Chapter 18

Weiss stares at the car as it disappears until Cinder taps Weiss' shoulders, getting the white-haired girl's attention.

"Come on, let's head over to the mall." Cinder says as she makes her way to her car.

"Okay." Weiss replies quietly as she follows Cinder to her fire red Audi.

The drive itself was quiet, as Weiss didn't know what topic to start with. After all, this was only the second time she and Cinder have actually been alone. Cinder stops at a red light and sighs.

"Did he tell you?" Cinder suddenly asks. Weiss looks at Cinder and sees this is a serious question.

"Tell me what?" Weiss replies, a bit confused.

"About us, or about what happened to him in the past." she asks as she looks Weiss directly in the eyes. It's clear that Cinder isn't asking as a joke, that it is really important to her.

Shaking her head, Weiss looks back at her. "No, he didn't." she replies.

Cinder nods and continues to drive once the light turns green. Weiss wants to know, but she doesn't want to force Rouvin into telling her either. She had decided to give him the decision on when and how he's going to tell her when he was ready is all.

But here is a perfect opportunity to hear what happened and about their relationship, and without losing his trust.

"How did you meet him?" Is the first question that comes to mind.

Humming, Cinder smiles sadly. "Through some unfortunate Circumstances. It's already been five years now, and it was at a point of time his life was starting to get miserable."

The rest of the drive is quiet. Weiss is lost in pondering what Cinder told her, and Cinder just observing her a bit.

She knows that Weiss is good for Rouvin, but she just wants to make sure that she won't hurt him. After all, it's her duty as his best friend and ex-girlfriend.

Just remembering what happened back then hurt her. Rouvin was so cheerful, approachable and adorable back then. Sure, the first time she really got to talk to him was back during the incident, but she had seen Rouvin even before it all happened, he was the school's track star and pianist. And everything was blown into the winds thanks to what happened.

As they reach the mall, Cinder parks at her usual spot and gets out.

"Rouvin and I hang out here often." Cinder tells Weiss as she gets out of the car and looks around. "Everyone here knows Rouvin, and they treat him very well."

"I can never remember seeing either of you here whenever I come to the mall." Weiss replies absentmindedly as they enter through the wide double doors.

Cinder just smiles as she turns in the direction of the food court. "So, are you hungry?" she asked while looking over to the white haired girl as she makes her way towards the pizza place.

Weiss simply nods as she looks around. Even though she has been to the mall hundreds of times over the years with Blake and all of her own friends, knowing that this was one of Rouvin's favorite hang outs, and that the people here like him suddenly makes the entire building appear in a whole new light.

As they enter the pizza place, Cinder casually makes her way to a table, Weiss following closely behind. "Rouvin loves cookie dough pizza with cheese and pepperoni." Weiss smiles and nods.

"Of course! Cookies go with everything!" Weiss mimics, causing both young women to laugh.

As they continue to talk, a waitress approaches them. Cinder looks at the waitress and smiled. "Hey Cassy." Cinder greets her warmly.

"Cinder." Cassy replies as she looks at Weiss. "You're with someone new. Rouvin's not with you today?"

"Sadly no. He has an audition for college." Cinder replies with a small smile.

"Oh." Cassy answers, a clear look of disappointment on her face. "What can I get for you today?"

Cinder states their order as Cassy writes it down in her order book, then heads to the counter. Weiss looks at Cassy then at Cinder.

"Was it just me, or did she look disappointed when you said Rouvin wasn't with us." Weiss asks curiously.

Cinder snickers. "You have very good girlfriend instincts." She comments, making Weiss raise an eyebrow. "She's had a crush on Rouvin for a while now."

This catches Weiss' attention. Turning her head, she sees Cassy looking at her intently. After a minute Weiss looks back at Cinder. "She has now? Why hasn't she asked him out yet?"

"She did." Cinder answers in an instant. "He just wasn't interested."

"Not interested?"

Cinder nods. "After what happened during middle school, I'm amazed he opened up to you."

Weiss looks down to the floor. Sure he's opened up to her lately, but he still hasn't told her what happened back then. Cinder, she's one of the few that knows the truth. Taking a deep breath, she looks up to Cinder. "Could you tell me what happened?" Weiss asks.

Sighing, Cinder gives Weiss a look. "You really want to know what happened?"

Determined to finally know why her boyfriend had to suffer so much, Weiss nods. "Yes."

"Well it'll probably surprise you, but there was a time when Rouvin was popular in school." Smiling at the memories, she starts to talk. "We were still in middle school and he was the star of the track team, as well as a well known pianist. He was always happy and approachable, as well as ready and willing to help everyone who needed help." Cinder pauses before she smiles widely. "I was still new at the school, but I have to admit I had a crush on him back then."

Weiss expected Cinder to start with so many things, but she has to admit she is honestly surprised at how different her boyfriend had been just 5 years ago.

"What happened to change him so much?" Weiss asks curiously.

Cinder takes a deep breath, then looks at Weiss. "It started when he was heading home from track one day at the beginning of our last year in middle school. He usually took another way, but that day he used the same route as I normally do, so we started to talk to past time. Just as we started to walk past an alleyway on the route, we heard screaming and laughter. Rouvin didn't hesitate to run in to where the voices were coming from, and I followed him. When we got there, we saw five boys. Four of them were stomping and kicking on a young boy on the ground. The younger boy was crying and screaming in pain as the other four continue to kick him." Cinder sighs as she stops to take a sip of her drink that Cassy had already brought them before continuing.

"Rouvin intervened. He pulled all four boys away from the younger one. I went in and got the boy out of there. And in that brief moment that I was gone just to get that boy to safety, I came back to see Rouvin on the ground beaten to a pulp. Ever since, bad luck and trouble have just kept following him. He got kicked off the track team, almost all of his friends abandoned him. Slowly, I watched the happiest person I've ever met come crashing down." Cinder goes silent at that point, as if she is lost in the memories of it all.

Weiss sat there looking at Cinder in shock. "That's horrible! And all that happened just because of one fight?"

Shaking her head Cinder sighs before continuing. "It wasn't just one fight. He kept getting in more. Those guys who were there at the first one kept provoking him, or did something to drag him in. He even got in a fight during a ceremony in honor of his father's commanding officer." Cinder stops to take another sip of her drink. "Which is also the reason he's so strict with him. He saw it as disrespectful to himself and his men, in front of his higher ups. There was also this one incident at the end of middle school, where there was a fire in one of the chem labs, and Rouvin was coincidentally there at the same time when it broke out. He was blamed for it and his parents had to pay for all the property damage done. Since then, Summer has stopped trusting his decisions and him generally. "

Weiss sits in a state of shock still as she processes this new information. Everything suddenly makes so much sense. Why Rouvin is treated so harshly at home, how he got his reputation as a delinquent, as well as why he doesn't trust very many people.

"The only positive thing was that we got closer, and well… became a couple."

Once again Cinder gets Weiss's attention "Why did you break up again?"

Cinder giggles as she looks at the white haired girl. "Well well, someone is certainly curious today. But that has to be a story for another time."

Wanting to protest, Weiss gets interrupted by Cassy, who brings them their food as well as a refill for Cinder. But Weiss feels a growing resolve to find out the truth as to why Cinder and Rouvin broke apart, even as she scrambles to keep her food from spilling into her lap from Cassy almost tossing it her, a look of jealousy on her face.

Jacques walks out of the elevator and looks around. Not much of the waiting area has changed since the last time he was at Summer's offices. The walls are still painted in tasteful tones of reds, burgundies and whites to match the rosewood furniture arraigned in small seating groups. Against the wall opposite the elevators is a waterfall sculpture carved in the shape of a rose and made of rose quartz. Inside the flower itself a flame seems to burn. Jacques smiles at the sight, knowing Willow was the one that gave Summer the idea for it years before, back when things were still good between both companies.

But that is the past, and this is now. Squaring his shoulders, he approaches the woman sitting at the front desk. He smiles at down at her as she looks up from her work.

"Welcome to the executives floor of the Rose Enterprise. How may I help you today?" She greets him rather warmly.

"Yes, I have an appointment with Mrs. Rose." Jacques replies. "I'm here to discuss the partnership proposal with the Schnee Company." The woman nods politely as she pulls out a folder to double check.

"Aah, yes." she says as she looks back up to him. "Please take a seat. I'll inform Mrs. Rose." Jacques nodded and sits down, surprised at how comfortable the seat is.

He didn't have long to wait when Summer comes out of her office to greet him. "Jacques, it's good to see you."

Standing up he takes her offered hand in a handshake. "Indeed, the last time could have been under better circumstances"

Summer just nods at that as they both make their way to her office. The talks about the partnership take about two hours until they reach a satisfactory agreement, and after they finished they sat and talked over a good cup of coffee and some cookies.

"So what made you change your mind Jacques." Summer asked as she sets her cup down and looks directly at him curiously. Considering she offered the partnership during the recent party and Jacques wasn't in the least bit interested when she offered it to him, she was truly surprised at his sudden change of heart.

"Rouvin." Jacques answers simply, catching Summer off guard. She never would have thought that her son would become a reason for anything positive in regard to the Company he will inherit.

"Rouvin?" Summer repeats. "What do you mean?"

Jacques chuckles. "Rouvin Rose, your son, is very amusing. Watching him work on a project with Weiss and seeing how smart and passionate he is in his work leads me to believe that Rose Enterprises will have a bright future indeed." He responds as he sips his coffee. "He is also a very talented pianist. When did he start playing the piano?"

Summer stays quiet for a bit until she realizes the question was for her, causing her to snap out of her thoughts. "4. He was 4 years old when he started playing."

Jacques nods. "I must say, he's come a long way. I love his original compositions..." Summer freezes. Original compositions? She didn't even know of those.

Rouvin had distanced himself so much that she's missing so much about him now. As Jacques continues to talk and praise her son. Right now, Jacques sounds alot like Tai in the past, praising and talking about his children. Right now, Summer feels even less than a mother to Rouvin more than ever, knowing that she knows less about her own son than the man talking in front of her.

"Rouvin changed your mind?" She asks quietly.

"Indeed he did. A wonderful young man!" Jacques tells her once again as he begins to discuss him once more.

As seconds turn to minutes and minutes to an hour, Summer is once again pulled from her thoughts when Jacques calls out to her.

"Yes?" she answers as she shakes her head gently.

"I need to leave now. I have another meeting to attend to." Jacques comments as he stands. "It was nice talking to you again Summer."

"Likewise." she replies as Jacques takes his leave. Summer waits until she is sure he is gone before placing both her hands on her face. Rouvin has grown so much, and she hasn't been there to see it, but other people have.

Later at night, Summer sits in front of her desk, various papers and objects strewn about. She still hasn't gone home yet, or even paid attention to the expense reports now in her hands. Instead, her mind keeps replaying everything Jacques had told her about her own son. Placing down the papers on her desk, she looks at her phone, hesitating before reaching for it and dialing a very familiar number. She waits for a while until someone picks up the phone.

"The Qrow Bar!" A woman's voice answers.

"I need to speak to Qrow please." Summer tells the voice on the other side of the line.

"Yeah, hold on." Summer smiles a bit as she listens to the woman suddenly yell. "Hey, you got a call old man!" Before the line goes silent once more.

"Hello." the deep hoarse voice greets a few moments later.

"Qrow, its Summer." She replies, her smile now gone.

"Ohh, what's up Sum. Whatcha need?"

"Well I am calling because of Rouvin. He's already been at your place for over a month now, and I just want to know how he is." She bites her lip as she goes silent, waiting for his response.

"Hold on a sec Sum, I haven't seen Rouvin in over 2 months now." Qrow replies calmly. Summer herself is in a state of shock. If Rouvin isn't with Qrow, then where could he be?

"What do you mean you haven't seen him in over 2 months!" Summer shouts over the phone. "He left over a month ago and hasn't come home yet!"

Qrow winces. "Jeez, Sum relax. Rouvin's old enough to take care of himself." He tells her in an even tone of voice, trying to calm Summer down. "Have you called Cinder? He's probably staying with her."

"Right. I'll call Cinder right now. Th-" Summer tries to thank him when she is suddenly cut off by Qrow.

"Sum. This thing has been going on for way too long now." Qrow said as the background noise of the bar lessens to a mere whisper.

"Qrow..." Summer's voice lowers almost to a whisper. "...what do you mean."

"Summer, it's been 5 years. When was the last time you've heard him play the piano, or have even heard him laugh?" Qrow asks her bluntly.

"Qrow, that's-"

"None of my business?" He finishes for her, cutting her off. There is a pregnant pause between them. "Summer, he's not a kid anymore, you could have listened to him, even just once."

"What's there to listen to Qrow!" Summer yells back at him, her anger rising up once more. The sudden silence between them is almost deafening.

"A lot Summer. You already missed 5 years of his life. Don't make it any longer." Qrow tells her finally, a tone of genuine sadness in his voice before hanging up.

Summer sits back in her chair in silence, not moving a single muscle as the phone hangs limply in her hand, a sole tear rolling slowly down her cheek.