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: Next chapter's here a bit early. A bit of fluff finally for WhiteRose fans and going a little deeper into friendship dynamics. Hope you like it!
Chapter 4: Aftermath
Ruby looks anxiously at the bright glowing clock on the dashboard of Weiss's car.
9:45 PM
"You think it worked?" She asks.
"Well," Weiss says hesitantly, "I think the best we can hope for is for the two of them to be on speaking terms again. The rest we'll just have to wait and see."
"Yeah." Ruby answers cheerfully, propping her feet up on the dash. She turns to look at the white haired girl in the driver's seat next to her. Eyebrows scrunched in that adorable way as she focuses on the road before them even though they're like half a minute away from home.
It's only when they actually pull up to her house that Weiss finally relaxes enough to turn and give her a shy smile.
"Thanks for today," Ruby says, "I mean I know we did it for the plan and everything but… I had a really nice time."
"Me too." Weiss replies, nervously biting her lip.
Ruby rolls her eyes at her girlfriend's unfounded anxiety and makes the decision for her, closing the distance between them and crashing their lips together.
Weiss tenses up initially, giving a small squeak of surprise but quickly melts into it, deepening the kiss and tangling her fingers in Ruby's hair.
When she pulls away, both of them are gasping for breath. Ruby gives a small smile at the deep blush on Weiss's cheeks before leaning back in to give her one last peck on the lips. With that, she opens the passenger door and slides out, the brisk winter air immediately making its presence known on her bare legs.
Maybe wearing a skirt was a bad idea on a night this cold.
But when she sees Weiss shivering on the sidewalk, Ruby runs over and immediately latches onto her arm. The added warmth draws a contented hum from her girlfriend and as the two of them make their way up the driveway she thinks to herself that... maybe having a little cold in her life isn't a bad thing.
They shuffle through the front door and Ruby detaches from Weiss's arm to take off her coat. It's only then that she notices the dull glow from the TV, illuminating the living room and frozen on Netflix's "Are You Still There?" screen.
It's only when Weiss gently taps her on the shoulder that she notices Blake and Yang asleep on the couch and Ruby can't help the wide smile that spreads on her face.
The two of them look adorable together, Yang curled up in a ball, pressed tightly against Blake's chest with a peaceful smile on her face. Blake for her part has her arms wrapped protectively around the blonde, head resting comfortably against Yang's.
She's so overcome with joy that she doesn't notice Weiss coming up from behind until she wraps her arms around her waist and leans right up to Ruby's ear.
"Looks like it's working!" Weiss whispers excitedly.
Ruby gives a small nod in agreement. Seeing Blake and Yang together like this finally brings some relief to the anxiety that had been quietly eating away at her all day and at last she feels the tension release from her shoulders. She turns to Weiss with a beaming smile. With this she could truly relax for the rest of the night, and she couldn't have picked a better person to spend it with.
…..
When Weiss walks downstairs the next morning she finds that, to her surprise, she isn't the first one awake. Although she had thought she'd heard some voices while she was getting ready, now her suspicions to the source have been confirmed.
She observes idly from the bottom of the stairs, amusement growing by the second as she watches Blake frantically tidying up the blankets on the couch, the girl's normally sleek black hair considerably ruffled from spending the night in the living room.
"Sleep well?" She asks, not bothering to hide the grin growing on her face.
Blake jumps at the sound of her voice, spinning around to face her and the second she meets Weiss's eyes, her cheeks flush a deep crimson.
"I...I don't know what you're talking about."
"I'm sure." She replies sarcastically, "What happened to Yang?"
Blake doesn't answer her right away, instead turning her head to the side and running a hand nervously through her hair.
"She's… I took her up to her room so she could get some more sleep."
"Hmm…" she says, grinning at the sight of Blake's obvious discomfort, "well if you don't want to talk here I'm heading over to Pyrrha's to do some homework, want to come? Ruby says she can take care of Yang the rest of the day."
Blake doesn't respond, and for a second Weiss is hit with the thought that she might insist on being here for Yang for the rest of the weekend, which wouldn't be bad at all. But then, without another word, the girl walks right past her, reaching for her bag and jacket hanging from the coat rack by the door.
"Excellent."
…..
"I think I forgot my chemistry textbook."
"It's not in your car is it?" Pyrrha asks, walking in with a tray holding three steaming mugs of tea.
"No, Weiss drove me here," Blake answers, sifting through her backpack one more time even though she knows there's no way she could've missed a 20 pound tome, "I must've left it at home."
Pyrrha sits down on the floor, reaching into her own bag for her planner, "Well do you have any other homework you need to get done?"
"That was pretty much the main thing."
"Well it's not due until Wednesday right? Just do it tomorrow or something. I mean I'm sure…" Weiss trails off when she sees the other two staring at her with jaws hanging open in shock.
"What?"
Blake shares a look with Pyrrha before answering. "I just… never thought I'd see the day when Weiss Schnee would actually recommend procrastinating."
"I wasn't…"
"You're right Blake," Pyrrha interrupts, "I guess having Ruby to keep her warm all the time really is melting that icy heart of hers."
"She did spend the night with Ruby last night…" Blake responds thoughtfully, prompting a furious blush from Weiss.
"I'm… you…" Weiss sputters, "you guys are the worst."
The two of them break into a fit of giggles at their friend's embarrassment before Pyrrha stops suddenly, a slightly confused expression on her face.
"Wait... she actually told you that she spent the night at Ruby's?"
It's at that moment that Blake realizes her mistake and can instantly feel her own face heating up.
"I uh…"
"She only knows because she spent the whole night cuddling with Yang on the couch." Weiss answers for her, shooting a mischievous smirk in her direction.
"Really..." Pyrrha says slowly, turning to Blake with a growing smile, "how did this happen?"
"Um… I was just… I was taking care of her yesterday and she said she was cold so I just..." she trails off, apparently it's now her turn to be embarrassed to the point of losing the ability to speak.
"How very… opportunistic of you." Weiss says.
"Oh shush Weiss." Pyrrha scolds, "I think it's sweet. Did anything else happen?"
Blake answers quickly, nearly jumping up in her agitation. "What? No! I mean… we just kind of laid there together watching Netflix."
Pyrrha bites down on her lip for a second, leaving Blake to wonder what's got the redhead so unsure before the girl's emerald gaze is directed back towards her.
"Please don't take this the wrong way Blake but… isn't it… hard? Being so close to Yang like that and not telling her?"
Blake blinks in surprise, completely caught off guard by the dramatic shift in tone. "I uh… I guess, yeah."
"You know it doesn't have to be…"
"No!" she interrupts, significantly more forcefully than she had intended. "No I can't… it's better this way."
She sees the two share a heavy look before Pyrrha scoots closer to her spot leaned up against the bed. "Blake… do you mind if I ask why you won't tell Yang how you feel?"
When she tries to answer, nothing really comes out other than an unintelligible croak. She doesn't even know how to voice just how terrifying it is to think about confessing to Yang.
Pyrrha gingerly sets a hand on her leg, the redhead's touch is warm and surprisingly soothing, somehow acting as the perfect outlet for all of her nervous energy. "Blake… I don't want to pressure you into anything… I just want you to know that you can talk to us."
Blake's not really sure how to respond. She never was good at talking about her feelings, the only reason she even told Weiss about it was because she literally couldn't take keeping the secret to herself anymore.
But when she looks up to meet Pyrrha's gentle emerald eyes she can immediately feel her instinct to stay silent begin to crack.
"It's just… it's too hard… I… I'm scared." She admits finally, falling back into the side of the bed with a defeated sigh.
In an instant she feels Pyrrha wrap an arm around her shoulders while Weiss slowly sits down on her other side and gently takes hold of her hand.
It's so touching how supportive her friends are that she's on the verge of tears already and she's suddenly left wondering about how she's been crying so often recently.
Weiss brings her out of her thoughts with a gentle squeeze of her hand before slowly asking, "What are you so scared of?"
"Well… just… everything! When I think about telling Yang I just… my mind starts racing and I just… I don't think I could handle being rejected by her." She finishes with a pitiful wail, burying her head in her hands and letting the tears flow freely.
"Okay Blake," Pyrrha says slowly, "I know it's upsetting okay, believe me. But don't you think there's at least a chance that Yang actually likes you back?"
Blake mumbles her response into her hands. "Are you kidding? I mean have you seen her? Half the school is in love with her, someone new asks her out like every other day!"
"Blake." Weiss says, "I know Yang is very attractive and popular and all, but she literally always rejects those people, don't you think that means something?"
"Yeah I do," she answers dejectedly, "it means that I don't even have a chance."
…..
Weiss gives Blake a weak wave from the front steps of Pyrrha's house. She had offered to drive her home but the girl insisted on walking to retrieve her car from Yang's house.
Once Blake is finally out of view she sinks down onto the top step in frustration, barely recognizing the creak of the door opening behind her.
"So…" Pyrrha says, leaning up against the railing next to her.
"That was a disaster."
The redhead lets out a sigh in agreement. "I guess it was a little too optimistic to hope for her to just tell us what's going on… but I don't know if it was a total loss."
Weiss gives her a confused look. "How so? The only thing she talked about was how amazing Yang is."
"Well…" Pyrrha says thoughtfully, "she only said that when I asked why she thought Yang could never like her back. Maybe there's something there?"
"I suppose you're right…" she says, "I've tried convincing her so many times that Yang likes her and she always shuts me down like it's impossible."
"Yang does the same thing…"
She looks up to see Pyrrha gazing off into the distance with her eyebrows furrowed and gently gnawing on the side of her lip. It's a look she's so familiar with she doesn't even need to ask what it means.
"What's on your mind?"
Pyrrha turns to her with a surprised look. "What?"
"Don't give me that," she responds with a roll of her eyes, "I know that look too well. Out with it."
Pyrrha sighs deeply, scrunching her eyebrows and crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I just… it's like neither of them have the confidence to even think about taking a chance and I just don't get it, I mean they're both so beautiful and nice and a million other things. How can they not see it?"
Weiss lets out a frustrated huff. "Don't even get me started on that. I've tried so hard with Blake and I literally never get anywhere. As for Yang…"
She trails off, suddenly unsure about delving into Yang's history like this.
"What about her?" Pyrrha asks, curiosity clearly piqued.
She turns to face the redhead, carefully studying the surprised expression on her face.
"Has Yang ever told you about liking someone else in the past?"
Pyrrha's eyebrows furrow a bit. "Someone else? I don't think she has… why?"
"Well…" Weiss begins, nervously fiddling with the end of her ponytail, "back in middle school Yang kind of fell hard for someone. It… was actually the person that made her realize she was into girls and... it didn't really end well."
"Who was it?" Pyrrha asks, scooting closer and eyes growing more concerned by the second.
"It was… my sister… Winter."
Author's Note: Had to end with a bit of a cliffhanger. I'm not super sure where the whole Yang/Winter ship really comes from originally but I have to say it's like surprisingly cute so I just had to throw in a bit into this story. I promise this is a Bumblby story, there's just a lot to work through until we get there. Anyways hope you liked it! If you did please leave a favorite/review! Thanks for reading!
