Thank you all so much for your patience in awaiting the updates to this story! It's been a pleasure to write and share with you all!

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Chapter 13. Newfound Courage

To say that Blake was impatient for noon to come around today was an understatement.

Usually, she'd be eager to get to have her time with Ruby, but today...

Today would be the first time when they'd do so as more than friends.

The word "girlfriends" still sounded so odd to her, and she could scarcely believe they had actually achieved that title. They'd gone from a nervous, flustered pair of book-loving, gabby friends to a jittery, excited pair of book-loving girlfriends.

It was a rather big leap from just having been friends only yesterday, and Blake knew it would take some getting used to. Going from strangers to acquaintances to friends had been delicate enough of a process; she'd done that before with people like Adam and Velvet.

But Blake had no idea how the transition from friends to girlfriends should go.

As she sat in her chair and flipped through the pages of her current book, Blake managed to concentrate for a while and enjoy her reading.

However, as per usual, when it neared Ruby's lunch hour, and now with that being half an hour earlier, she was looking up expectantly for that flash of red on the staircase.

Ruby was very timely about getting off her shift. Blake heard the thumps of her boots from above, and knew it was Ruby by the way she was skipping a few steps at a time in her excitement. She held onto the railing once she reached the ground-level and used it to help spin herself around to face Blake. Ruby all but skipped over to her, grinning so much Blake knew her cheeks must have ached. She herself could relate.

"Hi, Blake!" Ruby chirped, bouncing in place. "I'm here early~!"

"Hi. And yes, I can see that," she teased. Joking around lightheartedly had never been something Blake was good at in school. But as was true with many things ever since they'd gotten closer, with Ruby anything seemed possible and almost stress-free for Blake.

Ruby chuckled a little at her joke, and Blake felt a purr roll into her chest. "So," she said. "Would you like to head over to get lunch early?" Blake was about to close her book and start packing her things away, but to her surprise, Ruby shook her head.

"Nah, not yet. I've got another idea in mind!"

Blake tilted her head and flicked an ear curiously.

"Do tell."

"Well~" Ruby hummed. "I was thinking... if you'd want, maybe we could... read together for a little while?"

Blake blinked in surprise, delight curling through her stomach like a warm sip of tea.

"Of course. That sounds very nice. Where would you like to go?" She looked around the ground-level area in search of a vacant couch for them to sit at.

But Ruby pointedly stepped in front of her to block her view.

"That's okay! We don't have to go anywhere, Blake! How about we just stay right here?"

"Really?" But as she looked down at her usual armchair and realized just how much extra space there was, she could see the merit in Ruby's request. "Well, sure. I guess that could work."

"U-Unless it's too close and you'd be uncomfortable!" Ruby put in quickly. "If it'd be better, we could find a couch-"

"No, it's alright with me," Blake assured her quietly.

Yesterday evening in the hospital had been Blake's first time ever being so close to someone for such an extended period of time. She'd hugged her parents and Adam and Velvet closely before, but she'd never held someone like she'd held Ruby, with a fond tenderness, a different kind of love.

And she'd never held on for so long, either.

Blake remembered just how much she'd enjoyed it, and something told her Ruby could, too.

And since their little spot was hidden by the staircase and a few bookshelves, it would be difficult for onlookers to see them. They'd have plenty of privacy.

Blake could see the eager little spark in Ruby's eyes, and she felt it flicker in her own stomach as well.

Blake moved aside a little to make some space for Ruby. The brunette squished herself into the spot between Blake and the arm of the love-seat and wiggled her hips.

"Mmnn... It's a little squished, but this could work!" She leaned sideways towards Blake and rested her chin on the Faunus girl's shoulder. "Sooo, what'cha readin'?"

"I was reading the one you got for me, but I'm halfway into that one now. How about we start a new one together?"

"Sounds great!"

Blake pawed through her handbag before she extracted another fairytale collection book. Ruby got excited instantly when she saw what the selection was. She huddled close to Blake and peered over her arm, trying to get comfortable.

Blake opened the front page and held it open so the both of them could read. She kept flashing her eyes sideways to ensure the eager girl had finished the page before Blake flipped it.

But after only a few minutes, Blake's side was starting to get a little numb, and she imagined the same was true for Ruby. So she made a daring move to slip her arm around the brunette's back, eliminating a bit of the excess space between them.

Ruby didn't protest, but rather she gave a happy squeak of a sound and cuddled up right away, resting her head on the front of Blake's shoulder. She hugged Blake's stomach lightly as they read, and it wasn't long before a gentle purr started filling her ears.

It took them a few minutes, but they built up a pattern of sorts. It seemed they both read at about the same pace, so Blake always turned the page at the perfect time.

She found it funny how they would both subtly tense up and cling to one another at a particularly suspenseful part, and how they'd sigh in relief when it was over.

After about ten minutes, they'd finished one fairytale and both took a break to rub their eyes.

"Did you like it?" Blake wondered.

"Yeah, a lot!" Ruby nodded, bouncing a little. "I'm glad she didn't stab the prince at the end! But I'm kinda sad she died..."

"But she's got a new journey to set off on now, right?" Blake reasoned. "She can go around as a spirit helping children."

"Yeah, you're right!"

With a sigh, Ruby leaned into Blake for a moment. They'd shifted about in their reading so that she was essentially sitting in the Faunus girl's lap now, but neither seemed to mind.

Ruby turned herself a little sideways and kissed Blake's cheek sweetly, then ducked her head down to her chest. Ruby listened to Blake's happy purr, and just beneath it, her heartbeat was thumping quietly.

Blake rested her chin gently upon the girl's head and hugged her softly.

For a moment, they were both just silent, breathing in each other's scents along with the scents of books and coffee. Ruby hummed to herself and cuddled ever closer.

"Mmm, Blake... you're so warm..."

"I could say the same."

Blake loved this. She simply loved it. Now she was in her favorite place, doing her favorite thing, with her favorite person. She couldn't ever ask for more.

Her heart was soaring, and she knew Ruby could hear it, her purr louder than it'd ever been before. She almost worried she was being too loud and might disturb some other patrons, but no such thing ever happened.

Blake closed her eyes for a few moments and enjoyed Ruby's company, feeling her soft hair against her cheeks, her ginger, loose embrace.

Ruby was still being careful about Blake's burns, and she was grateful for that. Blake longed for the day when she'd be able to hug Ruby as tightly as possible once they'd healed completely.

It was something else to look forward to, just one of many, many things.

Before long, Blake noticed Ruby had grown silent, and when she looked down, the girl was undoubtedly asleep in her lap. Using Blake's chest as her pillow, Ruby snored softly, innocently, with an adorable blush on her cheeks.

Blake couldn't help but kiss the side of her face and cradle her closer.

She held Ruby securely with one arm, and grasped her book in the opposite hand to read for a while longer. Blake knew this was as close to paradise as she'd ever get.

When it was almost 12:30, she closed her book and decided it was almost time to wake Ruby for their lunch.

But... perhaps not just yet.

Blake placed her book on the small wooden table next to her, then focused her full attention on the sleeping girl in her arms.

A sudden swell of emotion took hold of Blake. It stung a little, but for the most part it was warm and gentle, like a small, lapping wave. She whispered to her softly, and caressed Ruby's hair as she did so.

"Thank you so much for finding me all those weeks ago," she murmured. "For holding onto my book for me. For talking to me. You made me more confident in myself, and I never thought that could happen.

"Thank you for not getting... annoyed or exasperated with my weird habits. I know I get emotional and it's not normal sometimes, a-and I know I'm reclusive and moody and aloof and anti-social... But you never ridiculed me for any of those things. You never made fun of me."

She paused for a moment to fend off a few tears, refusing to let her affectionate smile turn into a frown. She inhaled deeply to get control of herself; she didn't want to be crying when Ruby woke up. Blake tucked her face into Ruby's hair and went on in a low whisper.

"Thank you for talking to me about the things no one else in my life ever really understood. The days I had with you were some of the best of my life. Thank you for eating lunch with me every day, and for being my friend. For teaching me that... sometimes even good things can be difficult, but... you can get through them. Thank you for treating me so kindly. Thank you for caring."

The words just kept spilling out. Blake couldn't help but hug her, threading her fingers through Ruby's hair and kissing her temple. The girl was still in her arms, presumably still asleep.

But a little moan on her part was soon followed by a yawn.

Blake straightened her posture, letting Ruby move and wake up however was the most comfortable for her. Blake didn't speak, and part of her mind had to wonder if Ruby had been conscious to hear any of her little speech.

But if she had, Ruby showed no signs of it in her tired expression as she wiped her eyes.

Blake knew she'd need some time before she'd be able to tell Ruby all of those things directly, but now she knew she could go at her own pace with these things. Ruby would always be there to listen.

As the brunette let out another yawn, she stretched her legs slightly and pulled herself away from Blake a little.

"Mmn... Blake? I fell asleep... cuz you were so nice and warm, heh."

Blake smiled.

"Yes. But it's still your lunch break, so you won't get in trouble. But now that you're awake, why don't we get something to eat?"

Ruby's growling stomach answered for her, and both girls laughed.

"Sounds good to me!" Ruby beamed.

She slid herself off Blake's lap and stretched her arms and legs a bit, then helped the Faunus girl up as well. As Blake shook the numbness away and gathered her bag, she heard more footsteps coming down the stairs. Even Ruby was surprised to see Weiss and Yang down here, but the pair seemed to know exactly what they wanted.

"Heya!" Yang called over to them loudly – a little too loudly – and Weiss jabbed her in the side with a hiss.

"Hush, you oaf! We're still in a library! They can see you!"

"Oh... yeah." As Yang rubbed her aching side, Weiss grabbed her by the arm and led her over to Ruby and Blake.

"Hi, Weiss!" Ruby greeted her. "What are you guys doing here?"

The white-haired girl lifted her chin importantly and smiled.

"Yang and I were just wondering if it'd be alright if we joined you two for lunch today." Her eyes went to Blake. "I'd like to get to know you a bit better, if that's alright. I've only ever heard things about you through other parties."

Blake flicked her ears and dipped her head to the girl.

"I'd... like to get to know you a bit better as well. You and Yang."

The blonde girl had already recovered from her girlfriend's jibe and put on her trademark grin.

"Awesome! This can be our first double-date!"

Even though Ruby and Blake had already more or less thought of their lunches together as "dates", hearing someone else say it made them both blush.

Yang laughed out loud, but quickly lowered her guffaw into a chuckle when she caught a glare from Weiss.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh. You two are just so cute."

"Y-Yaaang!" Ruby whined and swatted at her, but her older sister put a hand on her forehead to keep her back.

"My lil' sis is all grown up~"

"Yang, shut it!"

As the two sisters squabbled, their girlfriends shared an amused glance with one another. Weiss put a hand on Blake's shoulder and offered a bit of advice.

"Just get used to this now," she advised. "It's a daily occurrence. Perhaps even hourly. Or minutely..."

Blake smiled comfortably.

"I think I'm already used to it."

The sisters squabbled for a moment longer until Weiss broke things up. She grabbed Yang's ear and pulled her away, scolding her.

"My goodness, you are such a loudmouth!" she hissed.

She then proceeded to cut off Yang's defensive comment with a chiding kiss. Yang easily forgot her quarrel and kissed back.

Ruby snorted and leaned up to whisper something to Blake.

"Weiss is like a lion charmer. She knows just what to do with Yang."

Blake nodded, blushing faintly.

As the more experienced couple had their moment, Blake turned to Ruby and opened her arms. Her girlfriend took the cue and looped her arms around Blake's neck, and the taller of the two dipped herself down to kiss her. Ruby giggled, and it transferred a ticklish vibration onto Blake's lips, making her purr a bit choppy with a laugh of her own.

After a moment, the couples parted and were satisfied with the ensuing silence.

Weiss led the way towards the cafe, keeping a firm grip on Yang's hand. Yang swung their arms back and forth just for fun, and Weiss sighed heavily as her shoulder got looser and looser from its socket. Ruby clung to Blake's arm happily as they followed, but halfway to the cafe, she changed her mind and decided to hold onto Blake's hand as well.

As soon as the four of them got on line, they were greeted by another familiar pair.

"Well, well, well!" Coco said, pulling down her shades. "Look what we have here! Two pairs of lovebirds today, huh?"

"Coco, hush!" Velvet put a hand to her own girlfriend's mouth and gave her customers an apologetic smile. "Sorry about her. How are you all doing today!"

"Very well, thank y-"

"We're doing awesome!" Yang declared, cutting off Weiss' polite greeting. Weiss flicked her nose and squeezed her hand a little too hard.

Blake and Ruby responded rather excitedly today.

"Hi, Velvet," Blake purred. "We're doing well."

"Super well!" Ruby added.

"I'm so glad to hear that!" Velvet sang, finally releasing Coco. "What can I get for you all?"

Blake ordered her tea, a tuna sandwich, and even a blueberry muffin today. Ruby ordered her usual milkshake and treats, though Weiss insisted she also get a sandwich and a bit of fruit. Weiss herself ordered a fruit salad and some water, while Yang asked for a sub sandwich.

Once all of their orders were ready, the girls took them to a table as Velvet wished them well.

The quartet sat down together in their respective pairs on either side of the table.

Blake had never had a double-date before, but she wasn't even feeling the slightest bit anxious with these people.

She had to admit she never thought she'd like Yang after the first incident. But now that she'd gotten to know her a little better, Blake knew Ruby's sister was a very caring, supportive person, if not a bit wild sometimes. But Weiss canceled her out and kept her in line when it was necessary.

As their lunch date commenced, Blake learned that Weiss was a rather refined girl with a strict schedule to attend to. But Yang's presence allowed Weiss to take it easy and learn to be flexible. All in all, they were a very good match by any means.

As Blake sipped her tea and took a few bites of her sandwich, she listened to Ruby speak excitedly to them, mostly about her books. Though the others listened and were interested, Blake was the one who replied and connected with her the most with a few small comments.

She didn't think she'd be able to laugh in front of Weiss and Yang as easily as she did with Ruby alone. But before even ten minutes had passed, Blake found herself slouching back in her seat from laughing so loudly.

Yang would tell jokes – sometimes good, and sometimes horribly bad. If Blake didn't laugh from those, she'd laugh at Weiss' deadpanned reaction. If that didn't do the trick, simply the sound of Ruby's laughter never failed to make her smile.

Blake got easily comfortable with them, her piece of the puzzle slipping in and fitting rather perfectly.

She'd never known how simple it could be.

She'd never made an effort before – she'd never had a reason to.

But now she had this.

She had a newfound courage in herself.

She had all of them.

She had Ruby.

It had all started with Ruby.

They laughed and chatted the hour away, until Yang had crumpled up her last napkin, Weiss had finished her final piece of apple, Ruby had wiped the last cookie crumb from her lip, and Blake had taken her last sip of tea. It was her own girlfriend who let out a long sigh, knowing she'd have to get back to her job.

"Gotta get going soon," she said, smiling. "But I love my job~ It's the best job ever! Especially now that I can work both floors and see all of you guys all the time~!" She gave Blake a gleeful hug and got a kiss in return.

"I'm glad you have this job," she murmured. "Or else I might not have met you."

Yang let out a small, touched cry of delight when she heard Blake say that, and even Weiss smiled.

Blake was a little bashful, but she didn't mind them anymore. She kissed Ruby's nose and purred for her.

But she couldn't help thinking ahead to the future, and that made her frown, releasing a heavy sigh.

Ruby sensed something had changed and she peered up curiously.

"Blake? What's the matter?"

Blake's ears drooped a little; she didn't want to be bringing the negative thoughts here. Not when they'd all been so happy until now.

But she'd already put one foot in her grave, and the other girls were looking at her for answers. She looked down at her empty tea cup and spoke softly.

"This is how it is during the summer... but what about when school starts again? I always managed to make it here in the past even with high school... but I'll be starting college this fall. I don't want to sacrifice the library or any of you guys for that..." She felt her heart sink just at the thought of it.

But Ruby was shaking her head vigorously.

"No, no, it's okay, Blake! We'll still have our phones and we can see each other on weekends and holidays and stuff! Promise!"

She felt a little better hearing that, but Blake was still miffed that things wouldn't be quite the same.

"That's true..."

The others could tell she was still downtrodden, so Yang cut in gently.

"If you don't mind my asking, where are you going to school, Blake?"

"...Vale University."

"Oh!"

"Perfect!"

Yang and Weiss both spoke together and smiled. Blake looked up at them curiously, and Weiss explained.

"You see, that's where-"

"Weiss and I are going!" Yang finished for her. "That's actually where we met! And it's not far at all~! We'll find you on campus every day we can and whenever we need to do work and stuff, we can all just come here! There's no dorms there, so that means we'll all be living at home still, anyway, right?"

"Yes," Weiss affirmed. "While we might not be able to have every day off to come here, Ruby will be in school during the day anyway. I'm sure we'll all have some evenings free to come here together, right?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Ruby added. "I'll just be working here part-time in the evenings, but I'll still be here every day, and on the weekends, too! So we'll still all get to see each other plenty! It'll be fun!"

Until now, Blake had been worried about starting college. She hadn't wanted to be an outcast there too, without friends to talk to or things to look forward to other than going home.

But with what Yang, Weiss, and Ruby had told her... things weren't seeming so bad.

In fact, they were looking up.

Her ears lifted, as did her spirits. Their promises made her chest feel warm again, and another purr slipped out.

"That... does sound rather fun."

The others smiled. Ruby hugged her again.

"There, now," Weiss said. "No need to fret."

"Yeah, don't think about school yet!" Yang told her. "We've still got a month of summer left!"

"Which means a whooole month left of lunch-dates and stuff!" Ruby exclaimed. "And on my days off maybe we can go to the movies or the zoo or something! There's so much we can doooo~! We gotta do everything!"

"Whoa, slow down there, Rubes," Yang laughed. "One day at a time."

Ruby sighed happily and snuggled up to Blake again.

At that time, Weiss roused Yang so they could throw out the garbage and take back the trays and cups, purposefully giving the new pair some time alone.

Blake enjoyed Weiss' and Yang's company, and she didn't think she'd mind having lunch with them every day.

But her favorite time would always be the half hour beforehand when she was alone with Ruby.

And times like now.

Ruby pulled her down gently for a kiss, and Blake pressed her hands to the girl's back to draw her in closer. Again, it ended in giggles and purrs.

When Ruby pulled away, Blake's ears caught sound of a small whisper from her.

"You're welcome~"

Blake wasn't quite sure she'd heard.

"Sorry, come again?"

"Nothing~" Ruby smiled, pecking her cheek. "Just happy to be here~"

Blake kissed the bridge of her nose.

"Me, too."

Together, they stood and walked back towards the library with Weiss and Yang.

As Blake looked around at them all, she smiled.

Yang was a prankster, but she was very supportive.

Weiss was a bit uptight, but very caring.

And Ruby...

Ruby was just perfect.

Three years ago, before this library existed, Blake never thought she'd ever be able to make friends.

And now...

Now she had a new family.

She couldn't wait to see all the things she'd get to experience with them all.

The old chapters of her book had come to an end. Now, she was beginning a new book, one she already liked much better. She had new confidence in herself, new friends to confide in, and new people to love.

Ruby spun around to face her and wished her a temporary goodbye, promising to see her again soon. She sealed that promise with another kiss.

Blake smiled, and kissed her back.

She couldn't wait to see what else was in store for her here, at the library.

A/N: After so many chapters spread out over so many months, that is a wrap, my friends! Thank you all so much for sticking with me till the end!

If you like my work, you can support me on P-a-t-r-e-o-n as Kiria Alice!

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