Chapter Text
They had been walking for a good 15 minutes before Blake finally found the courage inside her to talk.
"I'm sorry…" She said quietly, but genuinely. They were far away from Vale, too far to walk back. The sun had long since gone down and an uncomfortable chill would pass by Blake along with the evening breeze every now and again, freezing her in particular on her midriff and exposed cleavage. Neither Sun nor Neptune had said much since they left the car. Sun would occasionally ask Neptune how long until they would finally reach the gas station, but other than that, they were completely silent. For once in her life, Blake had found the silence to be unbearable.
Sun and Neptune turned back to look at her with curious expressions. Blake had come to a standstill and the boys followed suit. They thought that Blake would elaborate on what she had meant, but when no further words came, Sun started to become worried.
"What do you mean?" He asked, eyes narrowing at the still form of his feline friend. He hadn't heard that particular tone of voice from Blake the whole night. Blake hugged her arms close to her chest. Whether it was to protect herself from the cold or a reactionary defense mechanism, she didn't know for sure.
"This entire night…" she sighed, "I ruined everything." Sun and Neptune looked shocked at her proclamation, but before they could object, Blake continued. "I thought tonight would finally be my chance to do something different for once. To finally change and actually be someone people would want to spend time with instead of the antisocial ex-gang member that you guys have to drag behind just so she gets out in the sun every once in a while…" Blake had started pacing around, throwing her hands frustratingly in her hair and massaging her scalp in vain. Her eyes fell on a road sign, indicating how far they were from Vale. Her arms fell limply at her side. "I just…" She sighed woefully, unable to meet either of her friends' gaze. "I know you guys all have fun making jokes about my grumpy demeanor and… the people I used to be with before my family moved to Vale." Blake opened and closed her mouth again, struggling to find the right words. "…But I don't want to be that kind of person anymore…" She seemed to shrink into herself, fists clenched tightly and her eyes remained locked on the ground where her feet stood upon.
The silence from Sun and Neptune felt as if it was suffocating her. "The entire reason why my parents even bothered to leave our home was to get me away from all that crap with the Fang. So that I could finally start over again, making actual friends, a second chance to not screw everything up again!" She was pacing again. Sun reached out a hand towards Blake, but Neptune held him back. He gave him a steadfast, though sad, look. She needs to get this out. Their attention shifted back towards Blake when they saw her stand dejectedly with a back turned slightly towards them. "That's why I wanted to go to the show with you guys. I really wanted to believe that we could all have a great time and... maybe…" Blake sighed and finally looked back at the guys with a crestfallen look, shrugging helplessly at her shoulders. "That maybe I really could have a second chance at this." Blake's cat ears had become practically molded into her raven hair, barely even visible to the naked eye. "But now, none of us is going to the show… and that's no one's fault but my own. I'm sorry."
Silence filled the space between the three of them as they all just stood there. The only audible sounds coming from crickets and far away owls. Sun broke the silence with a tentative voice.
"Blake… I don't know why you didn't just tell us that you were feeling like this before, and I'm not really sure what to say to make you feel better… but you're dead wrong." Blake's head snapped up in surprise.
"W-what?"
"Blake, none of what happened tonight was purely your own fault. Me and Neptune were both enabling you to go after that woman, ah- me more than Neptune, I guess…" He chuckled nervously at the glare Neptune shot him. "As for all the other stuff…" He sighed, scratching the back of his head in uncertainty, "I don't really know what to say other than… I don't see you like that." Sun did his best to look as encouraging as possible, "and neither does Neptune or any of the other guys." Their blue haired friend nodded in agreement behind him. "Blake, the only reason why we make those jokes is to have fun between all of us! I don't mess around with Neptune and his ironic phobia to spite him or ridicule him," Sun reached an arm back so that he could pull Neptune into a one-armed hug, squeezing him good-naturedly. "I do it because this doof is my best friend! We both trust each other not to take things too far, and that goes for you too." Sun looked down suddenly, seeming a bit guilty. "I guess we should have been a bit more considerate when making those jokes about your old, uh, ‘group', but…" Sun faltered, looking at Neptune for assistance. Neptune quickly covered for him.
"Blake, we wouldn't hang around with you if we didn't think you were an awesome person, which you are." Blake's ears perked up a bit, surprise donned her face.
"Really…?" She asked, skeptically.
"Of course!" Sun cut in with a bright smile. "We would probably all have ended up in jail by now if you weren't around to keep us in check!" Neptune shot him another glare, "… okay, I would probably end up in jail, but you know what I mean!" Blake couldn't help the slight chuckle from escaping her lips.
"Not to mention," Neptune held up a finger, "you just gunned it from the cops. I'm pretty sure that automatically puts you on the top 10 most badass people we know." Blake couldn't help but think that her parents most definitely would not agree with that notion, and to be fair, Blake didn’t really feel proud about it either. Still, she appreciated the sentiment.
"Really?" She asked once again, though this time, she had a slight, though still evident smile on her face. Both boys nodded eagerly. Sun shot finger pistols at her with his usual flamboyant manner.
"Blake, you're the coolest. I mean, shit! You're actually a criminal now!" Blake chuckled again, this time more freely, and finally managed to untangle her arms so that they could rest more comfortably on her hips"
"Now?" She asked in a mock question, "I've had a criminal record since before I hit puberty." They all shared a good laugh at that. It felt nice for Blake to be able to laugh about one of her biggest regrets. Her ears were no longer forced down onto her skull but stood comfortably raised on the top up her head, when one suddenly twitched. "Guys, hold on…" she shut them up as she looked towards the sound her ears had picked up. It sounded almost like…
Music!
Sure enough, around a mile away from where they had stood was the exact same show that they had been planning to get to the entire night. Blake couldn't help but stare a bit in wonderment as Sun and Neptune shot their hands up in joy and whooped. Blake took a moment to gauge the setting. It was placed just at the corner of a typical suburban city. A band could be seen playing inside an opened garage door, and there were already quite a few people that had gathered around the ‘stage'. The music wasn't actually that bad, Blake thought. But, just as they were about to walk closer towards the band, an unmistakable figure entered the periphery of Blake's sight. The mysterious blonde biker. She stood a little way to the side of the crowd that had formed around the garage, currently texting on her phone, it seemed. Sun and Neptune had also noticed her. They were looking back and forth between Blake and the blonde, uncertain about which actions to take.
Blake knew that whatever else Sun and Neptune said, or didn't say, the final decision would inevitably be up to her. She took a deep breath. This was her final chance.
"I'm…" Blake swallowed nervously before she found her voice again, "I'm going to talk to her." Her hands were clenched in defiance and she took her first step towards her goal, only to be stopped by an insistent grip on her shoulder. Blake looked back in surprise to see Sun looking at her warily.
"Blake," he eased his hand off of Blake's shoulders, "I know you've had kind of a rough night already. You don't need to do this okay? Me and Neptune already think that you're, like, the most coolest chick ever. You don't have to prove anything to us, okay?" Hid voice omitted genuine care and was, for once, completely devoid of any humor or irony. Blake looked at him and Neptune, mulling over the entire night, her worries and Sun's words, before she directed her gaze back towards the blonde who stood idly by herself a short distance away.
You don't have to prove anything to us…
Blake took a deep breath and made her decision.
But I do have something to prove… to myself.
She gave Sun an appreciative smile and nudged him in the shoulder.
"Don't get us thrown out." With that said, she walked nervously but surely towards the mysterious woman who had seemed to stick to Blake's thoughts the entire night with a vice grip. Sun and Neptune stood back and watched her from a distance, worry laced both of their features, and they both mentally crossed fingers in hopes of their feline friend not royally screwing herself over yet again tonight.
Finally, Blake stood face to face with the blonde biker. Neither Sun nor Neptune could properly make out their expressions from the distance, and they watched with baited breath for either woman to make the next move. Sun was biting his nails without even noticing, and Neptune had both his hands on Sun shoulders, holding on tight to relieve his own worries. They watched on as Blake casually made small talk with the attractive biker. Her posture slowly grew less tense and more relaxed as they continued to converse. Sun mentally whooped on Blake's behalf when the blonde laughed merrily at something Blake had said. Blake herself seemed to enjoy the other woman's humor quite a bit, letting out more subdued, but just as joyful laughter every now and again. Neither Sun or Neptune missed the way Blake and the blonde seemed to gravitate closer to each other the more their conversation dragged on. They definitely didn't miss it when the blonde casually stroked one of Blake's forearms, trailing the lines of tattoos which resided there.
Get it, Blake, Sun thought giddily to himself.
"What are they saying?" Neptune whispered desperately.
"How should I know?!" Sun threw back, not taking his eye's off of the two woman.
"Aren't faunus supposed to have heightened hearing senses?" Neptune retaliated with a dry tone. Sun shifted his gaze so that he could throw Neptune a wry look.
"Do you see any extra pair of ears on me, you dumbass?" Before Neptune could retaliate, his eyes shot up in alarm as he noticed Blake make her way back to the duo, her expression was unreadable. He smacked at Sun's shoulder to steer his attention back to their friend. "Ow! The hell-!" Sun look back to see Blake standing right in front of them, both of her hands were in her pockets in an indifferent manner. "Blake!" He looked at her nervously. "Um… how did it go…?" He was almost too afraid to ask. Blake shrugged.
"Meh, it was okay I guess. We didn't really talk that much. She told me about the band that was playing, I told her how I gunned it from the cops. We talked about each other's tattoos and then she walked away again." Blake expression was still as unreadable as a brick wall, and neither Sun or Neptune could discern whether or not Blake was actually satisfied with her third attempt at trying to communicate with the blonde.
"That's it?" Neptune asked uncertainly. Blake was quiet for a few seconds as she made a show out of pondering skeptically, one clenched hand resting beneath her chin.
"Well…" Her tone shifted, it was a smooth curve from her previous indifference to what sounded almost like glee. "…She did give me this before she left." Blake moved her hand towards the two boys to show what she was clenching.
A single, white piece of piece of paper swayed slightly in the late spring breeze. On the paper itself, written out in dark ink, was-
"Her phone number?!" Sun yelped. He and Neptune had their eyes and mouths shot wide open over this revelation. Blake couldn't hold her mask any longer and finally let the satisfied smile that had been tugging at her lips rest easy and unrestrained on her face. Butterflies were still flying wildly in her stomach, and Blake couldn't for the life of her wish for them to stop. Her brief conversation with the blonde - Yang – was being repeated nonstop inside her head, recounting every single smile, wink, laugh and other gestures that had donned the beauty's physique. "Dude!" Sun shook her shoulders enthusiastically, and Blake didn't even mind, "Dude!" He exclaimed again, ecstatic over his friend's success.
"How did- what?!" Neptune didn't fare off much better. He stared dumbfounded at the eight-digit number in Blake's hand and then back at Blake again, his brain taking a while to put the pieces back together after they had just been blown apart. "You've- you-! "
"Scored big time!" Sun finished for him. Some people were probably looking back at them in displeasure, as Sun's loud proclamations and Neptune's support really was causing quite a ruckus, but Blake couldn't even get herself to care.
When Blake went to bed that night, (after having endured her parents' scolding and subsequent punishment when she admitted to the cop chase) she gazed at the phone number once again, envisioning the different ways she could go about asking this blonde bombshell out on a date, pondering over where they could go, wondering which new things she could learn about her…
But, that could wait for another day.