Later that night, Velvet sat alone in the Team CFVY dorm room. The rain outside was still falling and provided a complimentary mood to how Velvet was feeling. This couldn't be happening to her, could it? She couldn't be getting a crush (and a pretty large one at that) on Ruby Rose. It just couldn't happen. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with Ruby. It's just that Velvet already had a girlfriend that she loved dearly.

When Velvet had come to Beacon, she had no friends to speak of and yet her team gave her something more resembling a family. She loved them all and they'd all been so wonderful to her and helped her out in every way they could. But nobody cared more deeply for her and motivated her more than her leader, Coco Adel.

Even now, Velvet wasn't entirely certain why Coco gave as much as she did for her. Sure, she pushed everyone in the team and was always willing to help them when she could. But the dedication that Coco showed to her in making sure she was succeeding was so touching for Velvet. If Velvet needed help in class, Coco studied with her. If she needed to get better at combat, Coco sparred with her. If she needed to try out a new spell, Coco always volunteered to be the test subject. And whenever she was feeling lonely or bullied, Coco would sit up with her and try to comfort her. Velvet couldn't have imagined someone like Coco was really capable of existing before coming to the school.

It didn't really come as a surprise to Velvet that she'd fallen head over heels for her leader. What really surprised her was when she'd actually worked up the courage to ask Coco out on a date and Coco instantly agreed. She'd always assumed she was way out of Coco's league but things like that didn't matter to her. Coco may have been wealthy and beautiful and projected a stern, vain attitude that also overflowed with self-confidence but Velvet didn't count on that confidence extending so far that she wouldn't care if her girlfriend was shy, quiet, reserved and kinda nerdy. Or a Faunus. All she told Velvet was that she kept her waiting long enough before asking. Since then, the two had a wonderful relationship and Velvet was the happiest she'd ever been. She was in love with the strongest, most caring and most fiercely loyal woman she'd ever met who just happened to love Velvet back.

And that's what had Velvet so anxious now as she sat at her desk, scrolling through the pictures she'd taken with Ruby earlier. Velvet couldn't help analyzing her face in the photos as she remembered just how she felt when they were being taken. It was just like how she felt with Coco. And that was scaring Velvet to death. What did that mean? Did that mean she somehow felt the same way about Ruby that she did about Coco? Was it possible she loved Coco less? And why was she feeling that way? I mean, sure, Ruby was great but how could she be triggering such strong feelings in her?

It was driving Velvet mad. Part of her wanted to just delete all the photos and try to forget the day ever happened. But she couldn't ignore the other parts of her who wanted to keep them and look at them forever. Velvet was so caught up in her own mind that she didn't even register that Coco had returned to the room. Coco saw that Velvet was busy with her camera and quietly set her bag down before softly creeping over to where Velvet was sitting.

"Hey, honeybun," Coco whispered in Velvet's ear as she wrapped her arms over Velvet's shoulders and gently hugged her from behind. Velvet let out a screech of surprise and would have jumped out of her seat if Coco didn't have her held. Her camera did go flying, however, and Velvet frantically juggled it, trying to keep it from falling to the floor. Coco simply reached out and caught it with her hand and set it on the desk safe and sound.

"Goodness, Coco, you gave me a terrible fright," gasped Velvet as she tried to calm herself back down.

"Sorry about that, babe. I didn't mean to scare you." Coco kissed Velvet on the cheek to try and make up for it and Velvet felt her entire body go warm. At least that was a positive sign, Velvet thought. Velvet relaxed back against her chair to try to get closer to Coco and nuzzled her cheek against Coco's face.

"I love you," mumbled Velvet softly. "How was your day?"

"Eh, nothing too interesting to report," said Coco as she released Velvet from her embrace and stretched "Just another boring day. How about you?"

"It was the same, I suppose. I did see Ruby after class though."

"Oh yeah? How was that?"

"It was quite fun, actually. She caught me taking a candid photo of her and it just kind of went from there."

"That's cool. Do you care if I look at the pictures?"

"Um, well, no, I suppose not." Velvet started to worry again as she handed the camera over to Coco. She was going to see how much fun she was having with Ruby and get jealous. Things were already complicated enough for Velvet without adding a surly girlfriend on top of everything. Meanwhile, Coco scanned through the photos and got progressively more and more impressed.

"Damn Velvet, this is some of your best work yet. I know you think you're no good but I'm telling you babe, you've got a gift. Just think about what a dual threat you could be. Not only do you kill Grimm better than anyone but you document it too. We could make you so famous." Velvet's attention waned as Coco went through her spiel. It honestly did flatter Velvet that Coco thought so highly of her and her talents. But she had more important things to worry about right now. Namely, what she was going to do about this whole Ruby situation. Sure, she might be out of the woods as far as Coco being jealous about the pictures. But there was still a whole other emotional minefield to navigate.

"Hey, Remnant to Velvet? Hello? You in there?" Coco snapped her fingers in front of Velvet's glazed over eyes.

"Huh? What?"

"Hey, you okay? You look really tense."

"I'm fine," said Velvet halfheartedly, trying to put on a smile to prove it. Coco simply sighed in frustration and removed her glasses. Now Velvet knew she was definitely in for it since Coco only removed her glasses when she was sleeping, bathing or about to get serious.

"Velvet, you promised me you wouldn't shut me out like this," said Coco softy as she kneeled down next to Velvet's chair and placed her hand over Velvet's. "I can clearly see that something's wrong. Come on, talk to me about it."

Velvet hung her head as her ears drooped. There was no way she was going to get out of this. This was it, everything was about to be ruined. Her relationship was about to go up in smoke and she couldn't find a way to stop it from happening. "I'm really scared," she finally whimpered.

"I can tell. What about?"

"I…I think that I like Ruby. A lot."

"Oh…" Coco said in surprise as her eyes grew wide. That certainly wasn't what she figured was wrong.

"I'm so sorry. Please don't be mad." Velvet couldn't keep it together any longer and burst into tears. Coco immediately moved forward to embrace her and allowed her girlfriend to cry into her shoulder. Even though Coco was slightly baffled as to why this was affecting Velvet so much, she knew that right now the most important thing was to try and ease her worries.

"Sweetheart, it's okay. Don't cry," Coco whispered softly to Velvet as she gently stroked her hair. "Why would I be mad? There's nothing wrong with liking Ruby. She's a great kid."

"But what about you? What about us?" Velvet finally asked as she continued to weep. "We've been together for awhile and now I've gone and fallen for someone else."

"You still love me too, dontcha?"

"Yes, of course," Velvet said with conviction as she sat back up away from Coco's embrace. But her face betrayed her uncertainty. "At least, I think so. This is all so confusing."

"Well if you still love me then I don't see what the problem is. You should ask Ruby out sometime; it'll make you feel better."

"Ask her out? Have you gone mad?" Velvet asked in horror

"What's wrong with that? You liked me enough to ask me out. Just ask her out too."

"That's completely preposterous, Coco!" Velvet blustered. Now she was starting to get frustrated. What in the name of Oum was Coco playing at? "Have you completely forgotten the fact that I'm already dating you?"

"Yeah, so? Why should that stop you from having another girlfriend?" Velvet began gasping and squeaking in shock in a way that was completely adorable and made Coco want to hug her even more.

"Another girlfriend?! You have gone mad. Are you trying to tell me that you would be agreeable to me having another girlfriend in addition to you?"

"Yeah, I don't see a problem with it," said Coco as she shrugged and relaxed her arms behind her head. "So long as you make it clear to her that you and I are still together and you don't go sneaking around to see her without telling me you're going out, I don't mind. Otherwise, go nuts."

"Clearly you already have," huffed Velvet under her breath. "Seriously, do you have any idea how insane you sound right now? The thought of having more than one relationship is completely wrong."

"I'll grant you that it's unusual," replied Coco, putting up a finger to concede the point. "But as long as everyone is cool with it, having multiple partners can totally work. I have a cousin back home who has a boyfriend and a girlfriend and they all love each other to death. Honestly, they're probably the most stable relationship I've ever seen. Plus, they make family gatherings fun when they get all the old folks pissed about what degenerates they are."

"So, you're telling me this is actually a thing people do? And everyone is okay with it?"

"Yeah, it's totally cool. I mean again, it's rare to find but there's nothing illegal about it or anything. It's just different."

"Very well," Velvet said slowly, deep in thought. This revelation from Coco about her family and her thoughts on relationships was rocking her beliefs to their foundation. She decided to switch tactics. "So what makes you think that Ruby would even agree to such a bizarre idea?"

"I don't know if she'd be down or not. But it doesn't hurt to ask."

"I can't believe I'm actually having this conversation with you right now," said Velvet as she shook her head in disbelief. "You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"Yes Velvet, I am," answered Coco in annoyance. How many times was she going to have to say this before it sunk in? "I'm not trying to trick you or mislead you or hurt you or anything. You're a really amazing person and it seems selfish of me to hog you all to myself. So if you really like Ruby and she really makes you happy and you think you'd have fun with her, then ask her out. If she says yes, great. If she doesn't, that's her loss. No matter what you decide to do, I love you to death and will always be here for you."

"But how can you be so confident about this? Aren't you worried that I might end up loving Ruby more than you? Or that I'll completely leave you for her?" Ah, there was the real problem. Coco let out a breath of relief that she'd finally managed to crack the true problem that Velvet was having. Smiling, Coco leaned forward and kissed Velvet on her forehead. She then repeated the action on Velvet's eyebrows, cheeks, tip of her nose, chin and then finally finished with a short peck on her lips.

"Velvet, I've known you for over a year now. In all that time, you have never made me worry that you're untrustworthy in regards to anything. So no, I don't think you'd suddenly start now. And I know that you love me too much to cut me out of your life entirely just because. Nor do I think Ruby would ever do anything like ask you to leave me so you'd be with her exclusively. So as far as I'm concerned, I have nothing to worry about beyond making sure you know how much I love you and support you and want to see you smile. No matter who's putting it on your face."

"Gosh, this is not how I thought this conversation would go at all," Velvet chuckled. She still wasn't entirely convinced that she wasn't dreaming up this whole wacky day. "But thank you so much for being so understanding. Even if you've given me even more to think about now."

"Well like I said, no matter what you choose to do, I support it." Coco reached out and gave Velvet's hand a soft squeeze. "So, what do you think you're going to do?"

"I don't know. This is all so new and sudden. I have a lot of options I have to consider now. One thing is for sure though. I need a long soak in the bath."

"Okay, you go pamper yourself, love. I've gotta get cracking on my homework anyway." Velvet rose to her feet and stretched. But as she made to move for the bathroom, Coco slid in front of her to block her path. Coco took Velvet's chin and made her look up at her. Velvet was greeted with the most smoldering look she'd ever seen Coco give her. Coco then leaned down and captured Velvet's lips with a kiss that was as passionate as her gaze had been. Velvet couldn't stifle a moan as she felt her knees start to go weak.

"I love you, okay?" Coco whispered against her lips. "And as long as you'll have me, I have no intention of stopping."

"I love you too. Thank you for being mine." Satisfied, Coco finally let Velvet pass. Normally, she'd give Velvet's ample rump a squeeze as she passed but she restrained herself since she knew how conflicted Velvet was at the moment. Velvet entered the bathroom and began running the water. As the tub filled, she gathered up her special soaps and additives that she kept reserved for special occasions to help her relax. She looked up into the mirror and let out a deep sigh as she saw just how tired she looked. This had been a much longer, weirder day than she had counted on and she was completely spent. But now all that was left was to soak in the tub and think about how much had changed in just a few hours.

To be continued…