Stock·holm syn·drome
noun
feelings of trust or affection felt in certain cases of kidnapping or hostage-taking by a victim toward a captor.
The dim light flickered on Weiss's face as she stared at the words on her phone. She shook her head, this wasn't the word. Weiss lifted her eyes from the screen and looked around the dark classroom. Seventh period. Luckily for Weiss, there was a substitute teacher who was playing some historical movie, and even better, Cardin was sound asleep at his desk.
For the past several weeks, Weiss had been looking for any sort of rationalization, any sort of explanation that could truly tell her what those feelings with Yang meant, and why they were so darn prevalent. Weiss had tried to understand herself and these feelings, but they were new. Newer than any sort of anxiety. Any sort of fear.
Weiss's fingers hovered over the keys on her cell, typing slowly How to tell if I'm… Weiss felt a tap on her shoulder, her phone nearly flinging out of her hands as she jumped along with it. She whipped her head around to look at who had tapped her. Neptune.
Neptune smiled sweetly at her, now waving. Weiss signed to him, 'What do you want?'
Neptune raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Now, Weiss, you know how bad I am at reading lips," he said in a low whisper.
Weiss rolled her eyes. Within the same past weeks, Weiss had become a little more comfortable with Yang's friends. She went as far as even hanging out with them at lunch once or twice. And now that Neptune had become much more personable, she had even began to stick around him a little more. Or at least as much as she could tolerate.
Weiss began to type on her phone, 'What do you want?' and showed it to Neptune.
"Oh, nothing. Just wondering if you're planning on kidnapping anybody, please don't let it be me. I'm too pretty to be kidnapped." He ran his fingers through his blue hair and winked.
Weiss glared. Had he been watching Weiss this whole time? Wait! Did he… did he know? Her eyes showed a glimmer of panic. Her fingers now typing furiously on her cell, 'Seriously, Neptune, does my privacy mean nothing to you?' Her brows furrowed as she showed him her words.
Neptune backed away slightly. "Whoa, whoa. Look, I'm just worried about you. Yang has been talking about you, like, nonstop, and she's worried." His low whisper hinted at concern.
Weiss was now the one taken aback. She looked around the classroom — nobody's eyes were on was just her and Neptune… and the mention of Yang. Anytime Yang had been mentioned, she would lose all focus. A small blush crept upon her face, as she swallowed down the feeling that was bubbling up inside her chest. Her eyes went back to her phone, now typing, 'Yang's worried about what? Can't she tell me herself?' She flashed Neptune her written words.
"Well, yeah, duh. But, like, she was saying ever since the sleepover you two had like a month ago, she's been saying you're acting shyer than usual. Around her, of all people!" Neptune's tone seemed to grow dramatic, if not also a little flamboyant. Weiss looked around the classroom once more, everyone still minding their own business.
Neptune wasn't wrong in the slightest. Ever since Weiss's feelings had began to form, Weiss couldn't help but shy away from Yang. Avoiding eye contact. Avoiding any sort of contact. She remembered one particular situation where Weiss ate in her usual economics classroom and Yang had joined her. Weiss refused to look at Yang, and hardly signed to her.
These feelings were unusual and scarier than anything she had ever faced.
The thought that she, the Weiss Schnee, could be gay, was something she had never even thought about. Being in love was something that she had never thought about. Weiss had originally destined herself to be alone forever, but now, she wasn't so sure she wanted that life anymore.
She wasn't even sure how people here accepted… people of her kind. In Atlas, things like conversion camps existed, and homosexuals there were not treated nicely. But she was no longer in Atlas, and she was glad about that for a multitude of reasons. All that remained was the concern of the people of Vale, and how they treated gays. Weiss wasn't exactly sure. It wasn't like she knew any gay people at Beacon.
Not to mention, Cardin would most likely give her a harder time than he usually did.
Her attention turned back toward Neptune, a slow but suddenly-growing suspicion starting to consume her. A simple question came to mind that if she thought about it, seemed to add up. Neptune wasn't like the other guys, but neither was Weiss. Maybe he was…
Like her?
She looked at her phone, now typing once more, 'Neptune, wait for me a bit after class. We need to talk.'
Neptune sat back in his seat, his legs crossed. "Ooooh, gossip. I love gossip." He smirked and nodded.
Not long after, the bell rang, indicating the day was over. Weiss had already packed her stuff, eying the sleeping Cardin who hadn't budged since the beginning of the movie.
She waited by the exit for Neptune, who was casually gathering his stuff. As soon as Neptune had made his way toward her, Weiss grabbed onto the boy's arm, pulling him through the crowd and into a somewhat empty hallway.
"H-Hey! Slow down, Snow Angel. Just so you know, if you're asking me out on a date, I'm actually—"
Weiss paused, her phone already set with a message—
"Are you gay?"
"I'm gay!" Neptune exclaimed.
Both Neptune and Weiss stared at each other. Weiss looked a little more dumbfounded than she realized.
"Huhh… You know, I thought Yang would've told you by now." Neptune rubbed his chin.
Weiss shook her head and raised an eyebrow. What was Yang supposed to tell her?
"No, I'm like legitimately surprised that Yang did not tell you I was gay, and yeah, I know, I kinda hit on you in the beginning of the year. I was a little upset you didn't find me attractive. I'm hot!" He flailed and crossed his arms.
Weiss widened her eyes, shook her head, then shrugged in confusion.
"But anyway, I'm sure there is some reason you asked me if I'm gay," he stated, his own tone now becoming a little more serious.
Weiss looked down at her phone, now typing, "I was just curious. I didn't know if there were any gay people here!"
Neptune snorted. "Sweetheart, there are gay people all around you, and some are closer than you know." He winked. "Like me!" he quickly added with a smirk.
It seemed like Neptune had immediately caught onto whatever Weiss was trying to imply, and now to him, he was playing an interesting game. He wanted to make light of the situation, the possible implication that Weiss was now questioning sexuality in general was a clear indicator that something had crossed her mind.
Something that he wanted to help Weiss understand, and something that could possibly get Yang what she wanted.
Weiss nervously typed at her phone once more. 'Okay, that's good to know. You guys aren't like… treated badly here, right?'
Neptune shook his head. "Not really. We're nothing like Atlas, but we do have assholes like Cardin to make things bad. There's really no avoiding people like him." He merely shrugged. "You kinda get used to it."
Weiss's tension seemed to ease up, her shoulders now slacking slightly. She glanced back down at her phone, typing again. 'Can we talk about this more... like somewhere private?'
Neptune looked around and nodded. "Yeah, sure. You want me to take you home?"
Weiss nodded, suddenly finding a newfound sense of ease with Neptune. He was gay and from the looks of it, he wasn't ashamed of it. Maybe she could learn how to be a little like him. Maybe she, too, could be comfortable with being… gay. But being comfortable with being hopelessly in love with Yang would be an entirely different story.
Yang waited in her usual spot for Weiss, but for some reason, Weiss never came.
A sudden burst of sadness filled Yang. She had noticed Weiss growing distant, she had noticed Weiss refusing to look her in the eye or even sign. Had the sleepover frightened her away? Was it all just too much for Weiss?
As much as Yang liked to try and speak to her, at times it was like Weiss wasn't even listening. Should she have even bothered to text her?
Yang, lost in her own sad thoughts, had failed to notice Blake walking up to her. "Uhh, hey, Yang?"
Yang turned toward Blake with a scrunched face. "Yeah?"
"I'm pretty sure I saw Neptune walking out to the parking lot with Weiss." Blake gestured behind her.
"What?! Why would she? Why would he?!" Yang seemed to suddenly be very uncomfortable with notion of Weiss and Neptune hanging out. Mostly due to the fact that Neptune, although he meant well, usually went the wrong way about things. He had already made Weiss uncomfortable several times; Yang could now only imagine the shit he'd try to pull for the sake of Yang, who more often than not claimed she needed no help from the boy. "AUGHH!" she roared, her hands in the air as if she were cursing the sky.
"Now, I know you can't speak or anything but I can go ahead and probably answer whatever question you're most likely thinking." Neptune glanced at his passenger, and then to his phone, which was propped up with directions to Weiss's home.
Weiss nodded.
"You're probably wondering, 'Oh, how did I know I was gay!' Well, honestly, it's different for everyone just like it was for…" He paused. "Ha, ignore me. Sometimes you see a dude, or a chick, and you're really like, 'Whoa, I wanna date the heck outta of them!' And then other times you're not so sure, and so it's just like…" He paused again, now taking a turn down a main road, "I don't know if I'm gay. Blah, blah blah, then boom! Some experimentation happens and voilà, you really are gay!"
Weiss deadpanned at him, to which Neptune quickly glanced. "What?" he questioned. "I'm serious. Being in a romantic relationship with the same sex is a lot different than it is for a usual heteromantic relationship. I can't really explain it, but I mean, if you were in one you'd totally get it. So... you and Yang," he began with a smirk as they hit a red light.
Weiss merely shook her head, with an immediate blush following it.
"It's okay if you like her, y'know. She is hot, and if I was into chicks, I'd totally date her."
Weiss continued to shake her head adamantly, the blush failing to falter. Nope, nope! This was not the way she wanted this to go, but she sooner or later guessed that this was going to be inevitable.
"Look, Weiss… You don't have to tell me about those feelings, because I know you have them. Anytime I mention Yang, you look like you're about to combust, and now you're just continuously shaking your head like a bobblehead. That's tacky." Neptune continued to speak as he drove. "Plus, you also wouldn't be asking about gay things if I knew you weren't questioning."
Had Neptune always been this perceptive? Weiss felt suddenly very small, she didn't realize that she was that easy to read. She had wondered who else had caught on. Weiss buried her face in her hands. Neptune was right, he was more than right, and it was terrifying to hear. Maybe she had needed this. Another wake up call to reality.
"It's okay, Weiss, I promise I won't tell a soul, and I'm serious about this, but if you do need someone to talk to about this, I'm all… eyes?" He shook his head. "Whatever, you know what I mean." He pulled into Weiss's driveway, and looked at her. Waiting for some sort of response.
Weiss nodded, they both stared at each other for a moment before Neptune's eyes lit up with a smirk.
"Oh! Hey, I just remembered… Pyrrha is throwing a party sometime next week and I was hoping you wanted to go? Yang will be there, but I was hoping you and I could do something for the party before then. You know, like go shopping. Get you that perfect outfit. Like dress to impress." He nodded with a grin.
Weiss squinted, unsure of all of this. Though the prospect of Yang being there was awfully tantalizing.
"There will be alcohol, so if you'd like to pregame a little, y'know, to get some liquid courage into you before you try to hit it off with Yang, we can totally do that." He winked, now handing his phone to Weiss and making her put her number in it.
Weiss, once again, complied to his wishes. She should've said no.
Wait, did he say, 'Hit it off with Yang?' As soon as Weiss gave him her number, she fled the car and jogged into her house.
She wasn't ready to do anything with Yang, much less confess her feelings. And she only had a week to prepare! Weiss didn't even know if her feelings were real or not! If Yang even liked her like that or not! Was Yang gay, too? There were a lot of questions that Weiss needed answers to, and now she completely felt lost again for the first time in weeks.
She walked into her room, closing the door behind her. She couldn't talk to Yang, no, not anymore. It was just too much. No matter how much her heart wanted her, there was no way that Weiss Schnee was ready to break off a friendship for her own selfish wants and desires.
To Weiss, Yang had a friendly personality, and while now they could completely communicate in ASL, Weiss was still convinced that Yang was just being friendly. It didn't matter that Yang's smile caused her heart to flip. It didn't matter that from time to time, when Yang decided to walk Weiss to class, their hands would lightly brush up against one another.
There was absolutely no way that Weiss could be convinced that being gay and crushing on Yang was okay.
A slew of text messages appeared on Neptune's phone, immediately after Weiss had left. He drove away from Weiss's driveway and parked at a nearby park to finally answer the texts that had dinged his phone.
Firecracker:
You better not be with Weiss.
Are you with her?
Neptune, I freaking swear if you don't answer me...
What did you tell her?
Whoa, whoa. Relax, Firecracker. I think I did you a favor. Weiss is fine.
She's in the hands of Neptune, and I will make sure to take good care of her.
What did you do?
You'll see ;) Next week. Pyrrha's party.
You invited her to Pyrrha's party? Seriously? Do you remember what happened last time she was in a large crowd?
Hey, as far as I'm concerned this isn't a pool party. Besides, this is a party for the big kids!
I'm going to make sure Weiss is a big kid.
That makes no sense, you buffoon! Wait, are you going to make Weiss drink?! What kind of plan is that?
I'm not making her drink, that's her own choice. But, I kind of hinted that it may be easier to ask you out if she does.
Shit.
Pretend it's a surprise.
Yang stared at her phone in awe. 'Ask you out.' The phrase stood out like a sore thumb.
Did you tell her I was gay? Wait, is SHE gay?
Honestly, I think she's still figuring it out. Lol. Baby gays are cute! And no, I didn't out you. Which, I'm surprised... you didn't seem to out me either!
...I am 100% going to murder you. You can't just shove the idea of sexuality onto someone! Or even someone out of the closet! Especially someone who doesn't really talk!
She asked ME if I was gay. I just assumed she was asking because she was questioning. Turns out, I was right! Turns out, the reason she's been acting all weird around you is because she has a big gay crush on you and she doesn't understand it!
SIMPLE MATH.
Yeah, I'm still going to murder you.
Look, if I hadn't jumped at this chance that was offered to me, YOU would never get the chance at this once in a lifetime deal of having Weiss Schnee as YOUR girlfriend.
Yang Xiao Long, a girl, Weiss Schnee, has a big gay crush on you!
LET HER TELL ME THAT THEN. For fuck's sake, Neptune!
I know you're worried, but let me ease your fears. I promise, on my life, I will not fuck this up. All we're going to do is probably hang out a little, go shopping, and then I'll drive her over to the party. Then you'll see how hot Weiss really is ;)
Ugggggghhsrewjcijggtyoc
Big gay smash?
Yang rolled her eyes and clicked the home screen. While she was glad that Weiss didn't hate her, she wasn't really giddy at the fact that Weiss was in love with her.
Not that she didn't think Weiss was pretty. Or cute. Or that she smelled really nice when they hugged. No, that wasn't it at all.
It was more like Yang wanted Weiss to do this her own way. Whether or not Weiss ended up being gay or not. She wouldn't deny that deep down she liked Weiss, but everything was supposed to be on Weiss's terms. Not Yang's, and definitely not Neptune's.
This would only cause awkward tension between the two… and with Neptune involved, Weiss at a party with more strangers than she could count smelled like trouble.
Yang would have to speak to Weiss about all of this. Whatever Neptune had told her, and what Yang herself would eventually have to reveal to Weiss. That she, too, was gay. And if Weiss was actually into her, then that, too, would have to be discussed.
There was one thing more important to Yang than anything else, and that was to keep her friendship with Weiss Schnee.
