Chapter 48: Fallout

I know some people may be concerned about what happened last chapter. And, I can completely understand where those concerns are coming from. But, think about it. How else was this supposed to end up? When you have someone as emotionally stunted as Weiss, it was bound to occur. Anyway, let's just get to the story.

xxx

Weiss was curled up on the bed in the patient room. She could do nothing else. She couldn't even take her life into her own hands now. The nurses made sure to take or lock away anything she could use to stab, hang, or otherwise harm herself with. Right now, Weiss felt she was in some kind of horrible limbo, where she couldn't die, even when she couldn't live anymore. All she had with her was her clothes and her scroll.

The scroll in her pocket buzzed as it received a call. Weiss didn't move to answer it. She wasn't in much of a mood to do anything right then. Honestly, no one who knew what happened could really blame her at all. The scroll buzzed for another two minutes, before it stopped. Then, it quickly buzzed twice more, to indicate a voice-mail was left for her.

Weiss stared at the window, watching the gentle breeze move the leaves for a tree outside. She was lost in her own thoughts, unwilling to move while she dwelled on herself inwardly.

"It hurts so much… it hurts so much… ithurtssomuchithurtssomuchithurtssomuchithurtssomuchwhywon'tsomeonehelpmeohgodsomeonehelpmepleasehelpmeRubyhelpmeMamahelpmeRubycomebackIcan'ttakethisanymorejustpleasehelpmeIneedyouIwantyourightnowcomebackIwantMamaoranyonerightnowjsutsomeonecomebackandhelpme. HELP ME,"

This turmoil barely showed on Weiss' face. Her features were like that of a porcelain doll, unmoving and uncaring. Only the thinning stream of tears staining her cheeks betrayed her inner feelings.

Shifting into a different position of the bed, Weiss groaned when she felt the scroll in her pocket dig into her hip sharply. Hoping to alleviate the annoyance, she pulled it out. A small box was flashing on the screen, which read: "New Voicemail: Jade Han".

Sighing, Weiss decided to hear what the office worker had to say. Maybe some good news could distract her from all those negative thoughts. It would distract her from Ruby. It would distract her from… no she wasn't ready to think that just yet. The thought of Ruby never taking her back was too awful to imagine right now. What Weiss desperately wanted was something to block out that horrible, horrible idea.

So, Weiss tapped the notification box and the scroll began to play back the message. The sound of Ms. Han's voice filled the air.

"Heya, there, Weiss! It's me, Jade! Or, uh, Ms. Han, I guess. You probably know me better by that. Anyway, I'm calling to tell you some good news! Well, uh, when I talked to my boss, he said he would consider your idea for approval if, ermm… what did he say… Oh right! He wants a script or something like that. A proof of concept. If you just send one to me to hand off, then your idea will probably make it! So get back to me soon! I'm looking forward to what you have to offer! Bye! Bye!"

Weiss had a delayed reaction when she heard those words. The scroll slipped from her hands as she had another unwelcome truth thrust upon her: her plan hadn't even gotten off the ground yet, like she thought happened earlier. It couldn't even be described as being in a larval stage. It was… almost nothing. Nothing had gotten approved, and very little was accomplished, other than telling someone the fact that a plan existed.

Something broke inside Weiss at that moment. It wasn't something easy to define, but there was a sudden feeling of a great, valuable thing being ripped away from her. Maybe it was a shred of sanity. Maybe it was the last bit of her hope. Either way, something changed in Weiss.

Her tears stopped flowing. Instead, a small laugh began to take its place. As her laughter grew, so did her self-pity. Her life was a joke! A cruel, cruel joke played on her by an uncaring world! The world was having a laugh at her expense, and she was too dense to notice it! What better way to celebrate understanding a joke than to laugh at it?

Weiss' hysterical, deranged laughter grew in volume. Eventually, it got to the point where everything else was drowned out, even the noises of the nurses working outside her room. That was what Weiss wanted right now, deep down inside. She wanted something to drown out everything else. So, she let her crippling self-pity and hatred do just that for her.

Because of that, her laughter then quickly devolved into tortured sobs. Weiss' tears returned even harder than before, completely filling her vision. It was hard for her to breath, and Weiss tried to suck in as much air as possible through her crying.

"Ican'ttakeitanymoreIcan'ttakeitanymoreRubyMamaWinterPapasomeoneanyoneIwantyoupleasejustcomebackI'llbeagoodgirlI'lldoanythingjustdon'tleavemeagainIswearI'llbegoodthistimeIcan'tdothisbymyselfanymoreIneedyouonemoretimeIwantMamaandRubysobadrightnow WHY DID THEY DO THIS TO ME I'msorryI'msosorryI'msorryaboutbeingbadbutI'mgoodnowwhydidtheydothisidideverytingIwastoldtodoandIgaveeverythingandIwantthembackithurtssomuchwithoutthemwithoutanyoneI'msoaloneIdon'teverwanttobealonewillsomeonecomebackRubypleasejustcomeback JUST COME BACK, I'M BEGGING YOU PleaseI'lldiewithoutyouIrememberyourtouchyourscentIwanttofeelitagainitfeltsogoodwhenyoudidthatwhenyoumadelove tomeI'lldothatforyouifyou'lljustcomebackI'lldoanythingjustdon'tleavemeanymoreIhavenothingbutyouandnowthat'sgoneand OH GOD WHY I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE WITHOUT YOU IwantyouandmetobehappyIneedityou'retheonlyonewhocandothatandmakemefeelgoodagainIloveyousomuchIloveyousosomuchIcan'tletyougoIwon'tifIdothenI'lldiemyloveforyouistoostrongbut I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING,"

Weiss' internal begging and pleading brought her nothing. Nothing bore her pleas any hope of a response. It was as essential to Weiss as air, and it didn't come to her at all. She suspected that nothing would come of it, anyway. If the universe was treating her like this for her whole life, then really, she shouldn't have expected anything to come and save her.

Her sobs gave way to mixed screams. They were a mix of horror, sadness, anger, and most of all, fear. Weiss was afraid of what she was feeling. She should have never felt like this. Nobody should ever have to feel like this. Why did the world chose her as the butt of its jokes?

Did she deserve all of this? All because she wanted to love someone? All because she wanted to be her own person? Was that why?

In any case, Weiss didn't want to know that answer. She didn't want to feel anything anymore. It was too much for her to bear on her heart, on her mind. Maybe it was for the best just to lie back and wait to die. She wouldn't do anything to resist it. All Weiss wanted was for the embrace of death to take her over. It would be like going to sleep for the final time. Weiss hoped that once she died, she would see Ruby soon. Time had no meaning to the dead, so maybe Ruby would be shortly after her.

How she longed to have Ruby at her side again. Weiss remembered all the times they shared food, all the times they held hands, and all the times they shared the same bed. Ruby was the source of any warmth in her life. But now that she was lost to her… Weiss could only feel the cold of her namesake.

Silence was Weiss' only company as she suffered, alone.

xxx

Ruby had stopped running away and wandering as she got closer to the Theater Club office. She didn't want to be found by anyone right now, yet she wanted to have someone to help her feel better. Velvet Scarlatina was a meek, shy person, so she would be the best choice to keep what she had to say on the down-low.

Stopping at the wooden door, Ruby hesitated on knocking. It was hard for her to accept what she had just done. She had made a promise to never leave Weiss' side, yet she felt she had to betray Weiss' trust for her own good. Weiss' behavior scared her, and she needed space to think about who she was, and what she wanted.

Focusing her resolve, Ruby knocked on the office door. "Just a minute!" a voice replied form the other side. Ruby was in luck. Velvet was in right now.

A girl with brown hair and rabbit ears opened the door a crack and peered out. "Oh, it's you Ruby. Want to come in?" Velvet offered.

"Yes, please," Ruby replied in a tired voice.

The door fully opened and Velvet stepped aside to let Ruby in. Ruby immediately made her way towards the chair in front of Velvet's desk. She really needed to sit and think about what had happened.

Sitting down, Ruby looked around at the office. It had been a while since she had been in here. It hadn't changed much. It was still a size too small, and still a cluttered mess. The desk was completely covered in various books and magazines. Velvet's scroll was also on the desk, and it looked like it was open to an internet browser. Some less than safe for work images were on display, involving several effeminate looking men.

Velvet briskly walked over to her desk and shut her scroll. Then, taking her normal seat, she asked Ruby, "What's up?". Then, she saw how puffy and red Ruby's eyes were. Her concern growing, she then asked, "Hey, are you alright? Have you been crying?".

Ruby gave a slow nod in response. "I… Umm… I don't know how to say this…" she searched for an answer.

"I-I mean, if you don't want to tell me, t-that's fine," Velvet reassured Ruby.

Ruby couldn't suppress her disappointed huff. It wasn't out of dissatisfaction at Velvet, but out of her annoyance at being unable to talk about something weighing on her heart.

To be honest with herself, Ruby felt filthy for what she had done. He had gone and broken Weiss' heart, and maybe her soul too. But, there was no other way to get the truth through to her. Weiss' emotions were always strong, but often in misguided or just flat out negative ways. That hurt her more than Weiss' old insults ever could. At least with those, she knew who she was and what she was doing. But now… nobody could say who the real Weiss Schnee was.

"I want to talk about it… but it's really hard too…" admitted Ruby.

Velvet rubbed the back of her neck. "Umm… I'm not a therapist, I don't know if I can help…" she uttered under her breath.

Ruby tried to summon the most of her courage. Taking a deep breath, she blurted out, "I broke up with Weiss today,".

Silence made its presence known when not a word was said between Velvet and Ruby. There wasn't much to be said about it. Ruby was an honest girl, and Velvet was always willing to believe her friends. So, only one real question could be asked.

"Why? Why did you do that?" Velvet eventually questioned.

Ruby had to think of a definite answer to that. Emotions were hard to define, so they could only be described in simplistic terms. "She's… not herself anymore. She lets her feelings go out of control… and it scares me. It really, really scares me," she finally decided on.

"Did she… hurt you? L-like, hit you in any way?" Velvet asked with a measure of concern. She interpreted what Ruby said as that she had suffered some abuse.

"No, she never did that. I doubt she would do that now. It's just… Weiss doesn't know who she is… and it makes things worse," clarified Ruby.

"And that's why you cut things off," Velvet added as she nodded in understanding.

"Y-yes," Ruby said as she lowered her head.

Her mind flooded with memories. They were of times gone by. When Weiss told her she loved her… When they shared a bed… When she tried to cheer up Weiss by being romantic… All of those things were gone, and Ruby wasn't sure if she could get them back now. But, it was too late to question her decisions now. A good team leader never did that. Team leader… yeah, right. She wasn't even able to help Weiss be a better person. How the hell could she lead her friends when she couldn't even help her girlfriend? For the first time in a long while, Ruby felt like she didn't even belong at Beacon. She didn't feel like she deserved it at all.

"Do you… need some place to stay? I mean, I can't get you into my dorm room, but the office is more than welcome to you," offered Velvet in a gentle tone.

"Thank you. I think… I need to stay away from my room for now. Too many memories there," accepted Ruby.

Velvet nodded. "Do you… want anything? Like a drink or something?" she offered.

"Uhh… a cola would be fine, thanks," Ruby said.

Getting out of her chair, Velvet said, "I'll be right back,". She left the office, in search of a vending machine to get Ruby's drink.

Ruby was left by herself, with only her thoughts to keep her company.

She had never broken up with someone before. When she fell in love with Weiss, she thought it would last forever. But now, she had be gone for her own good. To add to Ruby's growing list of fears, now she was terrified of what could happen as a result.

Would the team split apart? Did Team RWBY even exist anymore? Did… did Weiss hate her now? If Ruby wanted any answers to those questions, then she would have to force herself back into the team, back into the lives of everyone, including Weiss.

Ruby's courage was faltering. Her breath turned into ragged gasps. Was this room getting too small? She needed to get out, but she couldn't go anywhere! She was trapped in the world she created. Ruby frantically rubbed her eyes. The room seemed normal now, and her breathing was beginning to slow back down.

One thing became clear in Ruby's mind: she didn't have a place at Beacon Academy anymore.

xxx

Honestly, even I surprise myself at how much worse things can get. But, I suppose it's something natural. When a character's personality and faults fall into place, their actions almost write themselves. And that's where I step in, to hopefully fling a light into the future and make things better. I guess we'll see. Everything is up in the air right now. This is The Draigg, signing off for now.