I Think I Like You

Chapter 19: Carnal Desires

I never thought about how much work it would be to set up an entire festival.

Of course, there are obvious tasks that need to be done, like figuring out the venue, how many people the school will be able to hold, contracting what bands we want to perform, and deciding if the chorus club should even be allowed on stage with their, widely agreed, god-awful voices. Hell, everything from the entertainment being provided to how many ketchup packets we should order is being organized by the council.

It has only been about two weeks since I got back from the Science trip and all the council members are in full overdrive to make sure this event will be an absolute success. Pyrrha has been working with some of the faculty to figure out funding for the festival and when would be the best time for it to be held, Yang and Blake have been in charge of advertising, and the rest of the council, including me, have been planning out the rest of the event and all the small details involved.

The air is getting chillier and the days are growing longer, meaning that winter break is fast approaching. It almost seems as though we've come upon the week of the Music Festival in no less than the blink of an eye.

This Friday is the officially scheduled date for the event, yet the council is still working beyond resolve to make sure everything is ready. We sold out of tickets within days of the announcement, so it seems like students and other attendees alike have high expectations of us.

Honestly, it's an odd feeling. The feeling of being needed and depended on for the enjoyment of roughly a thousand people. In a way it seems fulfilling, like I'm finally making my way in the world and learning to define myself through the eyes of these people. However, in another way, the impact this has on me is glaringly miniscule in comparison to how I want one person in particular to view me. My special person.

I lift my gaze across the empty resource room we're currently in, seeking out the familiar presence I've grown so accustomed to.

Weiss is bent over one of the many big plastic tubs that fill the room. We're attempting to find any decorations we think might be useful for the festival and making an inventory of them, so we know what we need to have as well as what we need to order before this Friday.

After a moment of watching Weiss work, I look back down towards the grey bin I'm sifting through. There's a lot of junk in the resource room's closet. It took us forever to haul these industrial sized storage boxes out, long enough for the rest of the council to finish their work and go home for the day.

I reach in and take out another clear bag of colorful confetti that is covered in a thick sheen of dust, alerting me to the fact these bins probably haven't been touched in years. Reaching behind me, I take my notepad off the council table and make another tally mark next to the section I've dubbed: Useless bags of confetti.

With a yawn, I set the list on the floor beside me and continue my search. Next up is one of those blow up microphones that I've seen being sold before at places like Party City, however, this one is deflated and looks as though the years of neglect had taken its toll. The handle of the prop is littered with holes and mold, and the actual mic part seems to have collapsed inwards.

Yep, completely unusable.

Making a disgusted face at the mangled mess, I reach in and pick it up between my index finger and my thumb. Across the room, I notice Weiss glance my way as I walk over to the trashcan to throw the deflated abomination away.

"What is that?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.

I drop the prop in the trash and wipe my hand that was holding it on the pants of my uniform. "Trust me, you don't want to know." I say, shaking my head and grimacing.

Instead of walking back to my bin, I walk over to Weiss's and crouch down on the opposite side of it.

Scrunching my face up in thought, I start wondering if Weiss has ever used a microphone like that before. Well, not some cheap blow-up prop, but a real one. I've honestly been curious about her voice ever since she mentioned to me that she sings. Of course there have been times where I've caught her humming along to a tune, but I never have heard her sing before.

"Hey, Weiss, do you think you could sing at the music festival?"

Weiss looks up from jotting something down on her list and gives me a stubborn expression. "Of course not." She says, briskly deflecting the notion.

"Aww, why not? I really want to hear your singing voice! I bet you have the best voice in the entire world."

"You haven't even heard me perform, though. How could you come to an assumption like that?"

Weiss sets her clipboard on the council's table and sits down on the opposite side of the bin from me to continue sifting through it.

"Hmm… I don't know. I just have to come to assumptions since you refuse to sing for me!" I place a finger on my chin as if I'm thinking. "I bet you're the equivalent to like… Mariah Carey or something!"

"I wouldn't go that far." Weiss says, trying her best not to smile at my suggestion.

"Elton John?"

"If you think I could have a voice like Elton John I suggest having your ears checked."

"Gah! Well, how am I supposed to know if you won't let me hear your voice?" Feeling defeated, I push myself away from the box and fall to my back against the council room's ugly tiled floor. "Do you sing other people's songs, or do you write your own?"

I lift my head slightly off the floor, so that I can watch Weiss as she works.

"It's a little of both. I don't see why you care so much, though." She says, brushing some bangs out of her eyes.

Something about her response irritates me. I form a pout and sluggishly push myself back upright, so that I'm sitting crisscross.

"Of course I care, Weiss. I don't see why you think I wouldn't." Weiss looks up from her clipboard and offers me a small smile, causing me to beam at her. "So, what are your songs about?"

"Hmm…" Weiss takes her pen she's writing with and presses it against her lips in thought. "They are mostly about my life. The different things that I feel for being who I am and being in the position I am with my family. I don't care for going into much detail about them, since they can come across as very… narcissistic? That is, given people know what they are about."

She was blatantly avoiding the real question I asked, making me give her a hardened look. "I won't judge you, Weiss. Just… let me know what you're feeling about those things."

Weiss sighs and sets her clipboard to the side, beginning to pointlessly rummage through the almost emptied bin.

"…Loneliness would be the main offender I suppose." She looks down through her bangs with lidded eyes, telling me she's deep in thought. "I never liked being alone, but I also hated being around people. Ever since I could speak the only thing people did was use me. Money. Recognition. Power. At first, my dad made me think I was special, he made me believe that everyone looked up to me and that I held talents insurmountable to others. And I blindly craved that attention, loving the fact that I was a person people admired."

I reach across the bin and grab one of Weiss's arms, so that I can run my hand along it in soothing motions, helping to coax the words that she obviously needed to say out of her.

"Eventually, the façade faded and I realized what the true nature of people is really like. I still don't like to be alone because I know I'm scared and lonely, but I also recognize it's hard for me to understand what trusting people is like. I was by myself most of my life and I was so damn lonely and I was content with that because I convinced myself that I liked my own company and I didn't need anyone."

I slow my scratching on Weiss's arm and look over at her with understanding eyes.

"What about now?" I ask. "Do you still think you don't need anyone?"

Weiss, whose gaze is already mirroring mine, gives me a hint of a smile that disappears almost as soon as I notice it.

"Well, I thought I didn't need anyone… but then there was you. I wish someone had told me that a relationship like ours is for the few individuals who can handle that oppressive loneliness. Ever since I met you I remember thinking there was something different about the way you saw the world, and I think I just wanted to know what it was. Regardless, you definitely sparked something in me, Ruby, because now I only feel lonely when I'm not with you."

The big grin on my face is probably enough to tell Weiss all she needs to know about what I think. It's also evident by the coloring on her cheeks that she realized what she's been rambling on about.

"Is that the reason you agreed to go out with me?" I ask. "Because I made you feel something you never had before?"

"There was that, but it was also how you would always go out of your way to greet me with that big goofy smile on your face, no matter how ridiculous it looks, or when you would pull the most idiotic stunts just to try and cheer me up, no matter how cliche that sounds."

Weiss is blushing like mad now and I make sure I'm looking at her with eager eyes, so she knows to continue. I love hearing the reasons as to why Weiss likes me to, it feels reassuring in a way.

"Your presence has always felt warm and comforting to me. It seemed like every time I was around you I could just... let go of everything that was bogging me down. You listened to me and put value into me as a person and not into my family, which is a lot more than anyone else has ever done. You really are the most genuine and sweetest person I know, and I wouldn't trade you for the world... Sometimes it feels like you are my world."

I feel water poking at my eyes and I just can't hold myself back anymore. Standing up, I rush to Weiss's side and pull her up into a hug, squeezing her against me like she's the only thing keeping me grounded to the world.

"Wha-" She lets out a surprised noise and places a hand between us in an attempt to separate us. "R-Ruby, why are you crying?"

"Weiss, you're my world too! Of course I'm going to start crying if you say something like that! I'll never ever let you feel lonely again!"

Weiss awkwardly reaches around my waist to hug me back while I bury my face into the side of her head, inhaling her scent and loving the way she feels against me. She's warm and soft, reminding me of the feeling I get when I'm curled up in my bed under half a dozen blankets.

After a moment, she moves one of her hands up to my head and starts running it through my scruffy hair. I love the feeling of having her delicate fingers trace their way through unruly strands and I make a content noise into the side of her head, encouraging her to continue.

"You know," Weiss begins. "I realized after you confessed to me that I had already been feeling something strange around you for a while. I guess I just wasn't able to figure out what it was until you said something."

"Well, I'm glad I did then." I pull my head away from hers and take to resting my forehead on her shoulder, closing my eyes and letting another grin brandish my face. "You don't know how nervous I was to say that I liked you."

Weiss makes an inquisitive noise and slows her hands that's still making its way through my hair.

"Is that so? I distinctly remember being able to see your hands shaking from the steps."

I whine and nuzzle my face deeper into her shoulder. "Weeeiss. Don't say that, it's so embarrassing."

"If someone were to see your behavior right now I assure you it would be ten times more embarrassing."

"Pshh, you love it when I'm clingy." I say, pushing us back a little so that we're being partially supported by the council table.

"I don't recall ever stating something like that." Weiss says, chuckling.

"Maybe, but the fact you're not denying it tells me all I need to know."

As if to prove my point, I tilt my head to the side and lean forward to rake the pale skin of Weiss's neck with my teeth. Being the unexpected prey that she is, Weiss lets out a small squeak and instinctively moves a hand up to cover her mouth, the other still gripping my hair.

"See? You totally liked that."

Shifting back slightly to smirk at her, I take note of the flush that is now spreading throughout her face. The look she's giving me tells me she must have been surprised at my suggestive behavior, but it's also telling me that she's a little into it, which I assuredly won't take lightly.

Feeling more confident in myself, I slowly lean back into Weiss's neck, savoring the fruity scent of the body wash that she uses. She smells like apple orchards and freshly picked oranges on a sunny spring day. It's absolutely intoxicating to me, so much so that I have a hard time believing just her scent could be this captivating.

I stick my tongue out and carefully glide it across the smooth skin of Weiss's neck. She makes a muffled noise into her hand and I feel her grip in my hair tighten, her fingers curling roughly into the strands. Knowing that I'm the one causing her to act like this, I smile as I take my tongue and, again, run it across the supple flesh of her neck.

She makes an extremely high pitched noise into her hand and yanks on my hair a few times, like she's telling me to back up.

"R-Ruby, someone could- mmph!... S-Someone could see-"

I let out what's practically a growl, akin to that of an angry wolf pup who just had their meal taken from them. Forcibly prying myself from Weiss, I stomp my way over to the resource room's door that stands slightly ajar. Slamming it shut and pressing down the lock, I turn back towards Weiss and eye her in a borderline carnal way.

As I briskly walk back over to her, I try and save the mental image of the look she's giving me in my head, knowing I'll be using it later. Putting my hands on her hips, I make sure to run a thumb over her stomach in reassurance before I move my hands down to her thighs. Weiss looks like she might about kill me depending on what I do, but sooner than she gets the chance, I use my grip to lift her up and onto the council table.

"What on earth are you doing?" She manages to squeak out.

I grin at her and lean forward to give her a quick peck on the lips. "You'll see."

Scooching myself closer, so that I'm positioned standing between Weiss's legs as she sits on the table, I begin trailing my lips downwards from her mouth. Weiss makes a gasping noise as I sprinkle small kisses onto her cheek, her nose, her eyelids, and then lower to her neck. She takes to holding me around my shoulders, since her sitting up on the table gives her about a half foot height advantage on me.

I reach the end of her neck, where her shirt collar rests, properly buttoned and partially covered by her uniform's jacket. Using one of my hands, I fumble to get the top button open, making Weiss scoff at my failing attempts.

"Just what are you even scheming here, Ruby?" She asks, reaching down to lift my chin with one of her hands.

I feel my face burn at the implications of her words. "N-Nothing bad, I promise! I just, uhm, was going to try something a little, uhh, new? I swear I won't go too far."

Weiss raises an eyebrow, but overall seems satisfied by my answer and gives a shy nod of approval for me to continue.

Giving her another hasty peck on the lips for being so cute, I refocus my attention to Weiss's collar. Using both my hands, I undo the offending button with the equivalent of a drunk person trying to open a sliding door. Eventually, I get the small piece open, and as soon as I do, I grab the collar and pull it roughly to the side, exposing Weiss's collarbone.

She lets out another small noise as I dive in and run my mouth along her collarbone in small but sensual kisses. I've never seen skin so pure and as milky white as Weiss's, reminding me how truly beautiful she is in every way and how I love every little thing about her. In my book, Weiss is the definition of gorgeous.

I press wet kisses to the soft skin, eliciting confused and somewhat erotic whines from Weiss. Not wanting to keep her waiting much longer, I begin to nibble on the flesh in between her collarbone and shoulder.

"Mnn… mmph… R-Ruby."

Weiss squeezes my body that's still standing between her legs and I feel her head lull to the side to give me easier access to her neck.

As I begin to suck on her collarbone, it dawns on me how strange it is to see Weiss being so docile, blatantly allowing me access to mar her skin. The thought makes me smile and I continue teething her neck, almost like I'm marking my territory.

I don't know how I'm able to be so certain of myself right now, it's almost like as soon as I saw Weiss's flushed face a switch was flipped inside of me. I've never even done something like this before and I'm not sure if I'm doing it right, but from the sounds Weiss is trying to hold back right now, I can only assume I'm not doing terrible.

"Don't muffle your voice, Weiss. I want to hear it." I say, taking my mouth off her skin for the first time in over a minute.

All I feel is Weiss's grip in my hair tighten as she continues holding back noise. "You D-Dunce- Ah… W-We're in a… mmph! C-Classroom for god sake."

I pout, but refuse to take my mouth away from her tantalizingly attractive collarbone. "I think your voice is cute, though…" I mumble into her flesh.

Realizing that my work almost seems to be completed, I run my hands along Weiss's legs in an attempt to satisfy my need for her before finally pulling back to look at what I'd accomplished.

Weiss's head is turned slightly to the opposite side of where I had marred her skin. One side of her uniform shirt is almost falling of her shoulder as a result of me holding it away for so long, which also exposes her white bra strap that I try real hard not to stare at. She's breathing heavy and her blindingly white hair is falling in her eyes as she looks to me in a side glance that make my knees almost buckle from how hot she looks.

Oh my god. I never thought I could be so turned on. Oh my god. Oh my god.

Wanting to take the focus off myself, I pull Weiss closer and give her a loving kiss on the mouth. She reciprocates, but I can tell she's a little tired, so I pull back after a minute and take a long look at her drained face, trying hard not to burst out laughing when I see the expression she's giving me.

"…Are you really that horny just from me giving you a hickey?"

Weiss's face turns beet red in an instant and her exhausted expression soon turns into a scowl as she moves to smack my arm. "D-Dunce! It's your fault for- f-for…"

"For what?" I ask, smirking at the guilty looking president. "Shoving you up on a desk and getting you all hot and bothered?"

Weiss looks at me with an annoyed expression and moves to fix her collar. Her hand freezes as she goes to move the fabric, looking at the fairly large hickey I'd given her. Trying not to smile, I watch in amusement as Weiss frantically tries to rub the spot away with her hand.

"Are you serious, Ruby? How the hell am I supposed to hide this?" She says, looking exasperatedly over at me.

I shrug and lean back towards her to pull her into a hug. "I'm fine with you not hiding it, but I'm sure if you're creative enough you can come up with something."

Weiss makes an attempt to pull out of my grip, but when she fails she takes to smacking my arm again, this time much harder than the first.

"Ow?!" I yelp, jumping back slightly out of surprise. "Geez, I was just kidding, Weiss. No one's going to see it if you have your collar up anyways…"

Weiss eyes the mark again with disdain and finally brings her collar back around, so she can button it up. "Ugh… You're infuriating."

Since I'm still positioned between Weiss's legs and she's still sitting up on the table, I decide I might as well take this chance to see if she's up for a little more. I push my way back against her and drop one of my hands down to her legs again, beginning to run my nails along them in a comforting pattern.

Weiss protests verbally but makes no move to get up, which she easily could if she wanted to.

"S-Stop that… ahh…"

Her words are forgotten as my mouth finds hers and we melt together once again in a heated battle for dominance. I honestly find it kind of cute how Weiss seems to think she has some semblance of control over the situation. As our heads tilt from side to side and our mouths lock over and over again, she makes frequent attempts to push against me, as though she had the upper hand in our position. Each time, I remind her how much more leverage I have from standing by pushing myself back into her with twice the force.

As our lips collide, I feel Weiss's arms wrap around my neck as she makes gasping sounds into my mouth. My own hands find themselves holding the underside of Weiss's thighs, something I can't seem to keep my mind off of, since I've been wanting to touch them for so long.

"I keep meaning to tell you how nice your legs are, Weiss. I think they're really attractive." I murmur against her, refusing to break the contact of our mouths.

To my utter surprise, Weiss lets out a low moan at the implications of my words. I briefly blink my eyes open out of pure shock, but quickly close them again as I make my own muffled noise into her lips and shove myself harder into her body.

"To be honest, when I first saw you I thought you were the most beautiful person I had ever seen." Drunk with Weiss's presence, I lazily peak out of my eyelids to get a look at her flushed face. Her cheek fidgets at the declaration and I feel a smile form against my own. "I still think so."

Pulling back slightly, I graze my lips over Weiss's face until I reach the scar over her eye, making sure I press a light kiss to it lovingly.

Both of us breathing heavy, we lean our heads against each other for a minute to catch our breaths. Our faces seem so close it's practically taking up my entire vision, not that I have any problems with that. Weiss's eyes, heavily lidded and looking back into mine, almost seem as though they're telling me unsaid words that we're both thinking. Words that I would wait a lifetime just to hear once.

I love you.

Weiss's piercing gaze dances along with mine, like it's showing me a story with no spoken words. She reaches a hand from around my neck and places it on my jaw, brushing a thumb over my cheek as she rests her head against mine.

"What are you waiting for…?" She questions, probably wondering why I'm staring at her instead of kissing her.

I smile and let out a content hum. "Nothing much… I was just thinking how much I love being around you and how I feel like the luckiest person in the world right now."

Leaning myself back towards her, we begin round three. This time, I feel unused tactics might be best perceived, since we're both already in the mood for experimenting.

Even though we're going much slower this time than the last, I let my tongue slide out of my mouth, brushing against Weiss's partially opened lips.

Taking a moment to process what I just did, Weiss actually jerks her head back from the kiss, staring at me in shock.

"Ruby, Wha-What was that?"

Panic quickly washes over me that I must have taken it too far, and I feel myself beginning to have a minor freak out. "S-Sorry! It just k-kind of happened." I babble out.

"You dolt." Weiss lets out a sigh and holds a hand to her temple. "Earthquakes just happen. Tornadoes just happen. Your tongue does not just happen to fall into my mouth!"

"I know! I know! I'm sorry! It was just in the heat of the moment, I'm sorry… did you not like it?"

I turn dejectedly to the floor and my hands fall from Weiss's waist back down to my own sides.

"Ruby… don't make that face." Weiss says, reaching over to brush some of my hair behind my ears. "It just… surprised me is all."

I don't move my head, only able to glance up at her through my eyelids. "…Really?" I ask, pushing my pouting face back against Weiss's.

"Y-Yes." She confirms, her cheeks burning red from our impossibly close proximity.

"So… now that you're expecting it, can I do it again?"

Instead of responding, she slowly closes her eyes and I lean in once again with a smile on my lips.

Weiss and I end up leaving the school about half an hour later. Currently, I'm walking her to her house, which she tried to reassure me multiple times that I don't need to, but when I saw how it was beginning to get dark out, I decided it wouldn't hurt to go with her.

Rolling my bike alongside me, I'm forced to listen to one of Weiss's many rants about how the office faculty are useless. While I listen to her drone on, I've been thinking of teasing Weiss about her behavior back in the clubroom, but I think better of it, knowing it would probably just set her off more than she already is.

We pass by the many houses in her neighborhood, all still looking just as rich and huge as ever. Each time I see the fancy mansions that line the sidewalk, I'm always reminded of how different our lives are and that there is a fundamental difference in what our ideas of a 'home' is. However, I love knowing that, despite our many differences, we still seem to fit together perfectly and have an almost perfect understanding of each other.

Eventually, we reach Weiss's grand gate, which surprisingly already stands wide open.

I turn to shoot a curious glance at Weiss, who finally stops ranting and gives an inquisitive look at the open gate.

"Did you leave this open when you left this morning?" I ask her, distinctly remembering that she closed it when I came to pick her up.

Weiss mumbles a few words and goes over to the padlock for the device. Squinting at it, she presses a few buttons and then steps back as the gate makes a loud beeping sound. "It's been malfunctioning a little lately, must have just set itself off. I've been meaning to get it fixed but just haven't found a good time for it."

I follow behind her as she makes her way to the front door, tracing my hand along the fountain in the center of the driveway as I pass it.

"You should fix it as soon as possible." I say, beginning to walk up the steps to the front door. "I hate thinking that you're unsafe when you're home alone."

"Relax, Ruby. This is one of the nicest and most secure neighborhoods in town. No one would be able to sneak up on me that easy."

We reach the top of her steps and I frown, knowing this is the moment where we part ways. I'm about to grab Weiss's hands so I can pull her into a hug and then a goodbye kiss, but as I reach towards her I notice a blindingly white sports car parked in the driveway. I tilt my head in questioning, knowing that, besides her driver that she sometimes uses, I've never seen another car parked at Weiss's house before.

"Hey, do you know whose car that-"

I'm immediately cut off by a loud and demanding voice that makes both of us flinch.

"Weiss!"

I turn around to watch as a figure appears from around the corner of the house, looking miffed.

It's an older woman by the looks of it, dressed head to toe in a white uniform and wearing her hair back in a bun. She bears a creepily similar resemblance to Weiss herself, and as I turn back to give her a questioning look, I find her eyes staring wide in surprise and her mouth hanging slightly open out of pure shock.

"Oh, no."