Author's Note: Here's chapter 12! Once again, thanks to Gorsouul for everything! No chapter next week, as here in America, it's Thanksgiving, and I don't wanna post. Also, it'll give me some more time to work ahead. Love you all! Enjoy!
I sigh to myself and answer the call. "Hello?" I ask into my Scroll, not exactly thrilled to be talking to my father. I'm sure that my tone shows it. Before, back in my old time, my father was a massive thorn in my side until I finally told him off. One could say that I'm more confident because of that happening. Normally, I'd be scared to talk to him like that, but his intimidation won't work on me this time.
"Weiss, it's been a while since we've talked," Father's voice can be heard from the other side of the line. I roll my eyes.
"I'm sorry, Father. I've been busy with my studies. You know how important those are." I can't help but lace the word 'father' with a bit of venom.
"That's good that you're focused on your studies, Weiss; although, I can't help but wonder if that's really the case all the time..." Father trails off.
"What do you mean?" I ask, somewhat confused. Does he think he has some sort of angle on me? I'm not scared of him. If he thinks I'm just going to sit back and be the blind, obedient, perfect little daughter that can't say anything but 'yes father's, then he's sorely mistaken.
"I'll be sending you an article after this call ends. And I want you to think about if your studies are really your main priority." Father's tone is aggressive, and it seems that it has hints of disappointment in it.
Still confused about what's going on, I hesitantly say, "Okay…?" I look around the hall while thinking to myself. What could it be? I haven't done anything, I don't think. What could he be referring to? And why isn't he just saying it? I hate that he does this sometimes; beating around the bush instead of just saying what he really wants.
"Yes. Well, it was… an adequate experience talking to you again, Weiss. I hope you complete your studies well. And remember to focus on your studies. Nothing. More. And remember: I got you into Beacon against my better judgement. Don't think I can't make you come home. And as soon as he says that, the dial tone that signifies the end of the call meets my ear. A few seconds later, my Scroll flashes and another dial tone. I open the message from my father only to almost drop my Scroll.
Heiress Weiss Schnee seen leaving theater in downtown Vale holding hands with an unknown girl! Is this a new lover, perhaps?
My jaw drops as I read the title. At the very beginning of the article, there are a few pictures of us exiting the theater and laughing. A few more pictures are dotted throughout the article, mostly of us walking together and laughing. A few pictures show us holding hands as we walk. I scan the article quickly, and from what I read, the main points being brought up are "Does miss Schnee have a girlfriend?", "Who is this beautiful young lady?", and "What will her father think about this?". All valid questions. I open the door and quickly move over to my bed to sit down.
I can feel my palms start to sweat a little bit. My heart rate accelerates. A dull pain starts throbbing in the back of my head.
I've been used to this my entire life. It's just another nuisance to me. But Ruby. She didn't grow up with this. Back in my own past reality, she didn't get used to the Paparazzi until at least four years after we had all graduated Beacon. How is she going to react? And how could I be so naïve? Sure I'm not a huge popular celebrity, but I'm still the heiress to the SDC. I should have known that something like this would garner attention. Not only did it just expose that we went out and were holding hands, but it also means the media knows both of our… preferences. That's a dangerous game for Ruby to be in without any knowledge of how the media can work. I don't even know that much about how they work. I'm afraid for her.
My nervousness catches the eye of Ruby who, at the time that I came into the room, was sitting at her desk, probably pretending to work on homework when I came in. The otherwise cute little deception unfortunately doesn't cause me to smile for once. She looks at me to meet my eyes, but I look away as soon as eye contact is made. She walks over to me quickly and sits on my bed next to me.
"Weiss, what's wrong? Is everything okay?"She sounds worried. She probably looks worried too, but at the moment, I'm staring into space. I simply hold up my Scroll in response to her questions. She takes it and starts reading through it. A minute of silence passes as Ruby looks through the article. The shame that I feel makes it hard for me to look her in eyes. I end up staring at the wall for the entire time, wrapping my arms around myself to keep myself from shaking. "Oh…" is all she says.
"I'm sorry, Ruby. I was stupid and forgot about how they take those kinds of pictures. And that they're everywhere, always looking for a good story." Tears start to form in my eyes as my mind starts racing to all of the possible outcomes, most of them involving Ruby not being able to live her life and coming to despise me for it. "I didn't mean for this to happen…" I slowly look up to Ruby, and our eyes meet. I gulp as I look into those deep silver eyes. "Maybe it's best if-" I'm cut off by a pair of lips on mine. Although surprised, my body immediately relaxes into the kiss and my eyes flutter closed. And then the lips are gone. I open my eyes to see Ruby's smiling face.
"Don't worry about it, okay? You didn't do anything. You took me out for an amazing night, and one thing that you have no control of slipped your mind. I don't blame you for that." A wave of relief washes over me, and I pull her into a hug. She returns the gesture almost immediately. The fact that she's so quick to comfort me is just another reason why I am, without a doubt, in love with this woman. It brings a smile to my face knowing that she's okay with the trouble of the media when it comes to me.
"Thank you, Ruby," I say, ending the hug. I lean back and make eye contact with her. Her eyes are beautiful.
"You're welcome, Weiss!" She smiles. I look into her eyes again, and an overwhelming urge to kiss her creeps into my mind. Not wanting to resist this urge, I lean forward and push my lips onto Ruby's. She leans into me almost as soon as our lips make contact. I lean back into her and deepen the kiss. Ruby sighs into my mouth and falls backward onto my bed. I fall on top of her, shifting my weight so that it doesn't hurt her. A few seconds of lighter kissing pass before I feel a vibration from on the bed. Ruby pulls back and reaches underneath her back to pull out my Scroll. Sighing, I take it from her and look at the screen: One unread message from: FATHER. I look at Ruby, concerned, but say nothing.
I open the message and read it. So, Weiss. What do you think? After reading that article, are you really sure that you're focusing on your studies?
I scoff and type a quick reply, I am focusing on my studies, Father. But there are things that are more important things than that, even though you don't think so. This time here at Beacon, it's for me to do more than study. Ruby stays silent the entire time that I type the response. After I send the message, I put my Scroll on Do Not Disturb so that I don't get any unwelcome interruptions again.
I want to say more than just that, but I don't think now is the time. With that news in the article, he's probably on thin ice with his temper anyway. And what I said won't help, but I don't want to push it too far. It's easy to get him angry. And he does stupid things when he's angry.
"Weiss, are you okay?" Ruby asks. As she asks, I can feel my face relax from the scowl that I didn't realize I held. I shake my head slightly to get those thoughts out of my head.
"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm sorry, Ruby." I smile to try and reassure her that I am, in fact, okay; however, judging from the look she gives me, she doesn't buy it.
"Hmmm… Okay. Who was that text from? Oh, and the call? And where'd you get the article from? Oh, wait. No, I'm being intrusive. You don't have to answer those. Sorry!" Ruby rambles. She looks away, a shade of red tinting her cheeks. I can't help but laugh at how cute she is.
"No, Ruby. It's okay. All of them were from my father. I'm sure he's not thrilled about that public image. I couldn't care less when it came to myself. It's you that I was worried about. But you told me earlier that you're fine with it, so I guess I'm a bit less worried about it. Well, not fine, but that you understand."
Ruby nods with understanding. "What did your dad say?" Ruby asks curiously.
"Well, he was asking if I was keeping with my studies, and then I told him I was. So he sent me that article, trying to imply that I wasn't because I was with you. So I told him that I was still on top of my studies, but that some things are more important than studying." When I say the last part of that sentence, I can't help but blush.
"Awwwwww, Weiss! That's so cute!" Ruby says happily. She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me down to her again. She plants her lips on my own. I kiss her back, trying to keep some of my inner desire in check. Her hands move to my back, and she pulls me down so that our bodies are flush. My desire grows with each passing second, but I need to keep myself in check. This is not the time for any… of that. I gently bite her bottom lip, trying to channel the desire into something a bit less intense than other things that I want to do. But even if I did do what I wanted, I'm probably too inexperienced to do it well. I might end up hurting her… Nevertheless, I'm nervous, but excited at the same time.
"Weiss…" she moans. This spurns me on a bit more than I realized it would have as my kisses become more and more hungry, especially with the feeling of Ruby's body pushed up against mine. Ruby quickly reciprocates for a few seconds.
Just as things are about to get a bit more heated, the doorknob wiggles. I push myself off of Ruby quickly and sit up. I pull her to sit up next to me just in time as Yang and Blake walk into the room. Their conversation, whatever it was, stops as they enter and see us on the bed together.
"What's going on here?" Yang asks, raising an eyebrow.
Oh no. Gotta think of something…
"W-we were just talking, right Ruby?"I look to Ruby and smile widely. The smile being an over-exaggeration. My heart is beating rapidly. I can't look at Yang out of embarrassment, and I'm sure she knows it.
We almost just got caught. Yang almost caught me making out with her sister. I need to… Well, I need to cool down with what's happening.
"R-right… just talking…Yeah! That's what we were doing!" Ruby chuckles awkwardly, looking from between Yang and I.
Yang smirks. "Okay, whatever you say. Just talking. Yep…" an awkward silence permeates the room before she speaks back up again. "Anyway, Blake and I are just dropping our stuff off before we head to the gym and work out for a bit. Do either of you want to join us?" Yang walks across the room to her desk and sets her bag down. Blake sets her stuff down on her bed and walks to the closet. She comes back out with two duffel bags and hands one to Yang.
"No thanks. I'm gonna work with Weiss on some homework that I need help with." Ruby lies through her teeth. And while lying isn't a great thing to do, even when I just did it myself, this one kind of impresses me. Before whenever we said we were talking, she was awkward, reserved, and fidgety. This time, she seems confident. No cracks, hesitations, or nervousness in her voice. Just confident.
"Yeah, what she said. I'm helping her." I feign enthusiasm to mask my confusion.
How can Ruby go from struggling to lie to confident in her lies in that short of a time? I need to ask her later…
"Okay, well, whatever you guys say. Blake and I are headed to the gym to work out some more. Come if you want," Yang waves behind her as she exits the doorway. Blake walks up to Ruby and I and leans her head so that it's between both Ruby's head and my own.
"I know that you weren't just talking," Blake says before standing up and walking out of the dorm, but not before flashing a sly smirk in our direction.
That's right… She's a faunus, and they have better hearing than most others. Yet another thing that I'm not supposed to know, as Blake hasn't taken her bow off yet… Something to consider later.
"How does she know…?" Ruby trails off, her face slightly contorted in confusion.
"I have no idea…" I start, but then remember what I was so surprised about: Ruby and her lying. "But I do want to know what that earlier was about."
"What earlier? A lot of things happened earlier, it's hard to remember what you're talking about." Ruby explains, her hand resting on the back of her neck and a blush on her face.
"You lied, Ruby. Really well. But before, you didn't lie very well. What happened?" I ask, looking at Ruby with a sideways glance.
"What do you mean earlier? I only lied once," Ruby shakes her head in confusion.
"But you lied that we were just talking, and then that you needed my help on something. That's two," I reason. It makes no sense to me.
"Oh, no. The first one was a lie. The second one about needing your help is the truth. I was gonna ask you for help after they left," Ruby explains. Suddenly, it makes sense now. She didn't need to lie, but she did when it came to what happened.
"Oh… Oh, okay. So what do you need help with, exactly?" I ask, expecting her to bring up a class, maybe two. Instead, she walks over to her desk and pulls out her entire backpack, and then from that, every binder that she has.
"All of it…" She smiles sweetly. I laugh and sigh at the same time.
Of course. This is going to be a long rest of the say, but hey. I get to spend it with Ruby, so it's not that bad.