At some point during her short talk with Blake the house had woken up, and now instead of snoring, the halls were filled with quick voices and the sweet smell of bacon cooking on the stove. The smell of the bacon that drifting in from the kitchen was enough to make Winter's mouth water and her stomach growl like an animal.
Maria, was the sole occupant of the living room, sitting in her chair and lazily watching a movie Winter didn't recognize. There was a harsh metallic clang from the kitchen, and with a sigh, Maria grabbed the remote of the table and was about to turn up the volume when she noticed Winter walking down the hall.
"Merry Christmas, Maria. How're you?" Winter asked politely as she took a seat on the couch, ready to enjoy whatever was playing. Some small and far off part of her mind thought about checking in on the mayhem in the kitchen, but she ignored it, knowing that whatever was going on in the kitchen was well beyond her control. In other words, it sounded like a job for Qrow.
"Oh, so now you care about how I'm doing? But last night when I was supposed to be out with my friends, neither of you seemed to care that I had to stay here all night long," Maria spat, turning to the kitchen with a scowl.
"I said I was sorry, something came up. I told you I'd explain it later. Wait, Ruby, no!" Qrow called from the kitchen before there was a crash in the kitchen, followed by the harsh sounds of crackling and popping. A rancid burning smell floated in from the kitchen that Maria and Winter tried their best to ignore.
"I thought you hated Jimmy's parties? What did you call them, Qrow? Too stuffy with too many people in suits?" Maria cackled, before turning to Winter, her voice softer and quieter so nobody else could hear, "Ya know, those girls were waiting for you and Qrow to come home all night. Qrow and I told them you weren't coming, but they didn't seem to care. Sat on the couch all night until they passed out" She told Winter with a hint of a smile on her face now.
"Glad I didn't let them down then," Winter said lightheartedly, even though on the inside she was scared thinking about how close she'd been to breaking their hearts. She'd known that the girls had wanted her here, but for them to wait up all night for her…
"I know this isn't much, but I have a little thank you gift for watching the girls. Well, it was meant to be a Christmas gift, but it can be both," Winter laughed to herself as she reached over and grabbed her bag off the floor where she'd left it.
Maria's eyes were wide as saucers as she watched Winter rummage around the bag, moving colorful boxes around until she pulled one out that was covered in deep blue wrapping paper. Winter held it out for Maria who had a thrilled look on her face.
"At least one of you knows how to treat a woman," she called out loudly enough for everyone in the house to hear before she reached out and took the gift.
"Uncle Qrow knows how to treat a woman! Don't you, Uncle Qrow?" Ruby answered, popping her head out of the kitchen, something yellow sticking to her left cheek.
"Ruby, the stove! Keep your eyes on the stove!" Yang cried out before the blonde yanked Ruby back into the kitchen.
"Thanks, kid, I try my best," Qrow said proudly as he moved his arm into the living room, just out of the girl's view, and lovingly flipped Maria off. Maria snorted out a laugh as she flipped him off back, a grin on her face.
Without wasting any more time, Maria started to rip at the paper in a quick and careful kind of way. Long ribbons of paper fell to the ground, and in a matter of moments, Maria was looking at her gift curiously.
It was a long and thick box that took all of Maria's right hand to hold, a picture of a black and sleek vintage car was printed on the front. "What is it?" She wondered, shaking it up to her ear expecting to hear something.
"It's a car replica. I wasn't sure which one you'd like best, so I sort of went with whatever looked the coolest," Winter admitted, embarrassed, "I hope you like it. I have the receipt if you want a different one though," Winter said hastily, rummaging through the bag again looking for the receipt.
"No no, it's great. I'm not sure how you guessed it, but this was the first car I ever restored back in the day. I love it," Maria told her happily, before getting up and giving Winter a tight hug, "Your gift is in the mail, so just you wait," She told Winter with a grin as she sat back down in her chair, almost cradling the box.
That was the moment when all hell broke loose. There was the shuffle of feet in the kitchen behind them before a sweet symphony of ceramic and glass shattering filled the house, right after followed by a rush of apologies from Ruby. Maria and Winter shared a look, terrified and curious of what was going on in the kitchen, but neither of them daring to turn and look at the disaster.
After a few minutes of cleaning up and getting everything ready again, Ruby ran out from the kitchen in her pajamas, a small apron tied around her neck. It used to be white from the looks of it, but whatever had been on Ruby's face was plastered all over it, making it look like a dull yellow mess. In her hands was a plate of burnt food that was still steaming hot, "I made breakfast! I've always wanted to say that," She grinned before walking over to Maria and handing her the plate, which Winter just then noticed was made of paper.
Maria's eyes flicked to Winter for a moment before she forced a smile and took the plate, terror in her eyes. Yang came out of the kitchen next, looking at her wit's end. She was in her pajamas too, an apron equally stained as Ruby's around her neck, but her hair was messy and knotted, with the tips of her locks coated in something that Winter could only guess was either batter or egg. She still had her trademark smile on her lips and some pep in her step as she held up two plates of food.
"Yup, all credit for this breakfast goes straight to Ruby! So if you have any compliments, or complaints, they can go straight to her," Yang told everyone before handing a plate to Winter.
The food could have been a lot worse. Actually, that was a lie. It couldn't have been much worse. The plate mostly consisted of eggs that had been burned brown and black, singed toast, charred bacon, and hunks of coal that Winter could only assume were meant to be… potatoes?
"Yup! This is my Christmas gift to everyone, so enjoy!" Ruby chirped as she went into the kitchen and grabbed another plate for herself.
Yang sat down on the far end of the couch with her plate, a deep sigh escaping her lips as she melted into the couch, "She blew all of the gift money Qrow gave her on spare parts for something she's building, so she made breakfast to make it even. Qrow and I told her we'd do it, but she insisted. Those freaking puppy dog eyes, man," Yang groaned, knowing there was no way to beat them once you'd fallen under their spell. "She broke two glasses, three plates, and a fork. Don't even ask me how she broke the fork, none of us could figure it out. But there are some bagels in the basement if you wanna sneak away. Plus Qrows making steak later," Yang said as she licked her lips.
"Can Qrow cook steak?" Winter wondered as she grabbed a bit of bacon off the plate, the ash and grease sticking to her fingers.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, he can," Qrow told her with a smug smile as he walked in from the kitchen, plate in hand, and sat to Winters right. She was painfully aware of how his thigh was rubbing against hers.
Qrow'd ditched the suit while she'd been gone, dressing down into something a bit more comfortable. Just like her, he had on a pair of long basketball shorts and a t-shirt. Though his was gray and hers had a tiger jumping through a hoop of fire on it. Aside from that it almost looked like the two of them were matching.
"Did she tell you your gift was in the mail? Told me the same thing last year and I'm still waiting. Is my raise in the mail too?" Qrow teased, making the mistake of taking a bite out of the eggs. His eyes bulged and almost gagged, but he kept it down well enough. "By the way, we saw Cordovin last night,"
Maria raised her eyes at this and cast a glance between the two of them, curious and nervous. Winter could see Maria trying to work out why the two of them were dealing with the police. Winter was grateful when she didn't ask any deep questions with Yang sitting right next to them, "And how's the old crown doing?"
"Alive," Qrow told her unenthusiastically.
"Damn," Maria spat in disappointment. But the look in her eyes told Winter that this conversation was simply put on hold for now.
"Winter!" Ruby squeaked, as she walked back into the room. As she walked in everyone sat up and started eating their food, talking amongst themselves about how good it was. "It's been soooo long! Merry Christmas!" She said as she almost jumped up and down holding her plate. To Winter's surprise, the girl reached out with one arm and quickly wrapped it around her neck for a small hug. It was quick, only a second or two, but it warmed Winter's heart to see this girl, who a few short months ago couldn't even shake someone's hand, willing to give someone a hug like that.
Ruby plopped down on the arm of the couch next to Yang, humming to herself as she started to bite into her food with Zwei begging for scraps at her feet.
"Did everything go ok?" Qrow asked quietly, his voice masked by the movie. He turned his head to look down the hall at the closed door.
"Somehow it did. She's on the phone with her parents right now. I think she'll be going home pretty quickly once we all sit down and have a nice long talk together," she sang, taking a bite of the eggs, and forcing herself to swallow it.
"It's nice of you to let her stay here. I was gonna offer my spare room, but I think she'd be a lot more comfortable here with Yang and Ruby," Winter said, wanting to lean over and give Qrow a peck on the cheek, but forcing herself to stop.
"Ah, so that's what happened," Maria chuckled, hey eagle eyes trained on her, a nefarious and knowing smile on her face, "Don't worry, everyone goes through that phase," She said, shaking with silent laughter while Qrow and Winter both blushed like tomatoes.
"What phase? What happened?" Yang said suddenly, her eyes darting between the three of them.
"Nothing happened, Granny's finally starting to lose it is all," jeered Qrow as the girls laughed. Maria scowled at him for a moment and she looked like she wanted to tear him a new one. But just as she opened her mouth a grin came onto her lips and she kept eating like nothing had happened.
"Blah, this is terrible! It's all burnt and gross! Wait, do you guys like it?" Ruby asked from her perch, looking around the room at a group of guilty looking faces who were still forcing themselves to eat.
"I mean, it's not the best," Yang told her gently, making sure to look anywhere but her sister's eyes.
"Yeah, the bacon's a little… a lot burnt," Qrow added softly.
"Then why the heck are you eating it?" Ruby laughed, setting the plate down on the floor for Zwei, "Next year it'll be tons better, promise! Buuut maybe today we should have… anything else," she said with a smile as she walked into the kitchen.
"There's bagels in the basement! Bring up the whole bag!" Yang yelled as Ruby started to run down the stairs into the basement, "Ugh, I hid them. Wait up Ruby, I'm coming!" Yang said as she got up and walked after her sister, her stomach growling loud enough for everyone to hear.
As soon as the girls were out of earshot, Maria put her fork on her plate before looking at Qrow, "I told you that it would happen. Didn't I say you just had to be patient with her?" Marie asked Qrow in an almost motherly sort of way.
"Yeah, I know you did. Ugh, I hate when you're right, you never let me live it down," Qrow groaned, setting his plate on the ground for Zwei before leaning back into the couch annoyed.
"I like that she was right," Winter told him, a smile on her face and energy bubbling in her belly. She didn't wanna tell either of them how much it meant to her that Maria had wanted them to get together, but over the moon and back was a good way to describe what she was feeling at that moment.
Winter reached out and tilted Qrows face towards her before leaning in and capturing his lips in a firm, warm, kiss. She didn't care about Maria seeing or judging her, she just needed to show Qrow what she was feeling.
"Is this a bad time?" came Blake's voice, breaking the moment as giggles escaped her lips.
Qrow panicked, and jumped across the couch, coughing and pretending to look at the movie like they hadn't just been caught making out.
"It's fine, ya big weenie, she knows. And she's gonna keep it a secret, right Blake?" Winter asked her with a smile that Blake returned in kind.
"Yeah, I get it. You don't have to worry about me," Blake told him reassuringly, but the smirk on her lips didn't give Qrow a lot of hope that this would stay a secret for long.
"Blake? W-what are you doing here?" Ruby chuckled nervously, a big bag of bagels in her hands.
"I invited her over, her parents are out of town. Sorry, I didn't say anything, it was sort of last minute" Yang told them as she walked over to Blake, her voice shaking as she nervously walked over to Blake.
"They already know everything, guys. Thanks for trying though," Blake smiled as she walked over to Winter and handed her back the phone, "Thanks again. That was… nice. I'm not ready to see them yet, but soon," said Blake solidly.
"I'm glad," Winter told her proudly. Something about the way that Blake had talked had sounded concrete to Winter, and she knew without a doubt that things would get better between her and her parents.
Blake started to explain to Qrow why she'd done what she did, with Yang and Ruby throwing in comments here and there to help, but Winter's mind was elsewhere. When she looked around the room at Ruby, Yang, Qrow, and even herself in the reflection of the tv, she couldn't help but wonder if the rest of them would find a similar resolution. Would Ruby or Yang ever really be able to forgive Raven? Should they? Had Qrow already moved past his jerk of a dad? Would she ever be able to forgive her own dad? She had no idea. But when it came to her own situation, as much as she wanted to ignore it, there was a want deep in her belly to talk to him again. She doubted it, but there was still that hope no matter what…
"Do I get a plate?" Blake wondered, sitting down on Winter's left.
Ruby's eyes grew wide as she grinned, "Coming right up!" she called before rushing off back to the kitchen.
"Ruby, we agreed to use the toaster for the bagels!" Yang cried as she ran into the kitchen in an attempt to keep the house from burning down.
"Do you guys wanna open your gifts while we wait?" Winter asked the people sitting to her left and right, both of whom looked thoroughly shocked.
"You got me a gift?" Blake asked her curiously, taking the words right from Qrows mouth.
"I got everyone gifts. Why, do you guys not do that?" Winter looked at Qrow with a raised eyebrow, "We always found our gifts in our rooms when I was a kid, but I don't think that's how most people do it," Winter explained, thinking about Christmas's at the manor.
Winter had always gotten mountains of toys and gifts at the manor, all of them bought by an assistant holding her dad's credit card. She appreciated it all, but she never really cared about any of the gifts. She looked forward to the little moments like breakfast with her parents and Weiss, maybe going on a trip, playing with Weiss and her mom, making snowmen, that's what made Christmas for her.
That being said, Winter loved buying gifts for people. She always put a lot of thought and effort into everyone she bought, and this year was no exception. She pulled out a thick gift wrapped in glittering purple wrapping paper to Blake before handing a small box that was only a few inches long to Qrow.
"You didn't have to do this, Winter. I appreciate it, but I can't accept it," Blake told her sadly before trying to hand it back to her.
"No need to be so proud, just open it, ok? It's Christmas" Winter assured her, pushing the gift back into Blake's hands. With an uncertain smile, Blake set to work on opening it, peeling the tape off rather than ripping into it like Maria.
"Winter, I'm sorry, I didn't think you were comin-" as fast as lighting Winter leaned out and kissed him on the lips, shutting him up, glad that the girls were in the kitchen.
"I don't care. I got this for you because I wanted to, so don't worry about it. You've done enough for me since we've met to last a lifetime, anyway. Now open it." and after a final moment of hesitation, he did.
Qrow popped the lid off of the box and reached inside. In his hands was a thin black metal keychain that looked like it might have been made from some old car part. But in the middle of the metal was the word Harbinger, engraved in cursive.
"Winter, this is awesome, I love it," He said, twisting it around, inspecting it with an excited smile on his face. He leaned in towards her, about to kiss her when he suddenly stopped and recoiled like he'd been hit. When Winter followed his eyes she saw the girls coming in from the kitchen. They heard Blake giggle and Winter felt her face burning. She hoped the girls wouldn't notice.
"A journal?" Blake asked curiously, drawing everyone's attention to her. She was holding a thick leaver book that was bound in string and filled to bursting with blank pages. On the spine of the book was Blake's name, stitched in carefully.
"I knew you liked reading, so I thought you might like something to write your own stories in," Winter told her gladly. In all honesty, it had taken days of looking to find a journal with her name stitched into it like that. But seeing how Blake was buzzing with excitement as she flipped through the pages, it was all worth it.
"I love it, Winter. Thank you" thanked Blake before putting it to the side and giving Winter an awkward sideways hug.
"You guys got gifts from Winter? That's so cool!" Ruby cried out before she raced over and started to look at everyone's gifts.
"Don't worry, you guys got something too," Winter told them happily, reaching into her bag.
"You got us stuff?" Yang asked excitedly, eyes glimmering as she watched Winter pull out a large envelope that was wrapped in red paper and a box that took two hands to hold wrapped in gold.
"You got us stuff?" Ruby mimicked, giving Maria back her replica and turning to look at Winter in awe.
"Of course I did. All of you guys deserve them and a million more," Winter praised, handing the red and gold gifts to Ruby and Yang respectively.
She expected the girls to hesitate all Blake and Qrow, but they were way ahead of her. Ruby and Yang tore into the wrapping paper with reckless abandon, and in a matter of seconds, the paper never stood a chance.
In the middle of the chaos, Winter had grabbed the last gift she had, a small bone, and tossed it to an overly excited Zwei who took it and jumped on the couch. After getting all those scraps for breakfast, he was shocked at how excited he got with it.
Ruby was the first to open her present, finding a yellow envelope that was taped shut. As carefully as someone working on a bomb, Ruby unsealed the envelope, pulling out a thin piece of paper that looked very official. "Wooow, what's this?" She asked excitedly without even reading the paper.
"Well, I know that sometimes going out with tons of people can be a lot, but I thought having a friend with you might help. So I pulled some strings and got Zwei certified as an emotional support dog. That means you can take him with you most places and people have to let you," At the mention of Zwei's name, the dog got up and looked at Winter with a crooked head and his tongue hanging out.
"Wait, so I can take him with me when we go out? To stores and stuff?" Ruby wondered, reading the paper for herself.
"Yup. You can take him into a lot more places too. I'll tell you more about it later though, ok?" Winter assured her. Ruby looked at the piece of paper and set it on the ground before walking over and wrapping Winter in the biggest hug she'd ever gotten.
It wasn't short or nervous like the last one, it was long and drawn out, filled with warmth and care, and Winter loved every second of it. "I love it, you're the best, Winter," Ruby told her before pulling away and picking up Zwei off the couch, bone still in his jaws. "You get to go with me to the hobby shop! Wait, we gotta get you a haircut so you look presentable!" Ruby declared, looking at Zweis fur and thinking about how to style it. He licked his bone, completely unconcerned with whatever she had in store for him.
Yang on the other hand found herself looking down at a cardboard box with absolutely nothing written on it. Using pure strength, the girl tore open the box like it was tissue paper and gasped at what she saw inside; a pair of brand new red boxing gloves.
"I hope they're the right size. I tried my best to find the same style that your dad had, but this is the best I could find. I know those ones are special to you, but I figured they might be getting a little worn out. You don't have to use them if you don't want to-"
"These are so cool Of course I'm gonna use them! With a little more training, next time I'm totally gonna beat Neo with these! Plus now I can hang up dad's old gloves, I think he'd like that," Yang said somberly, excitement emanating from her.
As Yang looked down at the gloves in her hands, feeling the leather, a thought crossed her mind, "You're good at gifts," Yang told Winter with a chuckle, looking around at everyone's nodding faces. "Sorry none of us got you anything, but we'll be sure to get you the best stuff next year!" And everyone in the room nodded, telling her how great their gifts were.
But the praise wasn't what Winter was thinking of, far from it. No, Winter was thinking about the fact that everyone in the room, even Zwei it seemed like, wanted her back next year. The way Yang talked about it made it sound like everyone already assumed she'd be there next year.
She'd help set up decorations, help the girls in the kitchen with breakfast, help Qrow with dinner, get to watch old Christmas movies, and all the rest. It made her heart feel warm and light, it made her want to cry. She felt so… Accepted. In a way that she'd only ever gotten from her sister and her mom. Who would've thought none of this would've happened if her car hadn't broken down?
It also made Winter think of Weiss. How nice it would be to have her here with them and how lonely she probably was at the manor. She wondered if her dad had made it back, or if he'd gone to a work meeting instead of spending Christmas with his daughter.
But at least there was Klein, making her cinnamon rolls like he did every Christmas day. Winter felt homesick then, if only for a moment.
Winter could have convinced her sister to come and stay with her, could have found some reason or another for her to come, that she was sure of. But she knew that it was her sister's choice to stay home, to learn from him, even if it meant being lonely at Christmas. An anxious feeling welled up inside of her chest then, and she felt scared.
Winter would call her sister later and try to get rid of that fear, but now wasn't the time. Right now she was enjoying this moment with people who honestly loved her, and she was gonna enjoy every second of it.
The rest of the morning went by slowly, but also in the blink of an eye. They played games, watched movies, started and abandoned a puzzle, and sang along to good and bad Christmas songs alike.
Qrow moved in and out the room to prep for cooking, and whenever he and Winter managed to find a moment alone in the kitchen, they'd steal kisses, but never for long. Blake started writing in her journal, while Ruby and Yang argued about how to set up their game console.
Qrow managed to sneak away to some secret hiding place and brought back a bag of presents of his own for everyone. Well, everyone except Winter, but she didn't mind in the slightest. Ruby got tools, metal, and a new game that Yang had to force her not to play yet. Yang got makeup and new boxing supplies, but thankfully not new gloves. And Blake even got a handful of new books courtesy of the girls. Well, really it was Yang who'd boughten them, but Ruby had helped pick them out.
Apparently, Qrow had a secret place to hide gifts in the house, but nobody had ever found it. When she asked about it, he'd even refused to tell her, saying that he'd cave under Ruby's powers in moments. She stopped asking after realizing just how right he was.
At around one, someone had turned on another movie, and one by one it had captured each of their attention, and everyone except for Maria ended up in a heap on the couch.
Blake was on Winter's left, Qrow to her right, with Yang on Qrows other side, while Ruby laid down on all of their legs and rested her head in Qrows lap, with him running his head through her hair.
The movie was soothing, and it made Winter realize exactly how tired she was. It had been a long day. No, a long couple of months for her. She'd gone through so much in such a short time, made some amazing friends, and a boyfriend while she was at it.
There would be more hurdles down the line, she was sure of that, but she was sure she could handle it. Winter, without thinking, put her arm on the back of the couch and started to play with Qrows hair as quietly as she could. Qrow looked at her and smiled, saying with their eyes what they couldn't with their lips.
Ruby let out a huge yawn and closed her eyes and was snoring in moments. Yang followed right after, leaning onto the side of the couch with her mouth hanging open. Winter felt something on her shoulder and turned to find Blake sleeping peacefully, using her as a pillow. Maria was already out cold, but not snoring yet thankfully. Zwei was on the ground, bone still in his mouth, snoozing away. Her fingers still moving in his hair, Winter looked over and saw that Qrow had his head tilted back, and was fast asleep himself.
She moved her arm down and took hold of his hand, leaning into his shoulder like Blake was doing to her, and let her heavy eyes rest. Before she fell asleep, she had a small realization, she was so lucky to be here.
She'd found friends, a family, a home, and people who cared for her. Not a lot of people got to say that, and she couldn't have been happier to be one of those few. Then, feeling lighter than she ever had in her life, Winter took a well deserved break and fell sound asleep, happy to finally have a place to call home.
- 2 Years Later-
-Authors Note-
Well, everyone, just the epilogue to go until the story of Winter and Qrow falling in love comes to an end. I'm sad, but so excited at the same time! What has everyone thought about the story so far? If you have second, please leave a comment and lmk, because every time I get a notification that someones posted a comment, liked, or followed, it makes my day! Thanks again to everyone who's made it this far and who keeps reading week in and week out, I really can't tell you guys what it means. Hope you guys enjoyed, see you next week!