Alternate ending - Gwen's happy ending

She can't bare to let them see her failure. If she goes to them now she won't be able to hold herself together under their hopeful gazes. No point in spoiling their fun.

With that thought she turns around leaving the elevator entirely and starting to head back out the front door not wanting to run into anyone that might be hanging around her teams room either. Maybe a nice tree would be better right now, sure it's cold outside but the thought is actually sort of appealing at the moment. Cold out to match the cold inside.

The girl makes it only a few steps back towards the exit when a voice stops her. "May? Why are you back, did you forget something? Don't tell me you ran away."

May looks over her shoulder and into the brown eyes of Gwen Darcy. Those eyes widen in surprise but the sniper turns away before she can see the girls expression change. She tries to make it outside before she can hear the disappointment. She only manages to get outside.

After a few steps in the cool air a hand grabs her wrist and turns her back around to see Gwen giving her a sad but comforting smile. "Want to walk with me? You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." The snipers friend offers in a soft voice tinged with hope.

Taking a deep breath May just nods not trusting her voice at the moment letting Gwen lead the way as they wander the grounds of the school. It's not curfew yet so there's little worry of getting in trouble despite how dark it's gotten. The shy girl manages to make it to the statue before she gasps and takes Gwen's hand still holding her wrist in one of hers. Seeking any small comfort from it as a choked sob breaks free of her control. It's not long before more follow and she let's herself be lead to a bench.

Sitting down at her friends urging Gwen's thin arms wrapping around the sniper in a soft comforting hug as she starts to break down. The shorter stoic not seeming to mind at all as her shirt is soaked by the tears of her sobbing crush. May's hands clutching her desperately like a lifeline.

They spend some time sitting like that, May's flesh rising in goosebumps due to the cool outside temperature and occasional gust of wind, Before the distraught sniper finally calms down enough to pull away sniffling her eyes still swimming with tears as she tries to brush them away in vain.

"I-I j-just don't get it G-Gwen. I th-thought sh-she liked m-me o-or at least sh-she would g-give me a ch-chance." May finally gets out trying to calm down. "She j-just came out and l-looked at me and s-said she was interested in s-someone else. Then I r-ran, I c-couldn't stay after th-that."

Gwen doesn't respond verbally her hands running in soothing circles around May's back as the sniper sniffles weakly self deprecation rolling off her in waves of unabashed shame that brings a pain to the knife throwers heart.

"I d-don't know what I was thinking. S-stupid May with her h-hideous eye, h-her stuttering, and social a-awkwardness. Wh-who would ever w-want to put up with all of th-that?" May asks aloud. Not expecting an answer, she's caught off guard when she gets one albeit the manner it's given as well as the answer itself might be contributing factors.

Gwen grits her teeth throughout May's little break down. Her brow twitching as some of the most adorable things she's noticed about her crush are brought forward by the sniper in a negative light. So she does three things.

First she removes her hand from May's back. Next her hands are placed on the snipers shoulders where the curly haired ravenette gives May a few gentle shakes to get her attention. Finally she says two simple words. A sentiment she had been holding back for quite some time now.

"I would."

There's a long stretch of silence as May looks into Gwens eyes in confusion before her grief addled mind connects the dots and her eyes go wide. Still uncertain and desperately not wanting to ruin a friendship she hesitates, biting her lower lip before speaking.

"Gwen d-do you mean-"

"Yes, I do. Yes, I would. Yes, I like you. I have for some time, I just never got the chance to tell you because until you came to us I knew nothing really about you. Your team mates weren't helpful when I asked a few vague questions. And observing you was hard since you spend so much time off and alone avoiding people." Gwen explains finally letting go of the snipers shoulders to lean back a bit on the bench.

"I thought just coming out and saying I thought you were attractive might back fire terribly since you didn't know me. And when I finally got the chance to talk to you? It was when you showed up at our door after getting a crush on another girl. How could I have possibly said anything then?" Gwen asks shaking her head and sighing. There's a pause where she shakes her head and starts chuckling a little before starting to laugh quietly Leaving May to give her an odd look of confusion.

"U-um... Gwen? Are you okay?" The sniper asks with timid apprehension and more t han a little confusion.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm okay. I just realized how completely insane all of this is. We are in the exact same situation right now. Both of us pining over a girl who's interested in someone else. Only for me it's you and for you it's Ruby. And I realize if I had just asked you out or something before all of this started you might have given me a chance and we might have both avoided all this heart ache." She says shaking her head ruefully.

Silence falls on the pair and it stretches for a long moment with May left fidgeting in place her head tilting back and forth in through as she shoots small glances at Gwen. Before any more can be said she takes a long fortifying breath and turns towards the other girl.

"Ask me." She says screwing up all of her courage and nailing it to the wall of her mind so it can't run away from her now.

To say Gwen would be shocked is an understatement. She's completely floored and it shows plain as day on her face as she looks back at the softly trembling May. Her first thought is to question May on her certainty. That impulse is crushed ruthlessly as she realizes just how difficult it likely is for May to say that in the first place. May is quite a few things. All of them shy and adorable, and none of them commanding.

So with that in mind Gwen clears her throat and speaks up. "May, would you like to go on a date with me next weekend? I know a few nice little places in the city that were pretty quiet when I stopped by them."

There, she asked. Now all she can do is wait. Not that she has to wait long for May to give her a small shy nod with an equally small shy smile. It's good enough.

Gwen is left beaming as she hugs May suddenly before letting her go with reluctance. "Thank you for giving me the chance May. Let's get you cleaned up alright? I imagine you don't want it to be obvious you were crying." She offers and getting a nod from May takes her hand and leads her towards the guest dormitories again.

After they're gone a smaller girl in a red cloak can be seen walking away from the area they vacated with a small sad smile on her face. More upset with herself than with the sniper she had developed feelings for. Maybe if she hadn't taken so long to react when she realized it was May on the roof things might have gone differently. Or if she had just looked before speaking.

She had heard every word said between the two and by the end all she could do way stay out of the way and wish them the best no matter how much she wanted one more chance. Maybe she would get it later. For now she would take the cookie dough out of the freezer in the dorm kitchen and wait for Yang to get back to the dorm for her own consolation.

AN:

Let it never be said I don't keep my promises. I said there would be bonus stuff for this story and dammit I'm going to deliver. This is Gwen's ending. I started writing this and hit a wall about four hundred words in and had to put it down. two months later I picked it back up, re wrote certain parts and put some work into finishing it. I will likely do some re arranging after the other alternate ending is finished to put this and it after the epilogue chapters. But for some reason I wanted to give Gwen her happy ending first. I think she earned it. Sorry it's not very long but well... It didn't need to be.

Thank you everyone who enjoyed this story. I'll try to not make you wait two more months for the next bit of bonus stuff. I love you, and I'll see you next time.