A/N: Hey, guys! Here's the next, and probably one of the most important one-shots I'll be putting out over the course of the next couple of weeks/months (depending on many requests I get)! This one takes place before the main timeline in L&F, just a few days after Junior dumped her (work-wise, not relationship-wise), and also includes a look into the backstories of Weiss/Winter, Summer Rose, and Sun that will be explored much more in the main story in future chapters. Stay tuned, and keeping sending your requests/commissions!
It wasn't often Ruby found herself in a bad mood. Sure, she had those days where she would wake up on the wrong side of the bed like everyone else did from time to time, but usually, she would just grin and bear it, try to find something else a little more positive to focus on. Usually, she was a ball of energy no matter what the world threw at her. But today? Today dragged on like a slug trying to clear its way across a busy street in the middle of a never-ending rainstorm. Today was the absolute worst.
The text came in around third period, right after the teacher had returned everyone's History exams, and Ruby learned that she had gotten a big, fat D. At the bottom of the exam's cover page was a note from her teacher saying that Ruby had to get her father's signature and return the exam the next day. She was just about to hide her exam in one of her textbooks when her Scroll buzzed from inside the pocket of her hoodie, and without giving much thought to her surroundings, she opened it.
Bad news. Dad's condition is getting worse. Brought him to the hospital this morning, still waiting to hear something from the docs.
Ruby's stomach dropped as she stared at the screen, realization slowly sinking in as she processed her friend's words. About a week ago, Sun's father had come down with a horrible stomach flu - or at least they thought it was the flu - and since then, his health had taken a complete nosedive. Sun hadn't been able to sleep straight for days, and though he tried to remain his usual upbeat, bubbly self, Ruby could tell that his father's condition was constantly wearing on him and the rest of his family. To make matters worse, it seemed like just when Sun needed his friends most, they were all too busy to give him the time of day. Neptune was working Sun's shifts at the zoo, Ruby was stuck in school, and Blake was doing the best she could trying to keep Yang's head on her shoulders after Junior had just up and a quit a couple days earlier without a single word.
She was just about to type up a few words of encouragement when the sound of her teacher clearing her throat grabbed Ruby's attention, and she immediately looked up at the woman, who was now standing over the brunette's desk with a condescending glare.
"Perhaps if Miss Rose hadn't been too busy answering texts during class, she wouldn't have failed her exam," the teacher spat, causing Ruby to sink low in her seat as the rest of the class began to whisper in her direction. The woman extended a hand toward Ruby, gesturing toward the device she had hidden in her lap. "I'll be taking that, now. You can pick up your Scroll tomorrow after class as soon as you hand in your signed test."
"But I-" she started, but stopped herself when she met her teacher's hardened, unswayable gaze.
"Would you like me to change that 'D' to an 'F'?" the woman challenged her, and Ruby immediately shook her head, hurriedly shoving her Scroll into the impatient, outstretched hand before her. "Didn't think so."
Ruby swallowed as she watched the woman walk back to the front of the room, placing the Scroll on her desk face-down to taunt Ruby for the remainder of the class. She desperately hoped that Sun's father would be okay, and that her friend wouldn't hate her for not being able to respond. All she wanted was to talk to Sun, to make sure he was holding up, and to put a smile on his face again if he wasn't. But now she would have to wait until after school to find out - that was, if Yang was willing to let her borrow her Scroll, and it was no secret that her sister wasn't exactly the most accommodating of people since Junior's departure from Beacon Comics.
If there was anyone who would understand what Sun was going through, it was Yang. Ruby hadn't been nearly old enough to establish a good or lasting relationship with their mother before she died, but her sister had looked up to Summer Rose like a child looked up to a superhero. While Ruby still wished she had gotten the chance to know their mother, it didn't hurt her nearly as much as it had hurt Yang and their dad when the woman passed away. Ruby wasn't sure what would happen with Sun's dad, and she silently prayed that he wouldn't meet the same fate as their mother, but if he did, Ruby knew Sun was going to need all the support he could get.
The rest of the school day passed slowly and painfully. By the time Ruby had made it to her final class, she had managed to trip over another student in gym class, misplace her math homework, and get the hood of her sweatshirt caught in her locker door. She'd had to carefully find a way out of her hoodie without ripping the material, and race to the art room with a few seconds to spare before the bell, leaving her hoodie to hang from her locker all alone until she could rescue it at the end of the day.
When she finally made it to the art room, Ruby practically threw herself at her easel, and let out a long, exasperated sigh as she rested her head against the frame of the bare drawing board.
"Bad day?" a familiar voice asked from the front of the room, and Ruby glanced up to see the class model, Pyrrha Nikos, smiling in her direction.
"That's one word for it," Ruby groaned, sitting up in her stool. "But yeah, definitely not one of the good ones."
Pyrrha nodded before standing up from her own stool, and walking over to the vacant easel beside Ruby. She frowned momentarily at the empty seat before she sat down, and turned her attention back to the younger girl. "No Weiss again, I see."
Ruby shrugged. "She's been really busy with this heiress stuff… Can't imagine learning how to run a world-renowned company would be very fun."
"I can't imagine it would be, either," Pyrrha commented. "I would have thought her father would've given her more time to recover before throwing all of this in her lap, though."
"Yeah, but it's a lot to take on. If something happened to Mr. Schnee tomorrow, Weiss would have to take over, and she wouldn't know the first thing about running a company." Ruby looked down at the tray of her easel, and picked up a clean paintbrush, flipping it over in her hands a few times before turning her gaze back to her friend. "It's better to cram all of this in right now and be prepared than waiting another month or so and having something suddenly happen to her dad. Or at least that's what she told me…"
Pyrrha let out a thoughtful hum. "I still don't think it's fair. She doesn't want to run the company, and her sister is still perfectly capable of doing it herself. After the accident, you'd think their parents would be a little more concerned about Weiss's health than some bad publicity."
Ruby frowned, and lowered the paintbrush back to the tray. "Can we not talk about this right now? The last thing I need is yet another reason to be negative."
The older redhead bit her lip. "Right, sorry…" She stood up, and laid a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "I should get back to my seat. I hope your day gets better."
"Thanks, Pyrrha." Ruby feigned a smile as she watched her friend walk back to the front of the room. Once the professor arrived - late, as usual - and class had begun, Ruby was slow to paint Pyrrha's outline, her hand cramping more than she was used to after landing on it in gym class. After a while, she'd resigned to lazily painting a static background behind the model's generic figure, trying to ignore the nagging emptiness of the stool beside her that seemed to so perfectly match the hollowness that had taken form in her chest.
When school finally let out for the day, Ruby rushed to her locker, and after a few trials and errors, she successfully released her hoodie from its metal prison without a scratch. She quickly pulled the warm fabric over her head before shoving her books into her backpack, and fleeing the building, meeting her sister outside of the campus entrance. For once, Yang had actually gotten out of her obnoxiously bright, yellow sports car parked at the curb and was waiting for Ruby at the door of the main building, her tired, lilac eyes narrowed in disappointment.
Ruby sucked in a deep breath as she and her sister started for the car, neither of them saying a word, but neither having to as the tension in the air spoke for them. As soon as both girls were buckled inside, however, Ruby braved a look at her sister, and finally broke the silence. "So, uh, how was work?"
Yang let out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh, it was wonderful! I spent the day going through a long list of available artists and all of their work histories so I can finally get the next issue of L&F out of my hair, and then I got a lovely call from Dad telling me to meet with your History teacher before I picked you up from school. You wanna know how that went?"
Shit. Ruby immediately turned her gaze away from her sister, and to her hands, which were gripped firmly around one of the straps of her backpack that rested in her lap. Whatever her teacher had told Yang was probably going to get her in a shitload of trouble, even though the woman was known to more than just exaggerate the truth. "I swear it's not as bad you thi-"
"Ruby, I don't fucking care. I'm tired, pissed, and this is Dad's problem, not mine. Save it for him."
"But it's not-"
"Save it, sis." Yang jammed her key into the ignition and slammed down on the gear, switching it to drive and keeping her gaze peeled to the parking lot as she maneuvered around a large group of jock students making their way to a school bus painted vibrantly in Brushwell's colors.
Ruby exhaled slowly, and turned to look back up at her sister. "Sun texted me during class and his father is getting worse, and I just… I wasn't trying to cause a disturbance, I just wanted to make sure he was okay…"
Yang sighed. "I'm not mad at you, Ruby. I'm mad at that stupid bitch of a teacher for tearing me away from my work for something so dumb… And that 'D'? You're going to have to explain that one to Dad, since I'm not authorized to sign your tests, and frankly, I know you can do better."
"I…" Ruby nodded. "Okay…" She gave her sister a hopeful smile. "Maybe you could help me study when we get home?"
"Sorry, my plate's kind of full right now." Yang stopped at a red light, and turned to Ruby with a small shrug. "What about one of your friends? Why don't you ask them to help?"
Ruby frowned. "Sun's in the hospital with his dad, my other friend just got out of the hospital not too long ago and has her own stuff to catch up on, and I don't know any of my other friends' numbers."
"Oh…" Yang waited until the light turned green before letting out a defeated breath, and pushing forward. "I'm sorry…"
"It's okay…" Both girls fell silent, and Ruby turned her gaze toward her window, watching the scenery pass as she tried not to think about the heavy, invisible weight on her chest that seemed to grow larger and larger as the day wore on. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this helpless, with no one to talk to or any way to reach out to the two friends who needed her most. Even her sister was going through hell at her workplace, and it felt wrong to project her own problems on Yang when Yang could barely deal with her own. It was the first time Ruby actually felt like a burden, and the feeling was something she hoped she'd never have to experience again after that day.
When they arrived home, Yang immediately locked herself in her room, leaving Ruby to let Zwei outside while she tried to ignore the sounds of her sister's angry grumbling drifting from her open window and out into the backyard. At least Zwei seemed to be in a good mood, Ruby noted as she watched the small corgi run around in the grass, stopping occasionally to bark at a squirrel that was dropping acorns from its perch in a lone oak tree. She waited until the dog did its business before calling him back inside, and carrying him toward her bedroom. On her way, she stopped outside of Yang's door, contemplating one last attempt to reach out to her sister.
Finally, she lifted her free hand to the wooden door, and lightly knocked, but when she received no response, she tried the knob. To her surprise, the door clicked, and she slowly pushed it open, finding the blonde hunched over her desk, her head in her hands as she stared down at something out of Ruby's view.
"Did I say you could come in?" Yang mumbled, not even turning to look at Ruby as the younger girl entered the room. Zwei jumped from Ruby's arms and ran over to Yang, excitedly panting at her heels. Yang sighed before picking him up, and glancing over her shoulder at Ruby.
"I just…" Ruby started, crossing her arms protectively over her chest. Yang wasn't always this difficult to talk to, but that was before her sister and everyone else she knew seemed to be handed hell in a handbasket on the one day Ruby needed them most. "Have you heard from Sun?"
Yang raised an eyebrow. "I've been at work all day, Rubes. No one other than you, Dad, and Blake has even tried to contact me since Junior left… If you want to use my Scroll to talk to him, then be my guest."
Ruby shook her head. "No, that's not what I meant… I mean… I think it could do both of you some good if you talked to him."
Her sister gave her a questioning look. "Why's that?"
"Well, if anyone knows what he's going through, it's you. When Mom-"
Yang visibly tensed at the mention of their mother. Before Ruby could even get the rest of her words out, her sister was out of her seat, and walking toward where Ruby stood just inside the door. She raised an index finger just inches from Ruby's face, her violet gaze suddenly glistening with tears of rage as she let out a low, animalistic growl that rivaled Zwei's on a Sunday morning when the paperboy passed by. "This is nothing like what happened to Mom. His dad is sick, and I'm sure he's going to be fine. Mom was shot in the spine by a criminal because she was too righteous to choose a safer job that wouldn't get herself killed. I had to watch her fight for days, Ruby, but it wasn't enough! I'm sorry Sun's going through a hard time right now, but I can't talk to him about this. I can't talk to anyone about this!"
Ruby blinked up at her sister, silent tears starting to form in her own eyes, but she didn't dare let them fall, at least not while Yang was still right there, so clearly suffering from her own personal demons. It had been over decade, but Yang still wasn't over it. How could she be? She'd lost her mother, and while Ruby was there, too, she didn't know Summer Rose nearly enough to be affected the way her sister was. To Ruby, losing her mother was like losing a distant memory, something she knew she wouldn't get back, but wouldn't miss at the same time. To Yang, losing Summer was like losing her whole world. And Ruby didn't realize just how hard of an impact it'd had on her sister until right then, until, after all this time, Yang had finally told the truth.
"Can you get out of my room?" Yang sniffled, lowering her hand back to her side, and turning away from Ruby so she could no longer see the tears. "Please? I need to be alone…"
"Yang-"
"Please!" Yang walked back over to her desk, picking up Zwei once more, and holding him tight as she buried her face in his fur. The dog let out a quiet whimper of sympathy, licking her face as Yang started to cry.
Ruby swallowed as she took in the crumpled sight that was her older sister, and after she stood there long enough to ensure the image would be permanently ingrained into her memory, Ruby turned around and quietly padded down the hall to her own room. She pulled the door shut behind her before sluggishly walking over to her bed, falling onto the mattress face-first as she tried to drown out the sounds of her sister's sobs next door.
Worst. Fucking. Day. Ever.
She curled her knees into her chest and turned to face the wall, closing her eyes and finally allowing her own tears to slip free. Why did everything that could possibly go wrong have to go wrong today? First Sun, then Weiss, and now Yang were all suffering, and Ruby couldn't do a thing about it. She wanted desperately to be there for Sun and Weiss, but her stupid teacher had taken Scroll, and had made contacting them almost impossible. And the one person she could physically be there for didn't want her, and it killed Ruby that her own sister, of all people, was pushing her away.
She didn't know how long she'd been laying there when the sounds of Yang's sobs finally stopped, and were replaced by the stomping of heavy footsteps down the hall and toward the front of the house. And then the front door slammed shut, and Ruby knew Yang was gone. A few moments later, Ruby's door was creaking open, and she turned around to see Zwei waddling in her direction. Ruby gave him a tired smile and patted the space beside her on the bed. He jumped up and crawled into Ruby's arms, nuzzling his owner's face with his cold, wet nose, causing the girl to giggle.
"It's nice to hear you laugh."
Ruby raised her head at the sound of the new voice, her silver eyes widening in surprise as she met a familiar, amber gaze. "Blake?"
The Faunus moved from her spot by the open door and walked over to Ruby's bed, lowering herself to the blanketed mattress as she continued to hold the younger girl's gaze. "Hey. Yang told me you could use a friend."
Ruby slowly started to sit up, but Blake rested a hand on her shoulder, allowing the brunette to remain comfortably curled in her sheets. "But Yang… I think she could use someone more than me…"
Blake gave her a sympathetic smile. "She called me over specifically to take care of you. I think it's better to let her have some time alone."
"Are you sure? I don't want her to-"
"She told me to tell you she's sorry about blowing up at you," Blake interrupted. "And that as soon as she gets home, she'll help you with whatever you need. She just needs to blow off some steam, first."
Ruby nodded. "Thank you for coming over…"
Her friend sighed. "It's no problem, Rubes." She turned her attention toward Zwei, who had since rolled up into a ball beside Ruby, and was now listening intently to Blake's calming voice. She scratched the dog lightly between his ears, earning an affectionate whine. "So do you want to tell me about your day?"
"I… It's nothing, really. I'm fine."
Blake looked back up at Ruby, and raised an eyebrow. "That's not what Yang told me."
The brunette shifted underneath her sheets, averting her gaze from Blake. "Well… School kind of sucked. I got a 'D' on my History test because I've been so concerned about Sun and Weiss, and then I got a text from Sun during class and I tried to answer it but my teacher took my phone away and embarrassed me in front of the class, and then I tripped in gym class, and then I lost my math homework, and then…" She drew in a deep breath, glancing at Blake, only to find her friend's warm, sympathetic eyes watching her steadily as she listened to Ruby ramble. "And then I got my hoodie stuck in my locker, and then I went to art class only to find that Weiss was still out, and then Yang picked me up and I found out that my History teacher called my dad and he called Yang, and she had to leave early to meet with her, and she was in a bad mood the whole way home, and then I tried to talk to her about Sun and Mom and she got all emotional and blew up at me and now… and now here we are…"
Once Ruby had finished, Blake simply gave her shoulder a small squeeze, and matched the gesture with a kind smile. "All of that school stuff, don't worry about it. It happens to the best of us. As for Sun, the doctors have his father on some medicine that's supposed to reduce his symptoms, and he should be back to normal - or as normal as Sun's family can be - in a few days. Sun's still a little shaken, but he'll be alright."
Ruby let out a relieved sigh. "That's good to hear… I hope he's not mad that I didn't answer him back…"
"He's not," Blake assured her. "And if you want, I'll let you use my Scroll to talk to him. I'll be here as long as you need me."
"Thanks, Blakey…" Ruby smiled. "That really means a lot…"
Her friend grinned. "You don't need to thank me." She looked back down at Zwei, and laughed. "Now get this dog out of my way so I can lay down. I'm exhausted."
Ruby smirked. "Oh, I see, the real reason you came over is so you could sleep." She gave Zwei a light shove, and he let out a low growl before jumping down from the bed, and allowing Blake to take his place. Ruby giggled as Blake's arms found her waist, and pulled her close.
"If you ever need anything, Rubes, don't be afraid to ask," she whispered as she closed her eyes and rested her chin on the smaller girl's crown. "You know I'll always make time."
Ruby smiled, and nuzzled into Blake's warm embrace, the heavy weight that had been dragging her down all day finally starting to lift. For the first time that day, she didn't feel completely helpless. For the first time, she didn't feel so alone.
Maybe it wasn't such a bad day after all.