Chapter 2: Tender Kisses
A week passed. A whole week went by, and Ruby couldn't bring herself to tell Weiss how she felt. Even when she wasn't occupied with tests and homework and Blake disappearing, even when she found herself alone in the room with Weiss not two feet away from her, she couldn't bring herself to tell her. She came close on several occasions, however. Four days before the students from the other kingdoms arrived, she pulled Weiss aside at lunch.
"Weiss, I need to tell you something," she said, wringing her hands. Weiss cocked her hip and folded her arms across her chest, and there was a few moments of awkward silence.
"Well? I'm waiting," she said, her icy blue eyes piercing Ruby's confidence and sending a chill down her spine.
"W-well, you're really smart..." Ruby choked timidly, trying to remember what she had rehearsed in front of the mirror.
"Is that it?" Weiss asked, arching an eyebrow.
"N-no!" Ruby stammered. "I-it's just that I um... I'm..."
"You're what?" Weiss almost snapped.
"I'm... Having some problems with the homework and was wondering if you could help me..." Ruby said, her voice quickly turning to a mumble.
"You want my help studying?" Weiss asked. Ruby just nodded. Weiss turned away, smiling to herself.
"I'll think about it," she said smugly before walking away. Ruby slumped against the wall, sighing. She could practically hear dream Weiss screaming at her, calling her an idiot and a dummy, but she didn't care. She would tell her this week. She could do it.
Right?
As Weiss walked off, her smile began to fade. She ignored the table her teammates were sitting at, and instead stepped out of the cafeteria and into the hallway. She almost made it back to the dorm before she collapsed against the wall, sliding down and hugging her knees tightly.
"Stupid, stupid Ruby... Why can't you see that I like you?"
"Wake up Ruby!" Yang exclaimed cheerfully, shaking her sister. Ruby sat up in bed and glanced at the clock before burrowing back under the covers.
"Yang, it's almost midnight. Let me sleep," she pleaded.
"But Blake, Pyrrha, Nora and I want to celebrate the end of the semester!" Yang replied, ripping the covers off of Ruby.
"Great! Go celebrate, have fun, let me sleep," Ruby said.
"No way! You're coming with us!"
"I was afraid you were gonna say that," Ruby whimpered.
"Come on, sis. It's important to hang out with your friends."
"I already hang out with my friends!"
"Sitting together at lunch doesn't count, baby sister. Come on, it'll be fun!"
"Ugh, fine... Is Weiss coming?" Ruby asked.
"No, it seems fun is against the rules in the Schnee house," Blake said with a smirk.
"Excuse you, I like fun!" Weiss exclaimed indignantly from her bunk.
"So she's out and you're in. Come on!" Yang practically hoisted Ruby out of bed and carried her off to the door, Blake in tow.
Barely a minute later, the girls of teams RWBY (save for Weiss, of course) and JNPR were seated around the beds of the latter's dorm.
"Are Jaune and Ren joining us tonight?" Ruby asked.
"No, Jaune and Ren went off to see a movie," Pyrrha said. "It's just us girls tonight."
"To celebrate no more tests!" Nora exclaimed.
"No more lectures!" Blake added enthusiastically.
"No more creepy professors perving on us!" Yang finished, pumping her fist. The room fell into an awkward silence, every pair of eyes on the blonde girl.
"It was a joke!" Yang exclaimed. "Based on real events..."
"Anyways, Pyrrha and I went online and found the most popular game to play at parties," Blake said after a moment.
"Truth or dare?" Nora asked, bouncing with excitement. Blake's eyes fell, and she went quiet.
"Yes, Nora. It's truth or dare," she murmured grumpily.
"I even managed to smuggle in some contraband," Yang said with a chuckle, lifting the blanket of the bed next to her to reveal several cases of beer.
"Yang! Where did you get that?" Ruby asked in shock.
"I know a guy or two," Yang replied cheekily. Nora pounced on the beer like a hungry cat and tore into the packaging, presenting her can as though it were the heart of a slain beast. She practically tore off the top of the can and downed half of it in one gulp. She sat back down on the bed and Yang tossed cans to Pyrrha and Blake. She kept one for herself and handed one can to Ruby, who was looking quite nervous.
"Relax, sis. I'm here, and I won't let you do anything overly stupid."
"I guess one couldn't hurt," Ruby said quietly, accepting the can.
"Pyrrha! Truth or dare?" Yang asked, casually sipping from her can.
"I choose truth," Pyrrha responded.
"What are your feelings for Jaune?" Yang pressed, delighting in the blush that crossed the spartan girl's cheeks.
"Well, I think he's very sweet and thoughtful-" Pyrrha began, but was interrupted.
"Come on, tell us what we really wanna know! Do you liiiiiiiiiike him?" Nora almost sang, downing the rest of her drink. She shook the empty and half-crushed can. "Aww, it's broken..."
"I do have a slight... Attraction to him, I suppose," Pyrrha reluctantly said.
"I knew it!" Yang cheered, throwing another can to Nora. "Pyrrha likes vomit boy!"
"We all knew it, but now it's out!" Nora chimed in. Ruby giggled and took a sip of the alcohol her sister had given her. It was sweet, with subtle undertones of honey and cinnamon. Pyrrha buried her face in her pillow to try and conceal the alcohol-induced blush spreading across her face.
"Nora, truth or dare?" Blake asked, taking a casual sip from her drink.
"Dare!" Nora squealed excitedly, her ginger hair bouncing with excitement.
"I dare you... To prank call Jaune," Blake said with a smirk. Nora took a brief pause to think, then looked Blake straight in the eye. Her dark grey eyes glinted with cunning and childish excitement.
"Give me a scroll, kitty."
Jaune and Ren stood in line outside the Vale multiplex. Ren was occupied with a book, while Jaune kept looking at the time.
"Who has a movie premier at 1:30 in the morning?" he complained loudly.
"The same people who don't bring something to keep them sane in the line," Ren replied coolly.
"I just hope the girls are having more fun than we are," Jaune said. Suddenly, his scroll let out a beep and he took it off his belt. He opened the machine and pressed the accept call button.
"Hello? This is a weird time to test my signal quality, but alright. Test phrases? Okay, lay them on me. I'm a tote. Al buh. Twad. All together? I'm a total buttwad. Hey wait a second!"
"NORA!" Ren shouted, and insane laughter rang from the device speaker. A beep was heard, and the machine went silent.
"I think we've figured out how much fun they're having," Ren said.
Nora set the scroll down and smiled. She took another drink from her beer and let out a satisfied "Ah."
"And that, my friends, is how you make a prank call," she said. The girls all cheered, and everyone took a celebratory drink. Ruby set down her now empty can, and Yang handed her another one. She opened it and took a sip.
"Your turn, Ruby!" Yang cheered. Ruby blushed and looked down at her feet.
"Um... Yang, truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Do you um... Like anybody?" she asked meekly.
"Ooooh," the remaining girls sang in unison. Yang blushed and casually played with her hair.
"Well, I guess I kinda do... Your turn Pyrrha!" she said with a jovial laugh.
"Ruby, truth or dare?"
"Dare?"
Ruby stepped into her dorm as quietly as she could in her drunken stupor. Weiss was seated at the desk, and she turned to face the dark-haired girl. Her arms were crossed, and she looked disappointed.
"Have fun, Ruby?" she asked sarcastically.
"Heeeeeeeeeey Weiss cream!" Ruby said with a giggle. Weiss rolled her eyes in disgust.
"Are you drunk?"
"Maybe a tiny bit?" Ruby answered sheepishly. Her step faltered, and she crashed to the floor. "This carpet is really really pretty."
"Come on, Ruby. Let's get you into bed," Weiss sighed, sliding out of her chair and trying to pick up her inebriated leader.
"Weiss, I need to tell you shomething," Ruby said, her words beginning to slur.
"Tell me in the morning, Ruby."
"No, I gotta tell you right now..." Ruby whined.
"Alright, what is it?" Weiss asked, growing more and more frustrated.
"Pyrrha dared me to come back here and kiss you."
"What!?" Weiss exclaimed indignantly.
"But I'm too nervous to do it..." Ruby mumbled quietly. Weiss looked at the sad girl in her arms and began to smile a little.
"Do you want to kiss me, Ruby?" she asked. Ruby nodded.
"More than anything," she slurred, her cheeks flushed bright red. Weiss let out a soft sigh and placed her hand on Ruby's cheek. She planted her velvet-soft lips on Ruby's, lingering for a moment before pulling away.
"Off you go. Enjoy your celebration," she said, turning away to hide her smile. Ruby shakily stood up and looked to Weiss before making her way out of the room.
Ruby opened the door and slipped into the room. Every eye was on her, the girls in complete silence. She smiled and gave a thumbs up, and the room erupted in cheering. Her friends had been busy while she was away. Nora was wearing a lampshade as a hat, and Blake and Yang had exchanged shirts. Ruby sat back down in her spot and took another sip from her beer.
"Who's turn is it?" she asked as she tossed the can aside.
"Mine!" Yang declared proudly, and she turned to face Pyrrha. "Truth or dare, Pyrrha?"
"I'm feeling adventurous," Pyrrha slurred, tossing an empty can into the rapidly growing pile in the center of the room. "Give me a dare."
"I dare you to give Jaune a big sloppy kiss as soon as he comes back," Yang said with a laugh.
"Jusht watch me," Pyrrha replied confidently. As if on cue, the door clicked open and Jaune stepped in. Ren followed close behind.
"Hey, you guys are back!" Nora squealed, bouncing over to give Ren a hug.
"What about the movie?" Blake asked.
"It turns out the movie had considerably more roller coaster scenes than we were led to believe. It was a fiasco," Ren complained.
"What happened?" Ruby asked.
"Jaune got sick from watching the movie and threw up all over the first row. They asked us to leave," Ren answered.
"To be fair, it wasn't just the motion sickness," Jaune protested. "My popcorn tasted kind of funny."
"Oh Jaune," Pyrrha sang, giving him her best come hither look.
"Pyrrha, are you okay?" Jaune asked worriedly.
"I'm wonderful," Pyrrha replied. "You're wonderful. Everything is just... Wonderful."
"How much have you had to drink?" he asked. Pyrrha scrunched up her nose and tried to think, then began counting on her fingers.
"Um... Hey, I just remembered!" she exclaimed, walking up to him and placing her hands on his shoulders.
"She's really gonna do it!" Yang whispered to Blake. Blake let out a soft chuckle as she watched.
"Pyrrha? What are you doing?"
"Oh hush, you wonderful stud," Pyrrha said before kissing him deeply. Jaune's eyes widened in surprise, and Pyrrha pulled away. She seemed content with the kiss.
"Jaune?"
"Yes Pyrrha?"
"Please don't take this as a comment on what I just did," she said. She turned on her heel and bolted for the bathroom. Horrible retching sounds were heard as Pyrrha emptied the contents of her stomach into the porcelain bowl of the toilet.
"What just happened?" Ren asked.
"We played truth or dare," Nora replied.
"That explains a lot," Ren said.