A/N: Hey everyone! Blue here! Another new chapter and this one... is gonna be a doozy, as many of you can tell. Sorry for the wait, but I do hope you like this one. Lemme know what you think. Enjoy the Roses!

Chapter 13: Concerns and Consequences

On a typical day, Blake would have headed straight to shop class. It was in a building separate from the school and she wanted to get there before it started to become rife with others. 'The early bird gets the worm' and all that. Except this time it was 'the early bird gets that nice new piece of Balsa wood that was just brought in'.

That day, however, Blake didn't immediately head over to class. She walked in the main building and towards Weiss' locker, where she waited for her.

Weiss had been quite distraught over Ruby lately. After their kiss and learning of her departure, it seemed as if the heiress was isolating herself again. She would be looking something up on her phone constantly, a paper at hand to take notes on what she was reading. And when she wasn't doing this, she told Blake that she had to go to the library and work.

'Research' she called it.

'Distractions' Blake called it.

That wasn't too bad, she supposed. Perhaps it was Weiss' way of coping with everything that was going on. It just felt like she was shutting her out again. She offered multiple times to help her with her 'research', but was shut down each time. Which was, quite frankly, ludicrous. If Weiss was the number one student, then Blake was number two. She could research like nobody's business and she knew that library like the back of her hand, every tendon and freckle.

The raven-haired girl attempted to take a sneak peek at Weiss' 'research' to see what it was about, but two things came in between that. One, if Blake got too close to the paper, close enough to read off it, she would retract it and hold the notes tight to her chest. And two, even if she were able to take a look at Weiss' notes, it would be an invasion of privacy and she respected her too much to even attempt that.

Which brought Blake to her locker, early on a Thursday morning. Being sneaky wouldn't get her anywhere, especially with Weiss. Being blunt and straightforward with her concerns was her best option.

She finally saw her best friend start to walk down the hall after ten minutes of waiting. Weiss cocked her head to the side when she took note of Blake, leaning up against the teal lockers.

"Hello, Blake." She greeted. "Is there something you need?"

Cheerful. Weiss actually sounded kind of cheerful. Blake wasn't prepared for that.

"I've... Been worried about you. You've seemed a little distracted lately."

"Yeah, I've been a bit... Down lately." She admitted.

"A bit?"

"Okay, I've been very down lately." Weiss chuckled. "But I feel a lot better now. No worrying needed."

"That was pretty quick." Blake noted, eyeing Weiss suspiciously. "What happened."

Weiss gestured for Blake to step aside from her locker. She obliged, waiting for some sort of explanation.

"I met up with Ruby last night."

"Oh?"

"Yes, we had... A talk."

Weiss grabbed some books out of the metal container and placed them in her messenger bag carefully. When it seemed she was not going to continue on with the story, Blake grew impatient.

"Aaaaaand?" She prompted.

"And I understand."

Another silence, Weiss didn't want to give more than she just had. But Blake wouldn't accept that. She was her best friend, they knew each other for years. She wouldn't accept a simple 'I understand'.

"What do you understand."

"Ruby had a complicated life, Blake. One that she doesn't tell many." She acquiesced. "But... I understand why she did the things she did and I understand why she has to go."

"Okay." Blake said, still suspicious. "Why?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because she entrusted me with this information, Blake. I can't go around telling her secrets."

"But she had secrets from you."

"Everyone has secrets, Blake." Weiss told her, walking down the halls. "I know you probably do."

Blake jogged to catch up to Weiss.

"Ok, fine. You don't have to tell me. But at least tell me this." She began. "Tell me you are actually happy. Tell me that you are ok, cause I have been worried about you since I came over Saturday."

The ivory-haired girl stopped in her tracks and turned to face Blake. She smiled warmly and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm ok. Everything is as it needs to be, and I've accepted it. Don't you worry about me. Yes, I'm hurting, but I will be ok."

She wanted to say something in return, to take away that hurt, but she knew that this was the best possible outcome of this situation. Pain was part of life, Blake knew that. Weiss was hurt, probably very hurt, but she was on her way to recovery and handling it like a champ. She wasn't shutting her out, she wasn't isolating herself any longer.

This was a good thing, Blake knew that now.

"Alright. If you say so, I believe you." She agreed. The next second, Weiss pulled her into a tight hug, released and bid her goodbye before heading in the direction of her first period art class.

"Thank you, Ruby." Blake whispered, knowing that she was the one responsible for helping Weiss grow this much.

Even if she had to hurt her in the end.

XxXxX

"Ruby!" Yang exclaimed, rushing forward to pull her sister into a big hug. Ruby reciprocated, but barely. She pulled back, keeping her hands on Ruby's shoulders to look at her. "I heard you got called in by the counsel again. What happened?"

"Yang." She said, ignoring her query. "I need your help."

"What? What do you need help with." She rapidly questioned. "Are they asking about your integrity, cause I'll totally vouch for you! You know I will."

"No, I don't need anyone to vouch for me, Yang." Ruby chuckled a bit. Yang always had her back, it was nice to know that she still did. Even now.

"Ok. Um, what's going on then?"

"Yang... I need to make a decision."

"Did they tell you that?"

"That was their judgment. I have an hour to figure it out."

"Judgment." Yang contemplated. "This sounds really serious, Ruby."

The silver-eyed angel sighed. That was the understatement of the century. And she would know, she had been there through most of it.

"I don't know what to do." Ruby whimpered, on the verge of tears.

"Oh, Ruby." Yang softly cooed. The older sister pulled the younger girl into another consoling hug. "It's gonna be ok. Now tell me, what decision do you need to make?"

Ruby sniffed and tried to compose herself for what she would tell Yang.

"One choice is to stay here, continue being an angel. Keep everything the way it was."

Yang pulled away from Ruby and had a huge grin on her face. She shook her sister's shoulder in her excitement.

"Ruby! That's great though! You can stay here, no harm, no foul!"

"But, there's a... A catch."

"Oh." Yang said, releasing her sister's shoulders and placing her hands on her hips. She looked to the side and sighed, nerves evident on her face. "Ok, what is it?"

"I... Can never talk about Weiss again. I can never see her, go to her, or have any involvement with her at all. Ever again." Ruby explained.

The silver-eyed angel rubbed her elbow and averted her gaze. It was out there in the open now. She admitted it... Sort of. Surely Yang would understand.

But the blonde laughed, something about what she said struck her as funny.

Ruby didn't find it funny.

"That's it?" Yang asked, still laughing. "That's easy! Charges come and go, you'll forget this one soon!"

Her sister tried to put a hand on her back to reassure her, but Ruby ducked out of the way and looked Yang dead in the eye.

"This is serious!"

"Rubes, come on. What is the other option? Stay with her?" Yang asked facetiously.

But the redhead was silent. She watched as Yang's face turned from amusement to shock. The blonde angel turned around and ran her fingers through the bangs of her hair.

"You're actually considering it, aren't you?"

"Don't be mad."

"AREN'T YOU?" Yang raised her voice. She spun around and towered over the younger girl.

"I... Am."

She looked away in shame. She felt Yang's stare, it was angry and confused and... Hurt.

"Why?" Yang asked. "Why would you even consider that an option?"

"B-because... Because..." Ruby stammered. "Because I... Love her."

Now it was out there, she admitted it to Yang. She couldn't look at her face, she was scared of what she would see. But maybe she would be ok, after all, Yang always had her back. They were sisters, through thick and thin.

"You... Love her?" Yang asked, her voice low and soft. "You're giving up everything for a girl?"

"I-I haven't decided yet."

"But the fact that you think it's an option says everything, Ruby!" She shouted. "All you would have to do is forget her! Just forget Weiss! That isn't even that bad of a punishment."

"Yes it is!" Ruby shouted back, tears now falling down. "You have NO idea what this feels like, Yang! I feel like I'm being ripped in half here! I love being an angel, but I also love her. I've never felt this way about anyone."

When she was done she finally looked at Yang. The look on her face, it was heartbreaking. As she thought, such disappointment, anger and pain, written all over.

"Yang, you said it yourself." She continued to explain. "It wasn't fair, we had so many things we didn't get to do. I never got to fall in love, Yang. Is that fair? That I'm not allowed to do that? After everything I've done!"

"I was young, Ruby. I didn't know better, but I've grown up since then." Yang bit back. "I thought you had too."

The silver-eyed angel took a step back, hurt by her sister's implications.

"I didn't mean for this to happen!" Ruby defended. "I need help, Yang. I came to you because... Well... you've always been there for me. Please try to understand."

"Oh, I understand alright." She said, her tone cold and distant. "I understand how incredibly selfish you're being right now."

"Yang." She cried.

"No. You came for sympathy. You came to hear me say 'it's alright Ruby, do what your heart tells you to', right?"

"No, I-"

"Save it! You aren't getting sympathy, not this time. What you're doing is not okay." She stated. "What you are considering is... It's..."

Yang grunted, kicked the clouds and turned away. Her back was hunched over and her hands were clenched into fists, vibrating with anger.

"Yang." Whimpered the redhead, weeping now.

Upon hearing that, Yang's shoulders relaxed and she turned back to Ruby.

"You want to throw away everything, leave me behind and 'follow your heart', fine. But..." Yang said in a low tone (angry and defeated), now crying as well. "There is no way I can support that decision."

"W-what?" Ruby asked. "What happened to having each others backs? Sisters always stick together."

"Then..." She started. "I guess we aren't sisters anymore."

Those words. So simple, so easily said. They plunged into Ruby, skewered every inch of her. She may not have felt physical pain in years, but this was far worse than anything she had ever felt before. Yang didn't want to be her sister anymore. She was losing her. She was losing Yang.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted. "Yang, p-please don't say that!"

"Goodbye, Ruby." The blonde said, walking away from her.

"YANG!" She pleaded, sobbing at that point. But Yang didn't listen, she kept walking, leaving Ruby to crumple to her knees.

XxXxX

"There." Weiss said, positioning the string just right with a smile. When she got home from school, she remembered the wooden rose on her desk, the one that Ruby gave to her. It made her so happy, but... So sad at the same time. Still, she didn't want Ruby's hard work to be for naught, and it was the only thing she had left of her. So she hung the rose up right next to her desk. A reminder.

A reminder that things could be good.

The heiress pulled her messenger bag closer and began pulling her homework out. She had a lot of work to do, History, English, Biology and...

Pre-Calculus.

Her dainty hand brushed against the cover and she smiled. Memories of helping Ruby all those Saturdays. The way her tongue stuck out when she was thinking really hard. She wondered how much help she really needed. After all, she only asked her to be her tutor to help Weiss.

This next Saturday was going to be difficult. It would be the first Saturday alone in a long time. In all honesty, it had only been a couple months, but it felt like a year to Weiss. Ruby had become such a big part of her life. She found her home (her real home) in those silver eyes.

But home was far away now, and wouldn't be coming back.

That was ok, though. She was certain there was another home out there for her, she just had to find it. Not now, she was too raw now. Yet, Weiss knew there would be a day.

There would be a day where she found another person who made her heart do a stutter step. She would find another who held her when she was crying and would climb a drainpipe just to keep her company. There would be another person who believed in her just as much, and who loved her just as much. She knew this because she deserved it.

Today was not that day.

Tomorrow would probably not be that day either.

For now, she had homework to do, and it was getting rather late already. Weiss pushed aside her Pre-Calculus textbook, finding it too emotionally difficult to deal with. History was a bit too on the nose too, especially since they were on the topic of the great depression. Biology just made her think of how oddly her body reacted to Ruby's proximity. And English?... Well maybe English wouldn't be bad.

"What was our assignment again?" She mused out loud, pulling out her planner. Flipping to the according date, she read off the assignment for English.

'Write a sonnet', her past self wrote on black ink.

Oh good god, now the universe had to be messing with her. Fourteen lines of ten syllables which would most likely be about Ruby. Her silver eyes that glimmered like the moon, her deep crimson locks that fell down her face like the changing leaves. The bubbles in her laughter, the glee in her smile. No, fourteen lines would not be enough, Weiss would need much more if she wanted to express how wonderful she was.

That, however, was something she was trying to rid herself of, this love would tear her apart if she kept holding onto it.

She looked back at the rose that hung by her desk.

Weiss wasn't going to get work done tonight. Nothing was due the next day, there was no reason why she needed to do it.

A glance over at the clock on her wall told her it was just about ten. She figured it was probably time to go to bed. Packing her textbooks away, Weiss hung the messenger bag on the back of her chair for the morning. She brushed her teeth, washed her face and placed her nightgown on the bed.

Before she could take her shirt off to change, she heard something.

Thump.

Something smacked against the window.

Weiss jumped at the sound. Looking over, she just stared at the window pane for a couple seconds. Perhaps it was just a bird that accidentally crashed. Poor thing, Weiss hoped that it was alright, or at least that it went quick.

Turning back to her bed, she picked up the nightgown. This one didn't really suit her fancy, it was more for show than for sleep, and Weiss wanted to be comfy that night.

Thump.

The noise returned, and this time, Weiss flung the night gown behind her in shock.

It couldn't possibly be a second bird, right? That wasn't impossible, but it was highly improbable. Perhaps it wasn't a bird in the first place? Slowly, Weiss crept over to the window and opened it up to see what was outside.

Nothing. There was nothing out there.

She didn't know why she had expected to see anything, her room was on a higher floor. What would ever be out there?

"Maybe I'm just... Hearing things?" Weiss supposed. She walked away from the window and picked up the nightgown she discarded.

And then a new sound came. The sound of something gripping the window sill and slight... fluttering? Weiss turned in horror to see a bloody hand squirming to drag the rest of its body into her room.

"AAAAAAAH!" She shrieked, backing up to the edge of the room. She wanted to get as far away as possible from that... That thing! It was grunting, struggling to maintain a grip and hoist itself inside. Maybe, if she waited for it to slip, she could close the window again and keep it out for good.

"Hnngh!" It struggled. "Weiss... Help?"

But... That voice.

She knew that voice.

Before she tried to get as far away as possible, but now she rushed to help. Grabbing the bloody hand, Weiss tried to pull the figure into the room. More fluttering came from outside and Weiss made out a pair of flickering silver wings.

With one final tug, Weiss pulled them into the room, the visitor landing on top of the heiress with an 'oof'.

"Ruby? What are you do- Mph!" Weiss said, but was silenced. Ruby leaned in and pressed a kiss to Weiss' lips. Another needy and passionate kiss. Weiss absolutely gave in within moments, relishing in her new favorite sensation. The intruder's left hand came up to caress Weiss' cheek as they broke away for just a moment, just long enough to take a breath.

"I knew your lips would taste like vanilla." She whispered, huffing in between words, a smile in her voice. The angel in particular, seemed to try and take in much more oxygen than the heiress, but soon, she dove back in, tears from her eyes splashed onto Weiss' face.

"Weiss! I heard you scream! Are you alright?" Klein called from just outside her room. Ruby broke the kiss, looking up at the door with fear in her silver eyes. This was a quite... Compromising position they found themselves in, Ruby on top of Weiss, bleeding.

Wait, bleeding? Sure enough, Ruby was bleeding, a stream of the red liquid fell down from her forehead and basically covered the right half of her face.

"I-I'm fine! She called, tilting her head back, as to not scream in Ruby's face. "I just saw a big bug, but it's gone now."

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, Klein!" Weiss hastily answered. "Thank you."

The two waited, frozen in their awkward position, listening to the man's footsteps go down the hall and out of earshot. As soon as he was gone, Ruby shifted off of Weiss, allowing for the ivory-haired girl to get up and regain her bearings. And now that she wasn't love-drunk on Ruby's kisses, she realized a couple crucial things.

First and foremost, Ruby was here. In the flesh, right in front of her. She was so close she could reach out and grab her hand. Which brought her to the second thing, Ruby was bleeding. It seemed to originate from her right hand and face. There was a lot of it, but she couldn't tell just how bad it was.

And third, Ruby was actually bleeding. From what she told her, angels didn't bleed, they didn't get hurt at all.

"Um... Hi Weiss." Ruby said.

"Ruby... You're hurt." She said, closing the distance to take a closer look at her injuries. She carefully picked up her right hand and turned it over. Ruby silently complied, making it easier on her. She had a relatively deep gash in the palm of her hand and some smaller ones next to it, there were small bits of glass in the smaller wounds. "Oh, Ruby, how did this happen? How could this happen?"

Upon instinct, Weiss attempted to pull some of the small glass shards out. Ruby sucked in some breath and whimpered in pain.

Pain, angels don't feel pain. Ruby told her that herself. But she was in pain.

Next she looked at the cut on her forehead. It didn't look too deep, but it was still bleeding a bit, dipping down over her eye and down her face. She couldn't really assess it too well with all the blood though.

"I'm gonna grab a washcloth and a first aid kit." She announced, but as soon as she got up, Ruby grabbed Weiss' arm with her left hand. Her face was laden with fear, it was evident in her grip too.

The heiress leaned down and kissed the top of Ruby's head.

"I'll be right back, quick as a bunny."

Sticking to her word, Weiss rushed over to the bathroom and grabbed the items she would need. Her speed was not only for Ruby's sake, but for her own as well. When she took a look at herself in the mirror, she noted how some of the red substance got onto her face. It probably wouldn't bode well if Klein caught her covered in blood. It must have gotten on her when the angel kissed her.

She touched her lips. Weiss never thought she would feel that again, but she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

It brought up the same questions that had been swirling in her head. How was Ruby here and how did she get hurt?

With the washcloths soaked in water, the basin and the first aid kit in tow, Weiss returned back to the injured angel. As soon as she entered the room again, her lost silver eyes found Weiss. She attempted a small smile, but it barely held a candle to her natural one.

"Alright, let's start with your head." She told Ruby, kneeling down to her level. Weiss winced, she wouldn't say she was squeamish, but there was quite a bit of blood dripping down her face. She started with wiping off the blood that had dripped down and worked up to the actual wound. "Ruby, what happened?"

"Ow!" She cried as soon as the washcloth hit her wound.

"I'm sorry!"

"No, I'm sorry." Ruby said. "I'm sorry you have to... Deal with this."

"Shush. I do this because I love you, you dolt."

Ruby giggled at that.

"Love you too."

"What happened." She repeated.

"I... Uh... Well I was running and I ran in an alleyway." Ruby explained. "And someone slammed open a door and it smacked me in the face. I fell and cut my hand on glass."

"I thought... Angels didn't..." Weiss trailed off. Ruby looked down as Weiss placed a bandage over her head wound.

"They found out, Weiss." Ruby whispered. "They found out and... And they gave me a choice. Never see you again, or become clipped."

"You... You chose me?"

"Yeah." Ruby said, raising her head again to make eye-contact.

"But, what about your sister?"

At the mention of that, Ruby's smile completely vanished. It was replaced with a quivering lip, followed by tears that spilled down her (now blood free) face. Soon, Ruby was sobbing, her breathing hitched and broken. On pure instinct (that she didn't even know she possessed) she pulled the redhead into a tight embrace. Just as Ruby had done for her so many times.

It was her time to be strong.

For Ruby.

"It's ok. It's gonna be ok." Soothed Weiss, petting her hair. There was still blood there, but she hardly cared.

Ruby explained what happened, how she went to her sister for help. How her sister scolded and shouted rather than helped. How she said that they weren't sisters anymore.

Weiss was boiling with rage. When Ruby was just about done crying, she moved onto the wound in her hand. How dare she. How dare she! Ruby couldn't help this, she just needed some help, someone who was impartial and loved her no matter what, and she couldn't even do that! Weiss may not know much about functional families, but she knew that was no way to treat your sister, especially if they were as close as Ruby said.

And it was obvious they were by the way this utterly devastated her.

"This one is pretty deep, Ruby. You need stitches." Weiss commented, choosing to focus on the task at hand rather than the burning rage she held for Ruby's 'sister'.

"How are we supposed to do that? I don't exactly... Well... Exist, technically speaking." She said with a chuckle.

"There are immediate care centers, I can probably pay out of pocket."

"Weiss, I couldn't let you d-"

"Hush! I am helping you." She interrupted. "It's the least I can do."

"Really? Cause I'm pretty sure I'm just causing you issues."

"Ruby." Weiss said softly, cupping her face and looking into her silver orbs. "You gave up everything you knew to be with me. With me! I... Still can't get over that. I'm not sure I'm worth it, a-and I can't guarantee this will be easy. But I promise you that I will love and cherish you, Ruby. Whatever you need, whatever you want, I'll give it to you. You have my heart, my devotion, my everything."

Weiss wasn't too sure where exactly that came from (perhaps she had been studying sonnets and love poems too much in English) but she really meant every word. She truly loved Ruby, with everything she had. If she could help Ruby, even just a little, she would do it.

Ruby started crying again, but this time she had a smile on her face. Compelled by the sight, Weiss leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Ruby's lips, the two both smiled through the contact.

"I love you too, Weiss. I'm yours."

The heiress caressed her cheek.

"My angel." She teased.

"Yours and yours alone."

With another small kiss, Weiss helped Ruby up to her feet, minding the wound on her hand.

"Doesn't that hurt?" She asked, pulling out a roll of gauze and beginning to wrap her hand up. Just a temporary solution to the problem.

"Yeah." She admitted. "But I don't think my sensations have fully come back yet. Still a little numb I guess. Pain is.. Weird though."

"Weird?"

"Well, I haven't felt it in about seventy-two years, Weiss."

"That... Is weird to think about."

"Sorry, too weird?"

"No, just weird enough." She teased again. Using the scissors provided in the first aid kit, she cut the gauze and taped it down. "I just never thought I'd be dating an older woman."

"Soooo, we're dating?"

"I think it's safe to say that, right?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Now, you wait right here. I need to do something and we'll be ready to go."

"Alright, I'll be here."

She smiled and had to steal one more kiss before leaving her room. After looking for a few minutes, she finally found him.

"Klein." I need a favor.