Weiss bit her lip. She's known her team for a few months now, and her birthday was tomorrow. Maybe for once in her life she could have fun spending the day with them.
Gathering all her courage, she cleared her throat as she looked at the trio. "What are your plans for tomorrow?"
Yang raised a brow and looked at Blake. "I'm going out with Blake. We're gonna hit the town for a bit, then watch a movie." She admitted shyly, a blush starting to form on her face.
"We know that we should've told you two sooner, but we wanted it to be a private date." Blake blushed a bit as she admitted that and moved closer towards Yang.
"Aww~ It's ok! Hope that you two have fun tomorrow!" Ruby cheered for them. She did notice that there was something between them, but didn't know what exactly. Now she knows, and she's glad that they found happiness together.
"I agree. You two should have fun tomorrow." Weiss nodded, ignoring the stabbing pain in her heart. So much for that idea. "What about you, Ruby? What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Hmm…" Ruby thought about it and shrugged. "I wanna fix up my baby, Crescent Rose. She's been needing a tune up for a while now." She took out her weapon and noted what she needed to do. Grease up a bit to unfold it, clean out the dust chambers…
Just before her mind continued with that thought, Ruby looked towards her partner. "What about you, Weiss? What are you going to do tomorrow? Why did you ask anyways?" All eyes on the room looked at her, making Weiss feel uncomfortable.
"Nothing important." She waved them off and was thankful that her scroll was ringing. "Ah… if you excuse me, my sister's calling." Weiss then left the room quickly before anyone could say anything, missing the worried looks on her teammate's faces completely.
"Hi, Winter. How are you doing?" Weiss answered as she walked towards the roof and leaned onto the side of the building. It may not be often that her sister calls, but she treasures every second of it.
"I'm doing well. How have you been doing, Weiss? I haven't heard much from you. Are you alright?" Winter sounded a bit concerned, and there was a hint of regret in there.
I think I know what she's about to tell me. Weiss did her best to hide the disappointment and loneliness in her voice. "I'm fine. No need to worry. Is it safe to assume that you will be busy tomorrow?"
"That is correct. I'm leaving tonight on a mission. General Ironwood has informed me that it would take at least a week." Winter sighed. "I wanted to wish you a happy birthday and apologize for not being able to say it tomorrow."
"Winter, it's fine." Weiss bit her lip as she gripped her shirt. It wouldn't be the first time that I've been alone on my birthday, after all. "You wishing me 'Happy Birthday' is enough." I want to spend time with you again. "You're busy and I understand that. Promise me that you'll stay safe on your mission, alright?"
"I will. Take care of yourself too, Weiss. And… I'm sorry. I love you."
"I love you too, Winter." Weiss hung up and sighed, looking up at the sky. "Another year…" She sighed again and walked towards the edge of the roof. Just as she was about to lean down to sit, she felt someone grabbing her arm and pulling her back. "AH!"
"Weiss!" Ruby cried as she pulled Weiss into her arms and buried her face onto her partner's shoulder. "Why didn't you tell me that it was your birthday?!"
Weiss blinked as she awkwardly wrapped her arms around her shaking partner. Wait, why is she shaking? "Ruby…? What's wrong?" She asked gently, rubbing the younger woman's back soothingly.
"What's wrong?!" Ruby pulled back, showing her watery eyes. "You were about to walk off the edge! Was it because no one wanted to spend time with you on your birthday?" She whimpered, holding onto Weiss tighter. She was terrified at the thought of losing Weiss.
"Walk off?" Weiss raised a brow and looked over the edge. "I was going to sit down." She looked back at Ruby, who started to calm down. "Did you really think that I was going to jump off because I was feeling lonely?" Just as Ruby was about to say something, Weiss covered her mouth. "On second thought, I don't want to hear what you think about that." She sighed and shook her head.
Ruby frowned and gripped onto Weiss' shirt. "Weiss… Really… Why didn't you say anything?" She whimpered, hurt that Weiss didn't tell her team something this important.
"I…" Weiss sighed then looked away, moving so that they were sitting side by side. "I didn't want to bother anyone when they had plans…"
"Weiss…" Ruby whimpered. They were silent for a moment until the young leader spoke up. "Tomorrow, I'll spend all day with you!"
"W-What? Ruby, no! You had plans! I don't want you to change them just to spend it with me." Weiss was happy for the offer, but she didn't want to bother Ruby.
You're nothing but a bothersome pest. What? Your birthday? Who cares?! Go back to your room and study! Do something useful in your life!
"Weiss, listen." Weiss flinched as Ruby placed a hand onto her shoulder and gave her a patient smile. "I can tune up Crescent Rose any time, but spending time with you?" She noted the white-haired woman's look when she said that. "It's priceless. Besides… It's cute when you're asking for something! It makes me feel dependable!"
"W-What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss tilted her head curiously. "You're already a capable and dependable leader."
Ruby merely laughed. "But you've rarely asked for anything from us!" She then pulled back and took Weiss' hand. "Come on! Tell me all about what you'd like to do tomorrow! You said that you wanted to hang out, right? Order me around. I hereby give you permission to use your birthday to tell me what to do!"
"W-What?! No! I just…" Weiss blushed as she looked down and whispered. "...I just want to hang out as friends…"
"What's that?" Ruby had a smug look. "I couldn't hear you~ Come on, Weiss. What did you want to do~?"
"S-Shut up! I-I'll think of something tomorrow then!" Weiss blushed harder as she walked past Ruby and towards their room.
Little did she know, Ruby was playing with her scroll as she followed her.
Weiss came back to the room and wondered about Yang and Blake whispering to each other, but figured that they were planning for whatever date they had tomorrow and shrugged them off, going back to her desk. Ruby walked in as she sat down and jumped onto her bed to play on her scroll.
Yang soon joined her in her gameplay while Blake watched. Rolling her eyes, Weiss went to finish her homework before bidding her team good night.
Once they were sure that Weiss was asleep, Ruby jumped off her bed with a soft thump and sat on the Faunus' bed with Yang and Blake.
"Are you sure about this, Ruby?" Yang frowned as she looked at Weiss. "She could've just told us…"
"I told her the same thing, but she said that she didn't want to bother us." Ruby shook her head. "Can I trust you two for tomorrow night? I know that means cutting your date a little early."
"Oh, please. We can go on dates at any time. But birthdays? They only come once a year." Blake chuckled then kissed Yang's cheek.
"Weiss owes us a nice hotel night or the room to ourselves." Yang pouted as she wrapped an arm around Blake. "We're cutting our Valentine's date short, after all."
"I know, I'm sorry for asking." Ruby huffed. "Though if everything goes right, we'll be wanting the room to ourselves…"
Yang had a smug look on her face. "Thinking of asking her out finally?"
"Yang!" Ruby blushed but nodded. "If she's happy tomorrow, then I will."
"I wish you luck, Ruby. You should get some sleep." Blake smiled at her. "And you, Yang. We should enjoy our own date as much as we can tomorrow before we set Ruby's plan into action."
"Alright, fine." Yang chuckled. "Good night, Ruby. Have fun."
Ruby merely groaned as she jumped up onto her bed.
The second Weiss woke up, Ruby jumped her. "Good morning, Weiss! Happy birthday!" She smiled as she nuzzled against her partner's shoulder.
"Gah! R-Ruby!" Weiss struggled to get up and glanced towards the Bumbleby's side of the room. She let out a sigh of relief, seeing that they were gone already. "Don't just loudly announce it's my birthday! You're lucky that Yang and Blake aren't here!"
"You didn't want them to know?" Ruby raised a brow.
Weiss sighed as she looked away. "As I said, I didn't want to be a bother. They were planning a date." Seems like everyone is planning a date for today though. I wonder why.
"Weiss…" Ruby clung onto Weiss' arm. "Like I said, we can pretty much do whatever we want on any day. Birthdays are special." She then got off the bed. "Now, come on! We have a full day to enjoy your birthday!"
"R-Right." Weiss nodded as she got off the bed, unsure of what to really do. She walked towards the bathroom and freshened herself up before looking at herself in the mirror. She had changed her clothes and wore a sleeveless light blue sundress with a white jacket on top. The white-haired woman hoped that she looked presentable before walking out, seeing Ruby changed into a pair of black jeans and a red hoodie.
"Alright, BFF! What's first on the... list… Woooow. You look amazing!" Ruby blushed.
"T-Thank you. You don't look too bad yourself." Weiss cleared her throat and grabbed her bag, making sure that she had some money and her scroll. "Ready to uh…" She paused, thinking of the right words. "Hit the town… Did I say that right?"
Ruby laughed as she took Weiss' hand. "You did, but you don't have to force yourself out of your comfort zone. Just be yourself, ok?"
"Be myself…" Weiss hummed as she walked with Ruby out of the dorms, unsure of what she meant.
The day was eventful for Ruby. She saw how awkwardly cute Weiss was when trying to do 'every day' interactions, such as paying for a bus fare, how to act when a child bumped into her and scraped their knee, and how to eat burgers.
Ruby always thought that Weiss would've known how to shop, but to her, it looked like she was still holding something back and only going where the brunette wanted to go.
"Weiss, I told you that you don't have to hold back, and just be yourself." She chuckled as she held onto her hand. "Thank you for taking me to some weapons shop though. I needed to restock some ammo."
"It's nothing, Ruby. I needed some dust as well." Weiss smiled as she shifted uncomfortably.
"What's wrong?" Ruby frowned as she took her hand. "Are you tired?"
"No, it's just…" Weiss sighed as she walked towards the nearest bench and sat down, folding her hands together and looked down.
Ruby sat next to her and placed a hand over hers. "Weiss, you can talk to me."
"What's… today? Besides my birthday, I mean?" Weiss asked shyly.
"Uh… what?" Ruby blinked and tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"I saw it a few weeks ago. What's 'Valentine's Day?' Why are there so many couples around?" Weiss motioned around them.
Ruby looked around and saw groups of couples eating chocolates and walking together. "It's usually a day where couples spend the day together." She shrugged. "It's not like friends can't spend this day together."
"Right…" Weiss sighed.
"Weiss…?" Ruby squeezed her hand. "What's wrong?"
Weiss sighed and looked around. "Can we go somewhere more private?"
"Er, sure?" Ruby thought about it for a moment, wondering where to go.
The library is nice and quiet, but that probably wouldn't be the best place to go. The park? But there'd be a lot of couples there wandering around. Before Ruby pondered on where to go, she looked at Weiss. She didn't look like she wanted to continue shopping…
"Want to go back to the dorms?" Ruby moved closer and wrapped an arm around Weiss. That was the safest place she could think of.
"Ok…" Weiss sighed as she got up. "I'm… sorry for this."
Ruby shook her head. "Don't be! I told you to do whatever makes you comfortable." She smiled and held her hand, grabbing their bags.
"Thank you…" Weiss leaned onto Ruby as they made their way back towards the dorms.
Weiss led Ruby towards the rooftop of the dorms after dropping their bags off, and sat near the edge. Ruby stayed close and kept a protective arm around Weiss' shoulder while leaning onto her.
"What's wrong, Weiss?" Ruby asked gently, not wanting to push her into talking about something that she wasn't comfortable with. "Is it about your birthday?"
"Yes." Weiss sighed as she leaned back against Ruby's arm and looked up at the sky. "If I'm being honest, I hadn't had a birthday party for almost eight years…"
"What?!" Ruby was shocked to hear that. "How can you no-" She cleared her throat and calmed down a bit. "W-Why not? If I uh… can ask?"
"It's 'may I ask?'" Weiss rolled her eyes and sighed. "Let's just say… the last time I had a birthday party… things were a lot harder."
Ruby frowned as she held onto Weiss closer, coaxing her to continue if she wanted to.
"My father… He admitted to my mother that he only married her for our family name. After that, we slowly didn't have family dinners anymore. They stopped coming to my recitals entirely. We… stopped being a family." Weiss looked guilty as Ruby's eyes widened in realization.
"So… when you asked if we were busy and we said that we were, you thought of your family… didn't you?" The brunette frowned.
Weiss stayed silent and Ruby took that as an answer. The young leader pulled her partner into her arms and held her tightly.
"I'm so sorry, Weiss…" Ruby sniffed onto her shoulder.
"W-What? Why are you sorry?" Weiss blinked as she rubbed Ruby's back.
"It must've been so lonely… but that's ok! I'm never gonna let you be alone again!" Ruby pulled back then grinned, looking at the time. "In fact…" She looked at her scroll before pocketing it. "Let's go back to the room right now! I'm sure that you'll understand why you'll never be alone!"
"Ruby, wai-!" Weiss had no time to argue as Ruby pulled her up and sped towards their room.
Ruby stopped in front of the door to allow Weiss to catch her breath. "Go on in when you're ready." She smiled brightly.
Weiss raised a brow, wondering what she was up to and cautiously opened the door. As soon as she walked in, POP!
The white-haired woman almost let out a shriek but saw that Team JNPR, Yang, and Blake were smiling while holding poppers.
"Happy birthday!" They all shouted at once.
Weiss stared at them dumbfoundedly, then glared at Ruby. "You told them?!"
"Hey! What's wrong with us knowing about your birthday?" Nora pouted for a moment then grinned. "Well, either way, have some food!"
"T-Thank… you…" Weiss walked into the room, looking at each person in awe.
Maybe… she should've just came out and told them the truth. There's no way that they would've been like her family back in Atlas. They cared about her.
Weiss was moved onto the bed where everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to her and offered her some cake and food. She ate everything quietly before excusing herself for some air.
Thinking that they made her upset, Ruby offered to go after her. "G-Give us a few minutes. I'll see what's wrong."
They all nodded, worried about their white-haired friend.
"Weiss? Weiss, wait!" Ruby frowned as she followed her up towards the roof. She really likes it up here. "I-I'm sorry. If you really were uncomfortable with it, I'll just tell them to forget about it."
"No! I- j-just... give me a moment. Please." Weiss wiped her tears quickly, keeping her back towards Ruby.
Ruby quickly moved towards Weiss' side and wrapped her arms around her. She held onto her from behind, respecting that she didn't want anyone to see her face as she was crying. "A-Are you ok?"
"Yes, I'm fine." Weiss sniffed as she squirmed and turned around within Ruby's arms to wrap her arms around her partner. "I'm happy. Thank you, Ruby."
"You're happy?" Ruby smiled brightly. "You're welcome! Oh, I should head back and tell them that you're ok since you just left. They're all worried about you." The brunette let her go and was about to turn to go back inside, but stopped when she felt arms wrapping around from behind her. "Weiss?"
"Ruby…" Weiss whispered as she held onto Ruby from behind, burying her face onto her shoulder. "I can't thank you enough…"
Ruby merely smiled as she held onto Weiss' hands. "It's ok to be selfish, Weiss." She leaned back into her partner's arms. "Just remember that you're not alone anymore. You have us, Team JNPR, Zwei… We're all here for you." The brunette closed her eyes, really liking how she was feeling with Weiss holding her like this.
"Ruby…" Weiss blushed and held onto Ruby tighter so she wouldn't see her blush. "Do… Do you love me?"
"Wha? Of course I do, Weiss!" She smirked. "Why are you asking?"
"I-I'm not done asking!" Weiss whined and took a deep breath. "W-Will you still love me tomorrow?"
"Oh." Ruby let out a breath and Weiss didn't like that sign.
Weiss slowly loosened her grip on the brunette, ready to run and cry in the bathroom. "I-I'm sorry for asking."
"Weiss, wait." Ruby turned and wrapped her arms around Weiss' waist, pulling her close so she wouldn't run away. "I'll love you tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that." She smiled as she blushed and kissed Weiss on the lips. "I'll love you forever and ever, you dolt."
"Y-You…!" Weiss blushed madly. "T-That's… so you…?" She didn't know what to think.
"If you want me…" Ruby blushed and smiled. "I'll be your birthday present."
Weiss merely hid her face onto Ruby's shoulder, holding her tightly to hide the tears that were falling. "Thank you…"
Thank you for everything, Ruby. This is the best birthday I've had for a long time. Thank you for loving someone like me.
"Any time, Weiss." Ruby kissed her head and rubbed her back. "I love you."
"Love you too, dolt."
A/N: The title was inspired by a song. One that might might make a song fic in the future.
This was the real Valentine's Day fic that I was working on. Hope that y'all enjoyed it! See y'all next time!