The weeks and months go by.

New Year was uneventful. Mostly. Kind of.

Actually, New Year's was very eventful. But it was the kind of thing that happened and you never, ever mentioned it ever again.

Or maybe Weiss just didn't want to mention it ever again.

The sun was bright, that morning. The weather was starting to warm up and Weiss finally felt comfortable going out in less than three layers. She ran a hand through her hair as she walked up towards the school, spotting Ruby and Yang on top of the stairs. Yang waved her over, and Ruby...

Ruby averted her eyes. She was looking everywhere but her. Weiss pursed her lips. Yang caught her little sister's expression, then looked at Weiss. She put a hand on her hip.

"Lovely weather, isn't it?" Yang asked Weiss amicably. Weiss smiled, happy for the change in weather. While the winters weren't as cold as Atlas, the warm seasons were supposed to be far warmer. She was looking forward to it. Ruby nodded at the wall, and Weiss wanted to roll her eyes about thirty ways to Tuesday. What was her deal?

It was a rhetorical question, because Weiss kind of knew what her deal was, but she just wished Ruby would keep it together a little bit.

"I'm gonna head to the bathroom," Ruby mumbled into the air before disappearing. Yang quirked a brow and threw a thumb over her shoulder at Ruby's retreating form.

"What's her deal?" she asked Weiss.

Weiss clenched her jaw. "Nothing," she said, with an air of finality.

Yang crossed her arms. "Not good enough," she challenged. She took Weiss' arm and led her over to a more secluded corner. "I know when this started."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Weiss feigned ignorance like a pro. Yang shook her head.

"New Year's."

Not enough of a pro, apparently. She groaned, and blew a strand of hair away from her eyes, looking up at Yang with a scowl.

"Nothing gets by Yanglock Holmes, Watson," Yang said with an air of smug triumph.

"Why does everyone think I'm their Watson?"

Yang poked her shoulder. "Quit deflecting. New Year's. Spill."

"Surprised you even noticed anything," Weiss sighed.

"Yeah, well."

"It's... complicated."

It wasn't that complicated.

There were ten parts to it.

It was like this: One, Weiss was invited to spend New Year's with Ruby, Yang and Blake. There was a party being thrown by Sun, and to quote Yang- "Only the cool kids are being invited Weiss!"- so Weiss naturally had to tag along. To be honest, it was a refreshing change of pace, as almost everything was in Vale. Most of her New Year's were spent at some pretentious gala, talking to boring people about blah blah blah, why yes blah blah blah Schnee stocks blah blah blah?

So, sure, a party with a bunch of drunk high school kids was maybe a notch above that.

She met them there. The weather was still a little bit too cold to wear too little layers, so Weiss settled for something simple- a white knit sweater and black pants. She did her hair up into her usual off-center ponytail, and she put her usual affair of makeup.

When she arrived, Ruby and Yang were just walking over. Yang waved her over, and Ruby gaped at her.

It was like this: Two, Ruby kept gaping at her. Weiss blushed, and she kept having to hide her face and duck her head to avoid looking at Ruby, because it made her embarrassed and happy and weird and exhilarated.

"Alright, quit it!" Weiss hissed at her, and she tried her best to sound offended, or annoyed or something, but she couldn't stop smiling.

"What?" Ruby cocked a grin in her direction.

"Quit staring at me!" Weiss passed her another cup, some unholy combination of alcohol and soda, that she made palatable as best she could.

"You're super pretty!" Ruby took the cup gratefully, taking a sip and grimacing, but continuing to take more sips. "It's your fault."

"Truly, my blessing, my curse," Weiss rolled her eyes. "Hey, where's Blake?"

Ruby shrugged, motioning her head towards Yang, who was currently in an arm wrestle with an orange-haired girl named Nora, while Blake was watching on in amusement. Yang winked at her, and Weiss could see the blush she hid behind her cup as she sipped.

"They're over there being... gay," Ruby said, and giggled. Weiss huffed an abrupt breath of laughter, unable to stop herself as she doubled over. She tugged at her ponytail as she recovered, leaning coolly against the windowsill.

"And what about you?" Weiss asked, a question that came out from nowhere she could consciously place. But she was enough drinks in that she didn't bother with it. The magic of alcohol, muffling that voice in your head that told you not to do stupid things with a swift, prolonged pillow across the face. It was Ruby's turn to blush, trying to be cool as she took another disgusting gulp of her drink.

"What about me?" Ruby choked out after swallowing thickly, coughing slightly. Weiss blinked, then bit a thumbnail. Ruby's gaze never left her.

"I mean, do you have your eyes on anyone in particular?" Weiss barreled past the point of rational decision-making. She could feel it scowl on the back of her neck, but she'd already left it behind in Atlas. She left it all behind Ruby, Yang and Blake, she left it back in rubble of her perfect little life in Schnee Manor.

"I- uh... I-"

"Come on," Weiss took another sip of her drink. "There hasn't been anybody?"

She sidled up next to Ruby, and if she wasn't just a little bit tipsy she would have sworn she heard Ruby's breath hitch a little bit. She smelled like roses, and it made Weiss want to laugh, and it made Weiss want to breathe in deep. She gestured subtly with her cup towards Sun and Neptune, who were both engaged in a very intense push-up competition. Sun was shirtless, his back muscles gorgeously defined for everyone to swoon at, while Neptune kept his cool in his red leather jacket. People were drunkenly cheering them on, raucous laughter bubbling around them. Ruby merely raised both eyebrows.

"So, not them then," Weiss shrugged. She then motioned towards Pyrrha, on the couch chatting with a couple people, but whose eyes kept flickering over to the corner, where a lanky blonde (Jaune? She thought she remembered Ruby mentioning him a couple times) was in the corner, sipping on a drink, looking awkward.

Ruby bit her lip.

"Okay, so we're getting warmer," Weiss laughed and took another full gulp of her drink. She was enjoying herself, poking and prodding at Ruby.

"That's not fair, everyone is attracted to Pyrrha!" Ruby protested, a little too loudly. Both Pyrrha and Jaune heard her, and they looked at her with blushes on their face. She shrank into herself a little bit.

"That's true. Present company included."

Ruby's eyes widened.

It was like this: Three, Ruby whispered, "Are you... gay?"

Weiss tossed her plastic cup into a black trash bag easily. She smiled. "Yeah."

Ruby crushed her cup between her hands, and Weiss wasn't sure if she noticed.

"I'mgonnagotothebathroom!" Ruby squeaked, and she ran off before Weiss could even react. She blinked.

Yang and Blake came up behind her, and Weiss turned around to face them, half a question in her throat. She stopped just short, seeing their interlocked arms. It wasn't an unusual thing for them, she just was still half-disorientated with Ruby, a thousand half-thoughts running through her mind, fading away as quickly as they formed.

"What was that about?" Yang motioned towards Ruby's quickly retreating form.

"I'm gay," Weiss said dumbly. She could almost smack herself saying it, but in that moment it seemed important for everyone to know. She hadn't ever tried to hide it, but it wasn't something that had come up yet, and she wanted Yang and Blake to know. Blake quirked her brow, and Yang raised her arm in a high-five.

"Sick- me too!"

Weiss high-fived Yang limply, but she took it in stride.

"Are you just realising this now...?" Blake asked, her gaze flickering from Weiss to where Ruby had rounded the corner.

"No! I just... I realised I never told anybody," Weiss snatched Yang's drink, who pouted in response.

"I'm a little surprised you're so open about it," Blake admitted. Weiss shot her a dirty look.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well. Have you met you?" Blake gestured vaguely at Weiss' whole form. Yang laughed. "You're not the most open person about a lot of things way less important."

Weiss blushed. "I... It just wasn't a very big deal back in Atlas. My family was never very vocally opposed to it. Not that I ever told them, really."

"Go figure," Yang shrugged.

"I was just... maybe I was pushing Ruby a little too far?" Weiss said meekly. Yang furrowed her brows.

"Meaning?" she asked hotly.

"I wasn't doing anything!" Weiss defended herself. "Just asking her about... boys. And stuff."

"Ah," Yang nodded sagely, and offered nothing else. Weiss waited for her to elaborate, and only got a grin and a shrug in response. She looked to Blake for a little more help, and got an equally vague cool look in response. Of course.

"Whatever," Weiss gave Yang her half-drunk drink back, and stalked off into the kitchen to lower her inhibitions a little bit more.

It was like this: Four, Weiss was singing and dancing.

Oh what would Winter say if she could see Weiss. What would her father say?

Weiss didn't much care, because someone was playing Party in the USA, and God help her if she hadn't secretly loved that song for, like, ever. So she was singing wildly, loudly, and everyone was cheering her on. She was dancing, and everyone was dancing, and there wasn't anything but laughing and screaming and jumping and shouting, and Weiss felt warm and free.

Then Ruby appeared in front of her, and she was warm too, and her eyes were these big things that Weiss loved, and her hair was a little tousled and she was smiling wide, so wide at Weiss.

"You're an amazing singer!" Ruby shouted at her, and Weiss took her arms and they started dancing.

"I told you, I'm amazing at a lot of things!" Weiss shouted back.

"You are," Ruby said, pausing for a moment, and looking at Weiss with this indecipherable expression. They kept on dancing.

It was like this: Five, they both ended up in a heap on the couch afterwards, and they couldn't stop laughing. Weiss' head was resting on Ruby's shoulder. Everything felt warm and nice, and Ruby smelled like roses. Weiss wanted to bury herself in that smell.

"Be honest: is this the most fun you've ever had?" Ruby asked her in between giggles. Weiss pondered the question, then shook her head.

"My 5th birthday, my mother and Winter surprised me with the narrator of Planet Earth and a pony ride," Weiss answered. Ruby turned around and furrowed her brow.

"You met David Attenborough?!"

"I still have his number saved in my contacts!"

Ruby doubled over in hysterics, unable to collect herself even a little bit. Weiss giggled along, her head sliding from Ruby's shoulder into her lap. She turned to look up at Ruby's smiling face, so bright and shining and unrestrained.

It was like this: Six, Weiss's head was in Ruby's lap, and all they did was stare at each other. The room started screaming as the clock counted down.

It was like this: Seven, six, five, four-

Weiss got up, and took Ruby's face in her hands, her trembling, excited, barely restrained, hands.

It was like this: Eight, the whole house screamed Happy New Year, and Ruby and Weiss leaned into each other. They were both halfway to panting, their breathing shallow and shuddering and buzzing with the electricity of almost, almost, almost…

It was like this: Nine, Yang screamed. Blake gasped. The blonde held the Faunus in her arms and dipped her low and kissed her. Everyone cheered loud.

It was like this: Ten, despite it all, there was a moment, a half a heartbeat where they could have not stopped, could have let the whole world melt away to a strange, exhilarating space that could have belonged to the both of them. To Ruby and Weiss, to the infinity that lay ahead, to the teetering edge between possibility and reality. Weiss knew, somewhere inside her, that they both could have crashed into a new existence. A new time, a new space, a new turning point that was just Ruby and Weiss.

She couldn't say who stopped. Who backed away first. Maybe that was for the best. But they tore their gaze away from each other to look at Yang and Blake. Weiss' hand slipped back to her side, limp and useless and still trembling, always trembling.

Yang and Blake were locked in a deep embrace as the whole world shouted and screamed around them. Cheers and fireworks and party favours popping- laughter among friends, among people, among a whole bunch of tired, hormonal, relieved high-school kids. We survived another fucking year, everyone seemed to shout in collective disbelief, in collective celebration.

Ruby smiled, a seam that cracked and grew, but the last traces of ruefulness still managed to hang around it. She cocked her head at Weiss, who was far beyond the realm of managing human words and actions. All she could do was flicker her gaze from Blake and Yang, to Ruby.

Ruby, who was still happy, who was still close, who wasn't leaving for anything. All things bright, Ruby Rose. She leaned in and gave Weiss a peck on the cheek, and Weiss couldn't help the sharp inhale that escaped her, the quick intake of Ruby's scent, roses and alcohol and warmth.

"Happy New Year, Weiss," Ruby said, and it was like with those words she had sealed the moment, locked it away in a pretty little glass box. A thing to be looked at, to be pondered upon, to want, but not a thing to experience again. Not yet. Not yet? She felt a deep pang inside her at the sudden surge of want for that moment. For not yet to be now. For Ruby Rose.

Weiss felt feeling return to her like a jolt of electricity, travelling down from her cheeks to her toes, and in one insane, impulsive moment, all she wanted to do was grab the front of Ruby's shirt and crash their lips together. But just as quickly the impulse was gone. They'd come crashing back to the earth, and Ruby was already dusting herself off and helping Weiss up, but she was still looking back up into the sky, wishing they hadn't left.

Ruby left, telling Weiss she was going to grab some water for them, and Weiss ghosted her fingers over the spot where Ruby had kissed her, feeling the last traces of that warmth fade.

When Ruby came back, they acted normal.

Normal, like Ruby and Weiss were friends, normal friends who hadn't just tried to kiss each other on New Year's.

Blake and Yang came around after a while, still giddy, still giggling, all happy and wrapped around each other. Ruby wrinkled her nose.

"Is this what the kids are doing nowadays?" she teased. Weiss couldn't help the smile that cracked on her face.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Yang," she called out. They both blew raspberries at the Ruby and Weiss, and laughed. Things were fine; this was their new normal. Blake and Yang were together, like they always were supposed to be.

"I know half of this story is how Blake and I got together, but that was the gayest shit I have ever heard in my entire life," Yang said, in no uncertain terms. Weiss smacked her arm.

"You're terrible," Weiss crossed her arms and scowled.

"Am I?"

"Yes."

"Am I though?"

"I said, yes."

"But-"

"Yang, I'm this close to killing you," Weiss pinched her thumb and index finger together. Yang furrowed her brow.

"Your fingers are completely together," she said.

"Oh. Look at that," Weiss deadpanned. Yang cackled.

"You know, what's stopping you from just trying again?" Yang asked, twirling a finger in her golden locks. Now it was Weiss' turn to furrow her brows.

"Trying again?" Weiss asked, her hands twitching. She clenched her hands.

"Don't you want to?"

"I..." Weiss bit her bottom lip. She thought for a while, then shook her head. "I don't know. I don't think-"

She sighed, crossing her arms, retreating inward. Yang placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You know you've got a pretty good shot, right? I say this with full authority as a mentor figure to you both," she smiled, a crooked grin that held hope, placed it in the seat of Weiss' heart. Hope that she didn't know what to do with. A hope she didn't exactly welcome. Still, she didn't manage to match Yang's gaze for long, tearing away to look at the ground. Yang sighed softly.

"Just think about it, Weiss. Take it from me: it's better to not hide."

She walked away, and the bell rang, and Weiss began the trudge to her first class of the day.

And the whole day, her heart thumped a steady rhythm.

No, it's not going to be that easy. Falling Slowly, remember? It was always going to be a slow burn.