Happy Valentine's Day! Is there a more perfect way to celebrate than to read more of a budding romance between our favorite pair?
It would do her no good to dwell on the past, but that's precisely what she'd been doing all day long. On the plus side, it meant that her day at work had been far less tedious than normal. But time tended to pass quickly when she spent every waking minute picking apart the interaction she'd had with Yang yesterday.
One thing was already certain - the blonde had injected a degree of excitement into Blake's life which she hadn't had before. Like before, going home from work had been her favorite part of the day because it meant that she could finally sit down and read interrupted. It was still her favorite part of the day, but her zealousness in rushing home had much more to do with the possibility of seeing Yang than it did the uninteresting book she was currently reading.
Yang was interesting though. Interesting and...exciting. More and more, Blake was finding that all of her spare thoughts involved the blonde in some way, shape, or form. Even when she dove into her books, hoping that mythical realms would transport her mind away from her new neighbor, she found herself imagining Yang as one of the characters in the story.
This character was kind of like Yang, that character was the opposite of Yang...and more often than not, Yang filled the role of the main love interest - someone to be pined over until one day, when the stars aligned, everything would fall into place.
This could very easily turn into an unhealthy obsession, she was sure. But...what could be unhealthy about it? Yang made her feel alive and vibrant in a way she'd never felt before. Every second they spent together, making small talk as they were, seemed to tiptoe on the very edge of her nerves - sending jolts like live wires into her stomach and beyond.
Feeling this alive couldn't be unhealthy. Plus, as she stood in line to purchase more fruits and vegetables, she was positive that she'd never eaten so healthily.
"Wow, quite the assortment," the cashier commented before grabbing the first item - a smooth, potato-looking bulb called jicama - and entering the product code into the register.
Not knowing how to respond, she merely gave the clerk a small smile while he continued his work ringing up the wide variety of produce. How could she explain her shopping decisions? That her neighbor liked to ask for random fruits and she liked being able to provide them? And that said neighbor also happened to be an incredibly beautiful girl who was just as consuming as one of her favorite books?
Actually, it was rather simple to explain, but that explanation made her sound exactly like what she'd sworn she wouldn't be - the girl-next-door with an ill-advised crush on her personable, attractive neighbor who was being nothing more than friendly.
"$19.71," the boy said while taking the money she'd already prepared for him. "So are you making a crazy fruit salad or what?"
"That's exactly right," she replied with another smile, accepting her bag and change in return. "Good guess."
Clearly pleased with himself, the boy gave her a wave before automatically turning his full attention to the next person in line and likely forgetting the entire conversation they'd just had.
Loaded with her newest possessions, Blake made her way out of the small store on her way home. Thankfully it wasn't too long of a walk back to her apartment and the bag she carried wasn't heavy. Plus, the walk would give her time to think. Most likely about...the current book she was reading.
Shaking her head lightly, she didn't know why she still insisted upon lying to herself. Normally she devoured books, flying through them at a lightning pace, but recently she'd been stumbling through them one by one. More often than not she found herself lost in the midst of a daydream while staring out the window at people passing by on the street. It would take several minutes before she would realize that she'd been staring at the same page and had forgotten what was going on in the story.
Yang had taken over her thoughts - a complete and total takeover that had happened seemingly overnight. Her mind still fought against the idea, mostly because the idea of giving in, of unconditional surrender, made her nervous in a way she couldn't quite describe. Having an unrequited love was really not something she wanted to get into...
Regardless, she cherished every scrap of information she learned about Yang. And sometimes, that meant relishing in a small snippet about Ruby as well.
Horrible movies, huh? That had certainly been an unexpected bit of knowledge.
Walking through the lobby door, she took an immediate left in order to enter the staircase.
Off the top of her head, she couldn't think of any movie she'd seen that was particularly horrible and definitely nothing on the scale of the example Yang had given last night.
Her stomach clenched when she passed the second story - finally remembering what she'd been trying hard NOT to think about over the past day.
Yang had invited Blake over to watch a movie. And, like the inexperienced socialite that she was, she hadn't even managed to respond to the invitation. In her defense, in the moment she'd been so caught off guard that she'd no idea what to say. And then Yang had carried on as if it had been a slip of the tongue, making Blake realize that the blonde probably had lots of friends and was used to casually inviting them over for anything and everything. Just because it was a big deal for Blake didn't mean that it also was for Yang.
Shoving open the door to the fourth floor, she thought about what might would have happened if she had actually managed to accept. If they did watch a movie together one day...would it be just the two of them? Would they sit on the same sofa together, legs brushing, maybe? Would they talk afterwards for hours about what they'd like and disliked about the film? Maybe gently arguing their own theories as to why specific decisions had been made?
Too late she heard the footsteps pounding around the corner towards her - moving far too fast for her to dodge the incoming collision. Steeling herself, she closed her eyes just as she saw Ruby tear around the corner, the girl looking over her shoulder at whoever happened to be behind her. The next few seconds were a jumble of legs, arms, and produce after Ruby slammed into Blake at a solid run - the girl letting out a shriek of surprise while Blake heard a loud 'oomph' when the air left her lungs in a hurry. When they finally came to a stop in the middle of the hallway, she was staring up at the light bulb directly above her head.
After laying still for a few seconds to regain her breath, she slowly tried moving her limbs, checking for any damage. Carefully pushing herself into a seated position, she found Ruby sitting right beside her. The girl was rubbing the side of her head with one hand while giving Blake a rather sheepish smile.
"Ruby! Are you ok?"
Another person knelt down beside them then, who Blake immediately recognized as Weiss - the girl with the town car who also happened to be Ruby's girlfriend. If Blake hadn't already know that last fact, it would have been painfully obvious by the unconcealed concern emitting from light blue eyes.
Weiss grabbed Ruby's head and looked the girl carefully up and down, poking and prodding to make sure everything worked like it should.
"I'm fineeee," Ruby whined, earning a soft slap on the head after the words.
"Well good! I told you not to run in the halls!"
"I'm sorryyy," Ruby apologized first to Weiss before turning to Blake with mournful silver eyes. "I'm really sorry, Blake. I didn't see you there!"
"It's ok, Ruby," she replied before searching around the ground for the groceries that had spilled all over the hall. "It's my fault for...being solid, I guess."
Ruby giggled while helping scoop up some of Blake's runaway produce and handing it back to her. Weiss also stooped down to grab the runaway jicama and handed it over to Blake.
Blake never seen Weiss up close before, but was amazed at how discerning her crystal blue eyes were. It seemed like she was observing Blake very closely...far more closely than she would expect seeing as how she hadn't done anything to deserve such attention. Well, besides being the literal wall her girlfriend had just run into, Blake hadn't done anything to deserve the attention.
"You have quite an...eclectic taste," Weiss commented thoughtfully while glancing again at the contents of Blake's bag.
"Making a fruit salad," she immediately replied, clutching the bag a little closer and giving silent thanks to the cashier for providing her with the plausible excuse.
"Huh...I would never have thought to put those flavors together..." Weiss replied before calmly taking Ruby's hand and pulling the girl away. "Come on, Ruby. We don't want to miss the beginning of the movie."
"Bye Blake!" the brunette called back to her happily. "I promise not to run in the halls anymore! Around the corners, at least!"
Shaking her head when the two girls disappeared from sight, she made her way back to her apartment. She honestly had no idea what types of fruits she'd picked up today, but from Weiss' expression they would not make a very tasty salad if combined.
Setting the bag in the kitchen to be unpacked later, she decided that first she would curl up in her chair and try to read a few more chapters.
A movie, that's what Weiss had said. A twitch pulled up the corners of her mouth when Blake realized that meant that they must have been heading off to another horrible movie courtesy of Ruby's personal tastes. She would have to admit that she was a little curious to know exactly how bad these movies were. Were they so bad that they were funny? Or were they the cringeworthy type of bad?
Two knocks on the door made her jump in surprise.
It was earlier than Yang had ever come over before. And Yang had just been here last night…normally she didn't come over two days in a row until it was to return what she'd just borrowed.
That didn't keep Blake from walking quickly over to open the door, finding there was nothing she could do to restrain a smile when it was Yang standing on the other side. As usual, her smile was nearly blinding, forcing Blake's eyes temporarily away before she craved seeing that grin again.
"Hey, Blake! I'm sorry to bother you so early, but I was wondering if you had any grapes?"
There was a tiny part of her that was always disappointed by the request, but most of her was positively thrilled that Yang had come over yet again.
But had she picked up grapes today?
"Oh, I'm actually not sure," she said. "I can go check."
Yang nodded patiently and Blake had already turned away when she remembered that Yang wouldn't come inside unless she was invited.
"You're more than welcome to come in, you know."
Yang grinned at the news and obediently stepped inside. "Just trying not to overstep my bounds, ya know?"
Walking into the middle of the living room, Yang again swung her arms and looked towards the bookshelves while Blake went into the kitchen and found that she did have grapes. That was a fortunate coincidence. Grabbing the bag, she rejoined Yang.
"If you ever wanted to borrow one," she said, nodding towards the rows of books while handing the grapes over, "Feel free."
The offer slipped out before she had thought it through and for just a brief second she froze in shock. She never offered to loan her books to anyone because she didn't trust people to take care of them like she did. There was nothing worse than receiving a book back with a bent cover, folded over pages, or coffee stains.
"Really?" Yang asked, appearing just as surprised as Blake was by the offer. "I...I wouldn't even know where to start."
But it was Yang. Blake was willing to let Yang borrow a book or two...or twenty...if it meant they could spend just a few more minutes together,
"Why don't we take a look?" Blake said, walking closer to the shelves so she could scan the titles. She glanced sideways when she felt Yang take a step beside her, also peering at the titles written on the spines of the novels.
"What kind of books do you like?" she asked as she tried to ignore the vague waves of heat emanating from Yang's close proximity. Her pulse was creeping up from this new experience - she could lean over and brush shoulders with Yang if she wanted to. Or they could reach out for the same book and accidentally brush hands...
Yang's laugh snapped Blake back to real life. "Honestly, it's been a long time since I've read an entire book, so I really wouldn't know."
The reply didn't surprise her and she nodded knowingly. Most people didn't read anymore - at least, nothing more than a magazine or a news article here and there. But that shouldn't be a discouragement from picking up a new book and trying it out.
"In that case, maybe one of these," she replied, pointing to a row of books she considered to be fun and easy to read - if a little mindless. They were light on overly complex storylines, which was perfect to get someone back into reading full length novels.
When Yang stepped even closer to the shelves, Blake suddenly had the thought that maybe she shouldn't be pressuring the girl into reading. Yang probably had better things to do than sit at home reading all night, after all. Just because it was something Blake liked to do didn't mean Yang had to do it too.
"Please don't feel obligated," Blake quickly added. "But if you ever wanted to…"
"No no, I should really read more," Yang replied, turning to give Blake a warm smile that softened all of her worries in a heartbeat. From this distance, she could clearly see the light freckles scattered across the blonde's cheeks and the flecks of gold in lilac eyes. In that brief moment, her breath caught in her lungs, only freeing when Yang turned away.
"Oh hey!" Yang exclaimed, pointing towards one of the titles. "Aren't they making this into a movie?"
"They are."
"When it comes out, we should totally go see it!"
Blake's eyes widened at the unexpected invitation.
"O-oh, well I...don't go to the movies that often, but -"
"Right, and books turned into movies usually suck, don't they?" the blonde mused before chuckling. "That last one got horrible reviews, I heard."
"I heard about that too," Blake replied with a small smile. Honestly, it was a little difficult to think when her heart was pounding in her ears like this. But Yang had just asked her out, right? Inviting someone to a movie was normally a...date?
She could feel herself coming back down to earth the further the moment fell behind them while Yang continued searching through the books on the shelf. It hadn't been an actual date invitation - just a spur of the moment invitation. There was no need for Blake to read into it so closely.
"How about this one - The Fire Within? Sounds like a light read."
Yang pointed to the book but didn't touch it herself, waiting for Blake to pull it out.
"I think you'll enjoy it," she said, handing it over and gratefully noticing how carefully Yang held it in her hands. "You'll have to let me know what you think of it."
"That, I will most certainly do," Yang replied with another smile. For a few seconds the two of them just stood there smiling at each other, as if what had just transpired had been very enjoyable for both of them.
Maybe Blake was crazy, but it felt like there was something different about today - like there was an additional energy running between the two of them. Like...she had just lent Yang one of her books...so they couldn't be considered 'just neighbors' anymore, could they?
Even if it seemed like the offer had already expired, maybe Blake should actually accept the invitation. Going to a movie with Yang actually sounded wonderful - Blake didn't even care what movie it was. It could be Ruby's pick, for all she cared. But just when she opened her mouth to say something, Yang's eyes shifted to the front door.
"I guess I should head back."
"Oh...right." Disappointment swelled in her chest as she trailed Yang back to the front door, but she found that she didn't have the courage to bring up the topic anymore. "Let me know if you need anything else?"
"Absolutely. And thank you, Blake. You've been the best neighbor anyone could ask for."
When Yang walked away, she turned back and waved to Blake right before disappearing next door, just like she always did. Blake smiled and waved back before closing her door, feeling her smile immediately fall.
The best neighbor anyone could ask for…
For whatever reason, the label was disheartening to her. Even though no one had called her a good neighbor before, she wanted to be something more than that. At least, to Yang. She wanted Yang to come over freely to see Blake...just to talk. And she wanted...she wanted to go on a date with Yang. A real date where it was clear that they weren't just spending time together as friends. She wanted to date Yang, she was certain of that now.
The only question was...how?
It would be helpful if Blake hadn't already unintentionally declined about five invitations to hang out outside of the apartment.
When she walked back into the living room, her eyes were automatically drawn to the thin gap in a solid line of books on one of the shelves. In a way, it felt like she'd just given Yang a small piece of herself when she'd pulled that book away from the others. Rather than to feel vulnerable, like she would expect, she wanted to give even more. Yang could borrow everything in the apartment, as far as Blake was concerned.
With a sigh, she walked back to her book and sat down, determined to finish it tonight.
If only she could stop thinking of how much she wanted to be more than just a neighbor to Yang...maybe, if the moment was right and Blake found enough courage, she could be the one to ask Yang out.
That was an awfully big 'maybe.'