Special Thanks

Xlyra from AO3 helped with storyline development and was one of the people

who helped inspire this story! Thank you so much for the help!

Mikotizini from FF.N helped with the editing of the final draft for chapter 1 and was the other

person whose work inspired me! Thank you as well!

Sky has helped with editing and proofreading the final draft of this chapter!

(Sky is not a fanfiction author, but is an amazing editor!

Make sure to give this great person some extra love!)

Give their works a look! They are truly amazing!

A Painting in the Park

Chapter 4

Weiss heard a knock on the door and had already assumed the worst. It had been a week since the museum opened. And a week is all it would take for her father to send someone to find her. She put on one of her fake, pleasant smiles as she opened the door.

"Hey, Weiss." It was Blake, and her smile almost instantly became real and more relaxed.

"Hello Blake, how are you doing?"

"I'm doing just fine, but I'm more worried about you. I know what it means that the painting showed up and I wanted to see how you were doing." Blake's worry was well placed and so Weiss sighed unhappily.

"Frankly? I've been better. But I've enjoyed my time here and I'm just glad it has lasted this long."

"Well…" Blake hesitated. Hesitation wasn't something that Blake had to deal with often, so it was picked up on quite quickly.

"Is something wrong Blake?"

"No, there's nothing wrong. But I was going to ask if you wanted to meet Yang and her sister before you… well before you get picked up." Weiss knew how important Yang was to Blake, and she was quite happy that she wanted to include her on something like this before she had to leave.

"I would love to meet them. At least I will be able to see who will end up taking care of my best friend when I am no longer around." Weiss offered a sad smile and Blake returned it. They both knew that there wasn't much that they could do about this. Neither of them had the money nor connections anymore.

"Alright. I'll come to pick you up tonight at around 4. Sound good?"

"I could always just drive there myself, you know. That might take less time." Weiss lightly joked, knowing the reason why she was going to pick her up.

"Yes, you could, but I would really appreciate the alone time together. Oum knows we don't have much time left." Weiss hummed at that. She then decided that it was time to move on from these depressing thoughts and onto something happier.

"Would you like to come in for a little while? We can talk about how your books are doing. Or you can tell me a bit more about this 'Yang' girl you're so fond of." Another smile, this one was happier and Blake seemed to appreciate it.

"I would love to, but I can't stay for too long. It's almost noon and I have to go home and start getting ready for my guests. You won't believe how much they can eat." Blake gave off an exasperated sigh, and Weiss decided that she was glad she wasn't the one dating that family.

"Sounds like you have your work cut out for you, doesn't it?" She asked teasingly while leading Blake in towards the kitchen-dining room combination. She started up some coffee for herself and boiled some water for Blakes' tea.

"Oh, you have no idea. I think Yang can eat an entire cow, and her sister is no better. Although she's more into the strawberries, cookies, and other sweets. And pancakes. They're both big suckers for pancakes it turns out." They continued to talk for about a half an hour, before Blake had to leave. Hopefully, nothing would happen in between the hours that Blake was absent, but Weiss' luck might just have something to say about that.

It was a few minutes before Blake was going to pick her up and Weiss was just finishing up getting ready. There wasn't much she could do to get ready though, she wasn't rich anymore and so she didn't have expensive clothes or makeup. But she made do with the basics she had been able to find and afford.

She considered applying some makeup to her scar before quickly rejecting the idea. The scar had grown on her, reminding her of why she left and why she hadn't returned on her own. She quickly thought of putting her hair up but disregarded that idea as well.

Her phone buzzed and when she looked at it she saw it was from Blake. She was letting her know that she was about to pull into the apartment complex she was located at. This prompted a flurry of motion as Weiss hurridly finished applying her makeup and putting on her light spring jacket.

There was a knock on the door right as she was approaching it. She already knew it was likely Blake but she was still nervous at the idea of who it could be. She calmly opened the door anyway.

"I take it you're ready to go Ice Queen?"

"Yes, I am. And I thought I asked you to stop calling me that?" Weiss was well aware of the fact that she only noticed being called 'Ice Queen' half the time it happened, and that she commented on it even less.

"Hmm, yes I do seem to recall that. I also seem to recall telling you that I won't do so." Blake smiled and her eyes had a slight twinkle in them. Weiss rolled her eyes at this and Blake went back to being 'normal'. Whatever that actually entailed.

"Now, let's go. We don't have forever you know." Blake motioned towards the lobby with her head and started walking, Weiss following on her tail. She was excited to meet these two people that were apparently so important to her friend. She was glad that she would at least get to spend one last night with Blake.

"We may not have forever, but we might as well enjoy the time that we do have." Blake looked back at her and gave a small smile to show that she agreed.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." And with that, they arrived at Blake's car and started heading to her apartment. They, of course, talked while they drove, and the time passed by quickly. When they arrived though, Blake had her wait before getting out.

"I'd just like to give you a heads up to how… obnoxious they can be. I'd say it grows on you, but I doubt it's for everyone. Just thought I'd warn you before we head up and I introduce you." Blake laughed quietly at that.

"Wait, are they already up there?"

"Yeah. They arrived right before I left, so I let them in and then I drove to get you. Why?"

"So. Let me get this straight. After everything, you have told me about them… You left them alone and unsupervised in your own house?" She smirks as Blakes' eyes widen at Weiss' words as she practically tears the door off of her own car.

"Smart move Belladonna. Smart move."

"Shut it!" Blake snipped back in annoyance. Weiss only smiled at that and followed her up the stairs. Upon reaching the door Blake fumbled with her keys for a moment before Weiss finally laughed and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sure it is fine. They can not be that bad you know." As Blake regained control of herself and let out a deep breath she turned around to face the silver-haired friend.

"First off, yes they can be. And second off, that never happened." She pointed a finger at Weiss. She knew how much Blake hated losing her composure and so she just smiled. She, of course, wouldn't make any promises though. She wanted to tease the raven-haired girl a bit in front of her girlfriend before she left and this only served to help.

"Alright, well how about you open the door and introduce me to the two lovely girls that are inside?" She said this with as little sarcasm as possible, which might have made Blake even more suspicious if her glare was anything to guess by.

She seemed to eventually get over it though as she turned around and finished unlocking her door and walking in. She took their jackets over to some hooks by the door, before leading the way deeper into the apartment.

"Yang! I'm back. And I brought my friend." There were a few thumps and some scraping around before a tall girl with wild yellow hair scrambled into the room and ran straight for her. She could only think of how this would probably be a better way to die than to return to her father before she was tackled with a world-class hug.

"Hey, there Ice queen! Nice to finally meet you! Name's Yang Xiao Long!" She couldn't breathe very well as Blake pried her from the golden-maned girl's grasp. She heard some footsteps coming from behind Yang but didn't pay it much heed until she heard a voice.

"Yang! What's with all the noise? We're supposed to try not to break Blake's friend!" Weiss looked up as a familiar red-haired girl stepped around Yang.

"Oh! And this here is my baby sis-" She was quickly cut off and confusion sprouted forth.

"Ruby?!"

"Snow? You're Blakes friend?"

"Weiss? You know Ruby?" Weiss' face blanched at Blake calling her by her real name, while Blake quite visibly covered her mouth. They had all but forgotten that she had already been caught.

"Weiss? I thought her name was Snow?" Ruby looked confused. Yang, on the other hand, seemed like everything had started to click into place.

"Weiss… as in Weiss Schnee? The heiress gone missing?"

Weiss and Blake had gone through and explained everything to her and Yang a few times now, and they were obviously getting a bit annoyed. Even upset at her. Although she could understand why, since she had probably screwed up their entire way of life.

"So let me get this straight. You're Weiss Schnee, the heiress to a massive corporation? And you ran away from home. And you've been living here for a few years, building up new a life? And then I came and pretty much just doomed you to go back to a place you've only had nightmares of returning to?"

"I was the heiress. My brother Whitley recently was named as the new heir to the corporation. Other than that little piece of misinformation, you managed to sum it up quite well." Weiss responded quite dryly.

"If it put you in so much 'danger' than why did you let my lil' sis paint you in the first place?" Yang asked in a semi-angry tone. She didn't like it when people pinned all the blame on her sister.

"Oh, believe me, I've been trying to figure that out. And no need to be all haughty and upset. I'm not angry or blaming Ruby. Sure, I'm upset that she decided to put it in the museum of all places, but I'm the one who agreed to be painted."

Yang seemed to visibly relax at that, which seemed to be what Weiss was aiming for. She could certainly tell that Weiss herself was very upset. And not just at her. Blake also seemed to notice this and decided to give them an opportunity to talk a bit more privately.

"Hey, Yang could you help me out in the kitchen? I think we should start getting the food ready." After a suspicious look at Weiss and a glance for confirmation that she'd be okay, Yang agreed to help. This promptly left the two of them alone.

"Look I'm really sorry about all this, I swear I didn't mean for this to happen!" Weiss sighed at this and the energy that was left in her frame seemed to seep out.

"Yes, I can tell that, you dunce. And honestly? I don't want to spend what's most likely my last evening around bickering and blaming each other." Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, something she had noticed Blake also did when Yang got on her nerves. That made her smile a little.

"Well, I mean I'm glad and all that we're not going to argue about this… But I still feel really bad. Are you sure there's nothing that can be done? I could probably get them to take the picture down?"

"It's too late for that. He would've had someone visit the museum on opening night, or at least within the next few days after the opening."

Ruby went quiet. She was a good chunk responsible for this whole mess and she really wanted to make it up to this girl. She was so deep in thought that she nearly missed the words that Weiss said next.

"You know, I've been quite a fan of yours for a while now. I used to go to the park to enjoy your sculptures. I even started to leave notes commenting on what I liked and how they helped brighten my days." Weiss offered up a small smile as Ruby looked at her, quite shocked.

She hadn't just screwed up some random girls life, after all, she had screwed up the hard-won life of her favorite fan. Now she felt even worse. And not just for Weiss, but for herself as well. She would miss the little notes that she would get to read after putting out a sculpture.

"Hey, Weiss?" It was Blake that was calling for her. They shared a look before getting up and joining her in the kitchen. Both Blake and Yang were looking out the window at something.

"What is it, Blake?" Weiss definitely sounded worried as well.

"So… um… when you said that someone would be coming to pick you up… would the car that they arrive in happen to be a fancy black car with a giant white snowflake on it?" It was Yang that asked, as both the girls next to the window moved aside. A now very pale Weiss, even paler than usual, slowly walked up to the window and saw the car.

Ruby followed close behind and saw that there was indeed a car like Yang had described. It was parked in front of the apartment complex, taking up as much space as possible. It seemed that it had been there for a little bit, meaning the occupant was probably already almost here.

As if right on cue, there was knocking at the door. Everyone exchanged a few looks before Blake quickly, but gently, shoved Weiss in Ruby's direction and hushedly spoke.

"Go hide in my room. In the closet, there's a crawl space like area. I actually started renting this specific apartment because it's one of the only ones that has something like this. Thought it might be useful to store… some books… you two should fit though."

Ruby didn't question it as she took hold of Weiss' hand and practically dragged her to the room. She heard Blake approach the door, apologizing for making whoever it was wait. Ruby opened up the small area and pushed the books to the side.

'At least we'll have something to do while we wait?'

She crawled in and made room for Weiss to join her, but when she looked back at her the white-haired girl made no move to come in as well.

"Weiss, come on! You could get out of this whole situation if you just get in here!" Ruby hissed this out and grabbed the girls hand and tugged her down. Thankfully she didn't offer too much resistance, although she did whisper out a reply.

"This won't stop him from finding us. He probably has access to room design plans. And if he finds the two of us in here together…" She trailed off and Ruby guided her in anyway.

"Doesn't matter. We're at least going to try."

Weiss sighed and compiled. She crawled in and squished herself up next to Ruby, who wasn't bothered in the slightest by the close proximity. They moved around for a bit until they were comfortable, at which point Ruby grabbed one of the books and held it in front of them.

"We don't know how long this will be so at least we have something to read?"

"Ruby… I really don't think we want to be reading these books." Weiss whispered while closely inspecting some of the books that surrounded them, using the light from their phones in order to read the titles and descriptions.

"Why's that? Books are great!" Ruby quietly exclaimed this as she brought the book closer, although it couldn't really get much closer if she was honest. She quickly read the title.

'Ninja's of Love Book 3: A Forbidden Love, in a Forbidden Place'

A quick look at the description and she was 'throwing' the book away from her, much to the amusement of Weiss. She had been right, Ruby wanted nothing to do with any of the books in here. No wonder they were hidden away from the light of day.

"I told you we wouldn't want to be reading these books. It looks like they're all… inappropriate… to say the least." Weiss quietly laughed at that. And Ruby had to admit that she enjoyed the sound.

"Alright, you were right! But now what are we going to do? We could be in here for a while."

Weiss had a thoughtful look on her face when the hidden door was pounded on none too gently, making both girls jump about as much as they could in the small space.

"Weiss Schnee! Ruby Rose! Open up and get out here." The voice wasn't necessarily loud, but it certainly was demanding.

A/N:

Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas?

Put them in the comments!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Because I enjoyed not knowing

what the heck I'm doing anymore! ^_^

(JK I have a general idea of what I'm doing)