"It can't be that bad," Weiss whispered to herself, Earls's words still ringing in her ears. 'I've seen that girl come home screaming, cursing, and drowning in tears, but I haven't ever seen her look like this. The hallway had the same sticky carpet and dim lights as always, but the lights seemed dimmer than normal, like she was going deeper into the pits of hell than even the light dared to go.
The door was solid in front of her like it never had been before, feeling impassable even though she had the key. She raised her shaky fist in the air, swinging it towards the door only to stop herself at the last moment. Images of her dad's study door flashed in her mind, she could smell the oak and feel the icy doorknob like she was there now. But this wasn't her father's study, this was her home, so she opened the door despite the cold sweat running down her back.
The lights in the kitchen and the living room were all off, with the only light coming from the television which was playing some movie with a cute black lizard thing with green eyes and wings.
Weiss looked around, straining her ears to pick up any small noise. Winter wasn't sitting at the kitchen table waiting for her with a whip in her hand, but the room was too dark to see if she was lying in wait somewhere else.
She slipped her shoes off as quietly as she could, holding them with a hand as she tiptoed into the room. Weiss put the shoes down like they were made of glass, or more accurately like it was the detonator for a bomb. She closed the door, flinching when the wood clicked shut a few decibels too loud.
Weiss didn't even try lifting her feet to move, choosing to slide on the wood like she was gliding on a pair of ice skates, just like her mom had taught her. Weiss froze, sticking her nose in the air and sniffing like a bloodhound. It smelled like oranges and fried onions, and even though she'd just eaten a big cup of ice cream she felt her stomach grumble.
She forced her way past the fridge and down to the living room, knowing that it was worth going hungry if she could delay her sister's wrath for even a few hours. Shuffling her feet on the carpet, Weiss started edging closer to the couch, keeping as much of herself behind the couch as she could.
All that was on the couch was a lumpy blanket and the remote, not a sister in sight. She looked at her sister's bedroom door and saw that the lights were off, breathing a sigh of relief as she stood up with cracking knees. "Guess I outlasted you, huh?" Weiss said, her chest swelling.
Tomorrow would suck when the two of them talked, but she could at least sleep well tonight knowing that for once she'd broken the rules successfully. Weiss lifted her arms above her head and yawned, her legs shaking as she did. She started reaching for her pocket to check for the time, with no clue if it was even still Wednesday anymore but stopped herself when she realized that knowing when she got home wouldn't change the punishment.
Weiss took a few soft steps towards her room before stopping and turning towards Winter's door. The seconds ticked by as she stood there, looking at that door in the harsh brightness of the television. "Fuck it,"
Her feet echoed in the hall until she stopped in front of Winter's door, knocking on it and cracking it open before her nerve dried up. "Winter, I'm not sure if you're still awake, but I'm home," Her voice was barely above a whisper, but her voice boomed in the cramped space. The room was pitch black and dead silent as she waited, only hearing the muffled voices tv and the traffic outside the window.
"Guess you're asleep, which makes sense because I'm sure it's pretty late. Or, early, I have no idea anymore. I'm sure you're pretty mad, so we'll talk about it in the morning. I just- I want you to know that I'm sorry for running off like that. It was stupid and childish and I'm sorry. Goodnight… I love you," Weiss whispered, slowly closing the door, waiting to hear some resistance up until the door clicked shut.
Weiss dropped her arms to her sides and almost collapsed there on the carpet as her eyes lazily started to close. She looked at the bathroom, feeling the plaque on her teeth while her toothbrush called out to her. She tried going to it, but all her feet knew how to do was carry her to her bedroom.
She blinked, finding herself standing in front of her door when she opened them after a long second. She pushed her shoulder into the door, slamming her side into the door before she twisted the knob and it flew open. She stumbled, squinting at the light of her bedroom light as her fingers started fiddling with her jeans.
"Her," She heard, the sudden noise spooking her so badly she backed into her desk.
"Why can't you tell me when you're lurking in the shadows like that!" Weiss cried, rubbing her hip to help with the burning.
"I said hey and left the light on, what else do you want?"
"Maybe something like, Hey Weiss, don't freak out but I'm in your room! That would make late night talks like this a little less absolutely terrifying," Weiss gasped, resting her hands on her knees as she took deep breaths.
"That would be boring. You should try hiding in the shadows once and awhile, you get some fun reactions,"
"A fun reaction? Is that what you're calling me getting a bruise and almost having a panic attack?"
"Does it make me a bad sister if I say yes?"
"Yes!" Weiss huffed, standing up and putting her hands on her hips as she glared at her sister. Winter was wearing her Firewalkers shirt and some pajama pants, her hair was flowing down her shoulders except for a lock of hair right over her eyes. She was sitting on the bed with her knees pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs like a child. She had bags under her eyes and looked much more exhausted than when Weiss had left her a few hours ago.
"I can live with that," Winter said with a forced smile that she could hardly keep heavy eyes.
"Of course you can," Weiss said, her shoulders slumping. The sisters looked at each other, neither of them had any fight in their eyes.
"I'm sorry," Winter snapped, closing her eyes and putting her head on her knees, keeping her from seeing Weiss's jaw hit the ground. "I said you could hang out with your friends for the first time and I tried to stop you, and that wasn't fair. I trust you, I'm not sure if that's clear or not but I really really do. I just worry so much about you after what happened with father, if anything happened to you I'd… God, I don't even know,"
Weiss thought she'd see her sister's shoulders start shaking and hear the heartbreaking sounds of sobbing, but her back went up and down gently like waves on a calm day. She looked up with her eyes glistening, but her cheeks were dry. "But you shouldn't have hung up on me like that or gone somewhere without telling me where. If something happened, if you'd met someone dangerous, I need to know where you are," Her words were unshaking and her eyes were firm despite the wetness.
"I'm sorry too, I know I shouldn't have hung up on you like that. It was mean and childish. When I said I couldn't go with Ruby and everyone I just got so mad," Weiss said before stopping to sort out the jumble of words in her head. "It reminded me of when dad would say I couldn't do something. Normally I would have just shrunk back and done whatever, but I couldn't. I wanted to go so badly and nothing you said would've kept me from going. You aren't him though, and I shouldn't treat you like you are,"
Weiss shifted her weight from foot to foot, rubbing her eyes while her sister looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "When did you get so rebellious?"
"This week,"
"Well… Ugh, I get it. You get told no so much that eventually, all you hear is white noise. I was the same way after I asked father if I could go into psychology. The consequences don't even matter once you get to that point, you just have to do it," Winter said while her eyes looked into a past that felt a lifetime and a second ago.
"So I'm not in trouble?"
"No, you aren't in trouble. You were acting like a kid for once, and I'm proud of you. Annoyed that you left without my permission, but proud nonetheless. How about I confiscate MY dvd player for a few days and we call it even?"
"That's it?"
"That's it. I've wanted you to make friends for a long time and I'm just glad you found a good group of them. Be a kid, enjoy it,"
"Winter… I have no idea how to be a kid, how to make friends, or even how to talk to people. I feel like a fish flopping on the ground with no idea which way is up or what I'm doing here. I'm trying to figure it out but- but," her throat felt like it was closing and the words died in her throat as tears started streaming down her face.
"It's ok, I'm here," Winter whispered, arms wrapped around her baby sister before either knew what had happened. Weiss wrapped her arms around her sister, clutching her shirt like a lost child as her shoulders shook with sobs.
Winter was a trained and experienced therapist who's known her sister for as long as she's been alive, yet even then she couldn't think of a single sentence that might help the tears stop. So she said nothing, only rubbing her hands up and down her sister's back.
"Sorry I'm such a mess," Weiss mumbled while her tears stained Winters shirt.
"You don't have to apologize for how you're feeling,"
"But-"
"It's ok, Weiss. It's called unconditional love, you get it even if you're a mess,"
"Even if I'm crying and getting snot on your favorite shirt?"
"Yes, even then. I love this shirt, but if it meant making you feel better I'd burn it right now,"
"Don't. You can have stuff you love outside of me you know,"
"I know I can, but it's just a shirt, Weiss"
"You know I wasn't talking about the shirt,"
"Yeah… I know,"
"I'm not sure what things are like between you and Qrow, but don't burn your shirt because of me, ok?"
"So mature and caring for someone so young," Winter sighed, "Things are complicated now, but if I find another shirt laying around I'll only feed it to the flames if it's a jackass. Is that good?"
"Mmm it was acceptable,"
"Do you wanna promise to make it official?"
"Not this time, I trust you, Win," Weiss said as she pulled away from her sister, wiping her face dry on her sleeve.
"I'll make sure it isn't misplaced," Winter said, patting her sister on the head and smiling into her bloodshot eyes.
"Are we done with the hard talk now? I'm exhausted and crashing from my sugar high,"
"I think so, if not we'll talk in the morning and hash it out. Let me guess, did they take you to Vale sweets?"
"Yup, Glynda says hi by the way. Is it just me or was she really intense,"
"It's not just you, she's terrifying when she wants to be, and sometimes when she doesn't wanna be," Winter said, a shiver running down her back that even Weiss could feel.
"She seems really nice though, I like her a lot,"
"I do too. She's a really good friend to have,"
"She also said something about you costing her money in laundry and the floor being sticky?"
"... Welp, I'm gonna hit the hay, see you tomorrow!" Winter said quickly, trying to walk away only for Weiss to drag her back.
"Wait! I need to ask you something. It's not serious, it's actually pretty dumb," Weiss said, letting go of her sister and wrapping her arms around her chest.
"I'll be the judge of that, what's up?"
"Well, it's just that… You know what, how about we talk about it tomorrow?"
"Or we could get this over with and you could ask me," Winter snickered playfully.
"It's nothing,"
"Weiss,"
"Fine! … Could I go to prom?" Weiss asked, looking down at the floor.
"You wanna go to prom?" Winter asked, eyes wide.
"I mean, a little. Ruby asked if I'd go with all of them and I said y- that I'd ask you,"
"When is it?"
"Friday night. If that's not enough notice don't worry about-"
"We need to go dress shopping! Oh my gosh, this is gonna be so much fun for you! Do we need to get flowers? Are you gonna go somewhere to take pictures or should we just take them here? We can't forget about the shoes, I think Amy might know some places with good prices. I can text her in the morning, who am I kidding she's probably awake now,"
"Is that a yes?"
"Of course it's a yes! Prom's a right of passage, you're gonna have so much fun! Not to mention how much fun I'm gonna have helping you look amazing,"
"Can I ask one more thing then?" Weiss asked, rubbing the back of her head.
"You can go to an after party if you want, but I need to know the details. Address, parents, numbers, the whole shebang,"
"What? No. I was gonna ask if," She paused, taking a deep breath, "Could I drive tomorrow?
