Ruby Rose

"Good morning Weiss!" I wave at Weiss as she walks out of her apartment. She seems a bit surprised to see me at first but she just smiles and rolls her eyes.

"You know, I appreciate you coming to pick me up and all, but it's not necessary." she puts her hand on her hip.

"Don't be silly, if I had known you were walking to work all this time I would have been doing it from the get go."

"That's why I never mentioned it, besides I'm perfectly capable."

"Sure but I'm also perfectly capable of giving my girlfriend a ride, so what's the harm?" I ask. She doesn't seem able to come up with a response.

"Alright, I see there is no point in arguing, you've made up your mind." she hops on behind me.

"Good call, just make sure to hold on." I say.

"I've ridden with you plenty of times, Ruby." She wraps her arms around my waist. Once she is holding on tight I back out of the parking lot and take off down the road.

I must be going a bit fast for her because her grip suddenly tightens and she lays her head against my back. I won't lie, I am enjoying the close contact and it's really adorable.

I could get used to riding with Weiss more often. She used to ride with me all the time back in school. I'll admit that it had been so long that I was starting to get jealous seeing Yang and Blake riding together all the time. I finally pull into the parking lot at work and hop off. Weiss gets off trying to fix up her hair.

"Could you have maybe gone a little faster?" she asks sarcastically.

"Sorry Princess I was trying to help you get here before anyone else." I respond, chuckling lightly. Suddenly Jaune pulls in next to us in his truck.

"Hey Rubes, Snow Angel." Jaune shouts at us getting out of his car.

"What did I say about calling me that!" Weiss shouts at him.

"Sorry for the next two minutes you're not the boss of me." he says smirking.

"Look, just because you have a girlfriend now doesn't mean you can suddenly get cocky scraggly." Weiss retorts.

"Yeah yeah whatever." he says back and Weiss walks inside.

"Been awhile since you two showed up on White Rose." Jaune says, putting his work hat on.

"I know right?" I stretch and prepare for the long day ahead.

Today Weiss was officially kicking off Operation: Layoffs Avoided..my words. She had me and Nora outside handing out fliers and coupons to anyone who would take them trying to get more customers coming in. Sadly our efforts weren't that successful. I mean it wasn't a complete waste but it wasn't enough.

I guess that called for plan B and Weiss had us dig out an old mascot costume. It looked like a short pudgy guy with a giant head and a handlebar mustache. I thought it was actually kind of cute but I wouldn't want to be seen wearing it.

She forced Jaune to put it on and go out to attract customers I think partly to get back at him for the Snow Angel comment. Nora had to stay inside to cover the register but I decided to go outside with Jaune and a stack of coupons to get as many customers in as I could.

"Come on in to Beacon Burger!" I shout holding out the sheets of coupons to passing people. "We have some great deals!"

I can't help but groan in frustration. There's just to much competition and nothing we do seems to make a big enough dent. Before long it's time for the afternoon shift. We all clock out and Weiss tells the assistant manager that runs the afternoon shift the situation before she leaves as well.

"Weiss! You want a ride to campus?" I ask, kind of wanting to ride with her.

"Sure I guess it's better than walking." she says, sounding pretty exhausted. Not that I blame her. "Besides, even if I said no, you'd just keep asking until I said yes."

"This is true." She hops on and I take off towards Beacon University. It's not a very long ride but if Weiss had walked she would've been barely on time like she always is. I pull into the campus parking lot and grab my bag hopping off my bike with Weiss following suit.

"Feels good to have a good twenty minutes to spare doesn't it?" I ask, stretching.

"Actually it is a big relief and I won't be tired from walking in class." she says sounding genuinely grateful which is thanks enough for me.

"Well you know" I start as we begin walking towards the main building "I don't mind giving you a ride every day...being your girlfriend and all."

"I-I wouldn't want to be a burden." she says blushing lightly.

"Don't be silly, I like giving you rides." I smile as brightly as I can.

"If you insist" she says looking away "thank you."

"Don't mention it" I say looking at my phone and realizing I should probably head to my first class. "I should get going but I'll see you after my final class lets out so I can take you home." I lean over without thinking and kiss her on the cheek before I run off toward class.

Weiss Schnee

That dolt! What was she thinking? Doing that in public!...Whatever it's not like I don't like it. I just find it hard to act all lovey dovey in front of others. The embarrassment quickly fades as I walk to class taking my usual seat in the front. It wasn't long until class started but it took even less time for me to lose focus. I just can't get the work situation out of my head. I mean we didn't really put a dent in the amount we'd need to avoid the layoffs and we only have until Friday.

I pretty much spent half the class zoned out before it was time to move onto the next and last one since I thankfully only have two classes on Monday. I was a little more involved with this class since it was related to my Major but even then my heart wasn't completely into it. Finally it was time to go and I heard the professor call me.

"Miss Schnee, could you stay behind for a moment please." Professor Glynda asked from behind her desk.

"Absolutely Professor" I say "something wrong?"

"I don't know, is there?" She asks, sounding concerned.

"I'm not sure what you mean Professor." I say honestly.

"Miss Schnee you are usually so driven and determined but today you seemed out of sorts." She says, showing that I am apparently super obvious. "Whatever it is, if you need to talk I always have time for my top student." I smile at her. She can be a bit strict at times, even harsh. Times like this though, show that she really does care.

"Well there has just been a lot put on me recently. I have a bit of a big problem at work with a lot of people depending on me." I start to sulk a little again.

"Well, that is quite a lot to handle on top of your education." She stands up and leans against her desk. "Well Miss Schnee, I wouldn't worry, you are one of the brightest and most talented young ladies I have ever met." She smiles warmly and I instantly feel a bit better. "I'm sure you can figure a way out of it, in the meantime, just between you and me. Don't stress too much about due dates on your assignments."

"Thanks Professor, it really means a lot." I say resisting the urge to hug her.

"Hey Weiss!" I hear Ruby shout from the door "Ready to go!?" I turn to face her but before I know it she is next to me.

"Ah Miss Rose, how lovely to finally meet." Professor Glynda says to Ruby.

"Same to you ma'am, Weiss always tells me you are her favorite teacher!" She shakes her hand.

"Well Weiss is one of my favorite students." She says smiling. "She talks about you a lot to, I think you have a very positive impact on her."

"Well I try." Ruby says beaming back at her. "It was nice meeting you Professor but we really gotta go."

"Of course I won't keep you any longer, drive safe." She says sitting back down.

"Bye Professor." I say as Ruby drags me out the door by my arm. It was pretty late and it seemed like we were the last ones leaving. Good thing too because Ruby was being kind of...clingy, not that I mind. She was holding onto my arm all the way out to the parking lot. Suddenly we hear what sounds like screaming.

"What was that?" I hear Ruby ask with a bit of urgency in her voice.

"Not sure" I say, panicking a bit myself. "I am pretty sure it came from this direction." We both ran off toward the direction of the screams. It leads us toward a sort of secluded section of campus. There we see four boys attacking what looks like a familiar rabbit Faunus girl.

In fact, when I look more closely I quickly realize who it is. "Velvet!"

"W-Weiss, Ruby!?" Velvet quickly runs past them. Thankfully they were slightly caught off guard by us showing up so Velvet was able to get past them unharmed.

"What do you think you're doing!" I yell and they turn to look at me and Ruby furious.

"Beat it losers we don't have time to deal with you!" Now that I see his face I can tell it's that asshole Cardin and his lackeys. Kind of pathetic they still follow him around in college too.

"Listen Cardin I don't wanna have to hurt you." I say, pulling out my kendo sword. "Actually yeah I do, a lot, so go ahead give me a reason." he laughs out loud.

"What is a spoiled little shit like you gonna do!?" he yells between laughs. "Last I checked, you needed your girlfriend and her sister to save your sorry ass last time."

"Shut up!" Ruby yells, actually visibly angry "don't talk to her like that you ape!" I'll admit her being so defensive of me made me kind of happy but I didn't want her involved. Unlike Yang, Ruby was never much of a fighter.

"It's okay Ruby I can handle this" I say smiling at her. "This isn't like last time, I have my sword."

"You think I grew up with a sister like Yang and didn't pick up a thing here and there?" she asks a little more calmly than before. "I can't fight nearly as good as she does, but she's taught me enough to defend myself against goons like them." I knew it was pointless to argue with her so I just let her do as she pleases.

"Bring it on, punks!" He motions for his lackeys to attack us.

"Okay I have heard enough." I rush forward and before he knows it I have planted the tip of my blade into his gut. It's a wooden sword so it won't cut him or anything but the blunt force alone is enough to knock all the wind out of his lungs. "You disgust me!"

Russel tried to take a swing at me but Ruby stuck true to her word and actually managed to trip him up, making him fall backward and land flat on the concrete. It only took a few seconds before they were back on us but they weren't able to land a single punch, Ruby and I were in perfect sync watching each other's backs and pounding the crap out of these idiots.

"Dammit this freak isn't worth it!" he says all bruised and hunched. "Lets get the hell out of here!" he yelled to his lackeys as they ran off.

"Don't think this is over!" they yell back at us.

"Whatever asshole!" I yell back at him and once they're gone we walk over to Velvet and kneel next to her and we see that she is crying. "Hey it's all right they're gone." Suddenly she is clinging to me and sobbing.

"Thank...you...so much!" she says between sobs. I rub her back until calms down.

"You think you'll be okay to go home by yourself?" I ask as me and Ruby help her up and start walking her to her car.

"I'll p-probably be okay." she says still a little shaky. "I'm just glad you two showed up when you did, you saved me..again."

"Of course, you're our friend Velvet." Ruby says, opening her car door for her. "How about you hang around with me and Weiss on campus and if those douche-bags give you any more trouble we'll beat the hell out of them again." she says with that warm comforting smile that she does so well.

"That...sounds nice, though I'm sure once I tell my other friends they'll insist on escorting me around." Velvet says smiling. "Thanks anyway."

"Don't mention it." I say. "It's been awhile since we've talked, I just wish it was under better circumstances."

"Yeah..regardless it was nice seeing you again." she says starting up her car.

"We'll see ya Velv." Ruby says waving as Velvet drives off and I wave along with her.

Once she has pulled out and is on her way home we head to Ruby's bike and finally take off ourselves. I gotta say I was nervous riding on White Rose at first, it had been awhile after all, but it's actually becoming kind of relaxing. Ruby eventually pulls in front of my apartment and walks me to my door.

"Hey listen Weiss I know you're still really worried about the whole lay off thing and I can see why but...don't worry we will pull through this." She says, making me smile.

"You know I was worried sick about that but...after all that has happened tonight I can't explain but I feel like it just might work out." I say unlocking my door and stepping inside.

"So um good night." Ruby says and starts to walk off.

"Hey wait up Ruby." I say, causing her to stop and turn around to face me. As soon as she does I place a kiss on her lips. Something about her defending my honor and kicking ass just kind of...made my heart flutter. No way was I gonna let her leave without showing my appreciation.

I slowly break the kiss and see that for once she is blushing more than me. Guess I caught her a bit by surprise.

"Wow..." She says. "That was a surprise."

"Shouldn't be that surprising, you are my girlfriend."

"Well yeah…it's just, you usually avoid stuff like that if there is any chance someone might see."

"True..but it was worth the risk this time." I give her a quick peck. "I promise I'll try and get better at that by the way, just be patient with me okay?"

"It's okay Weiss, I know it's hard for you." she presses her forehead to mine. "Takes your time, in the meantime I am happy just being with you."

"You dolt, why do you always have to be so sweet?"

"Just something you bring out in me I guess?" We both giggle and she kisses my hand. "Anyway, I should probably go. We have a long day tomorrow."

"Indeed, good night Ruby." I hugged her. "I love you."

"I love you too." She leaves and I slowly close the door, leaning against it and placing my hand on my heart.

"Evening Weiss, how was school?" She pauses and looks at me. "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah…just..feel like I am gonna have trouble sleeping tonight." I say with a nervous smile.

(3 days later)

It's been a long week. We all have been in overdrive trying to avoid the layoffs. Only one day left and business has definitely gotten better but...I am sitting in my office crunching the numbers on our sales this week. We have made a fairly big improvement thanks to everyone's hard work but...it's not enough.

I sigh, laying my head on my desk. What are we going to do? Everyone is already working like crazy as it is. I get up walking out of my office and looking around at everyone trying so hard. It's not fair after all the effort they put in not just for themselves but each other that I am gonna have to let some of them go. Especially when we were SO close. If I can't think of something soon we are in serious trouble. I will be letting down my friends and myself.

"Hey Weiss are you alright?" I hear Ruby ask gently.

"Oh sorry I didn't mean to disturb you while you're working." I say back genuinely sorry for disturbing her work.

"If it's about the layoffs don't worry I have a plan." She says smiling. I just raised my eyebrow in response. I mean, no offense, but what could she possibly do to fix this situation?

Suddenly before I know it I hear a lot of loud talking toward the front and I go to check it out. When I get there I see Pyhrra talking to Jaune and an insane amount of what appeared to be male and female athletes with her.

Behind them was Alan and Inu with Alan's E-Sport team, plus a couple of other teams from the look of it. Then there was Velvet and Coco with a huge group of people standing behind them as well. There were more people than we've ever had in the restaurant at one time. I'm pretty sure we are on the verge of violating fire safety regulations.

"Um Ruby, what is going on?" I ask her, still kind of surprised.

"Well I thought, we've been spending so much time trying to get strangers to come in, when we had a treasure trove of customers right under our noses!" she says, proudly putting her hands on her hips.

"Yeah, so I talked to Pyhrra to see if she could get the girls basketball team to show up since she is the team captain and all." he says sounding kinda surprised at the turn out himself.

"I decided to do one better and talk to the other sports teams and asked them to come along as well, we all decided on my recommendation to make Port Burger the new postgame hangout spot." she says smiling that usual Pyhrra smile not realizing how much she may have just saved all our butts.

"Then Ruby asked if I could get some of the guys to come on by, so I had Inu ask them." he gently pats her head and she responds with a pout. "Turns out a cute girl asking a bunch of game nerds to come eat dinner with her is very effective."

"And when I heard that you guys were in so much trouble, I asked Coco to get as many as people as she could to come have dinner with us…she is quite popular." Velvet says, honestly a bit embarrassed by the sheer number of people they brought. Not that she needs to be.

Honestly it gets me a bit choked up…seeing our friends do so much just to help us out and without any ulterior motive. A couple of short years ago, I would have never imagined something like this, it almost makes me want to cry.

"Weiss, are you okay?" Ruby asks. At first I'm surprised by the question but I realize a tear must have fallen down my cheek without me even realizing. I just quickly wipe it away and try to reassure her with the biggest smile I can muster.

"I'm perfectly fine Ruby, now what do you say we feed all the hungry customers." I turn to my crew and everyone cheers.

Hours later and it was finally closing time. I sat in my back office and crunch the number again to see where we were at. Everyone was in the office waiting anxiously. Finally I look up at everyone with a smile.

"We did it!" I shout and everyone starts cheering and hugging each other. I have to admit I have never felt such a rush of relief wash over me. Once everyone was finished celebrating I decided to speak up.

"Listen everyone, I have some things to say." everyone got silent. "First off I would like to say this wouldn't have been possible without how hard you all have been working all week, even with today's big turn out we still would've been screwed without all the work you've put in this week." I say and everyone smiles "I also would like to once again thank all our good friends for being such fantastic help." I say bowing to them.

"Seriously don't mention it, I was glad to help." Pyrrha says modest as always.

"Yeah I mean what kind of friends would we be if we just left you hanging." Inu chimes in.

"Especially after everything you and Ruby have done for me." Velvet adds with a sweet smile.

"There is one last person I would like to thank." I turn looking to Ruby realizing that I was about to be a lot more embarrassed but..it's time I got over it. Ruby doesn't deserve anything less. "The one person who was there for me throughout this whole ordeal and managed to keep me motivated even when I wanted to give up." Ruby smiles at me blushing slightly. "Ruby, you are the best girlfriend I could possibly ask for, thank you for being my rock."

Suddenly everyone started cheering and clapping. My face heats up like crazy especially as Ruby cheerily clings to my arm. It's not like she has ever had any issues with PDA but she just doesn't care at all anymore. Which is good because one of us should be at that point by now I suppose.

We stood there for at least an hour, keeping the celebration going as long as we could before people started leaving.

"Hey Weiss you ready to go?" Ruby asks, standing by her bike outside as I finish locking up.

"Yeah I'm all set." I say back smiling as we both hop on White Rose. I am exhausted but the happiest I have been in awhile. As we take off down the road I rest my head comfortably on Ruby's back. I could easily have fallen asleep like that, which is crazy because I remember the first time I ever rode with Ruby. It was totally nerve wracking but now…I couldn't be more at ease. Once we arrive at my apartment Ruby walks me to my door like always.

"That made me really happy you know." she says blushing slightly.

"What did?" I ask not sure what she meant seeing how great today went.

"It was just very sweet of you…saying that in front of everyone." she says smiling and now I'm sure that I'm blushing. "It meant a lot."

"Yeah" I say, grabbing her hand "I know what you mean." I lean in and kiss her softly, holding the kiss for a while before slowly pulling away.

"I love you Weiss."

"I love you too Ruby."

"I've been thinking.." she looks away with a blush forming on her cheeks.

"About what?" I ask, cocking my head.

"Well…Yang and I have been on our own for awhile now and it's been great but.."

"Yes?" I ask, still not entirely sure where she is going with this.

"Well.." she pokes her index fingers together nervously. "I was wondering if maybe…you wanted to get a place together?"

That takes me completely off guard. I mean..it's not like I hate the idea. Getting to see Ruby every morning when I wake up and her being the last thing I see every night. Eating together every day..honestly it sounds great but..I'm not sure I'm ready for that step.

"Weiss?.."

"Oh sorry, guess I got lost in thought there.." I sigh and grab her hand. "It's a big decision, can we..maybe talk about it tomorrow?"

"Oh..okay, yeah no worries." she smiles and kisses my hand. "Sorry for springing it on you like that."

"No it's okay, I'll give it some thought, I promise." I hug and say our final goodbyes. Afterward I walk straight up to my room and collapse on my bed, more tired than I've been in a really long time.

About an hour or so later my phone starts ringing. It takes me a second to be stirred from my sleep but eventually I check the caller ID to see it is Yang. I answered the phone to the sound of a slightly panicky and tearful Yang. I don't think I've ever heard Yang freak out like this before.

"Thank god you're awake!" she says, sounding as if she was just crying.

"Whoa whoa Yang what is the problem?" I say trying to calm her down now almost fully awake.

"I don't know what happened but I came home and there was a lot of blood and I couldn't get her to open her eyes! She's in the operating room right now!" wait...her? she doesn't mean...

"What are you talking about?" I asked slightly panicked myself "What happened!?"

"Weiss..." She starts obviously trying to calm down for my sake. "Ruby is in the hospital. I think she was attacked coming home last night." My eyes shoot open.

"What hospital?" I ask, grabbing my coat.

She tells me and I wake Winter up. I practically begged her for a ride, which probably wasn't necessary. Once she knew what was going on she got out of bed without any hesitation. In a matter of minutes we were in her car and moving quickly toward the hospital.

"How are you holding up?" she asks softly, obviously sympathetic.

"Don't worry about me" was all I could say "just please get me there as fast as you can."

She silently nods and picks up a bit of speed.