Ever since the concert, whenever Winter even so much as touched Qrows hand, she would feel her face light up and her temperature start to rise. It was annoying more than anything else, burning and stinging ever so slightly while she tried her best to ignore it. But this? This was different for some reason.

Yeah, she could feel her temperature starting to rise, degree by degree. But it wasn't that instant burning that she'd gotten so used to feeling. Instead, this was a shared warmth. It was growing slowly, naturally between the two of them. It wasn't scary, didn't give her anxiety, it was comforting. Qrows arm was wrapped around her while Winter snuggled up close to him, trying to capture more of this feeling. The warmth was making her want to close her eyes, not because she was sleepy, but because she was at peace.

Suddenly Qrow was gone, but she could still feel him next to her. Her eyes were closed, but she could almost sense him. Winter felt like she could see everything, even though her eyes were closed, and she was positive Qrow had closed his eyes too. She wondered if he was having this same, weird feeling she was.

Winter felt Qrows chest rise and fall slowly, his heart beating strongly, confidently. For some reason it reminded her of a blacksmith hammering into a glowing red piece of steel, bringing form out of it, one hit at a time.

There were a few times Winter felt her mind start to wander, to work, the girls, Weiss, or a thousand other little things, but then Qrows heart would beat again. It would clear her mind of everything and relax her all over again. While her eyes were closed, it was like she was in a void of warmth, and nothing else really mattered.

"Should we wake them up, Frank?" Winter barely heard from an echo of a world that didn't exist. It sounded like a woman whispering, and if they were whispering, then it probably didn't matter that much. Right?

"What do you mean? They're sleeping in our truck and we gotta move it, of course we should wake them up. I mean, we gotta" a man hesitantly told the woman softly.

"Qrow…" Winter groaned in a whisper, forcing words out of her mouth. She felt Qrow shift, pulling her closer to his side.

"Shh, maybe they'll go away" He whispered back, quiet enough for the man and woman not to hear him. Winter probably should've prodded him more, gotten up and apologized, but she couldn't remember what she'd done wrong.

"Oh, don't you remember when we would sneak out to the park at night, put a blanket down, and gaze up at the stars for hours? You would point out the constellations, you'd pull me close, then… Hehe, I'm sure you remember what we did next" The woman giggled, Winter heard her playfully hit the man's arm.

"Helen, come on, the kids are running around! " The man spluttered, embarrassed. "But… maybe we should do that again sometime?" Frank told the woman in a warm, low voice.

"Now who's forgetting about the kids" the woman chuckled lightly before the two of them went quiet for a bit. Winter didn't know how long they were quiet, but she definitely heard… Movement.

"Humph, uh, where were we? Oh, right. Gotta wake these kids up" The man grunted while the wife giggled.

"I suppose they've had their fun" The woman admitted with a happy sigh.

A few seconds later, Winter felt someone shake her foot. Not hard, but enough to where she couldn't ignore it.

As Winter opened her eyes and sat up, she couldn't help but notice how everything felt foreign to her. She knew what she was looking at, a tree over there, a car here, kids dressed up in costumes for some reason on the sidewalk, a man and woman in sweats in front of her. But it was like everything was going through some kind of a lens, and felt far away.

"Sorry to wake you guys up, but we gotta move the truck. Otherwise we would've left you guys alone" the large man, Frank, who was easily over six foot three, said with a chuckle. The words took a moment to register for Winter, who sat there feeling like a child.

"Course. Sorry we fell asleep here though, thought this truck was a friend of mines" Qrow told the man, giving him a smile. Qrow scooched forward before jumping off the bed of the truck. He looked at Winter, like he was waiting for her to do something.

"Oh! Sorry, my brain's still kinda fuzzy right now!" Winter blurted as she quickly moved to the edge of the bed. All three of them laughed at her, which quickly brought her back down to earth. Qrow reached out a hand to help her down, something Winter gratefully accepted. She did notice how after she got down, he didn't let go of her hand.

"We've been there before, don't you worry" the woman, Helen, hummed. Helen was a short woman, maybe five five, and had a kind face. Winter instantly liked her, and Frank for that matter.

"Well, we've got some kids to collect, so we'll be off. Thanks for being so understanding. Frank, Helen" Qrow held up his free hand and waved at them before walking away and taking Winter with him.

"Have a good night you two, and good luck!" Helen waved, before looking at Frank with a puzzled expression, clearly confused. Both of their eyes lit up and turned to look at them one last time before they got swept up in the tide of trick-or-treaters

Winter swayed a little as the two of them walked away from the couple, hand in hand with Qrow still, a small smile on her face as she watched her feet move on the cement, "Am I the only one who thinks we left knowing a little bit too much about those two?" Qrow asked with a smirk on his lips.

"Oh God, I felt so bad for them! They really didn't hold back" Winter laughed,

"Glad I'm not the only one. A part of me wasn't sure what was real there for a sec" Qrow answered with a chuckle.

"Trust me, it was real. But I sort of wish it wasn't. I can't believe you called them by their names, Qrow! They were so weirded out!"

"What do you mean? Why would that be weird?"

"Qrow… They never told us their names!" At this point Winter was laughing so hard she was wheezing, she wasn't even sure why it was so funny to her.

"Oh… Oh, shit! I didn't even realize! Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll think I'm a mind reader or something. That'll make it a bit less awkward if I ever see them around the neighborhood" Qrow looked over his shoulder, and winter saw his shoulders shake with silent laughter.

Qrow suddenly brought out his phone and frowned, "It's about time to round the kids up and haul them back home, don't want anyone's parents to get pissy with me" Qrow sighed as he looked at Winters hand. Winter pulled her hand away before he could say anything, scratching the back of her head with a shy smile.

"Should I call the girls?" Winter wondered aloud, already pulling out her phone. But before she could even check her notifications, Qrow had already waved his hand dismissively.

"Nah, what fun's that?" Qrow looked around before smiling at something. With a grin on his face that was shockingly similar to Ruby's he ran across the street at full speed, almost managing to get himself hit by a car and giving Winter a small heart attack. He looked to his left, then his right, before he climbed up on top of a metal garbage can. That was about the time Winter ran across the street after him.

He struggled for a second trying to find his center of gravity, but managed to steady himself just as Winter showed up, arms out ready to catch him if he fell.

"Do you see them? If you do, it's time to get down, otherwise you're gonna give me a panic attack!" Winter complained as she held her hand out for Qrow to take.

"Don't worry, I won't fall. Even if I do, you'll be there to break my fall" Qrow looked at her and winked.

"Don't get the wrong idea, bird brain. I'm just here to bring the body back to the house. Can't have the kids getting worried" Winter shot back with a glimmer in her eye. Qrow looked down at her with a bored expression before he stuck his tongue out at her, which she obviously returned in kind.

Winter saw Qrow look out over the sea of parents and kids one last time before, taking a few deep breaths, closing his eyes… "Zwei-rates, assemble! Qrowfoot and Captain Whitehair need their captain Zwei and his first mate, the mighty Deadrose! He also needs all of his other mighty crew before it's too late!"

He kept going on like that for minutes on end, with everyone around stopped and looking up at him like he was screaming about the end being near. Winter took a few steps back, trying her best to act like she didn't know the crazy person, giggling the whole time.

Winter felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned to find Yang smiling and holding a finger up to her lips, quieting her. Winter looked and saw all of the kids standing at her sides, and had no idea when they got their. She also saw that everyone of them had their phones out and was recording Qrows rant.

Realizing how ingenious these kids were, she grabbed her phone and started to record him too. She heard giggles coming from all around her, and couldn't help but smile at how big of a goof Qrow was being.

While Qrow was ranting like a lunatic, Winter noticed that every now and then he would turn a little to his side. It wasn't obvious unless you were looking for it, but it was clear that he knew all the kids were behind him. Winter could also see the huge grin he was sporting on his face, looking a lot happier than you might think.

Winter couldn't help but feel something in her chest grow a little as she realized he was being a dork because he wanted to entertain everyone, and he was having fun while doing it.

"Alright, Qrowfoot, I think you got the message out" Winter told him as she gently poked him in the leg, trying to get his attention. He stopped talking and looked down at her, then at all of the kids, then at all of the phones that the kids had.

"Looks like I've been putting on a bigger show than I thought" He chuckled before turning back to the crowd that was standing by and waiting to see if the show would continue, "The battle is won, the Zwei-rates are here!" He shouted before he climbed down off the garbage can without a hitch. There were a few claps coming from the crowd, and Winter hoped that they didn't go right to his head.

"Uncle Qrow, you could've called us!" Yang got out between fits of laughter as she re-watched the video on her phone.

"Really? Winter, why didn't you say anything!" Qrow asked her in mock annoyance.

"Guess I forgot, whoops" Winter laughed as Yang shook her head.

"Come on kids, let's get going. Don't want you guys eating yourselves into a sugar coma before we get to the cake" there were cheers from the kids as Qrow started to walk away with the kids following. Well Ruby was running ahead, but what else was new? The only one who didn't was Blake, who was staying behind with Yang.

"Aren't you two coming along? I don't think you wanna give your sister a chance to inhale that cake before you two get some of it" Winter chuckled as she walked up to the two girls.

"I was actually about to leave, I don't wanna cause any of you trouble" explained Blake with a ghost of a smile.

"Before cake? I know Qrow wouldn't mind if you joined us. I mean, he lives with Yang and Ruby, he knows to get extra food" Winter joked, and felt a jolt of pride when Blake actually let out a small laugh.

"We don't eat that much! OK, well, Ruby does for sure, but I don't! I mean, sometimes after I workout I can clear out the fridge, but I don't eat that much all the time!" Yang complained, looking at Blake, silently pleading for the girl to believe her.

"If you say so" Was all Blake responded with, but Yang gaped at her like she'd been verbally assaulted.

"Betrayal…" Yang whispered as she looked away dramatically, her hand over her eyes.

"Really though, I'm sure your parents wouldn't mind you staying out a little later. If you want, I can give them a call and talk to them" Winter knew that there was something about Blake's parents that she wanted kept secret, but Winter wasn't trying to force anything out. She honestly just wanted to make sure that whoever was looking after Blake, parents or otherwise, wasn't worried about her.

"I'm sure they won't care. If you're sure it won't be an issue… then I'll give them a call" The girl pulled out her phone and walked away. She started to type into her phone and held it up to her head, pacing around waiting.

Winter moved her attention away from Blake and moved it over to Yang. The blonde had a look of deep worry on her face as she watched every move Blake made, her hands halfway clenched. Yang was being protective for some reason.

"They said it's fine. I just can't be out too late" Blake explained, phone still in her hand. Yang loosened up a little, a smile on her face, but she was still tense.

"Could I talk to them real quick? I wanted to get some info from them in case anything happens" Winter asked nonchalantly. Ok, maybe now she was trying to get some information. But she was worried. Winter made sure not to advance on Blake, but the girl still took a defencive step back when Winter's eyes moved to the phone.

"They already hung up and told me they were gonna be busy for a bit. I'll call them later" Blake explained happily as she put the phone back in her pocket.

"Well alright then, no big deal. Come on, let's go get some cake, you two" Winter said before the three of them set off for the house.

As the three of them walked into the house, something felt… wrong. There wasn't any screaming, cake, eating candy, or anything. Instead, all of the kids were sitting silently on the couches, staring at each other with worry in their eyes.

"Who died?" Yang chuckled nervously as she walked into the room, trying to bring some levity to the situation. Instead of laughing, everyone looked at each other, like they were scared to talk first.

It ended up being Nora who talked first, but she lacked the hyper energy that she'd had only a few hours ago, "Yang, we aren't really sure what happened. Ruby ran into the house, excited about the cake, but when we came in she was looking at, well, we don't really know what. Next thing we know, she ran into her room and locked the door"

Yang's eyes were hollow, full of fear. Without another word she rushed over to her sisters door, right where Qrow was standing. Winter looked over at the two of them, talking fast and panicked.

Winter isn't really sure why she did it, instinct maybe? Either way, she decided to turn around and look in the kitchen. Winter walked in and found something on the ground. The envelope that had one word written on it, Ruby. The envelope Winter had put there for her to see.

-Authors Note-

Not much to say this week, I'm excited for the next chapter and I hope all of you guys are too! As always, thanks for reading, I hope you guys enjoyed! Stay safe out there!