En Garde! A RWBY White Rose Fanfiction

Chapter 57: Almost Believing

When the conversation ended, Weiss noted that the waiter still hadn't arrived. Ruby returned to scanning the menu, a surprise to Weiss. She had always known her as impulsive, plus she possessed an appetite capable of overcoming anything on her plate... and then some.

"Having trouble deciding?" Weiss asked. "I didn't realize you were capable of such deep contemplation."

Ruby looked up. "Ha, ha," she replied dryly, but with a smile. "This needs a lot of thought put into it! It's not every day I get a chance like this."

"I doubt you have time to tell what you're eating before you shove it in your mouth," the amused heiress muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing."

Finally, the waiter showed up to take their orders. As was customary, they started with drinks (Weiss sticking with water and Ruby requesting a Shirley Temple), and both politely declined appetizers.

When the waiter left, Weiss turned to Ruby with a smirk that warned the brunette that she was about to joke about her. "And you're able to restrain yourself for the entree? If I didn't know better, I'd ask what you did with the real Ruby."

Ruby shrugged. "I can be patient sometimes." However, this was a partial lie; had she not been dead-set on making a good first-date impression, she would already have ordered everything on the menu.

When the waiter returned with their drinks and prepared to take their orders, Weiss asked for a plain old garden salad. On the other hand, Ruby ordered some outlandish seafood dish she could hardly pronounce (not to impress, but for herself). The heiress was about to comment on it, but the excited glimmer in Ruby's eyes made the words die out in her throat.

"I can't believe we had to wait a whole month to do something like this," Ruby complained when the waiter left. "Did your dad back off yet?"

Weiss shook her head sadly. "The only reason I'm here is because he thinks that I went to Pyrrha's to study for finals. She agreed to lie about it if she needed to, so we don't need to worry."

Ruby frowned. "Just rebel without hiding it! I don't see a reason not to. It's not like he can lock you away forever."

Weiss immediately argued, "I beg to differ. You haven't seen the extent of his power, but I know what he's capable of. If he wanted to, he could build a basement just for me."

"Nah," Ruby replied. "You're strong enough to take whatever he has to throw at you!"

Weiss sat in denial for a moment, but she eventually gave in, smiling and taking Ruby's hand from across the table. "I suppose you're right." Weiss felt like she could do anything with Ruby at her side.

At that moment, the food arrived, and all of Ruby's attention was immediately drawn away from the tingling sensation of Weiss' hand in hers and towards the food. Big shocker, Weiss mused to herself.

It took Ruby an inhumanly short amount of time to devour everything, while Weiss took her time and tried not to stare in amazement. When she finished, Ruby continued the conversation.

"Y'know, worst case scenario you could always live with us."

Weiss choked on her salad, freaking Ruby out for a moment, but she managed to recover. "Would that even be okay with your uncle?" she asked when she could breathe properly.

Ruby shrugged. "If you can take care of yourself, he doesn't mind. Yang is sort of the one who keeps the house in one piece, and she does a surprisingly good job of it!"

Skeptical as Weiss was about that last comment, she found herself almost in love with the idea as much as she was with Ruby. "But it's highly unlikely something like that would occur," she pointed out. "Winter had to completely disappear in order to escape my father's watch."

Ruby went silent. Of course, she knew Weiss was right. Maybe later she'd ask Qrow about how Winter was doing. If only Weiss knew she had stayed at their house for a week! But she resolved not to say anything until she knew it wouldn't put the older Schnee sister in danger.

"I still think you should tell him what's on your mind," Ruby suggested. "He can't punish you that much for being honest, can he?"

Weiss looked away, reluctant to mention what he might do if he merely learned that she was spending the majority of her free time with a girl like Ruby.

In response to the worried girl's silence, Ruby added, "You know I'm always here to back you up, Weiss."

Though her presence would only make things worse, Weiss replied with a soft expression. At the end of the day, Ruby was all she really wanted. She was ridiculously thankful for what--or who--she already had. Looking at the happy brunette before her, the heiress almost believed that she could fight anything her father tried to do to keep her away from her girlfriend.

"I'm here for you, too," Weiss echoed. "And to prove it, I promise I'll be at your final match."

Ruby looked concerned. "Are you sure you can do that?"

"You said it yourself," the confident heiress replied. "What's the worst he can do? Plus, I have sixteen years of experience under my belt." She winked mischievously, getting a giggle out of Ruby.

•••

All four girls soon finished eating dinner, and Yang paid the bills (making sure to hide the cost from Ruby) so they could leave. Qrow told Yang that he decided to stay at the bar longer, so they had a few hours to roam the area. They could have piled up in Blake's car, but neither of the alcoholic's nieces thought it would be a good idea for him to drive home, which left it up to Yang.

"So, what should we do?" Ruby asked as they strolled the sidewalk.

"I haven't been in this area before," Blake replied, "so I'm not sure. Yang?"

The rowdy blonde hummed in thought. "I can't think of anything. At least, not with minors tagging along." Weiss huffed offensively at that.

"Think there are any stores open?" Ruby suggested. "We could do some window shopping."

The idea hit home with her girlfriend, as she expected. "That...actually sounds like a good idea!" Weiss agreed. "Your score is three, Ruby."

The little brunette beamed pridefully. "I try."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Well, I guess we have nothing better to do," she conceded.

"Neat. Then, let's go here!" Ruby stopped and pointed at the building before them.

"Tukson's Bookstore?" Weiss read disappointedly. "Not exactly what I had in mi-"

"I'm in." Blake immediately went to the door and entered the bookstore.

"Yay, books!" Ruby exclaimed, not far behind.

AN: right on time! Take that, busy schedule! Well, it'll come back to get me since I'm going on college tours next week! I'll be on the other side of the country checking out places I got accepted to for a week, starting next Wednesday. If/when possible, I'll try to publish the next chapter while I'm out. Until then! Hope you enjoyed this really boring chapter, because things will be picking up soon!