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Chapter Text

She was panting, out of breath from running for so long. She knew she couldn't stop, not when she had come this far. She needed to go farther, she needed to escape him. Her legs felt like fire, she could feel herself shaking from exhaustion and lack of food, but she couldn't stop. She wanted to keep going, needed to keep going. She needed to get farther away from Jacques Schnee

Weiss kept running. She didn't know where she was or how long it had been. All she knew is that it wasn't far enough. It would never be far enough. She had been running for days. Hiding while the sun was out and making a break for it during the night. Each time enjoying the way the brisk night air cooled off her overheated face. She enjoyed the feeling of the air on her fuzzy wolf ears and the way she felt so free. In any other situation, she would have been happy. She could howl at the moon and laugh as she ran, feeling free, but not right now. Right now, she was running for her life.

She had been wanting to run for so long, to finally be away from him. He had always hated her ever since she was born. She wasn't perfect in his eyes, she was a freak, not worthy of the Schnee name and not worthy of the alpha title. You see, Weiss was born with a genetic mutation, which caused her wolf DNA to be more present than her human DNA. This meant that in human form she had two fuzzy, snow-white ears, a fluffy white tail, fangs, and instincts that of a wolf. It wasn't all bad, she had far more superior hearing than anyone in the pack in her human form, but that didn't matter to Jacques Schnee. He only saw that she was imperfect, that she was a mistake.

Weiss had always hated her father for not loving her. She hated him for favoring Whitley. She hated Whitley for siding with him all this time. She hated everyone. So now, she's here, a 15-year-old girl running till her body will no longer move, trying to get away from all that hate. She needed to slow down. Her lungs were so tight she was sure she wasn't even getting air in anymore. Her throat and mouth were so dry she could practically taste sand. She stopped and put her hands on her knees, gasping for her deprived air. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing to the point where that's all she heard. Her breathing started to slow and that's when she heard it. A car. She opened her eyes to see that it was coming to her. She didn't have time to move. She stood there waiting for it to hit her. She closed her eyes and waited. Except it never came.

She opened her eyes to see that the car had stopped a few inches in front of her. A scruffy-looking man stepped out of the driver's side. He looked to be in his late 30's maybe early 40's. He had blonde hair that swayed with the wind with growing silver patches and dark blue eyes. Weiss kept a careful eye on him as she stiffened. He slowly started to walk toward her and Weiss immediately felt threatened.
She lowered herself a little towards the ground. Her tail stood up and puffed out, looking bigger than before. Her ears standing straight up, trying to capture every single sound. She darkened her gaze and bore her teeth at the strange man. A growl erupted from her throat and the man stopped his pursuit.

"I don't want to hurt you, " he says.

Weiss continues to growl and lowers herself closer towards the ground.
"What's your name?" Weiss is surprised when he asks this. Her face must have shown it because the man's lips curl slightly upwards. She lowers her gaze somewhat so she's no longer making eye contact with that man.
"Would you like something to eat?" Weiss perks up at the mention of food. She has barely eaten anything for the past few days and it was definitely starting to show. She nodded slowly and the man smiled. He retreated back to his truck and came back with a bottle of water, a bag of chips, and a granola bar.

"I know it's not much, but here, " the man walks towards her for a second, only to put the items on the ground and back away. Weiss eyed him for a moment before her stomach growled. Then, she remembered how hungry and thirsty she was. She ran to the food and grabbed the water. She opened the bottle and put the rim up to her mouth.

She tilted her head back and closed her eyes when she felt the cold liquid touch her dry mouth. She felt the liquid slide down her throat and she went for another drink. She continued to drink until all too soon, the bottle became empty. Her stomach growled and she reached for the granola bar. As she ripped it open she noticed that the man was still there watching her with a smile. Her eyes shot to the ground as her face began to heat up. He only chuckled but remained silent after that. She opened the bar and took a bite. She realized how much she missed food and ate the bar quickly.

As she reached her hand out for the chips she looked back up at the man, silently asking him for permission. The man became confused as to why she was asking but nodded anyway. As she opened the bag, something in the mans' beat-up truck caught her eye. In the passenger seat sat a girl, most likely his daughter given the amount of resemblance between the 2. She met the girl's eyes, confusion was written all over her face, but above all that, she looked annoyed.

'She's been watching me this whole time, ' Weiss thought as she halted her movements. Weiss' ears began to move back atop her head and she began to bare her teeth again. She began to growl. Both girls' faces began to look angry as Weiss continued to growl at her. She knew the blonde could hear her; the man left his door open. She growled louder and she noticed that the girl looked pissed.

That's when Weiss heard a new noise. A truck door opening revealing another person, a little girl. She looked no more than 10 years old and she looked sleepy.

"Daddy?" She questioned and Weiss swore her heart stopped. The girl had the voice of an angel. "Who's that?"

Weiss made eye contact with her and her tail slowly started to wag. She doesn't know why her tail started to wag, but as her blue eyes met those silver pools, all previous anger, fear, and sadness we're forgotten for a second. The man seemed to notice that the wolf pup didn't growl at his youngest daughter.

"Would you like to come with us?" He was sure he knew the answer after seeing the way the pup reacted to Ruby, but he needed to be sure. The white-haired girl slowly got up and walked towards the truck, the red-haired girl still confused about who the heck this girl was, but that can wait. She noticed that the wolf girl looked tired and Ruby was tired too. The white-haired girl slowly climbed into the back of the truck with the mindset that she had nothing to lose if this went south. The younger girl slowly followed the girl into the truck. They drove home, or to Weiss, an unknown destination, in silence.

Chapter Text

The car ride was silent. Ruby didn't know what to think. 'Who was this puppy girl? Why is daddy taking the puppy girl with them? ' Her thoughts were racing a mile a minute. She glanced at the girl. She couldn't see her very well in the dark, but her chest is slowly rising and falling. 'Is she asleep?' she wondered. Ruby kept her eyes on the strange wolf pup, trying to study her in the dark. She noticed a long box strapped to the girl's back. It was white and had pretty silver designs on it. Ruby wondered what was in the box and why that was the only thing she had with her.

"Stop staring at me, " the wolf girl said firmly, glaring at the younger girl.

"I...uh...sorry, " she mumbled apologetically, casting her gaze downward.

"Oh wow, the princess can speak, " the younger blonde said snarkily. Weiss growled lowly, "of course I can speak you brute, " Weiss shot back, a low growl still in her throat.

"I just didn't think you would because you were just growling at us like some mutt, " Weiss was infuriated now. How dare this, this brute treat her like this. She did not run away from the treatment of her father just to be treated like that again. Weiss sat up straighter and growled louder. Her eyes began to harden and her ears became stiff atop her head. She leaned forward and just before the man could tell both girls to stop...

"Yang, leave her alone, she's clearly been through a lot and that was completely uncalled for. Apologize." The silver-eyed girl said firmly, clearly not enjoying the situation.

Weiss was taken aback, to say the least. Never in her life has someone defended her, not since...never mind. She doesn't have time to think about her right now. She can't cry now, she has to be strong. The brute, who she now knows as Yang, mumbled a quiet apology and was silent. Weiss looked over at the silver-eyed girl, a small smile made its way to her lips. Ruby saw this and smiled back causing the young pup to become embarrassed and immediately look away. Weiss' face once again became neutral.

'Her voice sounded so nice, ' Ruby thought as she sat in silence. She only heard the soft rumble of the engine as she looked out the window, seeing the shady figures that she knew were trees pass by in the darkness of the night.

Weiss felt her eyelids grow heavy. She realized just how tired she was, how exhausted she was from running for days. Maybe she was finally safe, even if it was for a little bit. She was happy, happier than she's ever been since Winter was taken from her. Since he took Winter away from her. She hated that she was happier with some strangers she met a few minutes ago than she ever was at home.

With that final thought, Weiss slowly let sleep consume her.
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Weiss sat at her desk, working hard to keep up with her studies, as per her father's orders. Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing her sister, Winter. Weiss immediately shot up and went to Winter. She noticed new bruises were beginning to form and fresh blood dripping down her cheek. Weiss smelled dried blood, her eyes began to widen. She's never seen her sister so scared and hurt. 'What happened? It must have been father' Weiss increasingly became livid as soon as these thoughts entered her head.

"Weiss, we have to get out of here. Now" Winter said with so much urgency in her voice that it shook Weiss to her core.
"I'll meet you back here in 5 minutes, take only what you can carry." Weiss listened immediately and began grabbing her belongings. Winter retreated, 'most likely to get her stuff' Weiss thought as she continued to pack.

Five minutes had passed and no Winter. Weiss trusted Winter so she didn't worry. She did, however, begin to worry once 15 minutes passed. She quietly left her room, wondering the halls of the Schnee manor in search of her sister.

That's when she heard it.

The first bang, followed by a scream. Winters scream. Weiss ran to the scene. Her eyes widened in horror at the scene in front of her. Winter laid on the floor, unmoving, but breathing. Jacques looming over her with a dark presence that made a chill run up her spine. Weiss stood still, paralyzed with fear.

"You bitch, " he yelled rage as he picked her up by the hair. "You think you can get away that easy? If you wanted to leave so badly, you should have said something." Jacques began to smirk, "I can make leaving so much quicker, though it might be quite painful.''

Winter's eyes widened at what he suggested. "No, please no."

"I thought you wanted to leave." He shoved her to the ground and she began to crawl away. He kicked and stomped at her for what felt like forever. The smell of blood strong in the air as Winter laid there unmoving. Weiss immediately ran towards her sister.

"Take this as a lesson, " he said before leaving the room.

Weiss grabbed her sister, shaking her and begging her to wake up.

"Winter, " no reply.

"Winter!" Still nothing. She cried begging her to wake up, but still nothing.

"WINTER!
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" WINTER!"
Weiss shouted as she shot up from her slumber. She panted, no longer able to get a breath in. She was sweating and shaking in fear. She remembers that day like it was yesterday. She remembers the stench of blood and she can still hear the screams of Winter and she was beaten bloody. That was 4 years ago and it still hurts as much as the day it happened.

She knows it was just a dream, but it hurt so bad. Tears began to fall and she began to quietly whine. She hates that she cries like a human and a wolf, letting out high pitched whines as tears fall faster. Her ears are pressed flat against her head and she continues to whine. That's when she noticed she's no longer in the truck. She begins to become confused as to why she is sitting on a couch. There is a lamp on in the room she's in and she turns it on to get a better view of her surroundings.

Her eyes widened when she realized she was not alone. Sitting on the smaller couch next to her is the little girl.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked it with a hint of worry in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine, " a lie.

"You don't look fine."

"I'm fine, " another lie.

"You can talk to me, " the silver-eyed girl let a small smile rest on her face.

"I don't need help from some ten-year-old, " Weiss stated matter of factly.

"Hey! I'm 13!" The girl cried out.

"You don't look 13."

"I guess I'm not drinking enough milk, " the younger girl mumbled.

"Milk? I thought only pu-babies, I thought only babies drink milk, " Weiss then cocked her head to the side, one ear flopped down while the other remained standing.

'Omg, that's so freaking cute' Ruby thought as she looked at the young wolf pup. "No, humans drink milk even after we aren't babies anymore."

"Oh, " was all Weiss said.

They sat in silence until Ruby spoke, shattering the comfortable quietness.

"So what's your name?"

"Weiss"

"That's a pretty name, mines Ruby"

"Well I think your name is prettier, " Weiss didn't know why she said that out loud. Ruby's eyes widened for a second and her face began to welcome a pink tint. "Thank you"

Weiss laid back down, never knowing why Ruby was in there with her in the first place. She didn't know the girl, but she thought it was nice that Ruby distracted her from the bad thoughts, even if she didn't realize it. With that final thought, she slipped into slumber, having much more pleasant dreams.

Chapter Text

Weiss woke up to hushed whispers coming from another room. She opened her eyes and noticed that Ruby was no longer on the other couch. She angled her ears to where the whispers were coming from, trying to make out what the family was saying.

"We are not freaking keeping her, " she heard Yang say in a hushed but harsh tone.

"Keeping isn't the right word, she is not an animal Yang. Dad is simply saying that our home is open to her if she chooses to stay."

"How is she not an animal? She has wolf ears, Ruby, she has fangs. She. Has. A. Tail. She can barely speak. All she does is a growl."

Weiss had enough, as soon as the last statement left Yang's mouth, Weiss made her way to what she assumed was their kitchen. Weiss had she has only seen her own kitchen a number of times, so she didn't really know what a normal kitchen was supposed to look like. As soon as Weiss walked into the room, both girls silenced.

"Speak of the devil."

Weiss couldn't stop the growl that came out of her mouth. She's cursed herself for never being able to control her own wolf instincts.

"See, what did I freaking tell you!"

"I can speak, you blonde brute."

"Huh? What was that? I couldn't hear you over all your growling you furry little mutt."

"That's enough Yang." It was the man again. The man that saved her life. She needed to properly thank him."She's staying, that is if you want to." He then looked over in Weiss' direction with a small smile on his face.

"I know when I'm not wanted, " Weiss began and looked over to Yang, "just, please give me a day so I can do an odd job or something so that I can get a little money. As you can see I don't really have anything."

"You have that box you've been carrying around since you got here, I bet that's worth a pretty penny." The box itself was sterling silver, with the Schnee family crest carved out and outlined by diamonds. A very simple yet elegant thing. An item fit for a Schnee. Yang then went to reach for the box that was still strapped to Weiss' back. Alarm bells went off in Weiss' head. She took a step back and did something even she didn't expect, she barked.

The families eyes went wide as soon as the sound left Weiss' throat. "If you ever, and I mean EVER, lay a finger on this box, I will not hesitate to kill you." Weiss' voice was low and rough like she was suppressing a growl. "Don't you EVER even THINK of touching Myrtenaster again." Weiss' tone was harsh, but it had to be. This was her prized and most sacred possession. It's the one thing her father could never take from her.

"It's all I have left of her, " her voice was barely above a whisper now. Weiss wrapped her arms around herself as her body started to slightly shake. A single tear streamed down her face as more tears built up. Not a single one of them knew what to do and they definitely didn't know who she was talking about. Well, that's not entirely true, Ruby thought she had an idea on who Weiss was talking about. 'Winter?' Ruby didn't want to make assumptions but after last night and now this it made sense that Winter would be who Weiss is talking about now.

Ruby didn't know why, but she felt the strong urge to help the white wolf pup, 'wait, was that offensive?' Ruby didn't know if it was or not, she made a mental note to ask Weiss what type of wolf she was when the time presented itself. 'If she's part wolf, should I approach her like I would a wolf?' Ruby didn't want Weiss to feel threatened, that would result in someone hurt. Ruby thought it through and made her desition. She slowly walked over to the pup. Weiss' head tilted slightly upward at the movement and noticed that Ruby had her hand up.

Now, just because Weiss is a wolf, doesn't mean she's going to smell it, but she looked at it curiously as Ruby continued to make her way over to her. The blondes watched silently behind Ruby as she continued to make her way to Weiss. Once in front of her, Ruby stopped moving, her hand still held out for Weiss. Weiss stared at it, unsure of what to do. Something inside of her was telling her to go to the hand, so Weiss did exactly that. She leaned forward and let the hand rest on her head and nuzzled it slightly.

Ruby knew what she wanted and started to slowly move her fingers up and down, extending her fingers and retracting them at a constant. Weiss leaned farther into the hand, loving the sensation that the small movements were producing. Her tail began to lightly wag due to the petting. Weiss didn't realize how close she was to Ruby until she leaned down and nuzzled the girl. Ruby then moved her hand so she could scratch behind Weiss' fuzzy ears. Weiss' tail was wagging so quickly you could barely follow it with your eyes.

Weiss would never admit it, but she was a cuddly person. She always wants to be close to the people she loves and give them affection. She hates being alone. The thought of someone she loves leaving and not coming back terrifies her. She would never admit this to anyone, her father always told her how weak she was for needing people. At first, she thought that what he said was stupid. She was a pack animal, all pack animals need each other, that's how it works, right?

After Winter died, everything changed. She decided there was no point in needing people, not if they leave you even when they don't want to. But here she was, practically hugging a girl she met 12 hours ago because the girl was petting her.

Ruby slowly began walking towards the couch. Weiss followed at the same pace to keep the hand on her head. When Ruby sat down, Weiss crouched on her knees on the cushion next to her. Ruby then changed the position of her hand so that she was now scratching at the base of the other ear. Weiss let out a hum of approval, while her tail was still wagging like there was no tomorrow.

'Maybe the human side domesticates the wolf side a little bit. Gosh, right now she looks like a cute little puppy' Ruby continued to gush at the situation. While lost in her thoughts, the hand slowly ceased its movements. The blondes had moved into the living room just in time to see Weiss nudge the hand a bit with her head. Ruby didn't respond to the nudge, she was too transfixed on how adorable Weiss looked at the moment. She had a little pout on her face and she let out a small high-pitched whine. Weiss nudged the hand again and this time Ruby responded. She wasn't moving her and as fast as before, but it was enough to satisfy Weiss.

"Not that this isn't adorable, but I don't believe we've introduced ourselves, little pup, " Weiss turned around and looked at the blonde man. Her face heated up once she realized how embarrassing it was that she was broken down by some ear scratches. "My name is Weiss."

She held out her hand for him to shake. He grabbed it firmly and shook it. "My names Tai." She noticed that his hands were rough, there were scars and callouses. 'I wonder what he does for a living' she guessed it would have to be some sort of manual labor given his hands and his overall build. He looked incredibly strong throughout his whole body.

"Ruby?" Tai began to speak, "can you give Weiss a pair of clothes to wear today? I'll go shopping, but I want her out of these clothes as soon as possible."

"Yeah, come with me, Weiss." And with that statement, Ruby grabbed Weiss' hand and dragged her down the hallway.

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"Ruby, I don't think these are going to fit."

"They're gonna fit, your waist is small enough."

"Ruby, I'm not worried about the size."

"Then what's the problem?"

"My tail. My tail is the problem."

"Ooooohh, yeah I forgot about that. I don't really want to cut a hole in any of my pants. Would you have a problem with like tucking it away? I know it would probably be uncomfortable but dad is getting you clothes today and it would only be for a little bit and sweatpants are really roomy so it won't be super tight and-"

"You're rambling. Just give me the sweatpants."

Ruby then got out a pair of black sweatpants with rose decals on both outer sides of the legs. They looked baggy enough and the crotch was bigger so Weiss could pull the waistband above her tail. Weiss took them from Ruby's hands and both girls stood in silence.

"Ruby...could you get out so I can change?"

"Oh, shoot yeah s-sorry I um I'll go now." Ruby left the room and Weiss got changed into what she was given. She took off what we're practically rags now and got into the sweatpants and a baggy red 'Guns and Roses' t-shirt. When Weiss walked out of the room, she noticed the smell of food in the air. Not just any food, she noticed the smell of meat. She ran to the kitchen to see Tai cooking up some bacon, sausage, and eggs.

He looked over at her and smiled, "I'm sorry for assuming based on your species, but is meat okay?" Tai didn't even need an answer when he looked down. He saw the pants shifting back and forth on her legs due to her tail wagging on the inside of her pants. "Yes!" Weiss then realized she raised her voice, she closed her eyes and braced for impact, "Uh sorry, that was uncalled for I'll-" Tai cut her off "Don't worry about it. Now, how about you grab a plate before the girls come down, I'm not sure how much will be left if you wait." Tai laughed at that last comment and served Weiss some sausage and bacon after she grabbed a plate.

'I had no idea there were plates made of paper!' Weiss wondered what other kinds of stuff she's missed out on because of her father. Not soon after she sat down, Ruby and Yang came running into the kitchen. "Food!" They both said as they grabbed a plate and were served.

Yang took one look at Weiss' plate and muttered 'go figures'. Weiss heard her loud and clear but decided not to ruin this family breakfast. She's never had one where someones not yelling, so this was a nice change.

So instead, Weiss took a piece of bacon and put it in her mouth. Enjoying the salty flavor it gave.

Chapter Text

After breakfast was over, the family and Weiss were discussing plans for the day. Ruby had to study for her test that was after winter break. The test was to see if she was smart enough to move from 8th grade to 10th grade. Weiss listened to the blonde members of the family give her nothing but encouragements.

She was jealous of that. Not once did her father ever tell her that he was proud of her or say "good job". He never even told her that he loved her. She was jealous of the fact that she got a father that wasn't even a father while Ruby got a loving and caring dad.

She wished she had a dad. She wanted a hug from her dad, not her father. Weiss became lost in thought. She always saw kids on tv with their dads. She wanted that. Tai noticed that Weiss was silent during the whole conversation. " Hey, Weiss?"

"Yes?"

"How about you come with me to go grab some clothes for you? I'm sure I'm not the best person for the job and the girls are both busy." Tai didn't want to push her to do anything she didn't want to, but he was sure that she would want to get a choice in her clothes.

"Yes, I would like to go." She then turned to Ruby, "Do you have a hat I can borrow?"

"Yeah, why?"

Weiss said nothing, she looked up and wiggled her ears. Ruby seemed to understand and she got up to go get the hat. She came back with a black hat with a rose on it. 'Of course, it's rose themed. I'll have to ask her what's so special about them.'

Weiss took the hat, relieved that she did not have to ask Yang for one. Weiss didn't know why Yang hated her, she hasn't done anything to her, has she? Weiss couldn't think of anything considering they met last night. Weiss adjusted the hat and winced. She hated having her ears covered, they were so sensitive and the fabric rubbing up against them hurt. No one seemed to notice her discomfort so she didn't say anything.

She looked at Tai expectantly. He got up and put on his muddy boots. He grabbed the keys and Weiss followed the man outside to the same rusty pickup truck from the night before.

She got into the passenger side of the truck and waited as Tai got in and put the keys in the ignition. The truck was surprisingly quiet as it hummed to life. Once they were on the road, Tai spoke. "So...how are you liking it so far?"

"How do I like what?" Weiss has never been one for conversation, she barely talked to anyone besides her family and even that was all business related. She never really knew how to talk to people unless it was business related.

"Staying with us? Do you like it so far?" Tai's voice had always sounded so kind since she's been with them.

"Yes, although Yang is difficult to deal with, but I understand where she's coming from."

"What do you mean?" Tai became confused at that statement; he didn't even know why his daughter was acting that way.

"I am invading her territory, it's completely natural for her to feel threatened."

"While you have a point, I don't think that's the issue. Humans aren't territorial like wolves are. We can get territorial, but Yang's never been like that before. And while I wish I could tell you why she's acting this way, I'm not going to force it out of her. If it ever gets too much for you let me know immediately, but I'm sure this will all pass." Tai's voice said otherwise. He had no idea how this was going to end and he feared that Yang would at one point get physical. He really wished he knew what was going on with her, but she never went to him with these kinds of things; she was always so independent.

"Are you sur-"

"Look we're here" Tai didn't want Weiss to feel unsafe around Yang or make her walk on eggshells so he decided to drop the conversation before it got too much for one of them.

Weiss looked out the windshield to see a big building with the words 'Valeian Eagle' written in big letters. She's seen this store before, but she's never been. She knows that it would never be expensive for her family, but it wasn't the cheapest option by any means.

"Why are we going here? We could always go somewhere a little...less expensive." Weiss didn't want to be rude or ungrateful, she just didn't want Tai spending a ton of money on her.

"No, this is completely fine. I have a 50% off coupon anyway, so we can get you some better quality clothes without breaking the bank."

"Are you sure? I don't want you spending a bunch of money on me." 'I don't want to be a burden Tai' Weiss quietly finished in her head.

"I am 100% sure. Come on." Tai then turned off the car, the quiet humming of the engine slowly dissipating. He opened the car door and stepped onto the curb, looking at Weiss expectantly through the windshield.

Weiss reached for the door handle and pulled it towards her. She then pushed the door open and set both feet on the asphalt of the parking lot and made her way over to Tai.

"Let's go get you some clothes, little pup, " he smiled at her softly and began making his way inside, making sure Weiss was by him the whole time.

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"How about this?"

"There are too many flowers."

"This?"

"I don't like fire."

"This?"

"I don't want to be rude, but we've been in here for a little while, is it okay if I take the lead?"

"Sure go ahead."

As soon as she was given the approval, Weiss began making her way over to a mannequin she spotted when they first walked in. The mannequin was wearing a plain white hoodie, a pair of ripped, washed jeans, and a pair of white aoe court sneakers.

Tai should have guessed that she wanted white and blue; he was just so used to shopping for his daughters that it was just habit.

"Would it be okay if i got this?" Weiss really wanted this outfit; she really hoped Tai said yes.

"I don't see why not, let's check if they have your size."

"Wait, they don't measure you?" Weiss had only ever gotten clothes special ordered for her. That meant that she was always giving out her measurements to make sure the clothes fit her correctly.

"No, there are already predetermined sizes."

"What happens if the clothes don't fit a certain area correctly?" Weiss said, cocking her head slightly.

"People either deal with it, get a different size, or get it tailored."

"Oh," was all Wiess said.

They did, in fact, have Weiss' size for the majority of the clothes she wanted. When they went to check out, Weiss saw the total. It was the least amount of money Weiss ever spent on clothes, and yet, it felt so expensive to her. She doesn't know if it's because Tai is buying them for her or if it's because she has nothing now. 'Maybe it's a mixture of both' she thought as she and Tai grabbed the bags of clothes. There were just enough clothes to get her through a week without feeling gross.

He did, however, say that she would need to borrow night clothes from Ruby. That was fine, she was honestly happy to be out of her old clothes. Tai promised her that they would cut holes in every pair of her pants for her so her tail could be out. She was grateful for that, she hated not having mobility of her tail.

They loaded the bags into the car and began driving home.

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Weiss and Tai grabbed the bags from the car and slowly made their way inside. Once she put the bags down, Weiss ripped the hat off and rubbed her ears. She was so happy to have them free again. She walked over to the couch hoping to sit down and relax. When she got there, she was surprised to see Ruby sitting there, petting a small black ball of fluff.

"Who's a good boy? You are! You're a good boy!" Ruby was baby talking the ball and Weiss walked over, curious to see what was making Ruby talk like that.

"What's that?" Ruby jumped at the sound, not realizing Weiss was there. The sudden movement caused the black ball to fall off of her lap. When it got up, it noticed a new person in the room and ran to Weiss. It jumped on her leg and barked.

"That's Zwei! He's our dog."

"I didn't know you had a dog" Weiss looked down at Zwei. She looked at his little round body and his cute stubby legs and his chubby little face and couldn't take it anymore. "He's soo cute!" Weiss sat down on the floor and gushed about the dog.

Yang walked in and rolled her eyes. "Of course you two would get along."

"Shut up flame brain." Weiss continued to pet Zwei, she knew how good it felt to get some pets so she made sure she did it extra well for him. Weiss didn't know how long she was petting Zwei for, but before long Tai called for the girls to come and eat lunch.

Weiss left Zwei and went to the kitchen along with the red and yellow duo and ate the lunch Tai prepared. She quickly ate so she could get back to playing with Zwei. She soon became Zwei's new favorite person.

Chapter Text

That night, Weiss laid on the couch with Zwei cuddled into her side. She liked the kisses she gets from him. She wished she had a fuzzy friend of her own when she was younger. Father always told her no. She began to remember what happened that last time she asked for a dog. She never asked for a dog again after her father taught her a lesson.

"We already have a dog, but if she's going to be an ungrateful little bitch, we could always get her, " he paused, "retrained." He slowly made his way over to her. "Maybe then you'll be well behaved for once." His dark presence loomed over her as he spoke. She hated this man. She hated everything about him, but there was something she hated even more than him. Training.

Weiss hated training. It always involved him making her wear a collar and shouting commands at her, commands you give to a dog. She was not a dog. He would hit her if she misbehaved and sometimes even lock her in the basement for days with little to no food and water.

"No, please not that." Weiss was scared for her life now. The training always hurt so much and always brought out the bad side of her father, well, the worse side of him.

"Really? It seems like you need it." He smirked, eager to let out his anger at the mistake he made. "Come on." He grabbed her by her wolf ears and she choked back a whine. She never wanted to give him the satisfaction. He took her down to the basement of the manor. It was musky and the air was thick. Most people would think that every inch of the manor would be perfect, but they'd be wrong. The basement was the worst part of the house, the smell was unbearable to most of the help. Jacques found that it was the perfect place to keep Weiss because of her sensitive nose.

He let go of her wolf ears and pushed her with enough force to make her lose her balance and hit the concrete under her. He then took out a whistle. Weiss' eyes widened in fear at the whistle. She was afraid he was going to blow it right off the bat just to torture her. He held it close to his mouth, silently threatening to blow it if she didn't do what he said. He then gave a command.

"Come on, sit!" As soon as Weiss heard that command she shot up from her spot on the couch and knelt on the floor, her hands resting on the floor and her tail between her legs. 'Not again, not again. Don't blow the whistle, please.' Weiss' ears lay flat atop her head now, bracing for the torturous noise. Her face didn't show fear though, she would never give him the satisfaction, never again. Her eyes were empty and cold like she was completely disconnected from the situation.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she flinched. She moved away and immediately covered her face with her arms. "I promise I'll sit faster next time. I'm so sorry." He loved when she begged, it usually gave her a less harsh beating. That's the one thing she would give him the satisfaction with. Her dignity, it's not like he had anything left to take from her anyway. He took everything, everything except Myrtenaster.

"Weiss, hey it's okay." Weiss barely heard the voice, she didn't know who's it was, but someone was there. Someone who wasn't her father. Weiss slowly removed her hands from her face. Her breathing still shallow due to her fear. Her arms lay by her sides as she opened her eyes, shocked at the sight. In front of her was Yang, her eyes filled with concern.

Yang slowly lifted her hand, being cautious in case Weiss freaked out again. She was in big sister mode now, and that meant she helped everyone, even people like Weiss. "I'm here, it's okay." Weiss eyed the hand cautiously as it continued its ascent. She didn't stop the hand from touching her face and wiping her tears. Weiss didn't even realize she was crying until she felt the wetness being spread across her cheek. That broke Weiss even more. She began to see her father again.

The first restricted sob broke from her body. Her form shook with each sob that her body tried to release and she began to close around herself. She brought her hands to her head and began grabbing two fistfuls of hair. Her body shook violently as she tried to breath with little luck. Yang didn't know what to do; she's never seen someone break down like this, not even Ruby when her mom died. Yang looked at Weiss. She looked at the shaking form on the floor, her head now pressed against the floor while her hands remain in her hair.

She looked farther down to see that her shirt rose up her back, revealing the beginning of a large jagged scar and many smaller scars. 'Wait, scars?' Then Yang heard it, a loud choked sob cracked through the silence of the air, like thunder in a storm.

Ruby and Tai walked quickly out of their rooms, only to see Weiss on the floor in the fetal position and Yang kneeling next to her. Weiss had since moved her hands from her hair and wrapped her arms around her head, like she was protecting it.

"Weiss," Yang called out to the girl hoping to get a response. There was none, so she tried again.

"Weiss," still no response.

"Weiss," this time Weiss looked up. The amount of terror and hurt in her eyes surprised Yang, and not in a good way.

"Please," Weiss' voice sounded weak and breathless, "Get away from me." There was no malice behind the words, no venom. She sounded, in the simplest form, scared. That much was easy to deduce by her physical reaction, but never in her life has Yang heard someone speak with a tone of pure terror. Yang backed away, hoping that that was the right thing to do in a situation like this.

"Hör auf zu weinen," she mumbled to herself in Atlesian. "Du bist nicht schwach." These two phrases were repeated over and over until Weiss' breathing calmed down slightly. She sat up, facing slightly away from her onlookers. She wasn't aware that they were there, too busy lost in her own twisted mind to truly pay attention.

She didn't notice that Yang had left either. She put her hands over her human ears and closed her eyes. She could hear the blood pumping and traveling throughout her body, a trick a friend of her's showed her a while back. She concentrated on the sound and tried to imagine the blood spreading throughout her body. She was alive. She could hear her heart beat.

One. Two. Three. She counted the frantic beats of her heart in hopes of distracting herself in any possible way. She didn't notice that Yang had returned, glass of water in hand. She had asked Ruby and her father to leave, thinking that Weiss would not want an audience during...whatever this was.

In her mind, she was repeating the same things, hoping that the repetition would make her remember for once in her life. 'He's not here,' and "He can't hurt you,' were the most repeated. She knew she was right in her mind, he wasn't here with her. He was in Atlas, so why wasn't her heart slowing down? Why did she still feel the tightening in her chest? Why could she still feel her scars throbbing as if they were fresh wounds?

Yang sat there patiently, this isn't the first time she's dealt with someone having a panic attack and unfortunately she knew it wouldn't be the last. Weiss had told her to go away, which means she doesn't want to be touched now. From the look of things, she has a way of coping. A way that's oddly similar to one of her friends, but she can't worry about that right now.

Yang had set the glass of water near the heavily breathing wolf, knowing that just holding it for her would be kind of weird.

"Hey, Weiss," her voice was soft, trying her best not to startle the girl. The girl in question didn't shift, but her wolf ears flicked, indicating she was listening. "Look, I brought you some water. I'm not really sure what's going through your head right now, or what's happening. I guess, if you need me or something, I'm here for you or I can get Ruby or somethi-"

Upon Yang's declaration, Weiss began to sob again, flinging herself at Yang and clawing at her shirt in an attempt to find a grip. Yang wrapped her arms around Weiss' still shaking form and ran circles across her back. Weiss flinched at the touch at first; Yang was touching her scar. Yang whispered reassurances in her and continued to hold her even as she began to calm down.

It was quite possible that Weiss was going to fling herself at anything that offered a remote sense of comfort, but Yang was still surprised that the girl would cling to her the way she did.

It was odd to think that they had been at each others throats again not too long ago, and here they were, one comforting the other. Yang sat there stiffly, unsure of what to do. She wasn't doing this because she liked Weiss, but she didn't hate her either. There weren't many people she hated, it was hard to get on that list, but once you got on, it was practically impossible to get off.

Soon, Weiss' breathing began to level out and she stopped shaking. Yang felt the weight of Weiss become heavier on top of her and she looked down to see a fast asleep Weiss. She looked back over to where Ruby was sitting, or, was sitting. Ruby was no longer there, most likely already have retreated back to her own room for some sleep.

Yang lifted Weiss up and slowly laid her on the couch as Weiss began to mumble something inaudible. She picked up Zwei and put him next to Weiss in the hopes he would cuddle with her. He did, and she pulled the blanket over the two (almost) canines. Yang retreated back to her own room, realizing she wasn't going to get much sleep now that she had so many questions for Weiss.

Chapter Text

Weiss was exiting the bathroom. Its been a few days since her flashback; she and Yang haven't spoken much since then. She wanted to know why Yang helped her and then just pretended like nothing even happened.

Weiss made her way to the living room. Ruby was sitting on the couch studying for her test. Tomorrow winter break was over and Weiss would be alone all day. She knew she would miss the company even though she had only been staying with them for a few days. She missed human interaction; she hasn't had much since Winter died. She looked at the clock. It was almost half past one and Ruby hasn't gotten up to eat.

Weiss knew that the younger girl had to be hungry, she had almost as big of an appetite as Weiss herself. So, Weiss did what she thought would make the most sense in this situation. Seeing as they were the only two people home, Weiss took it upon herself to make Ruby lunch. Tai had to work and Yang was out doing...something. Weiss had no idea where Yang went, she just up and left this morning, not saying a word to her.

Weiss made her way into the kitchen and took out the necessary ingredients for a sandwich, specifically Ruby's favorite sandwich. Now, she stood before lettuce, tomatoes, turkey, bacon, cheese, and bread and wondered what the first step was. She's never actually made a sandwich before, so she was unsure of where to actually start. She grabbed a cutting board and a knife and began trying to chop the tomatoes, trying being the key word there.

She heard a loud sigh from Ruby followed by some shuffling. She saw Ruby make her way into the kitchen looking quite exhausted. Ruby sat down on the other side of the counter and set her paper down. From one glance at the paper, Weiss could already spot multiple errors.

"That's wrong, " Weiss stated matter-of-factly. 'Lycanthropy history huh?' Weiss questioned in her head after reading over the heading of the worksheet.

"So is that, " Ruby said while surprising her giggles. She pointed to Weiss cutting the tomato.

"What's wrong with it?" Weiss was honestly so confused right now. How could she mess up cutting up a tomato?

"First of all, you're using the wrong knife. That's a butter knife. See?" Ruby said pointing to the blade itself, "the knife has serrations on it and that means it's more meant for sawing rather than a clean cut. You want a knife with a straight cutting edge on the blade so you can get clean cuts. And second of all, " Ruby said before pausing for a second, "those tomato slices are way too thick." She looks up and smiles at Weiss.

Weiss was amazed at how much Ruby knew about simple kitchen knives. She wondered if Ruby knew more about other things in the kitchen as well. 'It's a strange thing to know about, did she want to be a chef?' Weiss thought before coming back to reality.

"Then how about you help me with this and in exchange I'll help you study." Weiss thought this was a fair proposition. Both parties get to learn and gain something new from it without one being more valuable than the other. Ruby is going to need this knowledge in the future for her new classes and Weiss would rather not starve, 'or have Ruby starve,' Weiss added in her head. It's a win-win.

"I don't know, " Ruby said drawing out each word like she was teasing Weiss. "I would consider the offer if a sandwich was made for me too," Ruby had a big grin on her face.

"Who do you think the sandwich was for in the first place, you dolt," Weiss muttered. Her face began to heat up in embarrassment as Ruby stared at her. She hoped she spoke quiet enough that Ruby couldn't hear her, but she already knew that Ruby had heard her based on her reaction. Her eyes a little wider than before and her face began to take on a pink color and she stared at Weiss.

"Oh, well umm...yeah so, yeah." Ruby stood there awkwardly. She didn't know what do you and she became flustered incredibly quickly. 'Nice going Ruby you're being weird in front of her' Ruby scolded herself for her awkwardness wondering how she could turn this situation around, but Weiss beat her to it.

"So are you going to help me or are you just going to stand there?" Weiss gained some confidence back after seeing Ruby become so flustered because of her. Her confidence was short lived once she saw Ruby's eyes meet hers. She felt her face heat up again and she looked away. Ruby got down from her perch and walked around to the side of the counter that Weiss was on. Ruby took a knife out of a wood block and held it out for Weiss to see.

"This is called a paring knife. This would be the best knife to use for cutting the tomato since its primary use is smaller fruits and vegetables." Ruby then proceeded to grab a tomato and gently set the knife on to it. "Now, what you want to do is line your knife up so you know where your first cut is going to be. Then you're going to want to push down while moving the knife forward, away from your body like this." Ruby then proceeded to create a slice of tomato. She looked up at Weiss to see if she understood. Weiss looked at the tomato for a second before looking back at her.

Ruby handed the knife to Weiss and stood by her to make sure she was cutting it correctly. Weiss followed Ruby's instructions and lined the knife up, she then pushed the knife down and push the knife away from her. Ruby noticed that Weiss' hand that was holding the tomato was a little too close to the knife when it was too late. Once the tomato had been cut through, Weiss felt a pain in her finger. It wasn't a pain that would make her cry out, she's felt much worse than this, but it was a pain that was definitely noticeable and causing her discomfort. She was able to remain calm as she picked up her right hand to examine the wound.

Ruby, on the other hand, was panicking. "Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod I'll go get a band-aid or some wrap. How deep is it? Does it hurt? Are you okay? Should I get something different? Should I-"

"Ruby I'm okay, " Weiss cut off her panicked rambling. In all honesty, Weiss did feel fine. The cut wasn't super deep and there wasn't much blood.

"Weiss there's blood dripping down your hand. How are you okay?" Ruby was freaking out, to say the least. How was Weiss able to stay so calm about this whole thing?

"It's not too much blood, I've been hurt far worse than this." That wasn't a lie, Weiss has been beaten to the edge of death countless times before by her father. The sight of blood on herself didn't phase her anymore; it hasn't phased her for a long time. Weiss just grabbed a paper towel to wipe up the blood on her hand and looked at Ruby. "I think it might be smart for you to finish cutting up a new tomato after washing the knife. Thank you for teaching me, I appreciate it." Weiss was thankful that Ruby took time out of her day to teach Weiss something so mundane. Her father would have never done that for her.

"It's no problem. Here I'll finish the tomato and you can read over my paper and tell me what's wrong with it. Deal?" Ruby said as she walked over to the tomato and picked up the knife.

"Deal," Weiss replied as she walked over to the other side of the counter to retrieve Ruby's paper.

Ruby and Weiss sat in silence while doing these tasks, needing to stay focused in order to get them done correctly. Weiss looked up once she was done reading over the paper. She saw that Ruby had been staring at her and her face began to heat up again. She made quick disposal of the embarrassment and spoke up.

"If you're going to understand Lycanthropy history, you could at least get the roles of the pack correct." Weiss knew the roles of the pack from being in one, she missed it. She missed her beta, not that she would tell anyone.

"How did I get the roles wrong?"

"You switched Beta and Omega. Beta is the second in command and the Omega is the submissive in the pack, dolt."

"Hey! At least I knew Alpha, " Ruby said, trying to defend herself.

"Alpha means the beginning, they're the heads of the packs, the leaders. Beta means second, hence the second in command. Omega means last, which is why they're the submissive or basically the lowest member in the pack. It follows the same order as the Greek alphabet, so just follow the order of the letters and you'll get the order of the pack members."

"Oh, well if the book told me that it would be way easier to remember." Ruby hated the way textbooks said things. Definitions were straight forward, but that was about it. It wasn't human, it couldn't adapt to help a student. The book wasn't fun, it was boring.

"Well then maybe I can replace the book," Weiss suggested, "I mean, well I am technically done with high school already so it wouldn't be that hard for me to help you." Weiss became nervous at the suggestion. She didn't know why she did, but Ruby has made her incredibly nervous for what seems like no reason.

"You would do that for me?" Ruby questioned.

"Of course. You need help and I am capable of giving it to you. Why wouldn't I help you?"

"Wait!" Ruby shouted. Weiss' ears moved to lay flatly atop her head as she let out a small wince. "Sorry about that I just got excited for a second. What do you mean you're already done with high school? You can't be that much older than me."

"True, I'm only two years older than you. I was home-schooled and the tutors my dad hired liked to go fast-paced, so I should be a sophomore, but just like you, I'm two years ahead."

"That's so cool, so you must be, like super smart then." Ruby has never found anyone that was as advanced as her. She lived in a small town and not many people move in and out of it. It was comforting knowing that she wasn't the only one.

"I wouldn't say super smart. I just didn't really have much else to do in the house, so studying just happened to be the go-to." Weiss was sad to admit that that was the truth.

"Well now its going to come in handy because you can help me now." Ruby and Weiss made eye contact. Ruby was smiling, happy that someone was able to help her. Her father never took the classes she's getting ready to take and neither had Yang. "And it helps that you're not one hundred percent human because that means you have a different outlook and upbringing than I do."

"Different doesn't always mean good," Weiss was less cheerful now. She hated when her childhood or her species was brought up. It was almost like her tail and ears were all people saw, they never truly saw her, Weiss.

"Different doesn't always mean bad, " Ruby retorted.

"Different isn't normal."

"Yes, it is." Ruby didn't like hearing Weiss talk like this. She didn't like seeing her sad. Ruby wanted to be the one to make her smile again.

"How is having a tail and wolf ears normal? I don't see anyone else in the world looking like this." Weiss had always felt like an outsider. No one was like her and she wasn't like anyone.

"It's normal to you, isn't it?"

"What do you mean? How is any of this normal?"

"So, you're telling me that if you were to wake up one day without your ears and tail, it wouldn't throw you off?"

"Well, it would it's just-"

"See, " Ruby cut her off, " what's normal to me doesn't mean it's going to be normal to you. I'm not normal either."

"How are you not normal?"

"Well, let's see, my eyes are silver, I'm super short, I'm moving two years ahead of everyone my age, I run faster than anyone I know, and I have a cookie addiction. Those are just the ones I can name off the top of my head. I get comments on all of those things Weiss, and they are not good ones, but those aren't something that I can just change. I don't see why people feel the need to hurt someone over something that they can't control. I'm going to be the star of the track once the season starts, so who cares what people have to say. You can't worry about little stuff like that Weiss, if you worry that much about the little stuff, you're never going to have enough worry for the big stuff. Trust me."

Weiss didn't know when Ruby moved to go in front of her or when she grabbed her hand. She liked the warmth it gave off, 'it felt safe, ' Weiss thought. She had a lot to think about now. Ruby just tore her insecurity's apart and made her rethink how she saw herself. She wished she wasn't insecure, but she was raised like that, her father made her like that.

"I can't just change something like that overnight Ruby. How am I supposed to change the way I've always thought just like that? All my life I've been told one thing and now you're telling me the opposite. Who am I supposed to listen to now?"

"I know you can't change it overnight, that's not what I'm asking you to do. And you don't have to listen to anyone. You're your own person, so listen to you. I'm not telling you to think as I do, create your own way of thinking. All I was saying is that you're right, you're not normal, but nobody ever is. Plus, I don't like normal, it's boring. Why waste your time trying to be normal and be unhappy when you could be happy. You're allowed to be happy. You know that, right?"

Weiss stayed silent. Was she allowed to be happy? She was never allowed to, so why would it change now? How could she change the damage done to her? How could she fix herself? How can you fix something that's already so broken?

Chapter Text

It's been two weeks since Ruby passed the test and began going to Beacon High school. Weiss has been helping her every night to help her get caught up. In exchange, Ruby has been letting Weiss stay in her room. Well, not in exchange in Ruby's case. She wanted to ask Weiss if she wanted to share her room for a while. She already kept her clothes in there and Ruby didn't like her sleeping on the couch by herself, but she figured if she phrased it any other way, Weiss would say no.

They haven't been sharing a room for too long, but Weiss had already become accustomed to sleeping in the bed. The bed was much more comfortable than the couch and as an added bonus, Ruby was like a little space heater. Weiss didn't mind the cold physically, but the cold messed with her head. It gave her the chilling sense that she was all alone, but now she doesn't get that with Ruby by her side.

Weiss was sitting on her and Ruby's bed reading Ruby's textbook; she needed to figure out what exactly Ruby needed to learn for her math class. Weiss was good at math, but she absolutely hated it. She hated how time-consuming it was and how one small mistake could mess everything up. She hated that there were so many different equations and she hated how the textbook tried to give her "real world problems".

Weiss was writing down different equations down for Ruby to memorize and she gave examples for each equation to help Ruby better understand it. Today was Saturday, which meant Weiss and Ruby had the whole day to study. Once Weiss was satisfied with the paper, she exited the room rereading the paper over and over to make sure that she had everything as she headed into the living room.

" Hey, Ruby, I was thinking that we should go over the quadratic formula again so we can apply it to graphs and, " Weiss looked up and froze. Ruby wasn't alone on the couch and these people were not Yang or Tai.

On Ruby's left was a scrawny blonde boy. He was wearing a black hoody with a big bunny face on it and jeans. On his left was a red-haired girl with bright green eyes; she had on a yellow shirt with a red cardigan and tall yellow boots. On the other couch were a ginger-haired girl and an ebony haired boy with a pink streak. The boy had on a green v-neck shirt with white pants and the girl had a pink crop-top with a heart and a hammer on it and blue jean shorts.

They were all staring at her. Weiss started to panic. Her tail went in between her legs and her ears went flat on top of her head. Her breathing began to pick up and she dropped the paper. She couldn't move her legs; she tried but they wouldn't budge. She looked for Ruby, but she was gone. She began to panic more now once noticing Ruby was gone. She felt a soft touch on her shoulder and she jumped.

She turned around to see who touched her only to find Ruby standing there with a glass of water.

"Deep breathes. In 1-2-3 out 1-2-3-4. Breathe Weiss. It's okay. They aren't going to hurt you. It's all okay." Ruby tried to soothe her in the same way she tries to soothe Weiss when she has a bad dream. Sometimes it takes longer than other times but this situation seems to be the latter. Ruby can feel the rise and fall of her shoulders steady as her breathing does.

She offers Weiss the water and she takes a few sips of it.

"Better?" Ruby questions after giving Weiss some more time to calm down.

"Yeah, thanks, " Weiss said still feeling a tad shaken up from the situation.

"I'm so sorry that I forgot to tell you I was having friends over today, Weiss, " Ruby said as she places a hand on top of Weiss' head, giving it a few scratches.

Weiss leaned into the familiar touch as her tail began to slowly wag. "A few ear pets aren't g-going to change it, " Weiss said, struggling to even get words out, not wanting to succumb to the pleasure of the scratches.

"Is it helping?"

"A-a little. It might help if I get more before bed, " Weiss said, embarrassed. She looked to the ground, her face beat red at the suggestion.

"Consider it done."

Someone clearing their throat brought Ruby and Weiss out of their own little world and both girls faces began to heat up. It was the blonde boy.

"I don't believe we've ever met, snow angel. I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc." He held out his hand for her to take and wore a big smile. Ruby became mad at Jaune for calling Weiss 'snow angel'.

'Wait, why am I mad. He only called her that because he's flirting with her. I shouldn't be mad at that.' Ruby thought 'But he shouldn't be flirting with her, that's my job' Ruby countered all previous reasoning. Sure, her and Weiss had been exchanging flirty responses here and there, but they were friends, right?

"I'd prefer it if you didn't call me snow angel, John." Weiss didn't know why he called her that but thought of him calling her that made her shudder with displeasure. She only wanted one person to call her those types of names.

"It's Jaune and how about snowflake?"

"No," Weiss said, already annoyed at the situation.

"Princess?"

Weiss was over this. She didn't need some boy flirting with her right now, not when she could be paying attention to someone else. Weiss had realized she wasn't straight a long time ago, not that her father would know. He constantly voiced his disapproval over same-sex couples and it hurt her, but she knew that no boy would make her happy like a girl would.

"Whatever, lady killer. Better luck next time." Weiss turned away and looked back at Ruby. The ginger-haired girl laughed at that.

"STRIKE 3 YOU'RE OUT, " she yelled as she laughed. "Seriously Jaune that's three times in a row. When are you going to accept that you suck at flirting?" The girl then got up and turned to Weiss. "I'm Nora, the boy over there is Ren and the girl sitting on the couch is Pyrrah." "Hello" she heard coming from behind Nora as she was introduced.

Nora held out her hand to shake and Weiss grabbed on to it to shake it back. That was the wrong choice because as soon as their hands made contact, Nora shook her arm violently, sending tremors through her body from the force.

"Nora calm down, " the boy, Ren, said to Nora.

"Ok, Renny, sorry Weiss, " Nora said apologetically as she let go of her hand.

"Don't worry about it, " Weiss said stiffly, unsure of what to do.

"Come on Weiss, sit down, " Ruby said, taking her previous place on the couch.

"There's no more room."

"Just sit on my lap, " Ruby didn't even realize what she said until she saw Weiss' reaction. Weiss' face was on fire upon hearing the suggestion and remained quiet. Ruby didn't know what to do. Should she take it back and say 'just kidding'?

Ruby decided to not take it back. 'It would be rude to have Weiss sit on the ground, ' Ruby thought it was pretty sound reasoning, but then, Weiss said something that she never would have thought to come out of her mouth.

"How about you sit on my lap instead," Weiss said, sounding much more confident than she felt. All the confidence suddenly left her voice once her and Ruby made eye contact, "w-well it's just that you're smaller than me s-so it would be easier that way." 'Smooth Schnee, real smooth.' She mentally facepalmed herself at her flustering. "I-i mean you don't have to i can just sit on the-"

"NO!" Ruby said a lot louder than intended, "I'll sit on your lap it's fine." Ruby was surprised she even got that sentence out. Her heart was beating extremely fast due to the situation. 'Like it wasn't already beating fast just from seeing Weiss' Ruby thought.

Weiss wasn't doing any better. Her heartbeat was in her ears and her face felt incredibly hot. She stiffly went to sit in the spot Ruby was previously sitting in and sat down. Ruby followed after her in the same robotic-like motions. Ruby sat tentatively on Weiss lap, not wanting to hurt her. The room was silent for a second, no one knew what to say after witnessing that interaction. Nora spoke up.

"So...Weiss, you're a werewolf, right?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of wolf are you?" Nora knew it wasn't the most respectful question, but she was curious and wanted to know why Weiss was still in partial wolf form.

"Arctic, " Weiss said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's cool, I'm a werewolf too, so is Pyrrah. We're red wolves." Nora started proudly with a cheeky smile. "Actually, Pyrrah's an Alpha."

"Really?" Weiss said, curiosity laced in her voice. "I am too."

" You're an Alpha?!?" Ruby yelled as she jumped on Weiss lap and losing her balance. Weiss felt Ruby begin to fall and moved her arms to wrap them around her waist to keep her secure. "Dolt" she muttered.

"You never told me you were an Alpha."

"I didn't think it was important, sorry, " she truly didn't think it was important.

"So then, you're like super powerful then, huh?" Nora said. She knew Alpha abilities were enhanced due to their rankings but she wanted to see just how enhanced they were.

"I wouldn't know, I've never really trained with anyone but an Alpha."

"Then how about we test it?" Nora was excited now. She wanted to see what the Arctic Wolf could do.

"What do you mean?"

"Fight me," Nora stated.

"What?" Weiss' voice raising a pitch at the statement.

"Nora no, " Ren, Pyrrah, and Ruby said at the same time.

"Awwwww, " Nora and Jaune said.

Ruby adjusted on Weiss' lap. Weiss became increasingly aware of just how intimate this position was. Ruby's butt was firmly pressed against Weiss' front and their bodies began to touch even more when Ruby leaned back. Weiss' arms were still around her waist to 'keep her from falling'. At least, that's what she told herself.

'Friends do this all the time Weiss it's not a big deal' Weiss tried to calm herself down but she couldn't. She couldn't wait for these people to leave. Not because she didn't like them, but because she was so embarrassed that she couldn't even focus on how good it felt to have Ruby so close to her. Then Weiss thought of something to keep her mind off of things as Ruby talked animatedly to her new friends.

She was going to get ear scratches once they leave. That's the only thought that let her get through this.

Chapter Text

"Rubyyyy, " Weiss said groaning out in pleasure.

"We can stop if you want." Ruby was feeling a little unsure about the situation. "I feel like it hurts you."

"It doesn't it feels good I'm just sensitive." Weiss let out a whimper as Ruby continued the motions with her hand.

"Oh am I doing it too hard?" Ruby had never really done this before; she was extremely nervous.

"No, please. Harder. A-and faster too." When Ruby picked up her pace Weiss leaned closer to her, burying her head in her neck as she panted. Ruby was making her feel things she's never felt before. Her tail was wagging quickly back and forth at the pleasure and her tongue began to hang out of her mouth. "Oh my gosh, this feels so good, " Weiss groaned out as she moved her body even closer to Ruby.

"Who knew a few ear scratches could reduce you to this?" Ruby chuckled. Weiss was being so vulnerable right now; no one except Ruby has seen her like this and Ruby hopes that she's the only one who ever gets to see her like this. Ruby was kind of happy she didn't tell Weiss she was having people over, but at the same time, she felt guilty. She caused Weiss to panic, so to say sorry she offered ear scratches and now she's here.

Her and Weiss laying side by side facing each other, Ruby's left arm resting on Weiss' shoulder as she scratched her ears, Weiss gripping her hips tightly(this made Ruby blush when it happened), their fronts pressed together as Weiss tried to move closer to the pleasure, Weiss' head tucked in the crook of her neck. Ruby could feel Weiss' hot breath as she panted. It tickled Ruby but at the same time, it made her blush. They were so close and Ruby guessed that Weiss didn't even realize it, too lost in her own pleasure to think.

Then, Ruby had an idea. 'What if I pet her tail too?' Ruby thought this was a good idea. If her ears felt good then her tail would too, right? Ruby replaced her left hand with her right hand, continuing to pet Weiss with the same pressure and speed as before. Her left hand snaked down to Weiss' tail. When Ruby grabbed Weiss' tail, softly, of course, Weiss let out an "Eep" and shot up.

Before Ruby even knew what was happening, she was on her back with one of Weiss' legs on either side of her hips and her hands held over her head with one of Weiss' hands, the other on the side of Ruby's head.

She looked at Weiss, who was now on top of her. Her face was flushed and it reached from her human ears to her neck. Her mouth was still open, panting from the previous pleasure. Her eyes were half-lidded but somehow still looked intimidating. Her glacier eyes are full of so many things. She used them to hide the things in her mind, but things seep through them. But not now, her expression was unreadable as she hovers over Ruby. Weiss closed her mouth then opened it again, getting ready to say something. Right before the words were able to leave her mouth, the door burst open, causing Weiss and Ruby to jump.

Ruby didn't know that when she was flipped over she was brought to the edge of the bed, but she was fully aware after she and Weiss jumped. Weiss forgot she was holding both of Ruby's hands until she fell. As Weiss jumped, she slipped off the bed, her left leg giving off enough force on Ruby's hip to cause her to turn and the hold on her hands gave the final push needed to get her to fall with Wiess.

When Weiss landed, she hit her back, hard. She winced when she made contact with the ground and was only partially aware that Ruby was going to land on top of her. She closed her eyes and waited for the impact, except it never came, only a soft touch on her face. When Weiss opened her eyes, she came face to face with Ruby, literally. Their noses were touching and Weiss could feel her hot breath on her lips and she exhaled.

Weiss could feel Ruby's lips ghosting over her own, she was so close. Before she could even imagine how it would feel to have Ruby's lips on her own, someone cleared their throat. Ruby shot off of Weiss. Weiss could see that Ruby's blush reached all the way to her neck and from the feel of her own blush she assumed it was the same for her as well. She looked over to see who walked into the room. It was Tai.

'Thank gosh it wasn't Yang or I would be dead right now' Weiss thought as she got up.

"I'm not sure what just happened, but Zwei needs a walk, " Tai said, " can you take him, Ruby? You can go too if you would like, little pup, I know you haven't been outside much."

Weiss only nodded, not wanting to speak. Ruby looked just as flustered as she felt. She was thankful for that, afraid that it was only going to be one-sided.

Ruby and Weiss both walked out of the room, looking at the ground like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Ruby grabbed Zwei's collar and leash off of the counter and called him.

"Do you want to go for a walkies?" Ruby said in a baby voice while putting the collar on Zwei. She continued to talk to him like that as she put his things on. When she looked over at Weiss, she noticed that she was oddly excited. Her tail was wagging behind her as she stood near Ruby.

"I just...really want to go for a walk, " Weiss said, failing to mention that the way Ruby was talking to Zwei contributed to the excitement.

"Well then, why are we just standing here? Come on!" And with that, Ruby grabbed Weiss' hand and led both pups out the door.

When Weiss was on the run she didn't have time to appreciate not being surrounded by buildings 24/7. She didn't like being in a crowded city, the smell was too much for her nose. There were so many new smells now. She could smell the freshness in the air and it was freeing. Oh, how she's longed to smell freedom. She wanted to smell it all. But, all of that was short lived when she heard a voice.

"Hey, you! Little Red!" A voice yelled from behind them.

Ruby turned around to see who it was and her face paled. Cardin Winchester. He was Ruby's bully in middle school. She accidentally tripped him in the hallway the other day and he told her that she would pay. Apparently, that time was now.

Cardin walked up to them, not looking too happy. He didn't say anything, he just looked at the two of them.

"You made me look like a fool in front of all my friends, " he started, "I guess I'll return the favor." With that, he threw his first back and swung. His hand hit something, but it was definitely not a face. Weiss had put her hand out in front of Ruby's face, catching the hand in her own as she stared the boy down.

"I don't believe we've met, " Weiss said in a faux sweet voice. "Now, I have no idea what this is about, but I would prefer if you didn't go around acting like a barbarian."

Ruby looked in amazement at Weiss. No one except Yang has ever defended her before. She turned her attention back to Cardin, his face now red with anger. He grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and picked her up.

"What did you say mutt?" Weiss wasn't phased by this at all. Her dad was at least ten times more intimidating than this wannabe. She felt fear in her heart, but it wasn't for what he would do to her, it was for how Ruby would feel when Weiss was done with him. 'I hope she's not scared of me after this' she thought as she gently placed her hand on the one that was currently around her collar.

She looked at the boy, tilted her head, and smiled. Cardin looked confused for a second, his grip loosening for a split second. 'Now' Weiss thought as she tightened the grip around his hand and swung her lower body up. She wrapped her legs around his neck, effectively creating a choke hold.

Cardin let go of her shirt and grabbed her legs in an attempt to loosen the hold. As soon as he let go of her, Weiss grabbed onto his head to make sure she stayed upright. Cardin remained standing, but the lack of oxygen was definitely making his legs weaker by the minute.

"Now listen closely because I'm only going to say this once, " Weiss started, Cardin made eye contact with her. Her own eyes flaming with rage, his eyes as well. "If you ever try to hurt Ruby, no, if you even think about hurting Ruby I will find out. And trust me, it will be a hell of a lot worse than this. Nod if you understand."

Cardin nodded to the best of his abilities. He fell to his knees, his legs weak from oxygen deprivation and his face red.

Ruby was surprised that Weiss was so angry. Her eyes a serious blue, almost glowing. She looked like she was holding so much back. Was it for her? Was she mad because Cardin tried to hurt a person or because that person was her? Ruby hoped it was the latter.

Ruby looked at Weiss' eyes again. They were so bright and brimming with rage, but there was something else there. Ruby always thought Weiss' eyes looked cold, distant almost, but after seeing this, she knows there's more to Weiss. After all, the warmest fires burn blue.

"Good, now I'm going to get off of you and you're going to calmly walk away like this never happened. You wouldn't want anyone to know you got your ass handed to you by someone half your size, now would we? Are we clear?" Another weak nod. "Good." Weiss then let go of his head, unwrapped her legs, and did a back handspring away from him not knowing if he was going to attack her.

Cardin's hands went to his throat as he finally got some oxygen. After a few seconds, he got up, glaring at the two girls as he walked away. Once he was a safe distance away, Weiss ran to Ruby.

"Are you okay? Did my hand hit you when I blocked him? I'm sorry I got out of hand I just-" "Weiss that was freaking amazing!!" Ruby interrupted her with an amazed shout.

"What?" Weiss said in shock.

"Oh my gosh, you were so cool. Even cooler than Yang. You didn't even need to punch him to get him to go away. You just used that ninja move like HYAH and then you were like whoosh and then you were so cool and it was actually kind of hot and oh my gosh I didn't know you could do that, " Ruby looked up at Weiss to find her blushing and she stopped talking. "What did I say?"

"You said that I was hot." Weiss' face heated up more upon saying that. "Do you really mean that?"

"Well, I-i mean, " Ruby started becoming extremely flustered. She took a deep breath, 'well here goes nothing, ' she thought. "Weiss yes I do mean that. You're so cool and amazing and you protected me and I'm so thankful for that because I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here. I don't just think you're hot, I think you're, " Ruby thought for a moment, trying to remember the vocabulary word Weiss taught her the other day, "ethereal."

"Really?" Weiss didn't know what to say. She thought all of those things about Ruby too, but she didn't know how to say it, so instead, she decided to say it through actions. She walked over to Ruby and gently grabbed her chin. She pulled it closer to her face so that their foreheads rest against each other. She looked into Ruby's eyes, silently asking for permission. When she saw nothing but approval, she leaned in. She could feel Ruby's breath intermingle with her own as she got closer. Her lips were once again ghosting over Ruby's as she closed her eyes.

"Ruby? Weiss?" Both girls jumped back, disappointment was written on both of the girl's faces. Yang came running towards them.

"Where have you two been? It's been almost an hour since you guys left." As Yang looked over at the girls, she saw that their faces were extremely red.

"W-well Cardin showed up as we were walking and-" "Cardin showed up? Where's the little bastard now?!?" Yang hated Cardin with a passion. He always picked on Ruby and has gotten physical with her on multiple accounts.

"Don't worry Weiss took care of him." Yang busted out laughing when Ruby said that.

"Come on let's just go back," Weiss mumbled as she began to walk back towards the house.

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Once Monday came along, Yang finally believed that Weiss did something to Cardin. He didn't have any visible marks on him, but when she saw Cardin walking in the hallway towards an alone Ruby she saw Cardin immediately avoid her.

'What did Weiss do to him?' She thought as she continued to put her stuff in her locker.

Chapter Text

Ruby laid awake lost in thought. It had been two weeks since Weiss scared Cardin away and they continued with their normal life. Every night it was the same cycle of sleeping on opposite ends of the bed and every morning Ruby wakes up to Weiss clinging to her, not that she minds, but she wished that they had gone to sleep like that too. Ruby knew that it wasn't just a normal clinginess, she knew Weiss was scared of her leaving. Every night, Ruby listens to Weiss whimper people's names, two names in particular. Ruby was always a 'late to bed' person so she was always awake after Weiss and every night it was the same thing: Weiss would start to twitch and her breathing would pick up, then she would start grabbing for something (in the end it's always Ruby), and then she would whimper one of two names, father or Winter.

It was a cycle Ruby didn't know how to break, she wished she did. She knew what it was like having nightmares; she would have them all the time of her mom. Ruby has gotten used to them, but every once and a while the fear of losing someone would bubble up and manifest in her mind. She's learned how to hide behind a smile because of these dreams. It's gotten to the point where she doesn't even know if her own smile was real or not. Ruby knew Weiss had her fears buried deep inside of her, but there was just so much that it came out at night. It came out the one time she couldn't control them anymore.

Ruby knew Weiss also hid behind a mask. Her face always indifferent, her eyes showed her true feelings though. She's learned throughout the years how to see the sadness in someone's eyes, that's how she learned to hide her own sadness. Weiss' eyes reminded her of windows, they were so clear and Ruby could see into the depths of her mind through them. She could see all of the pain and regret she held in them. All of the anger and resentment left in them. She saw so much hatred for the world in her eyes.

Ruby felt a shift on the bed and saw Weiss slowly shifting towards her, just like every night, but there was a difference: Weiss was awake. Ruby could see her pale blue eyes in the dark. Weiss' ears were flat on top of her head and her eyes were full of sadness. Weiss shifted closer to her, her head bowing slightly as she let out soft, high pitched whines. Ruby sat up so she was level with Weiss and put her hand on top of her head. She could clearly see the sadness in Weiss' eyes now, threatening to spill out of them onto her face in the form of tears.

Ruby didn't say anything, she only moved her hand on Weiss' head in an attempt to cheer her up. That's when the first tear spilled out, many more following it. Weiss sniffled and she moved closer to Ruby, enveloping her in a hug. Ruby wrapped her arms around the wolf's waist, holding it securely. Weiss didn't sob, she just silently let the tears flow freely down her face.

After a couple of minutes, Weiss leaned out of the hug and shifted so that she was sitting in Ruby's lap facing her. Ruby took one of her hands off of Weiss' waist and brought it up to her face, wiping the tears up with the pad of her thumb. After the tears were wiped up the two girls sat in silence. Ruby didn't know what to say, she knew Weiss' demons showed up, but she wished she knew what those demons were so she could help her. Ruby's left hand was lazily drawing a random pattern in Weiss' hip as she waited for Weiss to say something. Luckily, the wait wasn't too long.

"Thank you." Ruby had to strain to hear the words.

"Anytime," Ruby said breathlessly. She could feel Weiss breathe on her lips and she guessed that Weiss could feel hers as well. "Yang used to do something to me when I would have bad dreams, would it be okay if I tried it on you?" Weiss only nodded on reply. Ruby placed her fingers on Weiss' chin and moved her closer. She leaned in and kissed Weiss on her cheek, then moved her head to kiss the other. She laid them on Weiss' cheek softly, almost afraid she would break if any additional pressure was added. She then moved up and kissed Weiss on the forehead, lingering for a second before pulling back and looking Weiss in the eyes.

Weiss could hear a heartbeat, whether it was hers or Ruby's was a mystery. Both girls hearts were beating incredibly fast as they looked at each other. They were thankful it was dark so the other couldn't see how hot their faces felt. Then, Weiss built up the courage to speak.

"I don't think that will work, maybe you need to try it in your own way." Weiss hopes that was enough of a hint for Ruby to understand. Her voice sounded like she had just run a marathon, but with the way her heart was beating it wouldn't be too much of a stretch.

Ruby understood what Weiss meant, it was now up to her to make a move. She slowly moved her hand from Weiss' chin to her jaw, angling her face so that their noses were touching. Their foreheads were touching and they looked into each other eyes. Ruby saw Weiss lick her lips and decided to do the same. Ruby leaned in farther until she could feel Weiss' lips ghosting over her own. Her eyes fluttered closed as she leaned in farther, their lips now touching. Weiss' hands began to slide up her arms and intertwine behind her neck, locking her in place as she moved her lips on Ruby's. Ruby felt her whole body become enveloped in warmth.

Her skin felt tingly and they continued to kiss. Weiss' lips felt soft on her own. They were warm. Weiss leaned back a little, testing Ruby to see what she would do. When Ruby leaned forward to continue the kiss, Weiss knew she wanted it. Ruby could hear the swish of Weiss' tail against the bed as their lips moved together. Ruby had never kissed anyone in her life, she was scared she was doing it wrong until Weiss pulled her closer. Both girls kissed with passion, all of the feelings that have been building up over the past month were finally being released.

They didn't know how long they kissed for, but it got to the point where both girls' lungs burned from the lack of oxygen. When they leaned back to catch their breath and they opened their eyes. Both girls gasped in shock at the sight they saw, their eyes were glowing! Weiss knew what it meant and she finally understood why her feelings for the cookie addict happened so fast. Ruby, on the other hand, was extremely confused. Both girls maintained eye contact while they panted, looking in awe at the eyes of the other.

"My mate, " Weiss whispered in breathless surprise. She didn't know what to think. She had so many mixed emotions, fear, joy, surprise, excitement. Ruby's eyes widened at Weiss' statement. She knew that it was rare for wolves to find their mates at a young age, some wolves never find their mates.

"Does this mean we're dating?" Ruby asked, still not entirely sure what it meant to have a mate. Were they automatically girlfriends now?

"Well you would have to take me on a date first, " Weiss giggled softly, her tail still wagging.

"Completely unrelated question, are you free tomorrow?" Ruby flashed a goofy grin at Weiss, making her giggle again.

"I don't know..." Weiss trailed off before speaking again, "I might have to check my schedule, I'm a very busy person. Why do you ask?" Weiss felt so silly acting like she had no idea what Ruby was talking about, but it felt nice to have friendly banter with someone.

"Well if you're busy...then I guess I won't ask."

"I might be able to rearrange some things to make time."

"Hopefully you can make time at 6 otherwise I might just have to take someone else."

"Now that I think about it I'm sure I could move a few things around for you." Both girls could no longer hold it together and burst out in a fit of giggles. Weiss was still in Ruby's lap and decided to lean in once again. Weiss thought Ruby's scent was intoxicating. She took in a long breath, trying to decipher every element of her scent. She pressed her nose to Ruby's neck and continued to inhale the girl's scent. Her breath was tickling Ruby's skin causing her to let out more giggles.

Ruby pulled back, trying to get away from the sensation. Weiss let out a small whine as the girl leaned back, both girls once again laying their gazes on the other's eyes. They leaned in and shared a short, but sweet, kiss before Weiss let out a yawn.

"How about we get some sleep. I'm sure you're super tired from your busy day since you're such a busy person, " Ruby mocked Weiss' earlier statement as she leaned back, taking Weiss with her. Weiss was too comfortable to move and decided that Ruby would become her new body pillow. She looked up at Ruby to make sure it was okay and that she wasn't crushing the younger girl under her weight. When Weiss saw nothing but approval in those bright silver eyes, she nuzzled into her neck, letting out a content sigh. Ruby shifted until she found a comfortable position for her and Weiss. She put her arms around the girl above her and closed her eyes.

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Weiss got the best sleep of her life. She woke up to a beautiful sight. Ruby was below her with a small smile on her face. Her hair was messy and her eyes were shining, looking like they were glowing in the morning sun. Her arms still wrapped around her as firmly as they were when she fell asleep.

"Mmm good morning." Weiss' voice was still heavy with sleep.

"Good morning." If Weiss died at that moment, she would die happy. Ruby's morning voice sounded like heaven. It was raspy and Weiss hoped that she could wake up like this every morning. "How did you sleep, " Ruby asked.

"Wonderfully, what about you?"

"I had a really weird dream. You were on my lap and we kissed and cuddled all night." Weiss giggled and bounced slightly with the rise and fall of Ruby's chest as she laughed along with her.

"I'm not so sure that was a dream, " Weiss said back.

"How can you be so sure? Can you prove it?" Weiss just smirked at Ruby and rolled her eyes. 'How could this dolt be so smooth?' Weiss thought as she slid up Ruby's body and craned her neck, her lips laying on Ruby's softly before they began to move. The kiss was slow and passionate. It spread warmth throughout both of the girl's bodies. Weiss brought her hands up to caress Ruby's jaw as Ruby drew lazy circles in her sides with her thumbs. Weiss pulled back and smiled.

"Was that enough proof?"

"I don't know...I might need a little more." Ruby was grinning from ear to ear now. She could definitely get used to Weiss kisses. Weiss pecked her on the lips before moving to get up. Ruby began to pout, she wanted more kisses.

"Maybe later, dolt. Your dad could walk in any minute, or worse, your sister."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go get some breakfast, I can smell the bacon from here." Weiss tail was wagging at the thought of food.

"Wow, I think your tail is wagging faster than it does when i scratched your ears." Weiss' tail wagged faster at the mention of ear scratches. The two girls left the room in pursuit of food. The girls are and looked forward to the day, specifically 6 pm. Weiss was really looking forward to her date and she hopes Ruby was just as excited.

Chapter Text

Weiss and Ruby got their breakfast and sat down at the dining table, both eager to dig into their food. As soon as Weiss sat down, she grabbed a piece of bacon and put it in her mouth as fast as she could, chewing slowly to savor the salty taste. Ruby, on the other hand, was shoveling food into her mouth like she hadn't eaten in days.

"Dang Ruby, can you eat any faster? You're actually eating faster than the mutt for once." Yang walked towards the two girls with a plate of her own and sat down. Ruby grabbed Weiss' hand from under the table, silently making sure she was okay. Weiss squeezed her hand gratefully and she continued to eat with her left.

"Well, that's because I have a busy day today and I want to get started on it asap." Ruby glanced at Weiss and saw that her cheeks took on a pink tint from her statement and she internally squealed in excitement. She hoped that she would be able to make Weiss blush more. Weiss was thankful that Yang was looking at her plate so she couldn't see the blush she was sporting.

"I didn't know you had plans today, pumpkin, " Tai said as he walked into the dining room both a plate of his own. He looked down and saw that his daughter's and the snow wolf's hands were intertwined. He smiled, he knew he was going to have to talk about this with Ruby at some point, but he wanted to wait until she came to him.

"Yeah, the plans just came up, so I didn't really know they were going to happen either, but I'm really glad they're happening." Weiss knew Ruby was doing this on purpose now. Two could play at that game.

"I wish I was doing something special today too." Ruby knew Weiss was just playing around now. The way her cheeks still had a pink tint to them and the small smile on her face gave her away.

"I'm sure you're going to be very happy with how things turn out today Weiss, don't worry." Ruby liked this, having a secret conversation with Weiss where everyone could hear them. No one would know the true meaning of her words, no one except Weiss.

"What makes you say that Rubes? She doesn't even leave the house." Yang spoke up, finally looking up from her food.

"I just have a feeling." Ruby continued to eat, she didn't have much time to plan the date and she needed it to be perfect.

Once she was finished, she reluctantly let go of Weiss' hand and cleaned up her plate. After cleaning up she put on her shoes and left the house, leaving Weiss alone with the two blondes.

"Do you girls have any plans?"

"I'm going to go hang out with a friend today," Yang said. Weiss didn't respond, she knew he already knew the answer. Yang was right, after all, she never leaves the house. Now that the things about it, she realizes that she can count the times she's left the house on one hand. Yang got up and put her plate in the sink before heading to her room.

"I guess it's just you and me today, little pup, " Tai said with a smile. Weiss looked up and smiled at him. She liked Tai, he was a very nice person. He saved her life, his kindness saved her. She knew there weren't many people out in the world that we're like him. She didn't know what she did to deserve this sudden change in her life. Her life was so much better now that she was him and Ruby and Yang. Yang hasn't been nice to her since her breakdown. She wants to ask her what she did to her. Weiss thought that maybe it was because she was invading her home, but she tries to leave Yang alone so she doesn't become a hindrance.

Weiss picked up her plate and put it in the sink. She didn't want to think about this right now. Today is supposed to be a good day, she was going on a date after all, and not just any date; she had a date with her mate. Her tail started to wag just thinking about it.

"Whoa there little pup, you're tail's going to knock things down if it keeps wagging like that. Somethin' got you excited?" Tai chuckled as he put his plate away.

"You could say that, " Weiss said, an embarrassed blush creeping up on her face as she smiled softly. "Would you like any help with the dishes?"

"Sure, could you dry them?"

"Yep." Weiss walked up next to Tai and grabbed the plate he was holding out for her. She dried the dish and put it on the counter so that she could create a stack of plates. She went and grabbed another dish. When she went to dry the plate, there was a loud bang. Weiss jumped and dropped the plate. It shattered, breaking her out of her trance.

"I am so sorry. I'll clean it up right away." Weiss dropped to her knees, not waiting for an answer. She began to pick up the shattered ceramic, the pieces piercing into her skin as she cleaned up her mess. Whenever she would break things, her father would make her pick all the pieces up. If she didn't pick the pieces up quick enough, her punishment would be worse. He enjoyed watching her scramble on the floor in fear as she picked up the pieces.

Her tail was in between her knees, extending passed them and intercepting the blood dripping down from her hands. Her white fur slowly being stained with the red liquid. She could feel the heat of the slices on her hands, but she couldn't stop, she needed to clean up the mess. When she went to go pick up another piece, a hand was placed on top of her own. When she looked up she saw Tai kneeling on one knee in front of her.

"You wouldn't respond when I said your name," Tai said as he slowly opened both of her hands, letting all of the pieces fall back on the floor. "How about we go get these bandaged up."

Weiss didn't say anything. She slowly got up and walked into the bathroom. When Tai entered the bathroom, he had a look on his face. Somewhere between sympathy and pity. She hated that look. The help used to look at her like that. Her own sister used to look at her like that. Even her beta used to give her that look. Everywhere she went she got that look. That look of sorrow directed at her made her blood boil. She didn't need their pity. She was not weak, but that's how everyone looked at her. No one had any idea what she was capable of. She didn't realize she was letting out a low growl until it was too late.

"STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!" She was tired of everyone looking at her like that.

"Like what?"

"LIKE IM SOME HELPLESS CHILD WHO NEEDS TO BE PITIED!"

"I didn't know I was looking at you like that. I'm sorry. Now, please let me help you with your hands."

"I'll do it myself, it's not the first time I've had to patch myself up, " she said bitterly. Tai left the restroom and Weiss got up and washed her hands. She stinging of the water on her open wounds made her hands tingle. She watched as the watered down blood swirled its way around the sink before being sucked down the drain.

The cuts on her hands were small and shallow. When she turned the water off she could clearly see every slice and how they extended and compressed themselves with each movement of her hand. She opened the vanity and pulled out the peroxide, neosporin, and bandages for her hands. She meant what she said to Tai, about both the look he gave her and that she could do this herself. This wasn't her first time patching herself up after all.

She's been patching herself up for four years now; Winter wasn't there to help her anymore. She had learned how to do it from watching Winter. She hated that she knew how to patch herself up like this. Hate. Hate. Hate. It feels like that's the only feeling she has left now. She hates so many things in life now. Not that anyone would guess that she has this much hate in her. She's learned how to hide behind a mask of indifference because of her father; she's learned how to do many things because of him. She finished watching up her hands and she exited the bathroom. She entered hers and Ruby's room and made her way to the bed.

She knelt down and grabbed the box that Myrtenaster was in. She took the weapon out of its case and held it in her hands. Winter's weapon, a weapon unfit for a wolf. Her father thought it would be best to be trained with a Claymore or a Longsword. Her father had taken over many wolf packs over the years. There have been many wars between packs because of him. He thought it would be best for her to learn and fight. She thought it was so that she could protect herself, but she was merely being used as a tool of war. Her father has made her do things that will haunt her for the rest of her life, but rather than helping her, he laughs at her sorrow.

Fueled by rage and hatred, she grips the handle of her rapier and holds it firmly and she storms out of the room. She can feel the slight stinging of the cuts on her hands, but she doesn't let it phase her and she walks towards the front door.

"Where are you going, little pup?" Tai looked down and saw the sword in her hand.

"Out." With that one word, Weiss is out the door and walking towards the forest.

Once she deemed herself deep enough, she slashed the sword at the tree in front of her, a deep wound now present on the trunk. She lets out a murderous scream as she slices the tree with her sword again, creating a deep x on the surface. She continues to yell as she slices at the tree again and again. Her eyes burning like the hottest fire as she continued to let out her rage. For fifteen years of her life, her hate has been bottled up threatening to bubble over and release like a flood, drowning her body in hatred.

"Today was supposed to be a happy day and he RUINED IT." She roared in rage. "Just like he's ruined. Every. Single. Fucking. Thing." She punctuated each pause with a slash to the tree. The tree soon became stripped of bark in a large area of the trunk as she continued to slash it. The tree, now having a large portion of it missing, began to slightly sway with each thrust. Weiss began to feel her wolf side becoming more prominent. Her ears began to grow slightly, her tail became longer, her senses were sharper, and her slashes were harder. It wasn't uncommon for a werewolf to transform into their wolf form because of rage.

She let another scream rip through her throat as she continued to hack away at the tree. Her nails, now claws, began to stab the palm through the bandages. She dropped Myrtenaster on the ground and caught her breath. Her right hand was resting on the tree and was slowly dragging down it. She dug her nails into the flesh of the tree, making sure to shred it as she pushed her claws in deeper.

Once she caught her breath, she picked Myrtenaster up off of the ground and began making her way back home. She didn't care that more wolf features were showing, she just wanted to go back inside. She knew that she had barely let any emotion out during her violent breakdown just now, but she couldn't worry about that right now.

After all, she had a date to get ready for and she still had no idea what to wear.

Chapter Text

Weiss checked herself out in the mirror. She still thought it was weird to wear clothes that weren't custom made for her, but it was a good weird. It made her believe that she was straying farther away from her family name, farther away from her father. She was wearing blue skinny jeans, white high top converse, a black shirt she stole from Ruby because she was feeling rebellious, and a light blue button up shirt that she wore unbuttoned over the black shirt. She liked that the sleeves only went to her elbows so she wouldn't become overly hot or cold when being outside. In all honesty, Weiss thought she looked good. She was always forced to wear dresses and skirts, not that she didn't like them sometimes, but sometimes she just wanted to wear pants and run and play or at least do something other than staying inside. She used to play outside with her beta, but her family moved away once they found out what Jacques was really like.

She missed her beta; she was the only friend Weiss jas ever had up until now. She missed chasing her and laughing with her, but that was in the past and she knows she needs to move forward no matter how much it hurt her. After Weiss' 'mini' meltdown, she realized she had been gone for several hours. She was able to calm herself down, the thought of Ruby and what happened the previous night flooded her thoughts. She couldn't help the little smile that made its way on her face as she thought about Ruby. The girl had been nothing but kind to her since she's been here and Weiss would be forever thankful for that.

Weiss liked this feeling, the feeling of being surrounded by kindness. Before, all Weiss had ever been around was anger and hate. There were little glimmers of light that shone through the darkness, but never enough to eradicate it. The darkness would slowly consume that light until there was nothing left, till there was no hope of that light coming back. Weiss was pulled out of her thoughts by a knock at the door.

"It's open."

The door opened slowly as Tai walked in, careful not to startle the wolf pup as he walked into the room. He sat down on Ruby's and Weiss' bed and patted the spot next to him, signaling Wiess to join him.

"Hey, little pup," Tai spoke with a gentle tone. He had a kind smile on his face and watched Weiss slowly walked over to the spot next to Tai.

After her breakdown, Weiss felt extremely guilty for the way she treated Tai. He didn't deserve to be yelled at and she knew it. It was her fault for not being able to control her emotions. It was her fault she wasn't strong enough to deal with them like a normal person. It was her fault for dropping the plate. It was-

"Hey, little pup, it's okay." He set his hand on her head and slowly turned her head to face him. She had been letting out whines while staring at the floor, he assumed she blamed herself for the whole situation."I'm not mad, I just came to check on you to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine." She muttered.

"You didn't look fine when you stormed out of the house with a sword, " he chuckled softly, " speaking of which, why do you have a sword?"

Weiss didn't know if she should tell him the truth or not. If she did, he would be the first person she ever told. She was never one for words, she never really spoke unless prompted and even that was minimal. Her father always taught her to use few words when speaking.

"Animals like you shouldn't even speak, but being the generous person I am, I'll allow you to speak. ONLY if you are spoken to. I'm sure no one wants to hear a mutt's opinion anyway."

Weiss decided a while ago that Tai was nothing like her father. With that final thought, she spoke up, " It was my sister's."

"Was it a gift from her?" Tai could sense where this was going from a mile away, but he needed her to say it. Heck, he was sure that she needed to hear herself say it.

"No, I took it from her room the night she died." Weiss' eyes were glued to the floor. She had never said any of this out loud, not even to herself. Everyone in the manor acted like it never happened. When the media asked about Winters sudden disappearance, he blamed the tragedy on illness.

"You look like you have more to say. If you want to say anything, I'll be more than happy to listen." There he goes again, proving how he is so much different than her father. Her father wouldn't even give a first glance at her problems much less a second one. But here Tai was, ready and willing to listen.

"I miss her." That was all Weiss said. It was all Weiss needed to say right now.

"I know the feeling, " Tai said. Weiss looked up at that, surprised that he knew what she meant. "I had someone I loved very deeply taken away from me too. It hurt like hell and for a long time I didn't know what to do with myself. All of a sudden I was raising two little girls by myself. Ruby was too young to understand that her mom was gone. Yang understood, but she hurt differently than Ruby did. Her mom walked out on us, so Summer was like a second mom to her. None of us really understood what was happening."

"Ruby saw that we were sad and she did everything she could to try and make it better. She started with little things like making us pictures and showing her little smile. Then, she started cooking and somehow turned into the little chef she is today." Tai laughed lowly, not humorlessly, but like he was remembering a memory that he was fond of.

"Ruby really is something, huh?"

"She really is, I'm so proud of the person she is today. She even managed to melt a certain snow pup's heart." Weiss' face took on a deep shade of pink. "Perhaps she is the reason you're dressed up?" Weiss felt like she was going to die from embarrassment. 'I guess we aren't as sneaky as we thought.' Weiss thought.

"I won't say anything, don't worry. I do want to tell you not to break my little girl's heart."

"I would never dream of it, after all, she is my mate." Weiss smiled at the thought, she was so lucky to find her mate as young as she did. Tai was surprised to hear that news. Before ye could speak again, Weiss opened her mouth to speak again. "How exactly...did you find out about Ruby and I?" Weiss spoke hesitantly.

"Well, you guys were always a little closer, but I walked in on you guys cuddling. I thought there was a chance you were more than friends and you confirmed my suspicion with your reaction." Tai looked down at his watch. "Well, I better start dinner. I'm sorry for earlier, I didn't mean to look at you the way I did."

"All is forgiven, what time is it?"

"5:50." Weiss' eyes widened as she shot up. She ran to the bathroom to brush her hair and maybe brush her teeth. In the end, she decided to brush her teeth, unsure of what activities Ruby had planned for the two of them ;).

At exactly 6 o'clock, Weiss heard a knock on the door of the room. She took a deep breath and walked to the door. With surprisingly steady hands, she opened the door. Her breath hitched in her throat as Ruby became fully visible to her. 'So much for steady hands' Weiss thought as she tried to regain the breath that Ruby managed to take away.

Ruby seemed to have the same problem if her wide-eyed expression was anything to go off of. Ruby closed her eyes and shook her head side to side before reopening her eyes. Weiss didnt even realize that Ruby was holding her hand behind her back until it was being pulled out. A single rose was presented to her, but not just any rose, a white rose. Weiss had never seen a white rose before. She took it out of Ruby's hand and looked it over.

Ruby had taken the time to pull off every thorn on the stem. She even did it with minimal injury!

Ruby then revealed her other hand, presenting it to Weiss as an invitation to take it. When Weiss took it, Ruby intertwined their fingers and began leading Weiss out of the room.

"Have fun, kiddos!" Tai called from the kitchen.

Ruby waved to him and continued leading Weiss to their mystery destination. After about ten minutes of walking through the forest, Weiss saw an opening and assumed that they were heading towards it. Her assumption was proven to be correct when Ruby led them through an opening.

Weiss audibly gasped at the sight before her. An area of grassy flat land was revealed. There were multiple red rose bushes and white rose bushes surrounding the area and a stream running through it to the left of her. On the other side of the stream, Weiss could see the forest starting again.

"This is beautiful," Weiss said breathlessly. She sniffed the air. There were so many smells. She could smell the freshness of the grass and the sweetness of the flowers. She could smell the muskiness of the forest. She could smell the slight fishiness of the stream and the rotting smell of the algae growing in said stream. Her ears flicked with every new sound. She liked the soft rustling of the tree leaves when the wind would pick up. She liked the calming sound of the almost overflowing stream pushing itself through its already carved out path. Most of all, she liked the sound of Ruby's soft giggling behind her.

Weiss turned around, a small smile made its way to her face. Her tail was wagging swiftly, she's never been free like this.

"Shall we get started?" Ruby then gestured to an area towards the middle of the flatlands. There was a blanket laid out, and resting on that blanket, was a picnic basket.

With a nod, Weiss began to make her way to the picnic, following close behind Ruby. When they sat down on the blanket, Weiss could feel the thin grass blade shift to accommodate her weight. She sat facing Ruby who had began to take items out of the picnic basket. The aroma the food gave of made Weiss' mouth salivate in anticipation.

There were fruits, cheeses, drinks, and, Weiss' personal favorite, meats. There were barbeque pork sandwiches and chicken fingers and so much meat that Weiss could barely stand it.

"Well I didn't bring this meat for nothing, so you better get to eating, " Ruby joked as she began to grab food for herself.

Weiss did as she was told and excitedly grabbed a sandwich. Ruby was better than the chefs she had at the manor. Not only was she actually good at giving food flavor, but she was also good at knowing what Weiss wanted to eat (it was meat obviously). When Weiss took her first bite, she moaned at the explosion of flavor she got from the pork. The saltiness balanced out the honey barbeque sauce nicely and the pork was just the right tenderness.

Ruby herself had taken the chicken fingers. Weiss had noticed that Ruby had some sauce on her cheek from the tenders. Rather than let Ruby know, Weiss scooted closer to her and leaned in. Ruby yelped in surprise, not expecting to feel something on her cheek. Weiss had leaned back after licking the sauce off and looked Ruby in the eyes.

"Thank you, " she whispered before leaning in. When their lips made contact, the force Weiss putout caused Ruby to fall backward. They maintained contact during the fall. Their lips moved together in sync like they've been together forever. All too soon, Weiss' lungs began to burn, the desire for oxygen becoming too much for her body. When she leaned back, she looked into bright silver eyes.

"You're welcome, " was all Ruby said. They continued to lay on the blanket, enjoying each others company.

Chapter Text

The smell of blood was permeating through the air while gouts of it dripped down her back. She had been laying in the basement for days. The lack of food and water made her incredibly weak, so much so that she had given up on trying to stand. The wounds on her back had been gnawing away at her energy since they were given to her.

She tried not to move much, that just made the wounds burn more. Her face was pressed against the cold stone on the floor. She could smell the metallic stench of old blood, she knew it was her own from previous encounters with her father. Her body had been riddled with so many scars that she began to lose count. Many of them were layered on top of each other to make it look like less damage, but she knew her father liked to mark her body as his own, to see how weak his daughter was by bearing marks he had created.

Her back throbbed just thinking about the new scars that would mark her body. Her breathing was shallow and her body temperature was high. The cool stone was no longer satisfying her rising temperature. She heard echoing footsteps cut through the silence of the room. For a split second, she imagined someone coming to save her from the life of a prisoner, but those thoughts were short-lived when the metal door slid open, revealing none other than Jacques Schnee.

Weiss didn't move, there was no flinch like he was expecting. Instead, she continued to lay on the ground.

"You're nothing more than a lifeless doll. Get up, bitch." He all but spat at the motionless girl before him. Weiss struggled to lift her own arms. She slowly stood up and faced the man who towered above her. She felt nothing now, she was nothing. She was numb to him and numb to his treatment. Weiss believed that this was how everyone's father was and she accepted that she was worthless.

Jacques brought his hand up and grabbed Weiss by the hair in a vice-like grip. Weiss didn't cry out, she didn't even look at him. Her gaze was firmly placed on the floor. In a fit of rage, he threw her body to the side, the entirety of her back slamming against the wall. Weiss cried out in pain at this. She felt the aggregate of her wounds open. The thick, scarlet liquid began pouring out of her back and she fell to the floor.

She could feel it dripping down her sides as she stood on her hands and knees. When she looked back she noticed she left a bloody print of her back on the stone wall.

"Look at you, nothing more than a dog on four legs. It's so disappointing to think that I, Jacques Schnee, the peak of the Schnee family, was given a waste of space for a daughter."

"The Schnee family was a family YOU married into, that name isn't even rightfully yours." Weiss' voice was laced with venom. As soon as the words left her mouth Weiss regretted it. She regretted even thinking such words. Her payback for such a comment was a blow to the stomach. The force of the kick caused Weiss to leave the safety of the floor. When she landed, her front smacked the stone floor. She was surprised she didnt throw up from the kick but she knew for sure she fractured a few ribs.

"You ungrateful little bitch. You should be happy that you're even a part of this family. Without me, you're nothing. Remember that. You're nothing more than a failure. A worthless child. A worthless dog. You're not even a human and you're not worthy enough to be called a werewolf." Jacques picked her up by the neck and pinned her to the wall. "Don't you ever think you're worth something. You're not. You will never be worth anything to anybody." He threw her on the ground once again. Weiss gasped for breath. Her lungs were burning just as much as her back.

"Worthless. Get upstairs and clean yourself up. Try not to get blood on anything or I might just have to teach you right from wrong again."

'Worthless'

That word echoed in Weiss' head over and over. 'Worthless, worthless, worthless. That's all I am. That's all I'll ever be.' She got up and began going to her room.

'Worthless, worthless, worthless.'

-----------------------------------

"Man, this is worthless!"

Weiss was pulled out of her thoughts. She was sitting on the couch, supposed to be helping Ruby with her homework. She doesn't remember spacing out, but her lack of help must have frustrated Ruby. She looked over at the other girl; she was glaring at her math textbook like it had just killed her pet.

"What's wrong?" Apparently, Ruby had moved on to her statistics and didn't understand any of it.

"What is standard deviation? These problems keep asking me, but how can I solve them if I don't even know what the heck I'm trying to solve for? The book isn't any help at all and my teacher doesn't know how to freaking teach!" Ruby's hands shot up as she spoke. She grabbed the book and shook it rapidly. "Why do I even need you?"

Weiss calmly put her hand on the book causing Ruby to stop her mini-rant and look at her. "Standard deviation is the distance away from the average of a data set." Weiss took the book out of Ruby's hands and got up. "Follow me."

Weiss grabbed a box of chocolate chip cookies and Ruby's eyes lit up. "Stand there," Weiss instructed and pointed to the end of the counter. Weiss then laid out five cookies on the counter and stood that distance away from Ruby. "The standard deviation is like the diameter of a cookie. I'm five cookies away from you, which means I'm five standard deviations away from you. You're the average and I'm the data value, okay?"

Weiss looked up at Ruby to see if she understood. Ruby nodded her head to confirm she understood.

"Good, so if I take a cookie away, " Weiss moved a cookie to the side and moved forward slightly so that she was only four cookies away from Ruby, "then I'm only four standard deviations away from you. Every time I take away a cookie, I get closer to you. The number of standard deviations I am away from you is called a z-score. The smaller the z-score the closer the data value is to the average of that data set."

" So, the smaller the z-score the more likely the data value will happen?"

"Yes."

Ruby took the remaining four cookies and slid them away. "What if the z-score is 0?" Ruby had to contain her smirk when she saw Weiss' face go red. It was so easy to make her blush.

"Then the data value and the mean are the same number." Weiss took a step forward so that hers and Ruby's foreheads were touching. It was Ruby's turn to blush now at the contact. She reached down and intertwined hers and Weiss' hand before bringing her other hand up, effectively cupping Weiss' face.

Both girls leaned in so that their noses were touching. Weiss could feel hers and Ruby's breath intermingle. Taking the final step, Weiss slowly leaned in so that their lips touched. Their lips fit together like puzzle pieces; when they touched, it felt like fireworks had gone off.

Weiss moved her lips slowly against Ruby's. She could feel the warmth radiating off of her lips as she presses into the red-haired girl. Ruby moved her hand from Weiss' face to her ears. Weiss let out a low growl at the feeling of Ruby's hand on the base of her ear and pushed her body forward.

Ruby was now leaning against the counter, her body pressed against Weiss' as she scratched the wolf pups ear. Both girls were too preoccupied to hear the front door opening and the sets of footsteps following.

"Hey, Ruby I'm ho- oh my God!" To say Yang was surprised would be an understatement. Weiss and Ruby jumped away from each other upon hearing the booming voice yell at them in shock. Both girl's faces were burning and they looked anywhere but Yang.

"Weiss?" Weiss' ears turned towards the voice. She hadn't heard that voice in years. She thought it was too good to be true. She looked up, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Blake, " she whispered. Both girls were too shocked to say anything else. The last memory they have of each other is Weiss and Blake being ripped away from each other by their parents. Surprisingly, it was Weiss who made the first move and began to move towards Blake. The ebony haired girl did the same and they soon were close enough to wrap the other up and a bone-crushing hug.

Now it was Blake's turn to shed tears. She had missed her best friend more than anyone could imagine. The two girls don't know how long they stayed like that, but all too soon they separated and looked at each other's faces.

"How do you two know each other?" Yang was beyond confused at this point.

"Blake is my beta, " Weiss said quietly, almost like she was trying to keep the statement a secret.

"You told me you and your parents left the pack because of the alpha, " Yang said.

"They did, Jacques Schnee was a dick."

"YOU'RE A SCHNEE?"

"MY MATE IS A SCHNEE?" Both Yang and Blake looked between Weiss and Ruby. Ruby knew the name Weiss sounded familiar, Winter too. She had seen on the news that the first heiress of the Schnee pack had passed away, they blamed it on a hunting accident. "Wait, " Ruby said, "that means Winter is-" "What happened to Winter?" All of the girls went quiet. Weiss because she didn't know what to tell Blake and the other three because they didn't know what happened.

"Winter is...no longer with us." Weiss looked at the floor sadly.

"It, it was him, wasn't it?" Blake knew the answer, but she needed to hear Weiss say it. She needed her to say it.

"I-i, " Weiss didn't have the guts to say anything. She knew how much Blake hated her father, heck she hated him too, but she couldn't say it out loud.

"I knew it." Blake let out a low growl. How could someone stoop low enough to kill someone out of rage, his own daughter no less? "I'm glad you made it out." Blake reached up and patted Weiss on the head, she knew she didn't like it when people touched her ears.

"Does this mean no more math?" Ruby hoped the answer was yes.

"Yes, you dolt."

"Thank youuuu, " Ruby punctuated the thanks by giving Weiss some ear scratches; Weiss leaned into the touch.

"So she can touch your ears but I can't?" Blake said with a smirk.

"You might have been able to if you were my mate, " Weiss shot back with a smirk of her own.

Chapter Text

Today had been an eventful day, to say the least. Weiss had finally been reunited with her beta and they spent the whole day together, along with Ruby and Yang. She could feel Yang burning holes through her head with her eyes, most likely because she caught her and Ruby kissing in the kitchen. Weiss had been dreading the time when she and Yang would be alone together.

Now, she lays on Ruby's bed wearing nothing more than a big black shirt that says 'I licked it so its mine' and her underwear. When Weiss found the shirt, Ruby explained that when she was younger she used to lick things, quite often, and Yang bought the shirt for her as a joke. Ruby then commented that it would be perfect for Weiss after what happened on their date. The wolf pup blushed profoundly but took the shirt none the less.

While she was waiting for Ruby to get out of the shower, she decided to grab Myrtenaster and clean it. She hasn't touched it since her little episode and she realized that it needed to be polished and sharpened. When Ruby got out of the shower, she saw Weiss sitting on the bed, furiously scrubbing at her fencing sword. Ruby assumed that Weiss heard her, but she never looked up from scrubbing the sword.

Then, Ruby got an idea. She put her dirty clothes away and stood in front of Weiss, who still didn't look up.

"Weiiiiis."

"Yes, Ruby?" Weiss didn't look up.

"Weeeeiiiissss."

"Rubyy." Weiss still didn't look up.

"Weeeeiiiiissssss." Ruby continued to whine.

"Rubyyyy." Weiss giggled as she finally looked up at Ruby's pouting face. As soon as she did, Ruby leaned in and licked her cheek. Weiss' eyes widened in horror at the action. "Ruby! Why did you lick me?"

"Well, I am the owner of the shirt you're wearing for a reason." All Ruby did after that was look down at Weiss with a satisfied smirk.

Ruby, who was expecting Weiss to become extremely flustered, was surprised when all Weiss did was calmly get up from her seat on the bed. The arctic wolf put her, now clean, sword away and made her way back to Ruby. She now stood behind Ruby and smirked. Ruby turned around, oblivious to the fact that she had just played into Weiss' hand.

Weiss slowly started to lean in and Ruby thought she was going to get a kiss, oh how wrong she was. As soon as the two girls' lips were about to meet, Weiss turned her head. The wolf pups mouth was now hovering over the red head's ear, letting out tiny breaths that, ironically, left the younger girl breathless.

"Well, two can play at that game, " Weiss whispered in her ear before slowly leaning forward. Her tongue left her mouth and slowly ran up Ruby's ear. Ruby became stunned, shivers running up her spine at the sensation. 'Fine, if Weiss want to play.'

Ruby slowly leaned back and looked Weiss in the eyes. Both girls were smirking at each other, neither of them willing to give up and let the other win the little game they started.

"You know Weiss, I'm sure your ears are much more sensitive than mine are. How about we test that." Before Weiss could react to Ruby's statement, the young girl went on her tippy toes and slowly licked up one of Weiss' wolf ears.

"Oh my gosh, " Weiss groaned. Sparked by the reaction, Ruby licked her ear again; the saliva had started to matte the hair to the ear. Weiss grabbed Ruby by the shoulders and brought her down so they were once again facing each other.

"You little cheater." Weiss' cheeks were colored and her breathing was unstable. If she thought ear scratches were good, then the sensation of Ruby licking her ear had been on a whole other level. "Fine, Ruby, if you really want to play this game. Prepare to lose."

Weiss leaned down and slowly kissed Ruby. The fiery passion that had been burning inside her had now been released. She moved her lips slowly against Ruby's, her arms slowly wrapping themselves around the younger girls shoulders. Ruby hand moved her hands to Weiss' hips, tracing random patterns on her side with her thumb. The kiss wasn't heated, it was just two girls showing their feelings in a way that words couldn't even begin to express.

Ruby slowly lead Weiss to the bed. Weiss sat down on the edge and Ruby put her legs on either side of Weiss' own. The white-haired girl's tail swished behind her erratically, almost mimicking the swiftness of her heartbeat. She pulled Ruby's form closer to her own, wanting to feel her body, to feel that she was close to her. Ruby understood and scooted forward, the two girls' fronts now pressed together. Ruby's arms moved to circle around Weiss back, the two girls now were intertwined in a close embrace.

Ruby slowly began to apply more weight to Weiss' body, giving the hint that she wanted Weiss to lean back. As soon as the older girl's back hit the bed, she let out a high pitched whine and shot up. She disconnected her mouth from Ruby's own and began to pet her tail with a pained expression; she was trying to rub the pain out of the base of her tail.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay? I'm so sorry I-"

"Ruby it's fine, it was an accident and partly my fault too." Weiss tried to calm her mate's worrying, but the concerned expression never left her face.

"Is it not supposed to bend upward the way it did?"

"No, it has 360-degree mobility, it's like, " Weiss tried to come up with a comparison that Ruby would understand. The young girl was not stupid by any means, she just...had trouble focusing when things got complicated. "It's like if you put your fingers like this, " Weiss then bent her fingers so the top two knuckles in her fingers were bent completely, but not touching her palm, " and then squeezed the tip of your finger and the knuckle to the base."

"Ouch."

"Yeah." Weiss chuckled; she looked up at Ruby, who was still on her lap, and smiled. She liked just sitting here and talking, not a care in the world. The white-haired girl brought her hands to Ruby's waist and wrapped them around it, pulling her close. The red-haired girl doing the same, but to Weiss' shoulders. When Ruby was close enough, Weiss nuzzled into her neck, eager to get the alluring scent of the girl from the source. Her scent was intoxicating and if it was all Weiss could smell for the rest of her life, you wouldn't hear her complain.

The two girls were silent while locked in the embrace. It wasn't the awkward silence that Ruby was around whenever she tried to make friends, it was the comfortable silence that Ruby had been able to experience with very few people. The two girls wanted to stay like this forever, locked within the gentle warmth that they created. It felt safe, like nothing could ever hurt them.

Ruby pulled back when she felt her shoulder become damp. She looked Weiss in the eyes and silently brought her hands to her face, cradling it while she used her thumbs to wipe away the tears that have fallen and left streaks on her porcelain skin. Once Ruby wiped the last tear, she let her thumb rest below her eye, just barely touching her scar.

"What's on your mind?" Ruby spoke softly. She knew if Weiss didn't want to tell her that she wouldn't blame her, but she hoped that Weiss would tell her, that way she would know how to help.

"I'm so lucky that fate brought me to you," Weiss' tone was unsteady and full of emotion, "but I'm afraid that he will take you away from me like it has every time I get something good in my life."

"What do you mean? Who is he?"

"My father. H-he took Winter away, he took Blake away, and I don't want him to take you away or Tai or even Yang."

"Your sister isn't gone and you saw Blake today."

"How is she not gone? I watched her die, Ruby. I watched him hurt her to the point where she couldn't take it anymore and now she's gone. It's all my fault." Weiss gripped the ends of Ruby's shirt. She didn't want to hurt the younger girl, but she needed to grab onto something. She needed to guarantee that at this moment, Ruby wouldn't leave.

"It's not your fault. What he did to you and Winter was awful. He chose to do it, not you. Don't blame yourself, please."

"If I was there sooner I could have-"

"But you couldn't have known. You may have enhancements but predicting the future is not one of them. You couldn't have known what was going to happen. No one blames you. He did it. Him. Not you. She's not gone." Ruby knew what she was saying wasn't going to reverse Weiss' feelings on the matter, but she had to try and help somehow.

"Then if she's not gone then where the fuck is she?" Weiss snapped. She had so many emotions piled on top of one another that she didn't know what to feel anymore.

"Why do you keep that box with you?"

"What?"

"You heard me. Why do you have that box? Out of everything you could have possibly brought with you, why did you choose that box?"

"Because everything in there was owned by Winter at one point."

"And why do you have that stuff?"

"Because it makes me feel safe, just like she did when she was with me." Weiss looked ashamed of her answer. Her answer made her feel weak. She was taught to be independent, to never need another person because that made you weak.

Ruby didn't say anything; she got up off of Weiss' lap and made her way to the closet. After moving some clothes, she apparently found what she was looking for and began to make her way back to Weiss. She settled back down on Weiss' lap, an article of clothing now in hand.

"This used to be my mom's, " she said quietly. "I would always wear it when I was younger. It was always too big on me and most of the time you could barely see my feet when I wore it." Ruby smiled at the memory. "My mom was in the military, so she was gone a lot. This hoodie helped me feel close to her, it made me feel safe, like she was still there with me."

"I came home from school one day to see Yang and my dad on the couch with two uniformed men. I recognized one of them from a picture my mom had, but not the other. They told me that my mom had been killed in the line of duty." The memory always saddened Ruby, but she had learned how to deal with the feeling over the years. The memory didn't affect her nearly as much as it used to.

"I had this hoodie with me every day. I used to wear it to school and I would sleep with it; there was hardly ever a time that you would see me without it." Weiss sat there, listening intently. She had no idea that that was the reason that her mother was no longer in the picture.

"It made me feel like my mom was always watching me and looking out for me and I believe that she is. Just like your sister is doing for you right now." Ruby and Weiss looked each other in the eye. "Your sister isn't gone, you just can't physically see her." Ruby offered Weiss a small smile. She had hopes that her little speech worked. A small smile ghosted over Weiss' face.

"How are you wise and a dolt at the same time." Weiss couldn't help the small giggles from coming out of her throat.

"The same way that you can be an angel and have all of these demons."

"I'm no angel."

"Really? I beg to differ." Ruby brought her hand up to hold Weiss' chin. "You have beautiful, silky white hair, soft porcelain skin, shining blue eyes, a wonderful personality, an amazing body. I can practically see the wings sprouting from your back."

By the time Ruby was done speaking, Weiss was nothing short of a red speechless mess. She hid her embarrassment in the crook of Ruby's neck, her arms tightening slightly around the redhead's body. Ruby giggles and brought her hand up to scratch at the base of the snow pup's white ear. Weiss let out a sound of approval once contact was made and she nuzzled herself deeper into Ruby's neck.

"That feels so good, " Weiss moaned out as Ruby continued her ministrations.

"I can tell." Ruby's eyes were following the swishing tail as it moved. She loved that she could coax this reaction out of Weiss. Ruby checked the clock and her eyes widened upon reading the luminous green numbers. 'How is it already almost midnight?'

"Hey princess, " Ruby spoke softly. Weiss didn't move her head, but her ears turned to pick up the sound of Ruby's voice. "Let's go to sleep."

" M'kay, " Weiss mumbled softly into her neck.

"That means you have to let me go." At that statement, Weiss pulled her head out of Ruby's neck. Her eyes were full of sadness; she really didn't want to let go of Ruby.

"Is it okay if you hold me, " Weiss said in a soft tone, almost as if she was afraid if she spoke too loud the request would shatter the desired answer.

"I thought you'd never ask." This would be the first time the two girls would fall asleep within each other arms. Ruby slowly got up off of Weiss and got onto the bed. Weiss slowly crawled after her. After Ruby laid down, Weiss followed suit and laid down next to her; Ruby's arms immediately wrapped around the young alpha's waist. One of Weiss' legs made it between Ruby's own and her arms were wrapped around the latter's shoulders. Both girls knew that Weiss would end up completely on top of Ruby in the morning, not that the younger girl minded. Both girls slowly drifted to sleep with a smile on their faces, both happy to be in each other's arms.

Chapter Text

Screams.

Weiss could hear them echoing throughout the manor.

Screams.

They were filled with pain. Nothing more. Nothing less. The shrillness of them hurt her ears. They sounded as if they were being ripped out of someone's throat, unwilling to come out but being pushed out anyway.

Screams.

They sounded close. Weiss' own mind was numb with pain. She felt as if her entire body was on fire. The screams sounded familiar, but she couldn't figure out why. She looked around. The manor walls had blood coating them. Thick layers of red liquid covered the once pure white.

Screams.

They wouldn't stop. She tried to get up but she couldn't. The young wolf didn't understand why her body hurt. Her vision became blurry, then clear again. She realized she had been shedding tears. Her throat hurt. Her body stung. Her breathing began to increase. What was happening? She didn't know.

Screams.

Why did they sound familiar? The pain on her body increased. Scorching heat crawled from her back to her head. The tears began to fall faster.

Screams.

Who was screaming? She couldn't hear anything else, all noise was blocked.

Screams.

Her breathing picked up once again. Why was this happening? Who was screaming?

Screams.

Her eyes widened.

She was the one screaming.

------------------

Weiss shot up from the bed. Her body was covered in a thin layer of sweat and she couldn't breathe. Her whole body shook with fear. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for anything that could be deemed a possible threat.

"Weiss." She jumped at the call. Someone else was with her. Weiss didn't move a muscle, too paralyzed with fear to even turn her head.

She could still feel the pain in her back, each scar throbbed with searing fire. She didn't bother holding back her tears.

"Weiss." There was the voice again.

"Yes?" Weiss didn't even realize she responded.

"Are you okay?" She knew that voice. Ruby.

"The screams, " the wolf whispered.

"The...screams?"

"They were my own."

"You were screaming?" Ruby knew Weiss had a nightmare, they happened frequently. Most of the time, Weiss would wake up and just go back to sleep. Every once and a while, the nightmares would be like the one tonight.

"Ruby." Weiss ignored her question.

"Yes?" The younger girl spoke softly, afraid that anything more would startle the other girl.

"It hurts so much."

"What hurts?" Weiss didn't respond verbally to her question. She slowly got up and with her back still facing Ruby, pulled the hem of her shirt up until it was completely off. Ruby was silent through this.

"It hurts so much, " Weiss repeated. Ruby then understood that Weiss was trying to show her something and turned on the lamp that the two girls had placed on the side table a few days prior. As soon as the light illuminated the room, Ruby gasped.

Never in her life has she seen a person with so many scars. The jagged, angry red lines were scattered across the young Schnee's back. There was no pattern to them. Some were on top of each other, others parallel to one another. There were some in lines, others in smaller, scattered blobs. They contrasted the porcelain skin of their owner, and not in a good way.

"What h-happened?" Ruby cursed her voice for shaking.

"I was bad. He said I needed to be punished." Weiss' voice sounded empty now.

"Who is he?" Ruby was sure she already knew the answer.

"Father." Her voice was almost too quiet to hear.

"Your dad did this to you?" Weiss only nodded as a response. She was about to ask another question when she saw Weiss' shoulders begin to shake. Ruby slowly got up, cautious not to scare the girl, and made her way in front of her.

"Is there any way that I could help?" Now that Ruby thinks about it, the scars on her back make sense. Weiss never liked sleeping on her back or sitting all the way back in a chair.

"Can you sit on the bed?" Ruby was confused, but none the less complied. Once Ruby sat down, Weiss got up off of the bed and sat on Ruby's lap. Weiss wrapped her arms around the taller girl's neck and held her close. Ruby followed Weiss, only her arms were wrapped around the girl's hips, making sure to be cautious of the scars she was now aware of.

Weiss nuzzled into Ruby's neck, deeply inhaling the scent of her mate, the scent that she was slowly associating with safety. Weiss realized she had been doing that often with many things. When Tai would call her little pup she felt safe, his own scent becoming familiar to her. Zwei was safe too; when he nuzzled into her side when she was sitting on the couch or when he would bring his leash to Ruby and the three of them would go on a walk together. Even Yang made her feel some sort of safety. Maybe 'safe' was too strong a word, familiar is a better word to describe it. Yang had become a regular part of Weiss' day just like walking into the kitchen had. It may not have been the most enjoyable to interact with her, but it was a hundred times better than her life before.

These thoughts began to calm Weiss down. She was safe, this house was safe, this room was safe, everything here was safe. There was no one here who was going to hurt her.

Ruby noticed the tension had begun to leave Weiss' body, her front becoming closer to her own. Her breathing began to steady and her heartbeat started to slow. She slowly brought one of her hands to Weiss' ears, scratching at the base of one gently.

"Thank you, " Weiss said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Anytime, " Ruby replied just as softly.

The two girls fell asleep in each other's arms.

------------------------------------

When Ruby woke, she was surrounded by nothing except warmth. There were arms securely wrapped around her waist and she could clearly feel a body shaped object pressed against her back.

She sighed in content as she rolled over, wanting to face her white-haired mate. When she was finally facing her mate, she found blue eyes staring into her own silver eyes. Ruby took the opportunity to muzzle into the older girls neck.

"Good morning, " she mumbled sleepily into the older girls neck.

"Mmm good morning." Weiss began to giggle softly, Ruby's soft breath on her neck started to tickle.

"What's on the agenda for today?"

"Well, you still have some studying, " Ruby let out a groan, "and then I was thinking that maybe we could-"

"Hey, Rubes have you seen my..." Yang trailed off as she entered the room.

There were a couple of moments of awkward silence, most likely due to the fact that Weiss had no shirt on and the two of them were pressed closely together.

"Schnee, " Yang began, "I'm going to give you five seconds to get your half-naked body off of my sister and clothed. Ruby, can I speak to you? Alone."

Neither girl said anything. Yang silently walked out of the room, Ruby quickly following. Weiss stayed laying in the bed for a couple of extra minutes before getting up and picking up her shirt from off of the ground.

As she walked to the door, she could hear Ruby and Yang talking.

"We weren't doing anything, I swear."

"Then why didn't she have a shirt on? How do I know that she wasn't missing any other clothes?"

"She didn't take anything else off and its none of your business." Weiss was thankful that Ruby didn't tell Yang the real reason.

"So you were doing something then."

"We were not, stop butting in. It's my relationship, not yours." Weiss felt a small tug upwards on the corners of her lips.

"I don't understand why you're with her anyways, you deserve better." Weiss knew Yang was right, but a life without your mate was a miserable one. Weiss didn't know why life decided to give her Ruby, but she would always be forever thankful to whatever higher power assigns that mates. Weiss knew what Ruby could find someone better than her, someone with less baggage, someone who knew how to be affectionate.

"Weiss has been the best thing to happen to me so far and I'm not going to let you ruin it." Weiss heard footsteps coming towards the room. She quickly moved back and sat on the bed, trying to act as natural as possible. As soon as Ruby entered to room, the two girls made eye contact. Since the door was never closed and Weiss had amazing hearing, Ruby assumed that Weiss had heard the entire conversation.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" Ruby was hoping that Weiss would say yes.

"Sure, let me go grab Zwei's-" "just the two of us." Ruby interrupted the older girl.

"Oh okay, " Weiss said, her tail swishing back and forth a little faster than before.

"Well come on then, Princess. What are you waiting for?" The red-haired girl questioned as she offered her hand to Weiss, who gladly took it without a second thought. The two girls exited the room after putting their shoes on.

"And we're off!" Ruby exclaimed as they closed the door.

Chapter Text

Two weeks. It's been two weeks since Yang had seen Weiss and Ruby together in bed, the former without a shirt on. Two weeks since Ruby stood up to her sister. Two weeks since Weiss had shared a dark secret with Ruby. It hasn't been mentioned since, Weiss was grateful for that.

Weiss had been walking out of Ruby's room when she ran into Yang. Both in the hallway making eye contact, neither girl dared to back down.

"Excuse me, I'd like to leave the confines of the hallway," Weiss said stiffly.

"Hmmm," Yang pretended to think about it, "I don't really feel like moving."

"Yang, please move." Weiss tried to side-step, only for Yang to mimic her actions, preventing her from leaving once more. "Yang, what are you doing? Let me leave." Weiss was beginning to get angry now.

"Why should I?"

"Oh my lord. What is even happening? Yang, I wont say this again. Let. Me. Out."

"You never seem to know what's happening, do you?" Yang all but sneered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss said haughtily, crossing her arms and glaring at the taller girl.

"It means that you have no idea what goes on in the world. No idea what your family's doing. What they've done."

"I know exactly what my family does, thank you very much." Weiss' ears now laid flat atop her head, her tail fluffier than it usually is, a sign she felt threatened.

"Oh? Do you now? So you know everyone they've hurt? And all you've done is play rich girl in your castle?" Yang rose her voice as she took a step towards Weiss, the two girls now only separated by a little over a foot of space.

Upon hearing the commotion, the other two members of the house had come over to investigate.

"Oh, you don't know the half of it. Don't act like you know my life." Weiss stood as straight as she could, cocking her head to the side slightly as she looked up at Yang.

"I know enough to know your daddy hit you a couple times. That's nothing compared to what he's done to innocent people." In all honesty, Yang thought this conversation was long overdue. Shes known Weiss was a Schnee since they've found her, though it was hard trying to keep the act up when she brought Blake over.

"A couple of times? You think it's only been a couple of times?" Weiss said with a completely steady voice, almost sounding robotic as she asked the questions. "Wow you must know everything then, huh." Weiss began to laugh, though it was anything but humorous. "Then you know that I had zero control over what he did. And you know that I was nothing but a target for him, just like every other person who dared to get in his way."

"I know for a fact that your father, along with the rest of your family, is fucking crazy. He's hired people to kill people Weiss. Did you know that? Not everyone's lucky enough to escape. People die because of him, Weiss." Yang was beyond angry. How dare a man go around doing what ever he wants. How dare his spawn come into her house like nothing's happened.

"Your problem with me is my family? Trust me, I know he's crazy. And it's not my fault that people die. That's how life works, Yang. Survival of the fittest." Right now, Weiss felt nothing but numbness. This wasn't a conversation she wanted to have. She wouldn't be able to handle it emotionally and she wouldn't be able to hold her ground against Yang, so she did the one this she knew she was best at: shutting down.

"How the hell can you even say that?" Yang was borderline yelling now. Ruby and Tai still watching on the sidelines, not knowing what to do.

"Its very easy to formulate words, Yang." Weiss was almost casually leaning against the wall now.

"You know damn well what I mean." Yang's voice began to shake slightly from anger.

"Because you act as if i don't know what it's like to have to fight to survive another day. I know people die. I got the privilege of seeing my sister murdered in cold blood by my father, so don't act like he's never hurt me. I've seen death in myself as well. Been beaten till I can practically see the shadowy chasm of death, just passed the cliff of life. My feet slightly hanging over the edge." Yang remained silent, incredibly annoyed at Weiss' nonchalance to the entire situation. Weiss continued to speak.

"I already know how awful of a person my father is. And I don't want to hear about the people he's had killed or has tried to kill."

"Even if some of those people were the Belladonnas?" Yang's body began to shake at the thought of it. That someone would be so willing to end someone's life.

"What?" Weiss said breathy, her eyes widening in surprise at the new information.

"See? You really don't know what's going on. Weiss I hate your family so much. I'm sure you would hate someone too if their family tried to take away one of the most important people in your life." Yang had begun to shed tears, both out of anger and sadness.

"Believe it or not, I know the feeling." Emotion began to return to her voice, her eyes now looking at the floor. "But I'm not like my father."

"How do I know that?" Yang yelled, tears rolling down her face in quick succession. "How do I know you're not dangerous? That you're not just going to hurt people like some animal."

"You would know if you actually made an effort to get to know me." Weiss began to raise her voice. Through all the commotion, both girls failed to notice Ruby exiting the house. "And I am not an animal. The fact that you can be so racist and be friends with Blake is something a can't begin to fathom."

"Blake doesn't have wolf instincts overwhelming her human ones, does she? And I would've made an effort to know you if you were actually a likable person."

"You. Don't. Even. Know. Me." Tai remained standing there, unsure of if he should cut in or let them work it out themselves.

"I don't have to know you to know you're dangerous. That you're capable of making someone like Cardin shit his pants and leave Ruby alone, something I've been trying to do for years. I know that you keep at least one weapon with you and God knows what else." Yang was shaking with anger, with fear. Anger at the girl and her family, fear of the unknown swaying over her head. "How the hell do I know you're not going to hurt me, or dad, or even Ruby?"

"Because right now, your family is the only thing I have left." Tears began to roll down Weiss' face at the explanation. She took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions. "Ruby, Tai, and even you. You're the only ones I have. And now Blake. But I don't know if that's going to be temporary like everything else has." Her voice was soft, fragile.

"All of you have treated me better than I've ever been treated my entire life. How could you think I'd want to jeopardize that?" Weiss looked up at the taller girl, tears it both of their eyes.

That's when it hit Yang. She's never really had a family. Her sister was taken from her. Blake was taken from her. Her father was....we're not even going to go there. From the news she knows that Weiss also has a brother and her mother is still alive as far as she knows. Why does she never talk about them?

"You're on thin ice, Schnee. Hurt her and you're dead."

"The most I can promise is that I'll try my best. At least trust me when I say she means a lot to me, and I'm aware of how much she means to others."

"You better." Yang then broke eye contact and looked at the floor. "This doesn't mean I have to like you."

"I never said it did, you brute. I just mean that if you're going to be a bitch, at least have a reason that has to do with me."

Weiss looks over Yang's shoulder to see Tai standing there, a small smile on his face, most likely due to the fact that both girls have made up, sort of. That caused Weiss to wear a small smile of her own. Yang looked behind her to see the same thing, only she now wore a look of confusion.

"What?" Tia questioned.

"Where's Ruby?"

"Oh, she left while you guys were fighting. I'm pretty sure you guys got her really mad." Tai scratched the back of his head, wearing a nervous smile.

"Shit" and "Oh no" were said at the same time as both girls looked at each other. Silently knowing what to do, both girls put on their shoes and left the house to go look for Ruby.

Chapter Text

"Oh? Do you now? So you know everyone they've hurt? And all you've done is play rich girl in your castle?" To Ruby, Yang's voice sounded incredibly angry. Tai must have heard it too because both members of the house got up from the kitchen table to investigate the commotion. Once they arrived at the scene, Ruby saw that Yang and Weiss were incredibly close to one another, Weiss having her back against the wall.

"Oh, you dont know the half of it. Dont act like you know my life." Ruby could hear the venom laced into her voice as Weiss spoke. The sentence was true though, Yang didn't know Weiss' life, but Ruby did.

"I know enough to know your daddy hit you a couple times. That's nothing compared to what he's done to innocent people." That seemed to be the breaking point for Weiss. Ruby watched as Weiss' facial expression changed from combative and angry to spiteful and something else Ruby couldn't quite place. Ruby hated watching this, watching two of her favorite people fight wasn't a fun time. She doesn't know what Weiss said after that, she began to tune the whole argument out. She didn't understand why the two of them couldn't just get along. They didn't understand how they were affecting people around them; that they were making people walk on eggshells all of the time, or making people pick sides, or even just making things plain awkward just by being in the same room as each other.

Frustrated, Ruby storms out of the house.

Thankfully, her dad didn't try to stop her. She didn't know where she was going, not that she cared right now. She was beyond angry at Weiss and Yang. She understood that Yang had some problem with Weiss, as to what it was, she had no idea. This wasn't just Yang's fault though, Weiss constantly egging her on instead of ignoring her was a problem as well. Not that she didn't understand to a certain extent.

If she was in that situation, she wouldn't have said anything to stop it. She had been in a situation similar to what Weiss was in, but it wasn't with her sister, it was with Cardin. Weiss got her out of it. Now, Weiss was sticking up for herself, something Ruby wanted to do, but never followed through because of fear.

From what shes seen, Weiss was a combative person. Maybe it w as s because she never had the chance to actually defend herself before. Maybe it was because shes scared of what Yang would do if she didn't defend herself. Or maybe it was out of fear of ending up in the same situation again.

Ruby continued to walk aimlessly, wanting nothing more than to get out of the vicinity of the two fighting girls. Ruby looked at the ground, kicking pebbles that happen to be on the ground in front of where she was walking. As she was walking she began to reflect on the past couple of months.

Her finding out she was smart enough to skip two years.

Weiss wondering into her life.

Cardin leaving her alone.

Her making new friends.

Learning she was Weiss' mate.

Her learning Weiss' past was much more complicated than she thought.

And throughout the entire time, Weiss and Yang bickering. Since Weiss came into their lives, Yang has been incredibly distant.

That made her a bit angry at Weiss. Not directly at her seeing as it's not her fault for existing, but like...she didnt try to defuse Yang at all. Not that she blamed her, Yang is just as much to blame as she is.

Ruby didnt notice that the trees were no longer surrounding her. During her mindless wondering she ended up making it to a clearing, a cliff overlooking the rest of the forest. There was nothing atop the cliff except grass and some scattered flowers. Well, there was a man-made object on the cliff as well, something almost on the edge. A gravestone.

'Summer Rose, Thus Kindly I Scatter'

"Hey, mom. It's me, Ruby. You probably knew that already though." Ruby let out a dry chuckle as she smiled sadly. "I'm sorry I haven't come to visit recently, things have been a bit crazy." She tilted her head to the side slightly and scratched the back of her neck sheepishly.

"A lot has happened since I last came to visit. I, um, started dating someone. Shes a werewolf. Turns out I'm her mate. Yang doesn't like her though. I have no idea why, but shes had a problem with her since the first day we met her."

"Im honestly torn on what to do. I want to let them fix things on their own, but so far keeping my distance has only made things worse between the two of them. Yang is barely home now. Oh! I passed my test. I'm officially in my second year of high school. Would it be called my first year? My first year of high school but as a second year? I don't know honestly."

"Weiss has been helping me study though. Shes super duper smart. She did something similar to me with the year skipping thing. Except she was home schooled. She made math easy to understand. Did you know there were people who could do that?!? Because Weiss can." Talking about Weiss put a big, dreamy smile on Ruby's face.

"Weiss is super cute too. Shes got white hair. Honestly her whole being is like, the embodiment of white. It reminds me of that white hoodie you would always wear when you were home. The one that matches the red hoodie you let me have when I was younger." Ruby's gaze was downcast and she let the corners of her lips fall.

"I miss those days. I wish I could remember more. I remember some of the good times, which is better than nothing."

Ruby cast her gaze downward and let out a long sigh.

"I miss you. I wish I could help them get along, but I have no idea-"

"I think shes over here, *huff* I can smell her."

"You can *huff* smell her?"

"I memorized her scent just in case. *huff* She's close."

"I knew *huff* she would *huff* be here. But *huff* it's nice to know *huff* for sure."

Ruby turned around to see the white and yellow duo emerge from the forest.

"Ruby we are so sorry," they say in unison.

Both girls look like they were running for a while, Yang panting with her hands on her knees and Weiss with her chest pumping up and down quickly. All three of them stared at each other in silence, unsure of what to do or say. Ruby was about to say something, something she'd probably regret, but she was interrupted. Suddenly, the wind blew harshly, whipping up leaves other detached plant parts. The parts shot around them and when the wind died down, a group of white and red rose petals began to fall slowly in front of the young Rose.

She turned to her mother, a small smile on her face. She knew deep down that her mom was always going to be there for her and help her no matter what. So, Ruby took a deep breath and made eye contact with the two girls once again.

"Saying sorry doesn't change the fact that you two put a lot of stress on not just me, but dad as well." Ruby say both girls lower their heads a bit, whether in guilt or shame she doesn't know. "I'll believe you're both sorry when you act like it. Does that mean you have to get along? Absolutely not. Does that mean you need to tolerate each other? Yes, even if it means hating in silent. But whatever crawled up both of your asses needs to get out and get fixed. Because I'm sick and tired of being made to feel like I have to pick a side. I assume dad is feeling the same way. And I'm sure at least one of you is tired of being mad all the freaking time."

Both girls still had their heads hung low, reminding Ruby of when two toddlers get in trouble. A small breeze was present, blowing onto Ruby's back. She smiled one again, glad to know shes said the right things. She turned around and quietly told her mother goodbye before once again turning around to face the two girls.

"Come on let's go home."

Chapter Text

It's been a couple of weeks since that day on the hill. Ruby really showed her who's boss, and while she's disappointed in herself for putting her little sister in a situation like that, she's glad Ruby is capable of being assertive and defending herself. Yang sat on her bed, aimlessly scrolling through her phone until she got a text.

--------------

[Blonde Brawler]
Hey yourself wassup

[Blonde Brawler]
Well Weiss isnt dead yet so thats a plus

[Blonde Brawler]
Awwww Blakey cares abt me<333

Things are going fine ig. Me and Weiss havent fought as much since Ruby got so mad at us and as you know school has been going as good as it can be for me

I got my 67 up to a 73 in Port's class so thats a plus

[Blonde Brawler]
She would never let me hear the end of it

[Blonde Brawler]
.....maybe..

[Blonde Brawler]
Ill go ask.

I also hate that youre so smart sometimes

[Blonde Brawler]
I mean......youre not the best at math

[Blonde Brawler]
tru

and fine

-------------

"Rubyyyyyy!!!!!!!!" Yang counted down from 3 in her head. By the time she got to one heavy footsteps already were outside her door and barging in.

"Whaaat," Ruby slowly caught her breath while she waited for her sister to speak.

"Do you wanna come to the movies and after have a little study group?"

"Can I-"

"Yes, you can bring Weiss." Ruby's eyes lit up and she quickly nodded her before leaving the room with just as much speed as she approached it with. Yang's lips curved upward slightly and she rolled her eyes.

------------

[Blonde Brawler]
We'll meet you at the movies in 30

[Blakey]
Sounds good. See you there.

------------

The three girls arrived 40 minutes later because two someones had to spend extra time on their hair. Spoiler alert: it wasn't Ruby.

Yang walked up to the front of the theater with Weiss and Ruby in tow. Blake was sitting on a wall near the front and jumped down upon their approach, landing practically silently on her feet.

"I still dont understand how you do that," Ruby grumbled, not that it mattered since Blake and Weiss could hear her perfectly.

"Years of practice preparing to protect this one here," Blake nudged Weiss with her elbow. The smaller wolf looking up at her with a glare. A look like that from Weiss was nothing new, but Blake had grown an immunity to it over the years, the time apart doing little to the two wolves other than make them miss one another.

"I'll have you know that an alpha like me does not need protection. Especially not from you," Weiss huffed and looked up slightly.

"Yes, the big bad wolf can protect herself." Blake rolled her eyes, a smirk present on her face.

"But Weiss is so small." The black and white duo plus Yang all looked at Ruby. Even Yang new that it was a bad idea to poke fun at Weiss' height and prayed to all that is holy for her sister. Blake slowly looked at Weiss, then back to Ruby, shocked at the comment the young red-lover made.

"Ruby," Weiss said slowly. Ruby gulped and her eyes widened at the seriousness in Weiss' voice.

"I-I didn't mean it in a bad way. Like I'm short too, I'm barely taller than you are, so it- wait I didn't mean to say that I'm taller than you and-" Ruby paused in hope's to not dig a deeper hole for herself. Yang and Blake watched in amusement as Weiss slowly turned to face the younger girl.

"At least since you're small you get to be the little spoon," all eyes were on Blake now. No one knew if the white alphas face was getting red from anger or embarrassment.

"Oh don't deny it; we all know Ruby's the big spoon." Yang finally spoke, a teasing grin accompanying the sentence.

"Sh-shut up," Weiss firmly crossed her arms in front of her chest as she looked away from everyone. Ruby started to feel bad about everyone ganging up on her and slowly walked towards Weiss, hand out and ready to give ear scratches.

"You can't just fix everything with ear scratches you know."

"Yeah, but I'm sure it helps, doesn't it." Ruby slowly began to scratch at the base of Weiss' left ear, moving her hand up and down gently like Weiss liked it.

"Ruby~" Weiss sighed, "Not in public, please." Contrary to Weiss' plea, she continued to lean into the pleasurable touch. She could feel her face begin to heat up in embarrassment and her tail started to wag.

Yang and Blake watched the scene in amusement. Yang may not like the white wolf that much, but the smile on Ruby's face more than made up for it. The slightly taller girl was looking at her mate with nothing but love and sincerity. Yang wished she could have a relationship like that. She glanced over at Blake.

Blake also had a small smile on her face while looking at the scene. She glanced over at Yang and the bumblebee duo made eye contact. For a spit second they just looked at each other unsure of what to do. Amber eyes looking into lilac before both girls' faces began to develop a red pigment on them. They looked away quickly and Yang was sure that Blake could hear her heart beat with her enhanced hearing.

Fortunately for her, Blake was only able to hear the loud beating of her own heart and thoughts that were both racing at a mile a minute. During that time however, Weiss took the chance to open her eyes. She could feel the smirk forming on her face and decided it was time to get back at the bumblebee duo.

"I'm not the only one who likes to be the little spoon." Blake and Yang look at her with a puzzled look, but Weiss only looks at Bake. Blake's eyes widen as her cheeks began to heat up once again.

Yang looked at Blake. Images of Blake being the little spoon...no...images of Blake being her little spoon flashed through her head and her cheeks also began to heat up.

Weiss continued to smirk at the older two girls. Ruby looked over Weiss' shoulder, confused as to what happened. Because her back was turned to her, Ruby was unable to see her expression; however, she was able to see her sisters and the beta wolf's clear as day. Both girls avoided eye contact with one another and their faces were red. Ruby chuckled softly before noticing the wagging of her snow wolf's tail was slowing. Once it was practically still, it began to wrap around Ruby's waist, something she didn't know Weiss was able to do.

Ruby took a small step closer to Weiss and rested her face in the crook of her neck. She may not have a sense of smell as good as her girlfriend, but Ruby inhaled softly, the scent of mint and vanilla overwhelmed her as she relaxed into the backwards embrace of the other girls' tail.

Who would have thought that mint and vanilla go so well together. She was semi-aware that they were still in public, but she couldn't care less. Being around Weiss was something of a dream and she hoped she never wakes up.

Unfortunately she didn't hope hard enough. Her dream trance was shattered by some boys laughing in the distance.

"How could they be so open about something so disgusting?"

"Ew, I know right. Like it's hot in porn but this is ridiculous."

Ruby felt Weiss' body stiffen in front of her, the grip of the tail becoming slightly tighter.

"What did you say Cardin?" Yang's voice boomed, all heads turning to face her.

Cardin and his group of friends walked towards the girls. Ruby studied her friends faces. Yang was furious by the looks of it, her brows furrowed and her eyes looked like she was trying to kill them with just one look.

Blake had an expression of steel. Her ears looked slightly fluffier, a sign she felt threatened. She was studying the boys, wondering and predicting how the encounter was going to play out.

Ruby couldn't see Weiss' face, but she felt her body stiffen. Her tail tightened around her waist, whether it was a sign of fear or reassurance she wasn't sure. Either way, Ruby was positive that Weiss wasn't happy right now. Her ears were puffed up similar to Blake's and she had a sturdiness to her body, like she was preparing to take a blow.

Ruby wasn't sure how to feel in that moment. She didn't know if she should feel angry or scared or sad, but what she did know is that the air was something that Yang would call tense. While she personally didn't understand the feeling, the others sure did seeing that the comments had made them all freeze, someone was waiting to make the first move.

In this situation, like many others, Ruby felt like an outsider. Not because she didn't feel like part of the group, but because it was a situation where she had to deal with emotion. There was something easier about putting a smile on and living life, less people questioned her that way. She couldn't put a smile on now though, based on everyone's faces smiling was the last thing everyone wanted to do.

Cardin and the three other boys with him smirked at the group of girls, the girls he knows he irked based on their reactions. Weiss and Yang were the ones he had to watch out for, but Ruby wouldn't dare do something to him. Blake was sort of a wild card for him since he'd never actually seen her around before. Maybe she went to their school?

Luckily for him he had 3 other people with him today. Weiss and Yang couldn't take on two people each.

He scoffed at their reactions. "Ha, the bitches cant even comprehend basic sentences clearly since they're still hanging on each other like they're glued together or something." The boys behind him snickered. The girls continued to stay frozen, not out of fear, but out of anger and confusion.

"What? Jealous you can't get some?" Weiss' voice shattered the silence between the now group of eight.

"Please, I could get any chick I wanted." The smirk on Cardin's face made Ruby want to gag. First of all, no he couldn't. She might be gay but she has eyes, and Cardin was not someone she would put in the 'good-looking' category; not to mention his personality sucked, but maybe she was just bias. Second of all, ew.

Weiss let out a laugh at Cardin's declaration. "You literally look like a cheese puff, Winchester." Yang couldn't hold in her laughter. How did she say that with such a straight face? Cardin's face began to heat up out of embarrassment and Weiss let a smirk form, something that seemed to irritate Cardin. Her ears twitched and angled towards the theater entrance and her smirk widened. She tightened her tail around Ruby once more and leaned her head back into the younger girls neck.

"Hey, babe," Weiss spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, "can we just share a drink for the movie?" Ruby knew that Weiss did this primarily to make Cardin and his goons furious, but that didn't stop her from becoming slightly flustered at the pet name. Weiss' ears twitched again, the sound she heard coming from the entrance was getting louder.

"Anything you want, Princess." Blake looked at the two girls. She knew that Cardin used to bully Ruby, but Yang always said Ruby was too afraid to defend herself, or she just didn't care to. Has being with Weiss made her more confident?

"Alright, now listen here you fucking fa-" the approaching noise Weiss had been hearing stopped, and instead was replaced by the clearing of someones throat.

"Now, now settle down. I'm sure you weren't about to say what I think you were going to, right?" The voice was male, speaking firmly. Weiss was thankful the mystery person stepped in when they did, she wasn't sure how much more of this she could take before she snapped.

"No, he wasn't going to say anything, were you cheese puff?" Weiss' fangs were larger than they usually were, but not overly so. Her ears and tail were still fluffed out and her eyes looked like they were almost glowing.

Cardin and his friends did a once over of the group, 2 human girls, 2 werewolves, and two young men. He glared, wondering if there was any way he was going to win this. His glare landed on Weiss. He scoffed again and puffed out his chest slightly, she wasn't the only one who could make herself look bigger. He took a small step closer; both groups were silent now.

The second he was still again, a low growl was heard. Weiss' nose was scrunched up now, and another low rumble threatened to release itself from her throat.

A stand-off, and the first person to back down would be the loser.

Low growls continued to fill the silence. Weiss felt Ruby's hand on her back, something Cardin unfortunately couldn't see because he was in front of her. Cardin's goons were behind him, slowly looking between the two, wondering who was going to be the victor. Blake and Yang were off to her side, both tensed and ready for action. The former most likely preparing to pull them apart while the latter couldn't wait for the first strike so she could give Cardin a piece of her mind, or fist.

Another step forward. Another snarl. Neither planning to back down. Silence from their companions. A scoff. Cardin turns around, the rest of his gang follows. the wolf girls hear something along the lines of 'crazy bitches,' but they leave it be. No one speaks until the boys are out of site.

"Holy fuck, that was hot." The girls turn around, and Weiss finally sees her helpers. A blonde boy and a blue-haired boy. The blonde wearing blue cargo shorts and a shirt that's not buttoned all the way, while his companion was showing less skin, wearing blue jeans and a red hoodie. "I mean that in a totally not creepy, not predatory way." Turns out it was the blue-haired boy speaking.

"Don't worry about him. To quote the famous words of Janis Ian from 'Mean Girls', Neptune is too gay to function, so don't take his words to seriously." The blonde smirked while his friend, now known as Neptune, smiles and playfully tries to elbow him.

"I still have eyes dumb-ass. Look at them, they're all drop dead gorgeous, and who doesn't love a fierce woman. As far as I'm concerned, that white wolf has got it all going on." The boys antics were enough to relieve the tension in the air. Slowly Weiss' wolf parts were returning to normal size, and her and Blake's fur was starting to unfluff.

"Hey wait, I know you." All eyes were on the blonde as he spoke. "You and I met on that cruise." He pointed in the direction of Blake, who now had everyone's eyes on her.

"Oh, yeah. The one that was taking us to Menagerie." Menagerie was an island primarily inhabited by werewolves due to the dangerous wildlife and copious jungles. Only then did Weiss notice the blonde tail peaking out from the boy's back.

"That's the one! My names Sun by the way ladies, and as you probably know, this is Neptune." Sun dramatically bowed before gesturing to the blue-haired boy next to him.

"Well thank you for your help back there Sun. You too Neptune. It could have gotten pretty ugly if you guys didn't come over. I'm Yang." Yang smiled widely and gave a wave to the boys.

"For real," with a smirk and a roll of her eyes, Blake introduced herself; Sun saying he thought her name was Blaine for some reason.

"It didn't really sound like a girl's name, but I'm not one to judge," he said with a shrug.

"Yeah, thank you so much," a high child-like voice sounded out, still wrapped in Weiss' tail and giving off a big smile. "I'm Ruby."

Everyone expected Weiss to introduce herself next, but she remained staring in the direction Cardin and his friends fled in. She didn't want them coming back, so she stood there, silently guarding her friends and the two new additions.

"Earth to Weiss. Hello? Weeeeiiiiissssss?" The group didn't know if Weiss was lost in thought or ignoring them, but her ears twitched slightly, meaning the sounds is reaching her.

"Here, I got this." Ruby took her hand from Weiss' back and put it around the tail that was around her waist. She gave a firm squeeze. Weiss let out a yelp and turned around. Her face was beet red and her tail looked like it was sticking straight out from the suddenness of the touch.

"I told you not to do that, Ruby!" Ruby could tell that Weiss was trying to sound angry, but the redness of her face lessened the severity of the moment. Sun, Blake, and Neptune busted out laughing.

"Oh Honey, don't d-do that in public. L-like ever." Neptune managed to get out through his laughter.

"Why?" Ruby tilted her head to the side, confused.

"Ruby, a w-werewolf's tail is the equivalent of a males..... you know," Blake continued to laugh during the explanation. Ruby turned red from embarrassment. Yang on the other hand, turned red from anger.

"She literally just had it wrapped around my sister a few moments ago. My 13. Year old. Sister." Yang looked at Weiss with fury.

"Nonono," Sun quickly jumped in. "When a werewolf uses their tail and they know it's going to be touched, that's different. It's hard to explain, but when not aroused or startled the tail itself has about the same reaction as any other body part. Oh! Like with her ears, someone could touch them and it could me fine but certain actions, like scratching and rubbing make them feel hypersensitive. The tail is the same way. So her tail around her was like the equivalent to an arm being around her. "

Weiss silently thanked Sun for the given explanation and most likely for saving her life.

"Why didn't you tell me that?!?" Ruby, still red in the face, looked at Weiss with wide eyes.

"I told you not to touch it. That's not my fault." Weiss crossed her arms.

"You never told me whyyyy." Ruby's arms went up in the air dramatically before flopping down to her sides.

"What was I supposed to say? 'Ruby you can't touch my tail, except for in certain situations, because it acts like a dick sometimes?'"

"I don't know? Maybe?"

Weiss huffed and turned around. "Sun, Neptune, thank you for your help earlier, and Sun thank you for that explanation. I am like 90% sure you just saved me from getting what Ruby would call a 'big sister beat down,' which is much appreciated."

"No problem, chica. Hey, can I get your number, you guys seems super fun." Weiss held out her hand for Neptune's phone. She took it and typed her number out before handing it back to him. "I'll just give you everyone else's number via text."

"Sounds like a plan. Bye ladies I hope you don't encounter any more.... mishaps today. Enjoy your movie." With that the two boys left, both sporting smiles.

"Hell yeah! Movie time, come on guys, let's go!" Yang and Blake walking ahead of the red and white duo, all four of them heading to the entrance.

"Were you serious about sharing a drink earlier?"

"If you want to, I don't mind." Ruby just hummed and grabbed Weiss' hand, interlocking their fingers together and gently swinging them back and forth. Hopefully this movie didn't finish too soon because she was not looking forward to studying.

Chapter Text

***I DON'T USUALLY ADD TRIGGER WARNINGS, BUT MOST ASSUME THE FLASHBACKS ARE. HOWEVER, THERE IS CASUAL MENTION AND TALK OF ABUSE IN THIS CHAPTER, AS WELL AS THE MENTION OF RAPE (it didn't happen, do not worry) THAT ARE NOT FLASHBACKS***

"I'm just saying."

"Ruby that's not how it works."

"I don't know Yang, she's got some pretty sound logic."

"It doesn't matter how logical or non-logical it is. That's insane and not how it works."

"Well what do you know? You don't work for the government or anything."

"Ruby, if two people get married, they cannot be considered siblings."

"Why not? They share the same parents and siblings now. You know what else shares the same parents and siblings? Siblings."

If you asked any one of the girls how this conversation was brought up in the first place, none of them would be able to tell you. The girls were all lazing around the Xiao-Long Rose residents when Ruby had a thought. The young wolf pups had learned recently that maybe not all of Ruby's thoughts were the best ones. Some of them started off simple enough, like 'What if you could taste colors?' and 'Do you think someone would make cream cheese cheese whiz?' They soon evolved into 'Do you think a crossbreed vampire wolf exists?' and today's newest edition: 'Why aren't married couples considered siblings?'

Weiss likes to think that her mates imagination is full of wonderful ideas, not that is not the case all of the time.

"Hey, Ruby? Maybe let's just pick a movie instead." Weiss was eager to end the debate quickly. She's learned that the blonde and red headed duo tend to get in big debates over Ruby's or Yang's random thoughts, and often drag Blake and herself into them. She honestly just wanted to sit on the couch with the three other girls and watch a movie.

She hadn't been getting much sleep in the past couple of days due to nightmares and her own thoughts keeping her up. Ruby has tried to help when she's awake, but it's rare she's awake during those times. Weiss is thankful of that. She wants Ruby to be getting sleep and to stay healthy. She's also thankful for selfish reasons. She doesn't want Ruby to continuously see her in such pitiful states. She also doesn't want Ruby to know what's happening.

It's not that she doesn't trust the younger girl, but talking about it is difficult. The last thing she needs is pity from the young Rose, a thought she knows is irrational because her girlfriend was nothing but supportive.

In the end, the girls ended up deciding on a movie, some cheesy comedy Weiss didn't know the name of.

In all honesty, Weiss wasn't paying attention to the movie at all. How could she, really? So many things have happened in the past few months and it's crazy to think where she is now. She ran away at 15 due to excessive abuse. She spend days on the streets traveling by herself waiting for the grim reaper to put her out of her misery. She met the most wonderful group of people she could think of and she was now living with them. She met what was basically her soul mate. She dealt with said mates bully. She got her beta back. She dealt with extreme homophobia from the bully.

Everything around her was changing so fast, so why wasn't she changing with it? Why wasn't she getting better? Why was she still do dependent on other people? Why did she still have such awful flashbacks in her dreams? She needed to get better. Living inside her mind was hell and there was no way she could let anyone into the fiery inferno without someone getting burned.

She was going to be 16 soon, not that anyone was aware right now. 16 would be old enough to get a job and do things. She wanted to talk to Tai about this. She was already selfish enough to take up space in his house and become an extra financial obligation and she wanted to make up for that. She wanted to be introduced to society how it really is instead of looking at it from afar in a case like a porcelain doll.

She needed help. She knew that, she wasn't stupid. She just didn't know how to get the help she needed. She needed to talk to Tai. To figure out both how to get the right help and how she could help him in any way she could. She could get a job, or learned how to do chores around the house. Maybe she could run errands for him, she just needed to do something, something that would show him how grateful she was for him and maybe try to pay him back even a little bit.

She didn't realize the movie was over until the credits started playing. If you asked her right now what her favorite part of the movie was, she wouldn't be able to answer. Not because the movie sucked-- although that was probably true-- but because she didn't seem to watch any of it.

She looked around the room. Yang and Blake were sitting closer together than before, the latter looking like she was starting to doze off. Yang looked content where she was, her body slowly moving in order to grab the remote without disturbing Blake too much.

Weiss went to look at Ruby next to her, only to find that she wasn't there anymore. Weiss then became aware of extra weight on her lap and looked down. Some time during the movie, Ruby had moved her head into the wolf pup's lap. Weiss had also subconsciously been playing with the younger girl's short hair with her hand, softly running it through the brown and red tresses.

A small smile formed on her lips as she continued to look down at the sleeping girl. What did she do to deserve such a kind hearted mate? She doesn't think she'll ever get the answer to that question, but whatever it was, she's glad she did it.

She looked back up to see the bumblebee duo smirking at her. While Weiss and Yang didn't seem to get along, they've been getting better. Unfortunately, Yang's version of getting better consisted of teasing Weiss as much as possible. In all honesty, Weiss preferred the teasing over the racist comments and was just glad that they were able to remain civil.

Civil might have been too strong of a word to describe the interactions. Over the time Weiss has been with them Yang had been able to see just how much Weiss cared about Ruby. While it had only been a couple of months, Yang could clearly see that Weiss did care for Ruby, something she didn't think was possible for a Schnee. Weiss may not have been her favorite person in the world, but she made Ruby happy and that's all that mattered.

She also knew that Weiss knew what would happen if she ever hurt Ruby. Yang may not have been a werewolf, but she sure as hell was strong enough to take one on, especially when she was angry.

Weiss wordlessly got up from the couch and lifted Ruby, careful not to disturb the girl as well as the silence surrounding them. She carried Ruby to their shared room and set the younger girl on their bed. Luckily, they had all changed into sleepwear before they started the movie, so there was less of a change Ruby would wake up due to discomfort. After laying the young brunette down, she tucked her in and exited the room silently.

She may have been a wolf, but she had the stealth of a cat on a hunt, something bother her and Blake possessed. While she can agree the majority of wolves are muscular and a bit less than graceful, she's glad Blake and herself do not fit that mold. Not only could she not see the two of them being anything but graceful, but it would also be less than beneficial if she was unable to keep quiet at times.

Weiss silently made it back to the living room and sat back down on the couch in her original spot. The bees look like they've shifted closer to one another, something she smiled about. Blake and Yang were completely different people, but they some how got along, much like Ruby and herself.

It was interesting, the dynamic of the group. Bubbly child genius, protective brute, stoic wolf, and....Weiss. She didn't really know how to categorize herself. Yang would probably laugh at her, saying that she was always full of herself so she would be more than capable of coming up with a label for her. Funny how far faking it could take you. A confident smirk and a comeback, apparently that's all she needed in order to fool everyone.

Maybe she wasn't fooling anyone and they were just playing along for her. Maybe everyone was just oblivious and she was great at acting. Maybe it was that no one cared enough to look closely. The latter seems to be the most prevalent in her life. Really, who did she have to care for her before?

Winter? Dead.

Blake? Left.

Whitley? Dick.

Mother? Drunk.

Father? She wasn't even going to list the reasons.

She always does this. Her thoughts slowly start to spiral like water going down a drain. The only difference is that the water never leaves her mind. She continues to drown in what seems like a bottomless ocean ravine, the pressure builds the deeper she goes, but she always discovers something new. A new memory she unconsciously tried to suppress. A train of thought she stays fixated on. A new flaw. It's always something.

Her mind racing and the worst part is that she couldn't even get fully lost in it. She was fully aware of the world going on around her. The sounds and images blur together until she's no longer able to decipher what's around her and what's not. It became harder to breathe, harder to think, harder to function in general.

She could see Blake and Yang looking at her, both observing and not sure what to do. They stayed silent, most likely because it was Weiss that needed to make the first move. The silence was comforting in a way. The last thing she needed was extra sound to scramble her thoughts more than they already were. It also meant that the girls were willing to go at Weiss' pace, something she's never really have the privilege of doing.

**trigger warning**

"I think," a defeated sigh, "I think I'm going to ask Tai for help. Professional help." The silence was no longer comforting. It how hung in the air, looming over her head like a bad omen, suspense and anxiousness filled her as she waiting for a response.

"I think that's a good idea." It was Blake that spoke. Yang made a sound of agreement.

"Any particular reason? Like I know there's probably a lot, but..." Yang trailed off, not sure how to continue the sentence.

Weiss' hesitation must have shown because Yang immediately tried to backtrack."You don't have to answer, just curious."

"I know you've probably gathered that my father wasn't.... the nicest person." Weiss looked up to make eye contact as she spoke, she needed to get this out.

"Yeah, " Yang confirmed. "From what I understand, he got physical a lot, right?" Yang spoke slowly and softly, trying to ease Weiss into the conversation without forcing information out of her. Blake sat there watching, hesitant to contribute because she knows how bad it really was.

"Yes, but probably not in the way you're thinking." Her voice was slightly stiff, it was easier than becoming emotional at a time like this. She couldn't break down, she had to get this out.

"Did he rape you?" Yang's voice was breathy and full of shock, like she was holding back a gasp.

"No, I do not remember him touching me sexually," Weiss looked up to see Yang looking relieved, Blake practically mirroring the look. Makes sense since she was gone for multiple years.

"So then..." Yang cleared her throat, "What did he do? If you don't mind me asking?" Yang looked at her with apprehension, hoping she hadn't crossed any unseen boundaries.

"I'll spare the more gruesome details, but he used objects more than I think he actually touched me. He said he didn't want to make much contact with a freak like me." A dry laugh left her throat. Just a single noise, but it showed how serious the situation was. She couldn't tell if she felt like laughing or crying, some freak she is, huh? "I've had a range of things done to me, the works. Punched, slapped, kicked, whipped, cropped, tied up, starved, you name it." How could she be talking so casually about this right now? To be broken to the point where she's numb to it. For years she thought that kind of treatment was normal, that it happened to everyone. Damn, she was so messed up.

She looked up to see both Blake's and Yang's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Blake knew it was bad, but she never knew how much worse it got when she left. However, Yang was completely new to this situation. For someone who claimed to not like her, she was awfully quick in getting up and wrapping her arms around the young wolf.

"I know the way you cope is to shut down," she spoke softly, although slightly muffled by Weiss' hair since she was almost curling around her protectively. "Please don't hesitate to ask for any kind of help. I can't imagine how awful that must have been for you and I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Not even an Ice Queen like you deserves something like that." Weiss didn't say anything back. What was she supposed to say to something like that anyway? Instead, she just wrapped her arms around Yang as well, fully aware that Blake way watching the interaction.

Maybe things aren't so bad anymore. Maybe one day things in her mind will be okay. She has people that care about her now, and she'd be damned if she let them go.

Chapter Text

What classified as a good therapy session? Because right now she couldn't tell if it was good or bad. Tai had agreed to get her help and today was her first session. Her psychotherapist, Ms. Goodwitch, had been very professional the entire time. The first session consisted of her just telling Ms. Goodwitch about herself. She avoided any heavier topics seeing as it was the first day, however the more she was seeing her, the deeper they seemed to go each time.

She had been going for weekly, one hour sessions and today was her fourth session. She wasn't sure if today counted as a good session or not. She had been crying basically from the very start. They had begun to talk about her dreams since last session, which she read out from a journal she was required to keep for such an occasion.

Ms. Goodwitch then asked her about her new job. Since starting her therapy, Weiss had turned 16, not that anyone really knew. Surprisingly, a lot of opportunities opened up when you turn 16. Tai no longer needed to sign her in and out of the mental health center -even though it only happened the first time, making Tai think that it was a one time thing. She had shared her personal information, including her birthday, once Tai left the room. She had been working at this little diner in Patch as a waitress, and she honestly hated her job.

With her rude coworkers and her even ruder customers, Weiss was surprised she hadn't already blown a fuse. Her work days were short, only about 5 hours. She worked on the days that Ruby, Yang, and Tai were at their respective schools, which made it quite easy to sneak around the bunch. She was still able to keep up with cleaning the house and creating small study lesson plans for Ruby. The hardest part of sneaking was hiding her uniform. She had to throw it in the washer every time she got home, as well as find a place to hide it in order to keep her secret.

It's not like it would be disastrous if they found out she had a job, but this was supposed to be a surprise. She wanted to do something for the family that saved her life, and that needed to be a surprise. Well, at least it did for her. She wasn't really sure what she was planning on doing yet, but it was going to be good. She was a Schnee, damn it, and Schnee's expect nothing other than the best.

"So, Weiss," Goodwitch pulled her out of her thoughts, "Have you told your....housemates that it was your birthday not too long ago?" Hearing Ruby, Yang, and Tai referred to as housemates felt odd, but it's a true label. She wasn't really part of their family. She was just....there.

"No, they wouldn't really care, anyways."

"Oh? Let's talk about then, shall we? Why do you believe that they would not care?" Ms. Goodwitch looked at her expectantly, clipboard in hand ready to jot down any information the woman deemed important.

"No one's ever really cared about my birthday anyways, why would this be different. I've never seen anyone ever do anything more than a small gift for a birthday."

"Has anyone ever given you a gift for your birthday?"

"My sister used to, just small things like earrings or a new belt."

"Are you aware that many people throw parties in order to celebrate the anniversary of one's birth?" Weiss let out a quick laugh in response to that. Who would throw a party for someone just because they were born? That's not even something special, they just....exist. Why would that matter?

"Ms. Schnee, I can assure you that I am not joking, many people celebrate a birthday with a party, cake, presents, and family and friends that are close to them. Are you telling me you've never heard of such a thing?" Yes. That's exactly what she was telling her. That sounds stupid, a party for birth? Everyone alive was born, that's not worthy of a party.

"No, I wasn't aware that was a thing. That sounds kind of stupid though, why would you throw a party for someone just because they were born some odd years ago?"

"Let me ask you this, would you care if tomorrow was Ruby's birthday?"

"Of course, I'd most likely already have gotten her a gift. I would give it to her, say happy birthday and that would be the end of it."

"So you'd care enough to get her a gift?"

"Yes."

"Then why do you not believe that Ruby and her family would not care the same?" That question stalled Weiss. Would they care? She's not sure. She's only had one person that cared enough. Blake probably would have cared when they were younger, but Weiss was so guarded that she never even shared her birthday with the slightly older girl. On the contrary, Weiss knew her birthday, she was required to. As the inheriting alpha of the pack and company, she was required to know everything there was to know, both about the members and about the company.

Well, she was required to know, but now she's pretty sure Whitley is going to be the one inheriting the family business. Not that she minded, she no longer had all of that responsibility or stress on her shoulders. She no longer had to worry about the duties or image she had to uphold. She no longer had to worry about the secure financial situation she was guaranteed, or the security and home that would be provided for her. So maybe it wasn't all good now that she thinks about it.

"I-" a huff, "I don't know. I've never really had people in my life that have really cared, you know? I had Blake for a while, but my father drove her and her family out. I had Winter and she ended up," a sniffle, "Passing. I don't think I can remember a time anymore when my mother wasn't drunk, and Whitley was so much like my father that it scared me to no end." Goodwitch continued to write things down on her clip board.

"Has anyone ever held any other celebrations for you? Such as a congratulatory celebration." She let out a single dry laugh. "Is it safe to say that's a no Ms. Schnee?" A nod. "Now, I do not want to put any words in your mouth, so at any time if you feel my deduction is wrong, please feel free to step in seeing as we have not known each other long and I may be misinterpreting information."

"Do you personally think that your fear of your new...housemates not caring about your birthday, not only derives from the fact that you have not celebrated your birthday before, but also from the fact that you believed no one seemed to care when you did put effort in, so a party held for something that everyone else has as well seems unimportant in the eyes of others, at least when it comes to you." Weiss looked at Goodwitch for a good couple of seconds.

"I think that," a dry swallow, she was starting to become nervous. This was not a can of worms she thought she was going to be opening today. "I think that the biggest thing wrong with that claim, and most likely the only thing wrong with it, is the fact that you framed it as no one caring was merely something I believed was happening. Before I ran, I only needed two fingers to count the people that cared about me. They were both gone for years before I escaped."

"The last thing I need is to get my hopes high by telling myself that my family cares about me because that would be a cruel lie. My mother had to deal with whatever shit she did and that made her numb, there is no way that woman cares about anything except alcohol, not even herself. My father and my brother are single minded people who's only goals in life are being in a position of power."

"My father felt the need to show me just how much power he had, how much power he still has." Weiss looked down at her hands only to find that they were blurred. Her eyes filled with tears at these truths she was letting out, these messed up truths. The truths that have broke her down for years and continue to do so even after shes run from them. The truths that continue to chase her like heat seeking missiles, waiting to make contact with her already scarred body in hopes of inflicting more damage.

"That is quite a lot to go through, Ms. Schnee. If it helps, I am truly sorry for your past and am glad you are in a safe environment now. I cannot say that your fears, anxieties, and doubts over your past will go away over night, but if you are willing we can work through these problems together. With that being said, I would like to know what you've done for yourself since you left."

For herself? "Um, besides a couple of walks into the forest I can't say I've really done much."

"And with your first paycheck do you plan on using it on yourself?"

"No, I was planning on doing something for Ruby and her family. I'm not sure yet, but I want it to be a nice surprise for them."

"I should advise you to not spend all of your money on other people. While I am well aware that these people have been your support system since running, you do need to understand that taking care of yourself is just as important. Something as simple as buying a stress ball and your favorite soap can count as self care. Caring for yourself can also help release a bit of that pent up emotions that you have, that way you're not only feeling better, but you're less likely to lash out."

"From what I'm aware you being a werewolf causes the wolf in you to flair, correct?" A nod. "So, having an outlet for your emotions will benefit you and the people around you. Go on a run, buy your favorite sweet, something that will benefit you and make you happy. My challenge to you is to try and set aside around 15 minutes a day before you sleep for some self care. It can be anything you want, as long as it's for yourself and it makes you happy."

"To end our session today, I would also advise you to find healthier coping mechanisms. Shutting down seems to be your go-to, and while I will admit it can be effective in the moment, it does have its drawbacks in the long run. We can talk about that more some other time though, just wanted to mention it so it was in your mind. Thank you for sharing today Ms. Schnee, I can understand how hard it would be to vocalize past events that continue to haunt you, and I do hope that we continue to make progress here, goodbye." A rare smile made it's way to Ms. Goodwitch's face, a smile that Weiss returned. She was nice and understanding, Weiss liked her a lot.

Weiss made her way out of the center towards Tai's beat up pickup truck with a lot on her mind. First being that she has to tell them about her job and second being her birthday.

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It's been two days since her appointment and she's told them nothing. Does she really have to tell them? Like it's not like she way lying to them or anything, they've never asked and that's not her problem.

But it is her problem, isn't it? Because she's been sneaking around behind their backs, hiding things from them.

But what if they get mad at her? For sneaking around and hiding things? What if they hate her? What if they hurt her? What if-

"Hey, Weiss?" Ruby. Weiss turned over to the younger girl, book now facing down to give the brunette her undivided attention.

"Yes?"

"Can you help me with this for a second?"

Weiss got up and helped her with math, the numbers and bizarre scenarios in the problems distracted her mind for the night.

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It's been a week since her last appointment.

When Goodwitch asked her if she's told Ruby's family yet, the answer was no. What was she even supposed to say to them?

This week they focused on emotions like Goodwitch said they would. She kept up her end of the bargain and allowed at least 15 minutes of self care a day.

It felt weird to care for herself.

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It's been 3 days since her last appointment, and she decided she wasn't going to tell them. Instead she was just going to leave her uniform in the dryer over the weekend so that when one of the other members of the household does laundry they'll find it.

It works.

She's sitting on the couch in the living room when she hears the call.

"Hey, Weiss? Can you come here for a second." It's Tai that finds it. She walks to him acting clueless and thanks her acting teacher for being so hard on her.

When she gets there, he's holding up the uniform in question and looks at her expectantly. She remembers why she didn't want to tell them.

"Oh, um. I sort of- um. I got a job?" She frames it like a question and looks at him nervously.

"When did you even get one? How did you even get one? You have to be 16 for the majority of the places in Patch to hire you."

Weiss looks down. "That's the thing, I kinda, um, am 16." She expects him to be mad for hiding things from him. She looks up and sees a puzzled look on his face, before it shifts to something softer, more understanding.

"Little Pup," he says softly, "Why didn't you tell us it was your birthday a little while ago?" He puts the uniform down and gets down on one knee. He read that making himself look smaller and less intimidating might help Weiss, given that she's a victim of violence from a man larger than her. This action seems to be proven successful when Weiss shoulders relax a bit and she takes a deep breath before looking away.

"I didn't think you were going to care. It's never mattered before, why would it matter now?"

"It matters because you matter, Weiss." Tai put a gentle hand on her shoulder, a reminder that he was here for her. "How long have you had the job for?"

"Since my birthday, so about a month now." Tai's eyes widened at that, surprised that it's been that long.

"Okay, how about this. I assume you don't have a checking account, so we'll open one for you, but Little Pup, you can't hide things like that. I understand that this is a very...odd situation, but I didn't even know you were leaving the house, let alone working. I don't mind that you have one, but that's a big thing. I want to be a part of big things for you. Like your birthday. 16 is an important one. If you ever want to do something like get your license and all that jazz, you just have to ask." Tai looked up at her with a small smile.

"Okay, I'll-uh keep that in mind." She's not really sure what to say. This went a lot better than she thought it was going to. Her father would have been very angry at her for keeping anything from him, but he's not here now. This home is safe and these people are safe. Weiss looked down for a split second before leaning down and giving Tai a hug. Not something common from the young wolf, but enjoyed by Tai none the less.

She definitely needed to so something to show this family how much she cared.

Chapter Text

It's been a few days later since Tai's and Weiss' talk in the laundry room, and if he was being honest with himself, Tai was stumped. Weiss was an anomaly that no one in the house has figured out how to navigate one hundred percent. Ruby's gotten the closest to unlocking the secrets, but nowhere near the end. Weiss was drastically different than his own daughters, as well as the students he's gotten to know on a more personal level.

She has a way of pretending like she's an open book, kind of like Ruby. Rather than talking about herself, she listens to those around her, gathering information on subjects while making it appear like she is listening because she's interested.

That's where her and Ruby differ.

Ruby silently lets people talk to her so she can try to alter the way she acts around people in order to make them the most comfortable, or at the very least, dislike her less. Ruby has created the illusion of her being an open book just because she puts on a smile and is friendly with those around her.

Weiss is stand off-ish and stubborn like Yang. Both girls argue and fight for what they believe is right. They both protect Ruby as much as they can as well. They don't fight the same way, though. Yang charges fist first into a problem and doesn't think of the consequences. She becomes so caught up in her own fiery fury that she fails to look at the world and the results around her. This alone has caused many calls home and meet ups in the school's office.

On the other hand, Weiss is cold and calculated. Like the Medusa of the arctic, one wrong look and you're frozen in place by her icy glare. Her words like icicles stabbing through your body and mind, filling you with this unbreakable chill, unable to be stopped until it has corrupted your entire body.

So similar, yet so different. Tai had been going in blind since Weiss started to live with them. He'd done as much research as he felt he could to understand how to act around and comfort Weiss, as well as to try and understand what she was going through as well. In all honesty, though the ups and downs, Tai wouldn't change anything.

This was an odd journey that they started because of Weiss, but he thinks that all four of them have learned quite a lot. He himself learned that not everything is black and white, and that there are just some truly evil people in the world.

Ruby had learned how to connect with someone outside of her own family, and without realizing it, Weiss had taught her how to be strong. Ruby learned not to compare her problems to any one else's and not to belittle her own. Every problem was important, she had told Weiss that, but it was Weiss that unknowingly caused her to practice what she preaches.

Yang had learned that Ruby isn't a baby anymore and can do some things for herself now that she wasn't able to before. She had learned to trust Ruby in her judgment and have a bit more of a positive outlook on people instead of just preparing for the worst.

Weiss had learned that not all people are bad, and as much as she hates it, trusting people can be a good thing. Her walls may not have come down yet, but she's letting people up to the gates, which in her opinion, is a big leap forward. She's learned and recognized that she has much more built up than she thought she did, and with the help of her therapist, she will work though that.

However, the biggest and most important think that she believes she's learned these passed few months is that she's not alone anymore.

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"Her birthday was a month ago, and she didn't say anything?" Yang's voice rang out in the now quiet room, confusion evident. Weiss was at work, which everyone was now aware of. Sitting in the living room with Yang was Tai, Ruby, and Blake, and as you can guess, the topic of discussion was Weiss.

"She probably thinks you hate her." Yang looked at Blake, surprised by the bluntness of the comment. "I don't hate her, I'm not sure I ever did. I was just....angry. Her family -her father- has done so many awful things to innocent people, she was just the first person I saw that had relation to that and I blamed everything on her." Yang sighed before continuing. "Then I learned that her father was just as much of a prick to her as anyone else. We got to know each other better, just a bit. We can be civil around each other, so why would she think I hate her?"

"Being civil and being her friend are two completely different things. I'm not saying hide your feelings and get all buddy buddy with her, but I think you guys are both too stubborn for your own goods and don't want to make an effort first because that means you loose whatever stand-off you two are having." That made a frustrating amount of sense to Yang. Blake's right, the first person to be friendly and make an effort looses. They admit they were wrong and now they want the other to forgive them.

The truth of the matter is that they were both wrong, Yang knows that. She just doesn't want to be more wrong than Weiss. If that happens, Weiss wins, and Yang is not going to be inferior to some scrawny, cocky Alpha, even if she is much stronger than she looks.

"Okay, but even if she did think Yang hated her, why wouldn't she tell any of us?" Ruby's voice harbored hurt and confusion. Why didn't Weiss trust her?

"Weiss didn't think anyone of us would care." Tai's voice was steady, but solemn. After telling Weiss that they could set up a checking account together, the two had began to talk more in depth. "She said that she had never celebrated her birthday, and didn't know birthday parties were a thing until about two weeks ago." The girls' eyes widened. How had she gone now 16 years of her life without knowing there was such things as birthday parties.

They assumed that Weiss' birthday was celebrated as an excuse for her father to throw a party and show off all of his money, but clearly that was not the case.

The three girls sat silently, all questioning what to do. Weiss wasn't someone you could just throw a surprise part for, that would most likely end poorly. Plus, what would they even get Weiss as presents? She's never truly expressed an interest in a particular hobby.

Blake tried to think back to when they were younger. Even then, the girl was extremely closed off. The two would play outside together,that was, until Weiss' father found out and scolded her for being improper.

Ruby tried to think back to any of the talks her and Weiss had together. The girl had taken an interest in one of Ruby's hoodies. Ruby doesn't think it's something the ex-heiress noticed, but more often than not, Weiss was lounging in an article of clothing that belonged to Ruby.

Yang also tried her hardest to think about a present for the wolf pup. It was difficult since they didn't know each other well, but not impossible.

They were going to plan the best birthday party the alpha wolf will ever have.

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"Where are we going again?" Weiss walked with the Rose-Xiao Long family, plus Blake, along the sidewalk. It was close to dusk, making the trees appear as nothing more than shadows. They had been walking along the streets for a while, opting not to take the truck Tai owned. It was claimed that the inside would be too cramped for all four girls plus Tai, and Weiss had taken that as an excuse quite easily.

What she didn't know is that the truck was already at their destination, holding gifts for the unsuspecting wolf. Weiss had never seen this side of Patch before, populated and near the coast. It's no wonder too, the coast was a beautiful place and it made sense for so many people to want to see it. While the people had made Weiss anxious, Ruby had gone out of her way to ensure that there would be no unwanted contact made between Weiss and an unknown individual.

That had made Weiss smile. She didn't realize it at first, but Ruby had been slowly shifting her body, as well as her own. Ruby had also opted to walk on the side of the sidewalk closest to the street. Tai was guiding their little group, with Blake and Yang behind the young white and red couple.

It was weird to go out as a group. She hadn't really been leaving the house with, well, anyone. Her father didn't let her leave the house much, and when he did it was only to go to a gala or fundraiser. But this, this was just going out for fun. Just going out just because they can. They invited her along because they wanted to spend time with her, and that made her chest feel a bit warm when thinking about it.

"No where special," Yang began from behind her, "Only the best freaking restaurant in the world." When Weiss turned around briefly to look at Yang, she saw a happy smile on the blondes face, as well as two hands interlocked at her hips. Now, don't get her wrong, Yang is still and always will be one of the most annoying people on Remnant. It was still nice to see her smile and have a good time. Yang hadn't really done anything like wrong. She was just doing what she thought was protecting.

She was just annoying as hell now.

But seeing Yang smile wasn't the only thing that made her happy. Blake was also smiling, most likely due to the fact that one, they all get to go out as a family, and two, she's holding hands with a certain blonde barbarian.

The girl wouldn't have been her first guess for Blake, but it some how worked. As long as her best friend was happy, and no one was getting hurt.

Sooner than she thought, Weiss and the group stood face-to-face with a building displaying a sign reading 'Bat's and Barrel's'. An odd name for a restaurant if you ask her. She could hear the chatter from people inside the restaurant already, her ears flattening slightly at the prospect of entering a loud, enclosed space.

Ruby must have sensed the nervous shift in her because the younger girl gently squeezed her hand in reassurance.

'Well, it's now or never.' With that thought, the door was pushed open. Her ears flattened against her head completely. Hopefully she gets used to the sound, otherwise, this is going to be a long night.