A gentle knocking on the door shook Weiss out of her light slumber, her eyes fluttered open as she quickly realized she was covered in sweat. Her eyelids were heavy, but now that she was awake, there was no going back, that much she knew. Her mind was filled with fading images of her father in his office, shuddering as she forced air in her lungs.

She sat up and looked around, seeing the sun had long since set and her room was pitch black. She fumbled in the dark for her phone, but it wasn't on her nightstand so she started slapping the covers hoping to hit hard plastic. Before panic could set in, she kicked it with her foot, sighing with relief.

The battery icon was empty and blinking, and Weiss jumped for the charger without even looking at the time. After a few moments of fiddling in the dark she realized she was more of a dolt than Ruby as she used the light from her phone screen to find the cord. She triumphantly plugged it in before it could die, squinting as the brightness exploded in her eyes.

After she was used to the brightness, she saw that she had missed texts, and not from Winter. Pyrrha had sent three texts: 'Hey, is everything ok?', 'Are you still talking? Tell me how it goes!', 'You fell asleep, didn't you?".

Weiss chuckled, surprised to feel a smile on her face. 'Right again. We haven't talked yet, I'll keep you updated,' she sent, finally looking at the time. It was almost 9:30, and she realized she had no idea when she went to sleep or how long she'd been out. She let out a breath realizing that it didn't matter, she wasn't missing much.

The knocking started again, echoing from the door and getting weaker with every tap. "Weiss, are you up?" Winter asked quietly. Weiss sat silently, her jaw tight, "If you are… Can we talk? I know I was sort of a bitch before, and I wanted to apologize,"

For a long moment, silence hung in the air until the springs under Weiss creaked like a gunshot. Weiss could picture her standing there, fingers digging into her arms as she bit her lip, trying to keep her voice from shaking. It was something Weiss had caught enough glimpses of to know about by now.

"Alright, I'll see you in the morning then. I love you, Weiss," Winter said, her voice breaking at the end. The door didn't do much to quiet the sound of her sister's steps. Weiss felt guilty, like she'd done something wrong.

Then suddenly, she stopped. Then just as suddenly she was rushing back to her door, "By the way, I got some ice cream while I was out. I probably should've gotten dinner, but I think you'll like it. It's Atlas Vanilla,"

Weiss was on her feet before she realized it, only stopping when she felt the cool metal of the door handle on her fingers, "You're lying," Weiss said, her throat aching as she talked.

"Nope, fresh from an Atlas Creamery right at the border," Weiss started to twist the handle, but couldn't do it. As much as she willed her wrist to move, it fought her. "You don't need to eat it now though, I'll leave yours in the fridge," Winter said, the steps continued.

Weiss's wrist went limp, the handle slipping from her fingers as her arm fell to her side. She could just go back to sleep, wake up and pretend that nothing had ever happened. Winter would play along if she did, things would be awkward for a while, but things would get back to normal sooner or later… But what even was normal?

Neither one of them saying how they feel while they both suffer silently? Never feeling like she could tell her own sister how lonely she's been, never even opening her mouth in class if her teachers didn't force her. Feeling guilty because she could be doing better, but being too afraid to even open her mouth and talk

"You don't have to do that," Weiss said, her bedroom door creaking open as she popped her head out. Her eyes were red and puffy in the dim kitchen lights, Winters eyes were filled with worry when she saw, but didn't comment.

"Table or couch?"

"Couch, I need something comfortable if we're talking," Weiss said, eying the cup of beautiful white ice cream her sister had in her hand. "And a spoon," She said, licking her lips and hating herself for it.

"Way ahead of you," Winter said, pulling a spoon from behind her back and holding them both out. Weiss hesitated, thinking about changing her mind for a moment before talking a trepid step towards her sister.

"Thanks," Weiss said quickly, carefully grabbing the bowl like a trap would go off the second it left her hand. It looked like the real thing, a soft white with only a hint of light blue that almost looked nonexistent.

Her stomach growled, and she blushed, unable to resist a taste, sticking a spoonful in her mouth. It tasted like snow made from sea water, sweet and salty with only a faint taste of vanilla floating in the back of her throat, her eyes were closed as she enjoyed every second of it.

"Tastes like home, doesn't it?" Winter asked, already sitting on the couch, her legs pulled tight to her chest with a half eaten bowl on her knees.

"Something like that. IT definitely reminds me of mom," Weiss smiled, taking a seat on the other side of the couch, copying her sister's pose on instinct before switching her legs around.

"That day mom snuck us into town with those big hats?" Winter chuckled, "She took us all over town, we even got to go out to eat for once,"

"The pizza was a lot greasier than I thought, it upset my stomach,"

"I know, I carried you back to the car when you said you might throw up. At least until mom took over,"

"I didn't believe her when she said ice cream would help, but it did the trick. Still does," Weiss said, already losing count of how many scoops she'd eaten.

"'It doesn't help with the stomach ache, it helps with the tears?' That's what she told us, right? I never really got that… not until recently at least," Winter said, her tone distant and lost.

"I know the feeling, I feel like she could see the future sometimes, but could only deliver her messages in cryptic poems,"

"If that was true, she probably wouldn't have gotten caught. Dad was so mad," Winter said with a laugh that was laced with resentment and something much darker.

"When wasn't he?" Weiss asked quietly, wincing as her scar throbbed.

"Pretty much whenever we weren't there…. Does it still hurt?"

"Not really, but sometimes it stings," Weiss said, unsure if she should say anymore. But seeing the concern and worry in her sister's eyes, she found the words spilling from her mouth, "When I think about it too much. Or when I think about him too much, it's really weird,"

"Should I get you something? I think we might still have a few of your old pills in the medicine cabinet," Winter said, moving to get up before Weiss batted her knee with a foot.

"No, just sit down and talk. Ice cream helps, remember?" Weiss said, smiling through the aches as she took another bite, the sweetness in her mouth easing the pain. Winter bit her lip, searching her sister's eyes before nodding.

"Ok, then let's talk," Winter said purposefully, her eyes determined. But the longer Weiss stared at her, the less confident she looked. "You, uh, wanted to know why Qrow and I broke up, right?"

"And why you kept it everything from me, yeah,"

"Fair enough," Winter nodded, looking down into her ice cream. "Can I ask how you know about him first? I'll tell you either way, but I wanted to know,"

Weiss thought about fighting, but she found that any fight she had in her had died long ago. She was tired, as if there was ever a time to tell the truth, it was now. "I met some people at school, a girl named Yang and one named Blake. Yang realized that I was your sister and got mad at me, told me that my… sister, broke his uncles heart,"

"She didn't call me a name?"

"She… might've called you a bitch," Weiss admitted sheepishly, but Winter just laughed.

"Can't blame her for that one, I deserve it,"

"No you don't," Weiss defended, her eyes hard.

"Trust me, Weiss, I do," Winter said, giving that same sad smile that Weiss had seen far too much lately.

"How? What did you do that was so bad?"

Winter looked down at her ice cream, which was starting to melt in her bowl. She had a smile on her face, but her eyes were dark and full of something Weiss was well accustomed to, despair. "I broke up with him the night he was going to propose, and I knew he was going to do it," Winter said, like a criminal finally accepting the guilty plea, ready for their punishment.

-A/N-

I know people said that they liked the longer chapters more, but this week has been totally crazy for me and I haven't been able to find the time to write a chapter that's as long as this one would need to be. Hopefully you guys like this chapter and I'll be able to write as much as I need to next week!