The Lines We Draw
Chapter 3
What was so bad about a private talk among friends? They murmured amongst themselves all the time. Sure, most of the time, it didn't have to do with team related matters, it was just gossip, but still. Yang was sure she could deal with it, and didn't even think twice about that.
Weiss, ever the conservative, was the easiest of the three team members that Yang had to contend with on any given day. The white haired girl was many things, but not a street rebel. Her words, while sometimes scathing, couldn't hold up to the back street lingo that Yang spent her life around.
Her father, her uncle, and even Yang herself, knew how to spit an invective or two. A verbal tang was nothing to Yang, and she tuned out most of the shorter woman's blathering, instead she focused in the beauty in front of her. Yang was reaching her breaking point for silence though, and fast.
It wasn't her words that had run away with her, but her brain. Weiss was too close, her lecture falling on deaf ears. She prattled on about grades expectations, but Yang couldn't think about that. All she could do was remind her hands to keep to themselves. Weiss was so close, so off kilter, and it would be so easy to just take that woman in her arms, claiming her….maybe even breaking her.
That last thought sent a wave a shame to strike at Yang.
She didn't want to hurt Weiss. She wanted to bury that complicated feeling in her chest. Rejection was the only way to do so. Just as Yang was about to do something beyond stupid though, Weiss delivered a string of words that nearly crippled the blonde.
"…I get it if you have a thing for Blake, but if you do, you just need to tell her what's going on."
And in that one line, Yang's thoughts derailed.
"I…" Yang tried to come up with some form of denial, but she was too caught up in the way that Weiss looked at her. The way they stood so near to one another. "What?" Yang croaked out. She had to have heard that wrong. She. Had. To. Have. There was no way.
"You have a thing for Blake." Weiss said then. "And it's killing your grades. Not to mention that it also seems to be dragging you down. It'll keep doing that if you don-"
Shocked beyond her own failure to think, Yang had covered the girl's mouth with her palm. Now that she reached out though, it was hard to pull herself back, and her palm eased, her fingers becoming a gentle caress on that perfectly porcelain skin. Hissing to herself, she pulled away as if such a simple touch alone could burn her. In some ways, it truly had, and she turned on her heel, sauntering off with speed in her step.
She wanted to deny it. God she wanted to. To prove to Weiss just how deeply she cared for her. Even still, it was a matter of self-control, and one Yang was losing fast.
"Yang…? Hey, wait up! I'm not finished with you yet."
She heard the footsteps behind her, and that resolve, that control, snapped. And then it caught fire, her eyes flashing red as she turned on her heel once more. Weiss was right there, so close that the tips of their shoes touched. So close, she could hear the girl breath, and god help her, that was all it took.
Yang grabbed Weiss, the two of them stumbling into the wall and down behind the row of crates that waited to be moved into a battle arena. Yang's breath came out hard and fast, her chest heaving because it hurt. Everything just hurt. To hear those prior accusations ringing over and over in her head, it made her so angry she didn't know what to do, or even what to say. It all burned, in ways Yang had never imagined that it could.
Closing her eyes, she sighed and forced herself to let go of the arms that her hands held captive. "I don't have 'a thing' for Blake." Yang muttered, feeling repulsed by the mere thought. Not because she didn't like Blake, because frankly, Blake was the best friend she could ever have…but that friendship came with a territory. A line that as much as Yang would play the line of, she would never, ever cross.
"Yang, you're acting really weird. That's the only explanation." Weiss replied with some level of authority in her quaking voice. "You have feelings for Blake, and the sooner you admit it to yourself the sooner-" That hand stifled her words again, and this time Weiss slapped it away, exasperated and confused. "Stop that."
"It's not….Blake." She spat the name this time with a level of disgust that betrayed how much she truly cared for her comrade…but, that was like line. Teammates, best friends, bunkmates, but never lovers. The line was drawn between Yang's perverse jokes and the real deal. "I don't lover her, and I never will."
"Then what in the Grimm infested world has gotten into you?" Weiss asked heatedly, leaning in just a little too close.
It was Yang's undoing.
She didn't want to hold back anymore, it wasn't in her nature…and Weiss, she was too tangible. Leaning forward, Yang bridged the gap, her hands raising up to brace the wall, as her lips found their goal. The kiss was that of a dull ache in Yang's chest, a pounding of resolve shattering moment by moment. Weiss remained shell-shocked and still. Even so, the kiss was too sweet. The reaction wasn't what Yang had dreamed of, but the contact…the small truth of how she really felt…Yang had wanted that too long.
She craved to be honest the whole time, and at the very least, she had that now. With great difficulty, she pulled away, but not before nails bit into both her shirt collar, and the top of her breasts.
"What the hell?" Weiss had somehow found her voice, mumbled her question against Yang's lips, holding her there. It was brutally sweet torture, because Weiss wasn't exactly pleased.
Yang wrapped her arms around Weiss in a crushing hug. If she was allowed to keep this close proximity, then by the gods, she would do everything in her power to never let go of it. Even when she cracked an eye open to see that dubious, and aggravated stare, Yang wasn't afraid of that. She was afraid of losing this level of contact forever. To be denied would be a terrible thing, so she relished it now, cloaking herself in the warmth that was Weiss.
She buried her nose into the crook of the woman's neck, breathing deeply. Some to steady herself, and some to remind herself of what this felt like. To learn how amazing it might really feel. If her heart didn't actually implode on her...if Weiss accepted her...this would be heaven. "It's you, okay? Not Blake. You."
And though Weiss had heard the words, she didn't process them…and Yang didn't elaborate.
"Just you." Yang would only say that much.
It wasn't in her nature to really explain herself. Yang's actions were always her own, and being raised in such a casual environment had afforded her the luxury to truly be accepted without complicated preamble.
Weiss suspected she would never truly know what kind of insane notion had flitted through Yang's head. At that exact moment, she was more than okay with that mystery. She wasn't sure she wanted to know, not even when Yang stood up, and offered her hand to help Weiss do the same.
No more was even spoken about the matter.
Weiss merely covered her lips with her fingertips as Yang walked off, more confident than before…
More at ease, as if a weight had been lifted.
…
Weiss wished she could say the same.
That she was laughing as easily as Yang seemed to be.
Over the dinner table that night, Yang was flinging peapods at her sister one at a time. Ruby would catch them in her mouth, and retaliate with a small meal item of her own. Torn bits of bread normally, as fruit had a tendency to hit Yang in the forehead. Nora, of course, was not to be left out of the dinner time fun, and soon joined in from an entire table over, causing Blake to use her book as a shield from croutons.
Weiss observed all of it, including when Ruby went to go join Nora's table, and Blake snuck off to do more illicit research about the white fang.
This left Yang and Weiss to their own devices. While Yang seemed to be acting almost normally, Weiss couldn't say she felt the same. If anything, her head hurt, and Yang was the one to blame for that. "Now I see where Ruby gets her careless attitude from."
"Huh?"
"No wonder she can't help but be a fool sometimes. You're no better, and you should be." Weiss said with a hint of anger, and something else that even she couldn't quite describe. Yang had managed to get under her skin, and it was disquieting to say the least.
"I don't follow…" Yang said as she caught another bit of food mid-air. Perfectly white teeth nipping at the grape, toying with it idly before that luscious red piece of fruit disappeared between her lips.
"Um, hello, you're the one who kissed me…" Weiss hissed, trying to be quiet and failing. "Don't tell me you could just forget about that so easily."
"I didn't forget." Yang explained, though her eyes were trained on Ruby and Nora. "I want to do it again, but I know that's not ever going to happen." Ripping off a huge chunk of bread, she crammed it into her mouth. It was just a ploy to keep her mouth full so that she didn't have to keep talking, but it was one that was short lived.
Weiss yanked the tray away. "Yang…stop playing around. I want to know the truth, and I want it now."
Swallowing loudly, Yang cocked her head to the side, drumming her fingers on the table. "Dorm room?"
"Not a chance." Weiss nearly exploded, but settled instead her balling her hands into fists, and biting her lower lip. "I'm not going anywhere with you. Not until I'm sure you're not going to accost me."
"That's why."
"Yang..." Weiss grumbled. "Elaborate."
"Kissing you." The blonde sighed. "It's not a thing that's going to happen...you don't trust me."
"I never said that..." Weiss snipped.
"You hinted at it." Yang said pointedly, chin resting in her palm. "I'd never hurt you intentionally, Weiss. Thing is, today was an accident. Didn't mean to go that far." Smirking dirtily, and shaking her head, she sighed. Her smile faded, and a softness found her voice. "I can't even apologize for it, because honestly, even if things shouldn't have come out like that, I'm not sorry. I'm happy it's all finally just…out there…I don't have to hide it from you anymore."
"But you do have to explain it." Weiss pressed. Morbid curiosity was getting the better of her, and she knew it. She hated the fact that she was clueless about Yang's feelings. Digging down to the heart of the matter was the best that she could do. "You owe me that much, don't you think?"
Sucking on her teeth, Yang considered that. She forced another smile then, but it was a weak one, so unlike her usual ones. She reached over, her fingers toying with those pure white bangs. "I like you." Yang said tenderly. "That's all there is to it."
Weiss was still in a state of disbelief. "No one put you up to this?"
"Nope."
"…are you sure?"
"Yep."
"Yang…"
"What?"
Weiss couldn't focus on the woman next to her, so her gaze found the table instead. "You and those infuriating one word answers…stop it."
"You want more, we go to the dorm room." Yang said then. "I promise I won't even touch you unless you want me to. I'll stay on the other side of the room if I have to…but I need at least that much trust."
Weiss nodded slowly as she stood. "Fine, dorm room, but this had better be good."
"It might be."
"Yang, I mean it."
The walk was quiet, and tense. Weiss sat on her bed, and Yang kept her distance as promised, leaning on the wall by the door. She wouldn't go near the woman, wouldn't touch her, and wouldn't even look...not unless Weiss unless invited her to. The only thing Yang was expected to do right then was talk, so, that's what she did.
"I don't know why it happened." Yang began carefully. "It's not like I can pinpoint one reason why I like you. You don't show off, and even though you might be pretty, you're also really vanilla…well, for a high schooler anyway." That was what Yang had long concluded. Though, if she was looking for an edgy girl, she probably would have fallen for Coco, or even Blake. There was something else about Weiss that put her a cut above the rest. "My life is full of things I don't have the answers for yet, and, I guess it's the mystery that attracts me…but, well, maybe that's not so unusual."
"So…you're…I mean…" The heiress struggled with the words, the mere idea of the label, what it implied made her bite her tongue.
"A flaming lesbian?" Yang offered with a laugh. "No, I'm not completely like that, but, well, I'm after you too." Yang shrugged then. "That's got to count for something, right?"
"I suppose." Even agreeing sounded wrong to Weiss somehow. "This isn't what I was expecting." She then admitted. Though, she had been trying to be careful about labels ever since her fight with Blake. Even though this was a different topic all together, that's what worried the woman even more.
"Weiss, can I sit next to you?"
"On my bed…?" she shook her head uneasily. "I don't think I like that implication."
"No implication." Yang said quickly. "I just want to be next to you."
Weiss pushed her long hair over her shoulder and nodded slowly. "…okay then."
Yang didn't even hesitate, and sat herself right next to the woman of her affection, her hand falling over the pale one that rested atop the sheets. She didn't miss the coiling of a huntress on edge. Biting down on a witty comment, Yang kept it to herself. Lost with what exactly to do, she forced a half smile, but when that failed to ease Weiss, she settled for a gentle squeeze to the cool palm below her own. "I'm a little freaked out too, you know."
"You're never like that."
"You're way beyond wrong…"
"I meant when it comes to this kind of thing." Weiss pulled her hand away. "You're never afraid of this kind of thing."
"Except when I am." Yang shot back, almost too quickly for her own comfort. Cursing her haste, she averted her gaze, not wanting her genuine intensity to upset Weiss. "I know what I want to do, but I think that really would freak you out…and that freaks me out. So yeah, Weiss, I'm pretty edgy too right now, because no matter what happens, we're a team, and I don't want to lose at least that."
"And if I let you do…whatever it is you want to do…"
"It would make me really, really happy…" Yang shrugged and averted her gaze once more. "So long as you didn't go screaming from the room after that."
"Um..." Weiss frowned, tucking her legs under her white dress.
"I didn't mean that." Yang said with a small laugh, gaining just a small bit of confidence.
"Knowing you, it could be anything." And with that small wag of her finger, and scolding tone, reality had found them. Even if only a little bit. "You can't blame me for assuming…"
"Unless your mind was already in the gutter." Yang stretched casually, and leaned back, her hands acting as a pillow for her head. She looked up to bed above her. "If I could do what I wanted, then I would…" Yang cut herself off, and gave Weiss a look. "Can I just show you? Do you trust me to show you?"
"It depends how weird it is."
"No more weird than what other girls might um…" Yang realized how foolish it sounded, and knocked her own forehead with her knuckles. "Okay, it might be weird for us, given the current situation. I swear, it's nothing bad though."
"Fine." Weiss finally agreed as she scooted forward just a little bit.
"Really?" Yang asked, as she sat up slowly, hardly believing it.
Weiss could only swallow down her small bit of trepidation. She wasn't completely sure, but, she wasn't against it either. "I said I wanted to know the truth, didn't I?"
Yang pulled her courage together one fragment at a time as she moved ever closer to her prize. One calloused hand lifted to cup a cool cheek, and the other she used to brace herself as she guided Weiss to lay down. There some reluctance, but that was quickly squashed down by the thumb that ran across her lower lip. Promises of what was to come, mingling with the promises that Yang wouldn't push the situation too far.
With Weiss laying beneath her, a small dream came true as she leaned down to kiss her tenderly. The too soft kiss was lingering, even as Yang pulled away just a fraction. Their shared breath mingled. It was too sweet, too tantalizingly good, and with no more resistance to hold her back, she kissed Weiss again. This time, there was a nip in that kiss, teethe gently tugging, and the softest sound emanated from that action.
Pure bliss, and little more. Yang pulled away then to fully look at Weiss once more. The blush on her cheeks was too beautiful. With a hard gulp, Yang forced herself to take a shuttering breath. She wanted to take the hand that still rested on that heated cheek and trail it downward. Fearing that she might spook Weiss though, Yang remained absolutely still, heaving another unsteady breath.
"The truth is, I want you." Yang felt easier saying it now. Without that fear in those icy eyes to hold her back anymore, she could finally say what she needed to say. "You wanted to know, so that's what it is." She nipped at one reddening ear, and her breath carried her confession deeper, a purr in her voice resonating deep within the girl she spoke to. "I. Want. You...all of you." A kiss, a nip to fragile skin, and a tiny lick to the redness left behind. Then, another kiss, this time deeper, upon the lips of the woman who might as well have been a goddess. "And I want you, to want me too."
And like that, Weiss squeaked, because she found herself in a rather compromising position. Her hand, her palm, meeting one of Yang's supple breasts through the clothing. Yang's hand held hers in place. Each breath pressing that erect nipple, straining against multiple layers of too tight fabric.
Weiss could feel all of it, and gritted her teeth ever so slightly, hot air jetting through her nose, because this was beyond her expectations. And, she had a small truth of her own, buried deep in her own soul. Something she had never once admitted to herself, though she had considered airing the concern several times.
"I'm not opposed." Weiss murmured hotly. "I'm not, really." She pulled her hand away all the same, because she couldn't think clearly, and she dearly wanted that much dignity. "I…enjoy being with you." It was harder to say than she wanted to admit, but Yang's spark of hope threatened to dwindle, and Weiss didn't want to snuff it out entirely. So, sitting up, arms outstretched, she pulled Yang close to her body, hissing only slightly when Yang crashed directly on top of her. "I want to be."
Yang's leg found itself in an entirely compromising position. One that caused them both to bite down on the things that they could have said. A deep blush burned proclaim cheeks, shame there, and self loathing. Yang had to know of her arousal now, because Weiss knew her skirt wasn't that long, and her panties were moist.
Burying her face into the crook of Yang's shoulder, Weiss released a shuttering sigh. "Don't tell anybody. If my family ever found out, they'd…" Weiss didn't even know. She didn't want to know. "I want to be with you…so please…"
Yang nodded into the hug. "I won't tell anyone." She forced out, a husk in her voice. "But, Weiss, I really need to move, because…" She swallowed hard. Her leg wasn't the only one rubbing up against a tender area. Any longer, she'd really be tempted to jump this girl, and Weiss clearly wasn't quite ready for that.