrate a bit?" Blake suggested.

"Ooooh, yeah good idea! Let's go grab a bite to eat!" Yang made a fist and punched the air.

They were all in agreement with that.

The four girls headed toward the building's exit, but Ruby held back for a second, causing Weiss to pause as well.

"What is it?"

Ruby twiddled her fingers a bit. "Are you, um... okay?"

"What are you talking about?" she sighed. "If you mean about the fall, I'm fine, but this is why I was saying-"

"N-No, not really that..." Ruby muttered, flashing her gaze up at her uncertainly. "I meant about the hug..."

Weiss blinked, remembering the gentle contact from earlier, suddenly finding herself missing it.

Therefore, in response to Ruby's question, the heiress stepped up to her leader and hesitantly wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Ruby looked up in surprise.

Weiss's face was a little pink as she mumbled:

"I... didn't hate it..."

Ruby's lips broke out into a wide grin as she quickly hugged Weiss again. "I'm glad!" She held the hug for a moment before pulling away, only to take her partner's hand instead. "Come on, then! Let's go eat!"

As Weiss followed her partner along, she smiled, gently curling her fingers around Ruby's.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! If there's anything I want from the series, it's a White Rose hug :'3

Please review!