Weiss

One week later

"It's algebra, basically," Ruby explained, running a pencil through her hair as she stared at the paper on her desk. "Not like, simple algebra or anything. But you still gotta find the variable you're looking for and isolate it."

"I've been doing that," I tell her, frowning. I don't have any paper in front of me, but I point vaguely towards where I remember writing my answer. "I isolated all the variables I could, but I still can't get the answer. "

Ruby hums softly, her eyes narrowing in focus. "The answer might include variables, you know."

I shake my head. "Can't be. It's asking for a numeric answer."

"Huh."

Ruby stares at the paper for another few seconds before her eyes light up.

"Okay, I see. This is a complicated one." She scoots her chair closer and lays the paper down on the bed, her finger atop my equation. "You need to rearrange the formula a couple of times, and then kinda smoosh them all together so you can reduce the number of variables."

"I did that."

"Yeah, you did, but, um…" Ruby points at a scribbled fraction near the end of my work. "This is supposed to be C2, not C3."

I stare at her for a moment before shaking my head. "Fuck."

"It's not that bad."

"I spent six hours freaking out over that equation," I say, sighing. "I stayed up until midnight trying to get it to work."

"You did what."

"And you're telling me I couldn't do it because I miswrote a three?"

"A two," Ruby corrects, quietly.

"Aghhhhhh!" I fall backwards onto the bed, squeezing my eyes shut until they almost ache. "I am such an idiot."

"You're not an idiot," Ruby coos, running her fingers through my hair. "You made a mistake. It happens."

I open my eyes and glare at her. "To other people. I have to be better than that. I can't just—"

"Weiss," Ruby says, suddenly very firm. "It was a mistake. That's all."

I stop and breathe, letting the noise in my head die down. It's quieter than usual, and after a few minutes, I remember where I am. Who I'm with.

"Right," I say, sighing again. I sit up, giving Ruby a soft smile. "I won't."

"Good," Ruby says, leaning back in her chair. "Now, to the next question!"

I laugh. "That was it, actually. We already covered most of the ones I wanted to talk about, and the rest are…" I scrunch up my face. "Well, I'm not that helpless."

"Never said you were," Ruby says, leaning back in her chair and stretching. "That was a lot of questions, though. And some really tricky ones." She eyes me. "Miss Goodwitch assigned those?"

"Um, not exactly…" I admit, coughing. "I might have, well, went to the library and… found some more."

Ruby shakes her head. "Of course you did."

"Hey!"

Ruby laughs, scooting even closer as she does so until she can throw an arm over my shoulder and pull me into a one-armed hug. "Only you would finish your assignments early and decide you needed more work."

"Excuse me if I wanted to be prepared," I say, crossing my arms and pouting.

And then Ruby leans in, resting her head on my shoulder. "I think it's cute."

My face burns. "Ruby."

"What?" She pulls herself off the chair and onto the bed, all but sitting on my lap. "I mean it."

"You... you…" God, it's hard to talk. "Y-you can't just say that!"

"Why not?" Ruby asks, her breath brushing over my skin. "Why can't I tell my adorable girlfriend how cute she is when she's working hard on something?"

A check-in. A follow-up. Sarcasm with sincerity hiding in the background.

I swallow, focusing hard on my breathing for a few seconds. "Because… your girlfriend… wants to study English with you now."

Ruby groans, falling face-first into my shoulder. "Weiss, no!"

"Weiss, yes." I tap her on the head with some paper. "Come on, you need to study too."

"I don't want to study," Ruby whines. "I want to cuddle."

God, she's cute.

"Well…" I bite my lip and hope she can't feel my blush. (She can. She's told me so numerous times) "We could do both?"

Ruby gasps, pulling back and staring like I just told her the cure for cancer. "You're the best."

She jumps off (something which I do not pout over), and walks over to her backroom. She rummages through it for a few minutes before pulling out a thick, scruffy-looking binder. She skips back to the bed and jumps onto it, worming her way under my arms until I'm practically hugging her.

And then I just start hugging her.

"I'm ready," Ruby says, voice muffled somewhat by my sleeve. Just in case I didn't understand it, she holds her book up. "We can start now."

"We could," I admit, drawing Ruby closer. "But I'd have to grab my book."

Ruby blinks. "And?"

I squeeze her tightly. "And that would mean letting go of you, which isn't something I would particularly like to do right now."

Ruby blinks a few more times, and then smiles. "You're being cute again."

"Excuse me, I am not cute," I say, poking Ruby in the nose. "I'm beautiful. You're the cute one."

"Can't argue with that," Ruby replies, and then pushes herself upwards, moving closer until her lips meet mine.

Some of the novelty has worn off, admittedly. Kissing Ruby is not as explosive as it once was, nor as life-changing. But it's warmth and courage, and the distillation of every sense I have into one singular moment, stretched out across the seconds until finally, regretfully, one of us has to part.

"You're still cute," Ruby says, a blush reaching to the tips of her ears.

I laugh, softly, out of habit, or out of a lack of a response, lips still buzzing and my heart dancing, when I hear the floor creak.

Within a second, Ruby's pulls herself away, book spread out across her lap in a display that, if one did not look too closely, could pass as an attempt at studying. It takes me longer, but by the time Yang pokes her head around Ruby's door, we appear to be nothing more than two friends studying for school.

"Hey, Ruby," Yang says. "Dad says supper's almost ready. You should go wash up."

"I will! Just give us a minute to clean up," Ruby replies.

"Okay." Yang looks at me for a moment, but remains silent, and backs out of the room shortly after.

"I guess that's my cue to leave," I say, standing and beginning to pack my bag.

Ruby stands, grabbing onto my hand. "You don't have to," she says, squeezing. "It's fine if you want to stay."

"I—I'd like to, but…" I sigh. "I have a meeting with Dr. Newall tonight."

"Oh."

"Next time," I say, but for once, Ruby is too distracted to respond. "Ruby?"

"Next time, yeah." She shakes herself out of wherever she went and fixes me with a piercing gaze. "You're still going back to school tomorrow, right?"

I nod. "Suspension ended on Friday, so, yes. First day back."

Ruby shuffles her feet. "…Are you still okay with meeting my friends?"

"Not as girlfriends," I say, quickly, and at Ruby's answering nod, relax slightly. "But yes. Of course I am."

"Good." Ruby steps closer and gives me a kiss on the cheek. "They'll love you, Weiss. I promise. And when you decide you wanna tell them about us—"

"If," I correct.

"When you wanna tell them…" Ruby gives me a smile. "They'll love you just as much."

Realistically, it's an empty promise. Ruby can no more guarantee that than she can control the sun. There is a reason, after all, Yang and Blake have not told them about their relationship.

But it's Ruby, here, and it'll be Ruby then, so for the moment I can set reality aside, kiss her goodbye, and dare to hope.

It's almost feels familiar now.