A/N: Title comes from Take Cover by All Time Low.

Ruby works on her latest weapon engineering assignment while music blares in her headphones. It wasn't due until next month, but she honestly enjoyed these projects. Uncle Qrow said that she'd be ready to work with weapons in a few months. Her scroll buzzes and the screen lights up, revealing a picture of her standing arm-in-arm with a slightly shorter boy with brown hair and hazel eyes. Ruby's heart skips a beat, and she mentally chastises herself. Oscar Pine is just her friend. Yang's friend Nora has called him "Ruby's cute boy Oz", but Nora didn't know what she was talking about 90% of the time. Oscar was certainly not Ruby's anything. And she definitely didn't think he was cute.

Still, she pushed down any secondhand embarrassment to read his message. Maybe he needed some help with his engineering homework? Past projects had occasionally blown up in her friend's face, sometimes literally.

Pinecone: Can I come over

Why's Oscar asking to come over? she thinks in confusion. Dad's made it clear he's welcome anytime... Usually her friend just shows up, food and video game in hand.

Redlikerubies: sure

Redlikerubies: u ok

Pinecone: mom

Pinecone: tell mor

Pinecone: when i get ther

Ruby winced. Oscar typically texted like he was writing a letter. Whatever was going on with his mom must not be pretty. She'd have to see what she could do when he arrived.

It doesn't take long for the doorbell to ring. Dad's at school, grading papers, and her sister is out traumatizing her girlfriend with her motorcycle so she goes to let Oscar in. When she gets a good look at him, she feels her heart crack. His hazel eyes are red from crying, and there's a red handprint on his cheek.

"Can... Can I come in?" Oscar asks, after she stands there a moment just staring at him, anger and worry mixing together.

Ruby ushers him inside, utterly aghast. "What happened, Oscar?" she asks, trying not to sound demanding, but needing to know.

"My mom," Ruby's best friend says. It bothers her more how resigned he sounds. "We... got into an argument."

Salem Ozpin, Ruby thinks, anger filling her up. How could she?

"She was drunk," Oscar offers, and Ruby belatedly realizes she spoke out loud. "It's close to the anniversary of Dad's death, and we'll be starting at Beacon next fall. She tried to tell me I couldn't be a Huntsman. I shouldn't have argued... It's not the first time we've fought about it, and she won't stop me, but this was the first time she was drunk and-"

"Has she hit you before?" Ruby asks, aghast. "Oscar why didn't you tell me? Dad could help or-"

"It's only gotten bad lately," Oscar says, voice barely above a mumble. "I just wanted to suck it up... we'll be going to Beacon in a few months, and I'll be away from her for good." He mumbles some more excuses. Ruby might be more annoyed that he's not really answering her question if she wasn't growing steadily more horrified.

Ruby doesn't know what to say to any of Oscar's revelations. Salem, as Oscar's mother always insisted on being called as opposed to Mrs. Ozpin or 'Oscar's Mom', has never been a particularly friendly women, but in all the years Ruby's been friends with him, she'd never realized Oscar was dealing with something like this.

"Do you think your dad will mind if I crash on your couch tonight?" her best friend asks, and the hope in his voice makes Ruby's heart crack. "I won't be here too long. Just until Mom sobers up, then I'll be out of your hair."

It's too much. Ruby's worry and sadness for her friend overwhelms her common sense and she hugs Oscar hard, forgetting the fact her friend isn't always comfortable being touched. But he hugs her back anyway, his tears soaking into her top.

"You can stay here as long as you want, Oscar," Ruby says as they pull apart a little. "And if Yang or Dad were here, they'd say the same thing."

The sheer relief and appreciation in the eyes of the boy she loves makes her heart ache. Wait, loves? No, there's not time to think about that right now. Oscar needs her support. Deal with realizations later, hug her friend whose been going through a lot now.