Sorry about the long wait guys. As expected, College is terrible and I don't know why anyone would want to deal with this. I'd rather have a simple job so I can keep living a simple life. Maybe there is something I'm missing but it's nothing but stress. But enough of that, enjoy the chapter.

Yang

Someone shook my arm. "Yang. Wake up."

I opened my eyes and saw Ruby with a worried look. "What is it Rubes?"

"You have to go to work, remember?" She reminded me.

Thank God I had Ruby or else I would have slept right through it. "Geez, thanks Ruby. I can't believe you of all people had to remind me."

She got a shy smile. "Well no one else could which meant that I had to."

Her response surprised me. "Wow, either cleaning your room taught you the meaning of responsibility or you're growing up."

"Nah" Was her only reply.

I patted her head and started on my way. "Well thanks anyway. You remember the rules though, right? Locked door, stay inside, don't burn the house down, and try to resist eating nothing but sweets."

"I'll try, Yang. Bye Sis!" She waved and went to go find the remote to the TV.

I grabbed my keys and double checked the door to make sure it was locked when I left. No way was I leaving that up to chance, especially with the way my head has been lately. My truck welcomed me back once again for the night. It rumbled to life, ready to take me to where I was wanted. "But not needed." My head added in. Why did it have to remind me of what I already knew? Any energy I might have gained from that nap was gone now, replaced by an apathetic tiredness. If it wasn't a required thing I probably wouldn't have wanted to keep driving.

Why am I doing this? An eighteen-year-old working not to help herself through college but help support her younger sister. I've skipped over the supposed fun times of my life right into a monotonous cycle. "You'll be stuck in this for the rest of your life." I keep getting dragged down by my own mind. "No I won't.." Unfortunately, there was no reason to argue. "You think you're special enough to go somewhere else in life? This is your life." The growing pain reminded me that my mind was right. It reminded me how much of a better chance I had before the death of my parents. Having someone to help you. Having a normal teenage life. Having a sister rather than raising her.

I could feel another breakdown coming on. These thoughts were getting too much. My eyes wandered to the lighter, poking out of the dash temptingly. With a sigh, I pushed it in and waited for it to pop out. "You can't deny the real world." The lighter stuck back out for me to grab. "I just need to clear my head." I told myself. It was about to reach my arm when I thought of the reaction Ruby gave to the original burn. I didn't want to worry her but nothing else is going to fix this. The truck pulled over and I pulled my pants down just enough for my thigh to be exposed. The lighter came down on the soft skin and my head went wild for a second in pain. A second later, the pain was gone and my head was clear as day.

The burn continued to sting as I pulled my pants back up and continued on the road. Now I just had to make it through the night with out any more incidents. I'm sure I could handle that tiny little thing. I'm always sure. "Always?" The doubting voice was back already. Why is this happening to me? It won't stay away from me.

Numbers and letters were just swimming in my head tonight. Normally that wasn't a problem for me as I could usually keep things from just overwhelming me but the changes in my head are not helping me very much. My job was just a glorified inventory taker for a bar in the downtown area, but the owner also treated me as a deterrent for nighttime criminals who think that this bar is dumb enough to leave anything majorly valuable in the building at night. As good as I looked, I knew how to throw off an intimidating look when needed. Unfortunately, most nights were boring which meant I only had my main task to deal with. Papers here, clean up there, write down missing items that should be somewhere. It was monotonous but paid well enough for the work done.

At least, it would be manageable if my head was on straight lately. I couldn't get much done tonight, it felt like. I would start on a task and then quickly get overwhelmed by my thoughts, which would lead to some very bad thoughts that broke my ability to do anything. Starting a new task would be stopped by an attack of apathy towards it which in turn kills my motivation. And then the voice strikes at me.

By the time it spoke out for the fifth time tonight, I had given up and just aimlessly walked throughout the bar. I just couldn't do anything. I wanted to do something but nothing happened or came from that desire. This thing scared me so much. I've never dealt with something so crushing. "That's because I'm giving you the truth after you lied to yourself for years." It won't leave me.

"Stop it." I pleaded. Nothing really worked though. Behind the counter was where I sat down and put my head into my heads. Tears were close to forming.

"Look at you. About to cry from absolutely nothing."

"STOP GOD-DAMN IT!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"The truth isn't stopped so easily."

"STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP!" My voice was starting to break under all the screaming. My arms took up the role of trying to stop my own mind and clawed at head, pulling hair and scratching my face. There was no way I could stay here like this.

Blake

It took a good while to escape Weiss's grasp this morning. Maybe she was coming around finally. It's not my goal to push her but the frustration can be real sometimes. Needs are needs and I was not an exemption to that. Oh well though, her cute smile while she slept was comforting enough. Now if only her hand hadn't tried to push my stomach in. It was too early to be awake. A glance at a clock in my room while I grabbed some clothes showed three o'clock.

That glance also showed me the medicine bottle right next to it. Only half-filled, a sign that I hadn't been taking them as much as I was prescribed to do. I guess there wasn't much reason to take them anymore. Weiss's image popped into my head and confirmed that.

I picked the bottle up. "I have a real happiness now. You're going to the back of the drawer." And that was where it went. Hopefully I wouldn't have to use them ever again and at the very least, not any time soon.

I gathered some clothes together for my shower and left my room. My cell phone was bright as day on the living room table which was odd for my cell habits. It told me in bright letters that hurt my eyes that Yang had called thirty minutes ago. My thumb nearly called her back but the door groaned at the other end of the room. As I stepped closer to the door, I could hear the sound of crying on the other side. Pulling it open revealed the huddled over body of Yang.

"Yang! Are you okay?" I quickly asked as I crouched to help her up.

Her face was red and completely wet from crying. "I can't...I..I..don't know...my head.."

I wanted to decipher what she was saying but there were fresh burns on her arms that caught my eye way to easily. "Who did this to you? What happened?"

She seemed like she was starting to concentrate again. "No...me...I can't.."

I pulled her to the couch and laid her down. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" I asked.

"I don't..help...please.." She pleaded. This isn't something that I'm used to seeing from her.

I grabbed a rag in the kitchen and put some room temperature water on it. "Calm down, Yang. Calm down. It's fine." I tried to sooth her burns.

Her body seemed to be finally going into a resting state. "Blake..sorry.."

"Shush. Calm." I said quickly.

Her eyes widened for a second. "Ruby is alone..keys in my truck."

The pieces connected in my head. "No problem. I understand. She'll be fine. Just rest."

Yang finally accepted my words and started drifting away to let her body rest. I got up and left the rag laying next to her just in case she needed and went to Weiss's room. I hated having to wake her up at this time but it was necessary.

As gently as I could, I shook her shoulder to wake her up. "Weiss. Wake up."

"Hm?" She groaned.

"Yang is here. She is dealing with something bad and I need to stay and help her." I watched Weiss's eyes open faster and faster.

She managed to lift herself up and look through the door. "Is she okay?"

I shook my head. "No she's not. I found her against our door with burns on her arms and freaking out. She's asleep right now but I think she want's us to get Ruby."

"And that's why you woke me up?" She asked.

"Yea. You've been good at handling Ruby so I figured you should get her. Plus, I think Yang's problem might be better understood by me if I'm guessing right."

Weiss stood and went for her shoes and light jacket. "No problem, Blake. Will everything be okay while I get Ruby?"

I walked out to the living room. "Hopefully. Yang said her keys are in her truck which should include her house keys. Don't tell Ruby what I told you. All she should know is that Yang is resting here right now."

"I got it Blake. I'll try to be quick about it." Weiss started out the door.

"Make sure to stay safe Weiss." I called out.

"You too, Blake." She called right back while closing the door.

The situation left me with a passed out blonde and nothing to do but try to figure out what happened. The burns were easy to figure out though. Perfect circles and almost perfectly lined up. No way those were accidents. Only in someways could I understand what could have made her do something like that. Unfortunately, those things were not something I could fully understand. The only thing I could do was treat her injuries and hope she woke up without snapping again. Maybe Ruby will keep her head leveled long to find out what happened.

Weiss

"It really is fine, Ruby. Yang is sleeping right now and she asked me to get you." I assured the girl.

She kept looking at me with her worried eyes while I drove. "She wasn't acting like she normally does though. She always gets home by midnight."

The girl really knew how to build the guilt in my stomach. "Well she is at our apartment. Please don't worry too much."

Ruby fell back in her seat and it looked like she was about to tear up.

"Calm down, Ruby. She's fine, really." That didn't really impact her mood. I thought for a moment. "How about we go get something to cheer everyone up? How about treats for everyone."

Ruby looked at me like I was patronizing her but the idea slowly sunk in. "Okay. As long as you think it will help Yang.."

"You got it." I really hoped this would keep her mind from dwelling too much. Blake seemed really concerned about Yang and I didn't want to pass that on to Ruby. Long days are ahead of us, it felt.

This was basically written in the past three days so it may not live up to the writing before it. I hadn't had much practice due to college stuff, so yea. I just hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are always welcome and I hope I can get the next chapter up sooner than next year, haha. Remember, HAVE FUN!