I Think I Like You

Chapter 12: More Than You Know

Today is Friday; it also happens to be the day I get to sit outside for three hours handing out tickets for a game I don't even get to watch.

Everyone's been saying the basketball game is one of the 'best' events we get to run during the entire school year, but then again, not everyone is forced to stand outside while the game is going on.

I sigh and lean back in the fold-out chair I'm sitting in.

The game will be starting in about two hours and everyone's getting ready for the opening. I sit towards the end of our table, just outside of the gym's side entrance that faces the parking lot. Blake and Yang are sitting on either side of me and all three of us are busy rolling up the tickets that we're going to start passing out in an hour or so.

I look out towards the parking lot, where Ren and Pyrrha are helping move equipment off of a sizable white truck for the away team. From where I'm sitting I can spot the sun setting behind them and I crane my neck to get a better look.

It's not as oppressively hot as it was the day we supervised the chalk-walk because this event is closer to the evening. Judging by how fast the sun is sinking beneath the tree line it would be dark not to long from now, so I guess it's a good thing we're already setting up for the game.

Weiss had decided to let Nora sit this one out. She had come back to school during the middle of the week, assumedly all better, but Weiss still refused to let her participate. She claimed it was for 'precautionary measures' but I think she was just concerned for Nora and didn't want to admit it.

I roll my shoulders, attempting to get out the cramps I keep getting from sitting hunched over these tickets for so long. I wince when I hear a popping sound from my back and look back down towards the sidewalk, where my heap of tangled red admission tickets were.

Since I was about halfway done I start struggling to wrap the uncooperative links of paper around the small plastic center. I frown as the piece I'm trying to wrap around continuously slips off the side, making me let out a huff of air in frustration.

"This whole ticket thing is really dumb." I say. "Why couldn't we get pre-rolled tickets or something?"

Blake shrugs, not even bothering to look up at me.

"These were less expensive. Our budget isn't exactly the best if you haven't noticed."

I groan, but continue to roll the thin sheets of paper.

"Aren't high school basketball games supposed to be free though?"

Giving up on my task, I take to looking out towards the parking lot again, where Ren and Pyrrha continue to unload the truck.

"Were you even listening on Monday?" Yang exclaims from the other side of the table. "This game is going to raise money for one of our school's sponsor's. It's a promotional event between two of the best sports teams in town, who wouldn't pay to see it?"

"Doesn't matter," I grumble, folding my arms across my chest. "I won't get to see it either way."

Yang brushed off my comment with the turn of her head as she continues to cycle her roll of tickets. I take to watching the cars enter the parking lot as they drop off students. I see one kid that's so tall he has to duck while getting out of his car door; the sight is humorous enough to make me snicker to myself.

"Not my fault you got stuck with the president, Rubes."

I stop my quiet chuckles and feel myself stiffen. I give an indistinguishable breath of air as I shove my hands into the pockets of my jeans and sink lower into my seat.

"That's not the issue! I just wanna watch, so why do we have to stand outside the whole game?"

"I dunno." Yang rubs the back of her neck. "I just know Weiss was getting all haughty about it earlier, so I wouldn't try to argue."

"She does seem to be in a mood today." Blake mutters from the other end of the table, not bothering to look up from a book she was reading.

Yang finishes rolling up her tickets and rakes a hand through her hair, causing her blonde curls to bunch up slightly at the top of her head.

"C'mon Blake, when's the pres not in a mood."

Having finished her roll of tickets some time ago, Blake drums her fingers on the table in an unsteady rhythm. She was clearly uninterested and just looks up to give Yang a stern look before shifting her gaze to me.

"At least you don't have to be stuck with this one the whole game." She says. "A girl can only take so many basketball related puns in one night."

I giggle at the knowing eyebrow Blake raises at me, and from the gasp of shock across the table.

"Hey!" Yang says, feigning a hurt look as she places a hand across her chest. "I'll have you know I'm great company, thank you very much. It's not every day you find someone with this good of looks and a great sense of humor."

The two of them start going back and forth about the… credibility of Yang's jokes. I feel myself grin as I watch their jeering. However, a bright flash and a small 'click' makes the three of us pause, momentarily confused. We whip our heads around the table, searching for the cause of the noise, before spotting the culprit a few yards away.

Standing on the sidewalk behind our table, leaning forward slightly and holding an expensive looking digital camera up to her eyes stands Penny. She smiles as she pulls the shiny equipment away from her face to look down at it.

"Penny? What're you doing here?" I ask with obvious confusion in my voice.

The red-head walks over to the table and flips the camera hanging around her neck towards us so we're able to see the image on it.

"Pretty good shot don't you think?" She chirps excitedly.

I squint at the small screen to see the picture of the three of us sitting at the table. It was a good shot, but I was still wondering what Penny was doing here in the first place. We didn't expect people to start showing up until the next half hour.

"I think it's great!" Yang says, leaning over the table to get a better look.

Blake even spares a glance from her book to look at the picture, but she just shrugs.

"I guess it's good," I say. "but why'd you take it?"

Penny lets out one of her high pitched chuckles and boops my nose in amusement, causing me to cock my head to the side.

"Because silly, did you forget I was in Yearbook?"

I wouldn't say that I forgot Penny was also part of a club; It's more like it just slipped my mind. I feel like I've been so busy with my own stuff lately I hadn't really seen her much. The thought made me frown; Penny was my best friend and I feel like I've barely seen her at all in the past few weeks, except for in class, which I don't really count anyways since we can't talk to each other much then.

"I didn't forget!" I pipe up.

"You're in yearbook?" Yang says with envy. "Damn, that's a cool gig. Way better than doing this crap." She motions to my pile of half unrolled tickets, causing me to glare at her.

Penny nods her agreement while pulling the camera back and messing with some of the buttons.

"Yes, it's a lot of work, but it's always rewarding to see the final project at the end of the year." She says, moving a finger off her camera to point at us.

If that's the case, then I guess our clubs weren't that far off. It's like every time we have to do an event, or file some papers, or even do the budgeting for the office, there's this strange sense of accomplishment. In my opinion, it's one of the best upsides of working in the council, or any club for that matter.

Penny and I chat for a few minutes, catching up with each other, until I hear footsteps approaching from behind me.

I turn around to see Pyrrha approaching with a big metal box in her hand that has a clunky lock on it. She walks around Blake and sets the hefty object down on the table, making a loud clanging sound reverberate off its surface.

"The hell is that?" Yang questions with raised eyebrows.

Pyrrha wipes some sweat off her brow with the back of her arm and dusts off her shirt.

"It's what we use to hold the money. There should be people showing up soon, so I'd finish wrapping those if I were you, Ruby."

She eyes my half rolled pile of tickets on the ground and I groan.

"Ugh, it's so hard though. Can't I just stack them or something?"

"Hmm, I guess you could, but Weiss has been kind of irritable today. She was arguing with someone on the phone earlier and it seemed to be getting pretty heated, so I wouldn't try to pull any impromptu changes if I were you." Pyrrha gives me an apologetic look.

My eyes widen and I feel my posture wither slightly.

"Do you know who she was talking to?" I ask, most likely already knowing the answer to the question.

Pyrrha shakes her head and walks around the table.

"We're going to be starting soon. You three will be handing out tickets at the side entrance while the rest of us will be up front." She pauses for a moment, looking over at Penny. "If you want to get some pre-game pictures, the players are all inside."

Penny gives a mock salute and Pyrrha makes her way back to the front of the gym.

"Oh, I got one!" Yang suddenly blurts out from across the table, snapping her fingers together.

We all pivoted and give her puzzled expressions.

"Got what?" Blake asks.

Yang gets a smug look on her face and leans back in her chair, propping her boots up on the table as she did.

"What does a basketball player say when he misses?"

I roll my eyes and pick my roll of tickets up off the ground, not waiting to hear an answer. Blake stares at my sister with a deadpan look before moving her eyes back down to her book.

Unfortunately, Penny isn't used to Yang's sad attempt at humor and eggs her on by asking what. Yang forms a wicked grin.

"Ah, shoot!"

There's a collective groan that could be heard even at the front of the school.

People started showing up by the dozens. There were a lot of over-hyped high school kids with face paint and clothes that had mismatched school colors on them; there were also families with kids young enough to be in strollers, some older couples, and there was even one school bus of what looked like middle schoolers.

Yang, Blake, and I had easily been able to keep up with the mass of people at first. It wasn't until the line started to resemble more of an aggregated group than an actual line that we started having trouble.

Luckily, Weiss had taken the liberty to come check on us from her position at the front of the school and when she saw the mess of people, she started shouting orders at them to conform into a line if they actually wanted to watch them game in a timely manner.

There were grumbles to be heard among the families and rowdy high school kids, but once they actually started listening things sped up a lot. Weiss's irritable yelling helped out big time, well, for the others at least.

I'd been trying my hardest to keep my mind off of the girl. It seemed like every time Weiss is near me, or just randomly pops into my thoughts, which happens a lot nowadays, I basically turn into one of two things: A total bumbling mess that can't even think straight, or just completely zoned out altogether.

Should watching the girl you like belting out orders to a group of strangers be considered hot? I honestly don't know, but it yields the same effect on me anyways.

After everything got handled, Weiss did eventually go back to her position at the front of the school. I let out a sigh of relief that I was now able to focus on my task without a certain white-haired distraction taking my train of thought every few seconds.

I actually got called out to quite a lot by some of the people entering. Most of them used the nickname Red, which was given to me at Nora's party this past weekend. I was honestly surprised by the amount of attention I got during the week as well; strangers calling out to me in the schools halls, random people offering me fist bumps on my way to class. It was all very surreal.

By the time the crowd started to die down, my sloppy roll of tickets was about half of what it was originally. Yang took over the last remaining groups, while Blake and I walked over to Pyrrha, who sat at our table off to the side. She was as sweaty as we were and vigorously counting money while typing something into a calculator.

As we reach the table she doesn't look up at us and we don't say anything to her that might break her focus.

Blake looks over at a streetlamp that just flickered on. It was now the only source of light keeping the area lit as the sun has long since disappeared under the tree line.

"That," She begins, letting out a long breath of air. "was probably the most stressful thing I've done all year."

I tiredly nod in agreement, letting out a long sigh of relief and stretching my arms above my head.

Even though it's dark, I can see my breath reach the chilled air, dissipating into the atmosphere as it rises. I just wished I could feel the air as well; Sweating for the past hour made me feel all hot and fatigued for some reason.

Pyrrha types something else into her calculator and her eyes widen.

"Oh my…"

We give her a questioning look and she turns the device towards us. Our eyes widen as well.

"Holy shit!" I hear the cheer from behind us.

Both Blake and I are instantly taken by the shoulders into a surprise hug. My sister squeezes us and looks excitedly down at the numbers being displayed.

"That's a lot of zeroes." Yang says.

"This isn't even including the amount that was gathered at the front entrance." Pyrrha mumbles.

We all smile at each other and as if on cue, Penny exits from the hefty set of double doors that leads into the gym. She's looking down at her camera, seemingly not even paying attention to where she's going, but somehow maneuvers her way towards us without much difficulty.

"I got some amazing shots in there you guys! And the game hasn't even started yet!" She squeals excitedly. "How did things go out here? I tried to snap a few pictures at the front, but it was too chaotic for me to get any good ones."

"It would've been the same story here." I say, trying to shrug myself out of Yang's embrace.

Blake pushes herself out of Yang's hold as well and pulls her phone from her pocket to look at the time.

"Well, it should be starting soon, why don't we head inside?"

Yang crosses her arms together and lets out a hum of agreement. Pyrrha puts her calculator into her bag, which is hanging across the back of her chair, and closes the thick metal box so she can put a lock on it.

"I need to bring this to the front of the school. I'll meet up with you all momentarily." She says.

Yang, Blake, and Penny all start making their way inside. Yang turns back around to give me and Pyrrha a wave.

"Have fun with the pres, Ruby! We'll save you a seat, Pyrrha!"

They disappear into the double doors and Pyrrha stands to leave, swinging her bag over her shoulders and picking up the hefty box.

"I'll go get Weiss." she says. "Just stand near the doors in case any stragglers come by."

I nod and make my way over to the set of doors as Pyrrha disappears around the corner.

From inside the building I hear loud buzzing and an announcer that starts rolling off the names of what I presume to be the players. People start cheering and music starts blaring from the inside of the gymnasium.

I take a cautious step away from the doors and roam my eyes over the parking lot. Even though it was dark, it didn't seem like anyone else was pulling in, or walking up. I really didn't see the need for me to sit out here the entire game. I get that it's a paid entry event, so we can't just let people walk in, but I still find myself pouting in annoyance, sliding myself down the brick exterior until I hit the ground.

Not only do I have to sit out here and watch people come in late the entire game, but I also have to do it with the girl that's been making my head spin in circles this past week.

I run a hand through my messy hair and feel that invisible force pulling at my heart again, making it beat unsteadily.

I squeeze my eyes shut and vigorously shake my head.

Get your mind out of the gutter, Ruby.

After my confession at Nora's party I had berated myself the rest of the night, thinking things like: you forced yourself on her, of course she doesn't want to date you, she was trying to let you down easy, how could you ever think she would actually like you back, stupid, stupid, stupid.

I still doubt myself. Weiss is just being generous; she's never actually going to think of me like that.

My heart clenches and I grit my teeth, pulling my legs closer to my chest.

This is why I've been trying to avoid thinking about this. I know these were all just hyperboles of what the actual scenario was.

The only thing that made me somewhat optimistic was when she told me she'd think about it.

It gave me the smallest glimmer of hope. Like dropping a dime in one of those huge fountains, or entering the lottery along with millions of other people, the chances of you wish actually coming true was one in a million, but still you hold onto that small gleam of hope, that light at the end of a dark tunnel because you want to believe so bad it'll come true.

So that's what I'm doing, holding onto that voice in the back of my head that tells me it could come true.

I hear faint footsteps approaching around the corner and sit myself up slightly.

Weiss appears around the curve of the building, fixing her ponytail with an irritated look on her face. She's still in her school uniform, except she didn't have her jacket on, leaving her in a plain white collared shirt and her plaid skirt.

She looks over at me and scowls, making my eyes widen as I look away.

"Ruby Rose, get up this instant. I can't have someone walk over here and see you sitting on the job, it sets a bad example."

"Ah, right! Sorry!"

I frantically stand, almost tripping over my sneakers, and give her a nervous smile. Weiss stops on the other side of the doorway and sets her hands on her hips, the glare still not leaving her face.

"And why, might I ask, are you not in uniform?"

I look down at my red-black striped shirt and my jeans. It never occurred to me that I would have to wear my uniform to this event and no one had mentioned it either.

I timidly look back at the irked blue irises.

"Sorry, I guess I wasn't really thinking about it."

"Well, you should start thinking about it." She humphs and stands with her back towards the wall.

I do the same, but instead of facing forward I look towards the ground reluctantly.

"It's a good thing it's so dark outside then, no one can really see me that well."

Weiss just places two fingers on the bridge of her nose and shakes her head.

"That's not the point, Ruby." She pauses and looks out toward the parking lot. "There are people coming. Get your tickets ready you dunce."

I see the group she's talking about and scramble to pick my tickets off the ground. It's a group of what looks like four students. The guy in the front hands me a twenty and I pocket it before giving him four tickets. Weiss opens the door for them and I assume the exchange is over, until one of the guys towards the back looks over at me.

"Hey, it's Red! That was a sick game last weekend!"

One of the guys in the front has a moment of realization and sticks a fist out for me to fist bump.

"Hell yeah it was, you really put Cardin in his place."

I nervously laugh and fist bump the guy back. They continue walking in and the student that called me out from the back of the group gives me a slap on the shoulder and a thumbs up as he passes.

As soon as the door closes behind them, I hear Weiss scoff.

"I can't believe people are still calling you by that ridiculous name." She says.

I shrug and roll my shoulder that one of the students hit.

"I don't really mind. It was a good win though, you should've seen it, Weiss."

Weiss leans back against the brick wall and crosses her arms.

"I don't think I would get much pleasure out of watching a childish game of ping-pong."

"It's called beer-pong, Weiss."

"Oh great, under aged drinking's involved as well, even better."

She lets out a sigh and hangs her head slightly towards the ground. Since the only light I have is the streetlamps lining the parking lot, it's hard to distinguish Weiss's features. Despite that, I can still see her slightly slouched posture and distracted gaze that was only half covered by the bangs falling in her eyes.

From inside the gym I can still hear the faint sound of music and the occasional whooping of the crowd. Loud buzzers also reach my ears each time one of teams makes a goal.

I gulp and rub the back of my neck.

"Hey, Weiss…" I question in a quiet voice. "Are you doing okay?"

I see her flinch and when she looks over at me she straightens her posture back to its normal stature. She opens her mouth as though she was about to say something, but quickly shuts it again and grimaces. Even though it was kind of cold outside, I watch as a drip of sweat falls from her brow.

"Ruby, I-I don't want to lie to you…" She runs a hand through her bangs, but stops, and instead clutches the silky strands into her fist. "I haven't been feeling too w-well, but I think… I think I'm fine."

A concerned look grows on my face. I want nothing more than to cross the few yards between us and comfort her, but something stops me. She might not want me here right now, might not want me to watch this.

She probably wishes you would just leave.

I feel a pang in my chest that makes me feel nauseous. I stay rooted where I am, silently hoping she would be okay.

"Pyrrha said you were on the phone earlier… was it, uhm…"

"My father?" Weiss finishes, laughing bitterly. "Yes, it was. I really shouldn't be so swayed by him. I should know that what I'm doing is beneficial to our school and not some waste of time… but, still."

She finally gives in and I watch as she slides her back along the brick wall, until she's sitting on the ground.

"It still hurts to hear it…" She trails off and puts her head between her legs.

I reluctantly make my way over to her and place a hand on her shivering shoulder. I don't think she's shivering because of the cold.

I push the hair from her ponytail back behind her and use my other hand to rub circles on her back. Her hair still feels soft, like threads, and as I move my hand in circles some of it gets caught in the motion. Weiss starts to sway and I bite my lip, hoping I wasn't pushing my boundaries.

I look around the area. I didn't see anyone, but I didn't want to push my luck either. I lean protectively over Weiss as I lean down to whisper in her ear.

"Where's your bag, Weiss?"

She shakes her head and I feel her breathing become even more unsteady.

"Didn't… bring it." She rasps out.

I silently curse inside my head as I continue rubbing circles on her back.

Come on, Ruby, think! Where on campus would there be medicine?

I almost smack my forehead for being so dumb, the nurse's office of course.

I know the main one for the school must be closed, but I know the gym has its own separate office towards the back of the school.

I hesitantly stop my soothing motions on her back and reposition myself so that I'm crouching down in front of Weiss. I turn myself around and pat one of her knees with my hand.

"Hop on, Weiss. I'm going to get you help."

She doesn't move from her embrace so I grasp one of her hands and bring it up to my shoulder, to my surprise, Weiss's other hand followed in suit. She clutched around my neck and buried her face into my shoulder. As I stand up, I grab each of her legs to keep us steady.

I try to ignore the closeness and Weiss's hot, ragged breath on my neck as I jog around the back of the school. As I round the corner and the streetlights start to fade I realize there's almost no source of light left. It takes my eyes a moment to adjust to the dark, but once they do I spot the door I'm looking for.

Please don't be locked.

I put my hand on the metal handle and hear the most relieving click I've probably ever heard in my life.

I swing the door open and enter the dark room. My eyes could still see pretty well in the dark so I walk over to the nearest bed and ease Weiss down onto it. She doesn't seem to want to let go of my neck so I end up having to practically pry her off.

I run my hand along the wall of the small room until I feel a light switch. I flick them on and Weiss and I both flinch at the brightness.

The room is small, no bigger than one of our three-stall bathrooms and there's only two small beds lining the walls. The other side of the room has a row of cabinets, some locked, some unlocked, that were full of all sorts of supplies.

I can hear the noise from the game even louder in here and I hope it doesn't freak Weiss out. I look over at her and see she's still just sitting on the edge of the bed with her face in her hands, rocking slightly.

My shoes squeak on the cheaply tiled floor as I make my way over to the cabinets. I practically slam open all the ones that are unlocked and sift through them to find no pill bottles whatsoever. All I find is gauze, weird medical instruments and some paperwork. I growl in frustration as I peer into some of the locked cabinets. Of course, those would be the containers that have what I need in them, what Weiss needs.

I frown and clench my fist on the counter.

I dejectedly walk over to Weiss and return a hand to her back, rubbing it in circles.

"I can probably go find a teacher or someone with keys, maybe a coach…" I trail off.

Weiss shakes her head, but this time actually takes it out of her hands and looks across the room.

"It's fine, Ruby. I'll be fine…" She lets out in unsteady breathes.

She obviously wasn't fine.

"Weiss, we can't just do nothing about this. You need help."

"This isn't your problem Ruby," She wheezes. "it's mine."

Just then, Weiss did something not even I had ever seen her do before. Weiss breaks down. I see a tear fall from her eye and she starts hiccupping and trying to smother the sound of her crying.

I step back from Weiss; the sight makes tears threaten my own eyes and I hear my voice crack as I speak.

"Weiss... I just want to help you." I pause, unsure of how to carry out what I was trying to get across. "I know that's not what you want to hear... but we all need help sometimes."

Weiss takes in an unsteady breath and a tear drops down the eye where here scar is, tracing it perfectly until falling onto her lap.

"You don't get it, Ruby-"

Something about hearing that phrase, for what feels like the thousandth time, makes me explode.

"MAYBE I DON'T!"

The volume and indignation of my voice surprises even me. I see Weiss flinch and let out a squeak. I feel immediate regret and apologies profusely before closing our distance and pulling her into a hug. She was still sitting on the bed, so I had to lean down to hold her. This gives her the perfect opportunity to burry he face into my chest.

I feel a tear roll of my cheek as I squeeze the girl in front of me tighter.

"Maybe I don't know... maybe I never will, and maybe all my attempts to make you better are fruitless." I try to soothe her. "And god be damned if that's the case, but I really, really want to try."

I hold Weiss even tighter to me and I feel her stop shaking so much.

"Weiss, you're hurting," I loosen my grip to lean down and wipe a tear away from the broken girl's eye. "And when you're hurting... so am I." My voice cracks but I couldn't care less.

I break away from hug entirely and look Weiss in the eye. She tries to avoid my gaze, now painfully aware that she's been clinging to me since all this started.

I take one of my hands and run it along her cheek and into her hair. I use the leverage to push us together, until our foreheads are lightly touching, and close my eyes.

"Weiss I care about you so much it's scary. I'm sorry if that comes off as invasive or ignorant but it's really just because I care. I care more about you than you'll ever know, so please... let's try and get through this together. I don't care if it feels like you're using me. Let me carry some of the burden for you because I want nothing more than for you to be happy."

We stay like that for a moment; I don't open my eyes, scared of what I might see, but a quiet voice pulls me out of my trance.

"Ruby… take me somewhere."

I hop onto my bike and Weiss follows in suit, positioning her shoes onto the familiar grips and letting her hands rest on my shoulders.

I push us out of the parking lot and onto the sidewalk by the main road. The only thing lighting the way are the dim streetlamps that hang ominously over the pathway.

I pedal us down the road, not sure exactly where I was going. Weiss didn't specify where she wanted to go, just somewhere, and I gladly accepted that at face value. I continue following the street lights and passing by the little shops or gas stations we would occasionally cross paths with. It's a good thing we did this; I think we could both use some fresh air.

At certain points along the road there are intersections or four-way stops where the streetlights split off in multiple directions. Each time I look back at Weiss and she either points the way I should go, or shrugs, letting me decide.

As we fall down a short incline I can feel her grip tighten. I watch my breath fog out in front of me and I glance up periodically to watch Weiss's breath do the same.

As we reach what looks like a clearing I notice the lamps come to an end. I cease my pedaling and come to a slow stop at the last lamp, exhaling heavily with fatigue.

"What now?" I ask.

I feel Weiss stepping off the back of the bike and I put one foot on the ground to steady myself. I turn around and look at her questioningly.

"Hmm." Is all she offers me, before she starts walking into the grass and towards darkness.

My eyes widen and I awkwardly maneuver my way off my bike to try and catch up with her.

"Wait, Weiss! It's dangerous, wait for me!" I call as I stand my bike up and kick the stopper out.

I jog to catch up to her but she holds an arm out, making me freeze.

"Watch out." She says.

I look down to where Weiss is motioning and notice I was about to step in… water? That's when it dawned on me where we must be.

"Weiss, are we at the reservoir?"

"Seems like it." She says, squatting down next to the water's edge.

My eyes adjust more thoroughly to the dark and I can see the faint outline of where the water ends and the tree line begins. I spare a glance back towards my bike, making sure it hadn't fallen over.

"Fate sure has an odd way of intervening, don't you think?" Weiss asks.

"Hmm?" I question as I sit down next to her, crossing my legs and leaning back on my hands.

"Out of all the places we could have ended up, we stopped here." She clarifies.

I nod and we fall into a comfortable silence.

Thankful for the cover of the night, I look over at Weiss. She's sitting with her legs out to the side so her skirt flowed out cleanly around her. She dips one of her fingers into the water, like I remember her doing the first time we were here, and starts to twirl it around. Her movements were the only disruption in the still pool and the only noise I could hear besides the occasional hooting owl or chirping crickets.

It seemed like any normal person would get tired of looking at someone after what felt like hundreds of times, but for some reason I've never felt that way about Weiss. Each time I look at her I feel that aching in my chest all over again and it really does scare me sometimes. Then again, how could someone not look at her? She's the most gorgeous person I've ever met.

A faint blush forms on her cheeks and she bites her lower lip.

"Hey, Ruby?"

"Y- Yes?" I stammer, caught off guard by hearing her voice all of the sudden.

I watch as she, in a very non-Weiss fashion, darts her eyes around and anxiously mumbles a few times before speaking clearly.

"What, uhm, what do you like about me?"

My eyes widen and now it's my turn to blush.

Of course there were countless reasons why I liked Weiss. Too many reasons for me to even consider, but what was the answer she wanted to hear? That I like her for her looks, for her personality, for the way she shows me a kindness that she shows to no one else? Or does she want to hear that it's because I acknowledge her achievements in a way that her father doesn't, or for the way she always seems to know the right thing to do?

Weiss notices my lack of response and looks over at me.

"…Never mind. Sorry, that was a stupid question."

In a brief moment of panic, I vigorously shake my head.

"No, Weiss, listen…" I take a deep breath to shake my nerves. "I- I like you because you're strong. You've shown me a will-power that I didn't even know was possible and I think that's the reason I like you the most."

Weiss nods, but doesn't say anything. I take this as annoyance and start stammering out what's basically a ton of gibberish.

"There's other things too though! Like, uhm, how pretty you are- your smile and stuff I mean! A- And how you encourage me to do my best and hang out with me even though I'm just some geek. You're also really cute whet you get flustered like-"

"Ruby." Weiss cuts in.

"-Yeah?"

"Shut up."

I realize I must have been rambling and scratch the back of my neck out of embarrassment.

Way to go, Ruby. You might as well have just written your obituary because after spouting out all that nonsense, Weiss is never going to talk to you again.

I hang my head and pull on some grass with one of my hands. Now that I think about it, this really sucked. Here I am pouring my heart out to a girl who I'm never going to have a chance with and probably doesn't even want me around.

"Ruby." Weiss says again.

"Mhmm?"

This time I don't bother to even look over at her, too busy feeling sorry for myself.

"I think I like you too."

I swear, the world could have stopped rotating right then and there and I still couldn't have been more shocked as I was from hearing that sentence. I cease my hand that had been playing with the grass, along with my breathing and, well, every other bodily function that was keeping my alive.

Words couldn't begin to describe how distraught I was. All I could do was turn my body to the girl sitting beside me. My heartbeat feels so erratic I might just pop like a balloon.

I stare at Weiss, who's also looking over at me with an unreadable expression. My eyes were practically bulging out of my head and my mouth hung agape.

"Really?" I breathe.

"Yes, really."

I look around and stammer a bunch of incoherent words. Uncertainty began clouding my mind.

"You're not, like, messing with me?" I carefully ask.

Weiss huffs and gives me a deadpan look.

"Why would I joke about that you dolt?"

I can't help myself. Stumbling over my feet I move towards Weiss, pinning her into a side embrace. She lets out a small yelp of surprise, but doesn't push me away. I nuzzle my forehead into the side of Weiss's temple and a blissful laugh escapes my mouth.

Here I was, thinking all hope was lost and that the last coin of my dignity was tossed into a fountain and forgotten.

It is funny the way fate works sometimes.

Beneath me, Weiss loosens herself so she can partially turn to me and offer me a hug back. When she seems to find a comfortable grip, I feel myself bounce with joy and squeeze her tighter, making her wheeze a little.

"Weiss." I sigh, stilling myself as best I could so she could hear me. "I'm really happy right now..."

We stay like that for a while, with me nuzzling into her every so often. I only back off a bit when Weiss complains about how I was going to squeeze her to death, but it doesn't last long as I remember the words said to me only minutes ago. I feel pure elation run through me and clasp the girl closer to me once again.

Eventually we pull away from each other and Weiss looks over at me with a shy expression.

"Are... are you going to ask me properly?" She says in a quiet voice.

"Huh?" I say, keeping a stupid grin on my face.

I couldn't get myself to stop smiling, even though my cheeks hurt. Only until a few seconds later did I actually process what she was asking me.

"Oh!" I giggle, making an embarrassed Weiss turn away from me.

"Weisss," I hum as I lean forward, causing her head to turn slightly back around. "Do you wanna be my girlfriend?"

Weiss finishes rotating herself so she's facing me again. As soon as her eyes meet mine, I see the usual pink welcoming itself back onto her cheeks.

She flits her eyes to the ground for a split second, before slowly looking back up to me again with a smile of her own.

"I think I would like that."