Well, here's another chapter. I barely managed to squeeze this in since my schedule's gotten fairly hectic. Um. That's about all I have to say. Enjoy?

Ruby slipped out of bed early the next morning, quietly getting dressed before heading out the door. A bitter, icy wind was blowing when she got outside, stirring the edges of her jacket and sending her hair flying around her face. Winter seemed to be coming early to Beacon, and Ruby shivered as snowflakes started hitting her exposed skin. She struck off on her usual morning route, her boots hitting the sidewalk as she hurried along towards the dining hall.

Even at this early hour the school's cafe was open, and Ruby stepped inside, grateful to be out of the cold. Apart from the cashier, a slender girl who looked like she needed to be downing a few espressos herself, the place was empty.

"Two cappuccinos to go, please." Ruby said quietly, extending a Lien card.

"Coming right up." The girl replied before yawning loudly. She shambled off and started working the machines, her motions swift and confident despite the heavy bags under her eyes.

Ruby bounced on her feet until her drinks arrived, thanked the girl, and quietly left. By the time she had gotten out enough snow had fallen for it to crunch pleasantly beneath her boots, and Ruby stopped every now and then to trace designs in it with her toe. She enjoyed coming out on these early morning coffee runs, whether to think or to wander or to just be alone.

For the millionth time in the past ten or so hours, Ruby's mind drifted back to Weiss. The way she'd looked when Ruby asked her to kiss her. The way she'd felt against Ruby when she'd leaned forward and in, the way all Ruby wanted to do was drown in her touch.

It was melodramatic and mushy and everything Ruby hated hearing about when she was little. (No, Uncle Qrow, I don't wanna hear about them kissing, I them to stab things! I don't care if the kissing's your favorite!) But she couldn't help herself, couldn't help the churning in her gut every time she knew Weiss was nearby.

Except… Weiss had pulled away. Weiss had looked so disgusted afterwards, sprawled on the floor with her hair messed up and her pretty blue eyes wide and horrified. The thought of her best friend and crush and partner looking at her like that again…

She really wasn't feeling good about this date.

Weiss woke up to someone stroking her hair.

"...Know what I'd do if…" Came Ruby's voice, soft and fuzzed out.

"Don't know what you'd do if what?" Weiss mumbled, cracking her eyes open.

"I don't know what I'd do if we had to go to class today." Ruby replied smoothly. "It's snowing pretty hard. We might actually be stuck in here."

"Coffee?" Weiss said, a note of panic entering her voice.

"Coffee." Ruby repeated. "Don't worry, I went out early."

"It's only seven." Weiss grumbled, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes. "Why would you even be up?"

"Oh, I was just... thinking." Ruby said airily. "Nothing much."

Weiss gave her a faint glare, then snatched up her cappuccino and took a sip. "You're a terrible liar. What were you thinking about?"

"Weiss, don't worry about it." Ruby said, a note of steel entering her tone. "I'm fine."

"I'm too tired to push you." Weiss muttered after a moment. "But don't think we aren't going to discuss it when I'm fully awake."

"Great. I'm gonna check the news." Ruby said, pulling out her Scroll and sprawling on her bed. She bit her lip, tapping through the school's website. "Aaaaand we're canceled. There's already three inches of snow, and they're projecting a foot by this afternoon."

"I can't say I mind much." Weiss said, taking a long sip of her cappuccino. "After all, exams are coming up soon. Some extra time to study is always nice."

"Oh, c'mon. We both know you're gonna get a perfect grade either way."

They were back to polite conversation. It hadn't been this awkward for more than a year, back when Weiss was living like her father was still watching her every mood.

"I've not going to put up with this." Weiss muttered, too quietly for Ruby to hear. She got up, crossed the room, and sat on the far end of Ruby's bed with a thump.

"Uh, Weiss?" Ruby said cautiously.

"Not in the mood."

"Right. I'm guessing if I try to move I die?"

"Exactly."

Ruby paused, chewing on her lip and glancing over. "...Do we need to talk?"

"If you know what the issue is." Weiss replied coldly, opening up some of her notes.

"Okay, fine." Ruby said. "I'm not sure about this thing with your sister. That's what's been bugging me."

"Why not just tell me?"

"Because I don't know what to do! I mean... " Ruby trailed off, looking out the window at the snow. "Okay, on the one hand you care what Winter thinks and so you don't wanna disappoint her. I get that part. But… if you care that much, don't you think you ought to get someone to actually go out with you? Me being a… trophy date for a night just to make you look good doesn't solve anything."

Weiss's stomach lurched. "A trophy?" She whispered.
"Fuck, no, that's not‒"

But Weiss had already slammed the door behind her.

In retrospect, maybe making Ruby leave the room instead would have been a better idea. After all, Weiss wasn't exactly dressed for a blizzard.

Her hair flew in the wind as she stepped through the snow, shivering and rubbing her chest. Her Aura was protecting her from the worst of it, but it didn't make it any less unpleasant, and she was probably going to freeze solid if she didn't get inside soon. A reasonable person would probably go back in. Fortunately, Weiss wasn't in any mood to be reasonable.

"Weiss! Dammit Weiss, it's too cold for me to be out here!" Ruby's voice drifted from around a corner. A moment later she came into view, a thick coat around her shoulders and another clutched in her hand. "Look, if you're gonna be mad at me, at least don't kill yourself doing it."

Weiss managed to stay angry for all of five seconds before snatching the coat and shoving her arms into it. "Y-you're an id-diot." Weiss chattered, her fingers fumbling with the buttons.

"Yeah, well, I'm not the one trying to freeze to death." Ruby said, a lopsided little smile on her face. "Look, if you wanna be mad, how about I stay out here and you go in."

Weiss sighed, a puff of white slipping between her numb lips. "We'll go in together." She said after a moment. "I know you didn't mean it like that. I just…"

"C'mon. I'll make you hot chocolate and we can talk about it inside."

"Okay, serious discussion time. Since apparently we needed to have one yesterday." Ruby said, pulling a chair up in front of Weiss's bed. "We're going on a date."

Weiss nodded, pulling her blanket tighter.

"And we're not really dating."

Weiss nodded again.

"I didn't give this much thought at first." Ruby said slowly, like she was picking each and every word. "And I guess I was being a little bit resentful and… other stuff."

"You had every right to be." Weiss said quietly. "I just assumed you'd do it for me. But it really is awkward, isn't it?" She laughed feebly. "And as I said before, Winter isn't wrong."

Ruby scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, well…"

Weiss suddenly shivered violently. "I really regret storming out." She said, reaching for another blanket. "For multiple reasons."

"Dummy." Ruby said quietly.

"Probably."

"Well, it'll all be over tomorrow." Ruby said lightly. "Things will be back to normal."

"We should do something afterwards to celebrate." Weiss said abruptly. "Winter's only passing through town. We'll have some time afterwards and… lately we haven't been together as much as we usually are. Or it's not just the two of us. I miss hanging out with you."

"Alright, Weiss. We can do that."

"I… think I'm going to do homework now. Do you want to watch a movie sometime later?"

"Yeah." Ruby smiled softly. "Yeah, I'd like that."

It was dark out by the time the movie had finished. Ruby yawned as the credits rolled down the screen, and moved to get off the bed.

"Mmm." Weiss hummed sleepily, her eyes drooping. "No." She had missed this, missed being near Ruby, and she couldn't let the moment end just yet.

"No what?" Ruby whispered, the corners of her mouth twitching. "You'll need to use your words, Weiss."

"Fine. Get back down here before I break your legs." Weiss mumbled.

"I really shouldn't encourage that." Ruby sighed, flopping back down. "But whatever. It's late."

They lay there quietly for a moment.

"Hey Weiss."

"Mmm?"

"What're we gonna tell Winter tomorrow? We never discussed it."

Weiss rolled over, her frozen blue eyes luminous in the dark. "No, we didn't."

Ruby stretched out, her hand absently resting on Weiss's hair. "You'd definitely ask me out." She said at last.

"I thought it would be the other way around." Weiss murmured.

"Nah. I suck at this stuff. Remember that girl from Haven? With the hoverboard?" Ruby giggled. "I remember the weapon but not the person's name. I'm terrible."

"Reese." Weiss replied. "Reese Chloris." Weiss only remember the name because she had hated her, but that didn't probably didn't need to be brought up.

"Thank you. I guess my point was, I didn't get that she liked me back until she straight up pinned me to a wall."

"Whatever happened to her?"

"I dunno. We mostly just wanted to make out."

"...That's a bit more than I wanted to know."

"You are such a prude."

Weiss smacked Ruby's shoulder. "Hey!"

"Ow! And it's true!" Ruby yelped, looking mortally offended.

Weiss sighed. "So I asked you?" She said quietly.

"Yeah, totally."

"Mmm. Where?"

"Um… I don't know. A coffee shop."

"Why a coffee shop?"

"Because I could probably get a lap dance for bringing you those cappuccinos."

"I'm considering hitting you again."

"I'm related to Yang. And Qrow. What do you want from me."

Weiss hit her again. The principle of the thing was important, after all.

"My shoulder's gonna be sore." Ruby muttered mournfully.

"No it isn't. Alright, a coffee shop." Weiss sighed. "I suppose it's as good as anything."

"Ouch, Weiss."

They lay there a little longer.

"...About yesterday." Weiss said at last. "I apologize for kissing you. I didn't mean to‒"

Ruby suddenly sat up, looking down at Weiss with her silver eyes wide. "Wait, what?"

"Yesterday. It was untoward." Weiss repeated, frowning slightly.

"I thought I…" Ruby started laughing helplessly.

"What's so funny!" Weiss demanded.

"I thought I had fucked up!" Ruby giggled. "I spent all day worried I'd made you mad!"

"I…" Weiss scowled. "I can't believe you! Why would you possibly think I was upset!"

"Uh, because you freaked out?" Ruby replied, managing to get control of herself.

"I didn't freak out! I was worried!"

"Well I get that now!" Ruby grinned, scooting closer. "We can't seem to just talk about things lately, can we?"

"I suppose not." Weiss muttered. She paused for a little bit, regarding Ruby intently. When she spoke again, her voice was far too casual. "By the way, do you still think we need to practice… being intimate? Our first time got interrupted after all."

It was a flimsy excuse, and they both knew it. But lying there in the dark, feeling Ruby's breath wash over her face in soft, warm waves, Weiss couldn't think of anything but kissing her.

"Exams are coming up, after all." Ruby said seriously, a smile flickering on her lips.

"Shut up." Weiss said, and grabbed the collar of her shirt.

"Make me." Ruby whispered back.

"I'm sorry, is this one of Blake's trashy romances?"

"Hey, if one of us secretly had a crush on the other then it basically would be." Ruby's voice was light, teasing. It had been a joke, after all. Just a stupid little joke.

Weiss yanked on Ruby's shirt, mashing their lips together. It wasn't tender or exploratory, nothing like their last kiss. Her teeth scraped along Ruby's lip and the other girl whimpered, surprisingly loud in the quiet room. Weiss decided she wouldn't mind hearing that noise forever.

"Fuck, please." Ruby gasped, grabbing Weiss's shoulder and pushing her flat on the bed. Weiss lay there, her breath shallow, as Ruby hovered above her, and unreadable expression hiding in her silver eyes. She placed a finger on Weiss's lips, then trailed it along her jaw and down her throat. She slid it along her collarbone and just under her shirt, stopping slightly above her breasts. Weiss's breath came faster and faster as Ruby repeated the movement with her nail, scratching lightly across Weiss's pale skin.

Then she did it with her tongue. Thinking kind of stopped after that.

Weiss surged upwards, one hand wrapping around the back of Ruby's neck and the other in her hair, pulling her back down. They pressed together, skin on skin, legs wrapped around each other and with Ruby's hair tickling her skin. Weiss left a series of kisses along Ruby's throat, and every time she gasped and moaned Weiss could feel it in her lips.

Eventually, Ruby straddled her, breathing heavily. "Are you enjoying yourself?" She whispered shyly.

Weiss closed her eyes and blushed. "Yes. You're… very pretty. And good at this."

"Oh. " Ruby said quietly.

There was a pause.

"Well… do you think we should stop here? Because we've gotten a little bit past just practicing for your sister."

"I… suppose." Weiss said quietly.

Ruby slid off her to kneel on the bed. Her eyes seemed huge and liquid in the dark, glowing faintly with reflected moonlight as she studied Weiss. "Um. Would you mind if I went to sleep, then?" She whispered. "It's pretty late."

"Oh… of course not." Weiss said hesitantly.

Ruby nodded and quietly slipped away to her own side of the room. Weiss stared at her across the distance, her mind whirling.

Ruby… hadn't wanted to take things further. And with the joke earlier…

She had tried so hard with this. But maybe some things just didn't end well. The words of a song, an old favorite she had learned when she was just a child, flashed through her head.

Mirror… tell me something...

Tell me who's the loneliest of all?

Fanfiction obeys a peculiar kind of logic. Having several years of experience at being a teenager, I can most definitely confirm it is very easy to get into relationships. But somehow, fanfiction has all these rules against people just dating. For once can we have a story about two people who start dating for stupid reasons and end up breaking up and never speaking to each other again?

On second thought, that sounds pretty depressing... maybe this is better. I don't know, I'm too tired to think about this.