Weiss never did end up doing much about Ruby. There was always just something else to do.
The end of the school year came a little faster than she expected. All at once, they were done with finals, Weiss had won a shiny gold first place trophy for Beacon High's fencing team, and the days started turning hotter and hotter.
"Summer vacay, baby!" Yang exclaimed, whipping out her aviators as they all headed out of school, towards the parking lot. Weiss wanted to make fun of her, but to her credit, Yang seemed to be made for summer. She was all wide smiles, tank tops, biceps and sunglasses and cool drinks glinting in the sunlight. She walked like summer, all rough and hot and light. Blue skies and yellow suns. Yang Xiao Long.
Beside her, Blake padded breezily through the hot summer day. If Yang was the summer day, then Blake might have posed herself as the cool summer nights. She was the infinity of the stars in the expanse of the night sky, the cool breeze that blew through the trees, rustling the leaves as it tickled your face. Weiss wanted to groan. They really were made for each other. Two sides of the same coin and all. She was the Yin to her (okay now Weiss wanted to groan) Yang.
"I hope you all are ready," Blake said, walking backwards to face Weiss and Ruby. "Got your stuff all packed and everything?"
The plan had been in the making for weeks. The Belladonnas owned a beach house, about a few hour's drive of Vale proper. Every summer since they met, Blake, Yang and Ruby had taken a weekend or so off to go down there, enjoy the sun and sand. Their treat for surviving another school year. Now they had another addition to their little group, and as the last summer they would spend in Beacon, their little weekend getaway had been extended to a week long beach vacation.
Weiss was- well she was beyond thrilled. Despite her Atlesian affinities, Weiss did enjoy the occasional beach trip as much as anyone else. Her only gripe was the ludicrous amount of sunscreen she always had to apply to prevent herself from getting burnt beet-red. Yang had already made fun of her, and she was sure she would continue to do so, but Weiss was looking forward to it. No, what Weiss was truly anxious about was the spending time with Ruby. At the beach. Relatively alone in a remote beach house. No supervision or anything. Ruby was going to wear a swimsuit, too, and much as Ruby didn't want to imagine that and be anything less than extremely interested. Well.
Yeah, so. She was afraid. The spring had passed them by like a dream. Winter had gone off without much fanfare, as was her wont. Klein had given her a thermos of his tea, making her promise to return it as soon as possible so that she would have an excuse to visit (not that she needed one). Weiss had hugged her sister tight and wished her well. Winter had whispered words of encouragement in her ear. Words that rung in her ears like a bell every time she was alone with Ruby, a dangerous thought on the tip of her tongue.
"I haven't finished packing yet!" Ruby groaned. Blake shook her head.
"It's just for a week, how much do you need to bring?" she asked. Ruby shook her head.
"Nuh-uh. No. I am not making the same mistake I made last year," Ruby slammed her fist into her open palm.
"You mean when you forgot your sunglasses?" Yang asked.
"Or your unicorn floatie you wanted to bring?" Blake asked.
"Or the sunscreen?"
"Or your spare swim suit?"
"You only brought one swim suit last year?" Weiss quirked her brow, quickly suppressing any and every mental image that was brought to the forefront of her mind at the mention of the topic.
Ruby absently scratched her cheek, looking at the ground intently. "Yeeaaahhh..." she mumbled. "I, uh. Had to borrow Yang's..."
Weiss slapped her hand against her mouth. "How?"
"Oh no, she did not fit in it at ALL," Yang grinned.
"Best to leave that be, Weiss," Blake caught her eye. Weiss nodded dumbly, letting the conversation slide as they headed home.
Weiss herself had finished packing. An appropriate amount of swim suits, she was sure. As soon as she got home, she made doubly sure. Weiss showered and changed out of the clothes she wore to school, donning a pair of jean shorts and a frilly tank top.
"Have everything you need, Weiss?" Klein rounded into the living room. Weiss looked up from her book. She nodded, checking the time again. Yang would be around soon.
"Anxious?" Klein asked, brow quirked. Weiss set her mouth in a tight line.
"Excited," she answered evasively. She wanted to smack herself a little. Leave it to her to be anxious about a vacation with her best friends. But it wasn't the trip she was anxious about. Just Ruby. She really had to let it go. Or do something about it. Mentally, she sighed.
It was complicated. It was easy.
It was summer vacation! Ruby and Weiss and all of that be damned. She stuffed it all in the back of her mind. Weiss Schnee was going on a fun week long trip to a beach house with the best friends she'd ever had! That was cause for excitement, for celebration.
A car honked outside as her phone pinged. Yang Xiao Long, master of timing. Weiss leapt up out of her seat, shouldering her purse as she collected herself. Sunglasses, check. Lotion and sunblock, check. Klein-
Weiss smiled wide. She hugged Klein.
It had been a long year (technically it hadn't been a full year since she'd moved to Vale, but, hell who was counting?). She was happy, in some form or measure, and Klein was there through it all. Now she was leaving for a week, and in all the excitement she forgot that she was leaving Klein too. He returned her hug gently.
"See you in a week, Klein," she said, muffled into his shoulder. She thought she heard him sniffle a little. "I love you," she said then, without an ounce of hesitation, pulling away. He smiled, and nodded. Weiss grabbed her luggage, and with one last look, left the house.
Yang was parked outside the curb, not in her father's old car, but a fancy black SUV. Weiss recognised it as Blake's parent's. She was leaning against the door, arms crossed and shades already on. She was wearing a loose tank top with the words 'Sun's out Gun's out' printed in bold.
"Weiss Schnee, are you ready for-"
The windows of the SUV rolled down to reveal Blake and Ruby, both wearing shades of their own, enthusiastically pointing finger guns at Weiss.
"Summer Vacation 2019!" they all exclaimed in unison. Weiss laughed, then lowered the sunglasses that were sat on her head.
"Hell yeah," she said.
They all cheered and hollered as she stored her luggage in the trunk.
"I spy with my little eye-"
"Cactus."
Ruby crossed her arms and pouted. "No."
Weiss quirked her brow. "Yes it is."
Ruby threw her hands up, groaning. "Fine! It was cactus. How did you even know?"
Weiss rewarded herself with a potato chip. "Your last three I spy's have been a cactus."
"You would think after the third one, she would've figured it out," Blake commented from the front seat, her face still buried firmly in her book.
"She probably thought that I wouldn't think she would do it a fourth time," Weiss turned to Ruby in smug satisfaction. "Didn't you?"
Ruby opened her mouth, then decided to close it and sink into her seat and nod. Weiss laughed. Doofus.
"It would've been a solid strategy if it had worked," Ruby offered in her defence.
They were on hour two of their six hour drive. It had officially ticked over to the 'let's play road trip games' hour. Weiss had been surprisingly good at pointing out red cars before anyone else. And now she was thrashing Ruby at I Spy.
"So I'll just add 'weird games we play on road trips' onto the list," Ruby rolled her eyes at Weiss. Weiss shrugged.
"What list now?" Yang peeked into the rear-view to catch Ruby's eye. She smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.
"It's a list of things Weiss is amazing at," Ruby said. Blake's ears perked up, and Weiss felt her face grow flush.
"Do tell," Yang said.
"It's- it was just a joke I-" Weiss began.
"Well, no, you guys know how Weiss is like really good at fencing?" Ruby cut her off. Both Blake and Yang nodded. "So she has all these other amazing Atlas skills. Like she sings really, really well," Ruby started listing off her fingers.
"That's true, I have heard her sing in the shower," Blake said. Ruby blinked. Yang smiled, quirking a brow at her wonderful, monogamous, girlfriend. Blake put her book down and rolled her eyes. "I was at her place to drop some books off and she was taking a shower."
Weiss blushed fully now. "You heard that?"
"Sure. You're a very good singer," Blake said casually. It was funny how that one simple compliment meant a lot more to her than any compliment she'd ever gotten from her peers in Atlas.
"Okay, well. She's also a fantastic ice-skater, super smart obviously, she's a great painter," Ruby's eyes wandered away as she started listing off. She flicked her gaze back towards Weiss and stopped, biting her lip. "The list goes on," Ruby shrugged. Even though Yang had her aviators on, Weiss could clearly see the amusement in her eyes.
"Interesting," Yang said, and Weiss didn't know what to make of her tone. She sounded like she was a hunter setting their sights on an easy target- a deer already walking into their trap. Blake made a sound in the back of her throat, and Weiss had half a mind to flick her forehead. They weren't subtle. Sometimes. Weiss turned to Ruby. She gave Weiss a sheepish smile, and Weiss at least had the decency to maintain the facade of being annoyed. She shrugged eventually, turning away to look out the window.
A little while after that, Yang pulled into a rest stop, cricking out her back and arms. Ruby left to go buy some more snacks at the store, while Blake followed her to make sure she didn't go too wild on the cookies. They were only barely halfway to their destination after all, and nobody wanted to have to deal with a sugar-high Ruby Rose in a confined environment.
Yang thrust her chest out as she bent her back, hearing a satisfying 'pop!'. She moaned in satisfaction. Weiss leaned against the car door, arms crossed. Yang took notice of the shorter girl, bringing her shades up onto her head.
"You know," Yang began. Weiss held a finger up, silencing her. Yang furrowed her brows.
"Don't," Weiss said, with an air of finality. Yang Xiao Long, in an uncharacteristic move, shoved her hands in her pockets and backed off, shrugging easily. Weiss eyed her carefully. Yang lowered her sunglasses, rounding the front of the car. There was a hot breeze blowing through the place, and Weiss couldn't help the prickly feeling it raised in the back of her neck, like an omen. Weiss shook her head, sighing.
Then Yang Xiao Long came up behind her and grabbed her by her midsection.
Weiss yelped, smacking Yang's arm. "Yang! Let go of me!"
"Weiss Schnee, let's you and I have a talk," Yang continued carrying her, undeterred. Weiss trashed about before Yang deposited her easily down around the corner of the store, shielding them from view. Weiss groaned heavily. She hated Yang, truly she did.
"First of all, you are too strong, and you need to be stopped!" Weiss pointed a finger at Yang, scowling. Yang patted her bicep once, smiling wide. "Second of all, I hate you."
"Focus up, Weiss," Yang pointed from her eyes to Weiss'.
"Yang, please," Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. Yang crossed her arms.
"That girl in there talks about you like you hang the moon and the stars up in the night sky," Yang jerked her thumb behind her, towards the store. "And you like her too, I know you do."
"I- no she doesn't!" Weiss' brain was scrambling, working overtime to comprehend and refute Yang's claims. It was this strange tug-of-war between the rational, cynical voice in her head, the one that was sure, always so sure of everything it knew, and the pull on her heart she felt at hearing Yang's words. Possibility was as tempting as probability, but Weiss knew which part of her would win out.
"Weiss, give us a little credit. I'm not dumb, and I know you're not, despite all evidence to the contrary," she vaguely motioned towards Weiss' whole form. She responded with a scoff, but with nothing she could actually rebuke with. "Ruby has never been half as happy as she is now, since she's met you. And in case that point doesn't stick, let me make it very clear: you make her happy."
"I..." Weiss' breath hitched. She looked anywhere but Yang. "I... Yang, I appreciate this gesture, but-"
"Tell me you don't want to," Yang said, crossing her arms. "Just tell me you don't want to and I'll back off, no questions asked, and not one more word about it."
"Of course I want to, just-"
They were cut off by the tinkle of the bell outside the shop's door. Yang took hold of Weiss' arm and made to move further into the corner. They heard Blake and Ruby's voices trail off as they walked towards the car.
"We'll continue this conversation later. Pretend you're still in the bathroom," Yang said to Weiss in a hushed tone. Weiss peered into the bathroom, and grimaced.
"That's so gross; I don't want to go into a gas station bathroom!" Weiss hissed at Yang, grabbing her before she could walk away. Yang rolled her eyes.
"Just go to the bathroom, Weiss!" Yang said, half-exasperated. Weiss stood her ground, shaking her head.
"No way, they'll never believe I would voluntarily go to the gas station bathroom!" Weiss pointed out. Yang groaned, burying her head in her hands.
"Fucking- ugh, fine! I'll be the one in the bathroom, and you go to the car first," Yang rolled her eyes.
"Wait," Weiss said.
"What?"
"Why don't we just walk out and tell them we both went to the bathroom?"
Yang blinked. "Right. Okay. Good call, Schnee."
"I can't believe you went to the gas station bathroom, Weiss," Ruby said, some hours later. Weiss quietly simmered, her (not very well thought out, admittedly) plan backfiring. She carefully flicking her glare to the rear-view, where she could see Yang smiling. She shrugged.
"How much longer?" Weiss asked. Blake put her book down finally, peering out the window. She smiled.
"Right about... now," she said as they crested over a hill. "Haven."
The sea sparkled in the midday sun, highlighting the charming port city that it surrounded. It was a glittering view, the picture perfect definition of 'Summer'. Yang lowered the windows and Weiss felt the cool ocean breeze on her face, the smell of fresh air, the spectacle of nature. It did wonders to set them all in the right mood.
The town itself was relatively small. There were a couple restaurants scattered about the main street, and a rustic, lovely looking lighthouse at the end of one of the piers. It was, in short, a beach city. Weiss felt like wearing anything more than flip-flops would be sacrilege. She took in the quiet town atmosphere, relishing in the pure novelty of it all. She had rarely ever been to such calm places. She thought, in another life, for another version of herself, she would enjoy living in such a place. Weiss could imagine herself reading all day, popping down to the grocery store for a couple ingredients to cook, or to the coffee shop on a snowy winter's day.
In all her daydreaming, in each scenario, Weiss could feel the edges of Ruby's presence. She could imagine buying a cookie for Ruby on the way back home. Bringing her to the coffee shop, to warm themselves sharing a cup of hot cocoa.
Fuck.
They arrived at the house soon enough (thank God- Weiss wasn't sure how long more she could have handled her wandering mind). It was a nice little two story villa, right at the edge of the land, just a stone's throw away from the beach. The Belladonnas held onto some prime real estate, that was for sure. Faintly, she realised that Blake was actually pretty well off. In Vale terms, of course.
"Welcome to La Casa di Belladonna," Yang said in an exaggerated Italian accent. Blake simply kissed Yang's cheek as she unlocked the front door, letting them all enter.
It was a cozy place. There was a nice breakfast nook, and a fully decked out kitchen. Weiss went to look at the photos hung up on the wall. Loads of photos of a baby Blake playing in the sand, her grinning parents in tow. She had met Ghira and Kali Belladonna before. They had been nothing but kind to her, and she couldn't have been more grateful for the fact.
Up on the mantle in the living room, there were more framed photos of the Belladonnas, older in every progressive photo. There was a clear gap in Blake's teenage years in the photos, before the photos started including not only the Belladonnas, but the Rose-Xiao Longs. Yang and Ruby both had their arms around Blake's shoulders as she looked half-embarrassed. Even Tai was there one year.
"Ruby and Weiss, your rooms are upstairs, you guys decide which ones you want," Blake called out from the kitchen. She was checking the water coming from the sink, making sure nothing was wrong with it.
"Blake and I will take the master bedroom downstairs," Yang said, waggling her eyebrows. Weiss and Ruby both made silent gagging motions at each other.
"Just make sure we can't hear anything," Weiss shook her head before she grabbed her luggage to carry it upstairs.
"Well," Blake intoned, just loud enough for Weiss to hear. She cringed, shaking her head.
"Okay, let's just go upstairs now Ruby," Weiss said, hastily beating her retreat into the (relative, god she hoped it was more than just relative) safety of upstairs. Ruby came up shortly afterwards.
"Yang and I shared the room on the left when we came up here last year, it's bigger than the other room. You can have it," Ruby motioned towards the door further down the hall. Weiss pursed her lips.
"No, you can take that room," Weiss said. Ruby paused, quirking her brow. Weiss hurried off to the room on the right, shutting the door behind her with a little more force than necessary. She blew a breath out. Okay, so maybe not her smoothest moment. Weiss sat on the bed. The room was Blake's, or it used to be anyway. There were a couple film photos stickied onto the mirror on the vanity. Her and Yang holding each other close. They looked like they were dancing, framed by the soft glow of the room they were in, and the ethereal orange-green glow of the photo not having developed just quite right. Beside that, polaroids of Blake, Yang and Ruby crowded around a fire at night, smiling wide at the camera. A couple books lined the bookshelf, dusty and yellowed with age.
Besides the odd memento here and there, the room was neat and tidy. Weiss began unpacking, heading into the attached bathroom to freshen up. They had spent a significant amount of time cooped up in a car together, after all.
Okay, so. Beach vacation. Weiss lightly slapped both sides of her face together in the mirror. She knew, deep in her core, that something, something was going to happen over the week. It made the hairs on her neck raise, and she washed her face again to get herself under control.
Weiss made her way downstairs, making extra sure to stomp her foot a little harder on the steps as she went down, just as an advanced warning for Yang and Blake, who she had no doubts were both already swept up in the romance of it all.
"We're down here and both fully clothed, Weiss," Blake called out as she got halfway down the stairs. Weiss peeked her head over the banister, confirming the validity of Blake's claims. She nodded as she assessed them.
"So, what's the plan?" Weiss asked as she took a seat at the kitchen island. Yang was mixing up a couple fruits and ice into the blender. Blake was sitting atop the kitchen counter, legs crossed.
"We're gonna head out and find some food, then hit the beach," Blake said. Yang made a clicking noise, pointing at Blake in approval as she turned on the blender. Blake cringed a little, bowing the ears atop her head. Yang looked at her apologetically as Blake moved over to sit next to Weiss. "How enthused are you about getting into the water?" Blake asked her.
Weiss frowned. "Not very," she said. Blake patted her arm in sympathy.
"I'll pray for you," Blake told her solemnly. "You forget who you came here with."
Ruby Rose stomped down the stairs slowly, each thud of her foot heard clearly as Yang stopped blending.
"We're downstairs and naked, Rubes, don't look!" Blake called out. Ruby's head poked through the banister, her mouth set in an exaggerated 'O'. She immediately frowned as she saw them all. Ruby withdrew her head from between the banister and took a seat atop the kitchen island.
Did, like, nobody know how to sit down properly?
"Are we going out to eat? I'm starving!" Ruby immediately complained. Yang tutted at her as she set down four tall glasses on the island, each complete with their own tiny umbrella and straw. She poured the smoothie she'd made into each glass.
"Not before I drink my annual delightful summer-themed smoothie," Yang said, taking a glass for herself and raising it up before taking a sip. She took a deep breath in satisfaction. "Ah, magnifique!"
Weiss took a glass, then paused. "Is there any alcohol in this?"
Yang winked at her. Weiss frowned, then looked at Ruby properly. She had changed into her one piece swim suit, wearing her jean shorts over it. Weiss clammed herself up, then drinking deeply from her glass, thinking that she could use some alcohol now anyway.
"Delightful," Ruby said as she drained the last of her glass. She took out the small umbrella, cleaning it with a tissue before sticking in behind her ear.
"Ain't it just?" Yang said, raising her glass and smiling wide. "Alright, we can go look for some food now."
They made to move off. Blake hadn't finished her glass yet, and put it in the fridge before wiping off her mouth and heading out the door with Yang. Weiss chose to forgo the straw for the last bit of her drink, tipping it generously into her mouth. Sure, okay, Yang may have been onto something there. It really was delicious.
She felt a burp coming on, and Weiss held it in as she eyed Ruby still standing around, an intense look of concentration on her face. Then she narrowed her eyes at Weiss. Weiss desperately wished she would just walk away.
"You know, you could just... burp?" Ruby said, hands on her hips, and the smile on her face wide. Weiss scowled.
"It's-" she held a hand over her mouth. "Unbecoming."
"Uh huh," Ruby said. She pointed a finger above her. "Not in Atlas anymore, Weiss," she said, before turning around and walking away.
Weiss let out a small burp as soon as she was sure Ruby wasn't in earshot, then sighed, running her hands over her face. Not in Atlas anymore. That could have been the damn title of her book. Maybe this was what Atlas was. Not the iron grip of Jacques Schnee, or the emptiness of her life. Maybe it was the stranglehold of her apprehension, dragging her back, back, back.
And maybe what she needed was to push to keep moving forward. Weiss walked through the door, to where Ruby, Yang and Blake were waiting.