I Think I Like You
Chapter 20: Two of A Kind
"Oh, no." Weiss gasps, stepping away from me and frantically clasping her hands together in front of her.
The angry looking woman comes around the side of the house and steps onto the concrete sidewalk, her heels clacking even louder than Weiss's normally do.
I do nothing but stare wide-eyed at the woman, who is of some obvious relation to Weiss, as she walks up the stairs to where we stand.
"W-Winter!" Weiss stutters out, looking completely distraught. "I-I thought you weren't being dispatched until the spring?"
Wait… Winter? Winter as in Weiss's sister Winter?
The woman reaches the top of the steps and gives me an indifferent glance over before turning to Weiss.
Her uniform is solid white with blue detailing that runs along the inside and cuffs of the outfit. She holds her hair in a neat bun that doesn't have a single strand spilling out of it and her bangs come down and over her face, almost hiding half her features. The way she is holding herself definitely looks like some sort of military stance mumbo-jumbo that I've read about, making it obvious to me that this is definitely Weiss's sister.
Showing a discontent frown, Winter eyes Weiss up and down. "What have I told you about stuttering?"
Weiss's flinches at her words, and I watch her eye twitch, like she realized she did something wrong.
"Sorry! It won't happen again." Weiss quickly corrects herself.
"And why are you home so late? Your school supposedly ended over three hours ago."
Weiss and I share a nervous glance at each other, but as soon as she looks over to me, Winter clears her throat to call back her attention. "Not maintaining eye contact with the person speaking to you? You know what father would say about that." She says, holding her chin up and squinting her eyes.
"Right, I'm sorry." Weiss responds, swiftly turning back to her sister. "I had council work to complete at school. Ru- Ah, I mean, the vice president offered to assist me with the tasks that needed to be done. It was getting dark, so she offered to walk me home."
Weiss's obvious mess up about not saying my name caught my attention as well as her sisters. I give a questioning look to Weiss, which she ignores in favor of maintaining eye contact with Winter, but the older Schnee looks just as disinterested in me as she did when she first got here.
This leaves me standing awkwardly to the side of the sisters as Winter continues to eye up Weiss, like she's trying to find some fault in whatever she's doing.
"What's with your posture? You were raised by humans, not orangutans."
"Ah, I'm sorry!" Weiss quickly repositions herself into a painfully straight pose with her hands still clasped in front of her.
"And stop apologizing." Winter commands.
"Of course!"
I frown and cross my arms over my chest, looking between the two strangely. If someone else were watching this, they would probably think it's some comedy sketch about military drills, not two sister reuniting after years of not seeing each other.
It strikes me that I've never seen Weiss be this obedient for anyone - not even me. Everything Winter has corrected, she's obeyed immediately, and though I'm not aware what the consequences would be if she didn't listen to her, I'm not quite sure why she's taking this from her older sister. From what Weiss has told me, I thought she hated Winter because she left her and didn't give her a word as to why, but looking at them now makes me think that might not be the full story.
As I frown, deep in thought, Weiss makes a quick glance towards my direction, most likely telling me to follow her sister's orders as well.
Instead of obeying her, I take a step towards the two Schnee's, forcing the older sister to look over to me.
"I think Weiss's posture is fine." I try saying in a solid voice, but it ends up coming out as more of an intimidated squeak.
Winter lets out an annoyed huff of air and turns her entire body to face me. "A good stance and posture reflect a proper and healthy state of mind. I don't wish people to see my sister slouching like some ape." She simply states.
I fiddle my thumbs together under the older woman's gaze. "Orangutans actually have vertical and horizontal posture, you know? They're super flexible and efficient!"
Weiss looks at me with a mixture of irritation and impatience, like she's telling me now isn't the time to be geeking out.
Winter gives me a grimace and leans down a little so we're more eye to eye, even though she's almost a good foot taller than both me and Weiss. The motion makes me feel like she sees me as a child, and I take a step back to retaliate that notion.
"And who might you be?" She asks.
"Ruby! Ruby Rose!" I respond, sticking my hand out for her to shake.
She takes it in a firm grasp and forcefully yanks it up and down twice before letting me go, leaving my arm dangling like a limp tree branch.
"Well, Ruby Rose, I think it would be best if you leave now. You have accomplished your task of walking my sister home, have you not?"
Her request catches me off guard. "Ah- Well, I mean, I guess I have…"
"Scurry along then, child. We appreciate the gesture, but your assistance is no longer needed."
I give Weiss a longing glance, knowing it's futile attempting to hug her based on the situation we're in right now. Nevertheless, Weiss mouths an apology to me as Winter loops an arm around her shoulder to lead her through the front door.
As I begin walking down the porch steps, I hear Winter continuing to lecture Weiss behind me as they enter the house.
"You really shouldn't be coming home so late, you know. And your uniform looks a mess, what on earth happened to it?" Another loud gasp from Weiss's sister makes me cringe. "And what is that on your neck?"
I lazily run my hand through Zwei's fur as I lay on the couch, watching some reality TV with Yang and Blake.
Apparently, tonight's the finale of one of Yang's favorite shows, which is why Blake was insistently nagged to come over by my sister. I was paying attention to the show a while ago, but I can only watch 90 Day Fiancé for so long before wanting to claw my eyes out from the stupidity of these people.
I'm lying on my back, so that Zwei has comfortable spot being curled up on my stomach, Yang sits next to me with her feet propped up on our coffee table, and Blake is curled up at the end of the couch with a throw pillow under her arm. My dad is getting home pretty late tonight and I have no homework to do, hence why I accepted my sisters offer to watch some TV. However, I've been mostly zoning out rather than actually watching the flickering screen.
Weiss hasn't texted me since I left her house earlier today and I'm starting to get worried about her. We always text each other goodnight at the very least, but it's already past eight and I've gotten nothing from her.
Taking my phone out of my pocket and glancing at the empty screen again, I make a whining noise as I swipe up to look at the blank notifications.
"Are you going to keep pouting and staring at pictures of the pres on your phone all night?" Yang asks from beside me. "'Cause if you are, then could you at least do it in your room? I'm trying to watch my show here."
I angrily sit myself up, Zwei making a surprised noise as he slides off my stomach and onto my lap. "It's my screensaver, I'm not just looking at pictures of her! And she hasn't texted me since we left school, I think something might be wrong."
"Relax, Sis. She's probably too busy thinking of ways to dump you."
I throw one of the couch cushions at my sister's head, which she easily evades and sets down between her and Blake, who is avoiding being part of our antics by ignoring us. "That isn't funny, Yang! She's not breaking up with me! I'm just concerned because her sister is back in town and I wasn't able to ask if she was okay before I left."
"Weiss has a sister?" Blake questions, finally deciding to enter the conversation.
I nod, leaning down to scratch Zwei behind his ear. "Yeah, but apparently she joined the military and I don't think they've seen each other in a long time…"
"Well, then maybe they're just spending some time trying to catch up." Yang offers, shrugging her shoulders back.
"Maybe." I quietly acknowledge, knowing that's probably not the case. "Weiss told me they didn't exactly leave off on the best terms when they last saw each other, and from how militarized her sister spoke I thought she was about to start yelling at me to do laps around the house or something."
Yang sighs and runs a hand through her long golden locks. "You should stop worrying about your girlfriend so much, Sis, you're gonna get wrinkles."
Blake smacks Yang on the forearm, making her let out a surprised gasp and grab the pillow sitting between them, holding it up as a shield.
"I'm sure she's fine, Ruby. Weiss knows how to handle herself." Blake reaffirms, turning back to the TV.
I pout and plop back down on my back, Zwei immediately taking the chance to resituate himself back onto my stomach, which causes me to let out a grunt as he pads his paws on me.
"I know I shouldn't worry so much, she just has a lot of stuff going on, you know? And she still hasn't texted me back…" I mumble the last part to myself.
Yang glances over at me as I scroll through old notifications on my phone, giving me a somewhat worried look.
"Since you're not watching the show, how about we play a little game to keep your mind off the pres? You look like some kicked puppy when you're sad... It's just depressing to look at."
Ignoring her last comment, I perk up at the prospect of a distraction, feeling an excited smile form on my face. "What game?"
"Hmm…" Yang's legs move to the floor and she leans forward to rest her hands on her chin in thought. "How about - never have I ever?"
"Okay!" I say, gladly accepting anything that could potentially keep my mind off Weiss.
We turn to Blake, who's watching the TV, still trying hard not to be pulled into our antics. She glances at our pleading faces out of the corner of her eye and lets out a long, low sigh.
"Whatever." She quietly agrees, shifting slightly so that she's facing us.
I give an excited cheer and scooch myself towards the center of the couch as Yang slides down to prop her feet up on the table again. Zwei hops off my lap and jumps down to the floor, most likely retreating to his dog bed in the corner of our currently dim living room.
When he trots past Blake, she makes sure to shrink away briefly, only returning to her normal position after he's gone. Blake's never been very fond of dogs and our cute corgi is no exception.
"How does this work again?" I ask.
"You hold up your five fingers and name things you've never done." Yang holds up her open palm to demonstrate. "If the other person's done it, then they have to put a finger down. For example, never have I ever made kissy faces at the council president."
I frown at my sister, feeling a heat rise in my cheeks. "Geez, I get it. But you can't say any more about Weiss. This is to distract me, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah. Just hold up your fingers." Yang casually dismisses me as she hold up her hand across from me, Blake doing the same at the other end of the couch. "I'll let you go first, Sis."
"Okay…" I scrunch up my face, thinking about something I could say that might get Yang out. "Never have I ever got home at four in the morning after clubbing and asked my sister to cover for me."
"You can't say things you already know!" Yang exclaims, like that bit of information was completely obvious.
"But that wasn't how you explained the rules!"
"Okay fine, never have I ever cried in the middle of Costco because dad wouldn't let me get a plus-sized package of cookies."
"Yang! I was like ten years old! That's not fair!" I say, nervously glancing at Blake, who's looking back at the TV and seemingly pretty bored with this whole thing.
"Exactly! So, we can't say things we already know."
"…Fine." I begrudgingly agree.
Yang nods her approval at me and turns her head to Blake, signaling it's her turn. "Blake, your go."
The dark-haired girl turns back to face us with a thoughtful look. "Hmm… Never have I ever been on an airplane."
"You've never been on an airplane!?" Yang's mouth practically drops open.
Blake just raises an inquisitive eyebrow at my sister. "It's not that strange, is it?"
"You're eighteen years old and you've never been on a freaking airplane? Yeah, that's kind of strange. I mean, even Ruby and I have been on one for a family trip, it was like ten years ago."
Blake just shrugs her shoulders and leans back against the couch. "I'm not a fan of traveling. However, I do believe that means both of you put a finger down."
"Drat." I say, putting down my thumb.
Yang holds down one of her fingers as well, but also continues to shake her head incredulously at Blake. "One of these days we gotta get you on an airplane. Maybe seeing what's outside will actually make you want to go out more."
"It's a possibility." Blake says, in an extremely skeptical tone.
"Guys it's my turn!" I complain, making them both stop chatting and turn to me. "Let's see… Never have I ever been the oldest in my class."
Yang puts another finger down and Blake keeps hers up.
"You guys must be ganging up on me or something." My sister mutters, only being left with three fingers. "Oh, I got one! Never have I ever done a keg stand."
I keep my finger up, while Blake turns to Yang with a look of resentment as she rolls her eyes and puts a finger down.
"Woah," I say, looking between the two. "I would have never expected you to do something like that, Blake."
"Yeah, well, sometimes certain individuals-" Blake's eyes narrowed at my sister. "-Force you to go to college parties to get blasted out of your mind."
My sister gives an innocent shrug. "Hey! I never actually saw you do a keg stand and you weren't that opposed to going."
"I most definitely was, not that it matters now." Blake says shifting uncomfortably on the couch. "Anyways, it's my turn. Never have I ever… binge watched an entire series in under a week."
Yang and I look at each other and guiltily put one of our fingers down.
Just as I am about to complain, I feel a short buzz from my pocket that makes me jump in surprise.
Yang groans as I fumble my phone out of my pocket and look at my notifications.
Weiss: Are you busy?
"Ah! It's Weiss!"
Yang rolls her eyes and reaches for the remote on the table, so she can turn the volume back up on her show. "Yay. You finally got your booty-call from the pres. Now you can stop moping."
Ignoring my sister's jabs, I quickly type my reply.
Ruby: I'm not busy but I've been really worried about you! Are you alright?
It takes Weiss a minute to respond.
Weiss: I'm fine. Could you meet me at the park near the back of my neighborhood?
Ruby: Of course! I'll be there in 15.
Weiss: Okay. See you soon.
Slipping my phone into my pocket, I swing my legs off the couch and make my way over to the entryway to grab my jacket and put on my shoes.
"Everything alright, Sis?" Yang asks, peaking her head into the foyer from the living room.
"I'm not sure, but I'm meeting with Weiss." I say as I finish tying my sneakers.
"Alright… Just don't stay out too late alright? And bring a jacket, it's starting to get cold out."
"I know. I know." I mumble, grabbing my jacket off the rack.
The jacket is a bright orangey-red color, since it's a hand-me-down from my dad, and I've always hated the way it looks. It might not be the most fashionable of clothing but at least I know I'll be warm.
Slipping on one of the sleeves, I use my other hand to open the door, subjecting me to the dark and chilly air.
"Be safe okay?" I hear Yang call from the living room.
I give a hasty nod before pulling the door shut behind me and racing to my bike.
It's about twenty minutes later before I manage to find the small park in the back of Weiss's neighborhood.
The park consists of a small jungle gym with multiple slides connected to it and a pair of swing sets sitting in some nearby mulch. On the outskirts there are various picnic tables scattered about, plenty of large oak and pine trees, and a lone grill towards the back.
I kick out my bike stopper and leave it in some grass by the side of the road as I walk up to the playground.
A brief scan of the dimly lit area, only still visible because of the many streetlights, indicates a lone sole gently rocking on the swing closest to the jungle gym.
"Weiss…" I sigh with relief, walking over and bending down to give her a tight hug. "Sorry I'm late! Are you alright!? I was so worried about you!"
"I told you I'm fine… What on earth are you wearing?"
"Huh?" I say looking questioningly down at my jacket. "Oh, this was my dad's."
"It looks ridiculous. Orange is definitely not your color."
I frown and glance up to take another look at Weiss. I can see her breath in the chilly air as she spoke and her shoulders, being covered only by a light blue blouse, shivering as she holds her arms to her chest in an attempt to stay warm.
I quickly unzip my jacket and walk around the swing she's sitting on to place it on her back, rubbing her shoulders as I do so.
"Ruby, you shouldn't-"
"Shh..." I say, leaning down to place my forehead against the back of her head and breathing hot air onto her neck. "…Tell me what's wrong."
I feel Weiss give a small kick to the trampled mulch under the swing, rocking herself a little bit as I wait patiently for her response.
"I- To be honest- I really don't know…" She said, shoulders deflating a bit. "After you left earlier, Winter did nothing but complain to me about the poor condition the house is in, and how everything she told me to do was wrong somehow… It was just a lot to handle at once."
"Mmm." I hum acknowledgment into the back of her neck.
Feeling her shivering go down considerably, I give her a quick kiss on the back of her head before standing up straight and walking a couple feet over to the swing next to hers.
"I mean, don't get me wrong," Weiss huffs agitatedly. "I loved seeing her - catching up and all that. I haven't seen her in – well – it honestly feels like forever, but she's changed so much now… I'm just not sure if the Winter I remember before the military is still there…"
Weiss hangs her head and closes her eyes briefly. "Sorry… I know that must sound stupid."
"It doesn't sound stupid, Weiss." I affirm, reaching over and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. This earns me a small smile that I gladly mirror. "Does it make you feel lonely?" I ask.
Weiss shakes her head and looks out towards the playground equipment.
"No. I haven't felt lonely in a long time." She says, giving me a small glance before looking forward again. "I might have had a small panic attack earlier, but I was able to push through it without my meds. I just think I'm stressed and unable to really do anything in this situation, you know? I mean, what can I do? Send my sister back to military school?"
I sadly kick some mulch and bite my lip as I try to think of something to say.
"I was kind of in a similar situation when my mom passed…" I quietly acknowledge, earning almost immediate attention from Weiss, most likely do to this being a rare topic for me to bring up.
"Even though I was young when it happened, I always had this overhanging feeling of spite towards her. It was like I blamed her for what happened and for my life being the wreck that it was for so long. It was only until I was a lot older that I realized the spite - the anger - was to mask the helplessness I felt about her leaving me."
I feel Weiss stand up from the swing set and walk towards me. As she nears, I grab her waist, so I can burry my face into her stomach. I feel Weiss's hands sifting comfortingly through my hair.
"My old friends would make me think what happened to her was my fault – they would blame me and make me feel small, vulnerable. It was only until I started high school when I realized that was no way to carry myself. I worked hard to become the person I was when I met you, and I'm glad I did."
"I'm sorry, Ruby. I had no idea what you had been through." Weiss says, continuing to brush her dainty hands through my messy hair.
"S'okay." I mumble into her chest. "It's not your fault… Sorry for stealing you thunder there."
Weiss gives a soft chuckle, something I quickly decide as one of my new favorite sounds in the whole world.
"That's quite alright." She says. "You know, people tend to think that being alone is what makes you lonely, but I don't think that's necessarily true. In my experience, it's being surrounded by the wrong people that's the loneliest thing in the world."
I give a small smile into the orange jacket that now smells like Weiss and feels so much warmer than when I was wearing it. "I guess you're right."
"Maybe we're not that different after all." Weiss says.
For the next few moments we stay silent, listening to nothing but the mild wind rustling the pine trees that surrounded the park and each other's breath that I eventually have trouble deciphering whose it was between us. Not that it matters.
"Soo…" I begin. "I heard your sister, uhm, noticed the thing…?"
I look up and Weiss gives me a quizzical glance. I use one of my fingers to poke the side of her neck that I had left a mark on earlier today in the clubroom, making Weiss let out a surprise yelp and step back from me.
"Ouch!" She exclaims, holding a hand to the offending mark. "You absolute Dolt, because of you I had to lie to my sister and tell her I burned myself with a flat iron."
I giggle and push myself back on the swing set. "Oh, what a tragedy." I joke, putting a hand up to my chest as though I'd been shot.
"Speaking of Winter, I almost forgot, she wants you to come over for dinner sometime next week."
"…Huh?" I ask, thinking about how much the older Schnee ignored my presence last time I saw her.
"Well, not you, for say. She wants to meet the vice president, who I mentioned I was very close with and is a great hand to have around school."
"I see." I slowly acknowledge, worry making its way across my face.
"It's only something she mentioned. Half the things she said to me made no sense, and I was having a hard-enough time in general trying to rationalize her reasoning, as she kept ranting to me about how many forks were in the cupboard or how the stair banisters were misaligned."
I roll my eyes and stand up, walking over to one of the short rock climbing walls that leads to a platform on the jungle gym.
"One of the things my dad always used to say to me was that not understanding something is practically human condition." I say, hearing Weiss walk up behind me as I start climbing the wall. "He said I was going to make some wrong decisions in my life, but that it would be okay. The only thing I should be ashamed of is failing to correct those mistakes."
"That's quite a lovely statement." Weiss says, eyeing the playground equipment warily.
I offer her a hand up, which she gladly excepts as she tries to find her footing on the short rock wall.
I help her to the top and when I give her a last pull upwards, I make sure to give her a quick kiss before I jump up a few more platforms.
"You know, Ruby, I'm not usually good at things like this… but I guess you bring out the kid in me again."
You're still a kid, Weiss.
I keep my thoughts to myself as I watch Weiss attempt some… not-so-athletic jumps to make her way up the platforms, before reaching the one I'm on and giving me a triumphant smirk.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm not good enough for you." I say, looking into Weiss's icy blue irises and giving her a wry smile.
Weiss leans closer to run a thumb across my cheek, cupping my chin in the process.
"Trust me, you're more than enough, Ruby…" She whispers, closing the small distance between us.