I've never feally been at someone else's house before. Excluding family of course. Mom has always been overprotective. But eh, she'll be home late, and he is out of state so I should be fine.
Yang gave me a brief summary on how everyone, the new kids, knew each other while we rode the bus home. In short, everyone's parents knew each other and decided that they all wanted a smaller town to hunker down in. It was easier for Yang and Ruby's parents because they often worked out of state, and their uncle lived in the neighborhood anyways. Weiss' parents had split up a long time ago, with Weiss going with her mother. The snow haired girl's mom knew Ruby and Yang's mom from when they went to college together, so she moved into the apartment next door. Blake had convinced her parents to let her stay with Yang and Ruby, on the condition that she flew home for every major school holiday that lasted a week or more. The other four had similar stories, with Ren and Nora being inseparable since they met in the orphanage they grew up in, and Jaune and Pyyrha's parents were also close friends. Apparently, the two groups all became friends over the summer, but couldn't start school due to some paperwork issues. This was all a lot to take in for me, but I tried my damnest to pay attention.
"So, Luke. Who was that girl you were staring at?" Ruby asked casually, causing me to blush deeply.
"N-No one! And I wasn't staring!" I protested as Yang cackled at my reaction.
"Mmhm. Sure thing, Luke. If you weren't staring, then I'm not a natural blonde." the blonde teased, tossing an oreo at me before asking, "So whats her name?"
"Not you too, Yang.." I groaned and hid my face with my backpack, having caught the oreo and sent it back at Yang. "Can this wait until we get home?"
"Alright, alright. But I will hold you to that." She said with a small grin, popping the snack into her mouth
While the bus made its way through various stops, I quickly wrote down a note for Mom, explaining that I would be hanging out with my newly made friends and the such. Hopefully, she won't freak out. I thought to myself as I stashed the note in my pocket. Ruby noticed this and tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Does your mom not have a phone?" She asked while Nora leaned over her seat to poke my cheek over and over again, muttering "boop" with each poke.
"She does, I-I just don't know her number- Ren, could you maybe, uh..." I tried my best to ignore the ginger's poking, but the constant "boop"s to my cheek were pressing my nerves a bit.
"If she stops, then she'll just tackle you later. It's her way of showing that she's your friend." Ren replied from his seat, the "boop"s only increasing in frequency. "That and she just had a Coke, so the caffeine needs to be let out healthily, otherwise she will make what happened in PE look like a little kid's birthday party."
Shuddering at the thought of that, I let the ginger show her "friendliness" while the silver eyed girl next to me giggled at my suffering saying that I would "get used to it".
After what felt like forever, the bus finally crawled to a stop at our neighborhood. I rubbed my aching cheek once we had all vacated the cheese wagon, pouting a bit. I hope this doesn't bruise...
Waving to the others, the sisters joined my short trek towards my house, the three of us stopping at the park closest to my house, however I failed to let the pair know which house was mine until Yang spoke up.
"So, Luke, where's your house at?" Yang asked as we found a nearby bench to sit at so that I could set up my CD player.
"Oh it's right behind me." I said, aiming a thumb to the grey trailer home behind me, the two girls looking over with a slight frown.
"Umm...Is your mom at work still?" Ruby asked with concern lacing her voice as I set in a random CD, a confused frown of my own settling in.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well there's some guy sitting on your front porch smoking a cigar and shooting you dirty looks." Yang said, the brief description making my skin go pale.
No...God no anyone but him...
"Lukas? Are...y..u...k...y?" the sudden ringing in my ears drowned out whatever Ruby said as I turned around to face the man on my front porch. He was a heavyset man, roughly 6'2 in height with various tattoos on his arms and neck and greying long hair that reached his shoulders. He wore a black denim vest over an similarly colored Linkin Park shirt as well as engine-greese stained blue jeans and brown steel toed boots. Adorning his fingers were various rings of different colors and styles, though all had some sort of human skull motif, excluding one gold ring on his right hand ribg finger. The cigar he was smoking was already half done and judging from his expression, he wasn't too happy with me for whatever reason.
I felt my body tense up as he flicked his glorified cancer on a stick before stepping off the porch. I felt my heart pound in my ears as he made his way towards us, his hazel eyes partially bloodshot and staring deep into my soul. The ringing in my ears stopped when I felt Ruby gently grasp my hand while Yang took a slight step forward, as if to be my shield while the man stopped a few meters in front of us.
"Can we help you, sir?" Yang asked, a bit of bite to her voice.
He gave Yang a once over before giving her a smirk, his country drawl slurring some of his words as he spoke. "Heh, if I wasn' with this little shit's mother maybe." I felt Ruby's hand grip mine a little tighter as Yang balled up her fists and shot him a glare as he continued to speak. "No I just need the key to the house, and Lukas has it."
"What happened to yours? Dropped it while drinking again, Stan?" I said without thinking, feeling my heart race as my stepdad shifted his weight and sneered a bit.
"Doesn't matter, I just need the key." He said while taking one step closer.
"Well-"
"Well nothing! Just give me the damn key!" He shouted, causing me to flinch and the girls to take a step forward and glare up at him. The protective move seemed to amuse Stan, a light smirk on his face as he stared at the two with sick interest, Yang in particular. "Now now, little missies. This is a spat between me and my stepson."
"Looks more like a bully picking on someone who's smaller than him, to me." Ruby said, though her voice squeaked a bit due to Stan's tall stature.
"Well I don't care, now go on and get before things get ugly." Stan glared down at Ruby before tensing as Yang took another step closer and tightened her fists.
"Threaten my sister again, and I promise you will regret it-"
"Yang no!" I called out to the blonde and quickly pulled her back, my arms trembling as I freed my other hand from Ruby's grasp and dug my key out of my pocket and tossed it at the man. "Just d-don't lose this one, too." I added with a slight stutter. "A-and tell mom I'll be home late. I'm hanging out with my friends."
The last bit earned an amused smile and a chuckle that followed. "Hah! I figured there was a reason you had a couple of cuties wit' ya! Stay here while I get ya something to celebrate this." With that, Stan sauntered back to the house gaffawing all the way.
Almost immediately I grabbed both of my friends' hands and rushed them away before Stan could get his "gift" for me. Whatever the hell it was, I didn't want to know.
"Luke, what the hell was that?" Yang exclaimed once we were out of visual view of my house, the blonde now taking the lead as we made our way to the apartments.
"Yeah, why was he so..." Ruby trailer off, not knowing how to properly put into words what my step father was like.
"He...He's always been like this." I said with a shaky sigh, looking back to make sure he wasn't following us. "He's usually gone though, so I don't usually have to deal with him."
"Does he...you know?" Ruby asked with a timid voice, lacing her fingers together anxiously.
"...No. He just drinks alot and talks a big game." I lied but somehow managed to convince the emo it was the truth...Or she knew I was lying and just didn't press the issue further. Either way, she didn't ask more questions as we trotted up the stairs to their apartment, Yang pulling out her key before unlocking and opening the door.
As the sisters file in, I felt my chest grow tight with anxiety as I looked from the doorway to the stairs of the apartment building. The air coming from inside the apartment felt welcoming and safe, but that's what scared me. I've heard if people being lured into houses only to disappear forever. What if they just wanted to hurt me? What if I never saw my mom again? What if- Ruby's holding my hand again!
"Hey, its okay." Ruby said calmly as she led me inside by the hand, a soft smile on her face. When she held my hand earlier, I didn't think much of it, just a protective gesture. Now that she was doing it again, I felt my anxieties fade away. I also felt a rising heat in my cheeks but I forced myself not to focus on that as we entered the apartment.
Before I could focus on anything in the living room, however, something medium sized and furry rammed into my gut at Mach DAYUM and sent me sprawling onto my back. I heard yelps and concerned cries from both sisters but my senses were overstimulated by whatever had attacked me.
This is how it all ends. I die from being attacked by a furry cannon ball. There was so much I wanted to dooooo-"EEWWWW"! I yelped and squealed as something wet began to attack my face as my senses came back under control. After what felt like years, but was probably seconds, I felt the weight lift off of my chest, fresh air entering my lungs as I sat up.
The projectile that had attacked me was a black and white corgi with beady black eyes that shown like cute little stars. Ruby was my savior from this self made projectile dog, who was now attacking the emo with a barrage of kisses
"Awwwe, it looks like Zwei likes you!" Yang giggled as I set my bag in a nearby corner, still wiping my face clean of the slobber, an embarrassed blush in my face as I remembered the girly yelp I let out when I was tackled.
"Heh, I guess." I said with a small smile, stowing the cd player into my bag before rurning around to take in my surroundings. The living room area was fairly simple, with the main couch facing the entrance to the apartment while the Tv hung on the wall next to the door. The walls around the room were doted with various photos and memorabilia, but one stuck out to me: a picture of the 4 members of the household. Yang and Ruby seemed to be roughly 6 and 4 respectively in this picture, the blonde giving the camera a toothy grin while Ruby was being held up by...an older Ruby? The woman in the picture was a near carbon copy of Ruby, only with longer hair that reached past her shoulders. My mind was further blown when I noticed the man in the photo was pretty much a guy version of Yang with shorter hair and blue eyes instead of lilac.
Guess family resemblances run strong here.
I thought with a chuckle. Taking a moment to gaze around the room again, I decided to take a seat at the end of the couch while Ruby played with Zwei and Yang disappeared into the kitchen.
After a few minutes of Ruby and I playing with Zwei, the blonde returned with three plates worth of freshly made chocolate chip cookies. I couldn't stop my mouth from watering at the sight and smell of the pasteries. Ruby seemed to practically teleport to Yang, her eyes shining as Yang handed her Ruby's plate. I wasn't too far behind the emo, however Yang simply held up my plate just out of my reach, much to my confusion.
"Ah, ah, ahhhh." Yang sing songed as she smirked. "First you have a promise to keep."
Shit.