Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions
Edited by ToxicExotic
A New Home (Part 2)
Weiss Schnee
Weiss was sitting in her favourite seat of Blake Cat Coffee, the bright sunlight streaming through the window to illuminate the book she was reaching an oddly beautiful golden glow. At her side was Yang, the woman's arm around her shoulder as she talked happily to Blake. Customers entered, each one casting a glance their way that made Weiss smile all the wider. They were finally out, people could finally see…
"Weiss."
… how happy she was. No longer did they have to hide in the back, hiding their relationship from the world…
"Hey, Weiss."
… like it was some shameful secret. No. They could just relax. Weiss could enjoy her book while feeling Yang's embrace, the heat of the sun that paled in comparison to Yang's but was nice nonetheless, the feeling of tingling on her lips, of being comforta… Wait. What was that last one? Yang wasn't kissing her, she was talking to Blake. So why did she keep hearing her call her name? Confusion passed through her for a moment and she felt pressure on her lips ag…
Weiss woke with a gentle start. She was a little confused at first. She was warm, and arms were wrapped around her waist. She felt lips on hers, the kiss gentle as if the kisser was only trying to get her attention. Opening her eyes, she saw strands of gold dangling in her vision and a pair of mischievous lilac eyes gazing into her confused blue ones. Though they weren't confused for long, as a second later she remembered having fallen asleep on her wonderful girlfriend. The very same girlfriend who was kissing her with a grin on her face.
With that clarity, the grin was all she needed. Closing her eyes again, Weiss leaned into the kiss. It felt good. No, great. No, wonderful, to be woken in such a loving way, and still happy from a dream that had already begun to fade, Weiss raised a hand to the blonde's cheek and urged her to deepen the affection. Thankfully Yang obliged and Weiss let out a short breath through her nose as the kiss became a little more forceful.
The hand on her back went from gentle to firm, the strength that each finger held obvious, as they pushed into her back and pulled her closer. Yang's other arm came around to hold her waist as Weiss felt her bottom lip get caught between Yang's. Teeth bit down gently onto it, and a small groan escaped her throat. Her hand slipped into the woman's luscious locks, pulling herself even closer as she was determined to make sure there wasn't a single iota of space between them.
The warmth that had been there when she woke increased tenfold and Weiss felt her body shift of its own accord. She wanted more, but for more she needed a better position. However, the hand on her waist kept her in place and Yang began to carefully slow the kiss down. The deep kisses became softer, the fingers on her back slackened and began to run along her back, until finally, after a couple of seconds, their lips parted; leaving Weiss more than a little breathless.
But that was when it came back to her. What Yang was going through, why she had been on her lap in the first place. With those realisations, she felt a little guilty for having lost control so easily.
"Sor..."
She was cut off by another kiss, the intent for her to shut up clear as day. But it only lasted a few seconds before Yang pulled away again.
"You weren't waking up when I called," Yang whispered quietly, Weiss opening her eyes to see a cheeky grin on her girlfriend's face. "Thought I would try something else. Seems like you enjoyed it."
"I could certainly get used to it," Weiss said, her breathing still a little laboured from the make-out session.
"Then go back to sleep and I will wake you up again."
"Don't tempt me," she chuckled, Yang's lips pressing against hers for a moment, successfully turning the chuckle into a wanting hum. "You are such a tease."
"Hardly a tease if you can have me whenever you want," the blonde grinned, her lilac eyes twinkling. "Except for right now that is. What with it being a bad week for that stuff."
"Mmm, that's a shame," Weiss groaned, knowing what Yang meant, as it was a bad week for her too. "I could certainly think of some ways to cheer you up."
It was Yang's turn to chuckle and the blonde reached up to push a lock of white hair behind Weiss' ear. "Seeing how adorable you look when you were sleeping was more than enough."
Shaking her head, Weiss trailed a finger down the woman's jawline, stopping at her chin and placing a gentle kiss on her. This time it was less heated and more loving, though she definitely still felt a pleasant shiver run through her body. Pulling back, she looked her girlfriend in the eyes and smiled.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm good," Yang smiled with a nod, the smile feeling like the first genuine one she had seen from the blonde all day. "Depressed Yang is gone, for now at least. Right now, the only thing I wanna do is cook my beautiful girlfriend something to eat."
"Hmm," she hummed and sat up to look towards the kitchen. "Unless you went shopping while I was at work, I don't think you will find anything in the cupboards."
"That… is a very good point," Yang groaned. "And now all the shops will be shut. I guess we could order in?"
"Won't they be shut too?"
"Nah, I know a couple that will be open. Can you order though? You've been sitting on my lap for two hours and I really need to pee."
Ignoring the fact that Yang had let her sleep for an hour longer than intended, Weiss shook her head and stretched her back as she lifted up. As she stretched her arms towards the ceiling, Yang leaned back against the arm of the chair and very obviously looked her up and down with a grin.
"Enjoying the view?" She laughed as she slipped off the blonde's lap and stretched her legs.
"Always."
Without missing a beat, Yang pushed herself off the chair and mimicked her actions, clearly wanting to give Weiss the same look as her t-shirt rode up to expose her firm stomach. Giving her a firm poke, the woman folded slightly at the waist and brought her arms down to rest on Weiss' shoulders.
"I would kiss you right now, but I do need to go," she chuckled, though placed a fleeting kiss on her lips anyway before flashing a cheeky smile. "Use my Scroll to order. My usual should already be on the app, so add anything you want to it."
"Alright," Weiss replied with a nod as Yang arms dropped. "Now go to the bathroom already."
"You're right, gunna take me half an hour to walk the mile through this apartment to the nearest one anyway," the boxer laughed and pulled back to walk down the hallway with a wave. "See you in an hour."
Chuckling at her girlfriend's stupid joke, Weiss watched Yang leave before leaning down to pick up the Scroll that was left on the table. Inputting the password, she was greeted by the very first picture she'd taken of them both. Though they'd taken a few more since, it was still Weiss' favourite and never failed to bring a smile to her face. Shaking her head free of the memory, she opened the app and saw that the place Yang wanted to order from was only doing pickups. As it was a Sunday, all the others were closed, and the ones that weren't had low stars.
However, that was when she had an idea. Closing the app, she scrolled through Yang's contacts and found the one she wanted. Typing out a quick message, she hit send then waited. It took almost a minute, but they replied with a simple 'be there soon' and Weiss quickly deleted both messages with a smile.
Closing the scroll, Weiss moved over to the bigger couch in the middle of the room and sat down, picking up the controller as she did to turn on the television. Finding what looked to be a comedy channel playing a rerun, she sat back and waited for Yang to join her. She didn't have to wait long as it only took another minute or two for Yang to re-enter the room and plonk down on the seat next to her.
"I love this show," She smiled as an arm was thrown around Weiss' shoulder.
"I've never seen it," Weiss admitted, leaning into her girlfriend and folding her legs up on the chair.
"What?"
"Television is not a big thing in my house," she replied to Yang's disbelief. "Remember?"
"Oh yeah, because your dad has a stick up his ass."
"More like the whole tree that the stick came from, but yes."
She felt Yang vibrate a little beneath her as the blonde let out a hearty chuckle. Happiness rushed through her at the feeling, and she let her arm slip across the brawler's firm stomach as she watched the show, where a man clearly had a turkey stuck on his head. Just like the film Yang had shown her almost a month ago, Weiss easily found herself getting into the show. She didn't know the characters, and one girl was a little… out there, but the show seemed to be written in such a way that it could be picked up from anywhere. It felt like the perfect show to just sit back and relax while watching.
During the break however, Yang leaned down the side of the chair and pulled her duffel bag onto her lap. Watching Yang dig through it, Weiss raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Something wrong?"
"No, just looking fo… Aha!" Yang cut herself off as she pulled out a large book. It looked a little worn, but the drawing of two girls, one with blonde hair and the other with red hair, was still visible on the front cover. "I have something to show you. I finished it last week, but it's been…"
"A long week?" Weiss finished, earning a nod in return.
"Yea."
Watching the woman pull the book open, she was greeted by something that startled her. A drawing of the ocean from what looked to be a bridge, the art itself was beautiful in its own right, but rather creepy at the same time. Dark water shimmered all the way to the horizon, a white moon reflecting brilliantly; but creepy, black hands rose from the depths and clawed at the air. She only saw it for a second before Yang quickly turned the page towards the back, but she had seen it long enough to know what it represented. Deciding not to bring it up as the drawing had looked rather old, she waited until Yang found what she was looking for.
"Here we go," Yang said brightly a couple of seconds later, pulling the book open fully and placing it down on her lap.
One the page was something Weiss had already seen before, but only ever half complete. This time however it really did look finished. The intricately designed, flaming heart that Yang was planning to have over her White Fang tattoo stood out marvelously from the page. So much so that Weiss was almost worried that the page might begin to smoke from just how real it looked.
"It looks great, Yang," Weiss smiled and reached out to touch it gently, still half convinced it might actually burn her.
"It better," Yang chuckled and let her look at it a little longer. "Took a while to get it feeling right."
"Hey!" Weiss moaned as Yang shut the book, stroking her hand lovingly across the cover and returning it to her bag. "I wasn't done looking."
"Oh, I know," Yang grinned, placing the duffel bag back down the side of the chair. "The first time you get to really look at it will be when we..."
Weiss poked her hard in the stomach and rolled her eyes as Yang let out a short laugh. However, while Weiss expected the blonde to return to their position, she was surprised to see the woman looking at her. The gaze was odd, as was the smile that Yang was giving her.
"Also…"
"Wha…"
Before Weiss could finish, Yang lips were on hers again; but the kiss felt different. While definitely passionate, it felt more like Yang was trying to convey gratitude for something. So even without the heat, the love and sincerity behind it was more than enough for Weiss to feel the urge to gently return it. It only lasted a moment, but it still made Weiss hum as the blonde pulled away. A couple of seconds later, she opened her eyes and saw Yang's gazing caringly into hers.
"What was that for?"
"Do I need a reason?" Yang grinned.
"For a kiss like that, yes," Weiss smiled, giving Yang another teasing poke in the stomach. "So tell me so that I can do it again one day."
Yang's smile widened slightly and a strong hand came to gently brush the side of Weiss' cheek.
"Ruby let slip what you did on her trip to your company."
"Oh, that," Weiss replied darkly, remembering how her blood had immediately boiled at hearing the group snicker at Ruby. "You don't need to thank me for that. I spoke with Dr. Polendina and he said she was a standout among them. How come you didn't tell me about the visit anyway?"
With a happy sigh, the muscular blonde returned to her seat at her side and they returned to watching the program. Weiss immediately snuggled back up to her, though this time she laid down across the sofa with her head on Yang's lap. Laying on a couch rather than sitting on it was certainly something a high society woman such as herself was not supposed to do, but Weiss didn't have to fear judgement when she was with Yang. Instead, she could happily enjoy the benefits of relaxing while one of Yang's hands played with her hair and the other rested gently on her stomach.
"I wasn't even supposed to know about it, honestly," Yang breathed, her hand pulling the tiara pin, that Weiss used to keep her hair in it's ponytail, free. "But then again, I'm not supposed to know she wants to work there one day either."
"She does?" Weiss asked as Yang gave her a nod, lifting her head a little so that Yang could pull the silk strands free. "How did you find that out?"
"She forgot to properly wipe a laptop she gave me last year," Yang shrugged while her fingers ran gently through Weiss' hair. "Was full of stuff on the STC, and common interview questions. Don't suppose she has a chance does she?"
"Hmm."
There was a hope in Yang's voice that made it very hard to say no, but she wasn't going to lie to Yang. Especially not when it was something in regards to Ruby as Weiss knew how serious those subjects were for Yang.
"I don't know," Weiss replied slowly, thankful that Yang gave an accepting nod. "I've never seen her work, so I can't really say I know what she's capable of. She's graduating a year early, so that is a good sign; but applicants who come from the elite academies like Beacon usually catch more attention."
"I figured as much," Yang sighed, clearly a little disappointed by obviously grateful for the honesty. "Well we can't afford Beacon so…"
"You might not have too…"
"Don't you dare consider pa…"
"I wasn't," Weiss laughed at how quick Yang was to dismiss any kind of financial help. "I was talking about Beacon's scholarship program."
"Oh!"
Yang paused for a second, a confusion pushing her brow down as her hand stopped running through her hair. Disappointment ran through Weiss at the loss of the pleasant feeling.
"You think she could get one?" Yang asked.
"Well," Weiss hummed, bringing her hand up to hold the one on her stomach. Fortunately, Yang got the hint and her hand returned to sifting through her hair. "Due to the 'Encouraging Bright Minds' initiative that the Remnant Education Board started, all students who either graduate with exceptionally high marks, or graduate early are automatically on a 'to watch' list for the four big academies."
"So you're telling me Ruby is already on the list for Beacon?"
"Sort of," she hummed with a half nod, half shake of her head. "More like they're aware of her, so if she applies then she will have greater odds of getting in and even more odds of a scholarship if she can't afford the tuition. But to qualify for the scholarship, she needs to be maintaining all her grades, earning a lot of volunteer credits, and have strong references."
"Riiight."
Yang fell quiet, and from the fog in her eyes Weiss knew she was deep in thought. Allowing her to think, Weiss let her head fall to the side and continued to watch the program as Yang's fingertips traced shiver inducing lines along her neck. Finally, just as the program ran to credits, she heard Yang let out a small breath.
"Can she make up those credits before she graduates?"
"It will be really hard, and it won't reflect as well as her doing them over time during her studies ; but she should be able to."
"Then I'll have a word with her about that," Yang said with a nod, reaching for the remote since the program was done.
After a minute of searching, Yang found an action film that was already halfway done and Weiss rolled her eyes as the blonde put it on. The loud sounds of gunshots and explosions filled the room, and not interested in the film at all, Weiss turned her body away from the television and towards her girlfriend. Seeing that one of the holes between the buttons of Yang's shirt was spread enough to see the skin beneath, the memory of how the brawler had once teased her mercilessly while she was studying came to her mind and filled her with mischievous intent. Very slowly, while under the pretence of snuggling up further, she pressed her lips against the thin material and felt the warm stomach jerk slightly.
A smile pulled at her lips as the finger on her neck dug in a little deeper in response. Feeling emboldened, she pressed her lips in again, this time making sure they made contact with the skin that was visible between the buttons. It was hot, as Yang always was, and while the muscle wasn't as obvious due to her sitting down, Weiss still knew what was actually there and the thought made her body heat up. After a couple more kisses that made the stomach twitch, she felt the hand in her hair ball into a fist.
"Everything okay?" She asked innocently, acting like she wasn't doing anything at all.
"You are so no… t funny," Yang chuckled, her voice a little cutting out a little as Weiss once again kissed her.
"Is that so?" Weiss asked, her hand coming up to undo the bottom two buttons of Yang's shirt and pulling the cloth aside so it no longer blocked her access. "What about now?"
Now with almost full access, Weiss leaned forward to place a proper kiss onto the toned stomach. Grinning wickedly at the way it flinched, she quickly opened her mouth and gently bit down, earning a groan as she saw Yang's head fall back.
"Yup."
Weiss almost missed the breathy whisper as she was already moving. Her body rolled away from Yang's and she sat up to lift herself from the couch. Looking down at the blonde, she saw want in the woman's eyes. Still in a teasing mood, she gave a shrug and made to walk away. Not that she intended to go anywhere. It was merely for show as she knew what would happen. And sure enough, before she had even taken a full step away from the blonde, a hand gripped her own and pulled her back. It was her turn to chuckle as Yang pulled her onto her lap, her legs straddling the blonde while she looked down into the beautiful lilac orbs.
"You seem a little worked up th…"
She was cut off as Yang's lips crashed into hers, the force of the kiss and the hand that was gliding to the square of her back more than enough to drag a hum of pleasure from her. Responding immediately to the affection, she slipped her hands to either side of Yang's neck and pulled herself deeper, her thumbs stroking the woman's jawline as their tongues quickly became involved in the kiss.
It only took seconds for them to both to start breathing heavily, both of them thoroughly enjoying the attention the other was giving. Feeling her body start to tingle, she dragged her hands down the woman's collarbone until her fingers arrived at the shirt. She knew it was a little irrational, but she cursed the shirt for existing and getting in her way, so she quickly set about correcting that. The first button was eliminated in seconds and her fingers immediately shot down to the second and third. It wasn't long before all of them were unfastened and the shirt was being thrown wide open to reveal the light brown, lace bra beneath and the creamy skin that seemed to beg Weiss to touch it.
"I don't think I'm the one worked up," Yang half panted, half laughed once Weiss broke the kiss to take a deep breath.
"It's been nearly a month since we had sex, we have the apartment to ourselves, and you woke me from an amazing dream with a kiss," Weiss said firmly, her desire edging out her reasoning. "How can I not be worked up?"
Yang grinned and bit her lip, the blatant admission clearly pleasing her. "Good to know I'm so irresistible, but bad week, rem…"
Weiss cut her off with a firm kiss, unable to resist any longer. Yang didn't mind though and Weiss felt a hand snake under her shirt and nails being dragged up her sides. Pulling away from the kiss, she gazed hungrily into her girlfriend's eyes.
"Good thing about being girls is that there are other ways," She hissed as the nails were dragged back down her side and a wave of pleasure pulsed through her.
"Hmm," Yang's eyes squinted at her, though it was clear she wanted it just as much as Weiss did. As if to confirm Weiss' belief, the blonde's finger hooked onto the hem of her t-shirt and slowly began to pull it up. "Think we can be done before food ge…"
A loud buzzing rang through the apartment and they both let out a loud groan. In truth, Weiss had completely forgotten that she'd even ordered the food, let alone what she'd actually done. It happened a lot with Yang and she cursed just how susceptible she was to the blonde, though admittedly she wouldn't change it at all.
"I guess not," Yang groaned, her tone ringing with obvious disappointment. "I'll get i…"
"I got it," Weiss replied quickly, Yang's sudden movement snapping her out of her distracted state to realise what exactly was waiting downstairs.
Pushing herself off of Yang, after giving her a final kiss of course, Weiss made her way to the hallway and pressed the intercom button. From the other side, she heard a bunch of chatter followed by a loud cough that silenced the noise.
"Hello," A voice came over the speaker, the voice of whoever was at the security desk. "There is a small group of people here seeking entry to your apartment. Are they expected?"
"They are," she replied, keeping her voice low so that Yang wouldn't hear. "Please send them up."
"Right away."
Once the intercom fell silent, Weiss made her way back to the room and offered her hand to Yang. Though a confused look etched itself across the woman's face, she took it anyway and raised from her seat. Leading her down the hallway and through the kitchen, they quickly arrived in the main living room just in time for the elevator to open and reveal four people inside. Before anyone stepped out, the amber eyes of Blake Belladonna locked onto Yang and the reaction was instant. Yang's hand dropped from her own and the blonde quickly embraced the Faunus in a bone crushing hug.
"Good to know we're as invisible as always," said a blonde boy with spiky hair, a tail poking out from behind his body. Weiss had only met him a few times, but she remembered him as Blake's boyfriend, Sun.
"With your loud mouth, invisibility means nothing." Said Ilia, who was leant against the back of the elevator next to a boy with bright blue hair that Weiss had never met. Though he did look familiar.
"You're one to ta… Woah!"
The blue-haired boy's words caught in his mouth as he stepped into the room, his jaw dropping slightly as he looked around. He wasn't the only one either, as Ilia's eyes widened and Sun let out a loud whistle. As they stepped out, the doors closed while another pair opened a little further along the wall.
"Since when was there a second elevator?" Yang asked, her head lifting from Blake's shoulder to gaze towards it.
Once it was fully open, four more people stepped out into the room. This time she recognised all of them. Pyrrha and Jaune stepped out first, hand in hand as they always were when she saw them, Next was Ren, his hands in his pockets and looking as calm as ever, a stark comparison to Nora who came bounding out right after and threw an arm around him.
"Team JNPR is he… Oh! My! God! Ren!" She exclaimed, her head whipping around the room so fast that Weiss was half worried she would give herself whiplash. "Would you look at the place?"
"Yes, yes, it's very big," Ren sighed tiredly, though Weiss had talked with him a few times since their first meeting and knew that was simply his natural state of being.
"It's enormous," Jaune replied in awe. "You're really living here?"
"I guess," Yang said, finally pulling away from Blake and turning to each of them in turn. "What are you guys even doing here?"
"I called them," Weiss said with a smile to Yang. "Though admittedly I did only tell Blake."
"And I told everyone else," The Faunus said effortlessly, her eyes only showing mild interest as they explored the apartment. "Besides, I needed help carrying the stuff."
"We got the food," Pyrrha said, both her and Jaune holding up two bags each.
"And we got the beers," Sun and the blue-haired boy said together, each holding what looked to be a large box of alcohol.
"And we have a party!" Nora grinned wickedly.
Yang looked between them each again and Weiss was worried she saw tears in her girlfriend's eyes. For a second she thought she had screwed up by inviting Blake to their first night alone in a while, but fortunately her worries were for naught as Yang's face split into a grin and she gave Neptune a small punch in the arm as she made her way to Ilia.
"You lot better have made him pay for those drinks," She said and embraced the smaller girl. "We had a bet."
"Bet? What bet?" Sun said turning on his friend, who gave him a sheepish smile.
"Oh yeah, Neptune was supposed to pay next time we all went to Junior's," Blake hummed and moved to take a bag from Pyrrha.
"Oh really?" Pyrrha said with a cocked eyebrow.
"Well you better get that wallet open, Buddy," Sun said with a point of his tail. "Anyway, where we headed with this? Bet this place has like five rooms that're good for partying."
"I'm guessing six," the boy Blake had called Neptune replied in a challenging manner.
"Wanna bet?"
Guessing this was the typical behaviour for those two, Weiss tuned them out and looked to Pyrrha, who was giving her a friendly wave.
"Hello again," the tall redhead said as they drew closer and held up a bag of food that Weiss could already smell.
She quickly pointed to the table that sat in front of the chairs and received a nod. At the same time, Yang appeared by her side and gave Pyrrha a hug before the girl moved to sort out the food. Unfortunately, as Nora passed and Yang went to hug her too, the ginger girl pointed directly at Yang's top with a suspicious look.
"Why is your button done up wrong?" She asked loudly and without hesitation.
A blush immediately overcame Weiss as everyone in the room turned to look, and before anyone could try and connect the dots from how close they were standing, she made her way over to help Pyrrha with the food. Even in her rush, she still heard Blake chuckling to herself as she passed her.
"Oh, the taps here are higher pressure than I'm used to so I sprayed water on my other so had to change," Yang said after a second. "Guess I was in a rush since Weiss was arriving."
"Strange," Neptune said and pulled a bottle of beer from one of the cases and passed it to Jaune. "Never heard of you putting a top on when someone comes over. You usually take it off."
Having never met him before, Weiss didn't know what to make of the comment, but from the way everyone scoffed and chuckled, she assumed it was normal banter between the pair.
"At least people want to see me with my top off," Yang replied with a smug grin, confirming Weiss suspicion.
With the jeers now aimed at Neptune, Yang came over to join everyone as they each took a seat. As she sat down next to Yang, she noticed Yang purposely moved to keep a small amount of space between them and was suddenly struck with the feeling of it being wrong. However she shook the feeling away and settled into the seat and watched Neptune and Jaune hand the beer and food around.
"We haven't been introduced by the way," Neptune said as he held out his hand, his voice much softer than previously and what was clearly an attempt at a charming grin on his face. "I'm Neptune."
"Easy there, Sir Sucks-At-Flirting," Yang said very quickly, slapping his hand away. "Don't want you ruining my staying at this sweet new apartment by creeping Weiss out and making her question my choice of friends."
"She wouldn't be the only one questioning why we're friends with him," Ilia said sassily.
Weiss noticed the girl's eyes hovering over the empty seat next to Blake for a moment before choosing one that couldn't be further away. She'd seen the girl look at Blake like that before back in the shop, and quickly pieced together that there was something more to that look. Blake seemed to notice this as well, seeing as her eyes followed the other Faunus, but she didn't mention it, and simply smiled as Sun sat next to her instead with two beers in hand; one of which he gave to Blake.
The next ten minutes were spent sorting everything out. As beer and food were passed around, Weiss refusing the former, everyone began talking amongst themselves. In truth Weiss felt a little out of place. She knew many of Yang's friends, but the only ones she was really on speaking terms with were Pyrrha, Blake, and occasionally Ren. With Blake and Sun talking to Neptune, who hadn't seemed to have taken any of the jabs thrown at him to heart, and Ren seemingly busy with Nora, who seemed to be trying to convince Jaune to get his shaggy, blonde hair cut, Weiss was thankful to see Pyrrha walking over to them with a smile.
"Is a professional athlete supposed to be eating that?" Weiss asked with a wave as Pyrrha took a bite from a long strip of meat.
"Even my coach can't stop me from eating this on occasion," Pyrrha laughed, holding out the tray for Weiss. Though normally Weiss would be exceptionally hesitant to try the strips of brown meat, she really was very hungry so reached out and took a small piece. "Besides, I'm apparently eating for two now."
"I heard about that," Weiss chuckled as she recalled seeing something about it in one of the newest gossip magazines. At the same time she took a small bite of the meat to find that, while it was quite nice, the spice was a little too much for her. Yang clearly noticed her reaction to it and reached out to take it from her with a smile that Weiss happily returned. "Is it Jaune's? Or your coaches?"
"ValeTales isn't sure who the father is yet," Pyrrha shrugged with a grin, the gossip magazine being one Weiss was very familiar with. "I'm sure they'll tell me when they figure it out though."
"Yes, I remember when they told me I was suffering from a life threatening illness after my routine trip to the hospital."
Pyrrha let out a small laugh.
"I remember that one, it was in the same edition as my possible transition," Pyrrha laughed, Weiss easily joining her as she too remembered the story that had been based solely on young pictures of Pyrrha when she did look very boyish. "Just don't tell Jaune about the pregnancy. He freaks out enough about what we're gunna do after college, I don't need a fake baby adding to that."
"What if I want to see him have a nervous breakdown?" Yang asked in a humorous tone. "It's been a while since I've seen him grab the sides of his face and scream like a girl."
"Yang…" Weiss rolled her eyes, though a grin spread across her own face as she imagined to blonde doing exactly as Yang had said.
"Tell you what. When it does happen, I'll let you be in the room when I tell him."
"Deal!"
The redhead simply laughed and shook her head, clearly amused by the blonde's excitement at that offer. To cleanse the burning in her mouth from the meat she'd eaten earlier, Weiss pulled a few fries from Yang's tray and placed them in her mouth. They were a little greasy, like almost all the food the group had brought with them, but not so much that Weiss couldn't enjoy them.
"So I hear you and Tai are struggling again?" Pyrrha asked, humour still tinting her voice, but the overall tone of it noticeably lower.
"Yeah, that time of the year, I guess," Yang sighed, peeling the label off the beer bottle in her hand.
"You two will figure it out," Pyrrha said kindly with just as much certainty as Weiss had earlier. "You always do. And you always come back stronger for it."
"Thanks."
"You know where I am if you need a work out partner too," Pyrrha winked, standing up and leaning in slightly so that only the two of them could hear her. "By the way, Weiss. Your hair is a bit of a mess at the back."
Weiss immediately blushed again, reminded of exactly what had been about to happen just before everyone arrived. However, as her hand shot back to straighten it, Pyrrha held her own wrist out to reveal a bunch of red hair bands.
"Long hair can be a pain, always gotta be prepared," She smiled and slipped one of the bands from her wrist.
Taking it with a silent thank you, Weiss pulled her hair into one neat pile and tied it up, letting it fall over her shoulder. Glancing to her side, she saw Yang look away with a not so subtle smirk, and found her own lips pulling into a smile of their own.
"Anyway, I should get back to Jaune before Nora drives him crazy," Pyrrha smiled, offering out the tray of food to Yang, who took a small handful, before moving back to her boyfriend.
The next hour was filled with conversation and eating. Weiss had found herself so hungry, even after finishing her fries, that she happily accepted a slice of pizza that was offered to her by Sun. At some point, the television has been turned on and switched to a loud music channel as people began to mingle and laugh all the more. While she had barely left her seat, Yang had already moved over to talk to Neptune and Sun; though the occasional glances Weiss caught from her girlfriend were enough to let her know she wanted to be back by her side.
But Weiss knew why she'd moved. She knew Yang was naturally a more sociable person who would usually wandered around and laugh with everyone, so if she stayed by Weiss' side all night then people would likely grow suspicious. It would also be suspicious if Weiss followed her, however due to the fact that she was naturally more reserved, it meant she'd been sitting alone for the past fifteen minutes since Ren had gone back to Nora.
She didn't like it too much. She knew it was a little needy, but she wanted to stay by Yang's side. Yang always brought out a side of her she couldn't bring out alone. With the boisterous blonde, she found it was far easier to interact, to laugh and banter. She got engaged in conversation much more and she felt that she herself was easier to get along with. So for them to be separated, it made Weiss feel weird.
"You look… distracted," said a voice to her left.
Turning to see who had spoken to her, Weiss was surprised to see Ilia looking down at her, one hand on her hip and her other holding a bottle of beer. Her grey eyes seemed rather dark, like they were bordering on becoming black, as did her freckles and hair. She knew chameleon Faunus tended to have a trait that reflected their mood, but they all had unique colours and Weiss had no idea what black meant to Ilia.
"Potentially considering what the odds are that you came to hit me with that bottle," Weiss replied half-heartedly, knowing Ilia didn't like her.
"Hmm… Not today," Ilia said with a shrug before sitting down. "I actually came to thank you."
Slightly taken aback, Weiss simply blinked at the small girl.
"Yang and Tai fight a lot," the girl sighed, taking a sip of her drink. "She usually stays at Blake's, but I'm guessing she thought it would be too much of a burden on Blake's parents. I may not trust you, or even like you, but it's good to know she was able to rely on you for help."
"Thank you," Weiss said slowly as Ilia's eyes locked onto her. "Yang means a lot to me… Our friendship means a lot to me."
Again, Weiss hated saying it like that. Hated denying what Yang truly meant to her.
"Yes... well, I should go and annoy Neptune some more," she breathed, the black of her freckles and hair fading to their natural colours as she stood up. However, before she walked away, she turned back and looked her straight in the eye. "And thank you for what you did for Ruby." Her freckles turned the same yellow they had the first time they'd met. "Though I would have broken their teeth."
Weiss believed the sentiment entirely, and she realised that yellow for Ilia meant anger. From what she'd seen when Ruby entered the coffee shop and threw herself at the Faunus, the two were clearly very close. So with a small smile, Weiss gave the girl a small nod. Without another word, Ilia walked back over to where Yang was and sat down next to Neptune.
Before she could even think about what seemed to be the first positive conversation with Ilia, Weiss felt the seat Yang had previously occupied dip and looked to see Blake sitting next to her. Her amber eyes were on Yang, and Weiss could tell something was on her mind.
"That conversation went well."
"I guess," Weiss sighed, knowing that while the short conversation had gone well, Ilia still didn't like her. "What's wrong with you?"
"Yang." Blake said bluntly. "Anything seem off to you?"
Slightly worried by how cryptic Blake was being, Weiss looked at the laughing blonde. There didn't seem to be anything obviously wrong. She was laughing at something Neptune said, her lilac eyes alight with joy as the small group enjoyed themselves. But Blake seemed worried anyway.
"What am I supposed to be looking at?"
"The bottle."
Returning her gaze to her girlfriend, she looked at the bottle in her hand and suddenly realised what Blake already had. The label was stripped completely bare and the liquid inside reached all the way to the neck. It had been over an hour since Weiss had seen her tear that label off.
"She isn't drinking," Weiss replied. She may never have been partying with Yang, but she knew the woman wasn't opposed to alcohol.
"She's normally on her third by now," Blake replied, confirming Weiss' thoughts. "And she keeps looking at you."
Blake's final words were less an observation, and more a statement. One that Weiss quickly understood. Yang wanted to talk. Realising that, she gave Blake a small nod and stood from the chair. As she approached the blonde, her bright smile became brighter and she leaned back and her hands. Noticing this action, Sun, Neptune, and Ilia all turned to face her.
"Come to join the cool kids?" Sun grinned.
At some point in the night, his button up shirt had been unbuttoned for some reason yet he seemed happier ever since. From the way everyone reacted, it was clearly a normal thing for him.
"Or maybe my super cool appearance finally made her decide she wants my number?" Neptune said with a sip of his drink, though his confidence quickly turned into a spluttering mess as Ilia tipped his drink up a little. "H-H-Hey!"
"Actually, I was wondering if I could talk to Yang for a moment," She said coolly, ignoring Neptune's attempts to breathe since everyone else was too. "In private."
"Oh, sure," Yang said with a smile as she gathered herself up and stood to her feet. "Later, Douches."
"See ya, Brace Face," Sun replied with a laugh as he dodged the kicks that came from both Ilia and Yang.
With Yang following behind her, Weiss led them out of the room and into the living room they had shared earlier. The television has apparently been left on but the film was long since over. As soon as they were alone in the room, Weiss turned to face her girlfriend and gave her a soft look. Despite her earlier happiness and bravado with her friends, it seemed to slip away once they were alone; leaving the blonde to stand there with one hand stroking her arm.
The nervous stance immediately told her that Blake was right to be worried, as something was clearly on Yang's mind.
"Is everything okay?" Yang asked cautiously, clearly a little nervous.
"You tell me?" she replied gently and pointed to the drink in Yang's hand. "That's the same one you had when Pyrrha came to talk to us."
"Oh…" the blonde's hand slipped down to the neck of the bottle as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "I'm… just not the biggest fan of bee…"
"Liar."
The new voice came from the doorway and both of them looked around to see Blake standing in the entryway of the room, her amber eyes firmly stuck on Yang. Weiss hadn't even heard her approach due to both the television in the room they occupied, and the music that blared from the one in the other room.
"You love beer," Blake continued as she crossed her arms.
"I…"
Yang's words failed to come out properly, and instead were replaced with a sigh as she sat down on the arm of the couch. Her head hung slightly as she gazed down at the bottle, her blonde hair falling down to hide her face and suddenly seeming less golden than it always did.
"Talk to us, Yang," Weiss said, placing a hand reassuringly on the woman's knee.
"I…" Yang paused again and took a breath, tilting the bottle back and forth. "I can't drink."
A little confused, Weiss looked to Blake and was worried to see her brow was furrowed too.
"I keep trying to," Yang's sighed and shook her head. "But every time I go to take a drink, I remember that alcohol is why I'm here. One stupid, drunken mistake that made my dad realise how he felt about Summer, and everything fell apart for them. What if I do the same?"
"You've never struggled with alcohol, Yang," Blake replied coolly, walking over to kneel in front of her.
"That doesn't mean I won't in the future," Yang scoffed, and though she didn't seem especially sad, like when Weiss had returned to the apartment, there was definitely fear in her voice. "One bad day like that, and I could go down the same path. I'm his daughter after all. Addicts kids often suffer addiction problems too."
A moment of silence filled the room, with the exception of the television, during which Blake and Weiss looked at each other. There seems to be an unspoken agreement between the two of them, so with a nod to Blake, Weiss moved the hand that was on her girlfriend's knee to the bottle and pulled it away. If that really was a worry for her, then it needed to be handled straight away.
"I understand how you feel," she said softly. "Those are the same reasons I only drink on special occasions. While I've never personally struggled with it either, my mother's struggles have always made me hesitant. But just like an addiction, you can't let these fears control you. If you don't want to drink, then don't; but remember that you are in control of that choice."
Another loud sigh escaped Yang, but this time she raised her head. Where Weiss expected to see tears, all she saw was uncertainty, and she found it bothered her all the more. But she also knew Yang needed to break through it, so holding the bottle up, she gave it a little shake so that the liquid could be heard. Yang's eyes gazed towards it, but Weiss felt she was looking through it more than at it.
"Do you want it?"
Another minute passed in silence, but finally the uncertainty left Yang's eyes to be replaced with resolve.
"No," She replied with a firm shake of her head.
With Yang's answer given, Weiss gave her a small smile and passed the bottle off to Blake, who stood up and walked back to lean against the wall. Everyone let out a sigh, Especially Yang who shook her head again and ran a hand through her hair.
"Sorry," she breathed and stood up. "You all came over to cheer me up and I started being a downer."
"Eh, we're used to it," Blake shrugged, taking a sip of the drink as her ears flicked towards the door. "But I know this is a tough time for you, so stop forcing yourself to be happy and just let us be there for you."
The two women locked eyes again and they quickly shared a smile. Seemingly satisfied with that, Blake pushed herself off the wall with a groan and took another sip.
"Good," She said and turned to leave. "Sounds like Nora has started up truth or dare, as usual, so I suggest you stay here as long as you can."
With an over the shoulder wave, Blake exited the room, leaving Weiss alone with Yang again. She was thankfully the blonde hadn't spiralled completely like she had earlier, but wanting to further reassure her, Weiss quickly slipped her arms around her girlfriend's waist and smiled up at her. Though her action had been done to reassure Yang, she found that the smile Yang returned assured her just as much.
"Why didn't you just tell me you wanted to talk?"
"I didn't want to pull you away," Yang sighed as her shoulders fell. "Sun noticed me looking at you and commented on it, so I thought it might give away something."
"Oh!"
Guilt tore through Weiss' body that Yang had felt unable to turn to her due to them being a secret, guilt that was made worse by the fact that Weiss recently telling her off about sneaking into the mansion and risking being caught might have contributed to that feeling. However it was not the time to beat herself up for that, she could do that later, it was time for making Yang feel better.
"Yang," she said softly with a shake of her head. "You never have to worry about that if you feel this way. You're going through something big right now, so, if you need to talk, I don't care about your friends suspecting. You pull me away, okay?"
"Okay," Yang said with a firm smile.
"Good."
To further press her point, Weiss reached up and pressed her lips tenderly against Yang's. The kiss was solely to reassure her that what had been said was the truth so she kept the heat out of it. Thankfully Yang didn't seem interested in taking it further either, and once the message was conveyed, they broke apart.
"I know I say it a lot," Yang whispered as she pressed their foreheads together. "But even at the risk of you getting tired of hearing it, I really do love you, ya'know."
"I can promise you now, Yang. I will never get tired of that," Weiss grinned. "Because, as you may have realised, I really love you too."
"Mmm, I certainly did," Yang chuckled and pulled her head back to reveal a smile. And hand came up to lovingly stroke Weiss' cheek and she felt her eyes flutter as she leaned into it, though unfortunately it only held there for a couple of seconds before being pulled away. "We should probably go back."
With a smile, Weiss gave Yang a nod and finally pulled away. Picking up the remote, she finally turned the television off before following Yang to the door. They left together, making their way back into the main room to see that everyone sat in a circle around the table. On top of it was a bottle that was spinning at high speed.
Less than a year ago, had someone told Weiss she was going to be playing a game of spin the bottle, she would have called them crazy. She genuinely thought that it was simply a game that was played in movies, but nowhere near as common in real life. However, clearly she was wrong, as the spinning bottle came to a stop pointed at Neptune when they walked in.
"Truth or dare," Ren said, boredom tinting his voice. It was clear he was only playing because Nora had roped him into it.
"I ain't ever taking a dare from you again," Neptune said with a shiver, making Weiss wonder if there was actually more to the boy than she thought. "So truth."
"Hmm, okay," Ren hummed as Weiss and Yang sat down on the couch. "How often do you think about Sun's abs?"
Everyone in the room laughed at the question while Neptune let out a loud groan and fell back into his elbows. As if to add one more occasion to that answer, Sun pulled the sides of his shirt wider apart and Blake ran a finger seductively across the very clearly defined muscles. It was an action that the raven-haired Faunus very clearly enjoyed, if the smile on her face was anything to go by.
"Every time I work out," Neptune finally admitted with a groan, but quickly perked up and pointed at them. "But come on. Those are goals right there."
"Mhm, I'm sure that's the only reason you think of them," Jaune jabbed, Pyrrha catching the bottle cap that was thrown at him as Jaune stuck out his tongue.
"Shut it, Stumbles," Neptune smirked and moved to spin the bottle. Though Weiss had no idea what the name meant, the rest of the group chuckled at it and Jaune rolled his eyes. As luck would have it, his spin landed on Jaune and the boy immediately groaned. "Truth or dare, Jauney-boy?"
"Truth, I guess," He said in a deflated voice.
"What is the most embarrassing thing your sisters did to you? Oh, and tell us in detail," Neptune replied with a wicked grin, clearly seeking revenge for Jaune's comment."
After Jaune told everyone about the time his older sister Saphron had dressed him as a girl and took him for a walk around the block, a story that got a huge laugh out of everyone including Weiss, he span the bottle and it landed on Blake. After her dare of downing the rest of the beer in her hand, she gave the bottle a spin and landed on Sun.
Without even giving him the chance to choose, she dared him to give her a kiss, something he did without hesitation. After seeing the girl worried about Yang all night, Weiss was glad to see her friend smile so happily as Sun peppered her with small, loving kisses. They quickly ended though as the group started making vomit noises, except Nora and Neptune, who both shouted for them to get a room. Nevertheless, they both parted with a smile on their face and Sun took his turn to spin the bottle.
Weiss immediately found herself more interested in the game as the bottle landed on Yang.
"Truth or dare?" Sun asked with a grin.
"Eh, gimme your best dare, Banana Breath," Yang replied, clearly not expecting much from him.
However, that confidence was quickly undone as Sun's grin grew wider and he leaned back in the chair that he and Blake were sharing.
"I dare you to kiss Weiss."
The room filled with coos at the dare and Yang turned to look at Weiss. Knowing she couldn't exactly deny the dare without it looking weird, Weiss gave a small shrug and raised her eyebrows to let Yang know it was fine. While Yang moved quickly after that to press their lips together, the kiss felt much slower to Weiss.
Every kiss they had shared was either in private or with only a couple of people present, but this one was far from private. They were in a room filled with people, friends, yet the joyous feel of Yang's lips on hers told her they were most definitely kissing. Despite the people around, her sense of smell was still being filled with lavender, her sense of taste was being filled with the spices of the food Yang had eaten that still linger on her lips. It felt wonderful to be able to kiss Yang so freely, so wonderful in fact that she knew it was likely everyone could tell she was a little more into it than she should be.
Apparently Yang noticed this too and finally broke the kiss, but the subtle smile Weiss saw as the blonde moved away caused her to smile too.
"Pretty good," Weiss shrugged quickly to play it off as nothing, her response earning a few chuckles from the group.
"Damn right I'm pretty good," Yang grinned and turned back to spin the bottle.
As she did, Weiss saw Sun wink at the boxer and Yang simply shook her head. Spinning the bottle for it to land on Nora who asked for dare, Weiss figured that would be what she always requests, Yang dared the excitable ginger to eat a fistful of the cold meat, that Pyrrha was eating earlier. To Weiss' surprise, the girl immediately seized a handful and shoved it into her mouth. She was finished with the food before she had even finished wiping her hand on the napkin Ren gave her and loud out a loud burp. Yang quickly informed her that Nora was a champion speed eater.
After the excitable ginger swallowed everything, she spun the bottle for it to land on Pyrrha, who asked for a truth. Nora quickly asked her what her first date was, and Pyrrha responded with what seemed like an adorable date with a boy who took her to a small, enclosed beach around Argus' cliffs. Though she was also quick to assure everyone that nothing happened as he was far too nervous to even talk to her for most of the date.
The game continued for a little while and Weiss enjoyed hearing all the little stories about Yang's friends. It turned out that Ren was just as big a fan of Blake's fan-fiction as he was of Ninjas of Love, an admission that had Blake blushing. Sun came clean that he would much rather be topless everywhere he went, though no-one, not even Weiss, was surprised by that. Blake even offered her support for her boyfriend's dream. Ilia talked about a small, weekend fling she had on menagerie, but also that it was nothing more than that.
There were also plenty of dares too. Jaune had chugged two beers back to back after a dare to see how many he could without taking a breath from Ilia. Neptune and Ilia had kissed and that led to Weiss finding out the Faunus was actually gay when Neptune asked if she was, to which Ilia had responded, "More than ever." Yang had let out a pun about how Ilia Blue him off that made everyone groan, but she insisted it was funny. Weiss had to agree with Yang as she had let out a small chuckle at the joke.
The first time that the bottle landed on Weiss herself however, was when Nora span it after being dared to kiss Ren by Blake, something Nora didn't seem to mind at all.
"Truth or dare?" Nora beamed happily, clearly excited that she had been the first to get Weiss.
"Truth, I guess," Weiss said, unsure she wanted to take a dare from Nora of all people.
"What is the worst thing you have ever done?"
The room fell silent at the question and everyone turned to face her. Obviously such a question asked towards a Schnee was worthy of listening carefully. Not wanting to disappoint, Weiss racked her brain and easily found what she considered to be the worst thing she'd done.
"I once stabbed my fencing instructor," She replied.
"WHAT!"
The shout had come from pretty much everyone in the room, including Yang.
"That sounds bad," Weiss said quickly, realising she needed to explain further. "My father hired her to tutor me and she purposely tampered with the equipment in an attempt to bribe money out of us from a potential injury. I felt something was off with my épée, but continued anyway. I had no idea she had messed with her vest too."
"Jesus, Weiss," Yang chuckled.
"Well if she wanted to con my father, all she had to do was ask," Weiss shrugged, the room falling a little more silent at those words.
"Wow," Jaune whistled.
"You really don't like him do you?" Ilia asked.
Weiss found her eyes and straightened her back. She could tell the girl had not simply asked it out of mild interest.
"After everything he has done to ruin my family, my name, and my grandfather's respectable company? No." Weiss replied firmly. However, as the silence continued, Weiss realised she missed the laughter and tried to rectify it. "Well it seems I have ruined the good mood. Sorry."
"Pfft," Yang breathed a second later. "Nah your good, right guys?"
"Yup," Sun said and leaned back, putting his feet up on the table as Blake leaned in closer and ran a hand over his stomach.
"Plus, we have a list of people that need a good cutting," Blake grinned as she cuddled up to her boyfriend. "We'll give you it later."
The joke was finally enough to break the tension as Pyrrha, Nora, Neptune let out a small laugh. Ilia seemed to be looking at her shoes in contemplation, and Weiss hoped that was a good sign as she reached out to take her turn at spinning the bottle. Giving it a hard twist, she watched the green glass spin for a second before coming back to rest on her again. From the movies she knew that meant she had to spin again, but as her hand reached out, Ren's voice cut through the renewed babble.
"Repeat."
Confused, Weiss looked from him to Yang.
"House rules," She chuckled, and pointed at Nora. "If your spin land on you then you have to do a repeat. Essentially Nora gets to ask you another question."
"Oh," Weiss hummed and turned back to the girl who looked even more eager than before. "Go ahead."
Nora took a moment to think, but her question apparently came to her quickly and she slammed the palms of her hands into the table with a wide smile as she leaned in.
"Weiss Schnee!" She said, her voice almost accusing. "Is! There! Anyone that you love?"
Multiple things happened once Nora's question was asked. First, and least important, was that Ren scolded her for prying into private business. Second was that both Pyrrha and Blake turned to look directly at her, interested to see how she answered. Weiss wasn't quite sure what to say honestly. Her and Yang were still a secret, but it didn't feel right to say there wasn't anyone she loved when sitting right next to the person she did love. She knew Yang wouldn't care, that she would understand, but it felt wrong. It felt wrong to deny it, just as it felt wrong they were even hiding. She didn't know what to say… At first.
The third thing that happened was what made her decide how to answer that question. It was imperceptible, such a minute action that had Weiss not been sitting right next to her then Weiss likely wouldn't have noticed. Yang moved away from her. It was only an inch, barely even that, but Weiss hated it. She'd been hating those little things all night. Not being by her side in conversations, their deflections to questions, Yang's hesitancy to pull her away to talk. She hated all of them. But Yang moving away from her was the final straw, the things Weiss hated beyond all of them. So after taking a deep breath, she decided on her answer.
May as well take that first step now, she thought to herself.
"Actually there is," She said, albeit a little nervously.
With a deep breath to steel herself for what she was about to do, she reached her hand out for Yang's. She was aware that people were looking at her hand now, and a few of their eyes widened as she found it. The moment she found it however, confidence filled her and she found her next words were far easier to say.
"Weiss, what ar…" Yang tried to say, her hand seizing up a little from the shock.
"I love Yang."
Everyone simply stared at them for a minute. Pyrrha and Blake were watching with an amused look on their faces since they already knew, but Nora's mouth was hanging so open that her jaw was practically hitting the table. Ren had an eyebrow raised in intrigue, Jaune was choking on his drink, Ilia was unreadable, Neptune also looked like his jaw was about to hit the floor. Before she could look at Sun however, she heard his voice loud and clear.
"Holy Oum! This makes so much more sense," he shouted and pointed at Yang with his tail. "I just thought you had a massive crush on her because you never shut up about her. But thi… Ugh"
He was cut off as Blake dug her fingers into his stomach. However, at the accusation, Yang seemed to find herself.
"Hey! I do not talk about her that much!"
"You once spat a whole slice of pie all over Jaune because you were talking about her with your mouth full," Ren countered.
"It was not a whole pie!"
"It sure felt like it."
"Wha… None of you are even surprised?"
"That you love Weiss? No," Neptune replied with a pointed finger that began to wobble between them. "That you're together? I'm pretty sure we're all surprised at that. Though most of my surprise comes from how you got a girl like Weiss."
Neptune didn't dodge in time and took the bottle cap Pyrrha had caught earlier to the forehead. As he flailed and fell back in his failed attempt to stop it, the group laughed at him and the atmosphere switched back to the cheerful one again. As it did, Yang leaned back in the chair and looked down at their hands, which hadn't parted during the whole thing.
"So you two are really a thing?" Jaune asked, seemingly recovered from his coughing fit.
Weiss looked at Yang and saw a sheepish smile spread across her face. She was clearly just as nervous as Weiss was herself, but the longer they looked at each other, the wider the smile grew. Until finally, Yang gave a firm nod.
"We are," She said softly, her lilac eyes gazing openly into Weiss. "And I've never been happier."
"Neither have I," Weiss grinned, finally letting how she really felt paint her face with a loving smile.
"Well, glad that's finally out," Blake groaned and pulled Sun's beer out of his hand to take a drink. "Quicker than I thought honestly."
"Wait, you knew?" Sun asked, receiving a nod from Blake.
"Yup."
"I found out at Ruby's party," Pyrrha admitted and held up her hand.
"Ruby's… How long have you two been together?" Ilia asked.
"That was our second date," Weiss replied with a smile. "But since I couldn't get her out of my head since we met, I'm willing to include the weeks we spent texting before that."
"Me too," Yang grinned, though quickly turned to look at her friend. "I hope you're okay with this, Ilia."
"I guess I'll have to be," Ilia sighed with a shrug. "Besides, could be worse. At least you never dated Cardin."
"That was one date," Pyrrha countered quickly. "And it was before I found out he was a colossal ass."
"Anyway," Yang interrupted them pointedly. "As you can probably tell, we're a secret at the minute."
"How come?" Ren asked.
"Another thing you can probably tell is that my father isn't the most accepting person," Weiss explained, feeling a rush of excitement pulse through her as Yang put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "He's not going to be happy when he finds out and will do everything to drive us apart."
"Exactly," Yang said with a nod of confirmation. "Before we can go public, Weiss has to take care of some things to make sure she doesn't lose her company. Until then, please don't tell anyone about us."
The whole group looked at each other, with the exception of Nora who was still gawking in their direction, and they seemed to formulate some silent agreement. After a minute, they each gave a nod and Weiss felt herself depress deeper into Yang. It may not have been completely public like she dreamed, but it felt good to be able to do it so openly around people Yang loved.
"We won't te…" Pyrrha started to say, only to be cut off by a squeal that was increasing in volume.
"HolyOumlookatthemRen," Nora said in a single breath, finally having snapped out of her trance. "They're sooooooooo cuuuuuuuute! And in love! And happy! Just like us!"
"Nora!" Ren said firmly as the very happy ginger hopped up on the boy's lap and threw her arms around his shoulders. "If you tell anyone about this, I won't be cooking you any pancakes for a year."
"Yes, yes, my mouth is zipped," She said with a happy wave of her hand before motioning to them again. "But LOOK at them!"
Feeling an overwhelmingly happy smile take over her face at the girl's actions, Weiss looked up at Yang and saw the woman looking down at her. Before she could say anything, Yang leaned down and kissed her. There was no dare this time, no pretence, just their true feelings. Apparently this was too much for the group, and just like they did with Blake and Sun, they began to make gagging sounds and told them to get a room.
But Weiss didn't care. They were out. They could enjoy themselves in the open for once. It may not be a restaurant or any other public venue, but it was a good first step. So pulling away from the kiss, She whispered an I love you for only Yang to hear and after getting one in return, she turned and melted into her girlfriend.
The night had been a fun one.
After they revealed the relationship to everyone, they continued to play spin the bottle for a little while. Though not for long. Once the game stopped, Jaune had taken the remote control and skimmed through the channels for something to watch. Though he had clearly been aiming for the more action based channels, Pyrrha had stopped him on a cheesy romance film and that had been where it stayed. From the groan that chorused the room and the way Neptune and Sun stood up to explore, this was obviously a regular thing.
They two weren't seen again for roughly forty minutes, the two of them arguing about how many rooms were actually good for partying. After ten minutes of arguing, Ren got involved and decreed that no, the pool did not count as a room since it didn't have walls. With a large sigh, Neptune sullenly paid up what they had bet.
Throughout all the shenanigans that happened through the night, Weiss and Yang had remained exactly where they were; cuddled up on the couch watching the television and talking with everyone. And Weiss loved every minute of it. It felt really good to be open about it, to lean on Yang and let her take charge in the conversations. Thankfully everyone didn't seem to make too big of a deal about it, instead treating them much like they did Blake and Sun, Jaune and Pyrrha, and Nora and Ren. Every time they kissed the group would gag and Yang would throw something at them.
However, the night had come to an end after the movie had finished and by eleven, everyone was making their way back to the elevators. A whole bunch of hugs and goodbyes were shared, Sun even gave her a hug and welcomed her to the group. But finally everyone had left, Blake being last as she was the one hugging Yang the longest, and they were left alone again. With everyone gone and the laughter having died down, it had dawned on Weiss just how incredibly tired she was. Yang clearly felt the same as it wasn't long before she was pulled to the master bedroom where the blonde collapsed onto the bed.
"I had f-fun tonight," Weiss yawned ten minutes later, snuggled up with Yang under the covers.
"So did I," Yang breathed, a happiness to her voice that filled Weiss with just as much warmth as Yang's body was producing. "You know you didn't have to tell them, right?"
"I did," She replied and twisted in her girlfriend's arms to face her. "I hated hiding us all night, and that you felt you couldn't just ask to talk to me. But when Nora asked that question with you sitting right there, it just felt like it would be wrong to say no. You're not upset I did it, are you?"
"Nope," The woman smiled. "It actually feels good that my friends know."
"Neptune knows too."
A small laugh escaped Yang and Weiss grinned up at her.
"You lot really do give him a hard time."
"Nahh," the beautiful boxer said with a shake of her head. "He knows we love him, and that he can turn to us for anything. He also gives as good as he gets. It's just how our friendship has always been."
"Pretty weird friendship," she chuckled and placed a brief kiss on Yang's lips. "But I like them all."
"Even Ilia?"
"Even Ilia."
"Good," Yang yawned as Weiss turned around again and felt arms pull her close. "Now we should probably get some sleep."
"Mhm."
Nestling back into the walking radiator that was Yang, Weiss closed her eyes and let herself drift off to sleep. The night had been wonderful, and with Yang's friends knowing and Weiss being able to spend more time at the apartment due to how close it was to both the office and Beacon, she was looking forward to more nights like it in the future.
A/N
Hello all, I hope you enjoyed part 2 :)
So yeah, the whole gang know now. This is going to allow me to explore a few more interactions and have a little more fun in the series, however its also important for another reason. As you can probably tell, they are quiet tired of hiding, and this is finally this first step to coming into the open. You may see that tiredness growing a lot in coming chapters through actions and steps that are taken, so I hope that tells you how far away we are from them being completely out.
Now, complete honesty, I struggle A LOT with group interactions. Especially groups this large, so please let me know how this felt as I'm rather nervous about it. But the was also a little serious part in the middle there that is part of me exploring the issues between Tai and Yang, and you're going to see a few more of those coming in the future. As I've said in replies to comments, its going to be a slow point that is worked of for a while alongside Raven, so yeah. However, we are rather close to many of the other plot points coming together, so I just hope I can pull that off... there are actually some clues in here :P
But yeah, that's it from me. I hope you enjoyed this more light-hearted chapter. Just wanted to assure you that while Yang is going through some stuff, she isn't going to be a complete grump and that there is still a lot more fun to be had. But as always, thank you so much for reading. It really does mean the world to me :)
Also, just a last word which is a huge thank you to Toxic. He works really hard and really is the reason these are readable xD So make sure to thank him too as he does read all the comments.
Reviews
Before I get into the reviews, I would like to ask a question for those who do leave them. Would you want me to continue replying here, or would you want me to reply with a private message? I upload to AO3 too and I really like replying straight away to comments there, but I have always been nervous to Private Message people here as it feels a little intrusive to me, but it would allow me to get back to you faster.
You would still be thanked here too, as that is something I will never stop for the story.
crazyringo - Your review was long again, so I got you in PMs. I love the long reviews and thank you so much for them.
Zoro50 - It was definitely intended to be a little more of a solemn cooldown chapter, so glad that worked. I'm happy you liked the little relaxation time too :) There is some at the start of this too so hope that was just as good xD but you can expect to see them a little more in future chapters as I really want them to be moving into that area where they are just wanting to lounge around and just be near each other. The Amitola resolution is coming fast, and I hope you like what I have planned for it :) Thank you for pointing out the mistake too, I fixed that as quick as I could :)
Freezerburn (Guest) - Though I do write a lot of smut stories, its unlikely you will see a chapter for this one that is just smut. So if you ever get the warning that smut is coming, expect it alongside a longer chapter :) Though... that should give you a hint as to when it is ;)