Author's Note: So… This is a few weeks lat. I'm sorry about that! I uh… I got a girlfriend recently, and she's been a big part of my life already. It's winter break now, and I miss her. But I'll see her soon! In the meantime, here's the chapter that both my beta reader and my AMAZING girlfriend inspired me to write. Again, I'm sorry for such a late chapter, but it's at the longer end of my chapter length spectrum, and by that, I mean it's the longest chapter of this story so far, so it might make up for it? Maybe? Oh well, either way, enjoy!

You do not talk to me like that, young lady.

Answer me, Weiss.

WEISS

Three missed calls from: FATHER.

Don't forget who keeps you fed, Weiss…

I sigh to myself as I read the messages. After Ruby and I almost got caught by Yang and we went to work on the homework that Ruby needed help with, I ignored my Scroll, which was set on Do Not Disturb, so it was easier to do so. But afterwards, Ruby went to the bathroom, and I had a chance to check my Scroll. After turning off Do Not Disturb, my Scroll vibrated for each message that I had ignored. And I've been here reading the messages over and over again since she left.

I keep myself fed, Father…

I hold my Scroll tightly, feeling anger seep through my mind. I can feel my face morph into a scowl This wasn't something that I thought I would ever have to deal with again. I guess that's something that I didn't think about when I decided to come back.

"Hey, Weiss. What's going on?" I turn around quickly, surprised by the sudden noise. Ruby is standing outside of the bathroom door. She looks at me worriedly, and as she does, I can feel my face soften out of a scowl and more into a neutral expression.

"I'm sorry, Ruby. It's just that my Father is making me angry. But…" I trail off, sigh, and turn away from Ruby. "But it's okay, don't worry about it." I hear footsteps, and then arms wrap around me. I'm a bit surprised, and I start to feel a little flustered as I feel Ruby's heat surround me.

"Hey, Weiss? You don't need to be going through this alone, okay?" I turn around to see Ruby smiling at me. I can't help but smile in return.

"Thank you, Ruby…" I say. I love how she's already being so supportive. Ruby lets go of the hug, and as she walks by me, she gives me a light kiss on the cheek. My entire body seems to stiffen as I blush heavily and look at her. My thoughts become beyond jumbled as my mind races to process what happens. She turns around briefly to look at me, a slight crimson running across her cheeks.

"You're welcome, Weiss." She giggles before walking over to her desk and grabbing her backpack.

"Wh-where are you going?" I ask, my voice shaking from the surprise kiss to the cheek. I can still feel heat on my face, and even more so where she kissed me. Why does my body react this way? I mean, I know how I feel about her… but WHY? Why is it so strong of a feeling? How can she make me almost stop functioning with a simple kiss to the cheek?

"I'm going to head to the library to study. Because I uh…" She trails off and looks at the ground for a second before her eyes shoot up to make direct eye contact with me, a look of sadness in her eyes. "I don't think I can really study here. Or… concentrate for that matter. It was hard enough working on that last assignment, and it's just been getting harder to focus." She eyes me up and down once before turning to the door and shaking her head. "Yeah, definitely won't be able to concentrate." She puts her hand on the doorknob and starts to twist it. Wait, is she going without me? But studying is my thing! I want to at least go with her...

"Wait!"I blurt out, reaching my arm out to Ruby, who stops turning the doorknob and turns to look at me. Smooth moves, Weiss. You got her attention, now what? Think of something! Fast! "Can… can I go with you?" My question comes out as shy and uncertain.

Ruby's face falls as she looks back up to me. "I don't think that's a good idea, Weiss. It's hard to concentrate around you," she starts. My arm immediately falls to my side, and my head drops. Ruby looks worried and starts talking almost immediately, obviously panicking. "It's not because I don't want to be around you! I swear! It's just because… I've… kiiiinda been putting this assignment off until last minute, and I need to finish it before tomorrow, and I know that if I'm anywhere near you, I won't be able to get it done." Ruby explains. She ends up rambling in the process.

"Ruby, it's okay. I understand. Go study. And next time, do your assignment early, and we won't have to do that again, okay?" I give her a knowing smile. She thanks me and gives me a quick hug before leaving the room to me and my thoughts. Even when I'm sad, her cuteness can still make me feel better. And why am I sad? Is it because Ruby doesn't want to be around me? No, she does want to be around me. Is it because she procrastinated and made it so she would have to leave? I'm not really sure. All I know is that I miss Ruby already.

I wander around the dorm room aimlessly for a few minutes before plopping down onto my bed and sprawling out on it. I let go of my Scroll, and it slides out from my hand onto the bed.

Why do I feel this way? It's been less than a day of us officially dating, and I'm acting like some kind of lovesick puppy. No… I know why… "It's because you've waited years for this, Weiss. It's been fourteen years of you feeling how you do about her, and then she was taken from you. Now you have the opportunity to change that, and you don't want to let her go… Even for such a short time like this…" My words echo out into the dorm room, meant for nobody in particular. The words and their meanings bounce around the room, and as the sounds are lost to the room's poor acoustics, the meaning behind them is not lost to me. "I might as well get up now…" I say, but make no actual moves to get up. I stay laying on the bed for another few minutes before I finally get up, sighing as I do. I want to go out and do something, but I'm not even sure what to do. As if on cue, my stomach growls.

"Well, I guess I know what I'm doing now," I say as I get my Scroll from the bed where I had left it. I walk over towards the desk and grab my bolero from the chair that's next to it. "But where do I want to go to eat?" I stand in the middle of the room for about a minute racking my brain, trying to think of anywhere I can go. But everywhere I would like to go would just be awkward if I went by myself. I get my Scroll out to look through restaurants in the area. I need to get out and do something. It's still strange, but not having Ruby here makes me restless. About three restaurants down on the list, my Scroll buzzes, and a text flashes on the screen briefly before disappearing again.

Yang: Weiss, we need to talk about something. I'll be heading to Thru The Vale Diner soon. Meet me there in about half an hour. Don't be late.

Well this is perfect… for my last problem. But now there's another problem! What does she want to talk about? Could it be that she wants to talk about earlier? I really hope not…

I put my Scroll in my Bolero's pocket and start heading out towards the airship docks. The evening sky greeting me as I step out of the school's interior. I didn't realize it was this late… What time is it? I pull my Scroll out of its pocket and check the time: 7:53. Wow, okay. I need to hurry. I quicken my pace to get to the airship docks faster, nervous of whatever Yang has to talk to me about.

A short Airship ride takes me straight into downtown Vale, a few blocks from where Yang told me to meet her. On my way there, the bustling city streets overtake me as the brilliant flashing lights of the street signs and the low murmur of the people in the background of today fill my head. After about a five minute walk, I eventually make it to Thru The Vale Diner, a quaint little establishment that I hadn't thought of checking out. Thankfully, Yang did. Speaking of Yang, as I walk through the door, I see the blonde brawler sitting in the corner of the building, looking through a menu. I approach her, waving to her to get her attention. She quickly puts the menu down and gestures to the seat across from her. I can hear my heartbeat in my ears as my heart rate quickens.

"Hello, Yang. It's a very nice evening, don't you think?" I ask, overcompensating for my nerves with formalities. I can't really be sure what she wants to talk to me about, so maybe the super cordial approach was… definitely not an accident. Could she be talking to me about the article that went out? Or maybe is it that Blake told her what she heard? Either option is not great...

"Yeah, it is. Anyway, look for what you want. We can start to talk after we order," She dismisses my attempt at conversation and goes back to her menu, leaving me sitting there with my thoughts and a menu I've never seen before.

What do I order? I've never eaten here, even back in my own time.

I look through the menu, finding a bunch of different types very appetizing-looking burgers from the standard burger to one with pineapple on it, to a breakfast themed one, and more. I decide to go for the standard burger, and I put the menu down to patiently wait for the waiter or waitress. I then almost immediately pick up the menu again. It's kinda late… And Ruby hasn't eaten. I should get something for her two. After looking through it again, I decide on getting Ruby the same thing that I got myself. A minute passes before Yang shuts her menu with a light smacking sound. Almost immediately, a waiter comes up to our table.

"Hello ladies, what may I get for you tonight?" He asks in a very obviously fake posh accent. I try my hardest to stifle a giggle and proceed to ordering. Why is he talking like that in a DINER of all places? I realize a more… upstanding restaurant, but not a diner.

"Hi, I'd like to have two orders of the burger with the side of fries, please, one of them in a to go box." I say as I smile. He nods and takes me menu from me and looks at Yang. She looks somewhat surprised by my order.

"Miss, your order?" The waiter asks her, snapping her out of whatever trance she was in. She shakes her head and hands the waiter her menu.

"I'll take the footlong dog topped with chilli and a milkshake." Another nod from the waiter, as he turns around and walks to the counter to put our orders in. Immediately after he leaves, Yang looks me straight in the eyes. "What the hell was that about?"

That catches me off guard. "What? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, you do. That order. I figured you were always one for the salads, and no meats kinda thing. And now you're ordering a burger? And two of them? I guess I'm just surprised by this. Way to surprise me." She compliments, albeit somewhat half-heartedly. I look at her, unsure of what to say. She is right. When I was at this point in my last life, I was very against that. But it's different now.

A few years after we had originally graduated from Beacon, Ruby had taken us as a team to a place with little to no… meat resistant… options on the menu. Eventually, after several tens of minutes of goading, she managed to convince me to have a burger instead of the usual salad with some small pieces of chicken. And it was better than I had thought it would be. I still had salad a lot, but more and more, over the course of the years after that, I started to eat burgers and steaks and the like more. I guess I just didn't expect anyone to notice something that small right now.

"I uh...I was just trying it out. I've been told it could be good, and so I'm going to. And I got this for Ruby because it's late and she hasn't eaten yet either,"

"And who told you that, huh? Ruby? I bet she does have some sway on you…" Yang trails off, a smile on her face to show that she's teasing me just a bit.

"A-actually, no. It may have been told to me by someone else that it would be good, but it was a decision on my own part, actually. I figured I should try something else for once," I explain, not exactly lying, but not exactly telling the truth either. I'm glad that Yang doesn't seem to be in one of her insightful moods right now.

"Huh… Interesting. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about Ruby. More specifically, Ruby and you," She pauses and eyes me, probably waiting for me to respond. Gathering courage to deal with whatever this is despite the nerves wracking my body, I respond to her.

"O-oh, okay, What exactly did you have in mind to talk about? If it's the whole, keep Ruby safe and don't break her heart or I'll break you kind of thing, then didn't we already t-"

"Weiss, Blake told me what she heard earlier today," Yang interrupts. So that WAS what she wanted to talk about… A blush starts to adorn my face as I find it harder to answer her. I hear my heart beating in my ears. I open my mouth to speak, but no sounds come out. A few tries later, I finally get something.

"Oh… That, huh?" I start to avoid meeting Yang's eyes as my mind races. I can feel my face heat up What do I do? What do I tell her? She probably knows that I was making out with her sister on the bed. That's awkward. I don't know what to do.

"Yes, that. Look, Weiss. It's clear that she likes you a lot. And it's clear that you're absolutely head over heels for her. Just… Don't do that kind of stuff where I can walk in on it, okay?" Yang asks, her tone becoming less hostile, and more of a 'level with me' kind of one.

"Wait, what?" I ask, confused. She's not going to go off on me?

"I'd be a hypocrite if I told you or Ruby not to do those sorts of things. I'd just rather not walk into you and Ruby doing that. She's my sister. It's weird. Anyway, that's all I really wanted to say to you. So just… contain yourself while I'm around, and I won't have too many problems, okay?" She smiles at me. Not a cheeky smile, but an actual smile.

I'm glad that went well. A LOT better than I expected.

"You got it, Yang! I can see how that can be awkward. You have my word." I smile back at her. A comfortable silence falls over the table for about ten seconds before our food is placed on the table in front of us. I look around the room, unsure of what to say. This is… very awkward. I'm not sure what else to say after that conversation.

"Enjoy," the waiter says, bowing. He walks away quickly afterwards. I grab ahold of the burger that I ordered and take a bite. It's definitely not the best burger I've ever had, but it's still pretty good. I look up to see Yang stuffing her face with her footlong hot dog.

The rest of the meal passes uneventfully as both of us are too busy eating to hold any decent form of conversation. We both pay our bill and head back to the Dorm, taking the airship once again, and taking Ruby's food with me.