Chapter 9

The sun's light had barely begun to warm team RWBY's room when their door crashed open and an overly energetic Nora bounded in, sing-songing "It's morning, it's morning, it's MORNING! Wake up sleepy-butts!"

Neo, unaccustomed to Nora's traditional Sunday morning wakeup call, leapt like a startled cat, suddenly awake, but very confused. Were she able to, she would have would screeched in terror.

Simultaneously, Yang launched herself from her bunk straight at Nora. Catching the energetic Valkryie with a direct hit in the midsection, the two tumbled out the door together and began to wrestle in the hallway.

Weiss, more tired than annoyed, pawed at Neo and told her to lie back to down. "Those two will be at it for a while. There's earplugs in the nightstand if you want a pair."

Neo was completely on edge and couldn't believe that Weiss could be so nonchalant and suggest going right back to sleep. Nevertheless, she returned to her spot alongside Weiss and wrapped her up into a tight snuggle. Weiss pulled up the blankets and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth.

Waking up a couple hours later, Weiss noticed that the room was empty and quiet, save for the sound of water running from the shower. Rolling over, she saw that Neo was gone, and a slip of paper lay in her place.

Couldn't fall asleep. Went for a run. Got sweaty. Showering.

~n

Well, that solved that mystery. Weiss stretched and contemplated getting up. She even toyed with the thought of what it would be like to join Neo in the shower. Washing each other's hair. Warm, soapy water covering their bodies. Wait, what? What are you doing? You don't even know if she likes you. We figured this out last night! She's just happy to be away from her past life. There's no reason, at all, to think that she even likes girls, much less you. Besides, you're supposed to be keeping your eye on her, not trying to, well… Do those types of things with her.

Hearing the water shut off, Weiss decided she should probably start to get ready for the day. She hated doing laundry, but hoped that having Neo's company would make it go a little more swiftly. Maybe I'll bring my notes so I can help Neo get ready for tomorrow. We can be study buddies!

Neo walked out of the bathroom and looked around the room. Catching Weiss's eye, she pointed towards one of the empty beds and made a circling motion with her hand that encompassed the room. Weiss shook her head, "No, they were already gone when I woke up."

One corner of her mouth rose in a half-smile as Neo tugged her towel off and walked towards their shared bed. To her delight, Weiss immediately turned red and became flustered, as she looked all around the room, seemingly unable to look at the petite woman. She threw her towel over the back of Weiss's desk chair and retrieved her combat outfit.

Neo looked at the somewhat dirty pile of clothes in her hands and thought that it was going to be nice to have uniforms to wear. Maybe now these will get cleaned more often. It was her only set of clothing, actually. She never had a place to store anything, not that she stayed anywhere for long, anyhow…

Neo glanced at Weiss, but the heiress studiously avoided looking at her. This will be fun! Besides, it was probably going to be rare that they'd have the room to themselves. May as well make the most of the opportunity to enjoy some pants-free time. With her folded combat outfit in hand, she strode over to the bed, tossed the bundle on Weiss's lap, and flopped down next to her friend. Lightly leaning against the nervous heiress, Neo placed a hand between the girl's shoulder blades and started to rub her back.

Weiss make a very unflattering "yeeik!" as she jolted from her seat, and very nearly hit her head on the bunk above as she started. Grinning broadly, Neo rolled her upper body towards Weiss, who was now frozen in place, and wrapped her into a brief hug. Poor girl. I probably shouldn't torture her. Well, not too much anyhow… Pushing herself off of Weiss into a seated position next to her, she noticed that when Weiss made her little jump, she had flung the bundle of clothes and they landed on the ground a few feet in front of Weiss. Well, maybe I can torture her just a little bit. With a wicked grin as she stood up, Neo took a single step to position herself directly in front of Weiss with her back to the girl, and slowly bent at the waist to pick up her clothes.

Weiss's mouth was now agape, completely confused about how she felt about the sight before her. Don't stare, you dunce! You're acting all lecherous; it's going to freak her out. If this is how you act, it's amazing you made it this long without anyone knowing that you're a le… "NO! Don't give in to your sick desires!" Winter's voice echoed over her own voice in her head. Weiss buried her face in her hands, shook her head, and tried to get her sister's voice out of her mind. Her teammates told her that Winter was completely wrong about this. But, why does it still feel so wrong?

Neo looked back over her shoulder, eager to see what kind of reaction she managed to get out of Weiss. Unfortunately, it wasn't the one she had hoped for. She immediately knew she had gone too far as she saw her friend shaking her head with her face buried in her hands, body racked with silent sobs. As fast as she could, Neo threw on her clothes, spun around, and knelt in front of Weiss. She tentatively reached up and placed her hands on the girl's trembling shoulders, doing what she could to try to comfort Weiss.

Weiss just kept rocking, though. She failed to acknowledge Neo at all. Trying a different tact, Neo sat next to Weiss and placed an arm around her shoulder, holding her close, silently apologizing for what she had done.

Weiss summoned the willpower to pry her face from her hands and face the naked girl next to her, who was no longer naked? She looked into Neo's eyes and saw an expression of immense guilt, shame, and embarrassment. "No, Neo. No… It's, just, no, it wasn't you. I, ugh, no. Just, it was Winter." Weiss was nearly babbling; the normally cool, composed girl was unable to form a complete sentence, much less coherently say what she was trying to say.

Finally, Weiss shut her mouth, took Neo's hand from her shoulder, held it on her lap, and reached for the woman's other hand. She held Neo's small hands in her own and took a deep breath. Then another, as she tried to steady her mind as she would before a battle. She kept her gaze focused deep into Neo's eyes and squeezed the woman's hands tightly as she started to speak more clearly.

"For years, I've hidden my true self. My sister Winter spent many years telling me that my feelings are unnatural, deviant, and unacceptable. But despite her constant admonishment, I think that I… No! I am attracted to women. I've never dated anyone before, but I've just never been interested in dating any men. Ever. But when I spend time getting to know a girl that I feel a little something towards, it just… It becomes a full-on crush and I know I want to try to go out with them. But I can't. Because it's unnatural. Or, so I thought it was." She paused and tried to read Neo's expression.

Neo just smiled. She blinked once. Her eyes went pink. After a short moment, she nodded at Weiss, indicating that she should continue.

"Okay… I can… Neo, I'm a lesbian." Weiss's whole world shattered as she uttered those words. She finally owned it. Freely admitted her darkest secret, unprompted, to someone else. She fell forward onto Neo's shoulder and wept as her emotions overtook her. She wept, in part, for the life she knew she could never return to. This was it. There could be no more denial, no more hiding, this is who she is from here on out.

Pulling her right hand free from Weiss's deathgrip, Neo softly placed her palm on the heiress's cheek. Her thumb deftly wiped the girl's tears before sliding her hand into Weiss's still wet hair and held the back of her head as she cried. Few times in her life had her muteness really bothered her, but, right now, she wished she could say just a couple of words. Tell her "It'll be okay." But she couldn't. So she held the inconsolable girl. She caressed the back of her head. Compassionately ran her fingers through the girl's hair. Let her continue to squeeze her left hand half to death. She brushed Weiss's hair back, away from her ear. Slowly leaning in, she touched her lips to Weiss's earlobe and gave it a soft kiss.

Weiss buried her face in the crook of Neo's neck and kissed it. A warm flush ran through both girls' faces. Not sensing any resistance from Neo, she kissed again. And again. Then moved towards the sharp angle of Neo's jawline. She kissed the small woman there.

Neo saw Weiss's interest and tackled her to the mattress. She took the heiress's wrists and held them to the bed above the girl's head. She straddled her and slowly lowered her body onto Weiss's. She kissed the girl's neck several times. Trailed her kisses up and over her cheek, over her eyelids, placed a couple on the nose, and stopped briefly, hovering over Weiss's mouth.

She wanted to kiss those full lips so much. She felt a puff of air from Weiss's ragged breathing. The girl squirmed underneath her. She wasn't sure if Weiss was uncomfortable from being held down or if this was all too new and too fast. Don't mess this up! We have plenty of time to let this run its course. This is enough for now. She felt Weiss arch her back beneath her. Neo inquisitively cocked her head and waited to catch Weiss's eye, but the girl's tightly closed eyelids didn't budge. She leaned down and placed the tiniest kiss on each clamped lid.

She released Weiss's wrists and slipped off of her. She hopped off the bed and stood at Weiss's side, hand extended to Weiss. An offer of her friendship. Neo waited for Weiss to open her eyes. To see a supportive hand outstretched towards her. To see her friend, patiently offering her help to make sense of this together.