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: We start exactly where we left off from last chapter so I won't say much other than thank you all so much for the feedback. You've all been so awesome with the reviews and it really keeps me motivated to pump these chapters out. But without further ado, here's the chapter, happy to say it's a longer one so hope you like it!


Chapter 24: Perception

The second they make it through the door and onto the sidewalk outside, all three of them burst into laughter.

"Oh man," Yang gasps, wiping the tears from her eyes, "she's going to be so mad at us."

"What for?" Weiss laughs, "we just did her a favor."

"She did tell us not to interfere in her relationship with Jaune." Ruby says.

"Yeah she's definitely going to flip out at us for springing this on her without a chance to get ready." Yang agrees, "do you remember the first time they hung out outside of school back in sophomore year?"

"What?" Weiss says, "how do I not know about this?"

The blonde lets out a chuckle, "it wasn't one on one, it was just when we all went downtown for the Vytal Festival."

2 Years Ago

Somehow just the soothing sound of Blake's voice is enough to make even a simple visit to their neighborhood cafe exhilarating.

The two of them are at one of the little tables in the outdoor seating area, peacefully sipping on a pot of tea in the shade of the oversized awning mounted on the cafe's outer wall that also shields them from the gentle downpour of autumn leaves. Yang can't help reveling in how picturesque the entire scene is, especially the raven haired beauty sitting across the table from her.

She's wearing these adorable ankle high leather boots, form fitting grey skinny jeans, and a sheer, white button up top tied into a bow at the bottom, showing off a fair amount of Blake's wonderfully toned stomach that has her gaze lingering just a little bit longer than they really should.

"So was there actually a reason you called me out here?" Blake asks with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Oh! Um…" Yang stammers, mind racing to come up with a believable excuse.

"Because I just assumed that you were still worried about how Ruby's first week of high school went."

All she can do is stare blankly ahead like an idiot. How had she not remembered that the last time she'd called Blake a couple days ago it was to vent her concerns about her little sister.

"I'm sure she's fine Yang." Blake continues, "I mean you said she knew a couple people coming with her from middle school right?"

"Yeah I know…" Yang says, "I just can't help but worry about her. She's just… always had problems making friends, I mean back in 6th grade…"

"Yang." Blake interrupts, "Ruby's been doing fine. I mean she fits in with all of us without any problems, and I've seen her talking to plenty of people in the halls already."

"Yeah but…"

She's cut off by her phone suddenly going off on the table, the vibrations strong enough to even shake the silverware. Her first thought is to immediately hang up so as not to interrupt her time with Blake, but changes her mind when she spots the name on the screen.

Phone Call: Pyrrha Nikos

"Hello?"

"Why have you not been answering my texts?" Pyrrha says sharply.

"Uh sorry Pyrrha," Yang replies, "I haven't really been checking my phone. Is everything okay?"

"No!"

Yang recoils slightly at the surprising amount of force in the redhead's voice. "What? What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Pyrrha asks incredulously, causing Yang's eyes to stretch wide in shock, "you, Yang Xiao Long, decided not to tell me until after school today that you invited Jaune to come to the festival with us tomorrow!"

Instantly Yang can feel the tension release from her shoulders and she deflates into her seat with a roll of her eyes, earning her a quizzical look from Blake. "This is why you're calling me?"

"Yes Yang! I'm freaking out! Please, you have to come help me!"

She chuckles at her friend's outrageous behavior. "Okay okay fine, I'm with Blake right now, do you want me to bring her?"

"Yes! Please, I need her help with makeup!"

"Ok, well I guess we'll walk over as soon as we can."

With that she hangs up and sets her phone down on the table, looking up to come face to face with Blake, leaning back in her chair, legs crossed, twirling her teacup in one hand, and flashing her a sassy raised eyebrow.

"So…" Blake says, "how's Pyrrha?"

When they finally arrive at the Nikos house, they head straight inside, deciding not to even bother with the doorbell when they hear the commotion inside.

Following the noise, they head up the stairs to Pyrrha's room, where they find her mom sitting casually on the bed surrounded by a mountain of discarded clothes.

"Hello girls!" She greets cheerfully.

"Hi Mrs. Nikos!" Yang replies.

"Yang honey, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Athena?"

Yang laughs, sheepishly running a hand through her hair.

"And it's good to see you again Blake."

"It's nice to see you too Mrs. Nikos," Blake answers, earning herself a playful glare from the older woman.

"Well," Athena says, "I suppose you're here to help my daughter."

"Yup," Yang says, "where…"

She trails off when she hears the clattering of clothes hangers from Pyrrha's closet, followed closely by the redhead emerging with an armful of dresses and skirts.

"Oh my god," Pyrrha gasps, "thank you guys so much for coming!"

Yang hears Athena laughing as her daughter drops everything on the floor and pulls the two of them in for a hug.

"She's been doing this ever since she got home." Athena remarks.

"And I've gotten nowhere!" Pyrrha cries.

Blake lets out a light giggle, "and how exactly are we supposed to help?"

"W-well…" the redhead stammers, suddenly overcome with embarrassment, "I'm… not really all that good with fashion and all but you two always look so pretty and…"

"What are you talking about?" Yang interrupts, "Pyrrha you're one of the hottest girls in our grade. There are even upperclassmen falling in love with you."

"Really?" Athena says, leaning back onto the bed with an ear to ear grin, "I had no idea you were so popular Pyrrha."

"Yang!" Pyrrha cries, face burning bright red.

The blonde doesn't respond, instead collapsing into a fit of giggles alongside Pyrrha's mom.

Blake shakes her head at the ridiculous display. "I think what Yang was trying to say, is that we're happy to help with whatever you need."

They spend the next few hours watching Pyrrha trying on various outfits and despite her relentless protests, Blake is actually astounded at how gorgeous the redhead looks in basically anything.

"That one's great Pyrrha," Yang says, "much better for a day out in the sun."

Blake looks up to see the girl emerging from the closet wearing a flowy black skirt extending down halfway to her knees and a white and black floral pattern top with off shoulder straps that keeps her shoulders bare. With her red hair tied back into a neat ponytail, the look is a perfect blend of casual and cute that is sure to gain some attention.

"I think we have a winner." Blake says.

"Are you sure?" Pyrrha asks, self consciously checking her reflection in the mirror. "It's not too plain or anything?"

"You look adorable Pyrrha." Yang replies, "Jaune's going to lose it when he sees you."

"Shall we move on to makeup?" Blake asks.

The redhead timidly runs a hand through her hair before finally raising her head enough to meet their gaze and flash a grateful smile with visible relief in her emerald eyes.

"You guys are the best."

Present Day

"Okay now that you mention it," Weiss says, "I definitely remember that outfit and it really was very cute."

"Yeah," Yang replies leaning back on the couch, "I think after that Pyrrha actually started buying clothes that weren't just for working out."

Ruby lets out a giggle and plops down on the couch next to her. "Well I always thought Pyrrha looked fine before."

"Pyrrha looks good in anything." Weiss says.

Yang smiles proudly at the mention of her best friend. "You know she actually had a modeling agency approach her at a track meet last year?"

"Really?" Ruby says, "why didn't she go for it?"

"You know Pyrrha," Yang groans, "she told them that she had too much on her plate with school and track and college applications."

Weiss lets out a small huff, "even I have to admit she can be a little too serious at times."

"Now that's saying something." Yang remarks, earning her a pointed glare from the heiress.

"So what do you guys want to do?" Ruby asks.

The blonde shrugs, grabbing some potato chips from the bag sitting on the table. "Dunno, we left really early to give those two their alone time so I still have a few hours before I have to go."

Weiss narrows her eyes slightly, "you're still going to pick Neo up?"

"Yup."

"Don't you think you're coming on a little strong?"

Yang scrunches her eyes in confusion, "what do you mean?"

"I just think you need to consider the possibility that this girl may have feelings for you."

"Oh my god Weiss." Yang groans, "how long are you going to keep this up? She doesn't have anywhere else to go right now."

"I'm not saying you should let the girl be homeless. Only that you should at least try to take into account how other people would perceive your kindness."

Ruby bursts into a fit of giggles, "she's got you there Yang, remember that guy in your English class that broke his leg and you spent two weeks carrying his books for him?"

The blonde's face immediately flushes bright red at the memory.

"I forget…" Weiss says in a suspiciously slow voice, "was it right before homecoming or prom that he declared his love for you in the middle of a school assembly?"

Yang collapses into her sister's lap, covering her face with the tail of Ruby's hoodie and drawing a surprised laugh from the girl.

"Listen Yang," Weiss continues, "I'm not telling you to stop taking care of people who need it, it's actually one of your best traits. I just don't want you to have to deal with this girl falling in love with you while living in your own house."

She lets out a deep sigh, sitting up to meet the heiress' determined gaze with a fierceness of her own. "I appreciate it Weiss, but I promise... I know what I'm doing."

Getting sandwiches and simply having the chance to sit around and relax with everyone proved to be a great way for Yang to forget all about her problems for a couple hours. But then the very second it's over, her mind goes right back to Blake.

And it's especially bad when she's sitting in relative silence with nothing around to distract her.

Like right now, waiting in her car in the parking lot, the only light in the area coming from the dull flickering through the diner's window, it's the perfect mixture of silence and darkness for Yang to have a slate blank enough to see a pair of amber eyes everywhere she looks.

If she still had it she'd probably be staring at the picture by now.

She's trying desperately to shake the image out of her head when she spots the last of the lights turning off and she slowly steps out of the car, immediately regretting it as she's greeted by the bitter cold December air.

"Yang?" Neo says, running quickly over from the sidewalk. "You didn't have to pick me up too. Your place is so close I could've easily walked."

"Are you kidding?" Yang responds, "It is way too far for that, plus it's freezing out." She takes a closer look at Neo's outfit, unsurprisingly finding the same form fitting, pink collared white blazer that the girl always wears and she can't help shaking her head. "And you'd freeze to death if you tried walking in that jacket."

Neo gives her a cocky grin. "It's not supposed to be warm. It's supposed to be cute."

She rolls her eyes at the girl's stubbornness but doesn't miss the shiver that runs up Neo's body. Without a word, Yang shrugs the coat off her shoulders and walks up to her, reaching over to drape the brown leather over the girl's petite frame.

"Yang... " Neo breathes, looking up at her with her multicolored eyes stretched wide, "you don't have to…"

"Trust me you'll want this." Yang says, "the heating in my car is really weak and probably won't even warm up properly by the time we get home."

"But… won't you be cold?" Neo asks, eyes darting down to Yang's torso, covered only in a thin orange tank top.

"Don't worry about me, I've got a pretty high body temperature."

Not giving her another chance to protest, Yang deftly turns on her heels, pulling Neo by the hand and leading her into the car. She can feel the girl's eyes on her the whole time but decides it's best to ignore it as she slips into the driver seat.

The drive back to her house usually takes about fifteen minutes but with her old beat up car that's somehow still not enough time for the heating to really kick in. They're barely halfway there when Yang can feel herself starting to shiver.

"Are you sure you don't want your jacket back?" Neo asks.

"I promise I'm fine." she answers, doing her best to keep her voice steady. "Are you working tomorrow?"

"No, it's my day off thankfully."

"Oh that's great!" Yang says, "people are coming over for a movie night tomorrow. You should join us."

"Oh, are you sure?" Neo asks hesitantly, "if you just want to spend some time with your friends I could…"

"Neo." she interrupts, "I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want you there. And besides, you're one of my friends too aren't you?"

When she doesn't hear a response, Yang takes a quick look at the girl in the passenger seat and finds Neo staring at her, eyes wide in shock.

"Neo? Are you okay?"

"Sorry." the girl says with a slight shake of her head, "yeah um, movie night sounds great. Thank you Yang… for all of this. You've been so amazing these past couple days."

"Hey what are friends for? I hope my dad's bedroom isn't too uncomfortable or anything."

"No it's great! Honestly Yang, it's all been… so much better than I could have hoped."

At last they pull into the driveway and Yang finally has the chance to turn and fully face the shorter girl, flashing her a bright, beaming smile. After a second Neo returns with a smile of her own, albeit much more timidly with her head and shoulders hunched just enough for a couple of pink and brown locks to drop down and barely cover the tops of her eyes.

Yang holds the gaze for a second before finally reaching over to open her door, tensing immediately at the sudden burst of cold.

"Look!" Neo says, coming up next to her, "it's starting to snow."

"All the more reason to get inside." she shudders.

They quickly rush to the front door where Yang fumbles with the keys, her hands having long since gone numb from holding onto the ice cold steering wheel.

"Do you need help?" Neo teases with a light giggle.

"I… I got it I swear!"

"It doesn't really look like you do."

"It's just… really cold!" Yang manages through her chattering teeth.

"Oh my god, you're absolutely hopeless at this." Neo says, ducking under her and popping up right between her arms. Instantly she can feel some warmth returning to her body as the shorter girl presses up against her chest, gently slapping her hands away and taking the keys for herself. "If you had just let me do it from the start we could have been inside already."

She's just about to give her retort when she's interrupted by a voice suddenly coming up from behind them.

"Yang?"

She freezes in shock because deep down, she already knows who it is. Honestly she'd recognize that voice anywhere.

But she finds that she can't make herself turn any faster.

With her head hunched against the cold, the first thing she sees is a pair of black leather boots, slightly worn from years of use. Then, a pair of skin tight dark purple leggings partially covered by the tail of a heavy black jacket and resting directly above, sleek raven hair, flowing freely in the brisk December wind.

She finally brings her gaze up to those captivating amber eyes, glowing beautifully against the dim lighting of the front porch and her breath catches in her chest.

Her own eyes go wide and she finds that she can barely manage anything louder than a whisper, breathing out the girl's name so quietly she's not sure if she'd heard it at all.

"Blake..."

When Yang doesn't hear a response, she wonders for a second if she's just seeing things again.

But no… no matter how much she's obsessed over them this past week, there's no way she could ever imagine the glow in those eyes as clearly as she's seeing them now.

"Blake…" she repeats, "what are you… when did you…"

She trails off as she sees Blake's unflinching gaze suddenly flick downwards… right to the girl standing in front of her.

It's only when Yang follows with her own eyes that she realizes how intimate of a position she's in. With Neo pressed firmly up against her chest and her arms wrapped almost protectively around the girl's petite frame, it definitely doesn't look good. And that's not even mentioning the fact that she's wearing Yang's jacket.

"Wait!" Yang says, quickly jerking herself away from Neo's body, "Blake, she's not…"

But the dark haired girl doesn't listen, instantly ripping her eyes away and making a break for her car.

Without hesitation, Yang takes off after her, ignoring the blistering cold as she chases Blake through the slippery, wet grass of their front lawn. But by the time she makes it to the sidewalk, Blake already has the car door open and Yang, growing more and more desperate by the second, lunges forward and grabs onto her arm.

For a moment that seems to last a lifetime, the two of them remain like that, frozen in place with her hand tightly wrapped around Blake's wrist and heart beating out of her chest.

But then, without warning, Blake jerks her hand away, spinning quickly on her heels to meet her gaze and stunning Yang with the sheer intensity in her eyes. It takes another second for her to recognize the tears flowing freely down her cheeks and Yang can feel her heart shattering.

Blake was crying… because of her.

"Blake…" she chokes, feeling her own eyes starting to water. "I'm…"

Then all of a sudden, Blake shakily pulls something out of her pocket and presses it against Yang's chest, before giving her a heavy shove that knocks her back into the grass.

By this point there's already a light layer of snow covering the ground and landing on it with nothing more than a thin orange tank top to serve as a buffer sends an icy dagger up her spine that freezes her to the spot.

It takes her a moment to recover enough to push herself back up, ready to launch up to her feet only to be met with the tail lights of Blake's car, already disappearing into the distance.

She sinks back to the ground in a sopping wet mess, shaking violently from the cold as she slowly turns over the item that Blake had pushed into her hands. Honestly it should have been obvious from the beginning what it was, she had memorized everything about it over the past few weeks from the glossy texture of the paper to the individual folds and creases.

But even so, she still finds her hands shaking as she slowly unfolds it, revealing the very picture that she'd spent the past week practically tearing her hair out looking for.

A single tear falls from her cheeks onto the photo, then another, and before she knows it, she's sobbing uncontrollably, clutching desperately at the picture with trembling hands and sinking deeper and deeper into the snow dusted grass until Neo finally pulls her inside.


Author's Note: There's actually a bit going on this chapter, mainly it's the challenge of developing both Arkos and Bumblby in parallel but of course Blake and Yang is still the primary story so they kind of get center stage. A few of you called it, Neo is a pretty integral part of this story and in this chapter it's unfortunately to give them a bit of a push even if it's through a misunderstanding. Anyways, let me know what you think and thanks for reading!