AN:/ Thanks for those who reviewed/followed/favorited! You guys are the best! I hope you enjoy this chapter and again, constructive criticism (really, any kind of feedback) is more than welcome.

Awkward

"Cancer, one of the many cruel obstacles in this treacherous world. Every year, many fall victim to this terrible disease. It is absolutely crucial for one to have proper support in these trying times."

Peter Port. Or Professor Port as he liked to be called. Whether he was an actual professor, Ruby could not tell.

"I would like to begin today's session with a story. A story of a rather, handsome, young man. Me!"

The boisterous laugh following his statement made Ruby cringe in her seat, feeling the beginning pinpricks of second-hand embarrassment.

"I was diagnosed at 20, told I would only have months to live…"

Ruby drowned out Professor Port's voice, content with looking around the room instead. They all sat in a tight circle, ensuring everybody could see each other clearly. Almost all the kids seemed to be dozing off, a few actually paying attention to Professor Port's rather long-winded biography. Ruby's gaze stopped at an empty chair directly across from her. She had noticed a few empty chairs earlier, but brushed the uneasy feeling aside, believing the occupants were late.

They weren't.

A soft cough, almost too quiet to be heard, broke Ruby out of her intense staring contest with the cheap plastic. She glanced around, boredom demanding her to find the source of the noise, only to land on familiar blue. It was the girl from the hallway. All blue eyes, white hair, and skin so pale, Ruby wondered if she ever traversed outside for more than 10 minutes.

The girl continued to stare at Ruby, gaze challenging. However, what puzzled Ruby was the faint hint of concern.

Ruby looked her over as Professor Port droned on about his grandfather who apparently smelled like cabbages quite often. She was unwilling to become intimidated by someone she didn't even know and who had been somewhat rude to her. The staring turned into a battle of wills as the session continued to wear on. Cancer stories were recounted, kids barely making it out of one battle only to enter another warzone. Tearful pleas for mercy and grudging acceptance filling the awful silence. Neither Ruby nor Mystery Girl spoke, too engrossed in their staring contest.

"Miss Schnee, perhaps you would like to share?"

Blue eyes blinked. Ha! Ruby:1, Mystery Girl:0

"I'm sorry?"

"Please introduce yourself to the group."

Mystery Girl stood from her chair, crossing her arms once she reached her full height, posture erect and almost perfect, save for the fact that she placed most of her weight onto her right leg. All in all, she looked rather bored; like this was a huge waste of her time.

"Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee Petroleum Corporation. I had a scare a couple of years ago, but I overcame that and am now being forced to attend these meetings."

The prideful tone filled with slight disdain only added to her arrogance. This forced an eye-roll from Ruby. So much for being nice.

"Thank you for your…honest response. Perhaps you would also like to share your fears with us? Sharing would definitely lessen the burden."

Mystery Girl, Weiss, furrowed her brows.

"Fears?"

"Yes, Miss Schnee. What are your fears?"

Weiss looked down, shifting her stance slightly, leaning more heavily on her right leg. She tightened her crossed arms. All of this happened so quickly and so minutely Ruby almost missed it.

"I fear weakness," she said after a slight pause. The way Weiss' shoulders sagged after the admission, told Ruby this amount of honesty was rare for the heiress.

All too soon, the vulnerability was replaced with a strong posture. Weiss straightened her spine, squared her shoulders, and lifted her head with defiance.

"Weakness is for people who are not strong enough to stand on their own; who require constant aid and pity from those around them." Her voice was hard and cold, practically ice. The almost rehearsed statement had Ruby feeling slightly on edge.

"Well, alright then. Would anyone like to comment on that?"

"Why?" Any other time, Ruby would have been surprised with herself. She was a fairly shy girl, not one to speak up at all. She gripped her crutches, using them to help her out of her seat.

"Needing help isn't weakness. Trying to do everything on your own is what's gonna tire you out in the end. Knowing when to ask for help is probably the strongest thing you can do. We all need a helping hand every once and awhile. There's no shame in that."

Finished with her spontaneous speech, Ruby sank heavily onto the plastic seat.

"Thank you, Miss Rose, for that insightful reply. Now then…"

Ruby chanced a glance towards Weiss who was already staring at Ruby, a look of slight wonder in her eyes and a small smirk dancing on her lips.

Ruby released a heavy sigh as she slowly made her way towards the exit. Support group was just so exhausting. She stopped in front of the door, debating whether or not she should risk falling over by attempting to open it herself.

A pale hand shoved the door open.

Ruby turned her head, wanting to find out who was attached to the hand with such soft looking skin.

"Weiss…?"

"Are you going to go through or not? I don't have all day, you know."

"Ah! Um, thank you." Ruby hobbled through the door, automatically looking for Yang's car in the parking lot. She said she would be there…

"You never told me your name."

"Um, what?"

An aggravated sigh.

"Your name. Or do you want to go by Miss Rose."

"Oh. My name's Ruby."

"You never answered the question either."

"What? But I just told you my na—"

"No! Not that one, you dunce! What are you afraid of?"

The flickers of annoyance Ruby felt were quickly doused by Weiss' question. It completely threw her off.

To be honest, Ruby feared many things. She hated the dentist. She still hated needles regardless of the numerous hospital visits. And don't even get her started on cookie shortages.

"A lot of things."

Weiss waited for her to finish, but Ruby only smiled at her.

"That's it? That's all you are going to say?"

"Yup."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, a lot of things scare me, but that's what family and friends are for. To get you past the scary things. I don't have a lot of friends, but I know they'll be there when I need them."

Weiss was taken aback, surprised by such an honest answer. She wasn't used to that.

Ruby confused Weiss. She was the unknown variable. The proverbial monkey-wrench in a world filled with lies, half truths, and Stop crying! A Schnee does not show weakness! You are a disgrace to my family name, which eventually turned into a crushing, stone-cold silence.

Cold. That's how Weiss would describe her childhood. Lonely and cold. So much so, she often wondered if her heart had actually turned to stone. If she had turned into the very thing she despised. It left a heavy feeling in her chest. A weight so immense, so all consuming and painful, she could hardly catch her breath.

Honestly, she was more than a little terrified of the answer.

"Hey. Are you ok?"

Ruby was a little lost. One minute Weiss was yelling at her and the next she was apparently lost in thought. And staring at her.

Ruby was actually a little (a lot) unnerved.

She watched as a brilliant blush spread across Weiss' face, ending at the tips of her ears. Weiss cleared her throat and turned away, embarrassed at being caught staring.

"Have you contacted your means of transportation?"

"…Did you really have to say all that just to ask if my ride's here?"

Weiss huffed, apparently not amused with Ruby's little quip. Ruby pulled out her phone, quickly finding Yang's name in her contacts.

"Sorry Kitten, hold that thought. It's probably my little sis calling. Hello? Hey Rubes! How'd the session go?"

"It was…interesting. I just need you to pick me up now. I'm waiting in front of the building with…someone, and—"

"A friend, you say? That's great! What's their name?"

"Um. Weiss Schnee. But I wouldn't really call her—"

"Whoops! Sorry Ruby! I can barely hear you! Must be a bad connection. Car's also busted, bye!"

Yang snapped her phone shut, a pleased sigh escaping her lips as she leaned on the bar's counter.

"Something tells me you won't be picking up Ruby."

Yang grinned at her girlfriend.

"Nope! She said her friend's gonna give her a ride. Which means I can spend more time with you, Kitty-Cat."

Blake gave Yang a deadpan stare.

"…Something also tells me that's not even remotely close to the truth."

Yang's grin dimmed into a sort of melancholy smile.

"She needs this. She might not know it now, she might even hate me a little for pushing her so hard on this, but I think, no, I know, this will be good for her. She'll end up hating me more if I let her isolate herself."

Yang twirled the drink in her hand, watching the ice spin in the amber liquid.

"Sometimes," Yang squeezed the glass, a lump forming in her throat, "sometimes I think this will be good for me too. I—"

The warm hand settling on her own snapped Yang out of the painful and raw admission. She turned her head towards the black clad figure, the warm amber eyes settling her thoughts.

"It's ok, Yang. Everything's going to be ok. You're going to be ok. So you don't have to explain everything right now. Even though I highly question the fact that you ditched Ruby with some random stranger."

Truth is, Blake didn't know if everything would be ok. God, she hoped, prayed, pleaded that the world would see fit to save Ruby, the little sister she never had and always wanted. She could only imagine what Yang was going through. What can you even say to someone in Yang's position? The truth? Even if it hurts? Even if it was slowly killing them all? Because they both knew how this would end. Ruby would die, and their hearts would die with her.

Yang let out a choked laugh as Blake wrapped her arms around her.

A whisper so quiet, Blake had to strain to hear it.

"Thanks, Kitten."

Blake sniffed, blinking away the tears she refused to show.

"You're welcome."

"Hello? Yang? What do you mean the car's busted? Yang?!"

Ruby groaned as she put her phone away. Yang had hung up on her.

How was she gonna get home now?

Weiss cleared her throat softly, attracting Ruby's attention.

"I couldn't help but to hear your current predicament, and would like to offer my services."

"You really like using fancy words, don't you?"

Weiss flushed as she crossed her arms.

"Do you want my help or not?"

Ruby blinked, not expecting this much from someone like Weiss.

"Really?"

Weiss was already walking towards a pristine white car waiting in the parking lot.

"Hurry up, dolt. I am not going to wait for you."

Ruby hurried after her, or tried to anyways. Sometimes it really sucked being confined to crutches and a wheelchair. However, this gave Ruby the opportunity for covert observations, or shameless ogling as Blake liked to call it. Covert observations sounded so much better. Weiss was pretty short, something Ruby didn't notice earlier. She was probably only an inch or two taller than Ruby herself. She also noticed Weiss wore white. A lot of white. Crisp, white blazer. Wrinkle-free, white button down shirt with what looked like a snowflake on the breast pocket. White leather boots ending just below her knees. The gray pleated skirt was the only article of clothing to break the rather striking color scheme. All in all, a rather symmetrical and well-organized outfit. However, Ruby noticed something…off, about the whole thing. Weiss' ponytail was slightly off center, more than enough to be just accidental. Weiss was also walking with a slight limp. Not enough to notice if one wasn't being observant.

"Weiss? I didn't actually hurt you when you tripped, did I?"

Puzzled, Weiss glanced back at Ruby.

"What?"

"It's just, you're limping. And you should probably go to the hospital if you're hurting that much."

Weiss immediately straightened up, altering her gait enough so that she was no longer limping.

"I'm fine. Now hurry up. I don't have all day."

Jeez. I was just asking if she was all right.

They reached the car; an elderly man dressed in a fancy suit came out to open the door for them.

She would be lying if she said Weiss didn't intrigue her. The girl was shrouded in such a prickly countenance, Ruby knew there was something she was trying to hide.

Something good, she could just feel it.