To say it was hard to let go of Qrow would be an understatement. It felt wrong pulling away from him, the warmth of his arms was fading from her far too quickly, leaving her nearly shivering in the wind. She was used to the cold, but this was probably the coldest she'd ever really been, if only it had something to do with the wind.

"Do you not want me coming to game night, or hanging out as much? Because if not, that's fine. I totally understand if that's the case" Winter explained quickly. She wanted to come to game night, they were so fun after all. But she didn't want to ruin it for him, and she hoped he would be able to tell her no, but honestly, she doubted he would.

"It's fine. You're a part of the family, and the girls need you. Besides, Yang and I are gonna need your help if we're ever gonna beat Ruby at that damn game" Qrow's voice was soft and light, with a shadow of a smile on his face. He was trying to force a smile, trying to lighten the mood like he always does, but it was obvious that he was forcing himself.

"If you're sure, Then I guess I'll be here… Qrow, I'm so sorry" Winter told her as she reached out and tried to take his hand, one last time. When she got close though, Qrow flinched, pulling his hand away. He stopped himself as soon as he realized what he was doing, but they both knew. Winter met his eyes, and Qrow looked at her with guilt in his soul, even though it was her who should've felt guilty.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, Snowflake. I'll see you soon" Qrow smiled at her sadly for a second, before his composure broke for a second and his smile fell. He tried to put it back up, but couldn't. Instead, he turned away, and took a deep, trembling breath in. He walked back to the house, leaving Winter standing there, watching him. He opened the door, looking at her, raising his hand in a small wave before closing the door behind him, leaving her all alone…

Winter watched the house for a second, making sure her breathing was steady and even. She pictured Ruby and Yang, some of the brightest and kindest girls she'd ever met, and hoped she was doing the right thing. But she couldn't help but wonder if she was wrong.

Winter pictured herself walking up, knocking on the door. Qrow would open it, confused, before she flung herself into his arms and begged him to take her back, telling him how she had been wrong. He would take her in, they'd fall asleep together, before waking up and having breakfast as a family… Winter hadn't even realized she'd started walking towards the house.

She had to stop herself. Biting her lip as she dug her heels into the earth, and turning away from the house and moving towards her car. It was like fighting against the pull of a magnet, with every fiber of her being getting pulled back towards the house. She had to fight hard to walk away, and for a moment, she turned back, the pull winning for an instant, and saw a blob of darkness from a window. It was only there for a second before it vanished, but Winter thought it was Qrow watching her go.

Her bug started without a hitch, but that didn't stop Winter from simply sitting there for who knows how long. There was no music, no heat, thoughts, she simply existed in that small bug that had taken her away from her father and Weiss. Winter wondered if leaving her life behind, her father, her sister, was really worth it. What was she really after, anyway? Sure she has some freedom, some choice in her life now, but if all that amounted to was this pain… Who really wanted that?

She forced these thoughts out of her head as she finally put her car in drive, heading back to her apartment. The roads were empty, but she drove slow regardless. She kept the radio off, not in the mood to sing or dance, simply letting the cold attack her. Before she knew it she was walking into the lobby of her building.

"Well aren't you back late" Earl chuckled as he circled something in his book. Winter didn't even try to smile, knowing he was too engrossed in his book to pay attention to her.

"I was at Qrows house, it was Rubys birthday party" Winter explained flatly. Winter heard him set his book down and look up at her, which was enough to make Winter pause.

"What did he do? Did he try anything? If you want me to go over there and -" Earl started, but Winter shook her head, and he stopped talking. Winter smiled at how he had instantly jumped to defend her, it made her feel special for some reason.

"He didn't do anything. I had to, well… I had to tell him that we couldn't be together" Winter told him, her smile already fading. Earls' fight seemed to disappear for a second, looking at her in a different light. He looked unsure of what to say for a second before he stood up slowly and walked around his desk.

"Look, I know I probably hurt him. I mean, I'm sure I hurt him… But what else could I do? Risk my boss finding out, losing my job? Then the girls lose the one person they can really rely on! How am I ever supposed to take care of Weiss without a job? There's no court in the world that would award custody of her to someone my age without a good job! What should I have done then? Let one little crush ruin all that? Of course not! It's not my damn fault!" When Winter stopped talking, finding her voice hoarse and worn, not even realizing how loud she had gotten until she had finished talking.

Earl looked at her with calm eyes, even though she expected him to be more mad at her for yelling at him, "It sounds like you've had a long night. I might not know about all that stuff, your job or what you're gonna do with that sister of yours, but I wish I could tell ya what to do. But, it seems like you need a hug right about now, does that sound right?" Earl smiled at her gently, not pressuring her at all. The hug was there if she wanted it, and she did.

Winter moved forward, silent as a ghost, and wrapped her arms around the old man's neck. Yang and Rubys hugs were warm and comforting, but Earls was more reassuring. Like he said, he didn't know a lot about her issues, but he was there to support her if she needed it. Winter hadn't gotten too many hugs like that in her childhood, but it was nice to have them now at least.

The hug was quick, but it was just what Winter needed to calm down. When she pulled away from him, Winter felt a bit more stable. The torrent of emotions that had sprung up while she was talking weren't gone, but they were calm for now at least.

"If you ever need someone to talk to, or just to yell at, you know where I'm at" Earl laughed as he started walking over to his desk. Winter managed to find one last smile for the night, no matter how small it was.

"Thanks, Earl… I needed that" Winter said as she pushed the up button for the elevator.

"Any time. You're a lot more important than this damn book after all" Earl told her as he sat down in his chair, giving her another grin as he picked up his book and waved it at her.

The door opened and Winter walked in and pushed the button for her floor without another word. Soon enough, she was moving up and away from Earl. An odd thought struck her at some point between floor four and five; that was the first time someone older she looked up to had ever told her she was more important than an object. It was odd realizing it, after all, who knew something like that? But Winter was sure, without a shadow of a doubt that was the case.

It was a somber walk to Winters apartment, but at least it was quick. Because soon enough she was inside of her comfy apartment with a locked door separating her from the rest of the world.

For once, she was happy to be living by herself. There was nobody there to pretend for, and nobody she had to think about. It was just her. Winter turned on the tv that Qrow had given her, popping in a random movie out of the stack that Qrow had given her. She barely glanced at the cover, but she noticed a man with a black and white striped suite and a man without a head. All the movies Qrow had loaned her were 'classics', and all of the movies she'd watched so far had been pretty good.

She didn't sit down to watch it though, instead she decided to do her usual routine to get ready. She took a quick shower, washing the rest of her makeup and grime off of her from the long night. She got dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, she'd been sleeping in something similar to this since that night at Qrows house. She found that they were way too comfortable, and had gotten a pair like his pretty quickly. She made herself a small snack, and finally plopped herself down on the couch in time to catch the second half of the movie.

Winter wasn't sure why, but something suddenly popped into her head. She went and grabbed her laptop from her room and brought it back to the couch. Winter had a work computer at the office, but when had asked her if she wanted a work laptop, how could she say no?

Being a child psychologist, Winter sometimes had to deal with kids through the state. Over the past few months, she'd made a few connections to government workers who worked with those kids. Some of those connections had access to things like children files and things of that nature. Winter wrote a quick email to one of her closer contacts, sending her a quick description of a certain black haired girl who had up and vanished at some point in the night.

Winter felt a little guilty about trying to find out info on Blake like this instead of simply asking the girl. But something about her situation sent lightning up and down her back. She wasn't looking for anything major, just enough to see if the girl was safe. Things like police reports, abuse cases, and things like that were pretty easy to find as long as you knew where to look.

When the email was sent and done with, it was getting pretty late. Winter put her computer down and stretched, picking up her phone to see what time it was. That was about the time her heart stopped

Winter had forgotten that she'd set her ringer to silent earlier in the night, so she hadn't known that Weiss had called her twice. Now, for some people, two calls might not seem like that big of a deal. But Weiss wasn't the kind of girl to only call twice. She called, and if you didn't pick up, she would keep calling and texting you until you did. So two calls was worrisome to say the least.

Winter called back the second she saw the calls. She couldn't sit still and was on her feet, pacing around the apartment. Every one of her muscles was tense, her stomach filled with anxiety and fear. Instinctively, Winter looked at her keys that were sitting on the kitchen counter. Winter was thinking about how long it would take to drive back to Atlas, or if that took too long, what the probable expenses would be to find a flight there with such short notice.

"Hey," Weiss' gentle voice said, cutting off Winter's plans mid-thought.

"Weiss, hey! I'm so sorry I didn't pick up earlier, I was out with some friends and my ringer was off. I know it shouldn't have been, I always need to keep my ears open for you" Winter explained in one quick breath, leaving her breathing heavily.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it" Weiss told her simply, her voice was reserved and quiet.

"Anyway, what did you wanna talk about?" Winter asked, her anxiety hadn't eased up on her in the slightest.

"It's nothing. I shouldn't have called" Weiss said matter of factly.

"Wha-Weiss you can always call me, you know that. Plus, you never call without a reason. So come on, what was up?"

Weiss was quiet, just breathing, for a few seconds. Like she was debating telling Winter something. Weiss didn't do that very often, and it scared her more than she could ever explain.

"I was calling to tell you that I was trying to sneak out for Halloween" Weiss explained, sounding embarrassed but also annoyed that she'd said something.

"Really? Well, did you make it?" Winter asked hopefully. Weiss was always a lot sneakier than Winter, and probably had a better chance of getting out by herself.

"...No. The guards found me, and took me to father. He wasn't happy"

"Weiss, did he say anything to you?" Winter questioned, her stomach dropping the second she brought up their father.

"He just… explained some things to me. He told me that I shouldn't let you ruin what I could do. I know he didn't mean it though, he just didn't want me sneaking out"

Winter was shocked to say the least. She had always known that their father had held, let's just say some mixed feelings about his eldest daughter. But for him to outright say something like that? To her own sister? It stung. Then something else popped up into Winter's mind that was much worse.

"Weiss, did he… Did he hit you?" Winter voice quivered as she asked the question. Before Winter had left, she never thought he could hit his daughters. But now? Winter could still feel her cheek burn from the back of his hand to this day… It didn't help that Weiss didn't answer right away, "Weiss, did he?"

"He didn't hit me!" Weiss snapped, her emotions suddenly lashing out, "He just… He grabbed me a little hard. He would never hit me" Weiss explained, sounding ashamed of herself, like she wished she hadn't said anything.

"Oh my God, are you ok?" Winter asked in a panic, her heart clenching.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's not that big of a deal, ok, Winter? Just… Lets not talk about it, ok?" Weiss pleaded, clearly wanting the conversation to move on.

"Weiss, this isn't something little like him yelling at us for sneaking out, he can't grab you like that! You could get hurt!"

"It's fine, Winter! He told me that he was sorry and that he wouldn't do it again, and I believe him. So could we just, please, not talk about it anymore?" Weiss sounded like she was on the brink of tears at this point, which only made Winter feel more guilty. She wanted to keep talking about it, but she didn't want to upset her sister anymore…

"Promise me, right now, if he does anything like that again you'll call me right away. Don't even bother arguing Weiss, this isn't negotiable" Winter told her sister sternly, not in the mood to argue about this.

"Ok, I will"

"Promise me" Winter challenged her sister.

"Ok, fine. I promise I'll tell you if he touches me again. Which he won't. Happy?" Weiss relented, finally giving into her sister.

"Thank you. But no, of course I'm not happy. I'm not there for you after all…" Winter sighed, suddenly feeling deflated and exhausted.

"Winter, it's fine. I've told you that before and I'll tell you that as many times as I need to. It's getting late, and I have an early day tomorrow" Weiss told her sister, her voice sounding as tired as Winter felt.

"Oh. Yeah, of course. I'll call you soon, OK?"

"Sure, sounds fine. I love you" Weiss told her sister quickly.

"I love you too, Weiss," Winter said softly before the line went dead.

The phone seemed to slip out from Winters grasp without her even realizing it, hitting the floor as Winter stood there with her hand still next to her ear. Winter felt weak all of a sudden, the noise from the movie seemed to vanish. Winter felt tears slide down her cheeks, but didn't move to wipe them away. Instead she simply walked over, and shut off the tv before walking to her bedroom, tears still streaming down her face.

Winter fell onto her bed, landing face first in the covers. She laid there for a second before she lost it completely. The whole days worst of stress, guilt, shame, anger, and all those other negative emotions simply busted her emotional dam down like it hadn't been there to begin with.

Winter curled into a ball on her bed, moaning her agony out as her tears stained her covers. Winter bit down on the blankets, tasting her tears, as she tried to keep herself at least somewhat quiet. She punched the bed as hard as she could before she started to head but it until she got dizzy. After that she started to kick it, flailing like a child in the middle of a tantrum. But what else was she supposed to do?

Time broke under her emotions. She could've been there for seconds, hours, or days, and she couldn't have told you which. Too quickly though her energy was gone, and she had devolved into a pile of tears, sweat, and sadness.

The sound of the city filled her room, mixing with her quiet whimpers and gasps for breath. It was a reassuring sound in some ways. It reminded her that there was a world outside that didn't care what she was going through. For some people that might've made their emotions worse, but not Winter. Winter simply found comfort in the fact that there was more out there, though she couldn't explain how.

It was in that mix of honking horns and cries that she decided that it was going to at least attempt to start to try and take some control. She rolled off of her destroyed bed and made her way back to the living room. The lights were off, but Winter knew where she was going. She felt with her feet until she found her phone on the floor.

When she had first come to Vale, there had only been two numbers saved on her phone. The first, obviously, had been Weiss. Now, it was finally time to call that second number.

-Authors note-

So this seems like a pretty good time for another psa. If you or anyone else is dealing with physical abuse, please speak up. It's not ok. there are many anonymous help lines that you can call at any point if you or someone you know needs help. Now that that's done, I hope you guys liked this chapter! This is the end of what I'll refer to as the Halloween arc. There should be two more arcs before this story sees its conclusion, and I'm excited to get them written and posted for your consumption! Hope everyone has a great week!