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 and it's the first multi-parter! This one took me a little bit longer because it's building up with a lot of moving pieces and I had to plan ahead a bit more to make sure everything's coherent. We also ended on a bit of a cliffhanger last time so there's a bit of resolution coming up. Anyways hope you all like it!


Chapter 12: Thanksgiving Pt. 1

The drive to Yang and Ruby's house is so familiar at this point that Weiss wonders if she can pull it off with her eyes closed. And it's lucky that she can, considering the way her mind is currently occupied.

She had spent basically all day yesterday pestering Winter about what she and Yang had gotten up to the night before, but she had surprisingly gotten almost nowhere. Her sister was being uncharacteristically tight lipped about everything, which as a result, meant that Weiss was having trouble keeping herself from jumping to conclusions.

And the form fitting cashmere sweater that Winter's wearing certainly doesn't help to alleviate any growing suspicions.

But she knows that no matter what, she has to force herself to forget about it for the day. She certainly isn't going to be the one responsible for ruining everybody's Thanksgiving by obsessing over something that may or may not have happened.

So she puts it to the back of her mind, wordlessly pulling up to the house and quickly hurrying inside to escape the chilly outside air. Almost immediately they're greeted by the delicious aromatic atmosphere that warms her to the core and does wonders in terms of putting her more at ease.

Winter offers to hang up their coats and the two of them head towards the kitchen where Weiss gets the second half of her holiday greeting.

She barely registers hearing her own name being shrieked from across the room before Ruby slams into her for a bone crushing hug.

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Her girlfriend shouts excitedly, earning her an amused look from Winter.

"Happy Thanksgiving Ruby." Weiss manages through gritted teeth, "can you let go? I can't actually breathe."

"Sorry." The brunette replies sheepishly, slowly detaching herself before turning over to her sister. "Winter! It's so good to see you!"

Without hesitation Ruby throws her arms around Winter as well, eliciting a cheerful laugh from the older girl.

"It's good to see you too Ruby! Thanks so much for doing all this."

"It's mostly Yang." Ruby admits, leading the two of them into the kitchen.

The second they cross into the dining room, Weiss's jaw drops at the absolute pandemonium displayed before them. Basically every inch of space available is covered with pots, pans, cutting boards, not to mention plates upon plates filled with ingredients, some already chopped up and others still sitting in their packaging.

She looks over to the oven where Yang is tending to a large, steaming pot, hair tied back into a cute ponytail with an apron wrapped loosely around her waist as she slowly stirs with a wooden spoon.

"Hey guys!" Yang greets with a quick wave and a beaming smile.

"Yang that smells amazing." Winter says, "what is it?"

"It's the clam chowder. It's still not quite done yet but it takes the longest so I got it started first."

Winter walks up to the stove and breathes in deeply, letting out an appreciative hum at the smell. Weiss doesn't miss the fact that she rests a hand gently on Yang's lower back in the process and shares a quick look with Ruby who can only offer up a shrug in response.

"What can we help with?" Weiss asks, trying to put away the unease growing in her chest.

"Well…" Yang says, turning her attention back to her and Ruby, "the turkey is already in the oven but there's still some vegetables that need to be chopped, um… potatoes are almost ready to be mashed, and there are still a few things that need to get put on baking sheets and put in the oven."

"Like what?" Winter asks.

"Well there's the casserole, the tuna, the vegetables, and the mac and cheese… after that everything else we can do pretty quickly right before we eat so we can do the desserts before that."

"Desserts?" Winter says, "what are we making."

"Well…" Yang answers, "we've got a peach and an apple pie… and a strawberry cheesecake."

There's a moment of silence so long that all anyone can hear is the gentle bubbling of the clam chowder.

"Cheesecake?" Winter says, a small smile just starting to spread on her face, "are you… making that just for me?"

Yang doesn't give much more than a shy, embarrassed nod as she sheepishly runs a hand through her ponytail.

"That is so sweet!" Winter shrieks, pulling the blonde in for a hug.

And despite the panic she had been feeling the past week over just this very subject, Weiss can't help but find the scene before her kind of sweet. Even with the obvious nervousness on Yang's face, Weiss can't deny how happy the blonde looks. And that isn't even mentioning the fact that she's never seen her sister like this before.

She takes a look at Ruby who offers her a supportive smile and she feels that maybe she'd been blowing things out of proportion the past few days and finally starts to feel the tension draining from her shoulders.

So of course it's right at that moment that Blake decides to walk in.

Blake isn't really sure what to think when she walks into the kitchen to see Yang in the arms of some strange girl.

Ok so maybe she's being a little dramatic but the second the girl turns around she's suddenly pretty sure that she isn't overreacting at all.

From the snow white hair and the icy blue eyes she can tell that she's related to Weiss. Somewhere in the back of her head she remembers someone mentioning that Weiss had a sister but not once did anyone say how ridiculously beautiful she is.

Everything from the long, toned legs to the perfectly manicured nails and the silky smooth hair, literally every inch of her is like something out of a fashion magazine. And that isn't even mentioning the girl's actual outfit, which she has no doubt really does come from the pages of a magazine.

"Blake!" Yang says with a start, quickly pulling herself out of the hug, "Um this… is Winter, Weiss's older sister."

Winter approaches her with a bright, gleaming smile and an outstretched hand which she absentmindedly shakes while trying not to get distracted by how she's even more perfect up close.

"Blake it's great to finally meet you!" Winter says, "I've heard so much about you."

"Oh. You have?" She replies slowly. The second the words leave her mouth she wants to smack herself for answering so stupidly.

"Um…" Yang cuts in awkwardly, "I may have mentioned a thing or two to her the other day."

She's not really sure what to make of Yang talking about her to Weiss's sister but decides that it's probably best not to pursue it any further with everyone around.

"Anyway!" Yang chirps with maybe a bit too much enthusiasm, "hope you're hungry because we're making a lot of food."

"Yeah I'm starving, I didn't really eat breakfast this morning."

"That's great!" Ruby chimes in, "because Yang is making scallops and a grilled tuna just for you!"

"Really?" She asks, turning back to the blonde, "that's… really nice. Thank you."

Yang responds by giving her a shy smile and a shrug of her shoulders and Blake is hit with the sudden thought that she's never seen Yang look so cute before. There's something about the ponytail and apron combination that she can't quite put her finger on but knows for a fact that she definitely wants to see more of it.

She's brought out of her thoughts by Weiss, the heiress pointedly suggesting that they all get back to work if any of them want to eat at a reasonable time.

So they spend the next couple hours chopping vegetables, mashing potatoes, and generally just doing anything Yang needs help with. It's pretty clear almost immediately that none of them have much experience cooking other than Yang, but that doesn't make it any less fun.

There's a lot of light teasing over everyone's lack of knowledge and as a result, they ask so many questions that it seems like Yang is being pulled in four directions at once. Which makes it all the more satisfying that it feels like the blonde is going out of her way to spend more time with her.

Even still she can't help but notice the way Yang and Winter whisper to each other every time one of them walks by. She knows it's irrational and everything, but she can't help the way her heart races or her blood boils whenever it happens.

It's almost five o'clock by the time they're finally done preparing all the food and all that's really left is a bit of waiting for everything in the oven to finish up. Yang tells them all that she can handle it on her own so Blake takes the opportunity to relax a bit in the living room. And sure, maybe part of the reason she jumps at the chance to be alone is to take a moment to try and control the jealousy that had been building up inside her all afternoon.

After a few minutes she's joined by Weiss gracefully sliding onto the couch next to her in that regal fashion only she can pull off.

Although now that she's seen her in person, Blake is pretty sure Winter is somehow even more elegant in everything she does. Even when the girl was chopping onions earlier she had still managed it with a level of grace that Blake couldn't hope to compete with in a million years.

"How are you doing?" Weiss asks, abruptly pulling her back to reality.

"What do you mean?"

"Well it was kind of hard to miss the way you were staring at Yang and Winter in the kitchen earlier."

"Oh god." Blake groans, "they didn't notice did they?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Right… how could they when they were so engrossed with each other?" It comes out before she even realizes and is probably the most spiteful, catty thing that's ever left her mouth.

"Blake…"

"I… shouldn't have said that." Blake interrupts, "I mean where is this even coming from? I'm not even... it's not like we're together or... anything."

"Blake…" Weiss repeats gently, "it's perfectly normal to be jealous."

For a s second she thinks about denying it. It is basically second nature to her after all. But just from the look in Weiss's eyes she can tell that there would really be no point. And looking back, she has to admit that she didn't really do much to conceal her emotions in the kitchen.

"Are… are they…"

She doesn't get to finish her question before Yang walks into the room carrying a large, steaming mug.

"Hey," Yang says cheerfully, "thought you might want some tea."

"Oh Yang you didn't have to do that." Blake replies, gratefully accepting the cup, "but thank you."

"That looks really good." Weiss says right as Yang slides onto the couch, "I think I'll go get one too."

Her eyes widen a bit when she realizes what Weiss is doing and it's so outrageously obvious that Yang would have to be an idiot not to notice.

It takes every ounce of willpower she has to not just bury her face in her hands.

Yang isn't sure she's ever panicked so hard in her life watching Weiss walk into the kitchen off the back of the most glaringly transparent wingman move in history.

"So…" she says quickly, trying desperately to cover up her embarrassment. "We uh… should be ready to eat soon."

"That's great." Blake answers softly, "I'm getting hungry just thinking about all the delicious food you're making for us."

"Hey you did your fair share of the cooking too."

"Me?" Blake laughs, "you had to show me how to peel a potato!"

"You figured it out… eventually." Yang says diplomatically, drawing more giggles out of Blake.

"You don't have to lie, I'm perfectly comfortable in my hopelessness."

"Come on it wasn't that bad."

"Still…" Blake says slowly, "I don't know what I would ever do without you."

Yang doesn't have any idea how to respond to that. Blake's words carry a level of weight to them that she hasn't felt since they had gone out to dinner together. Since that night they had seemingly reached an unspoken agreement to never talk about it and just go back to how things were before. And for the most part they had been successful. What little interaction they'd had since then had been fairly uneventful. But she still had to fight to control the utter turmoil boiling deep within herself.

And even then, hardly getting to see Blake for over a week somehow felt even worse than pretending everything was normal, almost like she'd lost a piece of herself and it had only been a week since their dinner. Just seven agonizingly long days for her to feel as if she'd never be whole again. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wonders how she can possibly survive four years of college without her.

But now, sitting just a few inches away and seeing the look in her glowing golden eyes… it's like all of a sudden they're back at the restaurant. No worries about where they stand with each other or what the future will bring, just the two of them… together.

They stay like that, eyes locked for so long that looking anywhere else feels impossible. But somehow she eventually manages it and her gaze flicks down for a fraction of a second, straight to Blake's lips.

She looks back up quickly, suddenly terrified that her slip up had been noticed until she catches a slight flickering in Blake's eyes too.

It goes by so fast that Yang wonders if she's imagining things. But then it happens again… and again. Just slight glances so brief that she can't even be sure if they're really happening.

But the next thing she knows, they're both slowly leaning forward, closing the distance between them at a pace that's so agonizingly slow that time might as well have stopped. It's only the lightning fast pounding in her chest that keeps her grounded enough in reality to recognize that they're still moving closer and even then she's not sure she can really believe it.

Honestly it's a feeling that's so unfamiliar to her that the only time she had ever experienced a rush on this extreme of a level was over four years ago when she was preparing to confess to Winter.

And tonight, in a cruel mirroring of that relentlessly unforgettable day, her brief moment of peace is shattered by the sudden, incessant ringing of the egg timer in the kitchen.

Maybe they're just startled by the abrupt sound of the alarm or maybe it's just the compromising position they're in, but the second it goes off they immediately jerk away from each other and retreat to their respective ends of the couch.

And just like that, their moment is ruined.


Author's Note: A lot of things are happening! Wish I could give our favorite Bees a moment but we've got to build up properly. Also somehow I just can't ever resist writing jealous Blake, it's just so adorable for some reason idk. So we still have a bunch of questions left, particularly with what happened with Winter but I swear we're getting answers soon so bear with me. Fortunately since I took some extra time to work on this as a multi-parter the next chapter should be out a little more easily so stay tuned! Anyways, if you've got any feedback please leave a review. Thanks for reading!