Winter's eyes fluttered open slowly, breaking her out of whatever dream she was in the middle of. The sharp rays of the sun were peaked through the blinds, forcing her eyes open to see the light. Winter put her arm over her eyes, trying to ignore it, hoping to go back to sleep. But it was too late. She lay there, an arm covering her eyes.
Then, the ending of the night came back in a mist and Winter shot up in the bed and looked around. She looked around in a daze for her closet, her walls, her apartment, but couldn't find a single bit of familiarity. She looked around the room, her eyes landing on the pile of clothes next to the bed, and Winter felt her mouth go dry. She looked around the bed and thankfully couldn't see Qrow anywhere, so that was a plus.
Winter rolled out of bed and felt her shorts slip down her legs. Pulling them up as fast as she could with a bright blush, she remembered that she was wearing Qrows shirt and shorts. Winter tied the drawstring of the shorts as tight as it could go, which only helped a little. The shirt also felt about three sizes too big, but it was soft like a summer dress and carried Qrows smell, not that she would ever admit that as a reason to like it.
She looked around the room, getting a good look at it for the first time. It was as plain as last night, with the only different thing was a framed photo on the wall she hadn't noticed before. It was of a younger Qrow, maybe twenty-one or twenty-two, sitting in a bar dressed in camo while he sulked with a frown etched into his face, holding up a handful of playing cards in his left hand while his right was making a not so nice gesture to the camera.
Winter slowly walked downstairs after remaking Qrows bed and folding her laundry, her squeaky steps echoing throughout the still house. The first thing that caught her eye was Qrow sprawled out on the couch, his arms and legs all over the place with a blanket thrown on the ground. She could hear him snoring gently and smiled as she walked over, gently setting the blanket down on top of him.
She looked down at his sleeping face and pictured the sleeping sisters, smiling at how much they looked alike while they slept. Winter reached out slowly, not sure what she was doing, but before she could do anything, a crash came from Yang's room that boomed like a gunshot.
Qrow didn't even budge, but Winter didn't hesitate and she ran down the hall and burst into the room without even knocking. Yang was in the middle of the ground underneath the open window, fully dressed with a pair of shoes on and rubbing her head. Winter looked up and seen someone looking into the room through the window, but the onlooker was only there for a fraction of a second, and all Winter could make out was a pair of eyes the color of amber. Once their eyes met, the watcher ducked down and was gone in a flash, leaving Winter confused, to say the least.
"Yang, what happened? Who was that?" Winter questioned as she helped the poor girl get to her feet. Yang took her time getting her footing, while Winter held onto her shoulder trying to help. Yang happened to be fully dressed and even had her sneakers on.
"Fell out of bed is all, nothing serious!" Yang laughed scratching the back of her head with a grin. Winter looked at her sideways.
"... Fully dressed?"
"Yup, I guess I went to sleep in my clothes! Hehe…" Yangs laugh sounded a lot less convincing the second time around, and her eyes were looking more at the door than at Winter.
"Yang, you and Ruby are sweet, but you guys are bad liars" Winter sighed with a smile as she walked Yang over to the bed and sat them both down.
"Hehe, would you be shocked to hear that's not the first time we've heard that?" Yang smiled, her laugh was forced and hollow as her eyes looked down at her shoes.
"Not at all" Winter smiled, patting Yang's knee lightly. "Really though, who was that?" Winter wondered, turning on the bed so she was facing Yang. The blonde was uncharacteristically quiet, sitting very still on the bed like she was deep in thought.
"I can't tell you" Yang somberly told her. Winter watched Yang carefully, looking for any road signs for what the girl was thinking.
"Why can't I know? Is it because of my job?" Winter wondered aloud, Yang shook her head slowly.
"I made a promise I wouldn't tell anyone" Yang stated matter of factly, finally looking at Winter. Winter felt the memory of Yang's pinky on hers and could see what a promise meant to this girl.
"Alright, then, so you can't tell me who you were with. But can you at least tell me what you two were doing?" Winter felt like she was pleading, but she had to be sure that Yang wasn't in any danger. What if it was some random man who was trying to kidnap her? Or a drug dealer trying to get her hooked? What if it was a boyfriend! Somehow that felt like the worst option…
"We were going for a walk, that's all" Yangs smiled at Winter that equal parts goofy and heartfelt, while her eyes sparkled like lilac diamonds. Then it looked like somebody had dumped a bucket of cold water on her head, and she was shocked back into reality, "You don't have to tell uncle Qrow, do you?"
Winter sighed, "As long as you're safe, not doing anything dangerous, and not with dangerous people, I don't have to tell him. But I don't think it's a good idea to keep secrets from him, Yang" Winter said earnestly, putting her hand on her shoulder. Luckily, Yang didn't seem to have anything against tough like her sister and smiled.
"Don't worry, I'm safe and we aren't doing anything bad… And I don't like keeping stuff from him, but I promised" Yang looked at Winter with a sad smile that broke Winter's heart.
"Well, if that's the case then I'll keep this quiet for now. But tell the second something bad happens, ok?"
"I can do that" Yang chuckled lightly to herself, "Thanks, Winter, it means a lot" At Yang's simple words, Winter felt her heart do a million backflips as warmth filled her up.
"Are those Uncle Qrows clothes?" Yang burst out laughing, falling back on the bed holding her gut.
"I didn't have anything to sleep in!" Winter defended as she crossed her arms over the shirt, a blush running up her face, "They're comfy!" Yang kept laughing, not even able to talk anymore.
"What's so funny?" A deep voice said from the hallway. Qrow was leaning against the door with a smile. Yang wheezed and pointed at Winter, "Clothes!" was all she could get out between laughs. Qrow raised an eyebrow at her.
"That's not that funny, weirdo" Qrow turned to Winter looking confused. Winter shrugged at him, not sure what was so funny about it either.
"So funny!" Yang got out, sitting up on the bed with tears at the corner of her eyes, trying to get her breathing under control. Qrow walked over to Yang and patted her on the head.
"Whatever you say, kid. Come on, you gotta get ready for your first match" It was like he'd used a spell, she jumped up quickly even Ruby would be shocked and started to run around the room, shoving shorts, a mouth guard, and a few other odds and ends into a small bag.
"Come on you two, we're gonna be late!" Yang called as she ran out the door, "Ruby! Get up already!" Yang shouted as she pounded on Ruby's door.
"I'm up!" Ruby insisted as she pushed open the door, her hair was going all over the place and her eyes were still half-closed as she swayed back and forth in the hallway. Ruby chased after her sister to the kitchen where she could hear pots and pans clunking around.
"Breakfast is in the fridge!" Qrow called, sitting down next to Winter and fell back, looking up at the ceiling,
"Thank you!" the girls called after they opened the fridge and gotten their prize.
"Care to join me?" Qrow asked, patting the space next to him.
"Only since you asked so nicely" Winter chuckled, leaning back on the bed, her legs almost dangling over the side. "Oh wow" On the ceiling was a huge poster for some band called the Achieve Men, with hearts drawn all over it.
"Yeah, her phones filled with their stuff" Qrow chuckled, the bed springs squeaking as he moved. A calm silence spread over them, well as silent as it could be with Yang and a sleepy Ruby tearing into whatever Qrow made, "You still going today?"
"Of course, wouldn't miss it" Winter beamed, turning on the bed to look over at him.
"You might wanna get out of those pajamas then, we're leaving in fifteen" Winter sat up on the bed and looked down at him.
"You're kidding, right?" But Winter was already up, knowing by his grin how serious he was. "Qrowww, you suck!" Winter called as she rushed upstairs to try and find something presentable to wear.
Her heart was beating fast as she ran up the stairs, adrenaline pumped in her veins and a smile was on her lips. She was about to be at Yang's first-ever boxing match, and she couldn't wait!
-Authors note-
Thanks again for everyone reading this, I really can't say it enough! It's been, well let's say not the best few weeks, but writing this has helped for sure. So I hope you guys enjoy this week's chapters!