Wow. Just wow. Just before I uploaded this chapter, I went ahead and checked the followers, favorites and reviews for this story. I've never seen bigger numbers for any of my works in such a short space of time before, for only two chapters (well, three now). I was shocked and happy at the same time that so many people enjoy this, and man, I have even better news.

Turns out that I haven't been able to compress all that I wanted to happen in this one-shot-turned-triple-shot in only three chapters, so you know what that means. Yup, another chapter is on the way after this one! But I actually have a question for all of you that have stayed with me up until this point.

Do you guys want me to continue this story after this initial arc is done? I have a fair idea of what I want to do with it if you want me to continue with it, or would you guys be happier if I moved on after finishing the fourth and final (so far) chapter in this story. Please don't hesitate to review or PM me to slip me a response.

Oookaayy, now I'm going to close of this long-as A/N. Enjoy!

*Update* Version 1.2 of this chapter, did a bit of grammar/spelling combing as I said in Chapter 8's A/N. Hopefully I got it all.

"... and that was when I kinda... fell asleep." Ruby finished, her blush reminiscent of her name. Weiss sat opposite her, her eyes wide, the shock on her face clear as crystal, before she buried her face in her hands, the embarrassment clearly too much to bear. She'd just told Weiss everything that happened last night, leaving out some of the... indecent? Yeah, indecent things out, but basically Weiss knew most of everything now, except for a couple of things. It was better this way. Now, Weiss knew it all, but she wasn't looking up.

"I... I..." Weiss gasped, her voice muffled by the arms around her head. "I... did that? Tell me." She looked up, staring Ruby right in the eyes, a teardrop noticeable in the corner of her left eye. "Did I do all of that?"

"Yes." Ruby replied firmly, staring straight back. Yang had always said that if someone wanted the truth, you looked them right in the eye. And Weiss looked straight back, her eyes flicking around ever so slightly, as if checking individual strands of colour in Ruby's eyes. Then, the moment passed, and she broke her gaze, turning to look out of the window of the study room.

There was a pressing silence. One where Ruby fought the urge to fidget. It looked like Weiss was trying to make up her mind. Her expression was one of almost deep contemplation.

Too long.

"Weiss, if you've got something to say to me, just say it." Ruby reassured, putting both her hands flat on the table. Then, she remembered what they had said before starting this whole thing. "You remember what we said? No judging." At this, Weiss finally turned her gaze back to Ruby. Her face showed vulnerability all over, but there was something else. Hope, maybe? Weiss took a deep breath.

"Okay, Ruby." Weiss responded. She took another deep breath, Ruby waiting, quite patiently. Yeah, that's right, she could be patient. "I'm going to tell you everything." Ruby did nothing except nod.

"Well, I've been your partner since the day after I met you." Weiss began, her voice slow, uncharacteristically soft, the colour leaving her face. "When you became our leader as well, I hated that. I didn't know what to make of you, and at that time I thought myself far superior to you." Her words cut deep, and Ruby held back the retort she knew would have come out if it had been anyone else talking.

"But when Port told me to take myself down a peg, and give you a chance, I did. I tried to be a better friend." Weiss continued, a small smile crossing her face briefly, and Ruby let herself smile in turn. "That was when it all began. We would work together, practice together, and over time, I stopped thinking about how good I was and how I was the best, and started working to make our team the best that we could."

"The more I trained, the more I worked, the more I saw you, I started seeing you for how you really are." Weiss explained. "You're much more than I first thought, Ruby. Your inner strength, your maturity, your determination, all of it was so much more. I realized it in the first match of the Grand Vytal tournament, and then, when we returned to our dorm, that was when I found that I couldn't stop thinking about you." Ruby was taken aback at this. It had been that soon?

"When that happened, I realized that it was love. There was no question." Weiss said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I would think about you all day and then at night, my dreams were filled with you." Her gaze then intensified, something that Ruby spotted immediately, as her blush returned in full force. "Ruby, I have no other way to say this, so I'll just say it. I love you, and I've loved you for a long time."

There it was. Ruby had known since Weiss practically spelled it out while she was sleepwalking. But then-

"I... I understand if my feelings aren't returned." Weiss spoke, breaking Ruby out of her reverie. She refocused on the heiress, only to see more tears threatening to break loose. "You don't have to love me back. It's... well, it's out of the blue. Just please still be my friend."

Weiss looked incredibly vulnerable now.

She was shivering a little, hugging herself as she watched Ruby, her alabaster hair flowing behind her and catching the gentle morning sunlight. Ruby knew that this was the moment where she would have to step up. Was what Weiss did completely okay? No, it still probably wasn't. But what she said now would either make, or break, her heart.

Was that the right way of saying it? Ah, whatever.

She pushed her chair back and stood up, trying to give her best smile to Weiss while in this situation, though it came off as more sheepish than anything else. Her eyes rose with Ruby, an almost hopeful look in her eyes.

She started to walk around the table, in the direction of the door.

"Don't go. Please." Weiss quietly pleaded. It was dead silent in the study room.

Oh, Weiss.

Ruby passed straight by the door, moving towards the heiress. Her hope turned to shock as Ruby then pulled her chair out with Weiss still sitting on it, then Ruby sat awkwardly on her lap, trying her best not to fall off. Weiss eyes showed an almost disbelieving look, her mouth a thin line, but there was still that hope behind it. Ruby bent down so that they were eye to eye, and brushed her lips against Weiss', only briefly. The touch sent electrifying feelings through her, but there was one part of it that was important.

It was familiar.

And it felt right.

As Ruby pulled back, Weiss mouth had drooped open a little in a cute expression of shock or surprise or... no, it was surprise.

Weiss was completely silent, transfixed on Ruby's every move.

She knew what she had to do.

Somehow, she knew.

"Do you remember that?" Ruby asked the heiress, who touched her lips with a slender index finger, before looking back at Ruby. "I do. That was our first kiss, last night. Do you wanna know why that thing happened last night?" At Weiss' confused expression, she continued. "I didn't stop you."

"Ruby, I-" Weiss tried to argue, but Ruby cut her off.

"Nope." she interrupted, popping her p, before raising her finger. "I could have stopped you. One scream. That was all I needed. If you didn't wake up, Yang would. But I didn't." She paused, thinking about the best way to say this, but, drawing a blank, she resolved to say it as best she could. It was her face that was crimson now. "I didn't because you're beautiful. I didn't because I didn't want to hurt you. But I did it, for, well, one reason more than the rest." She leaned up close to Weiss ear, and whispered.

"I love you too, Weiss."

As Ruby drew back for the second time, she could see Weiss close her eyes, that small smile was back. She could feel the tension coming out of Weiss' body, the legs she was sat upon relaxing. Ruby put her arms around Weiss' shoulders, and she blindly copied her, until they were in a tender embrace. Ruby could feel Weiss' heart beating through her chest as her own heart moved to match it, until both slowly started to calm down.

"I... I'm actually speechless, Ruby." Weiss replied softly, as they continued to hug each other. "I thought you would hate me for what I did. When... when-"

She didn't say anything else as Ruby tightened her hug a little.

Neither did Ruby.

They just held each other close.

Ruby stepped through the door of their dorm room, holding Weiss' hand. Had the way she'd done things been the right thing to do?

Yes, yes it was.

She turned and saw the heiress looking at her, her smile seemingly set in stone now.

It was such a beautiful sight, looking into those blue eyes. As Ruby released her hand, Weiss gave her a small peck on the cheek, before going to her chest of drawers. Ruby watched as she crouched, going into the bottom drawer, withdrawing a pen from a back pocket, before putting it neatly inside, alongside three others. She then closed it, before looking up at Ruby and rolling her eyes at Ruby's stare.

"Don't know why I took it." Weiss explained, before walking across the room, brushing past Ruby on the way to the bathroom.

Ruby fixed her back with her classic squint eyes.

Yeah, that was definitely deliberate.

"Cheeky." Ruby muttered under her breath, as she moved towards her own chest of drawers.

"What was that?" Weiss called from the bathroom. Crud, did she hear her?!

"Nothing!" Ruby called back, just as the door opened behind her.

"Hey, Ruby!" Yang greeted from out of sight, as Ruby pushed the drawer back, not even sure why she opened hers in the first place.

"Hay Yang!" Ruby replied cheerfully back.

"Got a bit of a question for you." Yang said, leaning against the wall as Ruby turned to face her. She had a... was that guilt? Why would Yang of all people be guilty about something? "What's the best way to say sorry to Blake after she was chased 'round the block by Zwei?"

Wait. Blake... being chased by Zwei?

"Why'd he chase her?" Weiss asked, having just exited the bathroom. "He's normally such a sweetheart."

"Cats and dogs." Yang replied, shortly. Weiss folded her arms and rolled her eyes, but she almost seemed to relax a little when she caught Ruby's eye. "Plus I kinda, might have egged him on a bit."

"Try taking her somewhere. Say that you're sorry." Weiss said, counting upwards with her fingers. Ruby fought back a giggle. "Then talk it out. Maybe somewhere known for their seafood?" A spark of realization flashed in Yang's eyes.

"I know a place. Cheers, Ice Queen!" Yang responded jovially, before dashing off through the door she came in. Zwei zipped through the door before it shut, and leapt on Weiss' bed, where he let out a happy bark.

"She's not-" Ruby started to call out after Yang, but stopped herself. Weiss stopped halfway through moving towards Zwei.

"Defending me already?" Weiss asked, with a smirk reminiscent of that time with the Nevermore. It practically radiated confidence.

There was a pause.

"No, Weiss." Ruby replied with a sigh. "I just don't like it when people call you that. It makes you sound like a stuck up princess or something." At this, Weiss actually laughed, a quiet one, for sure, but it was a beautiful rarity that caused the hairs on the back of Ruby's neck to stand up straight. "It's not funny!" She said, in an attempt to cover her embarrassment, but she couldn't keep her own smile in now. Weiss stifled her chuckles and stepped smartly over to Ruby, where she gave her another peck on the cheek.

The place where her lips left burned with heat.

"That's really sweet, Ruby." Weiss whispered, that small smile that Ruby had started to love having returned. "But I can't be that cold when I'm with you. I don't think I can be the Ice Queen with a Ruby at my heart."

Wow.

Just... wow.

That was actually really romantic.

Ruby noticed that Weiss had cupped her cheeks in her hands, and gave the heiress a questioning look. In reply, Weiss tilted her head slightly, and started to lean forwards. She leaned forwards to match. Ruby was going to do this. For the first time, while she was awake, Weiss was going to kiss her. She could feel Weiss' warmth as they drew closer, their lips practically brushing-

ARF!

Ruby drew back in fright, and promptly fell over onto her backside with a painful thump.

Weiss, surprised by Ruby's reaction, stepped back and drew Myrtenaster, pointing it at different parts of the room, looking for an enemy.

Then, both of their gazes fell upon Zwei. He was hiding his face with his two front paws, his ears flat, though his tail was wagging still.

"Dang it, Zwei." Ruby muttered under her breath. She then reached up and took the hand that Weiss offered, getting pulled swiftly to her feet.

"Let's take care of this little one, shall we?" Weiss whispered, sheathing her rapier, as they turned towards the now happy little dog, who let out a bark and flew at them, tail wagging like crazy.

Ruby sat down on Weiss' bed, looking down at Zwei, curled up in bed, the dog's appetite for play and affection temporarily satisfied. Weiss was next to her.

She was so tired, it was unbelievable. It wasn't often she felt this fatigued.

"For the record," Weiss spoke, and Ruby turned her head to see two beautiful blue eyes on her own. "I've never seen a faster game of fetch in my life." She had that smile Ruby loved, and Ruby felt her racing heart calm down at the sight.

It was official.

Weiss' smile could cure any worry she had.

Seriously.

The heiress left the bed and started walking towards the bathroom, before turning back and looking at Ruby. Her eyes sparkled in the afternoon sun, the flowing locks of snow-white hair casting a radiant glow about her.

"Well, I don't know about you," Weiss continued, "but I'm taking a shower. You'll probably need one too." She had a smile that was closer to a smirk now. Was it something Ruby was doing? She flashed a quick look towards the bathroom before re-affixing her gaze on her.

What was she getting at?

"I'll hop in after you." Ruby replied, blushing a little as Weiss continued to have that same half-smirk. Weiss sighed, her smile faltering a bit, returning to the sweet one Ruby loved to see.

"Dolt, that was a hint that I wanted you to come in with me." Weiss said, her voice now a little softer.

Oh.

That faint blush Weiss had threatened to appear.

For Ruby, hers had no warning.

It came up full force as she considered this.

Going into the shower with Weiss?

But wouldn't that mean they would be naked?

Weiss would be awake this time, but-

"Um, sure." Ruby answered, still abashed. Weiss rolled her eyes, and moved back to Ruby, where she held out a smooth, small hand, unmarked and unblemished. Just like the rest of her.

Ruby reached up and took it with one of her own.