I didn't take my dogs hiking today...so that I could finish editing this tonight (well that and it was hot outside plus I didn't feel like it...) I would like to say that the story is going to get more interesting from here, but I kind of hope that you're finding all of it interesting!
I am hoping to keep up this pace of weekly posts, but no guarantees!
Anyway, please enjoy! (Bonus points if you tell me how much you enjoy it, because then you've made me happy!)
Weiss, Yang, and Blake stood behind Ruby, noisily cheering for their teammate as they tried to will her to victory. The brunette was seated at the kitchen table with her hand locked in Nora's, struggling to keep her arm upright. Ren stood opposite them by Nora's side, offering a few quiet words of encouragement every once in a while. As far as the fan section went, Ruby's side was definitely winning.
However, the same could not be said for how Ruby was personally fairing against Nora. Their young leader's brow was deeply furrowed as beads of perspiration could be seen growing on her forehead. She was managing to hold Nora to a stalemate at the moment, but Blake wasn't sure how long she would be able to hold out. She could see Ruby's arm quivering more and more fiercely as she struggled to push Nora's arm back.
Nora was fairing much better than the brunette. She was far more focused than usual as she lightly bit her bottom lip in concentration, but her arm was still holding steady on the table.
After several more seconds, they all noticed Ruby's arm inching backwards, bit by bit, towards the table.
"Come on, Ruby, you can do this!" Yang shouted, moving in closer to Ruby's left side. "Fight back!"
Ruby seemed to redouble her efforts, managing to regain a few of the inches she had lost. Nora growled slightly in frustration before *BANG*.
Blake let out a surprised gasp as the back of Ruby's hand slammed forcefully into the table. Only, instead of meeting solid wood, Ruby's arm found the butter dish that had been left far too close to the scene of their battle. As Ruby's arm smashed into the butter, it had sprayed everywhere, but mostly onto Blake, who was unfortunate enough to be standing near that edge of the table.
Everyone froze as Blake looked down at herself in shock. Little dollops of butter were stuck to her everywhere. She giggled slightly before she realized that there was also a great deal of butter strewn about the table and floor behind her. She turned to Weiss, eyes wide at the storm that was likely to follow.
Weiss' lips were pursed tightly, with her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at the butter dish, then Ruby, then Nora. Ruby turned towards her girlfriend with a meek smile.
"I'm sorry…" Ruby began pitifully, but Weiss sprang to life before she could finish her apology. She moved forward and nearly pushed the girl out of her chair. Straightening herself out, Weiss firmly placed her own elbow down and glared across the table at Nora.
"My turn."
The tension immediately dissipated as Nora broke into a huge smile, happy to have avoided a famous Schnee tantrum.
"Woah ho ho," Yang sang cheerfully. "Looks like someone is trying to show off for her girlfriend!"
Weiss blushed slightly, but ignored Yang's comment, still glaring towards Nora, who more than happily obliged in setting her own elbow down again.
Seeing that they were able to get started, Blake decided that now might be a good time to slip upstairs and change out of her butter spattered clothing. On her way out of the kitchen, she noticed the bag holding her new dress where Yang had hung it after they had rushed in moments earlier.
Walking over, she picked it up to take it up to her room, careful not to get any of the butter on the bag.
"Uh wait, Blake!"
She turned around as Yang's voice called her from near the table.
"Let me take care of that for you!" the blonde offered as she walked towards Blake.
"No, that's ok," Blake began, slightly confused as to why she would need Yang's help to carry a dress to her own room. "You stay here and cheer Weiss on. I'll be right back."
"Oh, but!" Yang sputtered out as Blake turned towards the door.
"I think that I left the receipt in the bag!"
Blake felt her brow furrow slightly. "But you put the receipt in your back pocket, remember?" She was sure that she had seen Yang slide it into her pocket earlier today…
Yang shook her head slightly.
"I'm pretty sure that I put it in there," she said as she began reaching a hand out towards the bag in Blake's hands.
At that moment, Ruby decided to help them, dashing over and thrusting her hands into both of Yang's back pockets, causing the older girl to yelp in surprise. A second later, Ruby pulled out a crumbled piece of paper and held it triumphantly over her head.
"Here it is!" she proclaimed, pleased to have found the missing item.
"Yang, should I be concerned that you're forgetting things? You aren't even that old yet…"
Yang grabbed the receipt out of her hand and gave her sister a soft punch on the shoulder, appearing slightly deflated.
"My memory is just fine," Yang mumbled defensively as she turned back to give Blake an embarrassed smile.
Blake returned the smile, sensing that it was her cue to leave, and walked out of the kitchen.
After heading up the stairs and walking in to her bedroom, Blake laid the bag carefully down on her bed before pulling out some new clothes to change in to. She didn't really want to spend any more time in her butter covered clothing than she needed to.
Finally dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a button up shirt, she walked back over to the bag on her bed and unzipped it. Pulling the dress out of the bag by the hanger, she admired the craftsmanship that had gone in to creating such a splendid article of clothing. She ran her hand across the bodice of the gown again, still finding herself pleased by the sensation of the silky ripples against her fingertips. This was, without a doubt, the most beautiful and expensive item she had ever owned (besides Gambol Shroud, of course).
Making room in the closet, she hung up the dress and then turned back towards the bedroom door, hoping that she would be able to catch some of Weiss arm wrestling Nora. Although, knowing both of them, Weiss had probably lost long ago. The heiress wasn't exactly known for her strength, after all.
Rushing towards her door, a flicker of white caught her attention on the floor by her bed. Curiously, she turned back to find a small slip of paper laying on the ground. She couldn't help grinning at the sight of it. Maybe Yang was right and she had put a copy of the receipt in the bag, after all!
Blake walked over and swiftly picked up the paper. Turning it over in her hands, she felt her heart drop as she read the words written on it.
'When you get tired of the ears, call me. 3 Taryn'
The girl's scroll number was scrawled across the bottom.
Blake felt her blood begin to boil as she stared at the note. She had noticed the girl's behavior towards Yang while they had been shopping. She would have had to be blind to not notice the blatant flirting and lustful looks that had been sent Yang's way. It had taken all of her energy not to snap at the girl to back off. Yang was HER…partner.
Sighing in defeat as she finally looked away from the message, she considered ripping it into shreds right there and throwing it away. Yang was far too good for that girl, anyway.
Looking back at her hands, she felt her anger begin to slowly melt away, being replaced by pain and…anguish.
It was not her place to decide who Yang should or should not see…romantically. Maybe, years ago, Blake would have at least been able to give her opinion on the girl's merits, but that was not the case anymore. If Blake wanted to be Yang's friend again, she needed to regain Yang's trust first. Bad mouthing anyone who showed interest in the attractive blonde probably wouldn't be the best way to do that.
Carefully slipping the note into her pocket, she plodded her way back downstairs with heavy feet and a heavy heart. The message was meant for Yang, so Blake would deliver it to her. She could only imagine the repercussions if she were to destroy the note, only for Yang to find out about it later.
And, who knew, maybe this Taryn girl was the one for Yang, after all. Even Blake would have to grudgingly admit that the two of them would make quite an attractive couple.
Walking back into the kitchen, it appeared as if Weiss had already lost to Nora from the way Ruby was rubbing the heiress' shoulder in a comforting manner. Seated at the table, Yang looked like she was up next, only against Ren this time.
Seeing her partner, Blake felt her pulse quicken as she became more and more anxious about the paper in her pocket. She hesitantly walked over to where her partner was seated. Pulling out the note and extending it towards Yang, she realized that her hand was shaking slightly. Yang turned towards Blake as she saw the piece of paper come into her peripheral vision.
"This was meant for you," Blake managed to mutter as Yang silently took the paper out of Blake's hand, looking at it curiously.
As Yang read it, she grimaced before turning back to Blake, lilac eyes filled with apology and regret.
"Blake…I'm so sorry…" she began to say as she looked back down at the paper.
At that moment, all of the pieces fell together in Blake's mind. This is why Yang had wanted to take the bag to her room. This is why she needed to get the "receipt" out of it. Yang knew that the girl had left her phone number in there for her. And, apparently, Yang had wanted to retrieve it before Blake ever saw it.
She couldn't decide which hurt worse…the fact that Yang wanted the girl's number, or the fact that she had made up a lie in an attempt to hide it from Blake.
And now here Yang was, apologizing to her for having other people who wanted to be with her. What had she expected? That someone as gorgeous, inside and out, as Yang Xiao Long would be alone forever? That Yang would never find someone else that she was interested in?
Feeling tears burning her eyes, she quickly turned and walked back out of the kitchen. She tried to walk as normally as possible, until she heard Yang shout, "Blake, wait!" accompanied by the sound of a chair scrapping against the floor behind her. She picked up the pace as she rounded the corner and began racing up the staircase. Only halfway up, she felt a warm hand latch firmly onto her own, halting the fleeing girl in her tracks.
She didn't have to turn around to know that Yang was standing there, those caring eyes fixed upon her. She remained focused on the step at her feet, watching as tiny splashes of water began to darken the wood.
"Why are you crying?" Yang finally asked, soft voice filled with concern.
Remaining silent for several moments, Blake took several deep breaths in an attempt to stem her tears and steel her nerves. Turning around, she forced a smile onto her face as she attempted to sound as cheerful as possible.
"You should call her. She seemed to really like you."
She regretted the words the instant they left her mouth. Yang looked as if Blake had just slapped her across the face, instantly dropping Blake's hand and retreating backwards one step.
Her heart broke at the sight, but how could she say what she was really feeling? That the thought of Yang being with anyone else made it feel as if her heart was being removed from her chest. That it made it difficult for her to think, or even breathe.
As much as it hurt her to remain quiet, she couldn't say anything because she finally realized that Yang's heart wasn't hers to hold anymore. If she was going to be Yang's friend, she had to come to terms with the fact that someone else would receive Yang's heart, eventually. And when that day came, Blake would try to be as supportive as she could possibly be.
Focused on the staircase railing, Yang refused to look back towards Blake. The normally sunny girl looked absolutely miserable, further increasing Blake's internal anguish.
"She was pretty cute, right?" Yang mumbled, mostly to herself, as her index finger traced tiny circles onto the banister.
More tears instantly welled up in Blake's eyes at Yang's admission.
"Yang!"
Ruby's voice drew their attention back towards the kitchen.
"Nora is ready to wrestle again and she wants to challenge you!"
Blake felt the situation diffuse as Yang looked at her bashfully. The blonde gave her a sad smile, the kind that died before it ever reached her eyes. It barely managed to mask a portion of the hurt lurking there.
"Do you want to come watch me destroy Nora?" she asked, lacking nearly all of her trademark bravado.
Wiping her eyes, Blake nodded slowly, hoping that it wouldn't be too obvious to her other teammates that she had just been crying.
Nodding briefly, Yang turned and walked back down the stairs as Blake followed her. As soon as they reached the kitchen, Yang turned on her normal megawatt smile as she skipped to her seat opposite of Nora. Blake couldn't help feeling shocked at the girl's abrupt change in attitude as she took a spot standing next to Ruby.
Feeling someone grasp her hand, she looked down to find Ruby's small hand clutching her own. Peering at the girl inquisitively, Ruby whispered softly, "Don't worry, Blake. Yang will win. No need to look so worried!"
Blake couldn't help cracking a smile at Ruby's mistaken comfort, squeezing the younger girl's hand slightly in return before turning her attention back towards the table.
To say that there was a bit of bad blood between Yang and Nora when it came to arm wrestling would be an understatement. Both girls were immeasurably proud of their strength, so losing was a huge blow to either of their egos. Blake had been pretty sure that it had been banned for the two of them to arm wrestle ever again at Beacon after Yang set a small table on fire after losing one time. Somehow, the two girls must have convinced everyone else that they would behave themselves this time.
"No cheating this time!" Nora sang happily as she set her elbow down on the table, hand open and ready to receive Yang's.
Snorting, Yang clasped her right hand in Nora's.
"Why would I cheat when I can beat you fair and square?" she tossed back at the girl as they prepared to begin.
"Oook, are you two ready?" Ruby cut in before Nora could come up with a comeback.
As both girls nodded their heads, Ruby held out her hand out to count down for them.
"Three...two…one…go!"
The girls' muscles immediately tensed as they struggled against one another, Nora's teeth gritting as she strained against Yang's arm. Although Blake couldn't see from where she stood, she was sure that Yang had a similar expression of effort on her face.
"Go Yang!" Ruby yelled as the match progressed. Although, to the viewers, it didn't look like much progress was being made at all; the girls' arms remained perfectly perpendicular on the table.
Several minutes later, Blake glanced sideways at Weiss and Ruby, seeing the younger of the two growing increasingly disinterested as the match continued to drag on. Nora also appeared to be losing interest as her eyes began flitting around the room more and more often.
Ren leaned in close to Nora's ear and whispered something that only Nora and Blake could hear.
"Play to her weakness…"
Nora grinned at his suggestion as she focused her attention back on Yang before she innocently asked, "So, Blake, how was your time away?"
*BANG*
Nora yelped in surprise as her arm slammed backwards into the hard wood table. Everyone stared at the girl in shock as she gingerly rubbed the back of her hand. Blake felt her ears flatten as she stared at the back of Yang's head, scared to know what thoughts might be going through there right now.
Ren brought a hand up to his face as he quietly said, "I said play to her weakness, not make her angry…" Nora looked at him sheepishly as she mouthed, "oh."
Standing up from the table, Yang laughed, although the sound seemed strained to Blake's sensitive ears. Stretching out a hand towards the dumbstruck Nora, she said, "Better luck next time!"
Nora hesitantly shook Yang's hand, seemingly unsure if it was a trick or not.
When Yang released her without a hitch, Nora broke out another big smile, sensing that the danger had passed. Blake breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that Nora's question would be quickly forgotten.
"We should really get going…" Ren began, trying to remove Nora from the situation before she could say anything else. "We promised Pyrrha we wouldn't be out late…again…"
"We had to go to all of the ice cream shops on that list before midnight! We got a prize, remember?" Nora sputtered out in disbelief as she obediently stood from the table.
"Yes, I remember…that stuffed animal…" Ren said as he and Nora began walking towards the front door, the four members of Team RWBY following close behind. Ruby and Yang giggled at Nora's protests as Weiss respectfully went to fetch Manghild from the hallway closet.
Stopping at the front door, Nora gave them each a giant hug in turn, reaching Blake last. Holding on to her for a second longer than the first three, Blake flinched slightly in surprise as Nora whispered into her ear, "I knew you would come back."
Bouncing backwards, Nora flashed a big smile as Ren gave them each a polite nod of his head, stepping backwards out the front door and disappearing in a flash.
As soon as the door closed, Weiss rounded on the three of them, placing her hands on her hips.
"Now which one of you is going to clean up the kitchen?" she demanded, glowering at each of them in turn.
Ruby and Yang immediately took a step back, pointing at each other in unison with silly grins on their faces.
The heiress rolled her eyes as she stalked past them, saying, "Come on then."
The four of them spent the next few minutes wiping up splotches of butter from various parts of the kitchen. Once Weiss had deemed the area to be clean, she released them, suggesting that they get to sleep early to prevent bags forming under their eyes for the big event tomorrow. Ruby blew out of the room, littering the recently cleaned ground with fresh rose petals. Yang was right on Ruby's tail, not wanting to get stuck doing anymore cleaning.
Weiss sighed as she watched the rose petals flutter softly to the ground.
"She makes such a mess…" the heiress muttered as she reached down to begin collecting the fallen objects.
Blake quickly rushed over to help the girl, reaching down to pick up the petals one by one.
"Oh!" she exclaimed as she suddenly remembered something important.
"Thank you so much for the dress, Weiss. You really didn't have to do that…"
The icy girl looked up at her as if she were speaking in a foreign language.
"What do you mean?" she asked Blake curiously, throwing the Faunus completely off-guard.
"The…my dress…for the party? Yang said that you bought it for me…"
Weiss stared at Blake for a second longer, eyes narrowed at her thoughtfully, before she finally smiled.
"Of course, you're welcome," she replied as she bent down to pick up the last of the petals. "It's the least I could do."
Blake smiled in relief as Weiss deposited her collection of petals into the trash can, holding the lid open for Blake to do the same.
Letting the petals roll off her fingertips and drift into the container, something inside caught her eye. She didn't have a chance to see what it was though, as Weiss let the lid fall closed once again.
Walking out of the room, Weiss turned back to her and asked, "Are you coming?"
Blake glanced back towards the trash can. She wanted to know what she had seen there.
"I'll be right up. I'm just going to get some water."
Weiss nodded her head at Blake's words as she walked out of the room.
She waited until she heard Weiss walking up the stairs, not wanting to risk getting her hand literally caught in the garbage. Once she was sure the girl was a safe distance away, she lifted the lid back off of the can and peered inside.
As she had suspected, there was a small, familiar looking piece of paper resting inside. Quickly reaching her hand in to snatch up the item, Blake closed the lid to the trash can once more. Turning around so that her back was to the doorway, she slowly unwrinkled the paper, feeling her body tense with anticipation as she did so.
She smiled as she made out words, confirming her suspicion that it was Taryn's phone number. Her heart soared at the find. So, Yang hadn't wanted the girl's number, after all! Blake had not felt this…ecstatic…in a very, very long time.
Balling the paper back up, she threw it back into the garbage where it belonged.
Feeling rather vindicated, Blake climbed the staircase towards her room. About to enter, she looked up curiously as she heard another door open nearby. A grin crept onto her face as her eyes met embarrassed silver ones.
Ruby gave her a sheepish grin as she crept across the hallway to Weiss' room, pajamas clutched in her hands. Lifting one finger up to her lips, the young girl slipped into the heiress' room, closing the door softly behind her.
Chuckling lightly to herself, Blake entered her own room, swinging the door shut behind her.
She immediately froze as she looked up, finding Yang sitting uncomfortably on the edge of her bed. The girl was sitting so close to the edge, Blake was surprised she hadn't fallen off.
"Yang?" she asked as she approached the girl, wondering why Yang was waiting for her there.
Shooting to her feet, Yang looked at Blake carefully, pain emanating from her lilac eyes. Blake slowly moved closer to the girl, guilt washing over her for the hurt expression that she knew she was responsible for.
Stopping directly in front of her partner, she wracked her brain, trying to think of something, anything, to say to take that pain away. Saying that she was sorry again just didn't seem to be good enough, but what else could she do?
Before she could utter a single word, Yang reached out with both hands and gently pulled Blake's face towards her, her warm hands tenderly tilting Blake's chin upward. A second later, her eyes widened as she felt Yang's warm lips pressed against her own. The initial shock swiftly disappeared as her eyes fluttered shut, relishing the feeling of Yang's soft lips on her own. For as much as Yang was a brawler, her hands were surprisingly soft and gentle…
There was so much emotion being passed through such small contact, Blake felt like her heart might beat out of her chest from it all. She could intimately feel all of Yang's happiness, love, fear, and…pain. Her heart wretched as she felt her partner's sorrow channeling through the kiss. She could feel herself drowning in those emotions, struggling for air as Yang pressed more forcefully into her, pouring more and more of her feelings into Blake's chest.
Blake moved closer to Yang in response, reaching one hand up to run through her partner's blonde mane as she felt one of Yang's hands reach around to grasp the back of her neck.
She tried to push as much of that hurt out of the way, focusing on sending love in return.
She loved this girl. She loved her, with all of her heart. Completely, head over heels, crazy for the girl. Why had it taken her so long to realize?
It was playing out like an inverse version of tug-of-war, each girl struggling to push their emotions through. To make the other understand how they truly felt in a way that mere words could not communicate. How much Yang hurt…how much Blake loved. It was a battle that Blake so desperately needed to win.
The next instant, the feeling disappeared as Yang abruptly pulled away. Opening her eyes, Blake saw Yang looking pointedly away from her, face flushed, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks.
"I just…I had to do that at least once…" her voice cracked as more emotions came to the surface, spilling forward as fresh tears.
Blake didn't know what to do as confusion flooded her. She yearned to reconnect with her partner, to regain the feeling that had just been cut abruptly short. But as she stepped towards Yang, reaching out a hand towards her, Yang stepped backwards, out of her reach.
"We can just be friends, now," Yang said, finally looking up at Blake with tear filled eyes that cut right to Blake's soul. "You don't need to worry about any of those other feelings anymore. They're gone."
Each word rip through Blake's heart like a bullet, leaving tears behind that began slowly bleeding into the rest of her body. Her eyes rapidly filled with tears as Yang pressed by her and left the room. The door clicked shut softly, but to Blake it sounded as if an explosion had just gone off, leaving her blind as tears began to flow freely. She could hear nothing over the sound of her heart as it struggled to beat on.
Falling to her knees, she held her head in her hands as her body trembled with uncontrollable sobs.
Yang had finally unlocked something deep within her. The last barrier…the last wall Blake had built around her heart in order to protect herself. The wall that had been holding Blake back. But now…it was already too late. Yang had already let her go.
Remaining there on the floor for quite some time, she shed her tears, overcome by a devastating feeling of loss. She had had the opportunity to be a part of something magnificent…and she had thrown it away all those years ago. For what? What did she have to show for it?
When she had finally cried herself past the point of exhaustion, she crawled into her bed to try to get some rest, even though she knew that her chances of a good night's sleep were slim to none.
She didn't want to just be friends…but maybe, just maybe, that was better than nothing at all.