The ceiling had definitely seen better days. There were cracks everywhere, running into each other and forming a hopelessly tangled web of damage. Some parts had the paint chipped off entirely, exposing the drywall underneath. Overall, it was pretty standard for an older apartment building like this one. It really wasn't very interesting. But Blake had been staring at it for the past half an hour. She was leaning back into her couch cushions, head back so she had a direct view of the ceiling.
Blake's phone buzzed. She closed her eyes. It was definitely an asshole move for her to ignore Yang like this. And she hadn't even been able to get herself to the debate last night. All because of Adam. Blake's phone buzzed again and she clenched her fists. How smug would he be, knowing that he was right all along? Nobody would ever love her, not in the least because she was incapable of-
Her phone started screaming out some alternative rock song, and Blake jolted out of her stupor. Blake stared at the offending device for a second. Why was Ruby calling her? She warily picked up the phone and accepted the call.
"...Hello?"
"Hi Blake! Do you mind, um, opening the door?"
"Don't phrase it as a question!" Weiss' voice was muffled but instantly recognizable.
"Are you two...at my apartment?" Blake was really regretting picking up her phone.
"Can you please let us in? Give us like, 10 minutes to talk, okay?"
"Fine." Blake wasn't in the mood to protest. She buzzed them in, and a moment later heard a knock at the door. Blake pulled it open about a foot and regarded them. Ruby looked awkward. Weiss mostly looked pissed. She was also wearing a freshly pressed white and gray skirt suit and heels, Blake assumed for some sort of meeting. Ruby on the other hand was wearing jeans and a hoodie with a puppy on it. It was almost funny to look at them side by side, but Blake was obviously not about to make a joke.
"What is it? I don't work for your sister anymore." Blake couldn't bring herself to say her name.
"I know! We're here as your friends," Ruby replied. She smiled and stepped closer to the door.
"Are you really not going to let us in?" Weiss asked, crossing her arms. Her eyebrows were at their "irritated but not quite ready to punch you" angle.
"Um-you don't have to if you don't want to!" Ruby broke in, earning herself a look from Weiss.
Blake sighed deeply. "Fine." She stepped back and pulled the door open for them.
"Okay, um, so, I'm reaaally trying not to get in your business...but I think that you should talk to Yang," Ruby said once they were all inside. It looked like she had gone with the rip-off-the-bandaid approach.
"As insufferable as the two of you are, you're less insufferable together," Weiss added, haughty as always.
"Is this an intervention or something?" Blake raised an eyebrow.
"Sorta," Ruby admitted. "We just want you guys to be happy, seriously! But you have to talk."
Blake frowned and said nothing.
"What exactly are you trying to accomplish by rebuffing her and cutting yourself off from everybody?" Weiss looked like she was trying to get hell to freeze over with her glare.
"This tag team thing you're doing is awful," Blake grumbled, looking away and crossing her arms. She paused for a long second. "I...I can't face her right now. It would be better if she forgets about me."
Weiss scoffed while Ruby made a concerned squeaking noise. "What do you mean, Blake?"
"I mean she deserves better than this. I can't even be honest with her, and all this baggage, I..." Blake gestured vaguely. "She shouldn't have to deal with it on top of everything else."
"Oh my god, shut up." Weiss was suddenly in her personal space. But her voice softened as she continued. "Do you really think you're being self-sacrificing?"
"More like self-sabotaging," Ruby chimed in.
Blake groaned. "What show did you two watch that caused this good-cop/bad-cop routine?"
"Stop deflecting," Weiss huffed.
Blake narrowed her eyes. "What do you want? You don't even know what we fought about, so please stay out of it." She opened the door so that they could leave.
"You know that Yang isn't stupid, right?" Weiss wasn't going to leave without a fight apparently. "She told Ruby about your argument, and Ruby told me."
"Sounds like a great game of telephone," Blake quipped.
Ruby giggled for a half second before a withering look from Weiss shut her up fast.
"She's not stupid," Weiss repeated. "Blake, she knows about who he is. Or at least has a very good guess." All of a sudden Blake desperately wanted to run out the door, down the street, maybe leave the country.
"I get it. I really do." Weiss' voice got softer. "I know it seems easier to avoid attachments, to not trust anyone. But you can't run away from this forever."
"It's not that I don't want to trust her," Blake said just as quietly. "It's that she shouldn't trust me. I'm a liability."
"He really got in your head, didn't he?" Ruby moved closer and slowly put a hand on Blake's arm, giving her plenty of time to pull away if she wanted to.
Blake closed her eyes, trying to make sense of what was going on inside her right now. She wanted to run. Or maybe she wanted to cry. Or maybe what she really wanted was one of those Yang hugs, where her arms wrapped around her whole body, and her face rested against Yang's neck, and she could smell her hair...
"I have to go to my meeting," Weiss muttered, checking her wristwatch. "Ruby, please get her to meet Yang. Or at least...leave the house." Ruby nodded vigorously.
"We'll be fine over here," she gave Blake a smile, which wasn't even sort of returned. "Good luck, Weissy!"
"Uh-" Weiss blushed. She actually looked caught off guard for a second. "Don't call me that!" But she gave Ruby a quick kiss anyway. "Talk to Yang," she stated firmly, looking Blake directly in the eye. Then she was gone, pulling the door shut behind her.
Blake eyed Ruby uncomfortably. "You can go, Ruby."
"Mm, I've been told not to leave you alone. Yang and Weiss are officially presenting the factory proposal to the board right now, so I'm supposed to convince you to come meet them afterward."
Blake's mouth was hanging open slightly. "Whose plan was this?"
"It was a group effort," Ruby replied with a smile. She plopped down on the couch and made herself comfortable. "Look, I know we're interfering, and I get that you don't like that." She tapped the cushion next to her. "But why don't we talk for a bit? It'll make you feel better, I promise."
"I'm not so sure about that," Blake said. Regardless, she accepted the invitation and sank down onto the couch beside Ruby.
But amazingly, Ruby didn't ask any more awkward prying questions. She just sat there, humming to herself, and flipped through one of the books on Blake's coffee table.
"Blake, you mind if I borrow this?" she asked after 5 minutes of silence, holding up the novel.
"...What do you want?" It was a rude question, but in her defense Blake really wanted to be left alone right now.
"Uh...to borrow this..." Ruby looked genuinely confused. Blake sighed deeply.
The Schnee Company headquarters were formidable to say the least. From the outside, the enormous, strikingly white building looked intimidating enough, and then on top of that was the pristine rat maze inside - composed of more hallways, rooms, and offices than Yang could handle. It had taken her nearly 20 minutes to finally find the board room where Weiss would have to present the new factory proposal.
"Finally! The meeting starts in two minutes, you know," Weiss said sharply as soon as Yang rounded the corner.
Yang gave her a wide grin. "Nice to see you too, Weissy."
"What the - you people need to stop calling me that!" Her face was rapidly turning red. Yang raised an eyebrow. "Shut up, let's go in. I hope you're prepared for this."
"Born ready," Yang replied, straightening her tie and winking.
Weiss rolled her eyes and turned to enter the board room. Then she stopped, and immediately turned back to fix Yang with an intense stare. "Are you okay?"
Yang's smile dropped off her face, mostly from surprise. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine."
"You're acting too confident, like you're covering things up. You...don't have to do that around me." Weiss spoke hesitantly, like she wasn't sure why she was saying anything.
"Oh...thanks." Yang gave her a softer smile. "But we're here for you. And I really do feel confident! These guys would be idiots not to agree to the proposal."
"I suppose you're right," Weiss replied, although she still looked apprehensive. And with that they made their way into the room.
Weiss took her spot at the front, next to a large screen, while Yang stood out of the way to her right. She was only here to support Weiss, not to actually present anything. The 13 members of the Schnee Company board sat around an oval-shaped table in the center of the room. Some of them looked so ancient that Yang wondered if they were going to make it through the presentation without spontaneously crumbling into dust. They were perusing the packets that Weiss and Yang had prepared, and only a few of them looked miffed about changing the factory plans. For most, Yang could almost see the gears in their heads turning as they tried to figure out which vote would get them the biggest profit.
Weiss calmly pulled up her presentation, although Yang could see her fingers shaking very slightly. Yang caught her eye and nodded in a way that she hoped was reassuring. Weiss straightened up again and lightly cleared her throat. The gathered board members stopped flipping pages and the room was suddenly enveloped in an almost eerie silence.
"Good afternoon, and thank you for-"
The door to the board room swung open with so much force that it slammed back into the wall. Yang, who was standing right next to it, jumped about a foot in the air. In the doorway was the asshole himself, Jacques Schnee. Weiss looked at him, a mixture of fear and anger clearly visible on her face for a fraction of a second before she covered it with a neutral expression.
"Father, I-"
"Well I certainly hope I'm not interrupting," Jacques said. His voice was calm and controlled, but also somehow sinister. "By all means, Weiss, continue." He gave her a fake smile and meandered to the head of the table, where he sat down.
"Um, I..." Weiss looked completely off balance, her eyes flickering over to her father every couple seconds. Yang didn't hesitate. She stepped forward from her position to stand beside Weiss and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it briefly.
"Thank you all for your attention, and for reading through our packets!" Yang grinned at the group. One woman gave her an awkward, close-lipped smile, which Yang took as a victory. "I'm Councilwoman Yang Xiao Long, and I've been helping Ms. Schnee develop this alternative proposal. I can assure you that the Schnee Company has my full support, and that the government of Vale will work alongside your company to make this proposal a reality. And without further ado, Ms. Schnee will now go over the details of her plan and timeline for factory construction with all of you."
Weiss, who had been taking long, deep breaths throughout the speech, gave Yang a quick look of gratitude.
"I have a question," Jacques said before Weiss could begin again. "Why exactly is a non-Schnee Company employee in this room? In the interest of security, I think it would be advisable for your...friend...to wait outside."
Yang glared at him. "With all due respect sir, I'm here on invitation from the CEO of the Schnee Company."
Jacques didn't even look at her, addressing the board instead. "What do you all think? Is it acceptable for an outsider to be privy to this important, confidential company business?" The board members immediately started grumbling their discontent while Yang suppressed a groan.
"Are you serious with this?" she demanded, ready to bite Jacques' head off. He was obviously trying to isolate Weiss, and she wasn't about to let him do it that easily.
"Yang, go into the hallway."
"But Weiss-"
"Yang. Wait out there." Weiss looked Yang directly in the eye, silently willing her to go quietly. "I can handle this." Yang searched her face for a moment. It was calm and resolute, all trace of fear gone. Yang sighed and left the room, trying to ignore the smug look on Jacques' face.
"Adam is my ex."
The top of Ruby's head popped out from behind the book. She had been laying back on the couch, her feet in Blake's lap. Now she sat up, swinging her feet around to the floor and putting the book down on a side table.
Blake lowered her own book slowly. "It wasn't a good relationship."
Ruby nodded but didn't say anything, waiting for her to continue. Blake paused. She wasn't sure why she was even talking right now. They had been reading in silence for a while, perfectly at peace with each other and the world. And here she was shattering that peace. But now that she had started, it felt impossible to stop.
"But he never...you know."
Ruby nodded again. She scooted a little closer on the couch, still leaving a respectful distance between them.
"Even still, I never felt fully safe around him." She took a deep breath. "There are things people can do, to make you forget who you are, to stop you from trusting anyone else...Some people can do that without having to ever lay a hand on you. And-and when you see those people again, it all comes back and..." Blake trailed off.
"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Blake. But I do think that you should tell Yang this." Ruby was trying to make eye contact, but Blake refused to meet her gaze. She didn't want to see the pity.
"Yang has more important things to worry about.."
"That isn't true even a little bit," Ruby replied. Blake could hear the pout in her voice even without looking at her. Blake ignored her comment
"He told me that nobody would ever love me like he did. That there was no way I could ever be happy without him- that we belonged together."
"And what did you say?" Ruby was listening with rapt attention.
"I told him to get out. And that's when he promised that he would destroy everything that I love..." Blake felt tears pricking at the corners of her eyes.
"That douchebag!" For the first time since Blake had known her, Ruby actually sounded angry. "You don't think he would actually hurt you or Yang, right?"
Blake shook her head uselessly. "I don't know...I don't know." She sighed and looked over at Ruby. "But I know that Yang doesn't deserve this, and I know she's safer if she stays far away from me."
Ruby made a sort of high-pitched, indignant scoffing noise. "B-but Blake! She doesn't deserve being suddenly cut out of your life either!"
Blake buried her face in her hands. "You're right. And...I do miss her." Her voice came out muffled and strained. "But I-I was so awful to her. She probably doesn't even want to talk to me - and she shouldn't!"
"Blaaaaake, come ON." Ruby bumped their shoulders together. "If you think she doesn't want to talk to you, then you're crazy! And if she wants to talk to you, and you want to talk to her - then what're you guys waiting for?"
Blake hesitated. "But...Adam-"
"Can't hurt you anymore," Ruby cut in. "None of us will let him, least of all Yang. C'mooooon, it's just one conversation! One little talk wouldn't be a problem, right?"
"I..." Blake raised her head from her hands and stared intently at Ruby. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?" Ruby gave her a perfectly innocent smile.
Yang tapped her fingers together anxiously. She had paced back and forth along the hallway so many times over the course of the board meeting that she was sure her shoes had left imprints on the floor. It was taking all of her self-control to stop herself from standing right next to the door to listen, but she knew it wouldn't go over well if Jacques opened it and found her there. So instead, she paced over and over, tapping her fingers against her leg, or her face, or each other. If only she hadn't broken that pen...
"Hurry up," Yang muttered, checking the time yet again. They had been in there for over an hour and a half.
Finally (finally!) the door opened, and the Schnee board members filed out, murmuring quietly to one another. A few of them glanced over at Yang, but their expressions told her nothing about what had occurred. Yang waited impatiently, tapping her right foot rapidly, for Weiss to exit the room. Only she didn't. The door swung shut behind the last board member with no sign of Weiss or her father.
Yang couldn't take it anymore. She furtively approached the board room door, then gingerly pressed her ear against it. She couldn't make out any words, but it sounded like Jacques was yelling, or at least sternly reprimanding someone. Yang gritted her teeth and grabbed the door handle.
"-completely idiotic!"
Jacques turned at the sound of the door opening, his eyes narrowing. "Who the hell invited you back inside?" He spat at Yang. Weiss, who had been staring down at the floor, looked up at Yang with wide eyes.
"I was only wondering what the results of the vote were, Mr. Schnee," Yang said, keeping her tone and body language completely cordial.
"Thanks to you and my brain dead daughter here, that idiotic proposal of yours actually passed." Jacques' lip curled up in disgust.
"That's great news!" Yang sent a beaming smile in Weiss' direction.
"Don't take this as cause for celebration."
"Ooh, I'm not sure how else to take it though," Yang replied, flooded with relief and sheer joy. She had to stop herself from laughing out loud.
Jacques was unamused. "Weiss has proven to be incapable of effectively leading the Schnee Company. I will be taking over shortly, at which point the decision will be reversed."
This time Yang actually did laugh. "Are you crazy? Weiss is doing an EXCELLENT job as CEO, and I bet your board members feel the same. In just a few months she's demonstrated more dedication, integrity, and responsibility than you could dream of!"
Yang locked eyes with Weiss, who looked like she simultaneously wanted Yang to shut up and to keep talking forever. Yang raised her eyebrows and gave her an easy smile.
"Your impudence is staggering," Jacques growled. "There's still time for me to make a sizable donation to the Black campaign, you know."
"Weiss, let's get outta here and celebrate. You did amazing," Yang said, shrugging off Jacques' comment and focusing on his daughter instead.
"Thanks Yang." Weiss smiled back at her and also opted to ignore Jacques - at least, until he blocked her path to the door and grabbed her shoulder in a vice-like grip.
"Excuse me! We aren't finished with our discussion." The way he said 'discussion' was dripping with menace, indicating that it would be anything but a civil conversation. Yang's smile morphed into a scowl as she started towards them.
"Get your filthy hand off her, Jacque-ass!"
"Oh my god..." Weiss whispered under her breath, looking up at the ceiling as if praying for strength. Although she was also clearly fighting back a laugh.
"What did you just call me?" Jacques turned back to Yang, dropping his hand from Weiss' shoulder. "I'm calling security - and you can count on the Schnee Company opposing the rest of your campaign at EVERY TURN, let me assure you!" He reached out for the conference table phone, but Weiss got there first.
"Actually, Father, the Schnee Company will be officially endorsing Yang Xiao Long for mayor effective tomorrow morning." She kept her hand firmly on the phone receiver to prevent Jacques from picking it up, looking him directly in the eye. "And I would recommend not calling security on my friends."
Jacques glanced between the two of them. He seemed to sense a shift in the power dynamics of the room, and he clearly wasn't liking it. "You stupid girl. You're destroying my legacy! Destroying MY company!"
"It's not yours," Weiss said, straightening her spine to stand as tall as she could. "It's MINE."
Yang smiled wildly, about two seconds away from bursting into applause.
"You..I'll..." Jacques sputtered for a moment, then paused and cleared his throat. He gave Weiss another sneer.
"Listen, you insolent child. Being CEO of the Schnee Company is not a walk in the park like you seem to think. And when you become overwhelmed with this job, know that you will get absolutely nothing from me," he said, before dramatically storming out of the room and slamming the door shut.
"Good," Weiss muttered after him. There was silence for five seconds as they both listened to the sounds of his footsteps receding down the hallway.
"Well, that was a thing," Yang stated with a grin.
Weiss turned to her and, with all the lightness and delicacy of a freight train, lunged forward to wrap her arms around Yang's neck in a tight hug.
Yang was caught off guard, but only for a second. Her arms reflexively moved around Weiss' waist to return the embrace. Then she laughed and swung Weiss off the floor in a circle.
"AH - unhand me!" Weiss yelped, squirming a little.
Yang laughed again but set her back down. "What? That's my patent-pending Yang Xiao Long bear hug! Ruby loves it."
"Hmph, I'm not surprised."
"You know, it's hard to pretend that you're really annoyed when you're smiling like that," Yang said, giving Weiss one of her own wide smiles.
Weiss looked flustered. "If you're just about done, we have somewhere to be."
"Huh? Where are we going?" Yang cocked her head and raised an eyebrow.
"Downstairs." That was the only response Weiss gave, preferring to remain cryptic. Yang shrugged and accepted her fate, silently following Weiss out of the room and through the maze of hallways, which suddenly seemed far less intimidating than before.
They took a spotless glass elevator down to the ground floor, then walked across perfect white tiling to some back entrance.
"Here we are." Weiss led Yang through the door into a small outdoor area.
"Oh...oh, shit." They were in a cute little courtyard area, surrounded on three sides by the Schnee headquarters. There was a small man-made pond in the center, circled by a cobblestone path and lots of foliage. A few benches along the path gave views of the water. It was a really nice spot, but that wasn't why Yang's heart had kicked into overdrive, or why her legs were starting to shake under her weight. All of that was because of the person standing to the side of the pond, staring back at her just as anxiously.
"Hi Yang," Blake said, a slight tremble evident in her voice. "Can we talk?"
AN: Some certain individuals are gonna have a CHAT :3
Sorry this is like a week late - my semester started about a week ago so things have been pretty crazy. But hey we're really close to the end here (3 chapters left!) so I'm gonna do my best to avoid any more long gaps. To anyone else who started school recently: have a great semester! (((remember to prioritize your health over academics always)))
Thank you all so much for reading! Drop a review if you have some time :)