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 10

3:46

Weiss sighed and put her phone away, quickly realizing that she had arrived early and that she would probably have to wait for a bit. She was supposed to meet Ruby at the park at 4 pm so she was a bit early. But maybe Ruby would show up early too and Weiss didn't want Ruby to have to wait for her. She would much rather be the one waiting.

Weiss quickly decided to walk over and sit in the same place where they had first met each other. A small smile graced her lips as she neared the area. A quick walking lady intercepted her, causing them to run into each other. Weiss fell over, a bit shocked but quickly recovering.

"Oh! My apologies! I didn't mean to run into you! Are you okay?" The lady that ran into her knelt down and offered up a hand to help. Weiss took it and gave a small smile, noticing the girl's short green hair.

"Do not worry about it. Accidents happen, do they not?" Weiss replied. The other woman returned the smile before looking at her phone. Her eyes widened and she turned to run off. As she left she turned back with a barely visible smirk on her face.

"Sorry again! But I really must go elsewhere!" The woman cries out behind her. Weiss' brow furrowed, something was bothering her about the lady that she had just run into. She sighed, deciding to ignore it and instead pulled out her phone once more.

3:52

Weiss sighed again, as she still had a few minutes left before Ruby was supposed to arrive. She suddenly stiffened up, feeling a presence over her shoulder. With wide eyes, she turned her head to look at who it was. A smile came to her lips when she saw Ruby staring forward intently. She stifled a giggle.

"Ruby? What are you doing?" Ruby's intensity faded as she glanced towards Weiss, a smile shining brightly for everyone to see. Her eyes looked bright and happy.

"Well, you were staring over there so I thought I'd see if I could figure out what was so interesting." Ruby replied proudly. Weiss couldn't hold it back anymore and finally letting out a happy laugh. The only response that Ruby had to the laughter was an even wider smile and a small giggle of her own.

"It was nothing. I was just waiting for you and Zwei to get here. Speaking of the little devil, where is he?" Weiss replied after calming herself down a bit. She then proceeded to scan the park excitedly until she felt something against her leg. As she looked down she saw Zwei sitting at her feet, pawing her leg. After their eyes met, Zwei let out a happy little bark that made Weiss fall to her knees and fawn over the pup.

Weiss heard Ruby mumble to herself. She didn't hear exactly what the other girl said, but her voice almost sounded… jealous. Which is preposterous since Ruby has absolutely nothing to be jealous about. Right? Weiss was suddenly feeling a bit guilty, embarrassed, and… nervous?

She pushed these feelings down before they overwhelmed her. After all, these feelings were ludicrous. Weiss was only spending time with her new friend Ruby. Although, she absolutely loved doing so, even if they hadn't known each other for very long.

"Weissssssss. You in there? Helloooooo?" Ruby tapped her finger on Weiss' head. Her eyes went wide as she toppled backward onto the ground, much to Ruby's amusement. Weiss crossed her arms and pouted, showing her obvious discontent at being laughed at.

"Yes, Ruby? What is it?" Weiss asked, a smile threatening to ruin her pout. Oum, it was hard to be unhappy with this girl, pretend or not.

"You started staring off again. And in the middle of petting Zwei too." Ruby stuck her tongue out at Weiss but quickly put on a worried face. Weiss, on the other hand, instantly lost her pout and instead had a small smile on her face. She was… pleased that Ruby cared enough to worry, but her being worried would not do.

"I was just thinking about things Ruby. I figured it out now though, I think." Weiss held out her hand, making it obvious that she'd like some help rising. Ruby gave a soft smile once more and helped her up.

"You sure, Weiss? If you ever need to talk about anything you can always talk to me. I won't ever judge! Promise!" Ruby's smile once more grew to be full-fledged and sun-rivaling bright. Weiss blushed a bit. She was touched that Ruby was willing to do that but Weiss herself wasn't quite willing to admit that what she had been thinking about had been them. The thought alone embarrassed her.

"Thank you, Ruby. That really means a lot to me, you know?" Weiss stepped a bit closer to Ruby and gave her a nervous hug. It wasn't something she did often, but she deemed now to be a good time for one. Especially after what Ruby said. Ruby's smile looked painful with how wide it had grown, and she eagerly returned Weiss' hesitant hug.

"Of course! Oh and by the way…" Ruby pulled away from the hug before leaning just barely close enough for Weiss to hear her whisper.

"You're actually kinda cute when you try and pout." Ruby gave a wink before stepping around the now blushing Weiss.

"C'mon Zwei! Let's get your walk started!" Ruby started walking and Zwei barked before following. Weiss, still visibly blushing, turned and started following. For the first couple of minutes, they walked together in near silence. Ruby had started humming a little while back and Weiss found it to be enjoyable to listen to.

"So Ruby… I take it you are working on a new project already? You always seem to be working on something new." Weiss said as an attempt to start some conversation. She had never been the biggest talker but around Ruby, she actually enjoyed it quite a bit.

"Oh yeah! I'm working on something really cool right now! But… uh, I can't really tell you about it. This one is supposed to be a surprise." Ruby giggled for a moment before her eyes went wide.

"No, Zwei! Don't do that! Bad dog!" Weiss turned around and saw Zwei had been about to pee on a poor soul that was busy on the phone and hadn't noticed him. Her own eyes widened and she reached out a hand, only to bring it back when she realized that she couldn't do anything without alerting the man to the impending disaster.

"Ruby! Do something! Call him over with a whistle or something! Dogs respond to that kinda stuff right?! Right?" Weiss hissed to Ruby, trying to sound dangerous and upset but coming off sounding more desperate than anything. Ruby quickly nodded in response and whistled loudly.

"Zwei! Here boy!" Zwei instantly stopped what he was about to do and ran over to Ruby. Weiss was relieved. But that didn't last long when she saw that the man had noticed what had almost happened. He sent a scowl their direction before briskly walking away.

"That silver haired dude did not look too happy about that, now did he Ruby?" Weiss asked with a slight giggle. Ruby laughed happily in reply, not the least bit worried about the upset man. After all, they did manage to stop Zwei in time so no harm was done.

"He really didn't. But I'm not too worried about that. What I am worried about is this little jerk and what made him think it was a good idea to try a stunt like that." Ruby said, poking the dog with the tip of her foot. Zwei only barked happily before running off again. Thankfully he stayed closer this time though.

"Does he do that sort of thing often?" Weiss hoped the answer was no, but she wanted to make sure. After all, it would be good to know if her… friends dog had a habit of going around attempting to urinate on people.

"Nah, he's usually much more mindful of how he acts. He must have not liked him or something." Ruby explained.

"Well that is good I suppose. But anyways, let us get back on topic. Why is this project oh so top secret, hmm?" Weiss pestered. She enjoyed teasing Ruby and she honestly wasn't worried about what it really was as most of Ruby's projects were a surprise. She didn't expect Ruby become so bright and start stuttering so much though.

"W-w-well, actually… it's, um, something special that I've been working on for a little while. I only recently decided to work on finishing it." Ruby replied while fiddling with the hem of her shirt. Weiss giggled happily at the sight, believing that what she was seeing was quite possibly one of the most adorable things she had seen.

'Wait, what?'

Weiss shook her head in order to clear her thoughts. She believed that she had a good idea as to what all this meant, although she didn't really want to admit it quite yet. Ruby cleared her throat and started walking again. Weiss quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind.

Weiss didn't really know what to say now. She was still kind of new to this whole being social thing and she was hoping that Ruby would speak up. Instead of saying something though Ruby started humming again. Weiss decided to enjoy it instead of worrying and soon enough she was humming along with her, much to Ruby's obvious amusement.

As soon as the other girl noticed her face had lit up in order to brighten the world. After a few moments though she took a few quick steps forward and turned around so she was walking backward. They continued to happily hum together for a little while before they finally started giggling.

After that, they fell into a warm and comfortable conversation as they continued their walk through the park. A happy little dog constantly running circles around them. They didn't go their separate ways for another few hours, much to the enjoyment of the said dog. And much to the annoyance of two certain people that they would occasionally encounter.

Ruby quietly closed the door behind her as she entered her apartment with Zwei. After throwing a quick glance around the house, she noticed that something had happened while she was gone. And judging by the discarded clothes all around the house, she really didn't want to know the details.

Ruby sighed but retained the joyous smile that hadn't left her face since she had walked up to Weiss earlier today. But she knew how Yang was and she couldn't be trusted to discern between the two bedrooms in the apartment. If what she was thinking happened, then Yang and Blake were as likely to be in her room as they were to be in Yang's.

Ruby walked to the one room she knew would be safe to go to. She quickly entered her workroom and sat at her desk. After leaning back and relaxing for a few minutes Ruby sighs and pulls off the necklace she wears under her clothes. Her smile softened as she looked at the crystalized flower petal.

Ruby sat for a little while before finally moving once more. She put the necklace back on and pulled out a carved rose. About a week ago she had found the inspiration needed to continue this project. She had also had an amazing idea as to how she wanted to finish this as well.

Ruby pulled at a string coming out of the top and half of the carved rose bloomed. Ruby smiled proudly. She had never tried something like this before but she was determined to make this work. So she started working once more.

Ruby worked on this project diligently for a good hour when she received a message. She heard the buzz of her phone but decided that it could wait for a few minutes. After finishing the petal she was working on, she set the whole thing down and pulled her phone out and checked it. She was pleasantly surprised to see a message from Weiss, thinking that she would be asleep by now since it was almost 9:30.

'Hey, Ruby. I was wondering if you were still awake?'

Her response was quickly decided upon, opting for simply saying she was. She set her phone down and was considering working on the rose more but that thought was dispelled when Weiss' response came moments after her own. Ruby decided that her project could wait for now and so packed everything up before checking and replying to Weiss.

'Good. I am glad I managed to catch you before you went to sleep. I actually had a question I wanted to ask you.'

That got Ruby's attention quite quickly and so she quickly responded that she was willing to answer her question. She started to get a little nervous as to what the question would be when Weiss hadn't responded after a good amount of time. She felt relieved when it finally arrived.

'So, I was wondering if you would like to come over this weekend? If you are free of course.'

Ruby stared at her phone in shock. She hadn't been expecting Weiss to invite her over any time soon. Although she'd be lying if she said she wasn't happy with this request, even if it did seem to have been hesitantly made. After a minute or two passed, Ruby's shocked face faded and a smile grew on her face. There was only one good answer for something like this.

'Of course I would Weiss! I would absolutely love to come over! What time and day?'

Ruby was ecstatic as she waited for a response. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long before Weiss replied. In fact, she got an answer so quickly that it almost seemed like Weiss had already typed the details up. The thought made Ruby happy because that meant Weiss would be just as excited for her to come over. Or so she hoped.

'How about you come over on say, Saturday? Noon maybe? We could have lunch together.'

That plan sounded absolutely wonderful to Ruby, and she quickly let Weiss know that she loved the sound of it and that she would definitely be there. Ruby's smile was bright as she walked to her room. That smile dropped however when she walked into her room and almost gagged at the sight that greeted her, having completely forgotten about Yang's… evening plans.

The weekend had finally arrived and Ruby was nearly skipping for joy as she approached Weiss' apartment building. The building itself was nice but not overly impressive and she looked around, drinking in every detail possible while she walked by. Ruby was so engrossed in her observation that she nearly walked right passed Weiss' door, only noticing it as she was about to step past.

Suddenly, Ruby felt very nervous. She knew that Weiss had invited her over and that she wanted her here, but that did nothing to help calm her. After a few minutes, she managed to gather herself enough to put on her best smile and raise a hand to knock on the door. Her face turned to shock as the door opened before she even had the chance to actually do anything more.

"Uh… Hey Weiss." Ruby said sheepishly, retracting her hand and rubbing her neck in slight embarrassment.

"Hello, Ruby. I apologize for that, I had come over and saw you through the peephole and…" Weiss let her voice trail off, quite visibly embarrassed as well. Ruby's own embarrassment lessened as she had the brilliant idea to attempt and tease the other girl.

"Well if I didn't know better I would think that you were nervously waiting for me, Weiss." Ruby said while giving the girl a wink. She found quite a bit of joy when she realized that she was correct. Weiss had been waiting for her nervously. The lack of answer and the way Weiss haughtily turned around and walked back into her room only furthered the revelation.

"I was doing no such thing." Weiss finally responded with a struggle. She crossed her arms when she reached inside and turned to face Ruby once more, who hadn't crossed into the room yet. Weiss' eyebrows stitched together for a moment before she spoke next.

"Well, are you coming inside or not?" She asked in a slightly concerned tone as if she was nervous that Ruby would actually turn away and leave. Ruby would happily make those doubts disappear. With a smile on her face, Ruby stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

"Of course I'm coming in. Unless you'd like me to go back home?" Ruby gave off a fake sigh and a look of utter sadness. She slowly started to turn back towards the door.

"I suppose that wouldn't be too difficult to do…" Ruby started, a small smirk appearing as she saw the alarmed look Weiss had from the corner of her eyes. She didn't expect Weiss to tackle her though. And so she crashed to the ground when Weiss did so.

Ruby vaguely thought that Weiss was acting a bit weird. Although that thought also went out the window when she noticed how they were laying on the ground. Her face turned bright red and Weiss seemed to notice this as she looked down. Her own eyes widened and she scrambled up.

"I-I-I am so sorry. I was going to say that I did not want you to leave as you had just gotten here… I did not mean for us to… end up in that position." Weiss said quietly, face nearly glowing from embarrassment. Ruby smiled and gave her a hug to let her know it was fine.

"Hey don't worry about that. I was kidding anyways so I honestly probably deserved that."

'Not that I minded though… After all, it was a kinda nice view…'

Ruby shook her head to clear those thoughts as she released Weiss once more. The other girl seemed to have recovered her composure and looked like she was acting normal once more as well. Although Ruby decided to keep out just in case something came up.

"Well please do not joke about that. I do not have a lot of friends and it is a bit… painful to hear them talking about leaving." Ruby didn't think that was the whole truth but decided to accept the answer. For now anyway.

"You don't have to worry about me leaving Weiss! I'm here to stay!" Ruby said jovially while shooting a wide smile at the other girl. It seemed to work as she gained a smile in return.

"Good. Now, how about some lunch?" Weiss asked. Ruby's eyes grew wide and she started to practically drool. She was definitely hungry, although she was always hungry. And based on Weiss' growing smirk, the other girl knew that too.

"Yes, please! I'm starving!" Weiss snickered at the response, covering her mouth in an attempt to stifle it. Ruby heard it of course, and so in response to the Weiss' laughing, she decided to pull out her greatest weapon.

Weiss' laughing cut short with a hiccup as her eyes went wide at the sight before her. Ruby had decided to start pouting, and she knew that most people couldn't handle the saddening face that she had perfected long ago. Weiss let out a choking sound before turning away.

When this finally happened, Ruby's fact finally broke out into a great big grin. When Weiss finally looked back she saw the grin and put on a scowl, one that Ruby knew she didn't really mean. Kind of like her little pouting trick.

"That really is not fair, you know that…?" Weiss grumbled to Ruby before turning and promptly sitting on her couch. Conveniently forgetting about the lunch she had offered, Ruby quickly noted. She was about to bring it up but when she saw the book Weiss had on the stand next to him she started jumping excitedly.

"Weissssssss! Is that Blake's newest book? The one that she hasn't released yet?" Ruby's eyes sparkled. She had really gotten into Blake's writing lately.

"I suppose it would be. I do not see why you are surprised that I have it, considering that I am her editor." Weiss replied with a smile at Ruby's antics.

"I mean… I guess you're right hehe. But what is it about? I'm really excited to see what it's about."

"It's a love story, one about two girls that fall in love and persevere through trials that they come across despite the fact that the reality they live in requires them to fight for their lives constantly." Weiss tried to summarize the story without spoiling anything.

"So it's a gay love story in a dangerous world where they constantly risk their lives…?" Ruby ventured cautiously. Now that it came up, Ruby really wanted to know what Weiss thought about gay relationships. Weiss nodded and smiled at Ruby's quick summary.

"That is correct."

"And how do you feel about the story? And does the relationship that the two girls share bother you at all?" Ruby decided to ask it bluntly, something that she had picked up from Yang.

"This is most definitely not one of my favorite stories made by Blake, but I still found it enjoyable." Ruby smiled at what she said, quite happy to hear that.

"That's good!"

"As for the relationship part? I honestly quite enjoyed that part of it. It is always nice to see ones sexual orientation represented by someone so well known…" Weiss quietly finished, letting her comment fade away. Ruby's eyes widened as she realized what she was saying. After her eyes returned to normal, her smile widened in its place.

"I can agree to that. I-" Ruby was interrupted by her own stomach rumbling, her face growing red. Weiss laughed happily at that before speaking.

"Anyways, we should eat. Preferably sometime before you starve to death." Wiess gave a smirk as Ruby gave off an embarrassed laugh.

"That sounds like a great idea." Ruby replied, just wanting a way to avoid the embarrassment caused by her ever hungry stomach.

A/N:

Hey everyone! So sorry that I didn't

update last week and that I'm

also a day late! Things came up and prevented it.

Among those things was a tornado!

I mean, I slept through the entire thing even though it passed

by and ruined some of the houses down the street heh.

There was no power for a while though.

Then there was the fact that I also came down

with the flu AND a two-stage ear infection.

Like both the inner eardrum and outer part of

my eardrum got infected at the same time

somehow. However, I went to Urgent Care

and so that's getting treated now.

I also wanted to make sure I could plan

how I wanted this story to continue.

But anyways! I'm back now!

I made sure that this chapter was

extra long (both because I couldn't update

last week and also so that we could reach an

even 30k)! I hope that you all enjoy this chapter!