The morning burned by fast.

He really did take that walk. And he thought. He thought about trying to ignore it. Then he thought about what that would do to Yang, and by extension, Blake's little family. He thought about bubbly teenage Ruby, and her damned sad puppy dog eyes. He thought about telling Blake, and the look he would see on her face.

He thought about living without Blake.

No worse, he thought about swapping places with Yang, and he wanted to die because he could imagine how that would feel.

That was the first few hours.

The rest he spent walling all of that shit off. Because he knew. He knew Blake would read him if he was carrying all that close to the surface, and he was not going to lie to her. No, if she figured it out herself, all bets were off, but he wouldn't cheat.

He pulled out his Scroll and stared at it.

He typed in an address, and a short message.

Weiss,

I need you to get Blake out of the house for a few hours, starting after lunch. I need to talk to Yang.

You damned well know why.

-Hegs

Then another one.

Yang,

Hey can you swing by my room? I have a problem and I need your help. It's important, seriously. Say… 1:30?

-Hegs

Then he sat down on a bench and spent half an hour trying to pull himself together.

The answers came while he waited.

First the message from Yang.

Sure thing Hegs. Need something heavy moved? XD

-Y

From Weiss, he got a video call.

Her blue eyes were, telling. "Hegs… I didn't think."

"It's okay, I know how these things go."

"No." Her own eyes were threatening to tear up. "Dammit. We'd been working on Yang for weeks, trying to convince her that she was dragging her feet too long. That Blake would say yes. She just. She just didn't have the nerve."

He shook his head. "No, she didn't have the hope." He gave a look. "That's why you were so upset when she brought little orphan Hegs home." He paused. "I'm not over-reading this am I? This isn't just some crush. Your reactions weren't just fear for Blake, or mistrust for me. You saw this coming."

"That is not fair. That is not fair to you, or to me. I did… I did the best I could. I've spoken with Yang. No one could have known. You..." she swallowed. "You are a good person. You are good for Blake. Dammit she is good for you. It is just…"

"It's just toxic. And you guys are not just a family, you're a team. And I'm Blake's lover, not a team member. I can't replace Yang." Bitterly. "I wouldn't if I could."

Weiss shook her head. "I'm sorry." She took a breath. "What are you going to say to her?"

He laughed, but it was acid in his throat. "I'm not going to say much at all. I'm going to listen. And then she's going to tell Blake."

Weiss's scar stood out as her face paled. "No! That is not going to happen."

"What. You think it's not going to happen anyway? Yang can't get away from this without destroying your family, and she'll be stuck here watching the girl she loves bonding with someone else. Day after day. When will it break? A week from now? A month? Two months? After this poison has spread and turned her into…" He stopped as he realized what he'd been about to say, the name. Willow Schnee. That would have hurt.

He didn't need to speak it. Weiss looked sick.

"No. No, we can figure something out."

"No. Blake will figure something out. This isn't our secret. Secrets!" he hissed. "This is what comes of fucking teenage bullshit angst and drama. A fucking web of oily self-doubt and nested secrets, just waiting for a fucking match. You have all been living like this so long, you've gotten used to it, but it just causes pain.

He'd shocked her. He could tell. Then her shoulders slumped. "I'll... I'll do it. I'll get Blake out of the estate. But Hegs." Her face was pleading. "Be careful. Yang wouldn't hurt you on purpose, but this is going to be hard on her."

"I'll be careful."

"Please do, we canno-"

He hung up on her.

Hegs sat on the bed in his room, propped up against the headboard. He'd been staring at the same page in a book for thirty minutes, when the knock came. He shuddered.

"Come on in, Yang. It's unlocked."

The blond brawler strolled in, all smiles and bravado. Her lavender eyes flicked around the room. "Hey there! Heard you needed some muscle."

"Yeah, can you come here for a second? I've got something sketched out for you that I want your opinion on."

Lavender eyes shifted for a second. "Sure." She bounced down on the edge of the bed. He pulled out a piece of paper, and handed it to her.

It wasn't a sketch. It was three short sentences:

I talked to Ruby. And Weiss. I need to you tell me.

"Annnndddd we're done here!" She bounced back up, heading for the door, paper fluttering to the floor.

He stood up too. "If you leave this room, I'm going straight to Blake," his voice held a quiet threat.

The girl froze. Her hands fisted at her sides. Flexed.

"If you have to hit me, I'll let you. I probably won't survive it, though."

She jerked her head down and to the left slightly, hair hiding her face. "She'd never forgive me if I killed your goofy ass," she whispered. But he heard the pain in her voice.

They stood like that for a full minute. "Yang..."

"What do you want?" She turned back to him, and her eyes were flooded, her face wet. "What the fuck do you want from me?" Her voice was shaking, raw.

"What do you want, Yang?"

"I want…" She gave a fake Yang laugh. "I want to kick your ass for taking my girl."

"No. No, I don't think you do."

"Screw you, Muggle."

"You've been learning the wrong things from me." He paused. "Yang..."

"No."

"Yang…"

"NO!" Her irises flashed red, and her blond hair went big and flamey. He'd seen her do that before, when she was sparring and really into the heat of battle. He swallowed.

He took a breath, and walked slowly toward his funeral.

Yang pulled back her hand, a cold smile on her face, ruined only by her overflowing eyes. "You're gonna get hurt here, Bud."

"What do you want, Yang?" He said softly as he stepped inside her reach, and put a hand on her shoulder.

…

Yang broke. Not slowly, but all at once.

One second her Semblance was ready to turn Hegs into a brown and red pile of organs on the floor and wall behind him. The next she was on her knees, sobbing uncontrollably, with him trying to console her.

"I… I… I want her. I want her.. I want her. I want Blake. But I wasn't… I wasn't. Gods Hegs, it hurts. It hurts so much."

"I know. I know it does."

"I…" She sobbed for several more seconds, gasping for breath. "I tried. I really did. But I was scared. And then...it was too late. And I've tried. I know." More uncontrolled sobbing. She looked up at him, lavender eyes full of pain. "I know you're good for her. I can't even fucking hate you."

"No, but you can hate you." His eyes were stinging again. "Bet you're pretty good at it."

Lost lavender eyes stared at his, and she nodded.

He sat down in front of her, and took her tear-streaked face in both hands. "You have to tell her." Her eyes widened and she struggled limply. Yang, who could break him like a twig, couldn't break free of his gentle grip. She tried to shake her head in denial. "Yang. You can't carry this. You can't hide this. It's eating you up, and it's going to come out. And it's going to come out ugly."

"I.. I can't. She'll hate me."

"No. No, she won't do that."

She stilled. Then her face hardened. "No." She inhaled. "Worse. She'll pity me." Yang looked at Hegs. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm doing this for Blake, and for you, and for Ruby, and Weiss and even that scruffy blond asshole you call dad. And I'm doing it for me. Because I can't keep this from Blake, and if I tell her, it's not going to work." He took a breath. "Besides I swore to Ruby that I wouldn't, and I couldn't survive those puppy dog eyes." He wiped his face and laughed. Yang followed.

"Gods. We're pathetic," she muttered.

"Naw. We are saps. Totally different."

Another long moment. "What's going to happen?" Yang asked in a quiet voice.

He shook his head. "Blake's going to listen. And she's going to hurt. And she's going to make a decision. And... we are going to figure out how to live with that."

Yang stared at him, incredulously. "You're going to give her a choice? What... What if she chooses me?"

"Then I'll figure out how to live with myself."

"You… you won't even fight for her?" She sounded insulted.

"Jesus Yang, how? I love her, desperately. But she's had me in her life for, what, about a month? You've been her companion, partner, confidant, for years. I got fucking lucky.

"You think," realization dawned slowly. "You really think she's going to pick me. Don't you?" He looked away, trying to control his face. This time it was her hand turning him to face her. "You fucking asshole," she breathed.

He swallowed. "I'll figure something out."

"I'm not doing this."

"You don't have a choice!"

Silence. They sat for minutes. She sighed and pulled a strand of hair around. "My hair is wrecked."

"Yeah."

"Gonna take hours to fix this."

"Yeah."

She stood up, unsteadily, and offered him a hand, helping him to his feet.

"You're not weak, you know," Yang said. "This. I couldn't have done this."

"Yeah."

"Hey." He finally met her eyes. "I mean that. I have issues with… with talking about my feelings. But I don't lie. No time for it."

"So, you'll talk to her?"

"I… I'll think about it."

He closed his eyes and nodded. He felt wrung out.

Yang put her hand on his shoulder. "How did you know I wasn't going to punch a hole through your chest?"

He smiled grimly. "Calculated risk. Seemed a winner either way."

Yang nodded. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, then made her way to the doorway. She paused at the door and turned back, eyes softening. "You really are something, you know that? I wish…" She shook her head. "I'll think about it."

The door closed behind her.

Hegsih sat down on the edge of the bed, and stared at the wall.

Blake Belladonna was a little frustrated.

Weiss had insisted. Insisted, that she needed to accompany her to downtown Mantle for some emergency shopping. They'd spent hours wandering around stores and peering at items, none of which Blake had any clue what to think of. This was Wiess. She had a style. The style was custom, tailored, and white. Maybe, if she was adventurous, there would be an accent color besides black or gray.

After an eternity. Weiss had thrown her hands up. "I give up. Let's… let's go back."

"Okayyy… I mean it's just clothes, right? You have a whole wardrobe-"

"Right!" Weiss realized she'd yelled. "Right. Right. Just clothes." She muttered something under her breath.

She kept muttering on the ride back.

"Weiss, is something-"

"No. Nothing is wrong. We just. Had a bad shopping experience. That's all."

"Alright. Well can't be having those, now can we?" Her ears perked up. "At least we got to eat something?"

"Oh yes. Street tacos. Lovely."

"Weiss are you-"

"I… I have a headache. I'm going to go to my room, take a dozen headache pills, and lay down. I… I suggest you do the same."

"Oh…okay…."

As Wiess staggered off, Blake made her way to her room. She paused in the hall, considering her options. Left, or right? Finally, she sighed. She was kinda grungy. A quick shower and change of clothes first would be nice. She could spend a few minutes with Yang, and then pop over to see her lover. Yeah. That's a plan.

She knocked once perfunctorily as she opened the door, closing it behind her.

To find Yang sitting on her bed staring at her with the strangest look on her face that she'd ever seen.

"Dammit Hegs, answer the call!"

She'd been trying for thirty minutes. First text messages. Then voice calls. He wasn't answering.

She needed to talk to him. Her mouth turned down.

She dialed her sister.

"Winter, do you still have that tracker on Hegs' Scroll?"

Fifteen minutes later, she was in his room, staring at the scroll on his bed. Hegs, though, was nowhere to be seen.

"Shit. Shit shit."