Weiss had invited them all to her place after school for dinner. She had come into homeroom beaming, and with less hesitation than she had shown before, told the three of them to be at her place after classes were over.

Ruby was the least cool about it. But that wasn't saying much, because Ruby wasn't very cool about very many things. In fact, in any given situation, you could count on Ruby Rose to be super not cool about it.

It was, just. Well, she was meeting Weiss' family! They were all meeting Weiss' family, and technically they all had already met Klein and he had already obviously given her his approval, his glorious, mustachioed seal of approval, and that was a great sign already, but still!

"You need to take it down, like, several notches," Yang told her once Weiss left for her chemistry class. Ruby puffed her cheeks up, sweeping some hair off her forehead.

"I'm kind of freaking out, right?" Ruby shook her hands frantically as she blew out a laboured breath. Blake shook her head.

"Little bit," she said. Ruby heaved a sigh and conked her head against a nearby wall, leaning against it with only her forehead. "Why are you so freaked out?"

"I don't know! I don't know, we're just meeting Weiss' sister and that's kind of a big deal, right? And I don't want to to mess that up," Ruby frowned. Yang patted her head.

"You're not going to mess it up, Rubes," Yang said. Ruby only crossed her arms.

"I- I mean, I don't even know how to..." she shook her head. "Forget it. You guys are right."

Yang and Blake shared a look, but didn't press the issue, thankfully.

Ruby practiced her curtsies in the bathroom after she made sure she was alone. She smacked her forehead, aware of how utterly foolish she was being. She breathed deep. Tried to focus. Faintly, she wished she could have a cookie. Her mind centered in on itself, letting the rising tide of panic ebb and fade away. She felt herself slow down, and she went on to unclenching the points of tension in her body. It was a little trick Weiss had taught her, a little bit ago. For being, essentially, an Atlasian ball of repressed emotions, Weiss had surprisingly good stress management techniques.

She went on with classes. Weiss had fencing practice, so was the last to end her day. While Blake and Yang chose to hang out in the library, kissing or making kissy faces at each other, or thinking about kissing each other- whatever it was couples did- Ruby snuck off to the gymnasium to catch a peek at fencing practice. She opened the door without much notice, the whole place being a flurry of focused activity that it was. She decided to head up to the second floor, where they had a set of bleachers for people to watch whatever events were going on. Ruby was just being a little sneaksby.

She quickly found Weiss, sparring with Velvet Scarlatina, instantly recognizable from her taller stature and the large brown rabbit ears that peeked out of her helmet. Weiss expertly dodged her strikes, one hand behind her back. She was showing off a little bit, and Ruby could recognize the laughter in her body language. Man, Weiss wasn't kidding when she said that she was amazing at a lot of things. Velvet almost caught her with a strike that she barely ducked under, and Weiss finally sprang up with a proper fighting stance. She thought she could spy a grin behind Velvet's helmet, but she almost definitely knew that Weiss sported a similar one. Off she went, her blows a flurry of fast paced, vicious attacks, that Velvet was struggling a little to parry and dodge. Finally though, Weiss got the better of her, with the point of her sword tapping Velvet on the wrist. That was enough, apparently, as she gave up, pulling her helmet off.

"I hate you," Velvet scowled, though there was no venom behind it at all. Velvet was one of those people that couldn't ever manage to be angry properly. Weiss pulled her own helmet off.

"Do you?" Weiss asked with a smile and a shrug.

"Not really," Velvet replied, and they both shared a laugh.

Ruby just observed them, happy for Weiss in ways that couldn't be named. At least, not by her. God, she wondered what Weiss must have been like when she was actually in her element. Those poor Atlas saps must have just fallen for her left and right.

"Hey, you know, it's like, a little creepy to just be up here... spying on people," a voice came from her right. She whipped her head around to find a boy, slightly younger than her, with a mess of freckles across his face and a mess of black hair. He had an easy, if a little nervous, smile about him, one that made Ruby instantly relax. He wasn't going to get her into trouble.

"It's a little creepy to sneak up on someone just spying on people," Ruby countered. Then she tilted her head. "Actually, that one is less creepy."

The boy nodded in agreement. "Oscar Pine," he said, offering his hand.

"Ruby Rose," she shook his hand. He pursed his lips, then formed a little 'O' with his mouth.

"You're Weiss' friend," he said. Ruby blinked.

"I- uh. Yes, I am. How do you know that?" she asked, genuinely curious. Did Weiss talk to him about her or something? She almost gasped. Did Weiss Schnee actually talk to other people about her? She desperately needed to know what Weiss was telling other people about her.

"She's, um, told me about you," he said. Oh, man! Ruby needed to know. He caught sight of her expression, then chuckled nervously. "All good things, I promise! Plus, I see you guys together all the time."

Ruby crossed her legs, her attention completely away from Weiss for the moment. "I've never seen you around," she said. He smiled, grabbing one arm and shrugging.

"I'm a freshman. You guys don't generally notice us," he said, a sheepish smile on his face.

"Well I'll be sure to notice you from now on, Oscar Pine," she said. His smile slowly turned joyful.

"That's- that's cool," he said, chuckling nervously again.

"So what are you doing up here anyway, Oscar? Besides busting me for being a creep, I mean," Ruby said, an easy smirk on her face. Oscar bit his bottom lip, then pointed down towards the actual gymnasium. Ruby followed his finger, right to Weiss Schnee staring up at her.

Right. Okay. That was sneaky as all hell.

"Dinner's not 'till later, Ruby Rose!" Weiss called up to her. Ruby got up from her seat to lean over the railing. Her hair fell to curtain her face, almost shielding her bright, beaming face from the rest of the building.

"I got impatient," she said, and Weiss shook her head.

"You're free to stay, just don't bother anybody," Weiss told her. Ruby stuck her tongue out.

"I was being perfectly quiet until you sent your little spy to narc on me," she whipped her head around to blow a raspberry at Oscar, who grinned at her sheepishly again. Weiss smiled wide.

"I had to make sure you weren't spying on other people," Weiss said simply, and Ruby huffed out a laugh.

"So you don't mind if I was just spying on you?" Ruby asked. Weiss didn't respond, just picked up her helmet and sword, still smiling.

"Come on down, Oscar, it's your turn," she said, flourishing her weapon. Oscar nodded, bolting down the stairs. Though he did totally betray her trust, in an irreparable and irrevocable way, Ruby still found him charming. From the sidelines, she noticed Velvet also looking at the both of them with a fond expression on her face. She didn't notice when Velvet had whipped her phone out to quickly take a picture of the two of them. Not until she would send Ruby the photo later, anyway. It was cute, Ruby had to admit.

Ruby spent the rest of the practice sketching. Scenes of Weiss sparring, as graceful as she ice skated. As graceful as anything she ever did. Ruby was never the most talented artist, but she felt like she got a good representation of Weiss in motion, agile and deadly.

The practice ended with a shrill blow of a whistle, as the fencers all scattered around gathered back around the captain, Ilia Amitola. Ruby watched the scene unfold with morbid curiousity. Weiss had told her all about what happened with Ilia, and she had assumed things were all squared away now, but she could still see the tension between her and Weiss as they locked eyes. Ilia swallowed thickly and breathed in deep as she readied herself to talk to the team.

"So, qualifiers are a week away, and you've all been working hard. I see it in each and every one of you, and I'd like to thank you all for the effort you've put in for the team," she put her sword under her arm and removed her gloves. She cleared her throat. "But we have to pick just a few people to represent us. Don't worry, there'll be plenty more opportunities for the rest of you."

Ruby saw Weiss tense up a little, her shoulders hunching a little. She just silently watched from above, with bated breath as she waited for the result both she and Weiss (and honestly, probably a lot of other people) knew was coming. It had to. Weiss easily outclassed almost everyone here.

"So, the people we're sending to represent us for the qualifiers are Velvet, Oscar, me, and..." she quirked her mouth that-a-way for a small moment, almost imperceptible. "Weiss Schnee," she looked at Weiss. But Ruby couldn't see any venom, any resentment there. There was an uproar of applause, as people crowded around those picked for the tournament. Oscar looked the most shocked, while Velvet and Weiss just smiled, pleased. From above, Ruby could spot a few people that were displeased. Two bald Faunus eyed Weiss and Ilia with a dirty look. Weiss herself took no notice, instead whipping her head around to look at Ruby, a gleam in her eye. Ruby smiled wide.

Ruby made her way downstairs to walk with Weiss after she'd gotten a shower and changed out of her fencing outfit.

"Congratulations, Weiss. I've definitely added fencing to the list, just FYI," Ruby told her as they walked side by side. Weiss held a hair clip between her teeth as she did her hair up. She smiled at Ruby, and Ruby thought if she let her guard down a little bit, she would be floored by it. Weiss put the clip in her hair.

"Told you," Weiss said.

They arrived in front of Weiss' place in good spirits. Yang had borrowed the car, and they all piled into it with their usual affair of banter and ribbing. But as they got closer to their destination, Weiss got quieter. She brushed some hair behind her ear and blew out a breath as the car pulled to a stop.

"Okay," she said before they all got out. "I... Thank you all, for coming," Weiss played with the hem of her skirt.

"Hey, of course, Weiss," Blake reached out from the front seat to grab Weiss' hand. Yang and Ruby followed suit. Weiss smiled, like with that one act, all was healed. Maybe this was all it was meant to be, just the four of them, thick and thin. Anything and everything, Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang. Maybe it was just as easy as that.

Yang keyed the ignition off and they all got out, following Weiss to the front door. They had all been around a couple times, when there wasn't much work to do and they wanted to hang out. Weiss gave them a reaffirming look, and Ruby adjusted her shirt, smoothing out any wrinkles that had formed. The older girl took a deep breath before unlocking the door, ushering them all in.

"We're home," Weiss called out into the kitchen, where Klein was busy slaving over a pot, a frilly pink apron on. He rocked the look, if Ruby had to be honest.

"Welcome, Madames," Klein called out, putting away a stirring spoon and picking up the usual tray of tea he served. They gathered in the living room, where a scary, severe, supremely attractive woman sat in an arm chair. She had her legs crossed, powerful thighs visible through the loose pants she wore, a book in one hand, and a cup of tea in the other. She wore a sleeveless top that let Ruby see the slight definition of her biceps. She appraised the three new teenagers in front of her. Her hair was done up in a bun, with a silky lock of hair that hung over her forehead, and oh... oh no, Ruby was extremely attracted to her. Oh my.

Winter Schnee was unlocking some stuff in her that Ruby hadn't ever thought about before, and she desperately tried to fight those thoughts and repress the hell out of them as she stood there, slightly fidgety.

Was anyone supposed to blame her? Look at her! Winter Schnee was like, a grown up, assertive version of Weiss, complete with that same severe, vaguely annoyed look. Oh god. She blushed slightly pink, then swallowed thickly and turned to Weiss, who was looking at her with narrowed eyes.

Looking at Weiss granted her a brief reprieve. She breathed in deep, then turned back to Winter.

"You must be Ruby Rose," Winter noted. Ruby almost melted. She turned to Blake and Yang. "And you would be Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long."

Blake reacted with slight hesitation, her ears flattening against her head slightly. Yang squeezed her hand, and smiled wide at Winter. It seemed to assuage Blake. Finally, Winter got up out of her chair. She was tall.

Ruby had to chill. This was imperative. Yes, okay, Weiss and her sister were both super pretty, and apparently she had a thing for, like, women slightly older than her, but discretion was absolutely key here, Ruby Rose you need to keep it together. Winter held her hands behind her back. Klein wrinkled his mustache slightly as he set the tray down on the table.

"I've heard so much about you all. I'm Winter Schnee. Please, take a seat," Winter motioned towards the two couches set on either side of each other. Ruby quickly plopped herself on the couch, almost not trusting herself to remain standing. Weiss sat beside her, giving her a small nudge and a quizzical look. Ruby shrugged slightly.

Klein poured the tea for each person. He accurately gave each person their preferred amount of creamer and sugar. For Ruby, it was an unholy amount of sugar. She felt Winter's eyes on her, and smiled at her sheepishly. She raised her perfectly sculpted brows, but said nothing more, and Ruby could swear she felt a hot flash come over her.

"Ruby," Winter said, and Ruby wanted to shrink away. No, no, she still couldn't curtsy! Winter couldn't start grilling her now! Her gaze on her was singular, and her eyes, a lighter blue than Weiss', almost narrowed down to two pinpoints, just focused on Ruby. Ruby swallowed thickly, feeling a nervous pit grow in her stomach. "Weiss told me that you're a child prodigy. It must be strange to be studying with people older than you, no?"

"Uh," Ruby stammered out, giving out a nervous chuckle. She cleared her throat once. "It's kind of weird, I guess. But I've got some good friends to tag along with," she flickered her gaze to Weiss beside her. "Besides, everyone's gotten used to me well enough."

Winter pursed her lips. "I see."

"She's being modest," Yang piped up, waving a hand flippantly. "Ruby's probably got the best grades of everyone in the year."

"For now," Weiss crossed her legs and smiled at Ruby, one of those smiles that was meant as a challenge. Ruby couldn't help her own smile, one that rose to the challenge.

"Quite," Winter took a sip of her tea. Yang pouted a little bit, looked at Ruby and Weiss, and shook her head. She and Blake shared a look. Ruby didn't care to decipher it, because she was still smiling and she could still spy Weiss in the corner of her eye, looking sufficiently smug and good-natured.

"Yeah well, Weiss is amazing at a lot of stuff," Ruby looked at Winter briefly. "Like fencing. Weiss?"

Weiss took a sip of her tea, not even looking at Winter. "I was selected for the Vale inter-state qualifiers. But that was already expected."

Winter nodded, taking her own sip of tea again. They drank tea the same way. That was kind of cute, Ruby thought. But Winter's reaction really did make it sink in. Weiss was beholden to a very high expectation. There was the Atlas peeking through. Ruby thought about curtsying again. If she practiced, really practiced, and actually managed to learn to do it, and told Yang about it, there would be a big celebration all about it. Ruby didn't know what she would do if her achievements were treated like expectations. Weiss didn't seem to mind, there were no hints of disappointment in her face.

"Yang, Weiss tells me you have an avid interest in boxing," Winter finally turned her laser focus away from Ruby and Weiss. Weiss finally turned to Ruby fully, and mouthed 'are you okay?'. Ruby only smiled a muddled smile, and took a sip of her tea finally. Weiss pursed her lips and flared her nostrils. Ruby gave her a pointed look, trying to convey that, yes she was fine, she was really fine, quit worrying and focus on the conversation. Weiss understood. Ruby really was that good at conveying complex thoughts with simple looks.

"I... yeah. I do," Yang answered, like she was being tricked.

"Have you ever had an actual boxing match?" Winter continued on, undeterred.

"No...?"

"Would you like to?"

"Would I- Like... with you?" Yang scratched at the side of her temple, cocking her head slightly. Even Weiss was looking a little confused. Winter shook her head.

"No, I simply have a few... contacts who are looking for a few up-and-coming boxers. I could put in a word for you," she said.

"Wait, seriously?" Yang said.

"Wait, what?" Weiss said. Winter looked at her, the grin on her face light and, for Schnee standards at least, a little mischievous. "How do you have contacts looking for boxers?"

Winter took another sip of her tea.

"What do you do, Winter?" Weiss asked, exasperated. Ruby had to laugh at that. There was something new.

Before Weiss could continue on her line of questioning, Klein came into the living room to announce that dinner was ready. Winter was the first to stand up, inviting everyone over to the kitchen. Weiss paused and searched her sister's face. She came up empty-handed, if the slight scowl on her face as she sat down at the dinner table was anything to go by.

The food Klein prepared was fancy, like fancy fancy. Just as they had introduced Weiss to the land of eating junk food like a little gremlin, Weiss was now introducing them to the world of eating food that looked like they cost more money than Ruby had ever seen in her life. But it was really, really good. The ice broke sometime during the meal, as they all started talking freely.

"She started just screaming at Ruby, even though she wasn't watching where she was going either, and Ruby tried to help her up!" Yang spoke animatedly, gesticulating with her fork.

"It was... not my proudest moment," Weiss said, hiding her face as Winter looked at her with a fond expression.

"And look at you now," Blake said. Weiss blushed. "Actually, forget that, look at you like, a week after that. Practically joined at the hip with Ruby."

"That's not- we were assigned lab partners and partners for the history project!" Weiss blushed deeply. "Ruby and I are not joined at the hip."

"Well," Yang said, her voice rising a half octave up.

"Well," Blake echoed the same way. Ruby and Weiss both rolled their eyes at the other pair.

"Talk about joined at the hip, these two haven't been half as annoying since before they got together," Weiss jerked a thumb at Blake and Yang as she shot Winter a look. Winter nodded in sympathy.

"I understand, I have two colleagues, Marrow and Clover; neither can keep their hands off each other, and neither are subtle about it."

Yang and Blake both stuck their tongue out at the others. Yang took Blake's hand in her own and raised it up. "You will never break us apart! Love conquers all!"

"What she said," Blake said, her smile quiet and reserved, but no less genuine than Yang's. Ruby mimed a gagging motion, making Weiss laugh.

They just chatted throughout the rest of dinner. Ruby found Winter, though a little bit more stiff and reserved than Weiss, pleasant to talk to. There were the same rough edges on her found on Weiss, though smoothed out a long while ago. She had the same Atlas habits as Weiss- she never talked without first swallowing her food. But there was an aged layer of experience, of a life that was more than just being a Schnee. Ruby caught it in the quick motions, the way she ate her food, like she was in the military. Uncle Qrow did the same occasionally.

They made to leave shortly after dinner, thanking Klein for his cooking and moving towards the front door. Ruby excused herself to go to the bathroom. When she got out, she found herself face to face with Winter. Her hands were behind her back and her posture was ramrod straight as she towered over Ruby. Faintly, those confusing feelings of attraction came bubbling up to the surface, but Ruby managed to push it down firmly.

"Ruby," she said, and Ruby could sense the hesitation in her voice, the wavering, meandering tone she had on the edge of her words. "I want to thank you."

"Um... you're welcome, uh, ma'am," Ruby bit her lip and scratched her head. Winter quirked her brow.

"Call me Winter," she told her. Ruby nodded once. "And I wanted to thank you for... looking out for Weiss."

"Oh, no I'm not-"

"Ruby, I know it was your choice, but I am simply grateful that Weiss has broken out of her shell. Out of her... Atlas self. I don't know what would've happened without you."

Ruby shook her head. "Winter, the truth is... I don't know what I would've done without her. You and Klein have both said this to me but, really, I'm lucky to have her too. I..." she searched her mind for the right words, but, well. The right words were big words, really, really big words. And she didn't know if she could say them out loud, and she didn't know if she could feel all those big words without bursting into flames in the first place, and she-

"I love her," Ruby said and, okay, maybe it wasn't as earth-shattering as all that, maybe that's all it was, and obviously that's what it was. It was like having a disease and living with it for months before being diagnosed, to have a name for it finally. Nothing changed. It was a little disorienting still, especially since the light-blue eyes she'd said them to didn't even belong to the right Schnee. Faintly, she started to regret saying it. Not because she didn't mean it, but that she hadn't said it to Weiss first.

Winter smiled, pleased all the same, then beckoned her out around the corner towards the others.

"It was a pleasure meeting you all," Winter told them. "Thank you all for coming."

"Our pleasure," Yang spoke for them. Blake and Ruby nodded in agreement. Winter gave Ruby a meaningful look, and she didn't know what else to do but smile. Weiss went with them out the door, walking them to the car.

"I'd say that was a success," Weiss said.

"Better than I thought it would go," Blake shrugged.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Weiss scoffed. Blake rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean."

Weiss tilted her head in agreement, blowing out a relieved breath. Ruby smiled.

"You've got a pretty cool sister, Weiss," Ruby said. Weiss tucked a lock of her behind her ear.

"I do."

"I'll say, you know she told me she's got a motorcycle license?" Yang leaned against the hood of the car and grinned toothily. "Super cool."

Ruby snorted. "And you guys thought she was like, Ice Queen."

Yang laughed. "Yeah, apparently that honour belongs to the one and only," she threw a finger gun up at Weiss, who rolled her eyes and gave Yang the finger. "I'll stop calling you that when you stop enjoying it," Yang declared.

"In any case, it's safe to say you all have Winter's seal of approval," Weiss noted, turning her head slightly to look at the soft lights of the porch. She turned back to them with a content smile. "Wear it with pride, it's not so easily earned."

"I swear I'll wear it honourably 'till my death," Blake laughed. Weiss shook her head, her smile never disappearing.

"Thank you guys, I mean it," Weiss said quietly. She closed her eyes and breathed the cool night air.

"Weiss, you don't have to thank us for a free meal and a good hang," Ruby said. "We'd do that with you anytime."

Ruby took Weiss' hand and squeezed once. Weiss swallowed thickly and nodded. "Always," Ruby said. And with that, they left, piling into the car with a quick 'see-you-later'. Weiss watched them pull out of the driveway and drive off.

Always.