So, maybe Ruby was a little too drunk to really react in the moment. Her mind was still trying to play catch up. But she got there, eventually. And her heart broke, cracked just a little bit more than it always was.
Weiss took her stuff and practically ran out of the house. Blake was crying, silent tears that dripped down onto the floor as she held her head in her hands. She'd never seen Blake like this. She looked at Yang, who looked just as heartbroken. The blonde motioned for Ruby to go after Weiss, and she went to sit beside Blake. Ruby picked up Weiss' nice, fancy white coat, and ran out after Weiss.
She was already on the street, walking fast. Ruby sprinted to catch up with her, her breath creating small mists in the air.
When she finally reached Weiss, she could see the tears that had come streaming down her face. Ruby put the coat around Weiss, who startled, only just noticing Ruby. She wiped the tear tracks off her face, grimacing.
"Don't run," Ruby said, and in her ears her voice was barely a whisper.
"Just go away, Ruby!" Weiss exclaimed, sniffling and hiding her face.
Ruby clenched her jaw. "No," she said. It was all she said.
They were standing underneath a streetlamp, and Ruby could make out all the details of Weiss' face, as she went from angry to confused, then to weary. A tiredness Ruby had never seen before overcame Weiss, and she did nothing to stop the tears that came out, pooling at the point of her chin and dripping onto the frozen ground.
Ruby came in close, and hugged Weiss. She hugged her back.
They stood there for a while. For a while, Ruby couldn't think of anything besides rubbing small circles on Weiss' back and letting her let it all out. Her smaller frame shook with sobs, punctuated by choked gasps for air. It felt like a lifetime's worth of emotions that were pouring out of the older girl, and Ruby wouldn't think of doing anything else but be around to help her.
"Let's get you home," Ruby pulled away, taking a good look at Weiss. She was a veritable mess, but she was still Weiss, and Ruby liked Weiss. Since the first time she'd locked eyes with her, Ruby wanted to be in Weiss' orbit, wanted to be more than just passing ships in the night, even if she didn't know it then, didn't have the words to pin down the feelings she felt, the small strange tug, Ruby's heart to hers. Ruby reached out, wiping some tears off Weiss' face. She reacted gently, leaning into Ruby's palm slightly. There was the barest hint of relief on her face.
They called a ride share, and they got to Weiss' place in no time; it really wasn't that far away. Ruby walked with her to the front door. In her haste to grab Weiss' coat, to catch up with her, she'd forgotten her own coat. The sweater was cozy, but it did the bare minimum to protect her from the snow. In the short walk up to Weiss' front door, Ruby's face was already flush from the cold, and she was starting to shiver. Weiss seemed fine, even if she looked like she was somewhere else entirely. Ruby stopped at the front porch, and Weiss turned to face her.
"Weiss, I'm sorry," she said quietly, now almost completely sober. It wasn't how she expected her first time drinking hard liquor to go, but seeing the look on Weiss' face, Ruby didn't have the heart to be anywhere else.
Weiss huffed an annoyed breath, a clear, visible mist from her mouth illustrating her irritation. "You have nothing to be sorry about," Weiss said, and though she had the biting edge of annoyance in her tone, all Ruby could hear was the sadness in her voice.
"I'm sorry all of that happened," Ruby shook her head, her gaze never leaving Weiss.
"What happened in Atlas or what happened back at your house?"
"All of the above," Ruby placed a hand on Weiss' arm. Weiss sighed, then turned her gaze to Ruby proper. Her face quickly morphed to one of annoyance.
"You're freezing," she stated plainly. Ruby couldn't hide the shivers now, even as she waved Weiss away. Weiss didn't bother with the pleasantries, just opened the door and dragged Ruby in. The warmth did wonders for her, relief flooding her body to be out of the cold. Weiss'd face was still tinged pink, and she couldn't really tell if it was from the cold. Around the corner, a man appeared, dressed fancy, in a vest and dress pants. He had a fancy mustache to top it all off, the kind to make even Professor Port jealous.
"Miss Schnee, I wasn't expecting you back so soon," he flickered his gaze between Weiss and Ruby, his expression imperceptible. It was the practiced face of someone who was used to putting on a show.
"It's alright, Klein," Weiss said, shaking her head- a signal he understood, apparently. "This is Ruby Rose," she motioned towards Ruby, who gave a quick, nervous wave hello.
Klein bowed deep. "A pleasure, Miss Rose."
Whaaaaaaat. Was this how all people in Atlas were?
"We'll be in my room, Klein," Weiss said, already walking up the stairs. Ruby smiled at Klein, a quick, shy thing, before she bounded after Weiss.
"Very well, Miss Schnee. Do let me know if you require anything," he called out after her.
Oh. Ohhhh.
Klein was her butler.
Weiss lived with her butler.
Weiss lived with her butler? Just her butler? Ruby blew a quick breath out, taken aback by this display of actual, tangible wealth that she'd thus far rarely ever seen from Weiss. Sure, Weiss wore nice clothes and stuff but there was nothing overt about her to betray that she was, like, butler-rich. Ruby supposed that it made sense. Still.
Weiss closed the door behind Ruby, locking it. Ruby marveled at her room.
It was big.
It was kind of empty.
It was almost all white, with a big canopy bed in the middle of the room, against the wall. There was a large window on the opposite side, and next to it, a desk with a fancy fountain pen sticking out of it. Her bookshelves were filled with, like tomes. Like actual ancient looking academic tomes. Nearer to the door, there was a sofa and coffee table, complete with a reading lamp and everything. Everything was clean. No, everything was sterile. It kind of creeped her out. It didn't feel at all like Weiss.
"So, uh, I've never really been in a girl's room alone before," Ruby started, a small smile on her face. Weiss quirked her brow as she sat on the couch. Ruby rubbed her arm. "Right. Bad joke, sorry."
Weiss crossed her arm, then crossed her legs. Then she shifted uncomfortably and sighed. She finally decided to put her face in her lap, groaning.
"Weiss..." Ruby took a seat beside her. Weiss whipped her head up, her brows in an angry furrow.
"Did you know?" she asked, her voice softer, smaller than Ruby was expecting. Ruby swallowed, digging a nail into the pad of her thumb.
"I knew she was a faunus," she said, looking away from Weiss. There was a long silence.
"Did you know she was in the White Fang?"
Ruby shook her head. She turned to Weiss.
"I didn't know she was in the White Fang Weiss, but-"
Weiss sighed, muffling herself in her hands. "Don't tell me Blake's a good person, Ruby."
Ruby blanched, surprised that Weiss so accurately guessed what she was about to say. She shook her head. "But she is, Weiss."
Despite what Weiss saw, Ruby still believed that Blake wasn't anything else but what she had always shown Ruby she was. White Fang or not, Blake was a good person. A good friend. It was kind of a shock to find out, sure, but Ruby didn't falter in her belief in Blake.
Weiss stood up, crossing her arms again.
"She was a part of them, Ruby!"
"She was," Ruby said. Weiss looked back at her. "She was, and now she isn't anymore. Blake's never been anything but kind and loving and compassionate to me. You've known us for almost a month and she's never been anything but a good friend to you, either."
Weiss wheeled around, anger in her eyes.
"You heard her back there, she didn't sound like a good friend!"
"She's not the one that hurt you," Ruby sighed. "I'm sorry she said that. I'm sorry you were hurt, I wish you hadn't been hurt. You don't deserve that. But that's not Blake. She wouldn't do that. She wouldn't agree with that, or be happy about that, or want that at all."
Weiss opened her mouth like she was about to shout. Then she shut her mouth. She clenched and unclenched her fists, closed her eyes.
"Do you want me to just, what, forgive her? Say it's okay? It's not okay," she spoke, and there was no fight in her. No more fuel for the fire to burn. Weiss looked tired again. "I thought Blake was... I thought we were friends, but she would sooner have seen me dead than here."
"You know that's not true, Weiss," Ruby's voice was harsh.
"No, I don't," Weiss said, and she didn't sound angry about it, just disappointed.
"She wouldn't do that," Ruby repeated.
"No, but she would just walk away while it happened. She'd be..." Weiss shook her head. "Complicit."
Ruby didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to say. All she knew was that her friend was hurting, and the solution was bigger than she could think about. For the briefest of moments, she wished her mom was still around to tell her what to do.
"I don't know what I'm supposed to do, Ruby," Weiss said after a while, and that was that.
Ruby sat with her for a little while longer. Eventually, Weiss fell asleep on the couch, her hand held in Ruby's own. The very least she could do. She looked peaceful while she slept, and Ruby let herself out of the room, sneaking off. She texted Weiss' phone, letting her know that she went home, and to call her in the morning. Ruby swiped a hand over her face as she crept down the stairs.
"Is she alright?" Klein appeared at the foot of the staircase. Ruby stared at him, her mouth set in a tight line. She shook her head. Klein closed his eyes, nodding. "Miss Rose, would you like to have some coffee?" he invited her over to the kitchen, and Ruby sensed it wasn't the sort of invitation she would want to turn down.
He put out two mugs, started brewing the coffee, and stood respectfully at the kitchen island. He motioned for her to sit down.
"You know, Miss Schnee has gotten considerably happier since she moved here. I thought it was going to be a rocky start, at first. But as she tells me, she's made some new good friends," he said, then sighed and let his butler facade down, leaning against the kitchen island.
"Weiss is a good person. We like her," Ruby said, tugging her sleeves down a little. She chewed her bottom lip.
"May I ask, what happened?"
Ruby told him all of it. He took it in with a stony silence. Then he moved over to the coffee machine.
"How do you take your coffee, Miss Rose?"
"Please, call me Ruby. And one cream, five sugars," she told him, then ducked her head at his quizzical look. He smiled as he made their coffee, shaking his head and chuckling. Ruby took in the smell, sometimes that was the best part of drinking coffee, for her. Reminded her of her mom and dad in the morning, tired but happy.
"Can I ask you something, Klein?" Ruby stared into her mug of coffee. Klein made a noise in the affirmative. "Why is she living here with you?"
Klein made a little 'aha' noise, sipping on his own brew.
"Simply put, Weiss needed a legal guardian until she was of age, and nobody else could fit the bill," he smiled sadly, and Ruby tilted her head in question.
"She has her parents, right? And an older sister, too?"
"Her father, Jacques Schnee is... a very single minded man. He wouldn't lift a finger to do anything if it didn't help make him rich, simply put. Her mother, Willow is, well, not in much state to be a guardian. She's a troubled woman, full of sorrow and agony. I knew her when she was younger. She was much like Weiss, a bright spark hidden behind too much isolation. Only she never broke free. Her sister, Winter is the only other person suitable to be Weiss' guardian, but she's dedicated her life to her work, and unfortunately her work takes her all over to world," Klein spoke with melancholy. "So the job fell to me, the Schnee's butler."
Ruby nodded in understanding, sipping her coffee and contemplating Klein's words. Weiss didn't sound like she had much family, nobody to truly rely on. The realization broke her heart, to understand how betrayed she felt by Blake, one of her only actual friends.
"Klein? Was Weiss... happy? In Atlas?" Ruby asked, careful. Klein sighed.
"I'm afraid not, Miss- Ruby," he caught her eye, then smiled in silent apology. "Weiss was a lonely child. She would fill up her time with all these activities, painting, fencing, ice-skating and what have you-"
"She can ice-skate? That's so cool," Ruby smiled. Klein chuckled.
"Indeed. But at the end of the day, she was alone. Always alone. I tried to be there for her where I could, but I'm afraid I was always too limited in my capacity to fill that void. After the... incident, after she was moved to Vale, I was afraid for her. I was afraid that she would fall in too deep, somewhere nobody could find here. But she's found something good here. It would be a great shame to see that all waste away."
"She's never going to be alone again, Klein. I promise. I don't know how things will turn out, but I won't leave her alone," Ruby said, and Klein blanched. It was a big promise, an important one, and Ruby spoke without hesitation. He'd forgotten what that felt like, to see selflessness, to see love, young and infinite and unbound. He smiled.
"Thank you, Ruby."
They finished their coffee, and he drove her home, insisted upon it. Ruby liked him. He was a humble man, a good light in Weiss' life. She thanked him again as he dropped her off. The sky was still dark, it was late. She was tired, but her mind was still active and racing. This wasn't exactly how she wanted her little Christmas party to go.
Nobody was inside when Ruby came in. The living room and kitchen were clean, and Ruby wondered where Yang and Blake had gone. She sent off a text to her sister, asking if she was okay, and went up to her room. It was a long day. She lay on her bed, looking up at the ceiling, wondering.
It was getting colder and colder, and Ruby burrowed under her covers.