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: Part 2 is here! Don't have much to say about this one, it's a pretty big moment so hope you all like it! Read/Review!


Chapter 13: Thanksgiving Pt. 2

The alarm gets shut off just as Yang is walking into the kitchen where she sees Ruby and Winter sitting awkwardly at the dining table and Weiss leaning against the counter with the timer in her hand.

The other thing that she notices is that none of the three of them are looking her in the eye at the moment and the thought crosses her mind immediately that they might have been watching what had been happening in the living room a second ago.

But there's no way she's going to say anything about it. Partly because she doesn't actually have any definitive proof, but mostly to avoid drawing more attention to it and make her face even redder than it already is.

So she heads straight to the oven to pull the door open and is immediately flooded with the wonderful aroma of all the food cooking within.

"How's it looking?" Weiss asks hesitantly.

Yang absentmindedly grabs a wooden spoon from the counter and pokes the turkey a couple of times, listening to the satisfying way that the skin crackles and letting out an appreciative hum.

"I think we're ready to eat!" She says finally, eliciting an excited cheer from Ruby.

She stands back up to look for the oven mitts while the others all start portioning out food into the various serving dishes.

They work pretty quickly considering how many people are packed into their moderately sized kitchen and are all sitting around the table in just a few minutes as Yang sets the turkey down right in the middle.

Despite all her protests, the others insist that Yang sits at the head of the table with Blake on one side and Ruby on the other and it's something that she's certain is Weiss's idea. But she doesn't want to think about it.

The feast before them is an absolute spectacle that barely even fits on their modest little dining table and she's honestly amazed that they had managed to pull it off.

"It all looks amazing Yang." Winter says.

The others all voice their agreements and gratitude but Yang waves them all off.

"Come on guys enough of that." She says, embarrassed at all the attention, "let's eat!"

With that, they don't waste any more time and quickly get to carving into the turkey and passing dishes around.

Yang piles the food high onto her plate but doesn't dive in immediately. She's too busy nervously watching the others hungrily licking their lips in anticipation. It takes a pretty long time for all the food to make it around the table, they had made well over a dozen dishes after all, but when everyone is finally reaching for their forks Yang is almost frozen in place, intently studying their faces for reactions.

There's a simultaneous chorus of satisfied hums and Yang lets out a breath that she didn't realise she was holding.

"The clam chowder is soooooooooo good." Ruby says, mouth still full of soup.

"These are the best scallops I've ever had." Winter adds, "how do you get them to just melt like that?"

"It's… mostly about how long you keep them in the pan." Yang answers.

"They… really are delicious." Blake says slowly, "the tuna is too."

She looks over to Blake and they lock eyes for just a second before Yang breaks away, cheeks feeling a little hot and fidgeting awkwardly in her seat.

They go on like this for basically the rest of dinner, stealing quick glances at each other when they think the other isn't looking but neither of them able to maintain any form of eye contact for longer than a second.

Yang is sure that the others have noticed by now. Honestly it's probably impossible not to with the way that the conversation stalls whenever it gets to either of them. It's pretty much torture falling back into this stupid, awkward cycle with Blake when it feels like they were finally making some progress getting back to normalcy.

And it just keeps eating at her all night. It's all she can think about all throughout dinner, through Winter's overzealous show of appreciation for making her the cheesecake, all the way up to the closing hours of the night when she's washing the dishes and the others are putting the absurd amount of leftovers in the fridge.

It's just approaching 8 o'clock when they finally finish up the lion's share of the cleaning and Ruby suggests that they roast marshmallows in the firepit in the backyard. None of them can really understand how the girl could possibly want any more food after the dinner they just had but they also don't really protest. Sitting around a fire on a cold night like this somehow sounds as good as it gets.

Ruby immediately latches onto Blake's arm and starts tugging her towards the back door to get the fire started and all Blake can really do is laugh at the fact that they all refer to her as the "outdoorsy one" just because she used to be a camp counselor. Meanwhile, Weiss and Winter set to rummaging through the cabinets in search of all the supplies they need. Apparently on their grocery run Ruby had somehow talked her girlfriend into buying all the ingredients to make seven different kinds of s'mores. A fact that has Winter teasing her little sister for being so thoroughly whipped.

Seeing an opportunity, Yang slips out of the kitchen, mumbling something about going to look for a coat that she's not sure either of them even hears, but she doesn't really care.

She passes quickly through the living room on the way to her bedroom, but after climbing just a couple steps, finds that she doesn't have the strength and sinks down onto the staircase. She lays like that for a while, the carpeted edges providing a surprisingly comfortable spot to lie down.

Honestly she doesn't even know how long she's been there when she hears footsteps approaching but somehow still can't find the willpower to move.

"Yang?" The voice is pretty easily recognizable as Winter and she slowly opens her eyes to see the older girl standing above her, concern etched plainly on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing, I just got kind of tired I guess." She says, hastily pulling herself to a sitting position.

Winter's eyebrows furrow even further as she starts to lean in, closer and closer to Yang until it feels like they're right on top of each other. Just as Yang is starting to panic, feeling a sudden sense of deja vu, Winter reaches forward and brushes a tear off of her cheek that she didn't even realize was there.

In an instant Yang can feel her last bit of strength shatter and she crumples forward, hiding her face in her knees. Without another word Winter gathers up her jacket and sits down next to her, gently wrapping an arm around her shoulder. It takes a couple minutes for her to calm down and the two of them finally fall into a comfortable silence with Yang leaning gloomily on Winter's shoulder.

"So…" Winter says finally, "that's the girl you're in love with."

All she can manage in response is a weak nod.

"She's pretty… even more beautiful in real life than in that picture you showed me." Winter continues, "I know I only just met her, but you two seem really good together."

"We were…" Yang whispers dejectedly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

It takes a moment for her to actually summon up the courage to voice what's been on her mind all night and even when she does, it comes out just as quiet and broken as before.

"We… we were finally starting to get to a good place again. It was like we were actually getting back to being friends and then I just went and ruined it."

"How did you ruin it?" Winter asks.

"I…" Yang says hesitantly, "I tried to kiss her earlier when we were in the living room. And then like all throughout dinner we couldn't even look at each other. God I'm such an idiot."

"Yang... I know it might be hard to believe, but that girl is crazy about you. In fact I'm almost certain that she's out there with Ruby and Weiss freaking out about the exact same thing."

"I already told you Winter, she doesn't like me that way."

"Yang…" Winter repeats gently, "what exactly do you think happened between you two in the living room?"

She pulls back and gives Winter a slightly accusing look.

"Oh come on," the older girl says with a playful roll of her eyes, "like you didn't know that we were all watching from the kitchen."

Yang lets out a defeated sigh and thinks back through the night's events. "Well… we were on the couch just kind of talking about stuff. And then at some point there was a lull and I just... lost control. I don't even know what came over me, I just started leaning in and then the kitchen timer went off."

"Okay…" Winter says slowly, "that's partially true."

"What do you mean?"

"Well you're kind of leaving out the part where you two just sat there staring into each other's eyes. But the big thing? Yang, she was going to kiss you too."

Before she can offer any kind of answer she hears another set of footsteps approaching and she looks up to see Weiss walking up to them, hands buried in the pockets of her beautiful white coat with a confused look on her face.

"What's going on here?" Weiss asks.

Winter takes a quick look at Yang before deciding that the blonde is clearly not really able to respond and answers for her. "Yang was just telling me about Blake."

"You know about that?" Weiss says.

"Um… yeah." Yang mumbles quietly, "We talked about a bunch of stuff over some burritos the other night."

"That's it? You guys didn't do anything… else?"

"What? No. What did you think was happening?"

"I don't know!" Weiss cries defensively, "Winter was being so tight lipped about it that I didn't know what to think."

"Yang swore me to secrecy." Winter replies simply, "and I didn't exactly know how much you knew about all this so I thought it would be better to just stay quiet."

"Oh my god." Weiss groans, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration, "I thought…"

"What?" Winter interrupts, "that I broke up with my girlfriend and immediately tried to hook up with Yang? Do you really think I would take advantage of her like that?"

Weiss bites her lip nervously, "the thought… may have crossed my mind…"

She feels Winter stiffen next to her.

"Don't look at me like that!" Weiss cries, "I'm sorry okay? I was just worried that if you two got to talking that all of this stuff would come out and you two might do something impulsive."

Winter lets out a moderately frustrated sigh. "It's okay Weiss, I'll admit that the thought did cross my mind at least a few times on the way over, but I would never do that. Okay? Yang isn't just some rebound girl to me."

"Winter…" Yang whispers, eyes spread wide in shock at the sincerity in the older girl's voice and she finds it way more touching than she probably should, hearing those words coming from the girl who had once been so central to her daily life. Once again she doesn't have any idea what to say and all she can come up with is to pull Winter in for a hug.

Although what ends up actually happening is Yang throwing her arms around Winter's neck and essentially tackling the girl into the wall. The impact knocks both of them severely off balance and Winter is only barely able to keep them from falling down the stairs by wrapping an arm protectively around the blonde's waist.

Weiss shakes her head at the two of them, bodies tangled together and gingerly rubbing spots on their heads where they'd bumped into the stairs and can't help but chuckle. "Well, I'm glad you two are bonding so much but Ruby and Blake are wondering where you are. Don't take too long."

With that she walks off, leaving Yang and Winter alone again.

"So." Winter says finally, "are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, yeah I am." Yang answers, "thank you Winter, for everything. You're… a good friend and I'm really happy to have you back in my life again."

"I'm happy too Yang, honestly I couldn't believe how long it had been since we last talked when Weiss told me to call you. But more importantly, as your friend I'm going to tell you something and you're going to listen to me. Okay?"

Yang can only manage a confused nod in response as Winter turns so they're sitting face to face and she can feel the determination in the older girl's icy eyes boring into her.

"You, Yang Xiao Long," Winter says seriously, "are funny, and smart, and kind, and all around one of the most beautiful girls I have ever met. I am so unbelievably sorry for the part I've played in hurting your self confidence but any girl would be lucky to even get a chance with you."

Yang can feel the blush spreading rapidly on her cheeks and she gets the urge to try to hide it, but the sincerity in Winter's gaze is too intense to look away.

"What I'm trying to say," Winter continues, "is that Blake likes you… a lot. I don't even know her and I can see how much brighter she is when she's with you. But if you keep going on like this, ignoring your feelings in a misguided attempt to do what's best for Blake, all you'll be doing is ensuring that both of you stay miserable. You make her happy Yang. This isn't one of those times where you have to love someone enough to let them go. This is one of those times where you go for it with everything you've got… and hold onto her forever."


Author's Note: There's the (sort of) big reveal! Winter isn't here to be some scumbag and tear the Bees apart! It was pretty important to me to write a story where people aren't just deliberately doing shitty things to each other all the time, maybe I'm just soft but I kind of have trouble with stories that are too heavy with the character bashing so this is the first taste. Anyways hope you all liked it, if you have any feedback to give feel free to leave a review. Thanks for reading!