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: New chapter is here! This one is definitely a little more on the angsty side but still pretty important in the long run. Honestly when I started this story I hadn't intended on having Winter as a main character but I've just been seeing so many awesome stories with her as well as fanart (mainly from mojojoj) and basically was inspired to add her in as the more mature figure. She's also one of my favorite characters to write for right now with how different she could be in the absence of the strict military discipline (she's also a bit younger here) and she's definitely going to have a pretty important role in the story as a whole.


Chapter 5: Feelings

4 years ago

Weiss's eyes slowly flutter open to the incessant ringing of her cell phone and she's immediately confused by the lack of sunlight flooding through her windows.

Her ringtone blasts again, eliciting a low groan from her as she blindly paws for her phone charging on the bedside table. When she finally finds it, she yanks it off the cord and brings it up to her ear.

"Hello?" She says groggily.

"Weiss!"

"Yang?"

She brings the phone back in front of her face only to let out another groan when she sees the time displayed on the screen.

6:15 AM

"Yang it's a Saturday, why on earth..."

"I know I know I'm so sorry" Yang interrupts, "I just… there's something I need to talk to you about. Is there any way you could come over? I'll have a pot of coffee ready."

Weiss flops back into her pillows, already feeling her mind drifting back to sleep. There's a part of her that desperately wants to tell Yang to wait a few hours, but the urgency in Yang's voice is so compelling that she knows her mind is already made up.

"God I hate you. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

…..

The second the driver drops her off at Yang's house the front door flies open revealing the blonde dressed in her typical black shorts and yellow tank top, holding a steaming mug of coffee.

As Weiss walks up, she mumbles a response to Yang's over-enthusiastic greeting and takes the coffee from her.

"So," Weiss says, "what was so urgent that you had to wake me up at six in the morning?"

She turns to face the blonde and is caught off guard by the beaming smile that meets her.

"What's going on?" She asks suspiciously.

"It's just…" Yang trails off, a sudden wave of nervousness washes over her face that disappears with a quick shake of the head. "I think I'm going to ask Winter out!"

Weiss blinks. And then again. Of all the things that Yang could have called her over here for, that was not what she had expected. And she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little disappointed. Honestly she had hoped that Yang would have given up on her feelings for Winter by now. More for Yang's own sake than anything else.

"Ok… so what changed? Last time we talked you said that you were going to try to get over her."

"Yeah…" Yang answers, "I just… I don't know, I just feel like I have to give this a shot… do you think it's a bad idea?"

The resolve on the blonde's face once again shows hints of cracking as her eyebrows begin to furrow.

"It's not necessarily a bad idea." She replies slowly, "I just don't know if she feels…"

Weiss trails off, suddenly not sure if she wants to dampen Yang's mood like this but the message gets across enough to fully flip Yang's smile into an uneasy frown.

"That's kind of why I called you here." Yang grabs her hand and pulls the two of them onto the couch. "You would tell me if I was being like… totally stupid about all of this right?"

Weiss can't help rolling her eyes. "You know I would. And I don't think you're being totally stupid, I mean she does spend a considerable amount of time with you whenever you come over..."

She tries to ignore the look of hope in Yang's eyes.

"But," she continues, "she's still two years older than us Yang and that's kind of a big deal. And I know she said that she might be bi but I've still only ever seen her dating guys."

"Well… maybe I can be her first girl."

Her response catches in her throat and she finds that she doesn't really know how she could possibly respond to something like that. The relentless optimism on the blonde's face is so convincing that it nearly breaks her heart. She just has to hope that Winter doesn't break Yang's.

…..

Weiss tries to spend the rest of her Saturday being productive. She tries to do her homework and gets nowhere. She tries to practice for her upcoming choir concert and gets nowhere. Instead she ends up checking her phone every few minutes, anxiously waiting for an update from Yang or Winter.

So it's a little surprising that when her phone finally goes off, it's Ruby's name that displays on the screen.

"Hello?"

"Weiss!" Ruby exclaims, the tone in the young girl's voice is immediately concerning.

"Ruby? Is everything okay?"

"Um… I think so… it's just... I haven't heard from Yang in a while and she's not answering her phone so I was just wondering if you'd seen her today."

Weiss freezes, completely unsure of how much Ruby knows about Yang's feelings for her sister.

"Yeah I saw her this morning but that was hours ago. When was the last time you called her?"

"Um like… five minutes ago? I've called her like a hundred times today and she hasn't answered even once and I'm getting really worried."

"Ok Ruby just calm down, I'll take care of it."

Once she hangs up she slumps back into her chair. She has literally no idea where Yang could be or how to find her. She just can't handle hearing Ruby upset like that so she jumped the gun. It's something that she realizes is happening more and more often lately.

Letting out a sigh, she starts scrolling through her contacts. She figures giving Yang a call can't hurt but isn't at all surprised to hear the infuriating sound of the blonde's pun filled voicemail message.

She all but slams her phone back onto her desk. With Yang not answering there's only one person she can think of that could know where she is.

…..

When the driver opens her door to the front courtyard of Beacon High she immediately sees Winter's platinum hair glowing in the afternoon sun. Her sister is leaning up against the railing by the front door trying to give off the appearance of her usual casual elegance, but Weiss can tell by the way she's tapping her foot and occasionally fusses with her hair that she's freaking out inside.

"Hi Winter, is your student council meeting done already?"

"Nevermind that." Winter says quickly, "what do you mean Yang's missing?"

"Well Ruby said she's called her like a thousand times today and…"

With that Winter's casual facade shatters. She kicks off the railing and tangles a hand in her hair, muttering something unintelligible under her breath.

"Winter? What…"

"Ok." Her sister says, spinning around to face her. "Yang came to find me earlier today."

Weiss nods, noticing how wide and erratic Winter's eyes are.

"She found our meeting room somehow and she pulled me outside and… and…"

"I know Winter." Weiss interrupts, "she… told me she was going to do it this morning."

Upon hearing that, Winter collapses back onto the rail, letting out a defeated, "Oh."

Weiss looks down at her older sister, normally so dignified and composed, sitting on the lower bar of a metal railing with her head in her hands and a deep sigh escapes her lips.

"I'm guessing by that reaction… that you rejected her."

All she gets in response is a nod and she gathers up her skirt to sit down next to her.

"Do you have any idea where she could be?" Weiss says, "Did she run off in some direction or anything?"

Winter shakes her head. "Since you called I literally haven't stopped thinking about where she could have gone and it's driving me crazy. I even spent the past hour searching the entire area around the school and couldn't find her anywhere!"

Weiss stops and narrows her eyes, surprised to see Winter pulling at her hair and even starting to tear up a little bit. "Winter…" she says slowly, "I understand that you'd be worried about Yang but I'm sure she isn't doing anything rash, Yang isn't that kind of person, otherwise I would have called the police already. Why are you so upset about this?"

The look Winter gives her is heart shattering. Her icy blue eyes are hollow and her lips are pressed into a thin line, giving off the barest hint of a tremble.

Weiss's eyes go wide in realization.

"You like her back…" she whispers.

She stares blankly as Winter turns her attention back to the ground in front of her before slowly nodding her head.

"Then why did you reject her?" Weiss yells, jumping to her feet. "Do you have any idea what that girl has been through? Or how long she's liked you? No, I know you do so why…"

"Weiss." Winter cuts in, eyes glued to the ground and shoulders starting to shake, "I… have a girlfriend."

…..

Present day

"Oh poor Yang."

Weiss nods sadly in agreement.

"It took us a few hours but we finally found her at a bus stop nearby."

"Did Yang ever find out about..." Pyrrha asks, trailing off quietly.

She shakes her head in response. "Winter thought it would just hurt her even more. She was just so miserable for so long and I felt so helpless. Of course being Yang, she still tried to act like nothing was wrong but… it took a long time for her to get back to normal."

The redhead lets out a sigh. "Yang really does fall hard doesn't she?"

"She does," Weiss answers, "but with Blake it's… different somehow."

Pyrrha reverts to the same wistful look as before and this time Weiss waits for her to bring a voice to her thoughts.

"Weiss." She says finally, "do you believe in soulmates?"

The question catches her so off guard that she literally doesn't know how to respond.

"Weiss?" Pyrrha prods gently.

"Sorry, I just… wasn't really expecting that question. I don't really know. I feel like a few years ago I would have said the idea of having one perfect person for you is ridiculous but now…"

Pyrrha cuts in before she can go any further. "Aww Weiss! That is so cute."

"What?"

The redhead flashes her a maddeningly mischievous grin before following up with a playful roll of the eyes. "Oh I don't know… I guess I can't help but find it kind of cute that Ruby's had this much of an effect on you. I guess people really do change after they get…"

"Stop!"

Weiss's interruption sends Pyrrha into a fit of giggles that brings a smile to her own face despite the blood rushing to her cheeks.

"Well what about you?" She counters pointedly.

"What about me?"

"Soulmates. Do you believe in them? Don't tell me it's Jaune."

Pyrrha doesn't answer right away, only looking shyly to the side which draws a raised eyebrow and a smirk from Weiss.

"Don't look at me like that!" Pyrrha whines, "I know it's stupid and childish and I've never even been in a relationship before but… I can't help it…"

The last part is so quiet that Weiss can barely hear it. The redhead's embarrassment is so adorable she can't help but wrap an arm around her. Even then Pyrrha can't seem to look her in the eye and instead chooses to bury her face in her own hands.

"Have you two ever even spent any time together? Just the two of you?"

"Well…" Pyrrha says slowly.

"Tutoring him in Biology does not count." Weiss cuts in.

"What do you… it totally counts!" Pyrrha counters.

"Ok… so that means you've gone on how many dates now?"

"I…" Pyrrha trails off quietly and Weiss knows that she's successfully made her point.

"If you're so hopelessly in love with him why don't you just ask him out? You can see just as well as I can what all this stupid denial is doing to Blake and Yang."

"I… I've thought about it…" Pyrrha says hesitantly, "It's just… sometimes I get the feeling that he only thinks of me as a friend."

"Why is that?"

"Well… it just seems like he only comes to me when he needs help with something, like… homework, or gift ideas for his sisters. It just… feels like all he sees in me is that I'm smart and… and nothing else."

With that admission Pyrrha falls forward and hangs her head. It breaks her heart to see her friend suffering like this and she has half a mind to smack Jaune on the head for his stupidity.

"Pyrrha, look at me." She says gently, lowering herself to meet her eye line. When the redhead finally looks up, her emerald green eyes are already starting to water and Weiss can feel herself start to tear up as well. "You, Miss Nikos, are one of the kindest, smartest, most beautiful girls I have ever met. And if even I can see that, I guarantee you Jaune does too."

"I don't know Weiss…" Pyrrha replies.

"Has it ever occurred to you that he might always be asking you for help because he can't think of any other way to get your attention and spend time with you?"

Pyrrha mumbles a weak protest about how she's still not sure about Jaune's feelings and Weiss pulls her in even closer.

"Look Pyrrha, I'm not going to tell you what to do, since you're both going to Vale U, you two do have a lot more time than Blake and Yang do, and if you want to wait until we're all in college I definitely wouldn't blame you. Opening yourself up to someone, confessing your feelings, it's… scary and hard. All I'll say is that I waited a really long time before I acted on my feelings for Ruby, literal years, and when I look back at all that time that I spent loving her from afar, it all feels like time that I won't get back."

She can tell that this time her words have hit their mark when Pyrrha falls silent, once again gazing out into the distance with that same dreamy look, leaving Weiss to have just a spark of hope that at least one of her friends can get the happy ending they deserve.


Author's Note: So that's the chapter, really excited to get the Arkos story started. Kind of the main themes I wanted to touch on in this story is how different certain characters can be without all the stress (ie. Winter) and looking at how different couple dynamics are in different stages of their relationship with Ruby and Weiss having been together for some time, Pyrrha having strong feelings for Jaune, and Blake and Yang being so crazy for each other but feeling so pressured. If it's not already clear I'm working on a pretty long story here so I hope people will stick through for the long haul. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter, favorite and review and stuff like that. Thanks for reading!