Summary: Yang and Blake have been in love with each other since the moment they met, but neither could ever reveal their feelings. But now that they're entering their senior year and all the talk is on colleges and plans for the future, their friends aren't sure they can just sit by and watch as they lose each other for good. High School AU. Bumblby, WhiteRose, Arkos
Author's Note: Man these chapters are just getting longer and longer with every upload. Anyways, this chapter was a bunch of fun to write so I hope you all enjoy it too!
Chapter 38: Answers
"Listen I'm sorry, but I just don't think I really want to go with you."
"Why not? Come on, it's not like you have a date right?"
Yang can feel her patience starting to wear thin. She's not even totally sure how she'd ended up in this situation. She remembers finishing her tutoring session with Weiss and heading to her locker to get her lunch but can't quite recall how that had gotten her here, back against a wall and uncomfortably trapped between two outstretched arms pressed up to the concrete on either side of her head. Arms belonging to none other than Cardin Winchester, captain of the football team and an all-around nightmare to deal with.
It's not even the first time she's been cornered like this either and she absolutely can't stand it. To be honest, most of the people that asked her out ended up being pretty easy to deal with, able to read into Yang's attempts at politely letting them down. But Cardin was always different.
The guy just never seemed to take no for an answer, always insisting on pressing on no matter what she said. Of course, she'd been able to deal with guys like this too, usually resorting to a swift shove to the chest or something, but therein lies the other problem. Cardin is huge. He was the football team's quarterback after all and at over six feet tall and definitely approaching 200 pounds, even Yang doesn't feel entirely confident that she'd be strong enough to move the guy.
"Well no…" she mumbles nervously, "I don't have a date but…"
"So then what's the problem?" Cardin interrupts, flashing a sleazy grin that makes her stomach churn, "come on, I know you and I could have plenty of fun together."
Yang feels her eyes narrow, rage building up at the disgusting insinuation. "I'd rather dance with a donkey than do anything with you."
Cardin's jaw clenches right as he leans in closer and she feels herself instinctively shrinking away.
"Listen here you little b-"
"Hey! She said she doesn't want to go with you so just back off!"
Yang snaps her head to the side and she nearly faints from the shock of seeing those achingly familiar amber eyes, narrowed threateningly at the giant towering over her.
And suddenly her mind is yanked back in a whole other direction, the ape cornering her against the wall nearly forgotten.
It was only a couple of days ago that they'd had their long day of dress shopping, and the shocking question Pyrrha had leveled at her at the end of the night had weighed down so heavily on her that she had been able to think of little else since then.
There are so many things that she had thought about saying, apologies and frustrations that have been lingering in the back of her mind ever since this had started up just a couple of months ago. But now that she has the girl standing right in front of her, she finds that her brain comes up empty, only being dragged back to reality by the harsh rebuttal from Cardin.
"What's it to you, Belladonna?" He spits angrily, body turned to face the new arrival but arms still keeping Yang pinned to the wall.
"She… she's my friend," Blake replies, voice losing its shakiness as she takes another step forward, "now get away from her or you're going to regret it."
Yang can see Cardin's body tense up and feels the hands by her head balling up into fists.
"Maybe you should worry more about yourself!" He growls.
Her eyes go wide as Cardin pushes off against the wall, turning towards Blake and taking two lumbering steps toward her.
Her mind still feels blank as the scene unfolds, but before she knows it, Yang is launching herself after him, her body moving almost strictly on raw instinct fueled by the fire boiling in her veins. In one swift motion, she brings her leg up and snaps it forward, deftly hooking it around his trailing foot to upset his balance.
Blake jumps into action at the same time, letting her books drop to the floor and giving him a harsh shove to his side.
The boy lets out a panicked grunt as he falls onto the floor, barely catching himself from full-on faceplanting. But just as Yang is moving to follow up by kicking out one of his legs, his arms flail out in a blind rage, barely giving her the time to flinch backwards, just missing the oversized fist that flies past her face by an inch or two.
She's just starting to feel the anger bubble back up inside her when she sees his other hand swinging wildly… right into the side of Blake's head.
Her eyes go wide in horror, time almost slowing to a stop as she watches Blake slam into a nearby locker, her body hitting the sharp corner with a sickening thud before she crumples to the floor, only barely able to stay on her knees with the support of the wall pressed against her shoulder.
She gives Cardin one last painful shove to his back, almost an afterthought at this point as her body moves almost on its own, and in an instant she's sliding up to Blake's side, heart pounding in her chest as she gently wraps an arm around the girl's waist.
"Blake? Blake!"
The girl's eyes are squeezed shut, and another wave of panic washes over Yang as she sees Blake bring a hand up to clutch at the side of her head.
"Hey Blake, look at me." She repeats.
It takes another couple seconds, but the girl's eyes slowly start to flutter open, and even through all the panic and concern she's feeling right now, still finds a strange sense of comfort in the familiar amber glow.
"Ow." Blake groans.
"Hey, I'm right here," Yang says, "are you okay?"
At the sound of her voice, Blake's instantly eyes shoot open, quickly scanning up and down her body.
"Are you okay?" Blake asks anxiously, "did he hurt you?"
At that Yang lets out a relieved sigh, tension draining from her shoulders as she shakes her head in disbelief. "Really Blake? You get punched into a locker by a seven-foot football player and you're wondering if I'm okay?"
"Sorry." She answers sheepishly, "I just got... worried. Wait." Blake says, stopping as she looks over Yang's shoulder in confusion, "where is he?"
Yang's own eyes widen slightly, suddenly remembering that she had pretty much forgotten all about him the second Blake had hit the locker bank and it was more than likely that the two of them would be tackled back into the wall any second now.
But when she turns around, already preparing to shove Blake out of the way, she finds a distinct lack of a charging bulldozer barreling down on the two of them.
Her eyes dart around the surrounding area, and when she finally spots the revoltingly familiar neanderthal frame, she feels a grin spreading across her face as she takes in the sight before them.
Along the opposite wall with his back pinned against a bank of lockers is Cardin, hands held up by his head as he attempts to deal with the barrage that he's receiving from Pyrrha and Sun.
Their two friends have him completely cornered, alternating between shoving at his chest and pointing fingers, all the while maintaining what looks to be a heavy verbal assault. Suddenly she catches a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye and she turns to the side to see Nora, legs flailing in the air as Ren holds onto her from behind, struggling desperately against his girlfriend's violent thrashing.
"What the…"
She's just turning back to Blake, sharing a confused look with the girl when she feels another set of footsteps quickly approaching.
"Are you guys okay?"
Yang looks up in time to see Octavia, one of Pyrrha's friends from the track team, sliding up next to them with a concerned look on her face.
"I'm not sure," she answers, "I think Blake might need to go to the nurse."
"I'm fine." Blake says, but the painful wince that screws up the girl's face tells a completely different story, "I don't need a nurse."
"But…"
"What happened?" Blake interrupts, this time turning back to Octavia.
"Oh, we were just leaving the Social Studies wing when we saw him hit you." The redhead answers, "it looked like he was going to run but Pyrrha and Sun caught him before he could make it very far. And Nora came this close to kicking him in the face when Ren pulled her back."
"Wow." Yang looks back to her friends, finding it way more touching than she probably should watching them keeping Cardin pinned against the wall.
But even she has to admit that she should probably put a stop to it before it escalates any further and they all get suspended.
So she reluctantly gets to her feet, shooting one last concerned look at Blake before handing her off to Octavia, just in time to catch the tail end of Pyrrha spitting out another curse.
"And if I ever see you even coming near them again, I swear to god I'll shatter your legs and make sure there's zero chance of you getting your hands on that precious little athletic scholarship that we all know is your only chance of ending up anywhere other than a chain gang picking up trash on the side of the highway. Do you hear me? You stupid, misogynistic motherfu-"
"Okay!" Yang interrupts quickly, eyes stretched wide in surprise at hearing such aggressive language from her normally timid best friend. "That's enough guys. Cardin, why don't you just get lost before I change my mind and let Pyrrha and Sun drag you out into the parking lot. Or better yet we can throw you out back and you can try taking on Nora instead."
The boy's eyes stretch wide in panic, flicking back over to where the orange-haired girl, having finally been somewhat subdued by Ren, is flashing an intimidating glare.
"I… as if I'd actually be scared of her," He stammers pathetically.
And before Yang can come up with a response, Nora is suddenly breaking free of Ren's hold, rushing up with a downright dangerous look in her eye.
Sun only barely manages to jump forward in time to catch her mid-jump, once again stopping the girl just short of connecting her foot with the bottom of Cardin's jaw.
But even without making any contact, it's still enough to scare Cardin into taking off down the hall.
And the second they see his enormous frame disappear around the corner she feels a crowd forming around her, with Blake having apparently brushed Octavia off but still gingerly massaging a spot on the side of her head.
"Are you guys okay?" Pyrrha asks, immediately dropping the ferocity in her eyes in favor of a much warmer, more concerned glow.
"Um… actually I think maybe we should get Blake to the nurse," Yang answers hesitantly.
Immediately all eyes are snapping over to the girl, who immediately straightens up under the sudden attention.
"I told you I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" Pyrrha asks, "We saw him hit you into the lockers."
"It wouldn't hurt to at least check." Octavia chimes in.
Blake shakes her head, and Yang doesn't quite miss the small wince that screws up her face for just a second. "Guys really," she says, "it'll just be like a bit of bruising at worst. I'll be fine. Yang, are you okay?"
And all of a sudden Blake's eyes are on her. And maybe it's just because earlier she'd been so caught up in the heat of the moment that she hadn't really realized, but in that instant, Yang is suddenly aware of how effortless it had been running up to her side.
Because despite how much time she'd spent in the couple days endlessly contemplating whether or not her feelings for Blake had changed, and despite all of the anger and hurt she'd expressed to Pyrrha over the neverending lies, all of it had faded away the instant she saw Cardin hitting her into that locker bank.
"Um, yeah." Yang stammers, "yeah I'm fine. Thanks to you."
And for just the briefest of seconds, she spots a flicker of something in those amber eyes, something so achingly familiar but still strangely unrecognizable that she can't help wanting to dig into. But then the bell rings, signaling the start of the lunch period and she's brought crashing back to reality.
"Thanks to… all of you really." She adds clumsily, "coming to my rescue like that… you guys are the best."
"You know we're always here for you," Pyrrha says, letting out a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself.
Nora nods her agreement, shooting a venomous glare down the hall, "Why'd you guys hold me back? I swear the next time I see him I'm going to break his stupid leg!"
"Not if I get to him first," Blake grumbles.
Yang turns to face her, a small smile spreading across her lips at the surprising amount of acid in the girl's voice.
"What?" Blake asks, suddenly self-conscious at once again becoming the center of attention.
"Nothing!" Yang says quickly, "nothing I just… missed this I guess."
Blake raises her eyebrow, cracking just the tiniest of grins, "you've missed getting harassed by a two hundred pound ape?"
"Well no, not that part…"
She trails off, luckily catching herself just in time before she said something that she would regret.
Out of the corner of her eye she sees Pyrrha and Nora exchange a panicked look.
"Well," the redhead says suddenly, "I'm starving, why don't we all just head down to the cafeteria?"
With that, Blake looks awkwardly to the side, nervously biting her lip as she lets her hair drape over her face. "Um… why don't you guys go on ahead, I've… got some stuff to do."
Yang feels her heart sink as she watches Blake turning away from her. And it's even more heartbreaking when she realizes how familiar this sight has become, especially following their most recent fight at the diner.
And before she even realizes it, she's running after her, lunging forward with two panicked steps to reach out and catch Blake's trailing wrist.
"Wait!"
Time once again slows to a stop as she waits for any sign of a reaction. And it feels like she's staring for an eternity, heart beating out of her chest as she realizes that this is the most contact they've had for weeks.
"Wait…" Yang repeats quietly.
Blake finally turns around, raven hair whipping through the air but eyes only meeting hers for a second before they're flicking back to the ground.
"Blake just… just come and eat lunch with us okay? I…" she trails off, unable to summon up the words to express just how much she's missed her over the past few days.
"Yang, are you sure? I mean really, I'm perfectly fine eating with Weiss if you don't want me around anymore."
"But I do." And there's so much more that she wants to say, in fact, there are literally months worth of feelings that have been building up inside that are threatening to spill out right now. But somehow, even with the unending storm of emotions raging in her head, she still finds herself having trouble putting it all to words.
"But," Blake says slowly, "the other day, you said…"
"I know." Yang answers, "I shouldn't have said those things. I'm really sorry."
Blake holds her gaze for just a second, those piercing golden eyes searching for any sign that this is some kind of trick, that she doesn't actually mean her words, but eventually, finally, her expression softens, even breaking into a soft smile.
"I'm sorry too."
If she could focus on anything else, Yang might notice the relief washing over everyone else's faces, a release in the tension that had been building up all these months, but she can't. All she can manage at the moment is desperately trying to contain the goofy grin that's threatening to spread on her lips.
And the silence probably would never end if it wasn't for Pyrrha picking that moment to intervene once again.
"Great! So let's head down to the cafeteria?"
"Yeah." Blake answers, "just let me go get Weiss and we'll meet you there."
…
"You guys got into a fight?"
The sheer disapproval pouring off of Weiss's body is enough to cause everyone at the lunch table to awkwardly avert their eyes, busying themselves with studying anything around them that can save them from the piercing gaze of their esteemed student council president.
All except for Nora of course, who's only grinding her teeth in frustration. "If you can even call it that. We could've beaten that idiot into the ground if you guys hadn't held me back."
"That's what you're worried about?" Weiss answers angrily, "do you guys have any idea how much trouble you can get in for hitting another student?!"
"Technically it was mostly just a lot of shoving." Sun clarifies.
"It's still grounds for all of you to get suspended!"
Yang's eyes go straight to Blake at the other end of the table, the dark-haired girl nervously biting her lip and averting her eyes at Weiss's harsh words, and a wave of panic washes over her as she realizes why Blake is looking so anxious. At the moment she was the only one who'd completed her college applications and as a result, she was also the only one who could be seriously affected by something like a suspension on her transcript. Especially for a super high-end school like Mistral, getting into a fight could actually mean being kicked out.
And it was all because she'd been so helpless.
"It's going to be okay!" She blurts out, eyes going wide as she realizes that she'd actually said it to the entire table, "I mean it was all really to protect me from Cardin. Honestly, if it hadn't been for you guys… who knows what could have happened?"
It's at that moment that she realizes how intently she'd been staring at Blake, and while she truly was grateful to all of them for having her back, that it's still Blake who her words were truly directed at.
Thankfully her slip-up doesn't seem to have been noticed by anyone else as Weiss follows up with a frustrated sigh. "I am glad they were there to help you Yang, honestly I have half a mind to have that brute thrown in jail."
"Well, I'm pretty sure he won't be going to the principal with any of this." Sun says, leaning back in his chair with his hands resting behind his head, "that would mean admitting to all his meathead friends that he got schooled by us. Hell Nora didn't even touch him and she had him running down the hall with his tail between his legs."
"He did look pretty scared!" Nora replies with a devilish grin, "but it was nothing compared to Pyrrha!"
With that all eyes shift to the redhead, shrinking away from the sudden attention and trying desperately to hide the furious blush spreading on her cheeks.
"I… didn't do that much," Pyrrha says quietly.
"Are you kidding?" Nora counters, "all that stuff you said to him made him look like he was about to wet his pants! Seriously, I've never seen you like that before Pyrrha, it was like you were a different person!"
"I have to admit it was really impressive," Sun adds, "even I was a little intimidated."
Jaune raises his eyebrows and turns to the redhead sinking lower and lower in the seat next to him. "You really took on Cardin all by yourself?"
"No..." Pyrrha answers quietly, "Sun was right there next to me…"
"Hey, I only got a couple shoves in." Sun answers casually, "you were the one that was threatening to end his football career by breaking his legs. And what was that thing that you said after about the athletic scholarship? Something about prison or something?."
"I think she specifically said that he'd end up in a chain gang collecting trash on the highway." Nora answers.
All eyes immediately turn back to the redhead who has now taken to anxiously pulling on the end of her ponytail.
"I don't know what happened…" Pyrrha mumbles, "I just saw him pressing Yang against the wall, and then he hit Blake and I… lost control."
Yang rolls her eyes and throws her arm around the girl's shoulders. "Oh come on Pyr' there's nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, it was actually really cool. I can't even tell you how much it means to me that you all were willing to go that far for me. Seriously, thank you guys."
Pyrrha finally looks up at her, regaining some composure at the sincerity in Yang's voice.
"You know we'd all do it again in a heartbeat." Pyrrha says, "but I think Blake might be the one you really need to thank. I mean… she did actually take a hit for you."
Nora immediately jumps in, enthusiastically nodding her agreement, "Pyrrha's right! Plus we couldn't even see you behind that stupid gorilla until she yelled at him."
"Really?" Yang says, completely ignoring the unbelievably blatant redirection.
She turns back to Blake, finding the girl's face now flushed a deep red even brighter than Pyrrha's had been a moment earlier.
"Yeah!" Nora continues, "we had only just gotten out of our history classes when we heard the raised voices. Then we realized that it was you and Blake and we ran over as quickly as we could, but by the time we got there you two had already taken him down."
"That's impressive." Ruby chimes in through a mouth full of spaghetti, "Cardin's a giant."
"Don't you start too." Weiss scolds, "it's bad enough without even more people encouraging them."
"Still," Yang breathes, barely even hearing them as her eyes lock right back onto Blake's, "we make a great team."
…
A few minutes before lunch is over they're all starting to filter out of the cafeteria. Only it takes Yang a little longer because a good portion of her focus is fixated on Blake.
In the beginning she thought it was just some nerves about being back in the cafeteria with her and the rest of their friends after so long, but the longer lunch had gone, the more little things she noticed about Blake's behavior that just didn't feel quite right.
The little winces, the way she kept her head lowered to hide her eyes, even how quiet she had been was on a whole different level for her.
And it wasn't until about halfway through lunch that all of it had finally clicked.
She knew that it was more or less up to her to do something about it, she honestly doubted that anyone else knew Blake well enough or had the experience to recognize all the signs that she had, but then came the problem of actually saying something.
Because it was one thing to make casual conversation with the group or throw a couple of comments her way about their fight with Cardin, and sure, their brief conversation immediately after where she'd invited her back to lunch had been pretty intimate, but for some reason, this just felt different. Like she was somehow overstepping by suggesting that Blake needed help.
And maybe it also has something to do with how insistent Blake had been about not needing to visit the nurse, or maybe she just feels like she might not have the right to tell her what to do anymore, but it's taken until now to muster up the courage to even approach her.
Only now that she's seeing her slowly walk towards the exit of the cafeteria, flinching whenever a light so much as flashes in her general direction, she knows there's no way she can just let this go.
So she steps forward, breath held in nervous apprehension as she closes the distance between them with a gentle tap on the shoulder.
"Hey Blake."
The girl turns, slowly, with her head still very deliberately lowered against the bright lights hanging from the ceiling.
"Yeah?"
Yang feels her eyebrows furrowing and she finds herself anxiously biting down on her lip.
"Look at me." She says quietly.
And Blake does, once again boring into her with those piercing eyes, and it takes all the focus and willpower she has to keep herself from getting lost in them completely. The only thing that really saves her is that she notices once again how the girl's lids are slightly narrowed in a partially concealed wince.
"How many fingers am I holding up?" She asks, pulling back to bring her hand into the girl's immediate field of view.
"What?" Blake says, recoiling slightly in confusion.
"How many fingers?" Yang repeats.
"Uhh… four?"
"And now?"
"Two?"
Yang lets out a huff, having seen more than enough evidence to feel validated in her decision and without warning, grabs onto Blake's hand, pulling her back through the door as gently as she can manage to lead her into the hallway outside.
"Yang, what…"
"I was a little worried when Cardin threw you into that locker but then all throughout lunch you kept cringing every time a light or phone screen was pointed your way."
"Yeah, so?"
"You have a concussion," Yang answers firmly, not looking back as she continues dragging Blake down the hall.
"What? No I don't."
She stops suddenly, spinning around to face the girl who jumps slightly in surprise, "oh really? Because I was holding up three fingers both times."
She sees Blake opening her mouth to give some kind of response, but before she even gets a chance to argue, Yang is cutting her off again.
"Look just trust me on this one." She says, "I used to do boxing, remember? Plus I've been friends with Nora and Sun for like years now. I know what a concussion looks like."
And that pretty much puts the final nail in the coffin, thankfully resulting in Blake letting out a resigned sigh, giving a slight nod before surrendering herself back to Yang's lead.
It only takes a couple minutes for them to get to the nurse's office, maybe just a little longer than usual because she's so worried about going too fast and aggravating Blake's injury, but once they arrive, the nurse on duty immediately springs into action. The woman is actually surprisingly receptive of Yang's diagnosis, quickly ushering Blake onto one of the beds before rushing to the supply room in the back.
And as the nurse returns with an armful of pills and ice packs, sitting down to assess the severity of Blake's injuries, that pretty much leaves Yang to watch helplessly from the side, a feeling that's just a little too familiar to not stir up some particularly unpleasant memories.
But thankfully, this time Yang doesn't have to deal with a tidal wave of trauma pouring through from years in her past. Because in this particular instance her mind is otherwise occupied.
It feels strange sitting here so casually, watching Blake talk to the nurse when the past couple of months had been nothing but arguing and tears and conflicting emotions. And it's even worse considering the fact that she had spent the past couple nights contemplating Pyrrha's question of whether or not she still wanted Blake in her life at all.
But at the same time, it also feels right in the strangest way.
Because Yang realizes now that things are always like this when Blake is involved, that she can't always be rational or even apply the most basic forms of logic. When it comes to Blake, this is just how it is.
Easy.
Instinctual.
Overwhelming and powerful beyond belief.
And it's only then that Yang finally has her answer.
Author's Note: This right here is kind of what love is to me. Idk it's kind of hard to explain but the big thing is that it endures through all the hardship that Blake and Yang have gone through and is probably why I liked their relationship so much in canon. Anyways, hope you all liked it and thanks for reading!