Author's Note: So I didn't get to editing until like, two hours before when I normally post because I've been obsessed with the newest Twenty One Pilots album, Trench. If you haven't listened to it yet, you should. There are some good songs on that. But yeah, that and D&D has been taking up a lot of my free time. Also, I was on break at the end of last week, so having fun was another thing I was doing. Anyway, enough about my life. That's not what you're here for. Enjoy the chapter!
The following days were seemingly normal if not for them being comprised of glances between Ruby and I. Short though these glances were, they conveyed something that neither of us said to each other since the time at the cafe. The feeling seemed to burn away at me. It was as if both of us knew we wanted more, but neither wanted to make the first move out of fear.
I really need to muster up the courage to ask her out. Waiting any more is unbearable. This feeling is burning away at me. And it's so awkward sometimes.
"Weiss!" Yang's voice pierces my thoughts.
"Sorry, Yang. What were you saying?" I say awkwardly, looking at her after partaking in a particularly long aforementioned glance. I look around the dorm room after coming back to reality. Ruby has her headphones on and is working on something. What exactly it is, I'm not sure though. I'm sitting on my bed, and Yang has just plopped down next to me.
"You're doing it again," she says.
"Doing what?" I ask innocently. She caught me again, didn't she?
"You're staring at my sister again, Weiss." Yang says, her voice kind of irritated.
"S-sorry…" I say looking away and blushing. Yep. She caught me.
"Seriously, just ask her out already. You're both clearly obsessed with each other. You can't keep your eyes off of each other." She rolls her eyes.
"So you're… okay with that?" I ask, unsure of what I'm hearing. The Yang that I knew would be super protective of Ruby around me. She wasn't even okay with me falling for Ruby until a few years after graduation. This is weird.
"I mean, I guess. If Ruby is into girls, and she likes you, who am I to stop her? And it's clear that you have… something that you feel about her. And you're not mean, so I don't think I'll have to worry about you hurting her…" Yang trails off. This entire time, she's been looking at me and messing with her hair. After, she closes her eyes and stops playing with her hair. When she opens them again, the commonly lilac eyes have changed to a deep red. "Right?" She asks with a bit of venom in her voice.
"N-no, Yang. I won't hurt Ruby." I gulp. I don't know why she would think that. Granted, she doesn't know the details of me in this timeline.
"Good!" She smiles. The sudden change of tone catches me by surprise. "Now go getter her, slugger," she says giving me a punch to the arm.
"Ow!" I yell. I didn't really see the blow coming, so I couldn't get my aura up in enough time. Plus I was distracted by her attitude change. That, and the fact that moments before, Ruby snuck a quick peek at me before turning away quickly.
"Sorry! Guess I hit harder than I thought. Oh well, it'll heal fast." Yang shrugs.
Is asking her right now the best option? Let's run some pros and cons of asking her right now. Pros, I'd know if she wanted to early on instead of waiting a long time, the other night is probably on her mind right now considering how recent it was. Cons, if she says no, then all of this will be for nothing. So far, two pros and one con. I guess I'm doing it now.
Sighing, I get up and move away from her, heading towards Ruby. Looking back, I see that Yang has put up two thumbs up for me. I shake my head and smile. As I get closer to Ruby, I can see now that she's working on homework while listening to music with her headphones. Or at least, is pretending to. We've been in the dorm for about an hour now, and there's only one question that's been answered. Due to her headphones, Ruby didn't hear me approach, because right as I'm about to reach her, she attempts to look in the direction that I was, only to find me a few paces away from her. Startled, she jumps out of her chair and onto the floor, removing her headphones in the process.
"Haha! That was funny! Do it again!" Yang laughs, clapping her hands together. She's on the floor on her side.
Embarrassed, Ruby looks up from the ground with a frown and a flush on her face. "That's not funny, Yang!"
Yang shrugs. "I don't know, kind of is. Anyway, Blake wanted me to join her at the gym sometime. This seems like as good an opportunity as any. See you guys," she says before getting up and walking out of the dorm room. Right before she leaves, she flashes me a thumbs up and her signature smile. She closes the door behind her.
Shaking my head, I look down at Ruby. "Are you okay?" I stretch my hand out to help her up. She takes my hand and pulls on it, trying to get up. If I hadn't braced myself, I would have fallen over the chair on top of her. And that would have been very, very awkward.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just didn't expect you to be so close when I looked up…" Ruby says, her hand on her neck and face reddening.
"To look at me," I say, sounding serious, but also trying to be playful. I know she was looking at me; she's been doing it a lot lately.
"I mean… kinda… sorta…" she trails off for a bit before looking at me in the eyes. "Yeah, yeah I was." A blush creeps onto both her cheeks and mine.
"Mhm, I see. You've been doing that a lot lately, haven't you?" I love teasing Ruby. It's so fun. Plus, this is a good way to lead into what I want to talk about. Two birds with one stone and all that.
"Hey, you keep looking at me too! I'm not the only one failing at being sneaky!" Ruby gets up and sits back on her chair, keeping eye contact with me the entire time.
"That may be true, but I think you've been looking at me more." I laugh.
"Well, how do you know how much I'm looking at you unless you're looking at me when I look at you, and therefore looking at me more?" She counters, pointing a finger at me with an over dramatic flourish.
"Alright, alright. You win, Ruby," I concede, raising my hands defensively. I chuckle quietly, and silence quickly overtakes the room. It's my turn to act. Okay, Weiss. The room is quiet now. Nobody is talking, so you can't interrupt. This is the time. It's now. You WILL ask her out. It's all that you want. So take it.
My heart starts pounding. She must be able to hear it. It's so loud in my ears; it's almost deafening. Just ask her already, you fool!
"Hey, Ruby?" I blurt out, quickly ending the silence.
"Yeah, Weiss?" Ruby looks at me, her silver eyes meeting my own in a way that comforts me like no one else can.
"I was wondering… If you… wanted to…" I trail off, nervous out of my mind, my pulse beating faster than it has in a while, my palms sweaty, and my knees shaking. My careful practiced speech was already forgotten.
"What is it, Weiss?" She takes my hand in hers and smiles. My nerves fade almost immediately. I smile back and find the courage to finish my question.
"Do you want to go out with me? Like, on a date?" I ask, still a little awkward, but asked nonetheless. I can feel my face heat up with a blush, and upon looking at Ruby, her face is caught in a blush as well.
"I've uh… never been on a date." Ruby laughs after saying it.
"I haven't either, Ruby. But I think it's kind of like what we did the other day, just with a… romantic… implication behind it." I say, stressing the word romantic to make sure she knows what she'd be agreeing to.
"Sounds fun! Yes, Weiss, I accept your date!" Ruby nods and smiles, a blush on her face. She looks away from me and smiles wider after she says that. I involuntarily smile to myself. I've been doing a lot of smiling lately. I think to myself, but I quickly brush it off. Smiling is good for me. With how much crying I did before coming back, it's good that I'm able to smile as much as I do. And then it hits me; I'm going on a date with Ruby… I'm going on a date with Ruby! Ruby Rose! Goal achieved!
"C-can I have a h-hug?" I ask, looking at Ruby shyly. Ruby looks at me and blushes. She nods slightly, a small smile forming on her lips. I move up to her and awkwardly wrap my arms around her. My hand accidentally bumps into her arm. She hugs me back with little hesitation.
A few seconds later, there is a loud scream from outside the dorm room. Ruby and I immediately get up and rush outside, looking for the person responsible for said scream. Upon opening the door, we see something unexpected. Yang is leaning up against the wall to the left of the door, and Nora and Ren are standing out in the middle of the hallway. Nora looks excited, and Ren looks… well... Ren. Nora screams as soon as we leave the dorm room, and immediately, I understand the who and the why of the scream.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! You two are going on a date! You guys are like, perfect for each other!" Her eyes go wide, and she gasps dramatically. "Ruby, Pyrrha and I are going to get you ready for your date! When is it?"
"I'm surprised that you don't know that we didn't decide that, considering you were eavesdropping," I say under my breath, but enough for Ruby to hear me. She giggles a little bit before responding.
"We haven't decided yet. When do you wanna take me out, Weiss?" All eyes look to me. I didn't think of this yet! You dolt! Think of something quickly! Idiot! I was so worried about asking her out on the date that I forgot about all of the details! "How about… Friday, two hours after classes end?" I suggest.
Nora scoffs, apparently not having any of it. "We're going to need more than two hours, Weiss. Make it three, and you've got a deal." Ren coughs, and Nora turns to him.
"Nora, this is Ruby's date. Not yours," he scolds.
"Right… Sorry…" Nora deflates. Ren seems to be one of the only people able to deflate Nora like that besides Nora herself.
"Three hours sounds good to me!" Ruby says, giving a somewhat hesitant thumbs up to Nora, which bolsters her confidence once again.
"Great!' Nora and I both say at the same time. We look at each other, and then burst out into laughter. Nora and Ren end up leaving back to their room shortly after that, and Ruby walks back into our dorm shortly after Nora and Ren go into theirs. That leaves just the two of us in the hall, Yang and I.
"Weren't you supposed to be going to the gym to meet Blake?" I ask Yang.
"Yeah, well this seemed pressing to know about. And Blake will understand." Yang shrugs. I walk over to Yang and punch her arm. She doesn't even flinch.
"That's for earlier." I say, smugly.
"Princess, if you want to pay back for earlier, you'd have to do like, ten of those, maybe more." Yang teases, sticking her tongue out at me.
I punch her again. This time, much harder. This time, she flinches.
"And that is for telling Ren and Nora." I turn around and walk back into the dorm room and begin planning what Ruby and I are going to do on our date. I turn back around and look at Yang again, "And Yang?" She looks at me and makes eye contact with me. "Thank you," I smile It's finally happening.