Just Tell Me To Stay

Summary: Yang and Blake have been in love with each other since the moment they met, but neither could ever reveal their feelings. But now that they're entering their senior year and all the talk is on colleges and plans for the future, their friends aren't sure they can just sit by and watch as they lose each other for good. High School AU. Bumblby, WhiteRose, Arkos

Author's Note: Here is Chapter 2! I'm hoping to stick to a weekly update schedule at the least, definitely with the hope of earlier if at all possible. As you'll see with this chapter there's going to be a bit of build up before things really take off at all, I'm planning on a fairly long story with this so stay tuned. I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out, it's kind of the beginning of the core idea with this story that I really love about AU's where characters will have slightly different personalities because they're living more carefree lives but still retain some of the same core principles. Also, first taste of WhiteRose!


Chapter 2: Master Plan

"Are you seriously telling me that you're skipping school tomorrow too?"

Blake gives her a surprised yet deadpan look that only she can pull off. "Nice to see you too Weiss." She says, stepping back to let her inside.

"Well?" Weiss follows quickly, not at all in the mood for Blake's deflecting. "Is this seriously your plan? To avoid her the rest of the year until we all go off to college? Are you kidding me?"

"Obviously I don't plan on avoiding her forever," Blake responds, slowly taking a seat on the couch, "I just…"

"Just what?"

"I just… can't handle her being mad at me." She trails off quietly, hugging her knees to her chest.

Weiss lets out a sigh and slowly sits down, wrapping an arm around Blake's shoulders.

"Blake she's not mad at you…"

"Don't even try that Weiss," Blake snaps, "You saw how she reacted that night, she couldn't even look at me."

"I didn't say she wasn't upset Blake. We're all at least a little surprised, the last time we talked about this you said that you wanted to go to Vale U with the rest of us."

"It's not that I didn't want to go to Vale… It's just that Mistral would be really good for my future, they have one of the best political science programs in the country and…"

"Poly sci?" Weiss interrupts, narrowing her eyes. "I thought you wanted to be a writer."

Blake stays quiet, and Weiss doesn't miss the fact that she's refusing to meet her eyes. "Is this your idea or is it your parents'?" Weiss asks, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

"I... only told my parents yesterday,"

"What? You told Yang that your parents really wanted you to go."

"Uh yeah…" Blake answers hesitantly, "I lied."

"Blake…" Weiss begins gently, "Why are you doing this? You told me that Yang was…" She trails off slightly when she sees the pained look on her friend's face. And for a second, she considers leaving the question unasked, but only for a second. "You said you were in love with her."

It comes out quietly, like Weiss is worried someone's going to overhear. But when Blake buries her face into her knees she knows that the words have reached her.

"Do you not love her anymore?"

All she gets in response is a shake of the head.

"You don't?"

Another shake.

"Blake you have to talk to me okay? I can't understand anything when you're like this."

The girl stays silent for a bit, before finally mumbling, "Of course I still love her."

"Then why!" Weiss exclaims, practically jumping off of the couch. "If you're still in love with her then why are you trying to leave for…"

She stops abruptly, realization finally hitting her.

"Are you actually telling me... that you're doing all of this, going to college in Mistral, choosing a totally different career path that you don't even want, just to get away from Yang?"

She can feel her blood start to boil again as she watches Blake fail to come up with a response.

"Have you gone completely insane? What moronic romance novel did you get this idea from?"

"What else can I do?" Blake wails, finally turning to face her, "I can't take it anymore Weiss! Do you have any idea what it's like? To be so hopelessly in love with someone who doesn't love you back, pretending every single day that there's nothing wrong? It's… I can't keep this up for another four years!"

"So, what you're just going to cut her out of your life because you think she doesn't have feelings for you? What if she does love you back? You two deserve to..."

"But she doesn't Weiss." Blake interrupts, her voice is shaky and choked, barely louder than a whisper.

Weiss wants to argue with her. To voice all the evidence she, Pyrrha and a dozen other people have noticed over the years that proves just how much Yang loves her. But when Blake buries her face in her hands and her shoulders start to tremble, the words die in her throat and all she can do is reclaim her spot on the couch and hold her as she cries.

…..

"We need to talk."

The voice coming from behind her open locker door surprises Pyrrha enough to make her jump, nearly causing her to drop the textbook she had just pulled from the top shelf.

"Oh, hello Weiss," she says, gently shutting her locker to come face to face with a rather disgruntled looking heiress, "is everything alright?"

"Not exactly, which is why we need to talk." Without warning she's grabbed roughly by the arm and Weiss starts leading them towards one of the side doors of the school.

"Isn't Ruby going to be upset that you're ditching her for lunch?" she jokes, hoping to ease the tension a little.

"I… I already told her that I had some things to take care of today." Weiss answers, before mumbling, "And besides, I'm seeing her after school anyway."

Pyrrha doesn't even try to fight the beaming smile spreading across her face. She always found it incredibly adorable how much the ice queen would soften up at the mere mention of Ruby's name.

Finally they arrive at a picnic table near the teachers' parking lot and the two of them sit down. The second she makes contact with the cold surface it sends a shiver up her spine and she quickly zips up her jacket, inwardly questioning why Weiss had brought them outside in the chilly November air.

"So..." she says, noticing that the conflicted look on Weiss's face hasn't disappeared, "What's this all about?"

"I… went to Blake's house after school yesterday."

That draws a deep sigh from Pyrrha. "She stayed home again didn't she. How many days is that now?"

"Three." Weiss answers, her entire body tensing at the thought, "And she says she's been looking to schedule college tours in the next couple weeks."

Pyrrha lets out an exasperated groan. She had experienced plenty of this kind of drama before but that didn't do anything to alleviate the headache that was slowly building its way up to full on migraine status.

"Did she say anything else?"

That draws an equally frustrated huff from Weiss. "Well… she said that the reason she's going to Mistral is to get away from Yang."

"What?" she shouts, nearly jumping out of her seat, "why would she do that? I thought she..."

"That's the thing," Weiss cuts in, "she said she's doing all of this to get some distance and get over Yang."

"Oh my god." she says with a groan, head buried in her hands.

"Which leads me to why I brought you here," the heiress continues hesitantly, "I know we agreed not to meddle in their relationship but…"

"No I agree with you completely, we have to do something." She says firmly, "I've actually been thinking about it constantly since Yang came over to my house on Monday."

"I can't believe she ran all the way to your house in that horrific storm." Weiss says, shaking her head slightly.

"Can you blame her?"

"I suppose I can't, but still, she's been coughing almost non-stop this whole week."

Pyrrha sighs, roughly running a hand through her hair. "She actually fainted in Gym yesterday, Nora and I had to carry her to the nurse. We tried to get her to go home but she kept saying that she'd get fired if she missed another day at work."

"God," Weiss breathes, shaking her head in disbelief, "It's official, we have to do something. Otherwise who knows what reckless thing Yang's going to do next."

"You're right," Pyrrha answers, slowly nodding her head, "what did you have in mind?"

…..

"You want us to what?"

Sun's outburst is so loud that it draws the attention of the cranky old librarian who gives the group an angry glare. Jaune and Ren give apologetic waves towards the front desk while Ruby and Nora try to stifle their giggles.

"Help us get Blake and Yang together." Weiss repeats, already starting to tap her foot in annoyance.

"Like Weiss said," Pyrrha continues, "Blake and Yang love each other, they're just both convinced that the other doesn't and are miserable because of it. If Blake really ends up leaving with neither of them knowing how they feel about each other they might never get another chance."

The whole group is silent for a moment, everyone looking to somebody else but nobody knowing how to respond.

"Well," Ren says finally, "I guess this does explain their recent behavior."

"Yeah," Jaune agrees, "Blake hasn't come to school all week. And Yang…" He trails off, knowing that all of them have seen how hard the blonde had been struggling the past few days.

"Exactly." Weiss says, "clearly something has to be done but those two are far too stubborn for it to work if it's just me and Pyrrha, that's why we need all of your help."

"What… exactly would we be doing?" Neptune asks hesitantly.

"Nothing too drastic." Pyrrha answers, "Weiss and I will handle most of it but it was important that everyone here is on the same page so nobody does something counterproductive. Other than that, it'll mainly just be small things like running interference whenever it's needed to make this run smoothly."

The heiress nods her head before continuing, "we can set up a group text so we can all stay informed of any updates that might be important to the plan, and to coordinate any actions we choose to take."

Once again the group takes a second to consider Weiss' words, all of them looking at each other, uncertainty and discomfort written plainly on all of their faces before Ruby finally breaks the silence.

"I'm in!" she chirps excitedly, "Yang and Blake both deserve to be happy and… I think they're perfect for each other."

With the endorsement from Yang's own sister the others are quick to agree, with Nora being by far the most enthusiastic and Weiss is actually thankful for the pair's eagerness swaying the group's decision.

"So what's the plan?" Ruby asks.

All eyes shift back to the two of them and this time Pyrrha decides to take the lead.

"Our end goal is the Winter Ball at the end of the semester, just before Winter Break. If we can get the two of them to go together I think the rest of it should more or less take care of itself… or at least be a lot easier."

"Winter Ball? That's like, a month away." Sun points out.

"Which is why we need to work together on this." Pyrrha answers, "and coincidentally, the first step involves you Sun."

"Me?"

"Yes," Weiss answers, "for this to work we need Yang to get better and that's never going to happen if she keeps going to work instead of resting. Since you work at the restaurant with Yang, we need you to take her shifts this weekend."

"She said that she doesn't have any sick days left," Pyrrha adds, "but if you say you need the extra shifts I know she would give them to you."

"Hmm…" Sun says, sheepishly rubbing his neck, "Ok I'll do it, but this better work."

"Thank you Sun!" Pyrrha says, "we'll make it up to you somehow I promise."

"Don't worry about it," he responds with a dismissive wave, "it really is about time someone knocked some sense into those two."

"Great," Weiss says, "now the next step is up to Ruby."

That immediately gets her attention and the brunette perks up in her seat.

"What are my orders?" she asks with a mischievous grin.

"You Ruby," Weiss answers, "are going to ask Blake to take care of Yang while she's sick."

At that, Nora bounces eagerly in her seat. "Oooh great idea Weiss! Noooobody can say no to Ruby. But wait, why wouldn't she just do it herself?"

"W-well…" Weiss says, cheeks flushing a deep crimson, "you're going to ask her as a favor because… you'll be out all day with me… on a date."

That draws a chorus of "aww's" from the group. The two of them had announced their relationship a few months ago but were still fairly shy when discussing it in public, much to the amusement of their friends.

Deciding that the two of them had suffered enough teasing, Pyrrha continues with the explanation. "You just need to tell her that you had made plans with Weiss weeks ago but don't want to leave Yang on her own. And that means that the rest of us all need to make plans for the weekend so she can't get out of it."

She's met with an array of excited grins before they start tossing suggestions back and forth. Refining details to Ruby's story and debating the best ways for everyone to construct their own to be believable.

The experience is amusing to say the least. Some of the ideas thrown around border on lines from a soap opera. But when Pyrrha reflects on the events of the past week she realizes that their lives had kind of devolved into a state where this kind of drama was pretty common. Not that she was experiencing anything close to the worst of it, she was just tired of seeing two people she cared so deeply about suffering like this.

She just has to hope that their crazy plan would actually work.


Author's Note: That's Chapter 2! If you've got any feedback feel free to drop a review, it would be super appreciated. Thanks for reading!