A/N: Okay, well here is the next chapter. Like I said previously after this one there will be a 1 to 2 week period of no new chapters from me as I nerd it up with my new game. So sorry. You'll hate me even more after you read this too, but I do it out of hate, I mean love! Um, also I've been struggling to write this as well, I think I'm kind of hitting a slight little writer's block so these two weeks will serve a dual purpose as well. This story is about to finally hit it's mid-point. Things are gonna get pretty action-y soon too so look forward to that! Thanks again everyone who's been following, fav'ing and reviewing! Seriously all of those makes me keep wanting to type!
As I said I always respond to EVERY review, but guests I've finally realized I've been neglecting! Time to change that! From now on I will reply to guest reviews in my future A/Ns! I care about your opinions as well!
Iron Brony - Thanks for the review! Also, not so much as unbelievable Fast and furious type stuff, as I am keeping this story somewhat realistic to the car scene (most of these situations the characters are thrown in; I may or may not have been in myself o.O) so there will be action, just no crazy over the top things that the fast and furious movies are now known for (The unending landing strip anyone...?)
Anyways, enjoy the next chapter; Calm Before the Storm!
"What?"
Yang couldn't bring herself to even think straight right now. Currently she was just staring right back into Weiss' ice blue eyes. She knew Weiss was asking her questions but it was too much right now. She had to call Blake, and let her know. Yang had no idea on how to even process this herself, how was Blake going to take it.
Yang felt herself falling back into the feeling of despair and dizziness. Her hands were balled up, she felt the cool sweat running down her face, her heart was beating faster than when she was just on the track. But most of all, the number one most powerful thing she felt; was guilt. She felt terrible for how things ended with Cinder, and she knew that the girl had every right to be angry at her.
"Yang! Come on! Talk to me."
Slowly, but sternly, Yang cast her glance towards Weiss who still held her shoulders to steady the taller girl. The blonde took a nervous glance around the garage and noticed all of the pit crew absorbed in their own discussions or projects. Sighing deeply, Yang brought her attention towards the worried Weiss in front of her. She knew she had to tell Weiss about her past now; she was her girlfriend and deserved to know.
"Weiss, I- I know you're just wanting to help, but right now isn't the best time. Let me tell you tonight. Please. Tonight I'll tell you the whole story." Yang pleaded.
She wasn't ready for the emotional downfall she was going to experience with the telling of the end of her and Cinder's friendship. As much as Yang looked like the definition of strong both physically and mentally; after the events of what happened in their past, let's just say Blake wasn't the only one with tears in her eyes. The guilt ate at Yang afterwards for weeks. Hell it still did.
She held Weiss' gaze as the girl now adopted a suspicious look but then she nodded and mouthed the silent words of 'Okay.'
Feeling relieved that she could hold off on this for a little longer, a new fear rose up to Yang's mind.
The meeting with Weiss' father, William.
She heard that he wanted to talk to her about the performance out there, and she felt as confident in it as she would be taking a test she didn't study for. She knew she could have driven better and with the spin out at the end, thanks Cinder, she didn't like her odds. But still having Weiss attend the meeting with her gave the wild blonde some pride in her driving. She did her best in the short amount of time and even Isaac said it was pretty good. The head crewman saying that had to count for something.
"Well, let's go meet with daddy. He should be in the back and waiting for us. I'm sure you got on the team, Yang! You were amazing out there!" Weiss said.
She looked so bubbly at the moment and Yang couldn't help but smile again. She was acting different than how she usually was which meant that she seriously wanted Yang to succeed. The blonde couldn't help but feel a much stronger attraction towards the girl. She was cold and aggressive most of the time, but in rare moments like this she truly looked like a regular high school girl. Happy, selfless, and beautiful.
Rubbing the back of her golden mane a bit to loosen up the tangles from sitting in the helmet, Yang let out a soft chuckle. She didn't want to get her hopes all the way up only to be dashed in a bit at the meeting if she in fact didn't make the team. Now Yang was always confident in her abilities and herself but she was a realist most of the time as well. She knew her chances were low to begin with so now she thought they were miniscule at best to be a part of the race team.
Now Weiss was pulling Yang's hand and leading them towards the same door Cinder had just used a moment ago. Yang's mind was still in a haze as she was guided through a maze of white corridors. She couldn't function right now, but she had to put on a façade for Weiss during this meeting. She'd swallow the emotion for now and see what William had to say.
As if right on time with her thought, Weiss finally stopped in front of a large wooden door and knocked loudly three times before stepping inside, still holding onto Yang's hand, so she was pulled right in behind her.
Upon entering the room Yang took in the sight. Another large table sat in the middle with chairs surrounding it, although this room had no windows, it did have various laptops sitting around on the table alongside stacks of papers and files. Yang instantly recognized the man at the head of the table as William who had on an unreadable expression. Next to him sat Isaac who had on a friendly smile as he glanced up at Yang, and on the other side sat a man Yang didn't know but next to him sat a dreaded face. Yang knew deep down that she'd be at this meeting but she didn't want to face her.
Cinder.
Other than that no one else was present at the table, so Weiss sat down next to Isaac and Yang next to her. She kept her eyes everywhere but Cinder. She felt the girl staring at her though; it felt like the anger and malice from Cinder's eyes were burning holes into Yang's soul even if she wasn't looking back at the girl.
William then cleared his throat loudly and gained everyone's attention immediately.
"Well Yang, I suppose we have some good news and bad news for you."
Yang was on the edge of her seat, and it didn't help she was already in overdrive by the meeting of Cinder yet again, now she had to play the beating around the bush game with William. She grabbed Weiss' hand under the table and held on for dear life.
William still had on an unreadable expression, but after a few seconds he burst out into a genuine smile and started clapping;
"Welcome to the team, Yang."
After which everybody in the room minus Cinder also joined him in clapping.
"Good job, Yang!"
"Outstanding driving for your first ever time in a race car!"
"You adapted pretty well out there."
"I told you, you could do it, Yang!"
Lilac eyes widened at the sight of clapping people seated at the table with joyful expressions. Did she really just make the team? The blonde finally let her face break out into a smile as she let this new information process.
She had done it. She basically defied all odds! As a street racer she'd just begun her journey into the real world of racing!
Yang was now thinking a million different thoughts on what this meant for her future! How would she balance school with this? What would her mom say? What would Ruby say? Oh my God, Blake! What would she learn from this new style of driving? She'd have to get better! This can't be happening! How much am I going to get paid?!
These and more were running rampant in her mind. She finally looked over towards the one girl who made this come true.
Weiss.
The girl was still clapping her hands with glistening eyes as she looked back at Yang with a delicate smile and cheerful expression.
She owed it all to this girl.
Yang leaned over in her seat and planted a passionate kiss right on her lips. She felt Weiss hesitate for a moment, but soon she melted under the lips from Yang's fiery kiss. The blonde brought her hand up and grabbed the back of Weiss' soft hair and pushed her face harder into the kiss.
That is until William cleared his throat yet again.
Instinctively breaking the intimate moment, Yang jumped back into her seat and wiped her face with her sleeve. Weiss did the same and fixed her hair quickly. This earned the girls a few chuckles at the table.
"Ah, the joys of being young. Well I know how you and my daughter will be celebrating tonight. Just be home by ten, Weiss." William commented lightly.
Yang and Weiss both looked away from each other slightly embarrassed.
"You brute." Weiss hissed.
"So, do I have a say in this meeting?"
Yang abruptly lost her joyous feeling and lifted her head to look at the voice in question.
Cinder now wore a bored expression as she defiantly looked towards William at the head of the table.
"Well of course you do, Cinder!" William replied happily, seemingly oblivious to her motives.
Cinder then stood up and placed her hands on the table loudly. The atmosphere in the room seemed to get serious and all of a sudden, Yang felt herself burn up. Cinder's presence felt like an inferno the way she now presented herself. Although she kept on a bored expression still her body language screamed annoyed and angry.
"I don't think Yang is a good fit for this team." Cinder spat.
The way she said her name, made Yang instantly get pissed off. She knew Cinder wouldn't have forgiven her for what she did in the past, but that's just it. The past. Here she was trying to destroy a bright future for her now just cause of something stupid they did when they were younger.
"And why do you say that, Cinder?" William asked; he kept his voice neutral and passive.
Yang swallowed hard, but she kept her eyes on Cinder. She knew what she was going to say. But Yang had no idea if she was about to bring up the past. She really did not need that elephant in the room to be addressed right now.
"Well, I'll get this out of the way now. I used to know Yang back when we were younger and just starting high school. Back then our falling out if you will; well let's just say I can't trust her to have my back out there on the track. She's more of a lone wolf so to speak and I don't see her doing what's best for the company and team. A word I doubt she knows anything about." Cinder huffed out, as she sat back down.
Yang on the other hand was prepared to stand up and retaliate. She didn't want to bring their past up, especially in front of her new bosses, but if she was going to play that game, fine!
"I don't know what the hell you're talking about but I have all the confidence in the world in Yang. Not having your back? What kind of nonsense are you sprouting? I don't know what happened between you two in the past, but I seriously don't believe it was as bad as you're making it out to be!" Weiss shouted.
Yang felt all of her anger subside instantly as she turned to look to her side; towards Weiss. The girl was gripping the edge of the table and she looked livid! Her face was tinged red and her eyes looked as cold as Yang had ever seen. She was staring daggers right at Cinder, but Yang couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat by hearing Weiss defend her so passionately. It almost brought a tear to the blonde girl's eye, and it made her just want to try that much harder in this new development. She'd do this for Weiss if not for herself.
"Oh? I love how she needs her girlfriend to defend her. How times have changed it seems. What lies did you feed this poor girl, Yang? If only she knew how you used to be. How we used to-" Cinder started.
"Enough! I won't sit here idly while you two start bringing up things that don't matter. This is a business and quite frankly I don't have time for your high school drama bullshit at the moment!" William stated firmly. His voice shook the whole room it seemed and the man had no semblance of his cheery attitude from earlier. Yang glanced around the whole table and everyone seemed to have reverted to an emotionless expression. Well almost everyone, Yang noticed that Cinder was now staring at Weiss with a deathly look. And quite frankly it set Yang on edge; she didn't like the look she was giving her girlfriend.
"And Cinder, if I recall correctly; Yang's times on her driving mirrored yours. Her quickest time in the untuned car was only .087 seconds behind your fastest back when you tried out. So I say she's more than earned her spot on this team and as your partner. I won't say you two need to be friends again, but you will work together and hash this out when it comes to racing on the track in tandem. Understood?" William said his voice calming down from the previous outburst.
"Well, I was the one who taught her how to drive. So I'd hope she could manage a decent time, but yeah. I'll work together with her, at least for now until she screws up." Cinder replied back coolly.
Yang scowled at her but replied back to Weiss' father;
"Sure thing, Will."
William then sighed deeply before adopting his usual cheery demeanor from earlier.
"Good, now then Yang! We have a ton of papers and forms to go over. So let's get started."
"Thanks again for taking me, Blake." Ruby said while rubbing her eyes, she was still pretty exhausted after all the things that had transpired last night.
Blake and Ruby both were currently driving down the main highway towards where Ruby's broken down RX-7. Blake had her windows down in her black Supra and was just cruising with one arm out the window and a content expression on her face as she swayed her head side to side to the beat of the song playing on the radio.
Blake threw Ruby a sidelong glance and smiled at the younger girl.
"No problem, Ruby."
Blake went back to happily bouncing her head to the rhythm of the song as she drove. With the windows down and the wind blowing through her hair, life was good. It was a beautiful Sunday morning and she was spending it so far with Ruby; a girl Blake may or may not be infatuated with lately.
When Ruby had texted Blake last night asking her to give her a ride to her car, to say Blake was ecstatic would be an understatement. She'd been meaning to try to talk to Ruby about her feelings for the other girl and today she'd make an effort.
Looking over once more at Ruby, Blake's golden pupils roamed the girl's small body. Ruby was currently dressed in a red tank top and a pair of dark blue skinny jeans that accented her body wonderfully in Blake's mind.
As she was still glancing over at Ruby though, the redhead caught Blake looking and gave her an awkward smile.
'Shit. I got caught. Smooth Blake, real smooth.' Blake thought to herself as she refocused back on the road.
Within about ten minutes of driving, Ruby was able to pinpoint exactly which streets to go down in order to find her car. Now pulling into a parking lot of a department store of some kind, Blake spotted the little red RX-7 towards the back.
"There she is! Oh thank God she's still all alright after being stuck here all night!" Ruby cheered.
Blake couldn't help but smile at the girl's innocence. Ruby now was bouncing up and down in her seat as Blake drove slowly towards Ruby's car.
"Aw Blake stop teasing me!" Ruby whined out as she noticed Blake going slow.
She finally pulled up to the car and not a moment later Ruby jumped out of Blake's Supra and jogged to her car. She quickly unlocked it and popped her hood to assess the damage.
Blake had come prepared because she knew Ruby would forget her own tools again. Blake cut off her engine and hopped out. She walked to the trunk and grabbed a black metal toolbox from her trunk and walked over to where Ruby was now peeking under the hood of her car. Dropping the box on the ground, Blake leaned over next to Ruby and looked at the small 13B rotary motor.
Blake couldn't help but blush at how close she was to Ruby now. It wouldn't have been of any concern in the past, but now for a reason unknown to even Blake herself she was growing extremely attracted to Ruby. She's watched her grow and mature for about four years now ever since Yang invited Blake to her house all those years ago. Blake desperately wanted her feelings to be returned by Ruby, but she knew there was only one way to find out.
As Ruby was moving her head around the small space next to her motor to see what hose or clamp did in fact pop off she couldn't shake the feeling as if she were being watched. Lifting her head out of the engine compartment Ruby glanced over to her side at where Blake was standing and met her golden eyes.
Blake at the moment looked conflicted and slightly scared and it worried Ruby. On the whole way here the girl looked so at peace and happy, so this sudden change in attitude was confusing to say the least. Ruby brushed her bangs out of her vision before inquiring in her friend about what was currently wrong;
"Uh, you okay Blake?"
She watched as Blake's eyes seemed to harden slightly as if she had come to terms with something.
"Ruby, how do you feel about me?"
Ruby felt herself gag at the sudden bold question. The young girl knew this type of question would bring itself up ever since two nights ago when they had almost kissed, but she had hoped it would be brushed aside until a later date, a much later date. But as silver eyes stared into soft and nervous golden ones Ruby knew you owed Blake an answer. But that didn't mean it was going to be easy.
Already Ruby felt herself get nervous and her palms start sweating. Her stomach started doing flips and her mouth was dry all of a sudden as she fumbled to form a coherent thought and sentence.
"I- I uh, well I l-like you Blake! Yeah! Of course! Y-you've always been around to help me out and stuff!" Ruby announced finally slightly shaken.
Blake seemed to appreciate the response as she smiled slightly. She seemed to relax now.
"W-well, I like you too Ruby. A lot actually."
Ruby shifted so she was leaning against her car now. The situation was starting to take an extremely awkward turn for her now, but she'd now rather it be over and done with now instead of nagging at her mind later.
"Well, t-that's great right? I like you a lot too, Blake. Like an older sister just like Yang!"
Ruby turned towards Blake but now watched as the black themed girl looked devastated. Ruby flinched back as she saw Blake's eyes now moisten almost as if she were about to cry, but as quickly as she noticed Blake threw on a smile to cover up her sadness.
"Well, that's great Ruby. I like you … like a sister too, I guess."
Ruby internally kicked herself. Of course saying that would make anyone upset if they actually liked you! Ruby quickly weighed her options as Blake now turned around and faced away from her and wiped at her face with her sleeves. The redhead could hear the quiet sobs.
'Think Ruby, think!'
She knew what she just did. But what could she do to calm Blake down and diffuse the situation? She was terrible with words no matter who she was talking to. She liked Blake too; she liked her a lot in fact. She had romantic feelings for her but she didn't know how to just up and say it. Plus it was embarrassing! But a single thought made its way into her head.
Cinder.
Thinking on the other girl made Ruby feel slightly weird. Especially since she was here with Blake. It made her feel bad, but brushing that aside for now Ruby remembered the internal strife she felt when she wondered about seeing the other girl. Did Blake feel that way about her right now? She had to, and knowing that she basically crushed the girl's heart then and there made Ruby feel low.
She swallowed hard as she came to a conclusion as to what to do.
It should be easy, I mean she's done it once and almost did it with Blake already before.
Finally mentally getting herself prepared, Ruby took a step towards Blake who walked off a few steps from their cars and could still be heard sobbing quietly. With every step towards Blake though, Ruby felt herself swell at the incoming move. With every step she grew more confident and confident.
Once she reached Blake, the younger girl gripped the ebon haired girl by her shoulders and spun her around with a purpose.
"L-listen Ruby, I'm sor-" Blake started as she was spun around.
But once she was forcibly turned to face Ruby she felt her words get cut off in her mouth as her lips were met with something else.
Ruby planted her feet down firmly and got on her tip toes. She closed her eyes and silenced Blake with her lips.
Ruby kissed Blake.
Blake felt her heart threaten to blow out of her chest at the sudden contact. She felt Ruby's small and tender lips on her own as they unskillfully wrapped themselves around her own in a wet embrace.
Finally realizing what was going on and coming to terms with how it wasn't a dream at the moment, Blake calmed down for a moment before breaking the embrace between the two of them hesitantly.
Pushing Ruby away gently, Blake took a deep breath and almost giggled at Ruby's confused and embarrassed face as she stepped back a bit.
"You said you liked me as a sister, I hope you don't kiss Yang like that." Blake said suddenly.
She shut her eyes at the stupid comment that she had not meant to say!
"N-no. Not anymore at least"
Blake grimaced and felt her eyes shoot open and stare at Ruby. She felt her mouth fall open at what the younger girl had just said.
"I-I'm kidding Blake!" Ruby finally mentioned after she took in Blake's reaction.
Ruby giggled slightly, but turned around before she added;
"I lied when I said I like you as a sister Blake. T-the truth is I've been attracted to you for a while now. I- I just d-didn't know how to say it. So yeah! W-well I guess I- I just said it n-now huh?"
Silence.
Ruby fought with herself internally at the horrible confession, and to make matters worse now Blake herself wasn't even saying anything. Feeling like she was burning up and about to faint if she didn't get a response, Ruby willed herself to turn around.
She was met with Blake now standing right in her face.
Slightly scared silver orbs took in Blake's face. The girl wore a genuine smile on her face as she leaned down towards Ruby's face. Ruby also felt curious hands wrap themselves around her hips and bring her closer to Blake's own body. She couldn't help but smile as she breathed in the cool scent of vanilla from Blake's hair.
"So, Ruby Rose…" Blake whispered.
Their faces were practically touching noses at how close they were. Ruby felt her heartbeat quicken yet again, but she wasn't nervous anymore. She felt at ease suddenly. She couldn't be happier in fact, she liked Blake. God she was almost in love with the girl. She didn't know why or how but she knew what this feeling was, and she knew Blake felt the same way! She'd finally crossed a mental barrier too as she confessed to the girl she was attracted to.
Ruby giggled nervously as she held Blake's close gaze.
"So B- Blake Belladonna?"
Blake broke into a wider smile at hearing Ruby's nervous tone but the girl looked calm to her. It was now or never for Blake. She's been fighting with this feeling for months now. How it tore her up inside seeing the girl you fell in love with every day but not able to say anything to her about it due to your own stubbornness and reluctance. For Blake it was a nightmare.
But no more! She finally took a huge step and was now presented with the best situation for what she was about to do now.
And so she took in a deep breath before announcing the words that she'd told Yang she would say to her younger sister about a week ago;
"Will you go out with me, Ruby?"
