29 - Helpless In The Light

With the turn of a key the engine shuts off and dark silence filled the air for a brief moment. It took a few seconds for eyes to adjust to the sudden change in light. When she got out of her car, Winter looked a bit puzzled since she didn't see Yang's truck in the driveway. Something at work must have kept her late, and while Winter was getting ready to head back inside her car, the front door opened and cast light from inside out over the walkway.

"Oh, uh, hey Ruby. Yang's not back yet I take it?" Winter smiled and stuck her hands into her jacket pockets.

Ruby shook her head and then motioned for her to get inside. Winter hesitated but Ruby motioned again and she followed this time. Being early for everything was something she had ingrained into her from a young age. A proper Schnee always arrives early for an appointment. But, in the instance of being invited over for dinner, it seemed arriving early was more awkward than proper.

The evening's chill was swept away when Winter entered the home, warmth already soothing any numbness that was threatening to set in from the outside chill. Ruby held up her phone with a message on it for Winter to read. 'Yang's not back home yet, but she should be back soon. She's picking up dinner.'

Still getting accustomed to Ruby's way of communicating, Winter took a few seconds to read the message. "Ah, alright. Is- Is it just you here?" she asked.

Ruby shook her head and typed. 'Dad's in the garage and Cinder's in the guest room. Did you want something to drink or anything?' She nodded to the kitchen and Winter shook her head.

"Oh, no, that's okay," Winter said while she started to slip her shoes off. "So, Yang mentioned you were moving soon?" She smiled at Ruby and walked into the living room taking a seat on the edge of the couch. Ruby followed her and flopped onto the couch where it seemed she had been sitting before, judging by the book and drink sitting nearby.

'Hopefully next week. We're still getting everything ready and packed.' Ruby held up the message and Winter nodded.

"Always exciting to move out from your parents' house. Since I'm not your parent or sibling I can tell you this, but party responsibly," Winter laughed.

Ruby smirked and nodded. 'I know.' The two were quiet for a moment and it looked like they both were trying to think of something to say. Ruby bit her bottom lip as she thought about whether or not she should ask. She quickly tapped out a message and held up. 'How's Weiss?'

Winter read the message and glanced between it and Ruby, debating what to say exactly. "She actually asked me about you the other day. She wanted me to let you know she's sorry," Winter said quietly and watched Ruby's expression.

'Is she still mad at me?'

Ruby's question surprised Winter. "If she was ever mad with you, she never told me. She worried you were mad at her."

Again, the two fell into silence, but it was broken when they heard the door to Yang's truck close. The question of why Weiss thought Ruby was mad at her seemed to be answered before Ruby could give it much thought. This was something she was going to have to ask Yang about.


Ruby frowned while typing up a message on her phone. She didn't look up at her sister as she slowly closed the door to the garage. "What is it you wanted to talk about, Rubes?" Yang asked and stepped closer to her sister. Ruby only continued typing, pausing, deleting, and retyping.

'Winter was saying Weiss was asking about me. I thought she was mad at me, but it turns out that wasn't the case. Why did you tell me that she was?' Ruby held her phone for Yang to read and stared at her with the same frown as before.

When she read it, Yang's shoulders slumped and Ruby took her phone back to type another message. "Look, Ruby, I just thought that-"

Ruby interrupted her and held her phone up again. 'Is it the same reason why she thought I was mad at her?'

Yang took a breath and sighed. She nodded. She knew she had been found out.

'You let me think she hated me this whole time?'

"I did. I thought it best if you didn't see her so she couldn't upset you further. I was… I was so mad at her. Still am. So, if you're going to be mad at someone, be mad at me." Yang looked mildly defeated as she stood and waited for Ruby to say something.

'I AM mad at you. But… I can see why you did it. I still don't like it and I think it was not your call to make.' Ruby sighed and shook her head. She walked to the fridge and got a soda, ignoring Yang and walked back inside.

Yang was left in the garage with her thoughts.


Dinner went by without any incidents. The tension between Ruby and Yang was put aside as the evening continued but was not unnoticed. Yang was unusually quiet during mealtime, and Ruby ate slower than normal while refusing to look over at her sister. Whenever asked about it, both of them denied there being an issue, and both Winter and Cinder accepted that while dinner went on.

Ruby still had to process the information. Her sister was the reason she hadn't heard from Weiss in months. Was the reason she was left to believe that Weiss was mad at her. Was the reason she felt so hurt and abandoned for so long and why she stopped going to her favorite bookstore. She couldn't imagine the issues that Weiss was going through because of it, too. But… Despite all of this, some part of her was still thankful that it happened. She looked over at Cinder next to her on the couch and couldn't help but feel that if it hadn't gone the way it did, she wouldn't be in her life right then. She wouldn't be preparing to move into a house with her girlfriend.

Feeling the eyes on her, Cinder turned to look at Ruby with a quizzical raised brow to which Ruby shook her head. Cinder tilted her head at a slight angle and Ruby sighed, picking up her phone.

'I'm alright. Really.'

Cinder grabbed her own phone and messaged Ruby. 'You've been off all evening. Ever since Yang came back. Something happened between you two. Should I be mad at her with you?' She smiled at Ruby.

The comment made Ruby partially smile back and she shook her head. 'It's nothing. I'll be fine.'

Cinder rolled her eyes. 'That "I'll be fine" means you're not fine right now, so what is it?'

Indecision was on Ruby's face while she contemplated whether or not to tell Cinder. She sucked on her bottom lip and chewed it while she thought, then finally began typing. 'Yang lied to me about some things after my accident'

The response didn't really help to answer Cinder's questions and only left more. 'What did she lie about?' She turned on the couch to better face Ruby while they talked.

'It's about Weiss'

Cinder didn't respond immediately. She read the message and slowly nodded as she processed the information. Her stomach tightened and felt like it dropped as the anxiety squeezed her. It took her a moment to try and calm herself enough to figure out why she felt like she did. "I, um…" she said out loud and looked at Ruby who looked back, concerned.

'Yang made me think Weiss was mad at me and made Weiss think I was mad at her. But, it's already done.' Ruby tried to reassure Cinder.

On the other side of the living room, Winter and Yang sat on the floor talking about something that Ruby and Cinder couldn't hear. From how they were gesturing and holding hands up it looked to be boxing related. Neither of them noticed when Cinder nodded towards the hall. And neither of them noticed when she got up to leave the room with Ruby following after her.

Inside the guest room, Cinder flopped onto the bed. Ruby carefully sat next to her and pulled her closer. 'I know that look. It's your worried face. The "I'm scared my super amazing and perfect girlfriend who is the best person in the world is going to disappear" face. But I'm not going anywhere.' Ruby handed Cinder her phone to read while she shifted to sit on the bed with her back against the pillows and headboard. She crossed her legs and patted her lap for Cinder to rest her head there.

Cinder handed the phone back to Ruby and moved to do what Ruby told her. Once her head was on Ruby's lap, she gazed up at her, Ruby's face looking upside down from her point of view. "I know," she mumbled unconvincingly. "Sorry."

Ruby shook her head. 'Don't be sorry'

"Now that… you know it was a misunderstanding, though-"

Cinder was interrupted by Ruby scowling and covering her mouth with her hand. With her free hand, Ruby typed out, 'No' She took her hand away and typed another message. 'I'm mad at Yang for lying to me, but I don't think I want anything to change. She was breaking up with me, remember?'

Cinder nodded softly.

'There's some part of me that's a little happy it happened because if it didn't, I don't think we would be where we are. But Yang lied to me and… I'm confused about it all.'

Cinder nodded again and reached up for one of Ruby's hands. She pulled it down and held it over her mouth and softly kissed it. The fingers of Cinder's prosthetic were colder than those of her other hand. "I'm sorry," she whispered against Ruby's fingers and kissed them again. Ruby moved her hand from Cinder's and cupped her girlfriend's cheek as she leaned down to peck a soft kiss. Afterward, Ruby shook her head.


"And James went down like a sack of bricks, right in front of the new gym member and everything," Winter laughed and threw a few playful punches in the air. "So, now I've got my first actual client. James better be careful or I'll take his entire client list." She grinned.

Yang laughed and shook her head while she listened to Winter talk. "I'd have paid to see that," she said and laid back on the floor with a groan. She tilted her head back to see her sister and Cinder no longer in the room. "Hmm," she huffed quietly.

Winter poked Yang in the side. "With those two gone, you want to tell me what was going on with you and Ruby earlier?" She raised an eyebrow and leaned over to stare down at Yang who rolled on her side to avoid the gaze.

"Not particularly," Yang mumbled. "But since I know you won't leave it be, she's rightfully mad at me."

"Care to fill me in?"

"Again, no, but I will anyway," Yang sighed and was quiet for a few moments as she rolled onto her back again. "She's mad that I lied to her about some things. I was- I was mad and let her believe some things, and then it felt too late to correct them, and I just ignored it hoping it wouldn't come to light. It wouldn't have if you-" Yang stopped herself and took a deep breath. "I didn't mean that. Sorry. I'm just-"

"You don't need to explain," Winter shrugged and stood up, reaching a hand down to help Yang up. There was a moment's hesitation before Yang accepted. "Sounds like you need to apologize to her later. She probably needs time right now, so just leave her and Cinder be for a bit."

Yang stretched and popped her back. "Yeah…"

"It's still early enough. Want to hit the gym? Think you could use a fight to get your mind off things for a bit." Winter smirked at Yang and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I still need to get you back for that last time, anyway."

"Oh, whatever. Like you could beat me. Let's go, snowflake. You're on," Yang laughed.


Yang's mind wasn't in the fight at first. She took a few too many hits and felt rattled. Frustrated. Her situation with Ruby kept creeping into her thoughts when she tried to push it out and it was distracting her. She could tell Winter was going easy on her, too, and that was even more frustrating. She grunted as another hit connected and suddenly she was feeling focused. Something about the overhead lighting humming was all she could hear. Everything else grew muted.

The next punch that came at her she stepped to the left to avoid and threw one of her own. When that connected, she threw another, ducking and weaving as she went, throwing another and another. She felt every punch that hit her winding her up more, and the hum of those damn lights was all she heard. Her thoughts grew blank as she went, running only on visual cues to anticipate movement from Winter, but it wasn't always enough for her to avoid.

Her technique may have been sloppy, but she hit hard and connected more often than not. Yang took another blow and she was beginning to really feel worn out. She threw another couple rapid hits at Winter who then put her hands up to tap out. Yang was already throwing another hit when that happened and she swerved her arm up to avoid hitting Winter but she stumbled forward against her and the two of them hit the ropes of the side.

Winter grunted and was the first to her feet. She pulled one glove off, using her arm to help grab it. Once free, she took her mouth guard out. "Easy there," she laughed and started to help Yang back up.

Yang was in the process of removing her gloves when she felt her legs wobble and fell on her butt. Rather than try and get up she laid back and took her mouth guard out and breathed heavily. "Sorry," she gasped out between breaths. "Might've gone too hard," she admitted and turned her head to look up at Winter, letting her eyes admire the way her legs looked in the gym shorts.

"Eyes are up here, Miss," Winter teased but let her own gaze wander over the woman on the ground in front of her, too. She finished taking her gloves off and reached down to grab the bottles of water she took in with them. "Should probably drink something."

Yang lifted an arm up half-hearted to accept the water and let her arm drop back down. "Yeah, yeah. Gimme a minute. Or five."

Winter sat down next to Yang and leaned back against the ropes while she drank her water. "I have to say, though, I love the kind of woman that can kick my ass," she laughed.

"Oh, fuck you," Yang groaned and rolled on her side to get up while laughing. She scooted next to Winter and leaned against the ropes as well. "You just like that I don't put up with your shit," she teased.

"Alright, that, too," Winter admitted and leaned to the side so her upper arm rested against Yang. The moment was interrupted by the ringing of Winter's phone. "Ugghh, not answering it." She waited for it to finish ringing, and when it did she breathed in relief only to have it start ringing again. "What could they possibly need me for right now?" she asked while starting to get to her feet. Her phone was sitting on a chair below along with a towel and more water and she had to climb through the ropes to get down. By the time she got to it, her phone had stopped ringing only to start again. The phone number was unlisted and she eyed it skeptically.

"Winter's phone," Winter said with a confident edge.

Yang looked over at Winter and saw her face turn to one of confused frustration.

"No, absolutely not! I'm happy where I'm at, thank you. No- Mother, no."

Winter went quiet for what felt like a minute and Yang couldn't help but trying to listen to what was being said on the other side of the line, but it was too far away for her to hear anything but what Winter was saying.

"You will not ask her. I'm happy you got that settled, but leave the two of us out of it, thank you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have things that need tending to. Goodnight, mother." Winter hung up her phone and set it down with a soft thud.

"So… How's your mom?" Yang asked with a laugh.

Winter rolled her eyes. "Great, apparently. She's now the sole owner of the company again. That call that apparently couldn't wait until later was to ask me to come back."

"And you said no."

"I said no," Winter confirmed with a shrug. "I'm much happier here anyway."

Yang smirked. "Alright, well, help me up, Miss Personal Trainer. My arms are jelly and my legs are probably the same," she laughed.

Winter shook her head and laughed as she climbed back into the ring. "Let's get cleaned up and changed. Maybe we can grab coffee on the way back." She reached a hand down to help Yang up and groaned as she pulled her to her feet. "Come on," she nodded and climbed out of the ring.

"Hot shower. Hot coffee. Bed," Yang mumbled and followed behind.