[Ruby]
Date: March 30th

It'd been three days since she'd dropped Weiss off at her family's mansion, and three days since she'd received a text from her or even heard her voice over the phone. She hadn't bothered to contact her since then, which did worry Ruby a little bit. She knew her girlfriend probably wanted some personal time, but would it be too hard to let Ruby know she was okay, that everything was alright? That wasn't too much to ask, was it?

She wasn't upset with her for this and convinced herself that Weiss was too busy to talk to her, but that hadn't lasted very long. The third morning, she called her to maybe schedule a date so Weiss could relax like she intended to do before she went home, but the call was transferred to a voicemail that said her number was no longer in service. Last time she checked, Weiss had an unlimited service plan and it would automatically apply itself again only minutes after it went out.

Perhaps Weiss was mad at her? Was it because she still wasn't comfortable with physical contact? She didn't mind affection, but when it was sexual… Weiss understood, right? She was working on it.

In that case, was it something she said?

Maybe it was the fact she'd knocked her brother's ego down a peg. No, she was in a sour mood before then. Actually, it could be that Ruby had paid a visit to Penny before trying to start their date…

She asked several times if Weiss wanted to leave and she said she didn't mind…

She should've taken her out on a date first… Gods, she was such a terrible girlfriend. Not to mention the fact that she was the reason Weiss was injured twice, because of her former alliance with the Organization…

Ruby's heart tightened. Weiss had every reason in the world to hate her… What if this was her way of telling her she didn't want to be with her anymore? She didn't want to make assumptions, but if that's really what the other woman wanted… Then who was she to stop her?

She didn't know! This was her first real relationship! When she was servicing her clients, it was a simple one-night thing unless they called her over again. A small voice in the back of her head kept murmuring that Weiss had used her, just like those women before… But the spark they felt had to have meant something, right? It'd helped her find Weiss in the warehouse and heal her minor injuries. Why wasn't it helping her now?

"No, no, no, not like that!"

Ruby's eyes drifted towards her sister and Blake, both seated at the dining table with an old board game. They'd invited Ruby to play, but she declined. They were playing something called Scrabble.

"You said you make another word using a letter in this word! So I did." Yang protested, jabbing at the four-lettered word on the board.

Blake shook her head in a fit of giggles. She sighed and swiped her hair back, "That's not a real word, it doesn't count."

The blonde stuck her tongue out, "Hey! 'Xcuse you, 'Dong' is a real word! Like ding dong. or if you wanna be naughty-"

The raven-haired woman waved her hand, "Noooo," she wailed playfully, "your sister is here! We can only use words like that at home, okay?"

"Well," Yang swung her hair back over her shoulder dramatically, she pointed accusingly at her girlfriend, "fine then. It's your turn, and don't use words like Gammawhatawhata."

Without saying a word, Blake started picking letters off of her platform and setting them on the board, there was a tiny smirk on her face. She clapped her hands as she set the last word down, "Beat that." She laughed as the blonde's eyes widened in horror.

"I don't even know what that word means"" She pushed the board away, her eyes downcast and grumbling something under her breath. Blake leaned forward a little bit, asking for her to repeat with a knowing grin on her face. "You win!" Yang barked in humiliation, her face turning red as Blake broke out into laughter again. A tiny smile crept onto the blonde's face.

Ruby's phone dinged.

A tremor rolled through her body and she shot her hand out to the coffee table, grabbing the device up and clicking it on to see-... A text from Byzan.

Her heart dropped, having hoped it was Weiss. "Who is it?" Yang asked from the table, dropping a handful of letters into the back to put the game up. A sly smirk crossed her lips, "Awww. Is it your girlfrieeend?"

"No." Ruby murmured quietly, feeling rather limp upon hearing the word. "It was just a text from an unknown number…" She clicked her phone off, Yang obviously having noticed her sullen expression. "Weiss hasn't talked to me since I brought 'er home… Her call goes straight to voicemail."

"Oh." Yang's grin fell and Ruby lifted her head, watching as uncertainty and suspicion flickered through her sister's lilac eyes. She let out a hum of thought. "Did you two… Break-up?"

Her chest clenched.

She averted her eyes and they became fixated on the black screen in front of her. 'Don't cry.' She told herself, closing her eyes and sighing as her emotions slipped below the surface. "I don't know." Ruby's phone buzzed and she clicked it on again, releasing a heavy sigh at the sight of the weather alert.
"We have a heavy snowstorm heading towards us," she said as she stood up, "should be here by morning."

Fantastic. A blizzard meant that they would be snowed in for an extended period of time! Just great… Now what was she going to do about work? She barely had enough money at the time to pay her rent!

Not to mention the fact she'd be trapped in the same household as her sister and Blake… She didn't mind it, she'd just gotten to where she personally enjoyed the privacy of having her own place.

"Great!" Yang clapped her hands together from behind her. "We have plenty'a time to whisk your princess away before the storm hits." What in the world was this woman planning? The blonde tapped her chin," The blizzard would stop people from lookin' for her for who knows how long because the roads'll be blocked." Her lilac gaze met Ruby's, "By then, we could've figured out-"

Ruby interrupted with a stern voice, "Are you telling me that I should kidnap my girlfriend?"

The blonde smiled and shrugged carelessly, "It ain't kidnapping if she willingly comes along."

The brunette rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Blake," she addressed the faunus, catching her by surprise, "please, talk some sense into your girlfriend."

Blake shrugged, "I mean, it sounds like a neat plan to me. But only if you two wanna escape…"

Yang piqued up next, concern heavy in her voice. "Please?" She murmured pleadingly, "In a way, I'm tryna help you Ruby." It didn't seem that way. "I didn't know, but the Boss wanted Zero to kill you that day because you protected their main target," her lilac eyes became sad, "they'll plan another attack, and this time you may not be able to fight your way out."

"Yang-" Ruby tried to interrupt.

"Bah-bah-bah," Yang waved her hand and Ruby's mouth clamped shut, "if you and Weiss escape, they may not be able to find you." She continued before Ruby could say anything, "If you run off alone, they'll grab Weiss to lure you back. This way, both'll you be safe."

She shook her head, "Go back," she said with a face of bewilderment, "what d'ya you mean the Organization is after me…? You said you'd tell them I quit!" Ruby's voice raised in volume, "I knew they were tryna kill me, but why are they after my girlfriend?! They got what they wanted from the SDC!"

Yang chuckled nervously. "Because she's… acquainted… with us."

"Yang!" Ruby snapped in disbelief, hurt by her sister's apparent betrayal. "What happen to 'nobody knows about her except Cerule, and he's fuckin' dead'?!" Yang opened her mouth as an attempt to interrupt her. Ruby didn't allow her to. "I helped you with the train station because you said you needed me!"

"I did-" Yang tried to say.

"Who told them about Weiss, then?!" She demanded, "I know you don't like her, so I wouldn't be surprised if you were the one who told them!"

Blake was suddenly in between the two of them, her hand stretched out behind her to keep Yang at bay. "Ruby," she said calmly, lightening the tense air around them, "we know just as much as you do, which is why Yang is trying to help." She explained as the fury faded from Ruby's eyes, "All we know is that we told them you've left, and suddenly you're on the wanted list."

"That doesn't even make sense!" Ruby shouted, her blood boiling, "Someone blabbed and everything points to you two!" Blake opened her mouth again, "You two were around when Cerule tried to kill 'er, you two helped us get to safety, you two know everything! Who else could it be?!"

Yang groaned and rubbed her forehead, "We'll find out, then!" Ruby growled again. "Look, Rubes, we didn't do it, why the hell would we tell 'im?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, "Oh I dunno," she crossed her arms and lifted a brow, "to save your own asses?"

"Ruby!" Yang snapped, "We wouldn't-"

A quiet knocking noise grabbed their attention and broke the tension, the three of them exchanged a glance, saving the conversation for later. Before Ruby could move, Blake swiftly glided from between them and approached to answer the door, she looked back at the sisters and Ruby nodded. The door was opened and a tall redhead smiled nervously at them.

"Hello!" She greeted sweetly. Ruby recognized her immediately. Pyrrha Nikos, she lived next to Ren and Nora with her boyfriend, Jaune Arc. Ruby had only spoken to her a few times, but she often met Jaune outside of the apartments when she was heading to work. "We just heard bickering and were wondering if everything was okay?" Pyrrha asked worriedly.

Yang's brows furrowed in confusion, whispering something under her breath that Ruby couldn't hear. Ruby let out a sigh and came to Blake's side, nudging the puzzled faunus woman away. "Hi, Pyrrha," she said with a small smile, "my sister and I were just having a disagreement, everything's fine."

Well, it was more than just a little disagreement, but Pyrrha didn't have to know that.

Pyrrha's green eyes lit up at the sight of her and she grinned, "Oh, hi, Ruby! Jaune wanted to ask you something yesterday, but you were not home." Her gaze flickered back to the women behind Ruby and her brows narrowed in suspicion. A slight tremor of fear crawled up her spine.

"Oh." Ruby murmured quietly, glancing to Blake and Yang and stepping out. She closed the door and turned back to Pyrrha, "What'd he want?"

The redhead shrugged nonchalantly, "He wouldn't really say anything because he promised not to tell." She knew what she was talking about now. She was surprised he actually kept it a secret, she figured the whole building would know by now. Well, that explains why nobody has approached her about it. It wouldn't have helped their situation at all.

"Uh," Ruby smiled nervously and tapped her fingers together, "he kinda needed to unlock my door for me the other day…" Pyrrha's brows furrowed again and Ruby raised her hands, "It's nothing bad! Don't worry! My hands were just kinda full so I hadda tell him everything because he already saw, so-"

"Ruby," Pyrrha said sweetly, placing her hand on her shoulder, "calm down. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I trust that nothing too serious happened." She moved her arm back to her side and Ruby sighed, "He just wanted to know if everything's all right."

A brief cold chill bolted through Ruby's body and everything inside of her numbed. 'Is everything alright?' A little voice in the back of her head whispered. She shook her head and cleared her throat, "Y-yeah, everything's fine… Tell him that she's at home now."

Pyrrha's brow lifted and a tiny smile pulled at the corner of her lip, "She?" Her voice was playful and curious, promptly causing a matching, timid smile to form on Ruby's mouth. "Well, now you've gotten me curious!"

She could trust Pyrrha, right? The woman didn't seem like one to blab a person's secret out for everyone to hear. Besides, Pyrrha was her friend… Sort of. Ruby didn't really know her neighbors as well as one should, she'd work on that. Ruby let out a reluctant sigh, feeling a weight lift up off her shoulders when she spoke; "Jaune met my girlfriend the other day…" Pyrrha's brow raised, "Weiss Schnee."

The older woman blinked several times and she chuckled a little, clearly not believing Ruby's explanation. Ruby remained quiet, her brows furrowing in slight confusion as Pyrrha looked at her and her expression turned from one of amusement, to slow realization, and finally utter disbelief. "Oh you weren't kidding-"

Ruby smiled nervously, wringing her hands behind her back. "No, I'm not… She's, um, my soulmate, actually." Pyrrha's green eyes widened, "We met at the Mall… We, um, felt the spark when we looked at each other."

"So, what was she doing here?" Pyrrha asked carefully as if she were treading on dangerous territory. "Why did he have to unlock the door for you?"

Ruby's smile faded and she let out a sigh, avoiding eye contact with her friend. "Somethin'… Happened and Weiss was half outta' it," a worried expression formed on the redhead's face, "I was tryin' to get her to stay awake. Jaune came by and he unlocked the door for me so that I could get her inside…" She chuckled a little bit, "He asked me if I was kidnapping her. Yeah, like a kidnapper would outright admit it."

Pyrrha laughed a little bit, "To be fair, if I saw my neighbor with a half-unconscious Weiss Schnee, I'd think she was kidnapping her too."

The woman scoffed with a tiny smile, "I'm glad to know y'all think so highly of me."

"Well," Pyrrha gave her a wave and turned to leave, "that's all I needed to know. I need to go back and start fixing supper; let me know if you need anything!"

"Bye." Ruby said simply, turning to step back inside of her apartment. 'Weiss.' The name replayed through her head like a broken record as she opened the door, she paid Blake and Yang no attention as they jerked away from the opening door, Yang stuttering out excuses to try and cover up the fact that they'd been listening. Ruby strolled past them and withdrew her phone from her pocket, quickly finding her girlfriend in her contacts and calling her.

She waited to hear her voice, or anything. The woman hadn't contacted her since she'd left the manor, no calls, no texts, nothing. The call gave a soft click and Ruby looked at the screen just as the contact disappeared. "Weiss?" She murmured as though she'd picked up, trying to ignore the nagging feeling inside of her chest.

"Do you want me to try?" Yang asked, suddenly at her side. "I'll give you the phone if she picks up." She said softly, her lilac eyes glancing towards Blake momentarily. She knew that they were all thinking the same thing, Ruby was just having trouble accepting it. "I'm…" Yang hesitated, "She could just be busy."

Ruby cleared her throat and robotically handed Yang her phone. "Y-yeah." She whispered, hoping beyond hope that it was true. Still, the voices inside of her head were getting louder and more vocal. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched her sister, whose eyes were fixated on the contact screen. The call clicks again and Yang's brows crease upwards. "Yang…?"

The blonde offered her an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, Ruby," she didn't want to hear the rest of what she had to say, "I told you this would-"

'She's right.'

"No!" Ruby snapped before she could stop herself. She was trembling. "No, don't finish that fucking sentence. She loves me!" She wanted to break down, but she couldn't. Yang and Blake were here, they would be asking her invasive questions trying to figure out what was happening. "Get the hell outta my house…"

"Ruby-" Blake tried to interrupt gently.

"Get!" Ruby yelled again as the other started for the door, Yang grabbing her red wig and adjusting it on her head to hide her blonde hair as Blake applied her headband and eye contacts. "I'm sorry." She whispered as Yang opened the door, the woman looked back at her and she refused to meet her eyes. "I need to be alone…"

As the door closed, Ruby's phone fell from her hand and her knees hit the floor. The brief pain shuddering through her body was nothing compared to the burning of her heart. 'You knew this would happen.' A dark, melancholy voice whispered to her. Her throat tightened and tears threatened to spill out from the corners of her eyes, becoming more overwhelming as milliseconds ticked by. 'So foolish… So naive.' The voice was her own.

"No," she whispered again, feeling as though something dark and possessive had embraced her, holding her at bay until she accepted the truth. The memories she'd made with Weiss flashed through her mind, stopping and focusing on a few very specific scenes. Ruby felt like she was being forced to watch them as though they'd been laid out in front of her, a hand at her throat to steady her and assure her that she saw what was happening.

Memories paralleling some of those nights she'd spent with her clients… The most alarming one being how desperate Weiss had been to get her out of her room, it was a mirrored reaction to when one of her clients' husbands came home.

"N-no." She told the voice. "She wanted to go home, and she wanted me out because her father was coming home… He can't… He couldn't know about us."

The voice snickered. 'Oh you poor, poor thing, little red.'

"Leave me alone…"

'It's over, girl!' It was louder this time, reverberating and causing a splitting headache. Ruby reached up and groaned, the voice shrill against the pounding of her head. 'Your Princess is gone. She never loved you! Open your eyes! She got what she wanted out of you! She used you, just like those women before!'

"She loves me…" Ruby whimpered in protest, her entire body trembling uncontrollably against the wall. She was crying, tears staining her cheeks as she attempted to wipe them away. Her vision was obscured and her chest hurt like hell, she couldn't breathe. "I-I thought she…" Her voice is broken, weak, desperate. "She's not like… them." She almost choked on her own words. "She can't be…"

'She's one of them. What did you expect, girl?'

The voice was right. She didn't love her. Weiss was of a higher status, she had power, money, influence. She probably just wanted to experience something away from the burden of her ranking before she stepped back to take over the company. She was the SDC's heir… She could have whomever she wanted. Why would she choose someone who wasn't even worthy of a name?

And Ruby was stupid enough to have completely fallen in love.