Winter let the pouring water drown out her thoughts, not even trying to put up a fight. She let everything that had collected in her mind spiral down the drain with the grime and shampoo. After the last two days, she could honestly say she'd never felt more of a need of a shower. It wasn't the fact that it had been two days since she'd last showered or because of all the non-stop social interaction. It was because it felt like she had learned more about the Ruby, Qrow, and Yang especially, in that time then the past few weeks combined. Winter also knew it was more like one day, but since she was with the family for the end of a day and the start of the next, she was counting it as two. Sue her.
She learned little things, like how Ruby and Yang always fight but will gladly fall asleep in each others arms, how Ruby is apparently amazing at video games, and that Qrow works in a shop. How Maria was a member of the family, though she was still a pretty big mystery to Winter. How caring and Qrow was with his nieces, but at the same time… Those scars.
Winter covered her eyes with her hands and groaned, shaking her head and flinging water and suds all over the shower walls. She started to rinse her hair, the smell of her flowers filling her nose as the suds popped and ran down her skin, a sense of calm coming over her again, but she knew it wouldn't last for long.
She turned off the water and started to dry off, her thoughts coming back to how quickly she had left the day before. They'd pulled into the house and Winter had ran up to grab her clothes and then tried to give everyone a quick goodbye. Then a longer goodbye when Ruby hit her with the puppy dog eyes. Then an even longer goodbye when Yang hit her with a bear hug that she couldn't have possibly broken out of. She only managed to get away after promising that she was definitely coming for their next game night.
Winter hadn't even realized that she was dressed and with a tight bun on her head she was so lost in thought. She smiled as she realized that her bun was perfect for once, without a single piece of hair out of place! Maybe she needed to get lost in thought more often when she did her hair?
She was out the door without even attempting to make breakfast, content to grab an apple for the road. She made a mental note that she needed to go grocery shopping again later. She still had no clue how she ran out of food so quick, does she really eat that much or is there some kind of goblin stealing her food?
"Hey Earl, how are you?" Winter asked as she walked into the lobby, trying to pull out her keys. Earl didn't look up at her, his eyes still on his book.
"Fine. Already beat a few puzzles today, but this ones giving me some trouble. Five across, something sweet, starts with an S. Where have you been?" Earl questioned, his tone light and vacant like he didn't really care, but Winter seen his eyes pop up when he asked.
"Stayed the night at a friends house, nothing like that. What about sugar?" Winter assured him with a smile as she pulled her keys out of her bag only to see him with his book down.
"Sugar? Sugar? How could I not think of that!" Earl groaned as he scribbled it down in his book, "Ya just missed Tyrion. He asked about ya" Winter sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"That guy's gotta calm down, I really don't like him"
"Trust me, nobody does. Well, you have a good day. Stay safe out there" he nodded to her with a soft smile.
"You to, Earl" Winter waved as she left, her keys rattling as she went.
The drive to work was slow, and she was glad to be able to listen to a few more songs on the radio. She wished she could remember the names of the songs, but it was good enough to let their tones wash over her. But her mind wouldn't settle, even with the music jumping in the background and as she slowly bit into her crisp apple. This time another man popped into her head, .
It felt like the blink of an eye she was in the elevator. Then she was walking into the waiting area and headed right for Amy, who was already up and around her desk, "So what happened? You spent the night, right? Did sparks fly! Ooh, I knew it would happen!" Amy talked like a machine gun, firing questions at the speed of sound. She grabbed Winters hands and started to spin around, dragging Winter along for the ride.
"Nothing- Like- That!" Winter sputtered out as her vision started to get blurry and her empty stomach started to turn and twist. Amy stopped spinning and Winter started to wobble, her vision hazy and her stomach still doing loops. Amy put her hands on her shoulders, keeping her steady, but Winter was pretty sure that wasn't what she was trying to do.
"What do you mean? You didn't… Ya know?" Amy wondered with a tilted head, looking at Winter in an almost sad way. Winter wasn't 100% positive, but she was pretty sure she'd never wanted to disappear from somewhere faster than right now. Oh, her face also felt hot enough to cook eggs on, so that was fun.
"We didn't… Do that. Amy, I've told you, I don't even like him like that!" Winter cried as Amy sighed and let her go.
"Here I thought you had some drama to share with the class…" Amy frowned, her posture looking like a limp noodle as her arms dangled at her sides lifelessly. Winter groaned as she looked at her sad friend, getting reminded all too much of a sulking Ruby. She put her hand on Amy's shoulder in a stiff sort of way, not really sure what to say.
"I just… He's really cute. But I'm not sure about a lot of stuff, ya know?" Winters words were short and full of uncertainty, barely scratching the surface of what she was really thinking, but Amy lit up like she'd given a prize winning speech.
"Oh, I totally get it! Guys are weird on the best of days! Plus he basically has kids, so that's another thing to consider. But, hey, you don't get to choose who you like, right? I mean, we all remember our first loves, right?" Amy laughed as she winked at Winter with a grin. But when Winter looked away, not joining in on the laughter, and Amy's smile became hesitant. "You have had a first love, right?" Amy timidly asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Winter had been wrong before, she wanted to disappear now a heck of a lot more than before. She tried to think of something to say, an actual answer, any word at all from the English language, but they all escaped her grasp. Instead she stood there, glancing between Amy and the ground, shrugging.
"Oh Hun, it's OK, nothing to be embarrassed about. All it means is you have a few less embarrassing stories being held over your head. Plus, a few less broken hearts. Now, come here" Amy smiled as she gently, yet sternly, pulled Winter into a sweet hug. It was caring and warm, a lot like Yang's hugs, but a lot more nurturing. Flashes of her mom came into her mind, of late nights, scraped knees, and tears running down her face after her father would get particularly angry with her. She wrapped her arms around Amy, and forgot about all the embarrassing things, stress, indecision and simply existed in the moment.
"Am I interrupting something?" came a deep voice from behind the two girls, followed by a light chuckle. Winter turned around and jumped about a foot in the air, almost taking Amy with her, before she turned around. Standing there with his back straight as an arrow was with a thin smile on his face and a glint in his eye.
"No Sir! Nothing at all!" Winter stuttered out, trying to collect herself while her heart pounded in her chest.
"We're talking about crushes" Amy smiled as she wrapped her arm around Winters neck so she couldn't escape, but boy did she try.
"Is that true?" He wondered as he watched Winter struggle, his smile growing the longer it went on. Finally managing to free herself from the receptionists surprisingly hard grip, Winter made sure her bun was still in decent shape before she talked.
"Uh… Yes" Winter gulped while Amy laughed and slapped her knees.
"Come on James, it's a little girl talk, nothing major" Amy smiled, patting Winter on the back lightly, who took a step away to avoid getting imprisoned again. shrugged and nodded at them.
"As long as it's not too interesting" He winked before patting Winter lightly on the shoulder. The second he touched her was like someone flipped a switch, and she remembered Qrow, Yang, and what she felt like she had to tell her boss.
Before she knew what was going on he was already walking back to his office and Amy was talking again, "I hope something comes from it, you deserve to be happy, Win" Amy grinned, but the words went right over Winters head.
"Yeah, of course. Uh, I have to talk to real quick actually" Amy looked confused, but nodded with understanding. Winter smiled and walked quickly back to his office.
She hadn't gotten far when she felt something vibrate in her bag. Winter dug around in her bag and pulled out her small phone and answered it without even looking at who had called, "Hello?" she answered quickly, but there was silence on the other line, "Is anyone there?"
"Hey, Win" Weiss said softly, taking Winter by surprise.
"Weiss? What's going on? Is everything OK?" Winter asked without thinking, her sisterly instinct taking over, realizing Weiss had never called at this time before.
"Everything fine, don't worry. It's been awhile, I was calling to see how you're doing actually" Weiss admitted, her voice was quiet and without much humor.
"Oh, yeah, I've been busy the past few days is all. Guess I forgot to call" Winter gave a slight chuckle as she stepped into her office, locking the door behind her.
"Winter, I was worried" Weiss admitted, and Winter could picture her sister pouting, and all her laughter stopped as her heart sunk painfully.
"Sorry, Weiss. I really did forget. It won't happen again"
"Promise?" Winter could hear the silent pleading in her sisters voice, and knew that she would never, ever, break her promise.
"Promise" Winter said without a hint of hesitation, filling the word with all the conviction she could. After a second, Weiss let out a small sigh of contentment.
"Well, good. Because I know you would get upset if I disappeared off the face of the map for a few days without telling you" Weiss laughed lightly, taking some of the weight off Winter chest.
"Yeaaah, I probably would. Don't get any ideas though" Winter chuckled as she laid down on the couch, a light smile on her face, "How has tutoring been going? Has been treating you well?"
The silence on the other end didn't bode well, only lasting a few seconds, but a feeling of anxiety still managed to sprout in Winters chest, "It's been going fine, I guess. You were right, she's really tough, but I can handle it… I'm actually hiding in your secret room right now"
"Really? You didn't have any trouble finding it, did you?" Winter wondered, knowing how long it had taken her to find it for the first time.
"It took me a good bit of looking the first day. Had to explain to some maids that I was looking for a button. Don't think they believed me, but they won't say anything… Hopefully" Weiss chuckled lightly, "Oh, and your taste in music? Not that bad"
"What did I even have in there? It's been awhile since I went there"
"Some rock, pop, a little country. Not a huge fan of the country, but everything else I like a lot. How'd you get these anyway?" Winter could hear her sister flipping the plastic cases around the room. If memory serves correct, Winter had probably left somewhere between fifteen and twenty random CD's in the room, and could picture all the covers perfectly. The names didn't really matter to her, but the art and the noise, those helped her out of her bad days almost as much as Weiss herself did.
"Mom and Klein always went out and got them for me. I asked for one when I'd listened to the last one about a hundred times, but sometimes they would surprise me with a new one out of the blue" Winter smiled, remembering all the times she'd walk into her room and see a new case sitting on her pillow, or when she'd have a bad day and Klein would have her help with the groceries only for the last one to be a new CD for her.
"Hm, maybe I should ask him to start bringing in some more?"
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind, you know him" Winter chuckled, remembering their bald butler who was the kindest man Winter had ever met in her life.
"Sometimes he cares too much, remember the incident with the lobster?"
"That was your fault and you know it!" The two of them went back and forth, reminiscing and remembering good memories for longer than they probably should've. By the time they hung up, Winter felt relaxed, like she'd woken up from a good nap.
Her mind inevitably drifted back to Qrow, and how every time she'd seen him talk to those girls, it reminded her a lot of how Klein talked to her and Weiss. Every word, every action, was filled with heart, love, and filled with the want to help them. Those girls had been through a lot, and it seemed pretty clear he wanted to help them and how much he cared for them.
She knew that she should tell , but did she really want to risk the girls getting taken away from him like that? No. Not until she was sure. She'd find out more, and the second she knew the full story, she was going to … Now all she had to do was get the rest of the story.
Authors note:
This is the only chapter for this week sadly, but hopefully you guys like it!
Also, I know I'm having Winter not report this, but that's just for narrative purposes and because it works for the story. But this isn't what you should do in real life. If you ever think anyone might be a victim of abuse, please immediately report it to the proper channels as soon as you can. Just had to put this small PSA here.