Being stationed along the wall was easy, but going home was hard. Although they lived directly across from each other, just as they always had, Pyrrha could feel the divide. Maybe it had always been there. Maybe, before, she was content to ignore the fact that the woman she cared about was just out of reach. Even if that had been the case before, Pyrrha was far from content now as she sat on her front stoop.

Looking forlornly at the door to the other household, she wondered if Weiss was thinking about her, too.

"It's a door, not a Grimm you know." Jaune said, socking Pyrrha out of her thoughts as he hung out of his bedroom window.

Green eyes lifted to glare at him softly. She wasn't truly angry, merely startled, and the stern features melted away when her heart didn't feel crammed in her throat. "How long have you been watching me?"

"I don't know…awhile, I guess. I think about the fifth sigh, give or take…" Jaune trailed off. "What's got you so down, anyway?"

"Nothing at all." Pyrrha said, and she knew it to be the truth. "I'm just fine, and things are going well."

It was the truth, too. Not a single lie woven between the words. Things were going well, far better than she expected, at any rate. Even if she couldn't say for sure that Weiss would take her feeling seriously, the white haired woman hadn't completely brushed her off either. It would take time, but she was sure she could earn the shorter woman's affections. She had the distinct impression Weiss wanted to give them as well, and yet, hadn't the slightest idea how to go about doing that.

"Okay, everything is going well. That's good then. So, what's with the sighing?" Jaune asked.

"I just have something on my mind." Pyrrha said, standing, and leaning on the brick wall. "Something that I don't think should be made public quite yet. Honestly, I'm not sure there's anything to speak of, but…" Her green eyes drifted back to the door just down the alleyway. "What would you do, Jaune, if you had a friend with a troubled past? If that friend confided in you? Furthermore, what if that friend did it in such a way, that you feared doing anything that might hurt them more?"

"What would I do, huh? Hmm..." Jaune seemed to think on this before shrugging. "Beats me." He said as he looked across the street. "Weiss isn't the kind of person to confide in people at all, so if she has told you something, maybe that's enough."

"How did you know it was Weiss?" Pyrrha asked, completely floored by the actually correct guess. Normally, his cluelessness was baffling, not to mention borderline offensive. Yet, he had understood the hidden nature of her question perfectly, and she demanded to know how on Remnant that was even possible.

"I don't know how to put my finger on it." Jaune said thoughtfully, squinting at something unseen by Pyrrha. "It's like, this feeling I get. When I see you two together, it just seems like that's the way it should be." He smirked then. "I don't why it comes to mind, only that it does."

Pyrrha smiled sadly at him. "I feel the same way, but, I'm not so sure that Weiss does. I think she wants to, but she's afraid to."

"Well, you're doing better than I ever did…" He deadpanned. "I'm lucky Weiss even puts up with me at all. Think about the way I acted. I was such a jackass looking back on it all, but, there's nothing I can do about that now, is there?"

"You meant well." Pyrrha offered.

"Road paved to hell, and all that." Jaune said, waving the matter aside. "You mean well too, don't you?"

"Was there ever any doubt of that?"

"No, but, I care about you. You'll always be my partner, and you're a really great person…but I know how you are, Pyr." He said in only the way an ex-boyfriend ever could. "You'll do anything you can, and everything you can…but sometimes, you just can't, you know? Weiss can be really, really, rude when she pushes people away…I don't want you to get hurt if all this backfires. I know how much it sucks to be on the receiving end of it."

"However, your heart was in the right place." Pyrrha told him with a soft smile. One that faded a little as she continued. "Besides, if you hadn't taken an interest in her, I would have never seen all of the truly good qualities in you. There's more to you than meets the eye, and I was very fortunate to see that side of you. I know you don't believe me, and that probably you never will, but you're a good man."

"Yeah, well, you're a good woman." He told her. "Not that you need any advice, but, if it were me, I'd go talk to her. If I knew I had even half the chance that you do, I wouldn't be sitting on my front stoop."

Pyrrha rolled her eyes at this. "I don't want to bother her."

"What bother? Go knock on the door." Jaune asked. "Take it from me, the worst she can possibly do is slam it in your face…"

"You would know, wouldn't you?" Pyrrha shook her head, laughing a little bit. "Now, I know I've been a little persistent, but I doubt she would do that."

"Then why are you still just sitting there?"

That, Pyrrha had to concede, was a very good question...

Life inside of the RWBY household was as tense as ever, but this time, it wasn't Yang simmering on a low boil. It was Blake, usually the most unperturbed of the bunch.

Yang didn't want to believe that her father was spending all of his spare time drinking himself into oblivion, but she knew her uncle wouldn't lie about something like that. Blake certainly would not have passed along the information unless she herself had verified that it was true. It was obvious by Blake's ranting that she was less than impressed.

"So, what the hell's his problem then?" Yang asked somewhat annoyed that the newest addition in the family was being pointedly avoided. "It's not like I asked him to raise her."

"No, Yang, you didn't, but I think that's the problem." Blake felt conflicted. "He put all of his eggs in one basket, and it blew up in his face. Instead of realizing that nothing's really changed, he's just wallowing in his booze." She wanted the best for everyone, but Tai was just a satellite concern of hers. It might have been a terrible way to think. She didn't defend the cold stance on the subject, but, she didn't change her outlook to sympathize, either. "He's acting like an idiot..."

"He's my dad, Blake."

"Yours? Yeah…" Blake said then. "But he's not Ace's, and frankly, I think I have a right to be a little pissed off that he won't even pull himself together for your sake…and what about Ruby? You know she's going to take it personally if this keeps up. She'll blame herself, and right now, I don't think she can handle that very well."

"Dad's never been perfect. Always toed the line. Ruby doesn't talk about it, but she knows he has a hard time with it. Thing is, if what you say is true, there's no one to really blame. He fell apart, and that happens sometimes." Yang said. "That's what drunks do when they fall off the wagon. They drink. Sobering up again isn't the easiest thing in the world. You can't just flip a switch."

"He was more or less clean for years, Yang. He waited for Raven for years…all for nothing." Blake slammed her glass on the table with a little more force than she had been expecting, sending her hot tea sloshing over her fingers. "Don't you understand? He spent years of his life waiting for her, and for no good reason. Now, instead of choosing a different path, he's still just sitting there, and he's still just waiting….god only knows what the hell he's waiting for this time."

"Anyone's guess." Yang looked down at the steaming liquid. Blake was used to intense heat, being burned in and of itself something she had gotten used to because Yang could become a literal walking ball of fire. Still, the reddening flesh should be tended to, and Yang grabbed Blake's hand and dabbed it with a dry napkin. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't know what he's thinking, either."

"He better think about pulling his head out of his ass…"

"Blake, listen, I'm happy that you're angry for Ruby's sake. It means you don't like my dad being selfish any more than I do." Yang began, her thumb trailing over the burns that were already almost healed. Aura was a powerful thing. "You really care about her, and you care about Ace...but, being angry doesn't help anyone, and really only torments yourself. Ruby and I learned that a long time ago. You can be angry at an addict all you want, but that won't solve the actual problem."

"You're his daughter…" Blake said leaning forward, hunched over in her seat, her eyes watching the roaring fire keeping the home warm. "Don't you think you should say something to him?"

"The urge to drink, I get it from both ends." Yang said. "If I can put it down, so can he." Then she shrugged. "Not going to lie though, there are a lot of things that keep me up at night. I don't have answers for many of them. It's easier to toss back a few to get that warm feeling in your gut…it does quiet the doubts. Well, for a short while anyway, they always come back…it's never the answer, but, when you don't have any answers at all, I guess in some assbackwards way, drinking makes sense."

Blake nodded at this, her voice gentle as she asked her next question. "What do you have doubts about?"

"Oh, a lot of things." Yang shrugged. "It's always been that way. Live the life I have, you'll always have an unanswered question or two."

"Right…"

"Listen, I'd be lying if I said none of those questions could be aimed at you. I mean, you're a pretty big part of my life, Blake, and I value that. It's just that I've been on the other side of the coin, too. I know commitment isn't your strongest suit." Yang leaned back in her chair then, wincing as it creaked in protest. "But, Ruby's my sister. That's all she's ever been, so it's not like I can sit you down and give you the shotgun talk like some lunatic parent. It's not my place."

"Yet, you do have questions…" Blake finished.

"I won't ask them, though." Yang told her. "As long as you're good to her, that's all that matters. Eventually, all good things come to an end. I think life's going to get a lot harder before it gets easier. It's when the bad stuff comes around that I worry, and that's where most of my questions come from. A lot of 'what if', a lot of fear, past things I don't want repeated in her life, or mine…and then, there's Ace to think about. The more she sticks around, the more I think that we have way more on our hands than we realize."

"We knew this wouldn't be easy." Blake had thought the worst when she had first seen Ace. Looking back, it was hard not to imagine the little girl around, but that didn't ease Blake's analytical mind any less. "I have to believe that raising her won't be too hard as time goes on, either...everything will be fine, mostly because it has to be."

"But, you don't really believe that, do you?"

Blake shook her head. "No, not always. Sometimes, I don't."

She told Ruby that there was no way they could raise a child. In some ways, Blake still doubted they could. The cynical part of her mind promised her that somehow, they were going to screw this up. Blake had never said it, but, it was what she thought of in the back of her mind. Blake was sure, on some level, Yang could see those doubts clearly. Blake bet Yang even shared some of them.

"So, what are you going to do about your dad?" Blake asked then. "Or, rather, I guess the question is, what do you want to do?"

"I want to kick him in the head and knock some damn sense into him." Yang bit out. "Since that's not going to work, I'll settle for sitting here and waiting for him to realize life's going on ahead of him whether he likes it or not."

"He might not ever pull himself out of it." Blake warned. "Are you going to be okay with that?"

"Honestly? Ace is my family." Yang shook her head. "I'd be really pissed if he never came around, never took the time to be part of her life. It's his right if he doesn't want anything to do with her…can't say it wouldn't hurt though, raise more questions, things like that."

"What kind of questions?"

Yang only shrugged. "The shitty kind that you really don't want to hear, and I really don't want to say."

Weiss cursed to herself.

On her budget, she didn't keep the kind of clothing that she used to. Everything came from the outlet mall, and that meant that she had to try twice as hard to look immaculate. Impossibly priced dressed were no longer part of her spending. She couldn't even buy something nice from the high end dress shops around Vale that mass produced finer articles of clothing. Weiss had learned to love rummaging around in sale bins for a new shirt or two. The occasional skirt off the rack was acceptable, provided it was on sale. However her days of mindless purchasing were over.

She couldn't justify the expenses, but neither could she accept looking so plain for an outing with someone she might be interested in.

And Pyrrha had well and truly wanted to spend time together outside of their homes. She even called it a date, which did nothing more than scare Weiss, but with every ounce of hesitance possible, she accepted. Weiss had no idea what commoner's date consisted of, but she knew Pyrrha would keep it simple. The redheaded woman learned to hate extravagance, and Weiss perfectly understood the sentiment.

Still, a night on the town demanded more than her current wardrobe offered. It demanded more confidence than she had.

"You know, you can pick anything. It'll probably just end up on the floor anyway." The blonde woman teased.

"Yang! Of all the conclusions to jump to. Pyrrha's not like that, she would never encourage something so…so…vile!"

"Love making is vile now? Never got the memo, so good to know." Yang grumbled as she played with her little sister, stacking blocks one on top of the other. "Honestly though, would it really be so bad to share something like that with her. Or even just admit you'd want something like that down the line? It's not like I don't already know you've got a thing going on with her."

"For your information, we do not have a thing." Weiss replied haughtily. "We're merely very good friends."

"You sure Pyrrha knows that?" Yang shot back effortlessly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Weiss, cut the bullshit." Yang sighed at length. "If you hadn't taken the same combat classes I did, I would honestly think you've never once seen a dick in your entire life."

"Language! Your little sister is sitting right there, for goodness sake. If you keep spouting that kind of filth, one day she'll start parroting you." Weiss protested, praying she could push aside the entire conversation. "If you must be crass, say bull-dung and penis like the rest of the world."

"One, who the hell says 'bull dung'. Two, I don't care what you call it, they repulse the crap out of you." Yang said with a roll of her eyes. "Three, I'm not going to soften my speech just because I have a baby sister. Besides, that's not the point, and you can't derail me from this. I know you're a lesbian, I think everyone else does too. It's not that hard to figure out, but, even assuming that it was, Pyrrha cares about you."

"I care about her too." Weiss said. "She's a very dear friend."

Yang groaned, smacking her own face in annoyance. "And people say I'm the airhead…" She blew out a hot breath as Ace charged into the stack of blocks, sending them scattering across the room. Then she ran behind the dresser, waiting for Yang to build it back up again. Reaching out to grab a few of the blocks again, Yang cast her friend a meaningful glance. "Weiss, do you really mean it? That you care about her, I mean?"

"Of course I do." The white haired woman said. "Not that it's any of your business."

"Then own up to that." Yang murmured. "If you mean it, show her how you feel. It took Pyrrha a long time to come to terms with everything. I know you're used to taking your dear sweet time with everything you do, but the longer you wait, the more you stand to really hurt her."

"I have no intention of hurting her."

"Doesn't mean you won't."

"It also not a guarantee that I will."

"It's going to get you hurt too." Yang reminded her. "I don't want to see that happen."

"Why not?" Weiss asked darkly. "I deserve it, don't it?"

"God, I hate when you make me do this." Yang shoved herself up from the floor, making her way across the room as she used her strength to turn Weiss to face her, demanding to be seen. "I'm waiting…you know what I want to hear."

"You'll be waiting for a long time then." Weiss said, looking down at the floor, finding it all the more interesting.

"Don't push me out. You know I won't let you, so let's not go there." Yang said, slowly backing her friend into the wall, the soft thump, indicating the gentle impact. "I've got you, okay? You're safe. Just say it."

"But-"

"Nope. You're fine, Weiss." Yang interrupted. "You're good. We've got your back. Always have, always will. You'll be okay."

Weiss tried to look away, but Yang wouldn't let her, getting right in the shorter woman's face. There was a wetness in blue eyes. Weiss began to shake.

"Hey…hey…Weiss, chill." She coaxed, but Weiss had none of it, so Yang gently slapped at her jaw, the rough handing getting the attention she wanted. "Chill. That bad place in your past? Don't go there." Yang said again softly, finally able to meet icy blue eyes without the woman recoiling. "Don't fight me. You can do this…"

"No…I can't."

"You've got to." Yang said. Weiss looked away again, earning another soft smack. "Nu-un. No, you're not allowed to do that. Eyes on me. You keep them on me. You stay in the here and now. You know what I want to hear…so just say it."

She knew what Yang wanted to hear…and frankly what she needed to just come to terms with. For Weiss, it was impossible to do without shattering like glass. Yang knew that, it was what she was expecting, but Weiss didn't want to break anymore. She was tired of breaking down her walls. There was only so much she could do on her own. If that made her a coward, then it only proved her point.

She didn't deserve to be happy, not after everything she turned her back on.

She looked away again as if seeing some terrible monster waving at her from the void. Once again, Yang gently smacked her for it. Blue eyes met lilac again. "Yang...I can't."

"You can. You just have to get used to saying it, Weiss." Yang told her, adjusting the woman's face yet again, trying her best to keep Weiss grounded in the moment. "You just have to say it once without having a breakdown, and then…the other times…I swear, it'll get easier."

Yet, have a breakdown she did as tears finally fell from her eyes. "I'm irredeemably gay! Are you happy now?!" Weiss sobbed, hating herself all the more as Yang rolled her eyes.

Sighing, Yang defaulted to pulling Weiss tightly against her. Letting the shorter woman silence her sobs in the fabric of her shirt. "Without the breakdown would have been nice." Yang told her dryly, wrapping her arms around Weiss all the same. "You're still good. World didn't end."

Weiss shook her head wordlessly as if to argue, but Yang held her more securely.

"Yeah, you are." Yang told her firmly, not taking any denials for an answer. "I just wish you'd start believing that..."

Pyrrha came to the door late that evening ready to take Weiss on her date, but it was Yang who opened the door. "Hey, Pyr." Yang smirked, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Weiss is in our room."

"Still getting ready?" Pyrrha asked, but then Yang shook her head.

"Afraid not." Yang grabbed her jacket throwing it over her shoulders. "It's probably better if you and Weiss stay here. There was an episode earlier, and I don't think she's really in the right mindset for an outing. That's fine though. You guys have the house to yourselves. Ruby and I are going to take Ace on a little camping trip, and Blake decided to come along. They've already gone on ahead, so I should catch up." Patting Pyrrha on the shoulder as if to fortify her, Yang headed out, closing the door behind her.

It wasn't the first time she had been left alone in this household, having acted as an emergency babysitter for Ace in the past. It was strange stepping through the house when it was so eerily silent though. She made her way to the room Weiss stayed in with Yang. The woman sat on her bed, looking lost and forlorn as she looked up to see Pyrrha standing there.

"I realized, I don't have anything nice to wear." It was a weak attempt at a joke, and perhaps a partial excuse, but it all fell to pieces as she said it.

"You could have worn a burlap sack, and I would still think you to be entirely beautiful." Pyrrha said, and she completely meant it too. That's what made seeing Weiss so upset, so unbearably difficult. Even like this, she was beautiful, impossible as it was. She took a few steps forward, tentatively sitting beside Weiss. Trying her best to figure out what Weiss might be comfortable with.

With nothing to go on, she settled with taking the woman's hands in her own.

Pyrrha wanted to do more, but it was hard to justify doing that when it was obvious that her affections for Weiss were not the platonic sort. With the two of them sitting upon a bed, even a simple thing such as embracing her could be misconstrued. In fact, in this moment of weakness, it would be. She couldn't take advantage of Weiss, didn't dare to even let such a thought enter into her head. It was obvious that the demons plaguing her were not the sort that Pyrrha could simply chase away.

Dearly, she wanted to. The hopelessly romantic part of her heart constricting painfully at the thought that there was nothing she could do. Her mind at war with it, coming up with all sorts of plans to ward away the evils that could possibly shatter this woman in front of her. All of it seemed futile though. Most plans too bold, others simply not good enough. What was she to do?

Pyrrha forced a small smile, one hand lifting up to cup a cheek that was colored pink by a blush. The reasons for it negative, and therefore, terrible by nature. Gently, she smoothed away a tear, the wetness clinging to her thumb in a powerful way. It felt incredibly heavy, far too taxing, and Pyrrha felt lost in it. Worst still, the pools of blue eyes threatened to overflow with even more of them.

It was painful to see, so she closed her eyes and sighed.

"I would do everything in my power to help you. I would protect you from whatever it is that terrifies you so greatly. However, I can only do that if I know the foe I am to face." Pyrrha knew nothing. "Tell me what I should do. I will do it." She would probably never know the sorts of twisted shadows that had crept into her love's mind over the years. The murmurs, self-doubt, history itself making for a sludge that was easy to drown in. Such a cesspool was a damaging thing.

The idea that Weiss had waded through such a thing on her own, was not something that Pyrrha was willing to consider. A more pragmatic part of her soul reminded Pyrrha rather urgently that Weiss had her own team, her own family. It was best not to forget that.

When she opened her eyes, she fully expected to have gained the blue eyed woman's attention. Perhaps even soothed away some measure of the discomfort that lingered there when she had first walked in. However, Weiss merely looked smaller for all of Pyrrha's efforts. Confused and fragile, as though she didn't know what could be done to save her from the repetitious thoughts swirling in her mind.

Weiss, however, could only think of one thing. One gesture that didn't sound or seem ludicrous. Something that Yang would do any time one of the members of team RWBY crumpled in on themselves…an act that though none of them admitted, happened more often than not. "Hold me." It was a simple act that among her team was as common a request as a person could get.

There was no stipulation, no added meaning. Just comfort, and Weiss craved it so badly that it physically hurt.

The expected warmth of a hug didn't come, and when she looked up at Pyrrha, she found the woman hesitating.

"Are you sure that will help?" Pyrrha asked, unsure, because it was one of the things she wanted to do in the first place. One of thing things, that, given the setting, she refrained from doing. She didn't want to harm Weiss further. "Are you positive you wish for me to do that?"

Weiss sighed then, realizing the depth of her request. What it might mean for Pyrrha, who had a team consisting of a two males, and therefore an entirely different team dynamic. The idea of personal space -a boundary line that Yang and Ruby had thoroughly trampled on upon her first day at Beacon- was something Pyrrha personally held in high regard.

Pyrrha Nikos was prim, proper, and kept dignity clutched tightly in the palms of her hands when and where she could.

In spite of all of that, and the complicated emotions that such thoughts inspired, Weiss nodded. "Yes." She said softly as if she was unsure of the pure magnitude of it all. Yang made the action a simple thing, but when Pyrrha held her, Weiss realized it would never be simple. There was more to Pyrrha's desires than merely to comfort her. On some level, even if she voiced it or not, Pyrrha wanted to hold Weiss in her arms.

She wanted this…whatever this was…between them.

It did nothing to silence the doubts, but, at the very least, they seemed much less terrifying when cocooned in Pyrrha's embrace.