Third person

"Oh, excuse me." 3 boxes of frozen pizza clattered to the floor. A woman with designer clothes and matching, bleach blonde hair frantically helped pick up the scattered goods. "I… didn't see you there."

Neo was unamused. She passively glared at the offender.

"Wait… do you work with Roman?" Neo twisted her mouth, but nodded. "So you must be Neo! It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm a frequent customer to his salon, you guys always do such fine work."

Due to the quality of the beautifying, prices weren't cheap. Judging by her hair and attire, she was loaded with funds anyway, so it didn't matter.

"Roman and the other beauticians have been gossiping a lot about you lately. Saying you're dating some big shot." Her silent question asking for juicy details. Sighing Neo set the slowly thawing items down and pulled out her scroll.

"Ruby Rose." The stranger was… shocked. Stunned. Paralyzed.

"Like, medical legend Ruby Rose?"

"Yes."

"... I was once her girlfriend, too." This, out of all the annoying sewage this stuck up woman has spewed, caught Neo's interest.

"Why did you break up with her?" In Neo's mind, Ruby was perfect. Everything. Honesty. Romance… after romance. Money. Morals. Her flaws.

"I uh… I found out she was loaded, so I took and ditched… besides she's too good for me. Too good for anyone it seems. I felt inadequate." The mute didn't know whether to feel outraged at hearing that her love had been stolen from, or shaken by hearing of the truthful reasoning behind the break up: Inadequate. "Take care of her, she deserves it."

Neo's PoV

The door sounded. A weight in my gut slowed my movements to answer it. I had foolishly invited Ruby over to my place since we're usually over at hers. Mine couldn't even begin to compare. Old furniture, scratched up table, creaky chairs and floor. I don't even have any fancy drinks! Our dinner is frozen pizza!

I hated myself, but opened the door. Immediately, I was wrapped in a warm hug. "I missed you!" Dang it Ruby, why do you make me feel so… gooey.

I couldn't formulate a response. She's too good for me. I'm nothing but an annoyance. I… should let her go.

"No." I blinked, trying to process what she just said. "You're not inadequate, you're not a burden. You're my love. My life. My all. You're my reason for not drinking myself into oblivion daily. If anything, I'm inadequate…. I love you for who you are, what you are, how you are, why you are. I love the entirety of you. All of you. You. Make. Me. Whole. It's been forever since I felt this way. Since my days before the Beacon incident… don't leave me, please." My body moved on its own. For the first time, it was I who took the lead. I pulled her in and kissed her. My feelings conveyed through this loving touch; Apology, acceptance, gratefulness, relief, love, and everything else. There was a plethora of feelings that I just wished I could convey, but I ran out of air.

"Come in, make yourself at home." She gave me a stupidly happy grin. Her heart spoke to me; thanks, love, relief. My own fluttered at the idea that I was so important to someone. To her.

Third person

Mismatched eyes fluttered open. As the piercing light of morning faded into the normal, she saw something… rather someone, that made her heart pound. Staring back at her were tender silver eyes filled with many flowing emotions. All of which seemed to be oriented around love and for the ice cream girl.

She stayed. She stayed! Neo couldn't help but feel a smile creep up her lips.

Before either could do anything more, a piercing beeping shattered the serene atmosphere. Ruby's pager. In a flash, the red girl had left the coziness of the warm bed and went to where her bottoms from yesterday lie. Before the covers even settled. She was back as though nothing occurred.

Neo raised an eyebrow in question. Ruby smirked and pecked her lips. "Someone that I fake-fired just realized that I didn't actually fire them and came back. Humbled. So, mission accomplished… Wanna get breakfast?" Neo silently scoffed and gave her ridiculous lover a quick kiss.

Third Person PoV

It was a one-sided, tense silence. The pair walked seemingly aimlessly around the pier. One red, one white. Surround the white one of the two, was a struggling atmosphere. She wanted… something just out of reach. She wanted it desperately, yet… she didn't know how to attain it.

"Uh… thanks for meeting me, Ruby." Weiss attempted to dispelled the heaviness around her.

"You're welcome." Her reply was formal, monotone, and short. It was strictly business.

"I… how have you been? I mean since the last we saw each other." Weiss was never one for small talk, and it painfully showed now.

"I've been well."

Weiss sighed inwardly. Right… she's only here for business. "Ruby…"

"Yes?"

"I… I want us to be how we were." Struggling to find the right words in the right place, Weiss just wanted to- wanted to convey what she wanted… needed.

"I'm afraid I do not understand. Isn't our current relationship what it initially was? Is this not what you wanted when we met?" Ruby stopped walking.

"Well… I mean, yeah. That was- that was before I knew you. Really knew you. And after… I really liked what we became… friends." Weiss could feel her heart turn blue. Her throat burned and tightened, eyes watered beneath the surface. "I… I want you back, again. I want my friend. My leader… my dolt." She was trying desperately to hold her tears down. Schnees. Don't. Cry.

"... I… if that's what you want, I can try. I'm not sure… I still… it still hurts. It's easier to not feel anything, than to feel the burning of betrayal…"

"Ruby…" Images of the broken girl, bloodied and shuddering violently on her knees played in the heiress's mind. A feeling of fear hugged anxiety. Both dropped darkly into the cauldron of emotions. A vial of despair. A pinch of disgust. Mix it all together with betrayal. "You- you monster! Weiss flinched at the memory. Her memory. Monster. That's what I called her. The girl who selflessly stood up for me and other countless times with a smile. Ruby, who was so freely laying down her life to save ours… I called her a monster. We all did… we're the monsters. "Ruby I-" Interrupted by a monotonous beeping.

Ruby unclipped the device from her belt and quickly scanned the message. "I… I have to go." Activating her semblance, she left her partner with a longing hand outstretched and a few rebellious tears on cheeks.

Third person PoV

"1-and 2-and 3-and 4-and 5-and 6-and 7-and 8-and 9-and 10-and, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty." To the tune of Stayin' Alive, a girl in a red cloak pressed her hands into the mid-sternum of an unconscious man. He was in his mid-thirties and was fit. A young teen had said that he just clutched his chest and had collapsed. Her mom had called for medical assistance at the time, and now the top doctor was performing CPR. "Breat Breath 2 3 4… 1-and 2-and 3-and 4-and 5-and 6-and 7-and. . ."

Performing CPR is exhausting. The physical strain of forcefully but pressing down with locked arms. The mental strain from the intense focus. Emotional from the fact that stopping or messing up will very likely lead to the victim's death.

When the paramedics finally arrived, after what seemed like hours, she fell backwards onto her rear. Her heart beating fast and her breathing to match. Hair sweat-plastered to her forehead. Today was draining. She could go for some ice cream.

"-On us." The cashier insisted more than offered.

She smiled but gently slipped the lien into her hands anyway. "It's alright, please."

The cashier simply nodded and placed the cash in the machine. "Politan! We need three scoops of neapolitan with cherry on top! Waffle cone." Ruby nodded in appreciation and silently took her seat at a booth in the corner of the cute little shop.

Drained as she was, the doctor placed her head in her hands, ruffling her hair up in the process. Letting out a sigh, she leaned back and stared at the ceiling for a moment. A glimpse of a familiar figure brought her attention back. Tri-colored hair carrying a matching ice cream treat.

Despite all of the weighing issues of the day, she smiled. Seeing this one person made her heart flutter and her stomach tickle. Whatever weights were chained around her, they seemed to vanish, or at the very least, lighten considerably.

Their eyes met. Two pairs of lips upturned. Ruby couldn't help but wonder, in the back of her mind, if her decision of ice cream was influenced by her feelings for this thief. The same thief that had stolen her heart and holds it so dearly as a trophy.

"When does your shift end?" Neo went to sign her reply, but remembered that she had yet to deliver the cold sweet to her sweet. Sheepishly, she handed the ice cream over. A bit had melted onto her hand. Moving to grab a napkin, the mute's hand was caught by a familiar and pleasant sensation. With questioning, heterochromatic eyes, Neo looked at her love.

All confusion was resolved, and replaced by embarrassment, when the famous doctor decided that simply wiping away the cold treat would be a waste. Wanting her money's worth, Ruby opted to… taste the ice cream, much to Neo's surprise.

Finished with her teasing, Ruby gently closed the girl's fingers and gave each knuckle a little kiss. "Text me when your shift is over?"

Even if it wasn't in her nature, the reply would still have been, an eager and mute nod.

With the first taste of ice cream, all the knots in her back melted away.