Chapter Twenty-one: Have I Lost My Mind?

Ruby got home in record time thanks to Weiss' gift. The keys weighed heavily in Ruby's pocket, but the trust Weiss had given her weighed much more and it was crushing Ruby like an ant under it. Ruby didn't know what she did to deserve all this. All she did was be kind and try to understand the situation Weiss was in. As for Chrys, learning to love her came as naturally as spring. She was an amazingly bright girl with a bright future and a laugh so infectious it was hard not to smile when she was around. So why? Why did Weiss think that being a somewhat decent person was worth so much? What did she see in Ruby?

"Sorry I'm late," Ruby announced tiredly as she shouldered the door from hell open. Yang and Penny were in the kitchen and everything smelled amazing. "Wow, you guys have been busy."

Their entire living room had been rearranged to fit a foldable table that could seat six people at most if everyone sat close enough. It had five table sets ready with black cloth napkins folded like cranes on the plate.

"Yeah, we have," Yang said with a frown. "I expected you back ages ago. What happened?"

"Uh, Weiss happened," Ruby blushed, closing the door behind her.

"What? You finally lose your virginity or something?" When Ruby didn't outright deny it, Yang's frown turned into a sly grin. "Holy shit, you did, didn't you?"

"Yeah… some stuff happened," Ruby said, trying to be as indirect as possible.

A plate suddenly shattered drawing everyone's attention to Penny. She apologized profusely in a panic as she picked the broken pieces up.

"You okay?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, sorry!" Penny shouted, sounding shaken as she threw the broken plate away. "It was still wet."

Ruby shared a look with Yang and they both silently agreed not to pry.

"What you got there, Ruby?" Yang asked to shift the topic away.

"Oh, this is for you actually," Ruby said, holding the contract up. "It's the thing Weiss promised you… and, uh, do we have a lawyer?"

"No?" Yang dried her hands on her apron and walked up to Ruby. She took the envelope and opened it without any fanfare. "Why is it so thick?"

"She says it's a pretty big gig," Ruby said, inching closer to get a look. "She also said she'd provide a lawyer if you need one."

"Did she say what kind of job it was?" Yang asked, running her finger over the fat stack of papers.

"A restaurant."

Yang blinked. "You're shitting me."

"No joke," Ruby said. "Coco was apparently opening a restaurant when they moved to Vale… Weiss is picking up where she left off."

"Ruby, holy shit. This could—"

"Change our lives? Yeah," Ruby nervously laughed. "She said the same thing. She also… kind of gave us a car."

"What?"

Ruby pulled the keys out from her pocket and showed it to Yang. "We have a car that we don't have to pay jack shit for."

"What?" Yang balked.

"I tried to tell her no, but she insisted!" Ruby said, plopping onto the couch.

"She gave you a car?" Penny asked with a strange look on her face. "I get that she's rich, but… you guys just met."

"It's weird, I know!" Ruby cried out. "I tried to say no, really, I did! But she just looked so cute and she made a lot of good points, so I gave in!"

"You're weak!" Yang shouted with a nervous laugh, her eyes flitting between Ruby and the contract.

"I am!" Ruby cried even louder. "What do I do?! I can't just give it back!"

"Why can't you?" Penny asked. "And if you guys needed a car, you know I could have gotten you one, right?"

"We know, Pen," Ruby sighed. "But we're not friends because of your money. And I'm not with Weiss for hers."

"Just give it back," Penny insisted. "She can't make you keep it."

"But… I kind of want to keep it," Ruby murmured. "It really would help out… no more bus fare or waiting out in the cold at night. I can also give Yang a ride to work instead of letting her walk to it…"

"We can look for a nicer apartment further away…" Yang added, her nose buried in the contract.

"Yeah," Ruby agreed. "Grocery shopping would be so much easier too."

"What if she asks for it back?" Penny asked.

"Then she takes it back," Ruby said. "I am hopefully optimistic we won't be breaking up anytime soon, so the car'll be mine for a while."

"And if you do?"

"I don't really want to think about that…" Ruby frowned. "I really like Weiss."

"You don't know her that well, Ruby."

"I got to know her pretty well today…" Ruby muttered under her breath.

"Okay, this thing is insane," Yang growled in frustration. "Why are there so many words! Just get to the good shit like the pay and benefits already!"

"Should I ask Weiss about that lawyer?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, that'd be great… seriously, why is this so insane?"

"Weiss also said to highlight any changes you want to make."

"Can I take a look at that?" Penny asked. "If anything, I can get you guys that lawyer. It might be better if they're not in Weiss' pocket."

"Er, that sounds like an even better idea," Yang agreed. "Yeah, could you do that, Pen? I'll pay you back."

"Don't worry about it," Penny shrugged. "Money's not an issue."

Ruby didn't like the tone Penny used, but she did have to agree—just for an unbiased opinion that is. She trusted Weiss wouldn't screw them over, it was the lawyer she didn't trust. Knowing Weiss, she'd get them the best lawyer she could get, but those were the slimiest especially when it gives them access to someone so powerful.

"Ah, fuck it… I'll read a bit more before bed," Yang said. "Could you put this in my room, Ruby?"

"Sure thing," Ruby said, getting up to grab the contract.

"Thanks."

Walking into Yang's room always felt weird to Ruby. When they were kids, she'd sneak in all the time to marvel at all the neat things her big sister treasured. But now that they were older, it felt like an invasion of space even with permission.

Yang's room was a lot more worldly than people expected. She had a wall dedicated solely to her collection of scenic landscape photos and a book shelf stuffed to the brim with cookbooks and old notebooks filled with her recipes and musings. There were a few clothes littered about on the floor—socks, shirts, and bras mostly—despite having a near empty closet. She also had a small desk covered with even more books and an old chair that was literally duct taped together beside her bed. Ruby wished Yang would replace that thing, but she refused despite the back falling off whenever she reclined.

Ruby put the contract on Yang's pillow where it couldn't be misplaced. She was tempted to look through it but kept her hands to herself. When she turned to leave, Ruby noticed a new picture on the wall and inspected it closer. It was a beautiful shot of a tall mountain range with clear blue skies as far as the eye could see. A single bird was captured in the shot, soaring high into the sky. Ruby smiled as she walked away and rejoined the others.

"You didn't go snooping in my room did you?" Yang asked jokingly. She was facing the stove with a greasy spatula in hand.

"Nope, didn't see your nudey mags."

"They're not 'nudey mags,'" Yang half-heartedly argued. "They're tasteful fashion editorials."

"Whatever," Ruby grumbled, "still better than the vibrator I saw last time."

"Yeah, that's what you get for walking into my room without permission." Yang flipped the steak she was cooking and said, "Bet you Weiss has a bunch locked away somewhere. Bottom drawer perhaps?"

"Fuck you, Yang."

"That's not a no!" Yang said in a singsong voice.

"Aaanyway, I saw the new landscape on your wall. It's really nice," Ruby said as she took her jacket off and tossed it onto the couch. "Did Velvet send anything else?"

"Yeah, I had Penny put it in your room."

"Cool… what about Raven?" Ruby asked carefully.

"The landscape was from Raven… Velvet sent me a few Vacuoan cookbooks."

"Oh…" Ruby gasped. "Cool."

"Raven also sent some money," Yang said. "It's in your room."

"What? No! Yang, Raven sent you that money, not me!"

"I don't want it," Yang said with a tone of finality no one could argue. "Just take the money… spend it on Chrys or Weiss. I don't give a shit."

"Yang…"

"Just drop it, Ruby."

"Okay…" Ruby grabbed her coat and went to her room. She closed the door and tossed the coat on top of a pile of clothes she really needed to clean. Her first thought was to change into some comfortable clothes, but her sweater still smelled like Weiss' perfume.

Running a hand through her hair, Ruby put the car keys and her scroll on the nightstand next to an envelope with Yang's name on it. She glanced at the picture of Weiss she had on her poor overcrowded nightstand before flopping into bed and getting her present. Penny had put the gift on her pillow for the same reason Ruby put Yang's on hers. Tearing the cardboard apart, Ruby eagerly pulled out the black picture frame it protected. A photograph was tucked in front between the glass and wood featuring a young woman wearing sunglasses and a sun hat. She was holding up a peace sign and above that was a short message saying "Wish you were here! Love, Velvet" with a big heart and a smiley face.

Ruby took the photo and carefully stood it against her lamp next to the one of Weiss. Smiling, Ruby turned her attention to the picture frame and marvelled at the beautiful sunset seascape.

"Wow…" Ruby whispered as she traced over the rolling waves with a finger. She decided to hang it up over her desk where she could see it always.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted from the kitchen.

Getting up, Ruby set the frame aside and grabbed her scroll. "What?" she shouted back, poking her head out into the hall.

"Could you help us out here?"

"Sorry!" Ruby said, closing the door behind her. She walked into the kitchen and rolled up her sleeves, ready to do whatever Yang needed her to do. "What can I do?"

"Taste this?" Yang asked, holding out a spoon with a bit of gravy on it. "I've been working on this demi-glace all day. What do you think?"

"It…" Ruby smacked her lips, trying to decipher the ingredients and appreciate the rich flavour, but all she could come up with was a lame "it tastes really good."

"You can't tell the difference between it and regular gravy can you?"

"Nope," Ruby replied.

Yang snorted out a laugh. "Where's Weiss when you need her? She'd appreciate the effort I put in."

"Yeaaaah… about that," Ruby said, grabbing her sister by the shoulder, "you're not trying to steal my girlfriend with your amazing cooking are you?"

"Wha? Psssh! Psh… hah! No," Yang laughed. "Weiss is waaay too uptight. How you manage to keep up with her, I'll never know."

"She is pretty tight," Ruby mouthed without thinking.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" Ruby yelped. "I didn't say anything."

"Riiight… hey, Pen!"

"Yeah?" Penny said, lifting her head up from her work on the table.

"Come over here and try my 'gravy.' "

"I said it tasted good, isn't that enough?!" Ruby whined when Yang shot her a dirty glare.

"I spent twelve hours on this!" Yang argued. "'Good' isn't good enough!"

"What do you want me to say?!"

Penny walked up to get her sample and said, "Oh, this is really tasty!"

"Annndd?" Yang said with a hopeful expression.

"I can really taste the herbs," Penny nodded. "I can't wait to try this with the red wine we picked out."

"Nice!" Yang said, high-fiving Penny. "I actually added some of that to the sauce… I think it worked perfectly."

"I can tell!" Penny smiled.

"There was wine in that?" Ruby said at the same time Penny spoke. The two women looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "Whaaat?"

"I… you… get out of the kitchen and watch the door," Yang said.

"Wha—"

"Door, Ruby."

"Fine," Ruby grumbled, crossing her arms as she stomped towards the couch.

"Do you really think it tastes good?" Yang demurely asked Penny.

"I do," Penny replied.

"Ciel won't be too mad I messed with her grandma's recipe, will she?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine with it."

"Hey, so, what's going on with you and Ciel?" Ruby asked after finally working up the courage to speak.

"No—hic—thing! Nothing at all," Penny replied with a nervous smile. "We're just—hic—friends."

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "'Friends'?"

"Yes—hic—friends."

"… with benefits," Yang sneakily added.

"Yang!" Penny shouted, smacking Yang on the shoulder. "Nothing of that—hic—sort is happening!"

"Penny, it's fiiine," Ruby laughed. "If you like Ciel, you don't have to hide it."

"I don't like her like that—hic!" Penny clamped her hands over her mouth, blushing furiously.

"Aw, does Penny have a girlfriend?" Ruby teased.

"So what if I do?" Penny said. "I have to get over you eventually…"

The room suddenly went quiet.

"Penny, I didn't mean anything bad. I just—"

"I know," Penny said, turning her back to Ruby. "Let's just drop it. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Okay…"

Yang rubbed her hands together nervously as she looked between Ruby and Penny. She wanted to speak up to try and lighten the mood, but she was saved by a loud knocking on the door. Ruby was off the couch in a second letting their guests in.

"Hey, Dad! Hey, Uncle Qrow," Yang bellowed as she walked up to greet them both with a hug. "Glad you could make it. Didn't have a hard time finding the place did ya?"

"I had to share a cab with this colossal bitch and this really creepy dude," Qrow grumbled. He kicked his shoes off and hugged Yang. "Hey, Firecracker."

"Hey, old man," Yang said.

"Hello, Yang," Tai said as he hugged his daughter next. Ruby stood off to the side, waiting for her turn to hug her uncle. She didn't look at Tai, but he still called out to her. "Hello, Ruby."

Ruby's face scrunched up as she nodded her head in acknowledgement. She muttered a quiet "hi" and hugged her uncle tight when Yang released him.

"Hey, kiddo," Qrow said, ruffling Ruby's hair. "You got a haircut."

"Yeah," Ruby said, burying her face in his chest.

"That's not the only thing she got," Yang said as she closed the door. "Ruby totally got—"

"A new car!" Ruby cut in, glaring daggers at her sister.

"That's what I was gunna say," Yang said, smirking. "I don't know what you were thinking."

"A new car?" Tai asked. "Are you sure you can afford it? If you need money, I can—"

"Weiss gave it to me—well, she's 'lending' it to me," Ruby clarified before Tai could offer them money. "You probably saw it out front. It's the shiny red one."

"Huh," Qrow said, rubbing his chin, "I was wondering why something so nice was parked in front of this ghetto hole."

"Is Weiss really okay with that?" Tai asked as he took his boots off and set them on the mat next to the door. He fixed Qrow's shoes while he was at it.

"Yeah," Ruby said, stepping away from Qrow. She swallowed hard and made her way to Tai. "Weiss told me you guys were talking…"

Tai tried to keep his smile up, but as the silence dragged on, it slowly turned into a guilty frown. "I'm sorry, I should have asked if it was okay first. I didn't mean to overstep."

"No, that's not it," Ruby said, shaking her head. "Thank you for being her friend," she wrapped her arms around Tai's stomach and hugged him. "It means a lot to me to know that you accept her."

"O-Of course I accept her," Tai said, his hands frozen over her shoulders. "She's a charming young woman with a good head on her shoulders. She's everything I could have hoped for you and more."

"Thanks… Dad."

Tai carefully laid his hands on Ruby and waited for her to slap him away. But when she didn't flinch or recoil in disgust, he embraced her and kissed the top of her head.

"This is all well and good, but who the fuck is Weiss and why is she giving cars away?" Qrow grumbled with his arms crossed over his chest. "Seriously, someone explain because I am so confused right now."

"Oh, uh…" Ruby stepped away from Tai and nervously rubbed the back of her head, "she's my girlfriend."

"What?"

"Yeah."

"You… have a girlfriend?"

"Yep," Ruby nodded.

"Like an actual girlfriend-girlfriend and not a girl that's just your friend?"

"Actual girlfriend-girlfriend, Uncle Qrow," Ruby grumbled, annoyed that her uncle didn't believe her. "I got a picture if you want proof."

"Oh, I definitely need proof," he laughed. "She hot?"

"So hot." Ruby showed Qrow a picture she took of Weiss on their first date. "Believe me now?"

Qrow rubbed his chin and hummed in thought. "She looks kind of familiar…"

"How so?"

"Hold up," Qrow said as he dug around in his pocket. He pulled out his scroll and sifted through his pictures until he landed on the one he was looking for. "Yeah, she looks like this chick," he said, showing Ruby a picture of a familiar whitehaired beauty on a billboard advertising makeup. "Took this while I was in Atlas."

Ruby squinted at the picture praying to her mother watching above that the woman didn't have a scar over her left eye.

"She's apparently pretty well-known over there," Qrow continued. "It doesn't really show, but she has this really sexy scar above her left eye—"

"WHY DO YOU HAVE A PICTURE OF MY GIRLFRIEND ON YOUR SCROLL?!" Ruby exploded, her eyes wide with a fear she never thought she'd experience.

"Snapped it for the spank bank," Qrow answered, surprised by Ruby's sudden outburst.

"DELETE IT! Delete it right now, Uncle Qrow!" Ruby demanded, trying to snatch the scroll away. "DELETE IT! DELETE IT!"

"Okay, okay, calm down!" Qrow said as he fought Ruby off and deleted the picture. "There"—he showed Ruby his scroll—"it's gone, are you happy?"

"No, I think I'm going to be sick…" Ruby muttered as she staggered towards the couch and fell into it.

"Are you really that surprised Weiss was on a billboard?" Penny asked from the kitchen. "Didn't she say Neptune was her stylist?"

"I never asked!" Ruby groaned. "She's super secretive about her life in Atlas."

"Yeah, you definitely should—ask her that is," Qrow said, grabbing a seat by the table. "Her face was everywhere! On billboards, commercials, magazines—Rubyn, how the fuck did you get a girl like that?"

"I made her a coffee so good she decided to keep coming back," Ruby said.

"You're joking," Tai said.

"No joke," Ruby replied. "She came in with Chrys a few months back and I made her a drip coffee because it was kind of slow that afternoon. She came back, like, a week after and we met in line. We got to talking over coffee and she gave me her number. Things kind of just went from there."

"Damn…" Qrow whistled. "You meet this chick, Tai?"

"Mm," Tai nodded. "Ruby introduced me to her last week. You would have met her too if you didn't get caught up in Kabo."

"Sun, fun, and gorgeous women—sorry, Tai, but you in a skin tight Christmas sweater could never win," Qrow smirked.

"Ruby's girlfriend apparently can though," Yang laughed as she pulled a tray of steaks out from the oven. "What were you doing in Atlas anyways?"

"Visiting a few cop buddies of mine," Qrow answered. "Speakin' of cops, how's my junior detective coming along? You take the exam yet?"

"Still got another year and a half until I finish my degree," Ruby said.

"You don't need a fancy degree to be a cop, kid," Qrow said. "You already got the grit and the heart needed for the job."

"I'd also like to have the brains for it," Ruby said. "Plus, I'm not sure if I wanna be a cop anymore…"

"What? Why?"

Ruby shrugged. "Dunno. I guess I'm just kind of burnt out."

"Don't be like that," Qrow said. "It's been your dream to be a cop since you were ten!"

"Well, dreams change…"

"Is it this Weiss chick that's making you hesitate?"

"Kind of."

"Ruby, don't throw away your future for a girl," Qrow said in an oddly serious tone for him.

"Weiss isn't just some girl!" Ruby shouted angrily. "She is everything to me."

"First loves don't always last, Ruby. Be smart."

"I am and this will," Ruby said, getting up. "Weiss is working through some stuff and it fucking sucks to sit through, but she's worth the effort. And the time. And everything I've done to get to where I am now!"

"Hey, hey, calm down, Ruby," Qrow said, rising up from his chair. "Why are you getting so defensive?"

"I…" Ruby paused, "I don't know…"

"I'm sensing that some shit went down today," Qrow said, approaching Ruby carefully. "Heavy shit. Shit you weren't prepared for."

"I…" Ruby took a step back, her eyes wide.

"It's okay, kiddo," Qrow said as he pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry about what I said. It wasn't my place to tell you what to do, I was just worried."

"I know…"

"I'm sorry for what I said about your girl too," Qrow added. "That wasn't right of me. I'm sure she's great."

Ruby buried her face in her uncle's chest and hugged him back as tightly as she could. "I'm sorry too, Uncle Qrow. Today's been extremely overwhelming."

"Want to talk about it later tonight over some beers?" Qrow asked. "Since you got that fancy car now, we can hit up a liquor store and annoy the shit out of the poor sap working the counter."

Letting out a laugh, Ruby nodded her head and said, "That'd be nice, but we got some beers here… and I'd hate to leave dad out of the gossip."

"I'm invited?" Tai asked.

Ruby peered over Qrow's shoulder. "Yeah. You, Yang, and Penny too."

"Nope, you losers are on your own," Penny said, popping a bottle of wine open. "Ciel's picking me up after dinner."

"Who's Ciel?" Qrow asked.

"My girlfriend," Penny answered. "Sort of."

"God damn, did everybody get a new girlfriend?"

Yang let out a self-deprecating laugh and swiped the bottle from Penny. She took a swig and handed it back, nearly dropping it.

"Watch it!" Penny yelped, hugging the wine tight against her chest.

"That doesn't sound good," Qrow muttered under his breath.

"Blake's on a date," Yang hissed.

"Okay, who the fuck is Blake and why should I care if she's on a date?"

"Yang has a crush on her, but Blake's playing really hard to get," Ruby answered. "Like, reeeeeally hard to get."

"Did you try making her a coffee? It worked for Ruby," Qrow laughed, ruffling Ruby's hair.

Yang sniffled and stole the bottle back from Penny.

"Ugh, just keep it," Penny muttered as she went to get another bottle.

"Ruby's dating a recent widow and Blake's got some fucked up past she refuses to tell me," Yang said, taking a healthy swig.

"You're what?!" Qrow hissed at Ruby.

"I'll explain later," Ruby whispered.

"Between the two of us, she has it easy!" Yang whimpered, pointing the bottle accusingly at Ruby. "Seriously, Ruby, I'll trade ya. You like books—Blake's all about books! You'd be great together."

"No thanks, Yang," Ruby laughed. "Blake's not really my type."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Yang roared. "Blake's the best! She's smart, kind, brave—bruh, she saves lives for a living! How sexy is that?"

"She sounds great, Yang, but she's still not Weiss," Ruby said.

"Weiss is pretty great…" Yang whimpered.

"Tai, please tell me you're following this?" Qrow cried out.

"—Ciel sounds lovely," Tai laughed. He looked up from his conversation with Penny and blinked. "Sorry, did you say something?"

"Your daughters are being weird and you're more interested in Penny's sort-of-girlfriend?"

"I've given up on trying to keep track of the story," Tai answered nonchalantly. "Penny's love life is far less stressful."

"Ugh, I need a drink…" Qrow muttered. "Yang, hand that bottle over."

Ch5 has been edited.