30 - Two Moves

"No, turn it- Other way, other way," Yang grunted and shifted her stance while holding one end of a dresser. Winter on the other end tried to do the same and angle the piece of furniture inside. With a couple of sets, the two finally got it inside the house and set it down with an exhausted sigh.

"That thing weighs a ton," Winter groaned and leaned across the wooden furniture. "The drawers aren't even in it," she added, shaking her head.

"Hey, Ruby? Cinder? One of you? Is this going in the bedroom, or is it the TV stand?" Yang called out, looking outside to the moving truck.

Cinder poked her head out of the back. "I think Ruby said living room. We've got a dresser in the bedroom already."

"Oh thank god," Winter mumbled and reached down to grab the edges of the dresser again. "Let's do this."

"Alright," Yang agreed and squatted down to do the same. It only needed to go halfway across the room and they managed to place it easily enough and sat in the floor.

"Last of the furniture, right?" Winter asked and breathed heavily to catch her breath.

Yang nodded. "Rest is just boxes," she reassured Winter. "It's cooler outside. I'll grab a couple waters and be out in a sec."

Winter nodded and got to her feet with mild sounds of discomfort. Yang did the same and walked to the kitchen to grab a couple of bottles of water out of the fridge. When she came back around she saw Cinder and Ruby each carrying boxes in the front door. "If it needs moving, we'll do it in a bit, but it's there," she pointed with one of the bottles of water.

"No, that's perfect," Cinder smiled. "Thank you."

"Of course, but I need a break. We'll help with the rest in a minute." Yang sighed and walked outside to see Winter sitting on a front porch step. "Here," she said and tossed a bottle to her.

Winter caught the water and laughed. "Going to be rough tomorrow. I've still got that two-o-clock and another at five."

"Ugh, don't remind me. I'm supposed to finish a bunch of snow tire jobs first thing tomorrow since dad said the delivery should be here later." Yang sat down next to Winter and finally opened her water to take a drink. The cool January air felt refreshing after spending the past hour carrying furniture and heavy boxes inside for her sister. The two sat in silence sipping at their waters and feeling the breeze picking up cool them down. Footsteps behind them caught their attention and Yang got up to move out of the way and let her sister and Cinder through.

"Suppose we should finish this up?" Winter asked and looked up at Yang.

"Yeah, should only be a little bit left," Yang replied and set her bottle on the railing. She offered a hand down to Winter to help her up.

"Thanks," Winter said and stretched when she got upright again.


Unloading the truck took very little time and the four were done in no time. They were all exhausted but done. The only thing left was unpacking and returning the moving truck. Luckily, Winter had driven her own car to the house and agreed to follow Yang back to bring the truck back.

During their absence, Ruby and Cinder set about unpacking necessities. Some of the kitchen was unpacked, some of the bathroom, and living room furniture was cleared off. The rest could be done later. Ruby started connecting the entertainment center up and her sister and Winter arrived back.

When Ruby finished setting everything up, she laid back on the floor and stared at the ceiling. Cinder reached for the remote from the coffee table and flipped to a video streaming service to find something to put on in the background. Winter sat down on the end of the couch and leaned back, getting comfortable.

"I say we order pizza," Winter said, already pulling her phone out. "Sound alright to everyone?" She looked around the room to see if anyone had any objections. "Alright, and… your dad is coming over when he's done at the shop, right?"

"Mm, yeah," Yang replied.

"Three larges should be good, right?" Winter didn't have to look to know Ruby was looking over at her. "And the breadsticks. I know," she laughed. It took her just a moment to pull up the restaurant's website and punch in the order. "I've got… a combination, a pepperoni, a cheese, and two order of breadsticks. Anything else?" Winter looked between everyone but saw now objections, so she placed the order. "Should be here in about forty minutes," she said and set her phone on the arm of the couch.

"How much do we owe you?" Cinder asked but was met with a shake of Winter's head.

"Don't worry about it. It's just pizza," Winter laughed.

Yang looked like she had something on her mind. Winter knew what it was since the two of them had talked about it on the ride back after dropping the truck off. Cinder finally relaxed and was mindlessly staring off, the exhaustion hitting her finally. Yang looked down to Ruby. "Hey, um… Rubes. Can I talk to you a sec?" She nodded towards the kitchen and took a step towards it.

Ruby looked up at her with a confused expression but started to get to her feet. She grabbed her phone from the coffee table and followed Yang.

"So, I…" Yang started to say when the two were out of earshot of the others. She leaned back against one of the counters next to the sink. "I want to apologize more properly for… Well, everything. That wasn't fair of me to make those decisions for you."

Ruby frowned and started typing on her phone.

"I'm sorry for doing that and making a mess of everything," Yang continued.

Ruby held her phone up. 'I've thought about it a lot this last week and I'm not exactly mad.'

It was Yang's turn to frown while Ruby took a moment to type again.

'I don't like that you lied to me, and I don't like that you hurt me and hurt Weiss, but I know why you did it and I can't be mad for you looking out for me.'

Yang's expression turned from a frown to one of genuine sadness. She didn't like upsetting her sister. While trying to think of what to say, Ruby continued.

'Just… don't lie to me anymore. Okay?'

Yang read the message and nodded. "Okay. No more lies," she spoke softly.

Ruby stepped forward and pulled Yang into a tight hug. They stayed like that for a moment, and when they broke, Ruby had one more thing to say.

'You said no more lies. Now, are you sleeping with Winter?'

Yang coughed and sputtered, the question completely catching her off guard. She saw Ruby's expression change to a devious grin.

'You seem happier now that the two of you spend more time together is all I'm saying. If you two aren't dating you should be.' Ruby held the message up with a shrug and returned to the living room without getting an answer.


Weiss pushed open the door to her dorm room and slid in a stack of empty boxes. With a quick slide of her hand over the switch next to the doorway the overhead light turned on to illuminate the surprisingly cleaned up room. Blake followed in behind her and looked around.

"This is a lot better than last time I was here," she mused with a small poke to Weiss' side which made the shorter girl squirm.

"I'll have you know I spent a lot of time getting it to this state, thank you," Weiss shot back.

"So, what all is left besides the obvious?"

Weiss took a deep breath and spun around on her foot to survey the room. "I've already packed all of my clothes, emptied the shelves. It's just what's on top of the dresser, what's on my nightstand, and what's in the closet, but that stuff is still in boxes." The last bit she added with an embarrassed tone. "I never actually finished unpacking."

Blake shrugged with a smile. "Just makes it easier for us now, right?" She reached for the top box from the stack and headed to the dresser to begin placing the various items inside.

Weiss took a box to her nightstand and started to do the same. Various books and knickknacks she has scattered over near her bed were wedged around her lamp and alarm clock. Without giving it much thought, she pulled the drawer out and dumped its contents into the box on top of everything else when she noticed a picture frame she had forgotten about. Behind her, Blake had finished getting everything on top of the dresser and turned to see Weiss holding the frame and staring at it.

"You alright, Weiss?" Blake asked as she approached and placed a hand on the small of Weiss' back. When she looked down she saw why Weiss had stopped. The framed photo was of the whole group; Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Ruby. Blake remembered when it was taken. They had all been dressed up for a school dance and were meeting at Ruby and Yang's house before heading out when Taiyang had insisted on taking a group photo for them all to have. Despite how everything went in the few years that followed, seeing it did stir happy memories in Blake, but she could tell without looking it wasn't the same for Weiss.

"Y-yeah, um-" Weiss cut herself off and immediately tucked the frame into the box. "Sorry. I just forgot that was in there," she said quietly.

"You sure?" Blake's question was followed with her rubbing small circles on Weiss' back.

"I'll be alright. I just- a lot's been on my mind."

Blake gently nudged Weiss towards the bed to sit down and she followed, taking a seat right next to her. It didn't need to be said what Blake was thinking of asking. Weiss already knew and continued to talk.

"I told you how I asked Winter if Ruby was still mad at me? Not- not because I want to-"

Blake cut her off with a smile and hand on her arm. "No, I know."

Weiss calmed down some. "Anyway, she said she was never mad at me and that she thought I was mad at her and that there was a miscommunication which…" She sighed. "Yang kept us apart. And I can't blame her for that. Not after what I did. I'm not upset anymore. Just sad. I'm sorry, I'm-"

Blake wrapped an arm around Weiss and pulled her in for a hug. "Hey, you're alright."

Weiss didn't fight it and leaned into the hug. She didn't know exactly what to think about everything anymore. She felt relieved that Ruby wasn't mad at her, but she felt sore thinking that Ruby thought she was mad at her. But it didn't sting like she thought it would. It had been a while and she knew that she was over her relationship with Ruby. Was it simply guilt that weighed on her? Talking with Winter let her feel lighter and allowed her to let go of a lot of things. Weiss relaxed further against Blake and enjoyed being close to her.

"Reese will be over with the truck soon. Let's finish up since we're almost do-"

Blake's words were cut off when Weiss leaned up to press a kiss. Weiss didn't know why she did it, but it felt right. Blake froze for a second before leaning into the kiss. The two of them pulled back and a look of panic set in over Weiss' face.

"Oh no, I don't know why I did that, I'm so-"

Weiss was cut off when Blake pecked a quick kiss in return. Small and chaste with a rosy blush spreading over her nose. "Don't apologize," she smiled. The kiss had quieted Weiss and she looked up at Blake with a feeling of embarrassment. "Besides," Blake added. "I may have wanted to kiss you before, too."

It was Weiss' turn to feel flushed and she shyly looked away.

Blake stood up from the bed. "We should finish up here, though, and we can talk about this later, alright? Once we get everything to the apartment, I think Reese mentioned something about ordering food," she smiled. Weiss nodded in response and got up from the bed to finish her packing.


With the sun set and the last of everyone's things dragged upstairs into the three-bedroom apartment, the three girls decided to take a breather before doing anything else.

"I'll drop the truck off tomorrow," Reese groaned as she flopped onto the old couch they acquired. The beige and green plaid pattern of its fabric clashed horribly with the purple of Reese's sweatshirt and created a dizzying mishmash of visual stimuli. Weiss had to look away and opted to lay in the floor. Blake curled herself into an armchair she insisted on getting for herself. "I say we-"

"Order pizza," the three of them said in unison, Blake and Weiss laughing at the confused expression that grew on Reese's face.

"Oh, shove it you two," Reese grumbled. "Besides, I'm not hearing any complaints to the plan yet, unless either of you have a better idea. And don't say go to the store. I am way too tired for that."

Weiss shrugged despite nobody looking down where she was. "Sounds fine to me." She limply reached to where her purse was tossed near the couch but couldn't reach it. "I've got cash," she mumbled and rolled to her side to better reach her bag.

"Not today, princess," Reese warned her only to have Weiss grumble at the nickname.

"I'm an ex-heiress, thank you," Weiss corrected her with a roll of her eyes.

Blake looked up and over to Reese and Weiss. "She has a point. You already paid for the truck rental and packing supplies, princess," Blake added with a teasing smirk knowing full well it would get a rise from Weiss.

"Ugghh, you two, I swear. Ex-heiress. Ex," Weiss rolled back onto her back and turned her head to glare at Blake.

"Alright, alright, but you still paid for a lot. Go ahead and order, Reese." Blake shifted in her chair to sit up straighter and stretched a foot out to gently nudge Weiss' foot to get her attention. She nodded towards her bedroom while Reese got up to look for her laptop. Weiss looked puzzled but got up to follow Blake. "We've got to talk about something real quick," Blake said to Reese as they were leaving.

"Is it about how you're totally in love with each other? If so, you can talk out here unless you were planning on sucking face, then by all means do that in there," Reese answered without even looking up from her digging through a box. Both Weiss and Blake stopped in their tracks and looked confusedly over to Reese who just found her laptop bag and stood up to walk back to the couch. When she sat down she looked back up to the other two. "What? You two aren't subtle."

Weiss was at a loss for words and a soft blush spread over her cheeks. She turned to look at Blake who seemed just as confused.

"Go talk, I'm gonna order food. Hope it's alright if I put on some music?"

"I, um, yeah, go for it," Blake sputtered out and blinked. She looked to Weiss who simply shrugged and stepped into the bedroom with Blake in tow.

"Was that, um-" Weiss started and cut herself off.

"Yeah," was all Blake could get out.

"So, I guess… Now that- Would you like to, um…" Weiss couldn't fully get her thoughts out, but Blake picked up on their meaning.

"Weiss, will you go out with me?" Blake asked rather bluntly to cut through the awkwardness.

Weiss nodded with a smile growing on her face. "Yes," she spoke quietly and closed the short distance to hug Blake. Having to stand on her toes, she leaned up to meet Blake partway in a kiss.


Cinder sat curled on the couch in the living room with Ruby laid out, resting her head in Cinder's lap. Taiyang, Yang, and Winter sat on the floor at the coffee table where pizza boxes sat open and were talking and joking. In the background, a movie was playing that nobody was really paying attention to. Cinder was barely paying attention to anything, deep in thought about how things had turned out over the past while and how thankful she was for everything, but Taiyang's voice took her out of her head.

"You know, if you ever wanted a job, we can definitely use you at the shop," he offered with a laugh.

Yang gave him a soft punch to the shoulder before turning to Cinder herself. "Really, though, if either of you wanted a job, we can use the help. I'd rather hire people we know than some random person," she added.

Cinder smiled. "I'll think about it," she said and looked down at Ruby to thread her fingers through her hair as she was drifting off.

Winter placed her hand on Yang's shoulder. "Look at you, finally taking my business advice and trying to get some help in there. Almost like I went to school for this stuff and know what I'm talking about," she teased.

Yang gave her a shove and she fell over. "Yeah, whatever."

Behind her, Taiyang smirked. "At least she listens to someone here."

"Ughh, not you too, dad. Really?" Yang laid back on the floor. "Whatever you two."

On the couch, Cinder snorted in amusement and smiled as she watched the three on the floor with Ruby sleeping on her lap.