It took Ruby a few moments to remember where she was and how she got there when she awoke in the soft bed.
She hadn't recognized the feeling of the mattress she was lying on or the room itself when she opened her eyes, and the slight ache in her head did little to help her in identifying her whereabouts. She slowly sat up and took in her surroundings.
If she had to guess, the room by itself was almost the size of her entire apartment. To her left was a vanity set up against the wall. Nothing too terribly fancy, but certainly more than Ruby could ever afford. Small bottles of nail polish or eyeliner sat neatly organized on its surface. In the corner of the room, a sleek black guitar was leaned up against the wall. Squinting her eyes, Ruby could see the words "Gambol Shroud" engraved on the wood.
To her right was a large dresser and closet, which was opened for her to peer inside. More shirts and sweaters than Ruby could ever hope for were hanging there. Most seemed to be black, white, or purple in color.
Atop the dresser were a collection of photo frames, and in the morning light slipping in through the windows, Ruby could just make out the details.
The first was of a black-haired woman Ruby immediately recognized as Blake with her arm around another woman that Ruby deduced to be Blake's mother. The two were markedly similar, almost twins. Identical shades of raven hair, with the mother's cut much shorter. She was tanner than Blake with noticeable lines under her eyes, signifying her age. But she still looked young. Both women were smiling, though Blake's smile was more akin to a smirk.
A second frame showed a much more comical scene: Blake heaving a struggling Weiss backwards over her shoulder, a full-toothed, cocky grin gracing her features, while Weiss' face was nearly red with outrage. Ruby couldn't suppress a small giggle.
And finally, a third photograph depicted the familiar redhead Pyrrha pressing a kiss to Blake's cheek, with a blushing Blake looking sidelong at her, lips curled into an embarrassed smile.
And that was when the events of the night before came rushing back to Ruby, and she instinctually reached up to her forehead, where she felt a soft pad pressed into her skin. Her head still pounded a bit, but it wasn't anything too unmanageable.
She remembered her stolen bike, and her heart dropped a bit.
She remembered the last words she had spoken the night before.
"Wait…Blake? Could…you stay with me tonight?"
A now all-too-common heat rose in Ruby's cheeks as she felt a phantom warmth envelope her body. Blake had been so gentle and warm the night before, and Ruby could swear she still felt Blake's lips atop her head.
Throwing aside the sheets on the bed, she crawled out of the bed and placed both hands on the small of her back, leaning back until she heard a few pops in her ears. Ruby groaned as she ran a hand through her short hair and padded her way towards the door.
When she opened it, she heard what she immediately recognized as the sizzling of a stovetop.
Traversing down the hallway towards the noise, she took in her surroundings. Hung frames littered the walls, pictures of Pyrrha, Blake, and Weiss on their own or all together comprising most of them. It served to remind Ruby just how gorgeous the three women were.
Leaning around an arched opening, she spotted the three women themselves.
Pyrrha stood next to the stove, occasionally moving the pan or flipping what Ruby identified as bacon, if the smell was anything to go by, with a pair of tongs. On the counter next to her was a plate of steaming pancakes. A content smile adorned the tall redhead's face, though Ruby noticed her eyebrows were creased ever so slightly. Around her waist was an apron, emblazoned with large red words, PLEASE KISS THE COOK.
At the table a few feet away sat Weiss and Blake. Weiss' snow-white hair was undone, taken out of the ponytail that Ruby had grown familiar with. It looked soft to the touch, and even this early in the morning it looked immaculate. The woman nursed a coffee mug in one hand.
Blake sat across from her, chin in one hand, and she seemed to be admiring Weiss, lips curled up into an adoring smile.
Ruby took a step forward, and this finally caught the other women's attention.
Pyrrha's head snapped towards the shorter redhead, and immediately she turned down the stove and stepped away from it and towards Ruby. Almost frantically, she pressed her hands to both of Ruby's cheeks and got right up in her face.
"Are you okay, Ruby? Is your head hurting? Do we need to take you to the hospital?"
Ruby's head spun a bit at the rapid-fire questions, and she felt the gears in her mind starting to sputter.
"Um…uh…" She mumbled.
Ruby took in the woman's emerald eyes. Normally sparkling with joy and gentleness, they were now almost misty with concern.
Pyrrha was removed from Ruby's personal space by Blake, who had placed her hand on Pyrrha's shoulder and pulled her back a bit.
"See, this is why I sent you to bed early last night." She said, mirth evident in her features. "And no, she doesn't have to go to the hospital. The cut wasn't that deep. It's nothing that time and attention can't fix." Blake looked back at Ruby. "Are you feeling okay?"
Ruby's mouth finally caught up with her brain.
"Um…yeah…head just hurts a little bit."
"I have some pain relievers for you when you're ready. But first…" Blake gestured to the bacon on the stove and the plate of pancakes. "…how about some breakfast?"
"Oh! Yes!" Pyrrha beamed, her previous concern seeming to have abated a bit. "We have bacon, pancakes, and whatever drink you'd like!"
"Um…I'll just take some apple juice, please…"
"Coming right up!" Pyrrha exclaimed, moving to the sizeable refrigerator, and locating a jug of said juice.
Meanwhile, Ruby turned to Blake.
"I, um…I don't remember a lot from last night. What happened?"
Blake hummed as she took Ruby by the arm and began leading her to the kitchen table. "Well, after we brought you here, you were pretty out of it. I told Weiss and Pyrrha that I could take care of you. Weiss doesn't know the first thing about taking care of injuries," Blake said, smirking a bit at the offended noise that came out of Weiss' mouth, "and Pyrrha can be a bit overwhelming when someone needs to be taken care of."
"She's not wrong." Pyrrha shyly agreed as she placed a full plate and a glass in front of Ruby.
Blake planted herself in the seat to Ruby's right and Pyrrha did the same on her left. Ruby felt a warmth spread through her again when Pyrrha placed her hand on top of hers. Weiss was across from them, face stern and hands clasped in front of her.
"Ruby, I know it's early, and you may not remember much, but what happened last night? I plan to file a police report so we can hunt down who did this to you."
Ruby looked down and closed her eyes as she tried to pull from the depths of her mind what she remembered from the night before.
"I…I was on break from work, and I usually sit outside where we park our bikes. But…when I walked out, there were…three people hanging around. It was dark, and the light by the bikes was dim, so I didn't get a great look at their faces." Ruby's face screwed up as she thought of the details. "I couldn't really tell, but I think two of them were girls and another one of them was a man. One of the girls had a really weird hair color. It was like…a green-ish? The other girl had darker hair in a ponytail. I…don't remember what the man looked like."
Weiss was rapidly tapping on her phone as Ruby spoke, presumably taking notes on what Ruby was describing. Blake had placed a light grip on Ruby's shoulder.
"I didn't think much of it…people loiter around sometimes. But when I got closer, the girl with the green hair grabbed me and told me to give her my wallet. I told her I didn't have any money." Ruby's voice hitched. "But she wouldn't listen. She…" The redhead reached up to her bruised cheek. "She punched me in the face."
If Ruby didn't know any better, she could have sworn that she actually heard Pyrrha growl next to her.
"I was disoriented. I don't remember much after that. When my senses came back, there was the cut on my head. That's when I called you."
Weiss nodded as she continued with her phone, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
"She's really serious about this…" Ruby thought to herself.
Finally, the short woman nodded resolutely and looked back up at Ruby. "I'll go the police station before work today. I promise you, Ruby, we'll find out who did this." Weiss reached across the table and squeezed the younger girl's hand. She smiled a bit. "I also took the liberty to call your manager and told him you'll be out of work for the next few days."
To Weiss' surprise and concern, Ruby seemed to pale at this information and shook her head fiercely.
"No, no…I…I need to be working, Weiss. I need the m-money. I'll call him back and tell him that I can c-come in today." Ruby spoke quickly, her stutters becoming more obvious and her voice shaking a bit. She actually seemed terrified at the prospect of not making money.
Blake, Weiss, and Pyrrha seemed at a loss for a few moments. The girl in front of them was near hyperventilating. They had never seen something like this before. Never before had they met someone so adverse and frightened at the prospect of missing a few days of work.
Had Ruby truly been in such dire straights before she met them? They knew it had been hard for her, but not like this.
Pyrrha was the first to recover and she curled an arm around Ruby's shoulder, lightly shushing her. She pressed a kiss to Ruby's temple.
"I…I can't miss work. I've n-never missed work. I can't not work." Ruby mumbled.
She kept repeating that word "work" like a mantra.
"Ruby, it's okay. You're okay." Pyrrha murmured, trying to slow the girl's breathing and get her back on the ground.
Pyrrha's mind was all over the place. Concern for Ruby's welfare had kept her up the night before, tossing and turning in bed, fighting the urge to barge into Blake's room to check up on the smaller redhead. That protective instinct that always came over her when Ruby was involved had returned in full force.
Weiss and Blake shared a look. Weiss nodded, at which Blake turned to look at Ruby once more.
"Ruby?" She asked gently.
The girl turned her misty eyes towards the raven-haired woman.
"You see…Pyrrha, Weiss, and I have been discussing something recently." She reached forward and clasped her hand around Ruby's. "Ruby, when we found you on that website, we didn't expect any of this. The way you make us feel…" She moved her unoccupied hand to Ruby's cheek. '…the way you've captured our hearts. Those silver eyes that suck us in. That demeanor of yours that makes us want to squeal like schoolgirls."
Despite her tears, Ruby's face flushed, and she looked away in embarrassment.
"This is so different for all of us." Blake shared a small smile with Weiss and Pyrrha. "But…we feel confident that this is the right thing, and right now, I think you could use a bit of good news, yeah?'
Ruby nodded slowly.
"Ruby…would you like to live with us?"
That was really when Ruby's brain short-circuited. They were…asking her to live with them? Like, all four of them in one house.
She said the first thing that came to her mind.
"But…I don't want to be a burden to you guys…you already do so much for me." Ruby protested in a small voice.
Weiss shook her head with an exasperated sigh. "Ruby, I truly don't mean this as a brag, but we have plenty of money. That's why all of this began in the first place. With all of our income, we can more than handle an extra person."
"No more tiny apartments. No more frozen meals. No more broken air conditioners. No more being alone." Pyrrha pressed. She didn't want to pressure Ruby but…well, she kind of did. "You can keep your job if you choose. We won't keep you chained here. But instead of going to that apartment, you'll just come here every night!"
"I know this is a lot, Ruby, but we really, truly believe that this is best. Not just for us, but for you. You can finally be happy." Blake gently said.
Ruby looked between the three women.
Blake was right. This was a lot, something she had never expected. At this point in her life, she had figured that this was just how it was going to be. Hard-going, lonely, and barely sitting on the edge of survival. It was hard, but she had accepted it a long time ago. Maybe even right after the passing of her sister and father.
It was her life. Her reality.
But these three women before her and lit a match under the dying embers that was her life. And it had all come so suddenly.
Pyrrha, with her gentle and joyful habits that always energized Ruby in ways that she had long thought disappeared.
Blake's cool aura and smooth-talking that made her feel like the center of the universe.
Weiss' taste for the finer things that made Ruby feel worth it, and her occasional stern words that kept Ruby from getting too trapped in her own mind.
These women made her feel happy. Wanted. Fulfilled.
Loved.
Tears began to spring anew from Ruby's eyes as she finally gave an answer in a shaky nod of the head.
Blake's small grin turned into a full-toothed smile as she leaned in and wrapped Ruby up in a hug, with Pyrrha joining in from behind. Across the table, Weiss laid a hand on Ruby's.
This warmth. It was so foreign to Ruby.
But it felt good.
And that's all Ruby could ask for.