"So, Ruby," Blake started as they entered the store, two hours into their road trip. Ruby was already eyeing the candy aisle. She looked at Blake, who had a far too casual air about her. She narrowed her eyes. Blake was never purposefully casual. She was silent and mysterious until she wasn't but that was a reactionary thing, never a proactive thing, even around Yang and Ruby. No, this was suspicious.
"Yeah?" Ruby raised both eyebrows. Blake perused the postcards set up on the little rotating stand thing they always postcards in. She shuffled through until she found one a pretty sunset, complete with a 'Wish you were here!' printed in a way too curvy font. Tacky. Blake smiled as she held it.
"You and Weiss," Blake said. She bit her bottom lip as she turned back to look at Ruby.
"Uh huh," Ruby picked up a little basket, putting a couple bottles of water in it.
"You guys are really close," Blake said. Then she sighed, throwing up her hands in frustration.
"Yang told you about New Year's, didn't she," Ruby slapped a palm on her forehead, all her apprehension and regret about telling Yang about it validated. Blake smiled, placing a hand on her hip.
"You would think so, but no, she didn't," Blake said. Oh, no. She didn't give Yang enough credit. Ruby was a bad sister. "What happened on New Year's? I've noticed you guys have been a little weird sometimes since then, but I don't actually know what happened."
Ruby bit the inside of her cheek. Her and her big dumb fat mouth. She turned on her heels and walked away, hurrying over to the candy aisle. She needed a cookie, and she needed it now. Silently, Blake popped up from the other side of the aisle, over the shelf.
"Come on, spill it," Blake said. She slinked over beside Ruby. She poked Ruby in the ribs once. "I wanna know. Everyone else seems to know."
"Fine," Ruby said, aggressively shoving candy into her basket. At an equal rate, Blake put a few items back on the shelf. Ruby gave her the stink eye, but they both knew that this was for the best. Still.
"Weiss and I..." Ruby lowered her voice. "Almost kissed on New Year's," she mumbled, looking anywhere but at Blake.
"I figured it was something like that," Blake said, shrugging as she removed a Reese's Pieces from the basket. She looked at Ruby with concern. "Are you guys... okay? Is everything okay?"
Ruby sighed again, putting the Reese's Pieces back in the basket.
"I'm fine. We're fine. I just... I don't know, it's just kind of weird sometimes, but it's fine, it's totally," she forcefully threw a couple more candy bars into the basket before pausing. She shook her head. "Fine. It's fine."
"You said fine a lot," Blake noted. Ruby looked over at the car, where Weiss was probably sitting. Then she sank down to the floor, leaning against the ice cream cooler.
"I did say fine a lot," Ruby said, exhaling a long breath. For the most part, Ruby was great at repressing stuff. All you had to do was sit around and not think about stuff. She was a pro at sitting around and not thinking about stuff. And school was plenty busy enough for her to bury her head in like a scared ostrich. But for some reason, Weiss, the memory of New Year's, everything about Weiss, just always kept popping up in her head, again and again, like the replay button was broken. Sometimes she'd be studying, and she'd catch herself, heart pounding, breath quickening, just imagining the feel of Weiss' hands on her face. She wanted to lean in. She had wanted to fall.
"Ruby Rose, I think you might be into Weiss," Blake said. "That's just, my opinion of course," Blake sat next to Ruby, nudging her with her elbow.
"I so am," Ruby said, running her hands through her hair.
"How bad is it?" Blake asked.
"Kinda bad, I guess," Ruby answered solemnly. "I can't stop thinking about it. I dream about her."
"Ah," Blake said, nodding in deep understanding. "That's pretty bad. Want a hug?"
Ruby nodded. Blake wrapped her arms around the younger girl, and Ruby felt herself sink into the embrace. This was just her life now. Hugging Blake on the floor of a gas station because she was so stupidly, deeply, indisputably infatuated with Weiss. She thought about Winter, and her kind eyes, staring at Ruby intently, as she opened her big dumb mouth and told her that she loved Weiss. There was no question about that, of course. Ruby just needed to figure out now what that really meant. Ruby let the thought settle in her mind, frustration pounding in her body.
"So, I'm sure this is a pretty big thing and everything, but you mind if we get off the gross gas station floor?" Blake pulled away and smirked. Ruby conceded with a tilt of her head, bouncing up and offering Blake a hand. They continued on with their supply run.
"So, here comes my next question," Blake said, looping a lock of her hair around her finger. "Why aren't you guys together?"
"Because I don't know if she feels the same way," Ruby said. Blake paused then, blinking, looking like she had the wind knocked out of her with that one question. "What?" Ruby asked.
"You're kidding me, right?" Blake said, both eyebrows shooting up as her eyes widened, staring at Ruby like she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Like Ruby was speaking in tongues. Ruby frowned.
"I... no?" Ruby shrugged. Blake huffed out a breath.
"Rubes, I-" she crossed her arms then, pursing her lips. "I just think... you should give it a try. I know you might be feeling scared, but you know, it's always going to be-"
"A leap of faith," Ruby finished for her, her mouth moving faster than her brain, like it tended to do. Blake's gaze turned soft, and she smiled at the younger girl.
"Sure. Yes. A leap of faith," Blake said. "But it's important. It's worth doing, trust me," Blake placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. She scoffed, looking away.
"That's easy for you to say, you and Yang were made for each other," Ruby pouted. Blake smiled at the thought.
"I love Yang with all my heart, Ruby, but I don't think that's a thing. Made for each other. It's just something people say to make things easier. I didn't have much of a choice when I fell for her, no, but it was a choice to be with her. And it was still scary, and I still had a million doubts, and even if it didn't work out, I still wouldn't have regretted telling her," Blake cast a sideways glance out the window. "Just think about it, okay?"
Without another word, Blake slipped the basket from Ruby's grasp, taking it to the front counter. They headed back to the car shortly, their supply run complete. Yang greeted them cheerily while Weiss stared daggers at the back of the blonde's head.
"What's up with you?" Ruby asked. Weiss swallowed, then frowned, crossing her arms.
"She went to the bathroom. We went to the bathroom," Yang offered as explanation. Ruby gasped.
"Weiss went to a gas station bathroom? No way."
Yang cackled. "Right?"
When they arrived at the house, Ruby felt the first edges of apprehension grip her, sliding around her rib cage and threatening to squeeze the life out of her. She really hoped that Weiss was going to respond positively to all of this. More than anything, she wanted Weiss to enjoy herself. This was the first time she'd ever been on any sort of break with friends after all. Ruby would hate for her to have a bad time.
Blake made a gross joke, and Weiss and Ruby had run off upstairs to be anywhere but around the other two. Ruby grunted as she set her bags down at the top of the stairs. Blake had called out that they could decide among themselves which of the rooms upstairs each of them would get.
Ruby felt herself hit with a wave of nostalgia as soon she got to the top. Funny enough, it hadn't been super long since she'd been back, but all the same. She flickered a glance at Weiss' back. It felt like so much had changed since they last came here.
"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 to the room. She couldn't see Weiss' face, but she could see the small motions she made in response. Her shoulders tightened up a little bit, and she could see Weiss made herself just a little smaller.
"No, you can take that room," Weiss said, her voice sounding a little more choked than usual. She turned her head a smidge to look at Ruby, before running off like she had just gotten spooked by the look on her face. Weiss brought her bags in with her and slammed the door shut.
Okay.
Ruby pursed her lips, and tried to not think too much about that. It was just Weiss being kind of weird, and that was okay, right? Like, Ruby was a little weird sometimes, and everyone let it slide anyway, so fine, okay, Weiss was alright being a little weird too.
Ruby took her usual room, closing the door behind her, setting her bags down and opening the windows before flopping down onto the bed, letting out a relieved moan. Making the trip up here was always fun, but being cooped up in a car for such a long time always made her a little antsy. She let the cool ocean breeze lilt in through the room, making the curtains raise and flutter. She breathed in deep, smelling that salty ocean air.
Ah. Felt like summer.
Ruby lounged around for a few minutes longer, just enjoying the breeze, the heat coming from outside, and the sounds of the ocean. She loved that the house was right in front of the beach. It was everything a beach house needed to be: by the beach. There were a lot more like, pressing reasons why she was grateful that Yang found Blake Belladonna, but...
Well, who could deny that view?
In an appropriately cheery summer mood, Ruby decided to waste no time. No matter what the plan was, she would be damned if she didn't get to hit the beach today. Ruby grabbed her swim suit and changed, wearing her jean shorts and a loose off-shoulder shirt over it before heading downstairs.
She made extra sure to stomp down each step as she descended the staircase. Faintly, she could hear the sound of a blender before it stopped abruptly.
"We're downstairs and naked, Rubes, don't look!" she could hear Blake call out from the kitchen. Without thinking, Ruby leaned down and poked her head through the beams on the banister of the staircase.
Like, yeah obviously nobody was naked. But man, imagine if they were? And Ruby just looked with reckless abandon. She was playing a very dangerous game.
Instead, she saw Yang making her yearly summer smoothie, while Blake and Weiss sat on the stools at the kitchen island. Ruby made her way towards the kitchen, hopping on top of the island to sit on it. She saw the small quirk of Weiss' mouth as she watched Ruby take her seat, but paid it no mind. Chaotic neutrals adhered to no laws.
"Are we going out to eat?" Ruby asked the others, patting her stomach exaggeratedly. "I'm starving!"
Yang poured her smoothies in four tall glasses, adorned with adorable tiny umbrellas and straws. She took a glass for herself, grinning in satisfaction.
"Not before I have my yearly, delightful summer-themed smoothie," Yang said, taking a drink and breathing deep. "Magnifique!"
Ruby took a glass for herself, greedily drinking from it. Yang had a lot of silly traditions. She wouldn't ever start studying before she knocked on her desk three times. She had a lucky penny she always kept in her bag. When she worked out, she always did her reps in odd numbers. But the annual Yang Xiao Long delightful summer smoothie tradition was a fantastic tradition. Sure, the argument could be made that she could make the summer smoothie literally any time, but that was dumb. Half the appeal was the location and context.
"Is there any alcohol in this?" Weiss asked. Then in response to Yang's wink, she drank it anyway. It was a good question, but Ruby was like, 70% sure Yang didn't spike the smoothie. Like, at least 60%.
"Delightful," Ruby said as she gulped her drink down, retrieving the little umbrella to toy with it.
"Ain't it just?" Yang said, raising her glass to Ruby. "Alright, we can go look for some food now."
Blake left her glass in the fridge, while Weiss finished her glass with gusto. She screwed up her face afterwards, and held a hand over her chest.
She was suppressing a burp. Oh, that was adorable. Ruby bit her lip and let Blake and Yang head to the car first.
"You know, you could just... burp?" Ruby said. Weiss scowled at her, though her mouth was still firmly pursed so as to not let the burp out. The lengths she went to.
"It's... unbecoming," she spoke around the burp that threatened to escape her throat. Ruby wanted to laugh a little bit. She was ridiculous sometimes, and Ruby didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. It was very Weiss, though, and that was what mattered to her most.
"Uh huh," Ruby said. She jabbed a finger pointing upwards, motioning towards their general surroundings. "Not in Atlas anymore, Weiss," she said, and for a moment, Ruby didn't know if that was a statement or a plea. She felt Weiss' eyes on the back of her head as she headed out the door.
"So welcome to the delightful beach-side town of Haven, by the way," Blake said to Weiss, in the driver's seat for a change. Yang was always happy to drive, but Blake knew the area better than the others. "Population, not much. But there are a lot of fun things to do around here."
"It's nice here," Weiss said with full sincerity. She gazed out the windows, watching the inhabitants of the small town move about their day.
Ruby briefly thought about living in such a small town like this. She thought she would enjoy it, actually. Going to the beach anytime she wanted, living a simple life just reading books at home, a gorgeous ocean view whenever she wanted. She turned her gaze beside her, to Weiss watching and wondering, and she thought that whatever it was, she would probably enjoy it a lot more with Weiss with her. With a little hesitation, she probably thought that this was going to be the case for whatever she did. Weiss, her constant.
There was a thought. There was a hope.
Blake parked in front of the restaurant, a charming, retro style diner. The neon purple sign out front read 'Bruce's'. They had been there before, last summer. It was less retro-styled, and more... actually retro. The place had been standing for years and years, ever since the town was founded in the early 40s. They had changed their aesthetic very little in the years, only enough to maintain that weirdly nostalgic feeling. They took a seat at one of the booths.
Weiss took out a menu, examining it.
"What- what's an Elvis Burger?" Weiss asked, flipping over her menu and scrutinizing it. Everything had strange names and no descriptions. Blake took the menu, old and yellowed laminated paper, from Weiss.
"Don't worry about it, just trust me on this one," Blake said. Weiss looked to Ruby for confirmation. Ruby nodded her head. Weiss leaned back in her seat, shrugging slightly.
"So, we're hitting the beach after this, right?" Ruby asked the table, almost vibrating in her seat from excitement. "Sorry, I phrased that as a question, it's not- we're totally going to hit the beach after this," Ruby grinned, toothy and wide. Nobody had the heart to tell her otherwise. After all, they did come all this way to the beach house. Might as well go to the beach.
Blake ordered them the burgers, and they had a decadent, delicious meal, leaving them full and pleased. Ruby was the first to move, hopping in the driver seat of the car before anyone else could. Everyone protested. Ruby really wanted to drive, though! She was geared up, excited beyond just her usual self. It was the atmosphere! It was the beach, and the food, and waves and the breeze and Weiss was there and things were different and cool, so, like, yeah, she totally felt like driving.
"Nuh uh, no way. It's totally my turn to drive!" Ruby argued, looking at everyone's bemused expression. "Come on guys! I'll be totally cool this time, I swear. Besides, we're just heading to the beach. You could drive in any direction and hit the beach in this place, we'll be totally cool. Trust me!"
"Alright, I'm not suffering through the co-pilot seat for this," Yang shook her head, looking for the life of her like she was making a decision to let Ruby drive against her better judgement. "Weiss, you're up."
Weiss looked at Yang, mouth slightly agape.
"Ditto. Get up there, Weiss," Blake said in agreement. Weiss rolled her eyes.
"Fine," she scoffed. Ruby waved her off.
"It'll be fine, Weiss!" she said jovially. Weiss didn't much share her mood. "C'moooonn, Weiss. I'm gonna need some good vibes from you before we set off. Summer vacation 2019, get hyped!"
Weiss scoffed at her, but she couldn't hide the smile that tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Fine. I totally believe in you, go Ruby," she deadpanned, looping a finger in the air to express her joy. Ruby shrugged.
"Your support means the world to me, Weiss," she said, watching Weiss crack a smile as she put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking lot.
Okay, so she took a couple wrong turns, and, okay fine, maybe it took them like fifteen minutes longer than it was supposed to to get to their destination. But Ruby thought they were all missing the larger point, which was that they got there, and sometimes it was about the journey and not the destination. She told them as much, and received a flick to her forehead, courtesy of one Yang Xiao Long. Ruby scowled, but they all headed to the beach anyway. The back of the car held a nice little beach umbrella and several lawn chairs that Yang retrieved as they went around looking for a nice spot to set themselves down.
Ruby dug around her bag as she walked, feeling the severe, delightful heat of the day bear down on them. She gasped as she felt around, looking for the little tube she swore up and down she had-
Weiss held out a tube of sunscreen from her bag.
"You forgot to bring yours didn't you?" Weiss said, and though her words suggested otherwise, there wasn't any condescension in her tone. Ruby pouted.
"I must've left it in my luggage," Ruby said, smiling sheepishly.
"Well, here, take it. I've got extra in my purse," Weiss said. "I'd say that it was an accident, and that I always carry around extra, but, well. I don't. So, here."
Ruby took the sunscreen gratefully. Once again, Weiss had her number. She was almost better at anticipating Ruby than she was herself. Even in the blazing afternoon heat, Ruby could feel the warm glow in her chest as she held onto the sunscreen like her life depended on it. She couldn't help it, she smiled, and she could swear her heart started pounding the instant she saw the slanted smile on Weiss' face.
"Thanks," Ruby managed to rip out of her throat. If her face felt flush, she would blame it on the heat. "You're-" she started, but felt herself trail off, her throat constricting itself as the thought lost itself to the ether.
What was she gonna say anyway?
Hey Weiss, you're good at knowing when I'm about to be an idiot, I love you for that.
Weiss, you're the best, I'm lucky to know you!
You're the best reason I have to wake up and get out and I never want us to be apart.
Hah. Yeah. No way.
"Thanks," Ruby said again instead, shaking her head as they continued walking.
Eventually, Blake settled them in a relatively empty spot, poking the umbrella through the ground in one deft spike, then turning it open. Yang dropped the chairs down, brushing them off before sitting herself down, inviting Blake to sit in the chair with her with a look and a pat. Blake rolled her eyes, but (who would've guessed, right?) she sits herself down right next to Yang, fitting themselves in each other like long-lost lego blocks.
Weiss took the other seat, pulling out her book and pulling her shades down over her eyes.
Ruby pouted at them.
"Nobody else wants to get into the water?" she asked, shucking off her top and shorts and tossing them at the little blanket under the umbrella. She took out the sunscreen, applying it over herself. Luckily this was a one piece, so she didn't have that much surface area to cover with it. Weiss shifted a little in her seat, but remained firmly glued to her book. Blake gave her a death glare. Yang-
Gently got up and left Blake in the seat, careful not to disturb her lovely girlfriend. She took her tank top off, tossing it to Blake with a little laugh. She already had her bikini top underneath.
She stretched her arms up above her head, then bounced on the balls of her foot once. Twice.
"Three," she said, getting into a running position. Ruby jerked herself to attention, frantically tossing the tube of sunscreen at Weiss' general direction (and hearing a little 'Hey!' in return) before turning hot on her heels to run away.
"TWOONERUBY," she heard Yang thunder from behind hear, hearing the dull thumps of Yang's heavy footfalls behind her as she sprinted for her life.
Ruby was an excellent runner, make no mistake, but nothing stopped a determined Yang Xiao Long. She had reach on her side, and easy as she could carry a sack of feather, she scooped up Ruby, tossing her over her shoulder.
"Noooooooo, this doesn't count!" Ruby thumped Yang's back as she brought her into the water.
Without warning, Ruby felt the first splashes of water tickle her legs before Yang tossed her. She fell, fully submerged in the beautiful, clear water.
Ah. It was summer. It was a lovely summer.
When they returned twenty minutes later, Ruby had dunked Yang underwater a pitiful twice, while Yang had (and meticulously kept count) dunked her thirteen times. Needless to say, Ruby was a little bit more wet than Yang was, who returned to the beach umbrella in smug triumph.
"They return," Blake said, lounging on her chair luxuriously. She turned to look at Ruby. "Guess you lost," she said. Yang grinned wide in response, wrapping her arm around Ruby and aggressively hugging her while Ruby struggled to get away.
Weiss finally put her book down, peering at the pair over her sunglasses, cracking a small smile.
"You'll get her next time, Ruby," she offered up, her shoulders already in a pitiful half shrug. Yang immediately stuck her tongue out, but released Ruby anyway with a kiss atop her head. Ruby smiled wide.
"Probably not, but that's kind of half the fun of it. But thanks, Weiss," Ruby said, wringing some water out of her hair. The dye was starting to fade, the red fading to a darker crimson now. Briefly, Ruby thought that she should have dyed it before going on vacation. She sat at the end of Weiss' lawn chair.
"You're soaking wet," Weiss said, withdrawing her legs. Ruby grinned mischievously. Weiss shook her head vehemently. "Nope. No way. I didn't bring my swim suit, you can't dunk me. I will murder you if you try," she turned her glare over to Yang. "That goes double for you!"
Blake laughed as the Rose-Xiao Longs looked on at Weiss ominously. Weiss withdrew more into herself.
"When you least expect it, Ice Queen," Yang promised, waggling her eyebrows. Weiss gave her the finger. Ruby broke at that, cackling with laughter.
"Fine. Not today, then," Ruby said, tucking some wet hair behind her ear. She eyed Weiss carefully, and suddenly she was aware the mischief in her voice dropped out to replace itself with something else. Something she couldn't really name, couldn't place, but came from a genuine, deep place somewhere in the pit of her chest. "Not yet," she said to Weiss, and if Ruby was half-crazy, she could swear she saw Weiss shiver.