Outcasts

Realization

Winter darted across the living room, chasing a two, small, white haired children.

"Get back here you two!" Winter shouted.
The kids looked back, then started running even faster in different directions.
"God damnit." Winter says under her breath.
Suddenly, a herd of elementary age kids bolt in all directions, giggling without a care in the world. They soon disappeared out of her view. Hiding in every room and crevice their tiny bodies could fit into.
"You guys have to get to bed!" Winter shouted into the void of adolescents.
She heard a few yelps of disapproval in the invisible crowd. Every few minutes a group of vibrant haired children would run past her, shouting and pushing to run faster.
Winter's eyes light up as an idea pops into her head.
She swiftly pulls her phone out of her back pocket and scrolls to her contacts. She taps on Glynda's name and holds the phone to her ear.
After a few rings, Glynda's voice mail recording beings to play.
"Are you kidding me?" Winter hangs up and goes back to her contacts.
She scrolls through and stops on the only name listed under Q.
"What do I have to lose." Winter smirks.
She taps his name and holds it up to her ear.
After a ring and a half, a familiar voice picks up.
"Hey." Qrow answered.
"I need your help." Winter yaps.
"You need my help?" Qrow said, confused.
"My little sister has a bunch of friends over, and their out of control." Winter pleaded.
Qrow exhales.
"Jesus Christ. They must be really insane for Winter Schnee to lose control." Qrow chuckles to himself. Winter holds back the urge to do the same.
"Shut up. Can you come or not?"
"Yeah. I can be there in a few minutes. You at your dad's?"
"No, my mom's. I'll text you the address."
"Sweet. See you soon. Bye."
"Bye."
Winter took the phone from her ear and let her hand fall her her hip as she let out a sigh of relief. She quickly sent the address to Qrow.
Suddenly, Weiss and three more girls started screaming and bolted to Winter.
"Is your boyfriend coming?" Weiss grasped onto her big sister's leg.
"He's not my boyfriend!" Winter shook Weiss off and leaned down to face level of the girls. "It's time for bed, girls."
Like she expected, the girls started screaming again and ran back to their hiding spot. Winter exhaled.
"Oh God please get here quick." Winter said to herself as she turned to look at the door.
Winter spend the next few minutes searching the various rooms for kids, even though they would scatter if she ever caught them.
Soon enough, a doorbell echoed through the house.
"Thank God!" Winter proclaimed.
She power walked to the door.
Qrow stood on the other side, looking even more muscular in the moonlight. Winter almost lost her words.
"Ah, come in." Winter stuttered.
Qrow stepped over the threshold and into the house. He lifted his head to look around at the interior.
"Wow. Your mom's place is better than your dad's." He giggled.
"Well, he married into the family." Winter said with a sense of sarcasm.
"Ah. That makes sense." Qrow giggled again. This time Winter followed.
Winter let Qrow to the living room, where as soon as he entered, another group of screaming children came running. As soon as they saw Qrow, they stopped dead in their tracks, then turning around and running back to where they came from.
"Looks like I'm perfect for the job." Qrow smirked.
Winter smiled.
The two of them made their way to the hall where the kids her hiding.
After an hour of teamwork and muscle, Qrow and Winter got all the kids into the living room. Most were passed out from running around to much, but some were just sitting still. Winter looked around at the pile of sleepy children around her and Qrow.
"Thanks." She said, out of breath.
"Hey, don't worry about it." Qrow replied.
Winter smiled at him again. Now that they had been working together for a few months, she has really seen what he was as a person, not just what the test scores and grades say about him, or that "ghetto boy" mask he puts on.
"Oh, I almost forgot something." Qrow reaches for his pocket, and pulls out a children's book. The cover was of a blonde girl and a tower.
"I was my twin sister's favorite as a kid, I thought they would like it, if they couldn't get to sleep." Qrow looks around at the kids.
"Qrow, that's so thoughtful." Winter said softly.
A little girl with red PJs and black and red hair crawled into Qrow's lap. He lifts his hands to make room for her.
"I think she wants you to read." Winter implied.
Qrow smiled and opened the book.
"Once upon a time there stood a lonely tower which sheltered a lonely girl." Qrow began.
Winter's spine became jelly at his voice. It became deeper when he was reading. She didn't notice when they were studying, but after she thought about it again, it was always true. Even though his raspy voice became deeper, it actually became more calm and comforting than she had ever heard from a man.
She closed her eyes and fell into a whole of feelings. A picture popped up in her mind of him kissing her.
Winter shook her eyes awake, trying to shake the picture out of her mind. But every time she focused on his voice, she say it again. His lips wrapped around every word perfectly.
Those lips.
Winter looked over at the side of his face. His firm jaw and little facial hairs sprouting on his jawline were something she never thought she would find attractive.
Did she like him?
No.
She couldn't.
What her father would do to her if he found out.
But, he wouldn't have to know.
Oh no.
She liked him.
And she wanted nothing but him.
"You can't." Qrow closed the book with a snap.
"What?" Winter said, startled.
"That's the end of the book." Qrow informed.
Winter looked around to see all of the children fast asleep.
"Oh. That's it?" Winter questioned.
"Yeah, I know it's a strange ending, but I love the mystery of it." He said with a smile.
He looked down at the little red girl.
"I like this one." He appealed.
"Hey, I'll walk you to your car. It's the least I could do to thank you for saving my life." She said with a slight chuckle.
Qrow put the book back in his pocket and picked up the little girl off his lap. He gently set her on the couch next to the girl dressed in yellow.
They both watch their step to not step on a sleeping child.
Qrow and Winter reached his car. They stood outside the driver side door. Winter looked into his red eyes.
"Thank you again." Winter said. She knew she had said it to many times already.
"I thought it was time that I helped you." He avowed.
Winter's knee's shook as he kept looking into her eyes. Their energies tangle together as their bodies moved closer together. Winter's heart skipped a beat as his nose brushed hers. She looked down at his lips than back up to his eyes. She moved forward again, but their connection was broken when Qrow's phone rang.
Winter stepped aside to let him into his car.
Qrow took the call, then hung up quickly.
"My mom just wants me home." He said with a sense of sadness in his voice.
"Good night Qrow." Winter sniffed, looking down at their feet.
"Good night Winter." Qrow said, mellowly.
Winter turns and walks back to the house, not even looking back to see if he was leaving. She made her way inside, passing the pile of sleeping kids in the living room and walked to her bedroom.
Winter shoved her door open and silently closed it behind her. She threw herself onto her bed, face planting into her pillow. Winter lifted her face from the pillow to see tear stains on the case. She turned sideways into her pillow and slowly drifted to sleep, thinking of him.