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: Just a little bit later than I normally am on these chapter updates but it's here! Hope you all like it!
Chapter 20: Support
There's some part in the back of her mind that tells Yang that she should be more resilient to heartbreak like this. After all it's not as if it's the first time she's been left behind by someone she cared about. And she's been no stranger to rejection either with everything that had happened with Winter, not to mention all the people she herself had to turn down over the years.
But no matter what logic she tries to apply, she can't seem to do anything about the empty feeling in her chest.
And she knows she hasn't done the best job compartmentalizing, she'd certainly tried to control her emotions at school and at work, but it's almost impossible to do anything of the sort when every single day, the first and last thing Yang sees is Blake turning her back on her. At this point, after fixating on it for so long, every tiny detail about the moment is crystal clear in her mind. From the initial quivering on Blake's lips and the slightest hint of tears welling up, to the final look of resignation in those amber eyes that used to make her heart race.
So it's a cruel twist that every time she pictures them, she's now left with nothing but a hollow sinking in her chest.
And it certainly doesn't help that she can't stop staring at the picture on her phone either.
She's brought crashing back to reality by a hand gently shaking her shoulder, causing her head to snap up to where she sees Sun leaning casually against the counter, eyes scrunched ever so slightly in concern. Without another word he slides a tall glass of iced tea along the surface and directly into her hand.
Yang takes a quick sip and hums appreciatively when she tastes the slight twist of lemon and a dash of sugar, just the way she likes it.
He hops up onto the stool next to her with an identical glass in his own hand and the two of them sit just like that for a bit, silently sipping at their tea. It's something she's always appreciated about Sun, the quiet straightforwardness in the way he offers his support. Especially compared to the way the rest of her friends liked to handle things.
"How are you holding up?" Sun finally asks, breaking the comfortable silence.
Yang lets out a sigh. She's not sure at this point how many times she's been asked some variation of that question and it honestly never gets easier to answer.
"I'm ok." She replies on instinct, well aware of how unconvincing it sounds.
"I uh…" Sun says, sheepishly scratching the back of his head, "I know everything's messed up because of us, but um… if you ever need anything…"
Yang rolls her eyes and affectionately leans over to bump his shoulder with her own. Sun had never really been comfortable talking about anything serious and seeing him try so hard for her sake was incredibly touching.
"So…" he says awkwardly, "when's your shift over?"
It's only then that she realizes that she doesn't even know how long she's spent zoning out at the counter and reaches into her back pocket for her phone.
"Oh wow." She says, "I guess I was supposed to be done twenty minutes ago."
"Really? Who's supposed to come in after you?"
Yang scrunches her eyebrows slightly. "Neo I think, but what's taking her so long? She's never late."
"Maybe there's traffic?" Sun suggests with a casual shrug. "It looks like it's starting to snow."
She shoots a quick glance to the window before turning back to her phone, growing more concerned by the second.
"They're barely flurries. I think I'm going to give her a call."
Without another word she hops off her stool and heads for the door, scrolling through her contacts as she gently pushes it open. The second she gets outside she's hit with a wave of regret as she's instantly chilled to the bone by the freezing winter air. She's just bringing the phone up to her ear when she spots a small figure with pink and brown hair trudging towards her through the parking lot.
"Neo?" She calls out.
The girl looks up at the mention of her name and closes the remaining distance quickly, running straight into Yang and throwing her arms around the blonde's waist. Her eyes widen in surprise before slowly wrapping her arms around the girl's shoulders, and it's only then that she realizes how hard Neo is shaking.
"What… Neo, did you walk here?" She asks incredulously.
All she gets in response is a slight nod into her chest and she hurriedly rushes the girl back into the diner, remembering how sick she'd gotten pulling a similar stunt at Pyrrha's a few weeks ago. Sun gives her a quizzical look from behind the counter before he spots the girl wrapped around her and without hesitation reaches for a mug hanging from the rack by the sink.
She gently sets Neo down on one of the stools and peels her jacket, completely soaked through, off of her quivering shoulders just as Sun walks over with a steaming mug of tea that the girl latches onto immediately.
"Neo are you okay? What were you doing out there?" Yang asks.
The brown and pink haired girl shivers in her seat, curling in tighter and clutching her tea closer to her chest. "I had to walk to work today." She mumbles.
"What?" Yang says, "don't you normally have a car?"
"I… usually get a ride here."
The answer is quiet and shaken. Enough for Yang to tell that there's more behind the words that aren't being said. And her suspicion is only strengthened by the look she spots exchanged between Sun and Neo.
"Is it…" Sun says hesitantly, "your brother?"
Neo responds with the slightest of nods before her shoulders start trembling. "He… he still hasn't come home yet…"
With that the girl breaks down in tears, drawing Yang to rush over and immediately pull her in for a hug before turning her attention back to Sun. "What's going on?"
The boy shoots an uncertain look at Neo shaking violently in her arms before answering, "Neo lives with her older brother Roman and… he kind of hangs out with a bad crowd."
"A bad crowd?"
"Yeah…"
She looks back down to Neo and pulls her in even tighter, running a hand through her cold, wet hair and turns back to Sun who tosses her a clean dish towel.
"That's… not even the worst part." Neo chokes out.
Yang directs her attention back to the girl shaking in her arms and notices for the first time that she's clutching a folded up piece of paper in her hands. Tentatively, Yang reaches forward and pulls it out, taking Neo's lack of resistance as permission. She slowly unfolds the paper, the sheet is partially soaked through from the weather outside but Yang's still easily able to make out the main line of big block text that makes her heart sink.
Eviction Notice
"Neo… this… how long has your brother been gone?"
The paper is gently taken out of her hands by Sun who shoots her a heavy look before leaning in to try and read some of the smaller print.
"He… the last time I saw him…" Neo sobs, "was almost two months ago."
"Two months?" Yang shouts incredulously. "Neo!"
"I tried to pay the rent on my own!" the girl wails, "but I just… didn't have enough without…"
Neo trails off, not needing to finish her thought for the two of them to understand. Yang finds it admirable that the girl had tried to get by on her own, she herself certainly had a streak of stubbornness that would probably prevent her from asking for help in a similar situation, but she also can't help but wonder how Neo could possibly think she could support herself. Yang already spent almost all of her free time outside of school working but she and Ruby still had their dad working full time as well, and they also had the advantage of living in the suburbs. She can't even imagine how Neo had planned on making enough money for rent in a city like Vale all on her own.
Sun lets out a sigh. "It says here that they've already moved everything out of the apartment and into a storage unit."
"I don't know what I'm going to do…" Neo says weakly, falling forward to rest her head on the counter.
Yang bites her lip as she tosses ideas back and forth in a rare moment of mindful cautiousness before finally deciding to abandon it for her typical reckless instincts.
"You can crash at my house for a few days." She blurts out, ignoring the shocked expressions on both of the others' faces. "Our house is kind of small, but my dad is always away on business and should be for another few weeks so you can just take his room. Plus you already know Ruby so that should work out too."
"Yang…" Neo breathes, turning in her seat to bring her teary eyes to meet Yang's, "are you sure?"
"Of course!" Yang answers easily, "there's no way I could just leave you homeless."
"Thank you Yang!" Neo cries, throwing her arms around the blonde's neck for a moment before quickly pulling herself back. "It would only be for a few days until I figure out something more permanent. I know some people who live in the city that I could stay with for longer periods, I would just need maybe a week to…"
"Neo." Yang interrupts. "There's no rush. Okay? You can stay as long as you need to find something more stable."
She can see more tears forming in the girl's striking multicolored eyes before she's pulled in for another hug. Yang lets Neo stay like that for a while, mumbling some profuse words of gratitude into her shoulder until the girl is able to calm down.
"Come on." Yang finally says as she slowly slides off of her stool, "I think you've had enough for today, let's get you back to my place where you can get some rest."
"But… I'm supposed to close tonight." Neo mumbles quietly.
"Don't worry about that." Sun says with a dismissive wave of his hand, "this place is so dead I can handle the last couple hours on my own."
Yang flashes him a grateful smile before moving to her feet, picking up her coat and wrapping it around Neo's petite frame before guiding the girl towards her car parked outside.
…
Weiss is only just pulling her car into her house's extended driveway when she feels her phone vibrate for what must be the hundredth time this day. She had spent a few extra hours at school in a ridiculously long student council meeting and the entire drive home the notifications on her phone just hadn't stopped. Finally able to throw her car into park, Weiss pulls it out of her pocket and sees over a dozen text messages from her girlfriend.
She feels a bit of panic bubbling up inside of her and just as she starts scrolling through the texts, it starts vibrating again with a pop up appearing on the screen.
Phone Call: Winter Schnee
Weiss narrows her eyes slightly in confusion before she brings the phone up to her ear.
"Winter?"
"Hello Weiss." Her sister greets cheerfully, "how are you today?"
"Oh I'm okay," she sighs, removing her keys from the ignition and slowly sliding out of her car. "I'm only just getting home, Student Council ran a little late today."
Winter gives a light chuckle in response, "Can't say I really miss that part. Is everything ok?"
"Oh they're fine now, there was just a lot of indecision regarding the upcoming dance."
"Winter Ball right? Have you asked Ruby yet?"
Weiss lets out another sigh. "Not yet, there's just been a lot going on recently and I haven't really gotten around to it."
"Better hurry." Winter teases, "wouldn't want your girlfriend getting snatched up by someone else."
"Don't be ridiculous." Weiss scoffs, "did you call just to try and mess with me?"
"Um… no, there's actually something else."
She's caught off guard by the sudden hesitation in her sister's voice and finds herself holding her breath in anticipation.
"My car finally made it back to Atlas yesterday, I guess there was some problem with the shipping service that got it delayed."
"Okay…" Weiss says.
"I found Yang's picture of her and Blake, I guess she must have left it there after our talk the other day."
"Really? Yang's been kind of going crazy looking for that photo. But wait," She says, stopping suddenly, "why are you telling me this? You could have just sent it directly to Yang."
"Uh yeah… there's kind of a second part to this… the main reason I wanted to call you."
"What is it?"
"I… think I saw Blake this afternoon on campus, it looked like she was part of one of the tour groups or something."
"What?" She shouts, nearly dropping her backpack on the front steps. Her mind is absolutely racing. How had it not occurred to her that if Blake had added Atlas to her list then she'd be visiting Winter's college? It feels so obvious now that she has to fight the urge to smack herself.
"Yeah," Winter answers, "at first I wasn't really sure if it was her, I mean Yang told me that Blake was planning on going to college in Mistral, but then I got a little closer and…"
"Winter!" Weiss interrupts, "is she still there?"
"What? I don't know, it was a couple hours ago but I think the tours are still going on for a few days."
"You have to find her! Please Winter, it's really important."
"Weiss, what… did something happen?"
She takes a deep breath before letting out a long, drawn out sigh. "There's… been some stuff going on over here that you don't know about..."
Author's Note: So much happening this chapter! First of all I love Sun's character too much to not give him a moment or two and he just seemed so perfect to offer support to anyone who needs it. But of course the big thing this chapter is Winter! It was kind of hinted at before but this is kind of the reveal that she's way more important than just being a potential rival for Blake. Anyways, hope you all liked it, thanks for reading!
