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: Man these chapters are getting long! The last one I think was my longest ever and this one is just beating it out. Anyways, I know the past few chapters have been pretty freaking depressing, so this one I hope is a welcome change of pace. I won't lie and say that we're just done with the angst for good, but for now... hope you can all enjoy the reprieve. Going to give an extra thank you for all the feedback in the recent chapters, and my excellent beta for helping me through these past few chapters which have been particularly challenging.
Chapter 31: Snow Day
Yang wakes up with a start, eyes shooting open to the dull, white glow of sunlight barely shining through the thick layer of clouds and snow outside. She reaches up above her head, stretching away the weariness in her limbs with a long, drawn out yawn before letting her arms flop lazily back onto the blanket, only to hear a muffled groan the second she makes contact with the fluffy white comforter. Feeling just a slight tinge of confusion, she turns her head to the side and is greeted by a wild tangle of bright red hair and suddenly remembers that Pyrrha had spent the night after driving them both back from the cafe sometime after midnight.
A small smile spreads across her face as the events of the previous day come flooding back to her. What did she do to deserve a friend as amazing as Pyrrha? The girl had literally spent hours driving around in a blizzard just because she had run off like an idiot into a snowstorm. She's overcome with this sudden urge to pounce on the redhead and hug her as tight as she can. But, eventually she decides to actually be reasonable and not disturb her friend's sleep, opting instead to reach over and tuck the covers back around Pyrrha's shoulders before rolling over to the other side of the bed, blindly pawing for her phone charging on the nightstand and letting out a groan when she sees the time displayed on the screen.
7:15 AM
One of Yang's weirdest guilty pleasures had always been accidentally waking up way before her alarm went off and getting another couple hours of sleep. But with school starting at eight, that doesn't leave much time at all and she debates whether or not it's worth just using the extra couple minutes to get ready. Eventually her weariness wins and she's about to drop her phone back onto the table when she notices an email in her notification tray. Eagerly tapping on the small white icon, her phone opens up her mail app and Yang has to stifle an elated yelp as she reads the message announcing a snow day for their entire school district.
For a second, she thinks about just going back to sleep, but the excitement from getting an extra day off from school suddenly has her feeling surprisingly energetic and she quickly slides out of her bed, enjoying the way the crisp, cold air kisses at her uncovered legs.
As quietly as she can manage, Yang eases the door open and steps out into the hallway, taking a second to make sure she hadn't woken anyone up before quickly tiptoeing over to Ruby's room. Luckily she's able to easily slide into the room without much sound. Her sister had a habit of leaving her door cracked slightly open while she slept, something she'd developed when they were younger and had frequent nightmares that Yang would have to respond to.
She stops for a moment when she reaches the bed, kneeling down on the plush carpet, coming face to face with Ruby, curled up tightly against the cold. Yang bites down on her lip as she notices the phone still clutched in her sister's hand. It was another habit Ruby had picked up, falling asleep watching random videos on YouTube, only this time, she knows that it's because of her disappearing act last night.
But she tries to put it to the back of her mind as she reaches forward, gently prying the phone out and turning off the many alarms Ruby always set for herself. With that done she slowly rises to her feet, placing a soft kiss on her forehead before heading back into the hallway.
With Pyrrha and Ruby's alarms taken care of (Pyrrha had left the alarm to her when they'd gone to sleep last night) that only left Neo.
She makes her way to the end of the hall where the girl was sleeping in her dad's room and walks in particularly carefully, having found out on just the second day that Neo is a pretty light sleeper. The other thing she'd noticed was that despite sleeping in her father's large king sized bed, the petite girl seemed unable to sleep anywhere other than right up against the edge of the bed. On top of that, the girl seemed to suffer pretty frequent nightmares as well, often waking up in the morning looking absolutely exhausted.
The implications of this were more than a little concerning but she had yet to muster up the courage to ask Neo about it.
She does her best to push it to the back of her mind, picking up the girl's phone and unlocking the screen. It's only when the screen lights up, prompting her for a passcode that she realizes she has no idea what Neo's combination is.
Her mind starts racing through options, her first thought being to just try and brute force it by entering numbers at random. Except there's absolutely no way she'd be able to get it open by the time the alarm goes off.
As if on cue, she feels the phone vibrate in her hand before a loud, blaring alarm rings out, cutting through the peaceful silence. Yang jumps in surprise, nearly dropping the phone as she frantically tries to silence it.
But she doesn't get it in time and Neo wakes up almost instantly, breathing in a sharp breath with a violent jerk of her legs.
"Yang?" The girl says, panting heavily. "You're back."
"Yeah... I'm back." She says with as reassuring a smile as she can manage, "are you okay?"
"Yeah, I just… had a weird dream."
Yang narrows her eyes, not at all convinced by the blatant lie.
"What about you?" Neo says, "how are you doing?"
"I… we can talk about it later." She answers quickly, not entirely sure she's willing to ruin what had so far been a pretty nice morning by digging into her relationship issues. "For now just go back to sleep. We have a snow day so you can finally catch up on some rest."
A small smile spreads on Neo's face and she lets out a quiet yawn. "And what are you going to do?"
"Well, I was just going to turn off everyone's alarms and go back to sleep but now I might actually be awake."
Neo shakes her head in disbelief despite her drooping eyelids. "You can't keep taking care of everyone else at the expense of yourself Yang. It makes us all really worried… especially Ruby."
With that Yang lets out a deep sigh. "Is… is she okay?"
"Well I guess I don't really know her all that well but… she seemed really lost yesterday. Although to be honest I guess we all were."
"I know." She says heavily. "And I'm really sorry."
"You better be." The girl mumbles. She gives Yang a small glare that loses most of its impact when it's interrupted by a wide, sleepy yawn.
She feels her lips crack into a small smile and sets her hand on Neo's shoulder, gently pushing her back into the bed. "We can talk about it later." She whispers in the most soothing voice she can manage, "for now, just get some sleep."
"You're lucky I'm so dead right now," Neo answers drowsily, eyelids drooping low as she falls back into the pillow, "otherwise there's no way I'd let you off that easy."
Yang lets out a light chuckle as she rises to her feet, heading through the door and shutting it quietly behind her.
Once again she wonders if it's worth it to go back to sleep, but she's honestly not sure if she'd actually be able to at this point. More than likely she would just end up wasting all the time lying awake and thinking about things that she'd rather forget about right now. And then she's hit with another wave of guilt as she remembers how amazing everyone had been last night despite her childish sulking.
She runs a hand through her hair, deciding that it might be better to spend her morning finding a way to show her gratitude.
…
Pyrrha walks down the stairs, stumbling slightly as she rubs the sleepiness out of her eyes.
Initially she'd been a little confused waking up to an empty bed and the mouthwatering aroma of sizzling bacon in the air. But then she had checked her phone and, after a minor heart attack when she saw that it was already forty minutes past school starting, noticed the message announcing that school had in fact been cancelled.
She makes her way towards the kitchen, shivering slightly from the cold. The sleepwear that Yang had let her borrow consisted of some pretty warm sweatpants but the tank top let in a lot more air than she would normally like. Honestly she doesn't fully understand how Yang can sleep like this year round.
The delicious smell in the air as she enters the kitchen has her stomach growling almost instantly and she spots Yang standing at the oven, hair tied back in a loose ponytail with a flowery apron tied around her waist. Combined with the skin tight black shorts, Pyrrha can't help but think that Blake would be practically drooling if she saw Yang dressed like this.
"Yang?"
The blonde spins around, giving her a short wave with the spatula in her hand while flashing a bright beaming smile. "Morning!" Yang chirps, "I'm guessing you saw that we have a snow day today."
Pyrrha nods her head, noticing the mountains of eggs, pancakes, bacon, and a dozen other things piled onto plates along the counter. "What's all this?"
"Oh you know," Yang says sheepishly, "I wanted to say thanks to all of you for being so great yesterday, and pretty much the only thing I can do is cook so I figured I'd make breakfast!"
She narrows her eyes, not completely convinced by the excessively optimistic front Yang is putting up. "That's… really sweet of you Yang, you didn't have to do that."
"It's no big deal," the blonde replies, "I mean most of this stuff was either frozen or came out of a can anyway."
"Still, we all would've understood if you just wanted to stay in bed all day or something."
"Yeah but I like cooking you know?"
Pyrrha closes the last couple feet between them, coming up next to her with a hand gently pressed on the blonde's lower back. "Yang are you sure you're okay? I mean after everything that's happened…"
"I'm not going to lie to you and say that I'm anywhere even close to a hundred percent," Yang answers, the cheerful smile on her face fading a bit, "but it feels like I spent the entire day crying yesterday and… I'm kind of tired of it."
"Okay…" she says skeptically.
"I promise I'm fine," Yang says with a heartfelt smile, "last night really helped. Thank you Pyrrha."
She's still not totally convinced but pulls the blonde in for a hug all the same. "Just as long as you're feeling better." She pulls back, looking down at the girl's outfit again. "Although aren't you cold at all?" Pyrrha asks, deciding not to press her any further, "I feel like you're going to get sick wearing so little in this weather."
"When did you become Weiss? And it's pretty warm in front of the stove."
"Alright… I'm just saying that you could almost induce a heart attack if someone saw you looking all housewife-y."
Yang's eyes go wide, frantically waving her hands in front of her face and showing just a little more of her true self. "Don't say stuff like that!" She hisses under her breath, sending Pyrrha into a fit of giggles.
"Why not?"
"Because it's weird!"
"I'm just saying," Pyrrha teases, "with how short your shorts are, that apron looks like the only thing you're wearing from the right angle."
Yang's face lights up bright red as her eyes dart down to her legs, self consciously pulling at the hem of her shorts.
"Um… maybe I should change…" the blonde says nervously.
"Oh relax," Pyrrha says, grabbing a hold of Yang's arm before she can take off, "I'm just kidding, you look fine. It's a really cute look actually."
"Like… in a good way or a bad way?"
She can't help but laugh at Yang's sudden irrational unease. "How could looking cute ever be a bad thing?"
"I don't know!" The blonde exclaims, anxiously fiddling with her ponytail, "I mean, Weiss keeps saying things about how Neo has feelings for me, and that I need to pay more attention to how my actions are perceived or... something."
"Wait, are you saying you actually think she likes you?"
"Well not necessarily," Yang says hesitantly, "it's just…"
"Just what?"
"Just… enough to be unsure." She finally answers.
"Well…" Pyrrha says slowly, "I have to say that it's kind of hard to not be unsure with everything that's happened."
"Then maybe I shouldn't…"
"Shouldn't what?"
The two of them spin around, eyes wide in shock to find Neo, standing by the entrance in a pair of fuzzy pink pajama pants and a plain black tank top. The petite girl rubs at her eyes, letting out a yawn as she shuffles into the kitchen.
"What are you guys talking about?" Neo grumbles before scrunching her eyebrows, sniffing at the air, "something smells incredible."
"Oh! Yeah, Yang made breakfast!" Pyrrha says quickly, "are you hungry at all?"
"Well I am now." Neo says, flashing a playful smirk. "Although... I think Ruby might still be asleep."
The girl's voice takes on a heavier tone, one that draws a deep sigh out of Yang that she doesn't quite understand... until she remembers that by the time she and Yang had gotten back last night, the others had long since fallen asleep.
Which means that Ruby had gone all night not knowing whether or not Yang had even made it home.
"I think I'll go wake her up, maybe take a minute to apologize."
She gives the blonde a sympathetic smile. "I think that would be best, you… did kind of put her through a lot yesterday."
"Was it really that bad?"
Pyrrha nervously bites down on her lip, looking right into her friend's violet eyes. "You mean a lot to her Yang."
…
Yang takes in one more deep breath before gently nudging Ruby's door.
There's a painfully loud creak as the door slowly swings open, coming to a stop with a quiet thud against the doorstop that has her cringing despite the fact that she knows how heavy of a sleeper her sister is.
And it takes way longer than it should for her to gather up the courage to take the first step into the room, which feels absolutely ridiculous considering that she'd been in here just over an hour ago.
But that time she'd been sneaking in to give Ruby another precious couple hours of sleep.
This is completely different.
She doesn't even know how long it takes for her to cross the small distance to Ruby's bed, but when she finally reaches it she finds herself once again frozen to the spot, tightly clenching her teeth as she forces herself to sit on the edge and gently press a hand to her sister's shoulder, taking in one final deep breath before slowly shaking the girl awake.
"Ruby." She calls quietly. "Ruby it's Yang, wake up."
It takes a couple of tries but eventually, finally, her silver eyes flutter open, taking a second to adjust to her surroundings before a hint of recognition washes over her face, and she almost immediately flicks her eyes away.
"You're back." Ruby mumbles, her voice more even and deadpan than she'd ever heard before.
It takes every ounce of willpower she has left to keep herself from tearing up again. It was probably unrealistic for her to expect everything to just be okay, for Ruby to cry out in joy and leap into her arms like she might have done a few years ago, but somehow she still hadn't been prepared for this.
"I'm back." she answers.
They fall back into a painfully uncomfortable silence that seems to last for an eternity, only briefly interrupted by Ruby sitting up to lean her back against the pillows, and even then seemingly still unable to look her in the eye.
And it's enough for her to wonder if she'll go crazy in this aggravating silence, with her mind somehow becoming so empty that it almost feels numb.
She tries to think of something to say. It should be easy after all, with Ruby it never took much more than a simple apology to make everything better, that's just who she is.
But somehow Yang just can't seem to get the words out.
And in the end it's Ruby that breaks the silence.
"Yang… are you mad at me?"
She snaps her head up in surprise.
"What?" Yang says, "why would you think that…"
"I just…" Ruby cuts in, eyes still glued to her hands, "if you still blame me… blame us for ruining things with Blake…"
"What? Ruby…"
"I mean there's a chance that none of this would have happened if we hadn't gotten in the way and ruined things. If we hadn't started messing with you guys then maybe Blake wouldn't be leaving and…"
"Hey!" Yang interrupts. "I'm not mad at you, or Pyrrha, or Weiss for any of that. What's happening with Blake isn't anyone's fault. We just… we just didn't work out."
She feels a bolt of pain stab straight through her chest at finally admitting that out loud, but it's nothing compared to the way her heart shatters when Ruby finally looks up and she can see the tears flowing freely down her cheeks.
"Then why!" Ruby cries, "I was so worried about you! I thought about calling dad, Weiss almost called the police. We just…"
"Okay, okay," Yang says, tears welling up in her own eyes as she scoots up next to her sister and quickly pulls her into her arms. "I was stupid. Okay? I was just being a selfish idiot and… god… I'm so sorry Ruby."
Ruby doesn't respond, instead choosing to further bury her head into Yang's chest and tighten her grip on her shirt.
"I'm sorry Ruby." She repeats, "I promise I'll never do anything like that to you again."
It takes a while for Ruby to calm down, even when Yang pulls her close and gently strokes her hair, constantly whispering apologies as she kisses the top of her head, something of a habit that she'd developed from when they were younger. But when Ruby finally speaks back up again and her voice is no longer choked with tears, she could almost cry from the sheer relief.
"What are you going to do now?" Ruby asks quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean about Blake. Don't you think you should at least talk to her?"
She ends up biting down on her lip almost on instinct at the mention of Blake's name. "I… I don't know…"
"Do you… want to talk about it?" Ruby asks hesitantly.
"No I do!" She answers quickly, "it's just… I don't even know what to say."
"Well… I remember how much you helped me with Weiss so, if you ever want to talk… I mean I know you usually go to Pyrrha or… someone who maybe knows more about this stuff but…"
"Hey," Yang gently interrupts, "you know a lot more than you think. I mean you certainly have more experience with relationships than I do. I trust your judgement."
Ruby looks back up, eyes stretched wide. "You… do?"
"Of course." She answers, feeling a small smile spread on her face, "right now, there's just too much that I need to figure out on my own but… once I'm ready I promise you'll be the first person I talk to. Okay?"
At that Ruby finally cracks a smile, giving her an enthusiastic nod of the head before leaning back in for another hug.
A light chuckle escapes her lips before Yang suddenly gets knocked off balance and the two of them tumble off the bed, arms and legs all kinds of tangled together as they hit the ground with a loud thud, only stunning them for a second before they both erupt into a fit of giggles.
…
Pyrrha raises an eyebrow at the loud crash that shakes the ceiling.
She looks over to Neo sitting across the table with a considerably more nervous expression on her face, hands tightly gripping her coffee as she shoots another concerned glance towards the staircase in the living room.
"How do you think it's going?" Neo asks quietly.
Pyrrha lets out a light sigh, taking another contemplative sip out of her own cup. "Knowing those two, they could easily have been fighting and knocked something over, but… we probably would have heard their voices by now if they'd been arguing."
"So… what then?"
"I'm guessing one of them just got overzealous with a hug or something. I wouldn't worry too much if I were you."
"Alright." Neo answers, dropping her eyes back to the mug in front of her.
The answer is heavy, laced with something that she can't quite put her finger on, but no matter what she can't seem to shake the feeling that the girl sounds sad. And it's only then that she's hit with a few vague memories of Yang telling her how hard of a time Neo had been having recently.
"So…" she says, hoping that a change in subject might cheer the girl up a bit. "You've been living here for a couple weeks now right? Have you gotten used to those two yet?"
As if on cue, they're briefly interrupted by another thud, this time followed by the unmistakable sound of Ruby and Yang's cackling.
"Sort of," Neo answers, finally cracking a light smile, "I just still get caught off guard by how excitable they are sometimes."
"They certainly make quite the pair."
"It's cute though," Neo says, "I've never actually seen two siblings so close before."
"Yeah, they're pretty inseparable."
Her thought is interrupted by a high pitched laugh, undeniably belonging to Ruby. She looks over just in time to see the two of them crashing down the stairs, which is pretty unsurprising considering the fact that Ruby's riding on Yang's back, something that they probably hadn't done since before middle school at least.
And just like that the energy in the entire house seems to flip onto its head, with both her and Neo quickly rising from the chairs to greet them, only to be interrupted by Ruby hopping off Yang's shoulders to make a mad dash for the food.
She shoots Neo a quick look, finding the girl shaking her head in disbelief at the sudden, jarring change in tone, before reaching over to take her hand, not really giving her a chance to respond before pulling Neo to her feet.
"I find it best to just go along with it when they get like this." She says, doing her best not to laugh at the startled look on Neo's face, "you'll get the hang of it soon."
Once again, she doesn't wait for an answer before dragging her up to the kitchen where they're immediately greeted by Yang, flashing them a beaming smile as she presents the two of them with the mountains of food she'd prepared.
But even as Yang cracks a couple jokes with Neo, Pyrrha can see that the hollow look hasn't quite left her eyes. And she can't say that it's really a surprise. After all, it's not like she'd actually expected things to get better overnight, especially after Yang had hit such a low point yesterday. But now, seeing how far they'd come in just a couple hours brings back that flicker of hope that she'd all but lost in the mess of the past few weeks, just the slightest, almost irrational feeling that, even if it's not in the way they'd expected, a happy ending might still be possible for all of them.
Author's Note: Sometimes it's the little things that end up making the biggest difference. I don't usually do this but kind of the message of this chapter follows one of Weiss's lines when she and Yang are reunited in Season 5 where she tells Yang that "it's okay if you're not okay" which I think says a ton about Yang's character and it's definitely one of my favorite moments from the show. Anyways, hope you all liked it and thanks for reading!
