Where the Flowers Lay

Main Ships: Bumbleby, Whiterose, Arkos

Sub Ships: Renora, Crosshares, Seamonkeys,

Ships for Plot: Nuts & Dolts, Freezerburn (everyone assumes), Tauradonna

Summary: Summer Roses was somewhat a memorable place for the two sisters. It was a place of grief yet also gave endearing emotions for Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose. Although flowers may not have been particularly their speciality as younglings, the symbol of the place was left behind for them by their mother and who were they to defy such an amazing person? The only trouble was branching out the shop to Beacon, a city that was by far more terrifying than the farm animals back at Patch.

Chapter Seven: A Christmas Full of Exceptions

Yang found herself in quite a predicament. Don't get her wrong, Ruby and Weiss being together wasn't necessarily a bad idea to her. She's had a lot of time thinking about the two when she discovered they harboured some feelings for each other. It was just that…well, they were too slow to talk.

Right after the infamous accidental kiss, Weiss immediately disappeared to god knew where and Ruby just froze when she seated herself on the couch. Sure, there was a lot of teasing and congrats to the red-head but now, it's been over a month since the two last spoke to each other.

Yang wanted to badly help them out, but she couldn't intervene. It was the first time Ruby's ever had her attention on someone, and she wanted her little sister to experience it independently. It's how you grow, right?

"If I were you, I would have set something up already. I mean, you work so closely with Ice Queen and you're Ruby's sister. So much opportunity." Coco said, dragging her out of her deep thoughts.

The blonde sighed and rubbed the bridge between her eyes, feeling the stress creep in. Yeah, it had been one month since being Weiss' bodyguard as well. Weirdly enough, the most work she did was paper work. She just got paid to literally have fun with her friend, which was a plus, but it did mean she had to cut her hours out of the flower shop.

At first, Ruby was hesitant, not because she didn't support the additional job, more that she didn't think she had the confidence to take full responsibility of Summer Roses whenever filling in Yang's shifts. She was basically managing 70% of the time and Yang wanted her little sister to know that she was capable of more than she realised.

"Listen, Coco. Helping out my baby sister is something I want to do really badly, but…" A little flashback stirred within Yang. Her past experience with lovers, all the confusion, the teasing, and the satisfaction. "I can't force them to do something they may not be ready for. Ruby's finally coming out of her shell and I want her to know what she wants on her own. It's more fulfilling that way."

The brunette sat opposite her friend in silence, her shades slipping down her nose as she raised her brows. "You're growing up so much, Yang…"

Yang scoffed and kicked the café owner's shin under the table, earning a really loud groan and complaint from the woman.

"Stop acting like you're my mum, douche." Coco snickered in response.

"Anyway, how was the gym with Pyrrha?"

Oh yeah, Yang had just returned from her daily workout with Pyrrha, who left for an interview. Ruby and Ren were manning the flower shop as they spoke, and Yang had no desire nor energy to walk across the street to greet her confused little sister.

"Same as usual—except I think Pyrrha has a thing for Jaune." Yang speculated.

Since the party, whenever Pyrrha and Yang hung out, she'd see the red head sneak peaks at the clumsy boy in the shop, or she'd slyly ask about him through work association.

"How do you know?" Coco asked, leaning back in her chair, looking like she was about to fall off.

Yang let out a laugh, as if it were stupid to even ask. "Her face turns the same colour as her hair whenever I bring him up in our conversation. Actually, she blushes every time anyonetalks about him."

Another snicker left her brunette friend, which on cue, her girlfriend entered and sat down.

"Are we talking about Pyrrha and her potential beau?" Velvet asked, and with silence as a question, she rolled her eyes and spoke. "Of course, I'd know. I work with her on occasions and a little blondie sometimes pops in to intern."

"Honestly, I'm glad she's finally catching feelings for someone. Throughout the whole of college, she only focused on her studies." Velvet then stammered. "A-at least that's what I've heard…and seen. We weren't…really friends."

Coco rolled her eyes and held her girlfriend's hand in comfort. There were still bits and pieces from their time at college that Yang didn't know. It kind of made her upset she didn't attend Beacon, but she didn't regret. She wasn't one for regretting.

"College was quite the tough time for you guys, huh?" Yang asked.

"The only difficulty was Blake and Weiss. Pyrrha just wasn't around because everyone was too scared to be around her." Coco responded, rubbing her thumb over Velvet's palm subconsciously. "She shone too bright and it was the status that stopped people from approaching her."

"What changed, then?" Yang dared ask.

A pause then a smile later, Coco leaned on the table. "You did, Xiao-Long. You and little Rose."

Θ

Another month passed by and that meant that Christmas was coming. The sisters were counting down the days, eating their advent chocolates as they did. They were excited, getting ready to go back home to spend the merry holiday with their father and dog, however it wasn't the only thing that pumped them up.

During November, the two had decided to hold a Christmas party before they left. It would be held on the 20thand they'd bring all their friends. All the guests had confirmed their presence and Ren even volunteered to cook the Christmas dinner. It was most definitely going to be a big party, even bigger than their first party. However, that wasn't the reason why Ruby was pumped up.

It had been exactly one month and 16 days since she'd last seen Weiss. Ruby had wanted so badly to talk to Weiss, but when she finally had the balls, Yang had told her that Weiss was really busy with her father's company. She missed her shot, although the Christmas party was her next chance. She was definitely going to talk to the white-haired girl. Not about her feelings but more like…get to know her and connect more.

"Ruby, I think you're killing the lilacs." A monotone voice approached from behind.

"AH-Oh! Blake, hey…" Ruby weakly chuckled before settling her watering can down.

She was really out of it today.

"Jaune, can you take over?" She asked tiredly, which the blonde immediately agreed to.

At this, Ruby walked over to the counter, with her cat-like friend on her trail. She needed painkillers for the sudden stress to her routine. Yang's sudden absence from the shop had taken a bit of a toll but it was only a bit. Soon, she'd adjust, and everything would be fine again…hopefully.

"What's up, Blake?" Ruby asked, popping out a tablet and putting it in her mouth.

Blake fiddled with her fingers as she looked nervously around the greenhouse. It seemed that her friend was anxious, but about what, was the question.

"Is it okay if I invite my boyfriend?" In this moment, Ruby was taking a gulp of her water.

Yes, she choked. And yes, it was very loud and painful.

"Oh, Ruby! Are you okay?" Blake asked, concerned as she rubbed her friend's back over the counter.

The red head shook her head and gulped more water before taking a huge breath. She chuckled very weakly and leaned on the counter. Thinking rapidly, Ruby bit her lip, wondering if it was best to avoid having Blake's boyfriend come. Let her come up with a list of pros and cons.

PROS:

Blake would be happy.

It would be rude not to let her.

CONS:

Yang hates.

Weiss hates.

Basically, everyone hates.

"…Sure! Why not?!"

Blake smiled gratefully at her, probably knowing how awkward the evening would be. However, Ruby understood why she asked. She's read a lot of romance novels about boyfriends and girlfriends being introduced to friends. It was basically another step into intimacy, right?

An image of Weiss popped in her mind at the thought of intimacy and it made the red head falter a little. She frowned, not sure if she liked pairing the two together. It's not that Ruby didn't like her, because of bloody hell she liked her a lot. It was just—

"Are you okay, Ruby?" Blake asked, concerned.

It brought Ruby back to reality, but also made her hesitate to talk to her friend. She wasn't sure if telling Blake about her feelings for Weiss was a good idea but they're friends. Close friends, actually. So, hopefully Blake could ignore how much she hated Weiss…for Ruby?

"C-can I ask you something?" Ruby rubbed her arms, looking around the little flower shop.

Blake nodded in response, worried dearly for her friend.

"Is it crazy to like someone but not…want to t—no. Never mind. It's stupid, of course it's weird and crazy." Ruby muttered to herself, shutting down the topic completely.

Θ

"Nora! Turkey in the oven!" Ren shouted from the kitchen.

And Nora, running from the bathroom, shouted "GOTCHA!"

Yang had to admit; the whole cooking process was very hilarious. The Renora combo was quite a comedy and she was pretty sure Ruby agreed. Yang and the little red were setting up the living room, making the Christmas tree and environment more festive with tinsels and baubles and angels and stars. It was all just rich colours and Coca-Cola (because we gotta thank Coke for coming up with Santa's new colour patterns).

Ruby was wearing her ugly Christmas jumper which consisted of cookies and milk, whilst Yang harnessed the beautiful man of white facial hair and presents. Yes, she decided to dress up as Santa Claus. As the host, she felt it was her duty to deliver joy and goods to her family of weird and wonderfuls.

Once everything was set up perfectly, the mistletoes purposely hung under every door frame, the dancing Santas and snowmen on each table, and fake presents in each corner of the room, the doorbell rang. Renora were still whipping up the food, but they were already onto the dessert, which was apparently Nora's specialty—no, sorry, forgive Yang. She meant it was Nora's favourite meal. Ruby was sitting by the fireplace, her hands out to the flames and pretending to find warmth from the tablet. Yang approached the door and opened it to find her three favourite girls.

"Ho, ho, ho!" She laughed, pointing at each of them.

Weiss rolled her eyes and elbowed her as politely and rough as she could before walking inside. Coco just laughed at the scene, following after the short fuse, dragging along Velvet.

"Honestly, Yang. Can't you be serious just once?" Weiss huffed then stopped when she made eye contact with Ruby.

The two hadn't seen each other is months and now, after so long, Weiss witnessed the red head…holding a stick full of marshmallows in front of a tablet.

Coco erupted into laughter. "You kidding me? Damn, y'all are so rich to have a fireplace!"

Velvet took a picture of Ruby, who looked like she wanted to throw herself in the digital fireplace.

"Hey, don't make fun of our effort of making you guys feel at home and warm here." Yang glared at Coco excusingly.

"Hey, hey, I'm not complaining, Xiao-Long. I'm ecstatic."

Weiss scoffed and placed herself on a sofa, her legs crossed and a permanent scowl on her face. Coco dropped off three boxes under the Christmas tree, making the tree seem full already since Yang, Ruby and Renora already placed theirs under there.

"So, when's the cat and bull coming here?" Weiss growled, obviously pissed.

Frankly, Yang wasn't too happy either, but she didn't want to upset Ruby. She saw her little sister slowly try to leave the room as Weiss kept on ranting about how much she didn't like Adam.

"Who even let him come? You, Yang?" Weiss huffed.

And off went Ruby.

Thanks, sis. Yang thought, before sighing and shrugging.

"What's happened, happened, okay? Just…try to be civil? I wanna see how bad he is in person, not from your mouth, you vixen." Yang grinned, trying to lighten the mood by insulting her good friend.

Weiss just looked at her in disbelief. "When's Pyrrha getting here? I need to destress."

"Well, Pyrrha texted me earli—" Yang was about to finish but the doorbell rang again.

When she went to open it, the first thing she saw was her tall red-headed friend, who…looked quite uncomfortable.

"Finally. You opened the damn door." A rude man snarled, barging through.

Yang just blinked as she witnessed Blake, biting her lip and silently apologising before rushing in after her supposed boyfriend. Pyrrha sighed in relief, patting her blonde friend on the shoulder.

"It was horrible."

Θ

So, Adam was in the manufacturing industry. To be precise, he was in construction so there was a lot to say when he inspected Yang and Ruby's whole apartment. He went from room to room, judging every little detail like it was his business and he had the privilege to invade in their privacy. Yang let it slide, mostly because she didn't want to cause a scene, but she was so close to punching him in the face.

The whole time the group were talking, Adam kept on butting in and gave them all "advice", especially Weiss, who had to step outside (dragged out by Pyrrha). Whilst Adam was criticizing about every little thing, Blake did not once speak up, pretending like she didn't hear anything and honestly, it pissed Yang off. So, Yang took a break too, leaning on the wall of the balcony.

She heard the door to the balcony open then close and it made her sigh. She knew Weiss or Pyrrha was going to come out to comfort her but nothing they said would help calm down the fact that Adam was being a pain in the ass.

"I swear if he talks about another scaffolding…" She started.

"I'm sorry about ruining your party." And it took Yang off guard as Blake stood beside her, looking out at the view.

Yang sighed, keeping her opinions to herself as she gave Blake a genuine smile, something that she couldn't help doing whenever she was around her.

"It's all groovy. I just don't understand…"

"No one ever does…At least no one who really knows Adam." Blake took a breath and looked down at her hands. "I just hoped that if I brought him out here, people would see the nice side of him…but I guess that failed. Ha…"

Yang stared at the slender girl, taking all of her in again. It was bad. Really, really bad. Here Yang was, talking to Blake about her boyfriend and finally seeing just how beautiful the sad daughter of her landlord is. And now, after seeing how teary Blake was becoming, Yang just wanted to take her away from Adam. Except, not because she was blinded by her beauty, but because she looked exactly like someone Yang had known very well. Someone who was so immensely desperate to fix a broken relationship that they didn't care how poisonous it was. Someone that Yang's mother broke twice and left her daughter to pick up the pieces.

"I don't like Adam…but I'll tolerate him for you, Blake. After all," Yang slowly looked from the pale girl's trembling lips to her yellow eyes. "you're my sister's best friend."

Θ

"Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"

An abrupted shriek sounded through the living room, alarming both Yang and Blake when they stepped back in.

"C-calm down, guys…" Ruby nervously said, trying to avoid any unwanted fights occurring.

It seemed that Weiss and Adam were arguing again, however this time, Adam held back no restraints as he spilled his drink all over the Christmas rug. Sun and Neptune were struggling to refrain the hot-headed guy from hurting Weiss. Yang and Blake immediately split ways to help their companions out.

"Whoa, whoa, guys. What's happening?" Yang asked, furrowing her brows as she tried to cool her short friend out.

Weiss just scoffed and fixed her fringe. "He's trying to blame me for all the problems in his life."

"Huh? Am I wrong though? Your company has been dominating every single market in our economy and I'm going to lose my fucking job because of it. You don't care about anyone who isn't rich like you. You're a bloody rich, spoiled scum who only listens to her daddy!" Adam growled.

"I have no idea what you're talking about! I don't even run the company, and never once have I discriminated people just because they have less money!" Weiss spat back.

"But you will, won't you?" Blake spoke up this time. "You'll take over your dad's company and sooner or later, everyone under you will just look like ants you can step on. You won't care what happens to them as long as your business thrives."

Weiss' face went pale, taken back by Blake's outburst. In that moment, all Weiss saw was hatred in the taller woman's yellow eyes, right before Yang harshly pushed the couple out of the door. At least, the blonde, along with Sun and Neptune, tried to. Adam vehemently attempted to force his way back in to spout more hate on the white-haired girl.

She couldn't move or speak as she processed every word Blake was saying and tried so hard to find ways to fix it. She didn't even respond when Pyrrha and Jaune came up to try and comfort her. Every word they said left her before she could even remember them. That was when Weiss felt a tug on her hand, forcing her to move but at this point, she didn't even care if it were Adam or Blake or even a serial killer. Maybe it was for the best that she—

"Weiss?" A voice, soft and calming spoke.

The dullness faded when she raised her head to look at Ruby. They weren't in the living room anymore. It was somewhat unfamiliar but at the same time, like she felt at home. Paper scattered all over the floor with traces of rose petals. The room was so simple, with red covers and black walls. There weren't any posters, no sign of adolescence. Just Ruby and her…mild obsession with roses.

"Ruby…I don't know how to fix this." She didn't know why.

They meant nothing to each other but that very knowledge that they were basically strangers assured her of no bias. No judgement in her confession as tears began to emerge from her eyes.

"I've tried for so many years to make things right with Blake. I've tried to minimise my involvement with my father's company, but our fights always lead back to that. It feels like a curse to me and I've tried…so. Damn. Hard…to make Blake forgive me for being born in that family. My father shuts me out of all his business deals, I'm walking blind in that company, but I always end up taking the blame for his actions just because I'm next in line. I don't know what to do, Ruby. I just…I just want my friend back."

Ruby was speechless, not sure how to approach the vulnerable beauty. She just wanted to calm her down and tell her everything was going to be alright. She just wanted Weiss to know that she understood her position and that she'd try her best to help as well. All except…like Blake, she didn't very much like rich people.

"…How come you always respond negatively to Blake?" Ruby furrowed her brows, trying very hard to convince herself that Weiss was like every other rich person.

"At first, back in university, I believed that everything my father did, he did it for everyone's sake. I fought back to defend him whenever Blake or Adam or anyone else called him a monster."

See? She's just like every other rich person.

"But then…Blake made me realise that what my father did was wrong, and I tried my best to stop it. When he found out my intentions, he shut me out. And then…he announced to the world that I would be his heir to the company." Weiss took a deep and shaky breath before continuing. "Blake was fine at first, but when Adam found out that we were close friends, he turned her on me and made everyone believe I was the reason their families lost their jobs. They put all their problems onto me, and I just ended up…giving in."

She's…just like…

"I didn't even want the stupid company. I had my own dreams too, but no one seemed to care. They all just associated me with that damned company." Weiss sobbed, clutching her chest. "And…and so…I just accepted it. I'm glad that Coco and the others still accepted me, but the bridge between Blake and I…It was burned the moment I became a Schnee…and I should have known."

Every other…rich person.

The white-haired woman in front of her profusely wiped her tears, suddenly aware of how vulnerable she was in front of her best friend's sister. Whilst Ruby just stared at her. At the woman with her walls down. At the woman who gave her conflicting thoughts. She wanted to comfort her, she wanted to so badly hug her, but even the thought of doing that made her feel uncomfortable. It was that same uncomfortable feeling she felt every time she was with Oscar. The thought of intimacy but the repulsion to do so.

However, in this very moment, Ruby stomached the feelings and pulled the heiress into her arms. She was determined to get the uneasy feeling over with, because she needed to do this. She wanted to make Weiss happy again because…

She's not like every other rich person.

"Weiss…you should come spend Christmas with us."

Θ

"Listen, dude. That was notokay for you to make a scene." Sun shouted at Adam, who glared back. "You were invited so you should have known your guest manners."

"Are you telling me that you're not bothered at all that she'swalking around feeling like she didn't do anything wrong?" Adam argued but Neptune pushed him back into the back seat.

"She didn't do anything wrong. You can't just judge her if you don't even know her." Sun replied.

"I don't even need t—"

Then the door shut, orchestrated by a very satisfied Neptune. "Yeah, yeah, you overly sensitive bull."

Whilst Sun and Neptune got in the front seat of the car, Yang stopped Blake, a frown displayed on her face. She didn't like how tonight went down at all. Especially since Blake defended Adam and spoke so harshly about her friend.

"Listen, Yang…I like you; I really do. You're a great older sister to Ruby. I just don't think I can trust your sense of judgement if you keep hanging out with Weiss." Blake glared down at her feet. Her fists were clenched, and it looked like she was holding back from saying something. "Please take care of h—"

"BLAKE GET IN HERE NOW!" Adam yelled from the car, who got pushed back into his seat by a rather pissed off Sun.

"…Sorry." Blake muttered before leaving.

When they had left, Yang stood out there for a few minutes, alone. She wanted to collect her thoughts as her heart clenched. She couldn't understand Blake at all, but it pained her so much to see how much the resemblance was.

As Yang ascended the stairs and thought hardly about how conflicting the black-haired woman's words were, she walked in on her sister and friends comforting her best friend. The same best friend she'd first seen as caring and strong. Now, all she saw was hurt coming from those same blue eyes that've become puffy. Hurt that was caused from Adam…and Blake. That was enough to convince Yang to push her feelings of the enemy all the way to the back of her mind.

Blake meant nothing to her, at all.

Preparations for dessert were being made at this point and Ruby had to pull Yang to the side to snap her out of her daze. Oh right, they were still celebrating Christmas.

"Hey, Yang…Is it okay with we bring Weiss to Patch with us? B-b-because I already asked her, and she said okay so um…I'm sorry I didn't ask you first, but it was just because shewascryingandIdidn'tknowwhatelsetodo…" Ruby asked.

At this, Yang calmed, resetting her thoughts and remembering what today was about.

"Of course, Rubes. Just…let me warn dad first." Yang chuckled and pat her sister, a little too hard on the back.

Whoops.

Θ

After the whole fight that went down with Adam and Weiss, everyone just ignored it and continued with the feast. Unfortunately, Blake didn't return after Sun and Neptune dropped the red-headed dude off…Not that anyone was upset…well, except for Ruby. The dessert was a treat that literally made everyone smile and Jaune made it clear that Ren was an amazing cook, earning laughter from everyone. By the time 12AM came, almost everyone knocked out. Some lay on the sofas whilst Jaune and Nora took to the floor in their exhaustion. Ruby had retrieved to her bedroom and Yang lent her bed to Pyrrha, who had to wake up early in the morning.

Weiss had trouble sleeping so Yang cooked up a mean cup of tea for the white-haired girl. It earned a smile yet saddening smile. She said that: "Tea is Blake's favourite drink. Any kind of tea, I'm not joking around here."

It broke Yang to hear this coming from her best friend. To further make it worse, she saw her friend cry for the second time in that day as Weiss began to spill the reason behind her feud with Blake. She spilled about how badly Adam and his group treated her, lumping her in with her father, and how Blake betrayed her trust by siding with her boyfriend and not her friend when they were in university.

The only problem Yang had was that when all this was said, she could only think about how pitiful Blake was. How blinded she had become to sacrifice everything just to feel loved by such a horrible man. It disgusted her how much Yang was trying to sympathise with Blake whilst Weiss was suffering. But she kept it to herself and promised that she wouldn't be like Blake or her father. That she was stick by Weiss and if the other went wrong, she'd point it out and help her on it.

And so, when the 23rdof December came, the three went to the airport, three passports to check in and 3 suitcases to bring aboard the plane. With that, these 3 hearts hoped to forget about their worries as they passed the border to Patch, one of those random countryside places that wasn't as notorious as other islands in Vale.

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I actually got this chapter finished so fast lol. It's one of those moments where you're just writing and you can't stop because, like it's getting so juicy, amirite?

I'm so nervous as to what's gonna happen. So far I've only planned up to chapter 12, that means my updates are gonna be slooooooooooow cuz I gotta remind myself what I gotta do and make the checklists. Can't go in blind lol.

June's not gonna be a good month for me to write, just to warn you guys. If you're on Tumblr, you'll know that whiterose week is happening! So, I'm gonna be drawing during that week for them :)

SO...stay caffeinated!