Weiss felt the tension leave her body when they stepped outside of the ice cream shop, leaving the overpowering smell of waffle cones and sugar behind for the night air of the park. The sounds of bugs and wind were in her ears, distracting her from the slowly building ache left after the matches. The park was full of people too, but instead of screaming at the top of their lungs they were walking, sitting, talking, and most of them had a cone in their hands.
The park was a field of grass and trees that were separated by dirt walking paths twisting around like paint strokes. Weiss could see soccer nets in the distance and even a playset that looked like it would sparkle in the day, but now looked abandoned.
"Where are we going?" Weiss wondered, turning and looking at Ruby who was too busy licking her monster of an ice cream cone to respond.
"Nowhere. We're just walking around is all," Yang explained, handing Ruby a napkin who took it gratefully.
"It's nice out, and this is the only place you can see stars in the city," Blake said, licking her ice cream and casting her gaze to the sky without stopping. Weiss copied her, gasping when she saw the bouquet of stars in the sky.
"No kidding, I haven't seen stars like this in months," Weiss gaped, stopping to look at the shimmering balls of light in the sky.
"That sucks, everyone should get to see stars!" Ruby complained, furiously wiping her mouth until her lips were clean while watching Weiss look at the sky.
"Yeah, too bad light pollution sucks," Blake sighed, looking at the horizon where the stars died and the city lights began.
"We get a good view at our place, and it's not too far from here," Ruby said, stuffing the used napkin into her pocket as Weiss came back to earth and followed after.
"Where do you guys live?" Weiss asked quietly, not sure if it was something most people were ok with talking about.
"On the outside of the city by the highway. It's not too bad, and it's not too far from school," Yang said, gesturing towards… probably the east.
"What about you Blake?"
"I live with her," Blake said, holding up her and Yang's hands together.
"R-really? Your father's ok with that?" Weiss sputtered, looking at all three of the girls and seeing smiles on all of their faces.
"I don't live with them all of the time, but whenever my parents are gone I stay with them. As for dad, it took some… convincing, but he eventually came around to the idea,"
"How'd you manage that?" Weiss gulped, reminding herself to keep her mouth closed.
"I ran away from home,"
"That sounds dangerous,"
"It was. I was dumb and could've gotten hurt or worse. Somehow I didn't get picked up by child traffickers and got lucky, some nice people took me in until I was ready to go back home," She said while gazing at Yang like she was a rising sun in a pitch-black night.
"You went back? Why? What changed?"
"Someone made me realize that the only way to have things get better with them was to talk with them. I wasn't getting anywhere by running away," She said, a slight smile on her face.
"Let me guess, Yang?"
"No, it was Winter," Blake said casually, only tearing her eyes away from Yang for a brief second.
"You're kidding me,"
"Nope, if it wasn't for your sister I'd probably be living under a bridge somewhere,"
"Hey, I'd never let you live under a bridge!"
"Even if we broke up?"
"Ye-,Probably,"
"Even you can't hate Winter after she helped me like that. She spent weeks talking to mom and dad convincing them that it would help,"
"I never said I hated her… She helped a lot, and not just you," Yang said before she stopped walking. "The first time I lost to Neo I was so mad I felt like I was going to explode. I ran away from the gym and ended up ripping a janitor's closet to pieces. I threw bottles, pushed over a shelf, even managed to snap one of the mops," she chuckled, looking down at the dirt.
"We were worried sick about you," Ruby said, a dark seriousness in her voice that still sounded like the scared little girl she probably was back then.
"I couldn't hear you guys calling for me over the crashing," Yang said, wincing as she spoke. "I was so scared when I heard the door open I felt like I was gonna be sick. But when Winter came she wasn't mad. She probably was, but she hid it really well. She talked to me, and actually seemed to understand. It felt like the first time in a long time that someone actually seemed to care other than my family. And Blake, but she's family,"
"I had no idea, she really helped that much?"
"If she hadn't talked me down that day I'd probably be flipping tables in the cafeteria right now," Yang laughed while Blake's grip tightened on her hand.
"Why would you be mad?" Weiss questioned, a dark feeling growing in the pit of her stomach.
"I lost, I thought you knew?"
"You lost? Then, excuse me for asking, why are we celebrating?"
"We don't celebrate wins or anything like that, we celebrate when I have a good match,"
"That's code for we're always celebrating," Ruby smiled, getting a laugh from everyone but Weiss.
"Doesn't that feel weird though? To celebrate when you lost?"
"If you asked me that question a few years ago I would've said the same thing. Now I just wanna improve, it doesn't really matter if I lose a match or two along the way. Don't tell the rest of the school, but the rivalry isn't actually that intense,"
"That… That makes sense," Weiss whispered, feeling the chilly wind send shivers down her back. "Sounds like Winter really helped,"
"She did. She was- is, a great person. She can also be a jerk sometimes though," Yang said, looking like she was about to choke the whole time.
"There was also the time she helped us become friends with Ren and Yatsutashi. Which was right ooooover theeere," Ruby said, looking into the darkness near a soccer net and pointing.
"Ren and Yatsutashi? How did she help?"
"She gave Yang and I a pep talk," Ruby smiled, stepping into the grass and feeling the dew on her shoes.
"Didn't you get hit in the face with a soccer ball and have a panic attack?"
"Yup,"
"Panic attack?" Weiss asked suddenly, taking a step towards Ruby without thinking.
"Yeah, have you ever gotten one before?" Ruby asked, her eyebrows knitted together.
"Uh, maybe once or twice. Or maybe all the time,"
"Me too! That's probably not the best thing to bond over, but whatever. I used to get them all the time when I touched people, now it's only every now and then. It's a lot better than it used to be," Ruby said with her chest puffed out.
"When you touch people? Wait, is that why you flinched in class the other day when I touched your shoulder?"
"Dang, you saw that? I was hoping it wasn't that noticeable anymore," Ruby said, her shoulders slumping.
"It wasn't bad, I was just standing close to you. I don't think anyone else saw, it was that small," Weiss said, feeling a bubbly feeling in her chest when Ruby's smile brightened.
"You think so? That's a relief, people think I'm weird enough as is," Ruby said with a laugh, but her eyes didn't have their normal glint to them.
"How many times do I have to tell you there's nothing wrong with being weird?" Weiss said, narrowing her eyes.
"Probably until the sun explodes," Ruby said, and Weiss couldn't help but take another step closer to the girl.
"I have time," Weiss said before she froze, making herself take a step back when she smelled Ruby's strawberry shampoo. "How do you get through your panic attacks?" She asked, knowing it would be nice to stop it before it came over her in the next few seconds.
"I use this nut and bolt, Qrow gave it to me and I always have it on me in case I have another. I know it's dumb, but they really help," Ruby spoke quietly, slowly pulling out the two glittering pieces of steel from her pocket and showing them to Weiss.
"That's what they are? I thought, actually I don't know what I thought. But if it helps then it's not dumb. At least you have something discrete you can use, the only thing that helps me is music,"
"Is that why you were anti-social and always had earbuds in your head when you first got here?" Yang asked bluntly, while Ruby perked up and blinked at her.
"That's not exactly how I would put it, but you could say that,"
"High school's a scary place, all I have to say is I get it. We all cope different ways, and not everyone can be a badass when it comes to punching people,"
"Sounding really humble there, babe," Blake teased, snuggling closer into the girl's chest like a cat cuddling a heater.
"But it's true! Just because Weiss can't punch someone in the face worth a damn isn't a bad thing,"
"Hey, I slapped you good enough,"
"A good slap is still worse than a bad punch in my opinion,"
"You really like getting hit, don't you?"
"Only like it when the right people do it, or the right person," Yang said, giggling when Blake slapped her arm.
"You haven't been listening to your music lately," Ruby pointed out, her silver eyes lingering on Weiss.
"I guess I haven't needed it past few days. It's… It's been really nice hanging out with you guys. Before this week I felt completely invisible like I could scream and nobody would even look my way," She paused, meeting Ruby's look, "Thanks for being there for me," she said as she turned and looked at Yang and Blake, shocked that Yang was holding back sniffles.
"That's all I ever wanted to hear my locker neighbor say," She said before letting go of Blakes's hand and walking over to Weiss, wrapping her in a tight bear hug.
"You're our friend now, so you don't have to thank us," Blake said confidently, walking up and wrapping her arms around Weiss too.
"We should be thanking you," Ruby mumbled, jumping into the hug and wrapping her arms around all three of them like she was trying to squeeze the life out of them. Weiss, Yang, and Blake shared a look, but none of them said how shocking it was for the redhead to be there with them.
"If you ever wanna see the stars you can come over anytime," Yang said just loud enough for them to hear as they took a step back. Weiss felt her spirits soar until she saw Ruby looking at the two of them with her jaw hanging open.
"That's not- I mean, that's a great idea," Ruby interrupted, chuckling nervously before slinking back to her ice cream.
"I thought it was a good idea, after all, Weiss gets exactly what she wants," Yang said with a grin on her face. Blake laughed, and Ruby looked at her like she'd been stabbed in the back.
"It's what she wants, but she didn't ask you for that," Ruby countered, glaring at Yang.
"She didn't have to ask, it's pretty clear what she wants,"
"You don't know what she wants,"
"... I think stargazing sounds like a great time," Weiss said meekly, watching the two sisters glare at each other while Blake looked like she was the only one in on the joke. "If it's gonna be a problem I don't wanna trouble you guys, I don't have to,"
"No, we want to!" Ruby stuttered quickly, waving her hand like she was trying to get Weiss to stop.
"Oh, so we do want to?" Yang asked, raising an eyebrow at Ruby as her grin grew.
"Of course we want to, why wouldn't we?" Ruby questioned, bowing her head to Yang like she'd lost a bet.
"Then you're welcome," Yang said, turning to Blake with a look that screamed proud of herself.
"It sounds like you're going stargazing with us at some point," Blake said, looking past Yang's disappointed face at Weiss.
"Are we? I don't know what just happened," Weiss giggled as she held out a napkin to Ruby. The girl tripped on something, probably her own feet, but managed to stay on her feet long enough to grab it from her hand.
"T-thank you," Ruby stuttered, wiping her face as she regained her footing.
"I didn't get a thank you," Yang said, gasping like she'd been hit.
"Thank you, Yang," Ruby grunted, throwing the used napkin at Yang who swiped it to the ground with her cup filled hand. Before it could hit the ground Ruby dove, grabbing like a madman until she was clutching the small paper.
"Nice catch," Weiss chuckled, pushing back a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Ruby stared for a moment before coughing into her hand and looking away, but Weiss couldn't help but wish for her to keep staring.
"Thank you. Wait, it feels weird to say that twice,"
"That's fine, there are worse things than feeling a little weird," Weiss said, loving the way Ruby's smile came back bigger than ever.
"So when are you coming over?" Ruby giggled, reaching for a lick of her ice cream before realizing that it was already down to the cardboard of the cup. "Maybe we should go back? Glynda's cooled off by now, right?"
"Not a chance," Yang said flatly as she took a bite off of Blakes half-melted mess.
"You can have some of mine," Weiss offered, holding out the bowl which she'd hardly touched.
"Really?" Ruby said with sparkling eyes, leaning in so close it looked like she was about to take a bite. "You don't have to, I know it's probably been a while since you've had this. It's pretty rare around here,"
"Said just like a true aficionado. I'm surprised you know about Atlas Vanilla, but I feel like I shouldn't be considering how much time you seem to spend there. Not that that's a bad thing! Just, you work there, right?"
"Yup! I spent so much time there that she begged me to work for her. She said she needed my expertise in, 'flavor profilers',"
"She means flavor profiles," Blake piped up, but Ruby waved her arms in the air to get their attention.
"We're getting off-topic, when are you coming over to stargaze?" She asked again, bouncing on her feet.
"My sister trying to stay on topic? That's rare,"
"Of course I am, this is important!"
"She's already coming over Saturday for the 'get together', so that works out perfect,"
"I can do that," Weiss nodded, feeling the weight of her cell phone in her pocket.
"That's awesome! But… What if- and feel free to say no… Would you want to go to the dance with us on Friday?"