Pairing: White Rose
Summary: Third and final part of Rock Band AU
Today wasn't going nearly as expected, but Ruby couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing. Her expectation was to hold auditions for their next lead singer, find an adequately-talented person who had room to grow, then happily invite them to join the band. They would have practices, share jokes, write songs, and maybe even become friends.
What she hadn't expected was for Weiss Schnee, AKA the stick-in-the-mud who wouldn't get out of her thoughts, to show up. That was unexpected. And Weiss had the voice of an angel, because of course she did, and she agreed to join their band, which seemed next-level improbable. Then she dragged Ruby across campus for dinner.
Ruby had been joking about the date. Kind of. It was more of a 'I'm joking if you think I'm joking, but I'm serious if you think I'm serious' type of thing.
She'd been joking! Totally joking. Why would she want to go on a date with someone who sang like an angel, looked like an angel, but spit fireballs like a dragon? It was hot - really hot - but not at all what she'd expected. Now, she couldn't tell whether Weiss had just taken this 'joke' to professional levels of snark, or if this was supposed to be a real date.
Basically, she was caught off guard, and being caught off guard meant she couldn't deflect those fireballs as easily as usual. She needed to regain the upper hand somehow...
Unfortunately, the only thing she'd accomplished so far was following Weiss halfway across campus. Hopefully she didn't look too much like a puppy yapping at Weiss' heels but, in case she did, she lengthened her stride and matched Weiss' brisk pace. It was pretty easy to do considering Weiss was so short. Adorably short, one might say.
Ruby wouldn't say that. That was no way to gain the upper hand on Weiss Schnee.
"So...what's this reservation you made?" she asked instead, determined to rediscover her wit by any means necessary.
"Well, nice restaurants allow you to call ahead and reserve a table. Hence 'reservation.'"
That'll do it. While Ruby rolled her eyes at the sarcastic response, her rebuttal spun into high gear.
"Ohhh...I get it. Guess I wouldn't know anything about that since I've never used a phone before."
"That's unfortunate. I guess it's not worth asking for your number."
"Wait - do you want my number?"
"Why would I want that?" When Weiss smiled at Ruby, looking too smug and too beautiful at the same time, Ruby couldn't decide whether she was annoyed or aroused.
Annoyed. Definitely annoyed...ish.
"So you can call me and tell me what an idiot I am?" she suggested, and somehow didn't find herself very opposed to that situation.
"I have better things to do than that," Weiss scoffed before waving for Ruby to follow her towards the row of restaurants and shops across the street from campus. Ruby had no idea where they were going, which meant she kind of had to follow Weiss like a...very independent puppy, but she was still a little preoccupied with the phone number thing.
"Ok, then...so you can call me and tell me you'll be late for practice?"
"It's cute that you think I'd be late for something."
That wasn't really a compliment, but a blush still rose on Ruby's cheeks. She hadn't expected someone like Weiss to use such a...cute...word, which was why she got so hung up on it and thought nothing of opening the door when Weiss motioned towards it.
It wasn't until she saw Weiss' smirk that she realized what she just did - again. "Dammit..." she muttered while following Weiss into the restaurant.
"You can be surprisingly gentlemanly," Weiss replied. Of course she pointed it out, because everything she did was meant to throw Ruby off. And that was before Ruby realized what restaurant they just walked into.
Massimo's - AKA the most expensive, hoity-toity 'eatery' near campus. Its sole purpose was to feed wealthy parents in town to see their children, or serve dainty heiresses with giant attitudes. For obvious reasons, Ruby had never eaten here. One, she didn't have money shooting from her eyes like lasers. Two, she wasn't dainty. And three, she didn't have a giant attitude.
Ok, maybe she had a giant attitude too...
Regardless, this place of pomp and circumstance was lightyears out of her comfort zone. If she wanted any shot at winning this...whatever this was...she could not spend dinner wondering which fork to use. This was Weiss' attempt to gain an advantage, and she wasn't falling for it. Time to flip the tables!
Not literally though, because she didn't want to get arrested.
"This is where you picked?" Planting her feet just inside the door, she looked around the room and searched for a solution - anything that got her out of here and to somewhere more comfortable. Weiss walked several more steps towards the hostess before noticing Ruby's absence and turning around.
"Yes. Is there a problem with it?"
"No, I just...had a different idea of what our first date would look like." There. Surprise flickered through Weiss' eyes, and Ruby's confidence soared.
"Why are you imagining dates with me?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Ruby replied with a smile. "You could be the girl of my dreams, for all you know."
Considering her dreams last night, that was literally true. But she didn't give Weiss the opportunity to dwell on the response before grabbing her by the hand and dragging her back outside. Once freed of the snooty atmosphere, Ruby glanced around, quickly got her bearings, and grinned when she spotted the perfect place.
"I've got a better idea," she added while leading Weiss towards their new destination. They were already halfway there when she realized she was still holding Weiss' hand, which was easy and natural but made her heart beat like crazy. Weiss noticed the next second, however, and they quickly pulled their hands apart without saying a word.
The voice of an angel and the softest, cutest hands in the world...Ruby almost felt bad that her hands were covered in calluses from playing so much guitar. Almost felt bad, but not quite. Unless Weiss said that she didn't like them, in which case she would actually feel bad.
"I assume you have a reason for avoiding a perfectly good reservation," Weiss said instead, thankfully letting the whole 'hand-holding' thing fall behind them.
"Oh yeah, definitely. I mean, obviously you agreed to go on a date with me -" Again, surprise - or maybe even excitement - flickered through Weiss' eyes, and Ruby's heart decided to skip a beat. "So you're obviously looking for something different -"
"Calling yourself 'different' might be too loose a term..."
"You're looking for an adventure," she concluded as if Weiss hasn't spoken at all. "And you can't go on an adventure in some stuck-up restaurant. But this place -" She stopped and waved towards her favorite hole-in-the-wall, which was just a step above an actual hole in the wall. "This place has serious character, don't you think?"
Weiss' disbelief was palpable, which made Ruby grin with success. Now she was in her element - a taco place aptly named Ted's Tacos - and Weiss was firmly out of hers. Unless Weiss secretly liked greasy, super-cheap street food, but that seemed about as likely as...well, as this date.
"Are they even allowed to serve food here?" she finally asked, and Ruby laughed.
"That's a great question! I have no idea, but what do you say? Are you with me?" With her smile still in place, Ruby extended her hand and waited for Weiss' answer. Her anticipation rose with each passing second, and she honestly couldn't tell whether Weiss would agree or storm off.
"If I get food poisoning, I'm holding you personally responsible," she finally said while accepting Ruby's hand and letting Ruby lead her into the restaurant.
This time, Ruby willingly opened the door. That's what she was supposed to do, right? She had no idea. All she could think about was holding Weiss' hand -
Wait. Was this Weiss' way of regaining the advantage? Did she know how much this flustered Ruby? To be fair, this should fluster anyone, so it wasn't that newsworthy that Ruby also felt flustered. But now she was praying to higher powers that her palm didn't start sweating...
"Are we supposed to just...sit?" Weiss asked while the door fell shut behind them. Her eyes swept the 'cozy' interior with discernment and a bit of confusion, but Ruby jumped on the opportunity to teach the princess how to eat like a commoner. Not that she was a commoner, but she clearly wasn't a princess.
"We order at the register." Leading Weiss towards the counter, Ruby gestured towards the menu nailed to the wall above them. "There's the menu."
"Are those prices real?"
Hearing the genuine surprise in Weiss' voice, Ruby couldn't help but giggle. And, when she did, an honest-to-goodness smile appeared on Weiss' lips. "They are!" she said with a nod. "Order whatever you want - I'm paying."
"Why would you pay? I clearly have more money than you."
"One, ouch." Ruby mimed stabbing a knife into her heart and smiled when Weiss scoffed in what had to be amusement. "Two, because I just called it."
"You can't 'call' paying. The person with more money is expected to pay."
"What kind of fancy rules are you talking about?"
"They aren't fancy rules. They're just...rules."
After giving Weiss an extra second to come up with a response that had a little more oomph than that, Ruby grinned when none appeared.
"Hate to break it to you," she said before giving her best attempt at a devilishly-sexy smolder. "But I don't follow the rules."
To Weiss' credit, she held a serious expression for all of three seconds before dissolving into the lightest, cutest laughter Ruby had ever heard.
"Well obviously I know that," Weiss added with a smile. "You can't even fill out one form to request a table on campus -"
"Hey!" Ruby protested. "I'm almost positive you're making that up."
"I'm not. You just haven't read the student handbook."
"We have a handbook?" Hearing someone clear their throat, Ruby turned away from Weiss' smile and blushed when she found the cashier waiting for them to order. "Sorry," she said before attempting to regain her composure. She needed to stay cool, calm, and collected - everything she didn't feel right now.
"That's fine," the cashier replied while clearly holding back a smile. "Do you know what you'd like?"
"I'll have the number four combo," Ruby answered before turning to Weiss. "And you'll have...?"
"The same, I guess."
"Such lukewarm acceptance," she teased while extending her card towards the cashier. Once their remarkably cheap meal was rung up and paid for, the cashier handed Ruby's card back with a smile.
"You guys are really cute together, by the way."
The comment drew another blush from Ruby, who opened her mouth to say something witty only for a small scoff to slip out. Weiss, however, managed a much more convincing scoff in the same amount of time.
"Please. She wishes she could get someone like me."
When Weiss spun on her heel and walked away, the cashier looked so shocked that Ruby chuckled and shook her head.
"Women, right? One minute they love you, the next they can't stand you."
The response worked like magic, as their cashier laughed and motioned for Ruby to wait while their meals were prepared. More than willing to do just that, Ruby leaned against the counter and smiled.
She just convinced someone that she and Weiss were dating. Maybe she could convince even more people...wouldn't it be funny if Weiss went to class tomorrow only to realize that the entire school assumed they were going out?
Sneaking a glance towards Weiss, who'd picked a table near the window and now looked a combination of bored and antsy, another smile snuck onto Ruby's lips. Weiss would be pissed if her sterling reputation was sullied by some outlandish gossip.
...but what if it wasn't that outlandish? She seemed awfully willing to 'go on a date' with Ruby. Wasn't 'dating' only one step above that? What came after that? 'Falling in love?' 'Moving in together?' 'Marriage?'
That was really, really jumping the gun. First, she needed to make it through this 'date,' if that's what this even was.
"Here you go." The cashier set a tray on the counter with the words, and Ruby smiled while grabbing it.
"Thanks!" The food looked awesome - to her, at least - but these poor tacos were about to face the harshest critic they'd ever met. Would they quickly find themselves in the garbage can? Or flat-out refused? They were about to find out.
"Bon appétit," Ruby said while setting the tray in the middle of the table and watching Weiss examine it with an intent gaze. "You wanted an adventure, remember?" Ruby added while sitting down and grabbing one of the plates holding two stuffed tacos.
"You said I'm looking for adventure, not me."
"If you weren't, you wouldn't be here with me right now."
It was a bluff, but Ruby took her first bite and waited to see how it would play out. Weiss scoffed, as she seemed prone to do, but then frowned at the food for several seconds before finally pulling the second plate towards her.
"Fine…" she mumbled at the same time, as if that might erase her subtle agreement. Then, without hesitation, she picked up one of the tacos and took a bite. She didn't immediately spit it out, which gave Ruby enough confidence to continue the conversation.
"So spill," she said after finishing her second bite. "How'd you learn to sing like that? Did your parents steal someone's voice for you?"
"No, my father forced me into years of voice lessons. Apparently, you never know when you might need to make your daughter sing for a group of your investors and employees." When Weiss took her second bite as if the taco just offended her, Ruby chewed thoughtfully. That explanation was bitter - so bitter that it made their constant barbs feel more playful than anything else. If that's what Weiss sounded like when she was actually annoyed, could this mean...that she actually liked Ruby? That didn't seem right...but, at the same time, made her heart flutter.
"You still like singing, right?" she asked, because the last thing she wanted was for Weiss to keep doing something she hated. Fortunately, that worry disappeared when Weiss met her gaze.
"I love singing. He may have forced me to learn, but in doing so gave me a voice of my own." The strength in Weiss' eyes put more butterflies in Ruby's chest, but she didn't have the opportunity to respond to that feeling before Weiss frowned down at her food. "I don't understand how you eat this, by the way. It's borderline inedible."
"That's what I like about it!" Recognizing that the prior topic was over for now, Ruby threw on a grin and embraced their return to normalcy. "Don't you like struggling through your food? It reminds me that we shouldn't take anything, even something as simple as eating, for granted."
While Ruby grinned at the answer, Weiss stared at her for several seconds before laughing.
"I can't believe you just made eating garbage a philosophical argument..."
"I can make anything a philosophical argument."
"Uh huh..." Weiss teased before taking another bite to eat. If Ruby didn't know any better, she'd say that Weiss actually liked the tacos. But she definitely knew better than to say that out loud...
Part of this felt so surreal to her. Sitting here with a gorgeous, albeit a tad ornery, girl...who had the most beautiful voice Ruby had ever heard...eating cheap tacos and making jokes. If this was what their future had in store, she was all for it. That is, if Weiss felt the same.
"Ok real talk." After polishing off her first taco, Ruby brushed off her hands and set them on the table. "Do you actually want to join our band?"
"I said I would, didn't I?"
"Yeah, but that's not the same as wanting to. I don't want you to do something you don't want to." Even though she wanted Weiss to join now more than ever before, she wouldn't feel right if Weiss only agreed because she felt obligated to.
After giving Ruby a long, searching look, however, Weiss smiled.
"Do I seem like someone who would do something I don't want to?"
"You just said your dad forced you into voice lessons -"
"And he doesn't control me anymore."
"So you do want to," Ruby said, only for Weiss to set down her partially-eaten taco and calmly brush off her hands.
"I wouldn't have shown up if I wasn't...interested."
The look Weiss gave Ruby with that word made her skin tingle, and she suddenly found herself needing to clear her throat before attempting a response.
"The, uh, the interest is mutual." When Weiss raised her brow, Ruby shook her head and tried again. "I mean the band. The band is interested. Because that's what we're talking about."
That wasn't the smoothest response in the world, but it was good enough for another slow smile to appear on Weiss' lips, and Ruby's heart responded by melting.
"Then yes. I want to join. Assuming, of course, this is a serious endeavor and not just some child's dream."
The subtle swipe couldn't even put a dent in Ruby's mood right now. Instead, she smiled and nodded at their new lead singer.
"We're serious. We've already picked a handful of songs to record. Yang has a friend interning at a recording studio downtown - they said they'd let us use it for pretty cheap. And I've been talking to a bunch of venues in town to see about playing - most of them are willing to give us a shot."
"...really?"
"Yes." The surprise in Weiss' voice made Ruby feel pretty damn pleased with herself, and it definitely made all of the work worth it. "We're serious, and we plan on making this work. So I hope you're ready to spend a lot of time with me because I'm pretty sure we'll be sharing rooms while we travel around the world."
She winked with that suggestion, but Weiss looked too surprised to respond. That surprise eventually disappeared, however, and something along the lines of amusement took its place.
"If you actually get this to work, I'll gladly share a room with you."
"...really?"
"Why not?" Weiss shrugged and took another bite to eat, but Ruby couldn't even think about food right now.
"What if there's only one bed?"
"I don't bite," Weiss said before giving Ruby a sly smile. "Unless you want me to."
In one sentence, Ruby lost any advantage she'd managed to build up for herself. Now, she couldn't stop thinking about Weiss biting - things that weren't her - while they shared a hotel room, and a bed, on the road. Long days...even longer nights...
Shaking that thought out of her head, she cleared her throat but came up with exactly zero words to say. And, unfortunately for her, Weiss seemed to pick up on her predicament, because that smile hadn't yet faded away.
"I guess we'll...see," she managed to spit out, only to wish she hadn't said anything at all. Now there was an undeniable blush on her cheeks, and Weiss' gaze had locked onto her like a predator that just spotted its favorite type of prey.
Whatever she said next was guaranteed to knock Ruby out of this...whatever this was...and she couldn't let that happen. Not yet, anyway. She was a Rose, dammit! And Roses could hold their own in a battle of wits.
"Are you done?" she blurted out before Weiss said anything, and shot to her feet so fast that she banged her knee into the bottom of the table. After a brief moment of surprise, no doubt stunned by Ruby's stellar topic change, Weiss glanced at her tray and nodded.
"Yes."
"You want to take that one home?" Ruby offered next, but Weiss shook her head.
"No, thank you. I'll be fine without it."
"Then we'll recycle it." Before Weiss could ask what that meant, Ruby grabbed the untouched taco and jogged outside. After a glance in both directions, she spotted the perfect recycle bin - a guy on a skateboard headed straight towards her.
"Hey man!" she called out before holding up the taco to get his attention. "Free taco! You want it?"
Eyes widening at the offer, he popped up his skateboard and walked over to her. "No way. Really?"
"Really! All yours."
"Sweet!" Taking the taco from Ruby, he took a giant bite before making a noise of content, hopping back on his skateboard, and riding away. While watching him cross the street to campus, Ruby turned and grinned as Weiss walked out of the restaurant to join her.
"See? Recycled."
"Doing your part for the environment, I see."
"Right? I play guitar and I'm eco-friendly. How much of a catch am I?" Glancing to the side in time to catch Weiss' smile and eye roll, Ruby chuckled at her own joke. The lack of disagreement was as good as acceptance, which meant Weiss did think she was a catch. How could she not be a catch? She played guitar! She was in a band! All super cool things, if she said so herself.
"That reminds me," Weiss muttered while pulling her phone from her bag. "You should give me your number so we can discuss practices." Catching sight of Ruby's growing smile, she frowned. "What?"
"That was a pretty smooth way to ask for my number."
"I wasn't asking," Weiss argued. "I was pointing out that you should give me your number. How else are we supposed to communicate? Skywriting?"
Rather than argue, especially when she wanted to give Weiss her number, Ruby smiled and held out her hand for the phone. "Skywriting sounds cool," she added when Weiss handed it over. It didn't take more than a few seconds to enter her contact information, but she decided to have a little fun while she was at it. In all likelihood, Weiss would never surrender her phone so easily again - Ruby had to take whatever opportunities she could get.
So she opened the camera, held the phone in front of her, flashed a 'peace' sign, and winked.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm setting your new phone background." Already finished, Ruby returned the phone with a grin. "Now whenever you open your phone, you'll think of me!"
When Weiss did just that, she stared at the screen for several seconds before scoffing.
"Hold that thought!" Ruby interrupted before Weiss said anything, and quickly pulled out her own phone to snap a photo. Clearly unaccustomed to having her photo randomly taken, Weiss blinked in surprise while Ruby grinned and repeated the process of setting a new phone wallpaper.
"And...there. Now whenever I open my phone, I'll -" Testing it out, she unlocked her phone and promptly felt her heart slam into her ribcage. "Jesus," she muttered before meeting Weiss' gaze. "Do you have to be so beautiful?"
Weiss opened her mouth to respond but looked so taken aback by the compliment that no words came out. The lack of rebuttal clued Ruby into another invaluable tool at her disposal - shameless compliments. She only had to surrender her heart in the process, but she was doing that anyway.
"Ok." This time, she took a deep breath before unlocking her phone and finding gorgeous blue eyes looking back at her. "Every time I open my phone, I'll have a little heart attack. Are we even?"
Eventually, Weiss regained her composure enough to smile and shake her head.
"You're ridiculous -"
"-ly charming?" Ruby added with a grin. "I know. Runs in the family."
If Weiss had a reply to that, she didn't use it. Instead, she laughed softly to herself and kept that smile in place. Seeing her so...happy...made Ruby happy, and she couldn't help but smile too.
Somehow, it felt like they could spend all of their time together and never run out of things to say. Unfortunately, the biggest drawback of going to a fast food joint was exactly that - it was fast. A sit-down restaurant would have given them more time together. Not that she wanted more time together or anything, but now they stood outside Ted's Tacos with nothing to do and nowhere to go.
"You want to grab some ice cream or something?" she asked with a wave towards the nearest ice cream parlor, but Weiss glanced that way and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Do you always eat so horribly?"
"Yup! Helps that I have the metabolism of a rocket ship."
"Rocket ships don't have metabolisms."
"I meant as fast as a rocket ship," Ruby corrected, only to feel like she somehow lost when Weiss smiled at her. "So you're not into ice cream," she added. "Anything else you like to do? Like stealing candy from children or something?"
"I work on homework," Weiss answered. "I have a fifty-page paper due in a few days."
"Fifty pages? Jesus."
"That's pre-law for you..." Weiss muttered, tapping her fingers against her arm and looking around with a frown.
"You want to be a lawyer?"
"No, but my father does."
"I thought your dad didn't control you anymore." As soon as Ruby pointed that out, Weiss' gaze snapped back to her. Reading the vague annoyance mixed with vague disbelief, she kept talking. "But he still kind of does, doesn't he?" she guessed. "As much as you hate it?"
"Once I graduate, I won't need him anymore."
"Better idea." Taking a step closer - close enough that Weiss had to tilt her chin to meet Ruby's eyes - Ruby set her hand on Weiss' arm and smiled. "Don't need him now. Get super rich and famous with me, then we'll tell him to shove off."
When Ruby expected Weiss to shrug her hand off, she didn't. Instead, she inched closer and locked onto Ruby with those heart-meltingly beautiful eyes.
"You know...sometimes you say things that actually make sense."
"Once in a blue moon," Ruby replied with a laugh, which was equal parts nervous and excited. "But before doing anything drastic, we should practice."
"Now you're being reasonable? What was in those tacos?"
"Pretty sure I've always been reasonable, you just haven't noticed until now."
While Ruby grinned at the response and finally dropped her hand back to her side, Weiss gave her a look that implied the statement might be true. Her gaze, however, never left Ruby's while working through her thoughts. Eventually, a small smile tugged at her lips, and she tilted her head in a small nod.
"I think I'm noticing a lot of things now..."
There wasn't a drop of sarcasm in her tone, and that alone was enough for Ruby's heart to beat faster. As was the look in her eyes...and their suddenly close proximity...
The next instant, the gap between them closed and their lips connected in a kiss. For one heart-stopping second, Ruby felt Weiss' soft lips on hers, smelled the scent of Weiss' shampoo, and realized that she had it bad for the girl who could wipe the floor with her in any battle of wits.
The moment ended too soon, leaving her with a gnawing hunger in the pit of her stomach when they separated. But Weiss didn't move very far away. Instead, she remained in Ruby's space, and only slowly removed her hand from where it had come to rest on Ruby's arm.
Something just happened. Well, obviously something just happened - something huge - but something just changed. Ruby saw it in Weiss' eyes, which never strayed from her own, and felt it in her heart, which had yet to slow down.
This was a real freaking date.
"Was that…" For real, Ruby wanted to ask, but cleared her throat and tried to clear her head. They just kissed. Weiss just kissed her. She just kissed Weiss.
"Was that your...your first kiss or something?" she finally said, but the tease came out as a whisper. Weiss still managed a scoff, though the blush on her cheeks hadn't yet faded away.
"If it was, I wouldn't have squandered it on you."
"Technically, you should use all your practice ones on me, then you'll be better for when it really matters." Even though Ruby grinned at the joke, she regretted it the moment Weiss looked moderately upset.
"Are you saying it was bad?"
"N-no!" Ruby waved her hands and shook her head while switching into damage control mode. "Of course not! That was amazing. Best kiss I've ever had. Seriously."
She was serious, and she was suddenly very willing to do whatever it took to convince Weiss of that. Fortunately, Weiss mulled over the response for a few seconds before nodding.
"But you're right. If I want to excel when I find someone worthy of my time, I should practice with someone...else."
"Exactly," Ruby agreed with a laugh at her own expense.
"Then we should do it again."
"Wait, what?"
The words hardly sank in before Weiss pulled Ruby into another kiss. As soon as their lips touched this time, what felt like electricity charged through Ruby's veins, and that feeling only increased as the kiss continued.
This time, Weiss didn't pull away. This time, she pressed forward, keeping their lips locked while her arms wrapped around Ruby's neck and refused to let her get away.
Like Ruby was trying to get anywhere but closer. Her hands clutched Weiss' sides and pulled their hips together, sharing their warmth while her skin grew increasingly hotter. And, when Weiss' tongue swiped across her lips, she willingly let the kiss deepen.
Two days ago, she would have bet a million dollars that Weiss would forget her name before making out with her in public. Today, she'd be broke but still making out with Weiss freaking Schnee in public. And, if she was reading the situation correctly, Weiss couldn't get enough of her. She couldn't get enough of Weiss. Even with their lips locked, and their bodies pressed together, it didn't feel like enough.
A whistle reminded them that they were very much out in the open, and Weiss broke away with a deeper blush darkening her cheeks. Even though Ruby felt a matching blush on her own cheeks, she couldn't stop staring at Weiss while they both tried to catch their breath.
That just happened. That really just happened. Was it dumb that she hoped the cashier saw? Because Weiss literally just said Ruby could never get her and then made out with her in front of everyone. Where was free taco boy? He needed to come back and see what happened too.
"Ok, yeah," she got out while her heart hammered in her chest. "That wasn't your first kiss."
"Second kiss, remember," Weiss quipped before turning around and walking away, forcing Ruby to jog after her.
"If that was your second kiss, I really want to know what the third will be like." When Weiss rolled her eyes, Ruby grinned and followed her wherever she was leading them.
Ruby's heart was humming right now - that's how happy she was. She was quite possibly dreaming, which meant she would be disappointed when she woke up. Until then, shouldn't she continue as if this was the best night ever? And she was suddenly the luckiest person ever?
"So...feel like you need more practice?" she ventured to ask, and noticed Weiss glance over out of the corner of her eye.
"Possibly. I'm assuming you have roommates?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"Then we're going to my place."
For the first time since they met, Ruby couldn't find a single argument, complaint, or sarcastic remark. Instead, she numbly let Weiss grab her hand and lead her towards the other side of campus.
First, a date. Then a kiss. Then a second kiss. Then...going to Weiss' place? Where it sounded like there were no roommates?
One thing was for certain - starting a band was turning out to be the best damn decision Ruby ever made.
"And that's how we started dating."
Having reached the end of the story, Ruby leaned back against the sofa and watched their interviewer nod in disbelief - or amusement, possibly. The woman, whose name Ruby had since forgotten, just spent the better part of the last hour jotting notes while she recounted the beginning of her and Weiss' relationship. The resulting masterpiece would appear in a magazine, which she also forgot the name of, to be read by their adoring fans.
"Sure, if you want to believe that highly exaggerated version, that's how we started dating." Hearing the indifference in Weiss' tone, Ruby turned towards her and grinned.
"Oh really? Which parts were exaggerated?"
Even though Weiss managed a straight face at the question, a hint of a smile tugged at her lips while she said, "Every part where you were witty or clever."
When their interviewer chuckled at the response, Ruby scoffed.
"Ok, so you're saying that you willingly went out with someone boring and dumb as a box of rocks?"
She had Weiss there, and Weiss knew it - the realization flickered through her eyes before she rolled them and thought of a diversion.
"We have company, so I'll humor you." The subtle surrender preceded Weiss nodding towards their guest, who smiled and wrote another note in her journal.
"So that's how you met and started dating," she said to get them back on track. "And then you got married -"
"Actually, then we started the band, wrote some songs, got popular, started touring the world, Weiss told her dad to fuck off -"
"And then we got married," Weiss concluded.
"Yeah, the 'pretty lead singer' thing wasn't working out so well for me," Ruby added with a playfully solemn shake of her head. "Had to lock her down before someone else did."
"Please." Weiss scoffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Like there was ever anyone else."
Grinning at the response, which made Ruby's heart warm with happiness, she leaned across the coffee table and lowered her voice. "See, she does this thing where she somehow insults you and compliments you at the same time -"
"I can hear you."
"Of course you can!" Leaning back with a big smile, Ruby wrapped her arm around Weiss' shoulders and kissed her cheek. "I, however, have some hearing problems since you are a screamer."
"Ruby!" Weiss exclaimed before turning towards their guest. "She's not deaf - just dumb. Please don't listen to her."
"So you and your dad share one opinion," Ruby teased before looking at their interviewer, who was either amused or surprised by the banter. "Her dad was the inspiration behind Jacques Schnee Can Bite Me."
"You don't say…"
"The day you wrote that song was the day I realized I wanted to marry you," Weiss admitted before giving Ruby a look filled with love. "Actually…" she added with a more thoughtful expression. "It was right before that - when you told him to go to 'rich people hell where there's only tap water and one-bedroom houses.'"
"And no golf carts," Ruby tagged on before grumbling under her breath, "Let's see his entitled ass carry his own damn clubs..."
When Weiss set a hand on her arm, however, she cheered right up. "Needless to say," she continued with a smile. "We're not his biggest fans. That's why we put up that billboard downtown - the one where we're making out while Weiss flips the bird."
"You got that because you're not his fan?"
"And because his office looks right at it," Weiss replied with a hardly concealed smile. She then gently curled her fingers through Ruby's hair and gave her a smile that still melted her heart after all these years. "That was one of the best ideas you've ever had. Well, that and asking me to join your 'band.'"
"Why do you still use air quotes?" Ruby whined. "It's your 'band' too, you know." When Weiss raised her brow, Ruby realized that she just used air quotes and sighed. "God, you're so frustrating sometimes."
"I have to be. That's why you married me."
"I married you because you're hot," Ruby joked, only for Weiss to roll her eyes. "And you're smart and funny and sweet and whatever," Ruby added before turning back to the writer they'd invited into their home. "She's nicer than she looks. Usually to people who aren't me."
When the woman chuckled and set her pen in the middle of her notebook, Weiss set her hand on Ruby's leg and gave a gentle squeeze.
"Well, I think that's all the questions I have," the woman said before closing the notebook and leaning forward. "Unless there's anything else you'd like to add? To your fans or...to your father, I guess." When she nodded towards Weiss, Ruby lit up with an idea.
"Yes -"
"No, thank you," Weiss interrupted with a gracious smile. "We'd just like to thank our fans for supporting us all this way. We wouldn't be here without them."
Weiss' decision to take the high road put a damper on Ruby's desire for some well-placed, highly-visible embarrassment. "Yeah," she agreed rather than pursue her original plans. "Ditto what she said."
Nodding at the response, which she probably heard at every single interview, the woman gathered up her few belongings and put everything back into her bag. "Thank you so much for speaking to me," she said while standing up. "And for inviting me into your lovely home."
"The pleasure was all ours." When Weiss stood to see the woman out, Ruby hopped to her feet and offered a wave as the front door closed. Once silence returned to the house, Weiss sighed and shook her head while returning to the living room.
"What message did you want to leave for my dad?"
"Oh, I dunno." Ruby grinned while wrapping her arms around Weiss' waist and tugging her close. "Something like 'Hey Father-in-Law! Bet you didn't know I did your daughter on your -"
"Ok," Weiss interrupted while covering Ruby's mouth with one hand to keep that secret locked away. "As much fun as that would be, I don't think the entire world needs to know."
"Like they're about to know that you're a screamer?"
"Why do you tell everyone that when you're the screamer?"
"What?" At first, Ruby attempted to brush off the comment, but she dropped the facade when Weiss gave her a knowing look. "Alright, maybe. But I'm gonna need you to prove that."
"Give me three minutes and I will," Weiss replied with a smile that made Ruby shake her head.
"God, you're so cocky."
"You love it."
"And you."
With two words, they found themselves where they often did - staring into each other's eyes and smiling as if they still couldn't get enough of each other. After all the time they spent together, all the barbs they traded, all the concerts they played, and all the places they traveled...who would have thought that they still couldn't get enough?
"How do you do that…" Weiss eventually sighed while wrapping her arms around Ruby's neck and pulling them closer.
"Do what?"
"You know exactly what I'm talking about …" Trailing off, Weiss reached up and played with Ruby's hair, like she did when she wanted a kiss but was unwilling to ask for one.
"It's my greatest skill," Ruby teased. But in actuality, she wasn't doing anything at all. Just...being herself. Apparently, being a sarcastic, witty, stubborn fool made Weiss swoon.
"Hey," she added when another fabulous idea popped into her head. "What do you think about putting a new picture on that billboard?" With a growing smile, she leaned closer and watched Weiss' pupils dilate in anticipation. "Or maybe we can get a movie to play up there..."
"I love the way you think," Weiss replied with a smile reserved for Ruby, and Ruby alone. In the moment that followed, she brushed her fingers across Ruby's cheek and mulled over her response before adding, "And I love you."
The words made Ruby's heart swell with affection, and she quickly leaned forward to capture Weiss' lips in a kiss. Definitely not the first one they'd shared, or the second, or even the three thousandth, but it still reminded her of that first one on their very first date. They'd grown up so much since then, but they'd grown closer at the same time.
Most importantly, that 'band' idea of hers worked out. It worked out surprisingly well, actually. And believe her, she reminded Weiss of that constantly.