"I win." Yang spoke through a groan and Weiss looked over the table and the array of empty plates that were covered in various frostings and rolled her eyes.

"No way, I ate the one with coconut and you didn't." Ruby countered and Weiss turned to her left to see the woman she loved so dearly sitting with her stomach pushed out and a smattering of chocolate on her lips. She looked lethargic and miserable but at the same time, content with all the choices she'd made.

Meanwhile, Weiss could only focus on that chocolate and how badly she wanted to wipe it off. When they were dating, Ruby had a habit of being very…messy. These were things that Weiss did not enjoy and she made it her mission to ensure that Ruby maintained a certain level of cleanliness. Ruby was never unclean, just happily unaware of the mess she could become.

Before, Weiss would have reached over and cleaned the chocolate from her lips without care. Now, she had no position to do such things – so she could only sit and watch with frustration as the chocolate taunted her.

"That's a negative for you because coconut is disgusting." Yang returned and Weiss could hear Blake sigh to her right. "I won because I didn't have to endure coconut."

Blake cleared her throat. "So what happens if I choose coconut as the cake for our wedding?"

Weiss smirked as she watched Yang pale slightly. "I uh…did you like it?" Blake shrugged – as she liked to do to antagonize her fiancé. "Do you want the coconut cake?"

"It was pretty tasty. Though I don't want to make any choices on my own but we can't make the choice if I'm the only one that's tried it."

"Oh," Yang's face visibly fell and Ruby started to snicker. "Well uh…it's all gone. Ruby cake-hose Rose over there inhaled it all."

"Hey!" Ruby cried and it was Weiss' turn to hide a grin.

"That's not entirely true," Weiss spoke up and Yang's eyes shot at her like a dart. "I didn't finish my entire piece and it somehow escaped Ruby." She then held up her plate and Yang glowered at her. "You should try it and see if you like it." Weiss gave her best, most obnoxious smile that she knew Yang (and most people) detested. It was exactly the reaction she wanted as Yang looked over at Blake.

"I would like to cover all our bases." She said with a tone that Yang couldn't turn down and Ruby merely started to laugh as Yang sat up and reached across the table.

She regretfully took the plate from Weiss and stared at the coconut and chocolate covered cake with as much disdain as Yang could muster. She stared at it and then looked back to Blake who had an expected grin on her face that drove Yang to pick up her fork and take a breath.

Weiss was impressed at Yang's ability to do anything for Blake. It was who Yang Xiao Long was. She'd take any hit for those she loved – even a coconut flavored one.

Just as Yang's fork started piercing the frosting, Blake reached out and plucked the piece of cake from the plate. Yang, jumped and they all watched as Blake devoured the piece of cake in one bite – her cheeks now full and a smile on her face.

"Blake!" Yang cried with a laugh bubbling in her throat. "What was that?!"

"Mmff…lurve you."

It was a wonderful moment and one Weiss had truly missed. This team – they were her family. There was Winter, but beyond her, Weiss had never really connected with anyone who shared the same last name as her own. So when she went to Beacon – she'd merely expected to rely on herself and survive.

She never imagined she would find love there. The kinds of love that withstood all forms of hate and evil.

This drew her attention to Ruby, who was giggling at the sight of Blake trying to deal with a mouthful of cake and Yang helping clean off her face.

Weiss was jealous. There was no need to sugar coat it – that was exactly what she was feeling. It was jealousy and frustration and want. She wanted this. She'd been alone for so long that she had forgotten what it was like to have someone you saw every single day that was as excited to see you as you were to see them.

It made her feel complete – even in a time of great hardship. It was warm and inviting and the only person she wanted that with was sitting right beside her and not even noticing how hard Weiss was staring at her.

She knew there was no time to bring this up, though. Not now, not with Ruby dealing with an injury and trying to keep it a secret while planning a wedding for her two other teammates. No, it would wait – Weiss was used to putting her own wants aside for the benefit of progression.

Right now, she would make sure Ruby was okay – make sure Yang and Blake were happy…then she'd consider taking a leap.

"All jokes aside," Blake said as she'd finally cleaned herself up. Her face still had the hint of a blush from the attention Yang had given her in helping remove the stray frosting from her lips. "I believe the red velvet cake will be our choice. Yang enjoyed it and so did I and I loved the look of it."

Weiss nodded and quickly tapped the information into her scroll. "Perfect, I'll make the arrangements."

"Can the little figures of us at the top be like…modified?"

Weiss peeked up at Yang dangerously. "Modified…how?"

Yang shrugged nonchalantly. "I was just talking about making sure you got my prosthetic and Blake's amazing ass."

"Oh," Weiss nodded to herself and heard Yang snicker.

"What'd you think? I wanted us banging on top of the cake. Weiss Schnee, get your mind out of the gutter!"

"I never thought that! I would never—"

When Yang suddenly burst out laughing, Weiss glared as hard as she could. "Weiss, gosh I missed you." Yang stood up from her seat and raced around the table to hug Weiss around the neck and kiss the top of her head. "Alright, now that we've sorted out the cake – I have to go find Sun and Neptune and get their suit situation figured out."

"I should probably go with you and catch up with Violet since she, apparently, has become enamored with the rapscallion."

Blake rolled her eyes. "I told you, it's just a fun thing – she's far from enamored."

"Even still, if you don't mind me tagging along, Yang?"

"Not at all. Rubes can you take Blake home?"

Ruby nodded but not before licking off her fork that she'd used to scrape a plate that had just a bit of frosting left. "I'd love to," she smiled before licking the bit of chocolate on her lips that made Weiss' knees weak.

She wanted to lick it off – she wanted to tackle Ruby (carefully) and lick the cake from her lips.

In a friendly way, of course.

As Ruby stood up and Weiss watched Blake go to Yang to say goodbye (because they needed a long goodbye now that they would be apart for at least a single hour), she leaned in close to Ruby. "Are you all right?"

Those silver eyes glanced up at her with a hint of frustration. "I'll be—" she stopped herself when Weiss frowned. "I'm okay – I'll probably hang out with Blake for a while."

"Good," Weiss nodded – she didn't like the idea of Ruby sitting in her home by herself and stewing in the worry of what was inevitable. "I won't let Yang and the boys take too long."

Resisting the urge to hug Ruby, Weiss gave a small wave that Ruby returned before Yang practically dragged her out of the cake shop.

"So did your father enjoy having his bed to himself?" Weiss asked, looking to Yang who was adjusting her sunglasses as her hair whipped in the wind. While Ruby was a much more attentive driver than her big sister – Weiss preferred this simply because Yang's car was so much quieter.

"Huh? Dad's not—" Yang's eyes widened and she looked away. "Oh yeah…he loved it."

Weiss glowered at her. "Your father didn't come home early, did he?"

"What?" Yang drew the word out and Weiss could see her leaning away. "Of course he did, I wouldn't lie to you to try and drive you to my sister's arms."

"Yang Xiao Long!" Weiss stomped her feet on the floorboard. "What is it with you and my romantic life! You've been barging in on it for as long as I can remember!"

Yang chuckled as she turned onto a much busier road and rolled her window down the rest of the way. "Listen, you thanked me years ago when I first barged in on it and practically dragged you and Ruby together."

"I was inexperienced and busy and had no idea I even liked your sister. Things have changed. We're adults and we can handle our personal lives."

She expected the back and forth to continue. She expected Yang to throw out some kind of witty or sarcastic remark about Weiss not being able to find her ass with both hands (as she'd told Weiss before). Instead, Weiss saw Yang frown and grip the steering wheel a little tighter.

"How is Ruby's personal life?" Yang asked, almost sadly.

Weiss was not prepared for that. "I…um…excuse me?"

A small smile tugged at Yang's lips. "I have to ask because I wouldn't know. Ruby keeps me out of her day to day."

Given how sure Ruby was that Yang would drag her away at any sign of Ruby's injury – Weiss wasn't surprised that Ruby kept her sister in the dark. "She does fine. Her home is clean and she…is also clean." Weiss was trying very hard not to tell any lies.

"Ah," Yang nodded and sounded very disappointed. "She told you not to tell me anything too, huh?"

"No, Yang…she didn't. I'm just not sure what you're after."

"I just want to know she's okay, you know? I'm really trying to get her to move in with me and Blake. I've spoken with the headmaster at Beacon and the staff would love for her to come on. She could build weapons and teach students how to maintain their own. It's good money and she wouldn't have to live with us, just near us and she could—"

"Yang," Weiss cut her off carefully. "I—I think Ruby is fairly settled here. She seems to enjoy her life in Patch. Her life as a huntress."

There was a bit of silence as Yang slowed for a light and leaned back against into her chair. She swallowed harshly and exhaled. "Again…I wouldn't know. She doesn't tell me anything." Before Weiss could say anything else, Yang's scroll went off and she pulled it from her pocket and tossed it into Weiss' lap. "It's probably Sun, I don't talk and drive so you handle him."

Weiss crinkled her nose and stared down at the goofy smiling face staring up at her on the screen. With a roll of her eyes, she answered.

"Hello, Sun." She said as courteously as she could.

"Weiss?" He all but screamed at her. "Hey! What are you doing? Did I call the wrong number?"

"No, Sun, you didn't. You don't even have my number."

"Oh yeah, that's a good point! Where's Yang! We're here at the place and it's like…super hot out here. I think Neptune might be thinking about jumping in the lake it's hot."

"Not on your life!" Neptune shouted in the background and Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose.

"We're nearly there," she said and looked to Yang for confirmation – earning a nod. "Yes, nearly there. I assume my assistant is with you?"

"Oh yeah," she could hear the smile in his voice. "Vi's right here – keeping us in line and constantly sending messages to all your fancy business partners."

…Vi?

"Good to know," Weiss never doubted that Violet would keep working. "Tell her I would like to go over a few things while you three buy your suits. Also, I will be approving all purchases so tell Neptune that he must get something that goes with the decorum. No purple."

Sun chuckled. "Whatever you say, Weiss."

"And you will be wearing a full suit as well. Not a tie over your bare chest."

"Aww," he whined and Weiss couldn't help but grin.

"We'll be there shortly." With that, she hung up and placed Yang's scroll on the console between them. "So Sun Wukong is really your best man, huh?"

Yang laughed. "He really is – I know you two never really saw eye to eye but he's a good guy who has done a lot for me and Blake."

"I never doubted that and I don't dislike him. He's just…very loud and obnoxious and has a tendency to break things." She decided to poke Yang a little. "He's like you but with a…" Weiss nearly choked on her own words while Yang quirked her eyebrow into the air and smirked. "A tail." She said, recovering gracefully.

"Uh huh, that's what you were going to say."

"You're the worst."

"You've missed me," Yang grinned and reached over to pat Weiss' knee.

She really did.

"You're sure everything is going smoothly?" Weiss asked as Violet pulled Yang's car up to Ruby's house and stopped just outside.

Violet, wearing a smile that Weiss hadn't really seen before, nodded. "Things are fine, Ms. Schnee. The company is running smoothly, that shipment made it without any trouble and Neon was beyond thrilled for the work and the hefty payment you gave them."

"Good, we should look into hiring them more often for the more dangerous trips."

"I'll see if they're interested in more consistent work."

Weiss stared off at Ruby's place as the sun continued to set. The day was incredibly long and getting Neptune and Sun to actually pick a tuxedo they liked proved to be harder than Weiss could have ever imagined.

Still, it wasn't all bad and she had time to catch up with Yang and see that Violet and Sun actually did have fun together. Even Neptune seemed on his best behavior – only making a single pass at her and when she turned him down he accepted it and made a pass at the lady behind the register who completely ignored him.

"I was thinking…I know the hotel is set up for us next week but…perhaps you could cancel my room and merely take one for yourself."

Weiss Schnee did not have to explain herself to anyone. She ran a multi-billion lien company and was a true to life hero of Remnant. She was a full grown adult who made her own decisions.

Yet, telling Violet that she wanted to stay with Ruby instead of getting away from her ex-girlfriend as fast as she could, was quite terrifying.

"Very well," Violet answered easily and Weiss gave her a look. "Was that not the response you wanted? Did you wish for me to ask you why? Perhaps some girl chat? Sex advice? I've never gone down—"

"Violet," Weiss raised a hand to silence her. "I am simply keeping you informed of the situation."

Her assistant was suddenly wearing a sly grin. "For what it's worth, I cancelled the hotel two days ago at Ms. Xiao Long's request."

"You what?!"

Violet shrugged. "She assured me you wouldn't need it and I'm beginning to think that woman can see the future."

"Well then she's seen her own demise because it's coming for her in the form of my fist." Weiss growled. "I swear that girl." There was no use fighting it now. "Very well, I'm going to see if Ruby has a bathtub fit for a Schnee."

"Or a bathtub fit for two." Violet didn't look at her, but she was clearly waiting for some kind of reaction. Weiss huffed as she opened the door. "I apologize, Ms. Schnee – but you really set yourself up for that one."

"So it would seem. Have a good evening, Violet. We'll speak in the morning about rescheduling those meetings."

"Goodnight."

The trek to Ruby's front door was quiet, just the sound of her feet brushing against the dirt road. She knew Ruby was home because she'd sent her a message an hour earlier to make sure she didn't come back to a locked door with no key. Once they'd purchased the tuxedos, everyone went back to Taiyang's and Violet offered to drive Weiss. They'd all be meeting in the morning for breakfast.

The door was not locked when Weiss opened it and the cool air inside was like a blessing as it hit her. She shut the door and leaned back against it, her feet sore and her legs aching – a bath sounded wonderful.

"Ruby?" Weiss called out, surprised by the lack of greeting upon her entrance. Ruby's home wasn't very big, so there was no way she hadn't heard the door open.

After a few moments, her call was met with silence and Weiss pushed off the door and took a few steps inside.

She noticed Ruby's scroll on the table by the couch, sitting face up and with a blinking green light for unread messages.

"Huh, perhaps she's napping," Weiss wondered before kicking off her shoes and carefully putting them next to the door.

It only took two steps for Weiss to see her – Ruby was lying face down on the floor at the foot of the staircase.

"Ruby!" She screamed and jumped over the couch in one fluid motion before landing gently at Ruby's side. "Ruby," she said again, touching Ruby's back and shaking her shoulders to wake her. There was no response and Weiss examined the scene. Ruby was in a red tank-top and a pair of shorts, but nothing more.

Blood had pooled just a bit next to her head, she had a cut along her forehead that was spilling all over. Weiss tried to stop it with her hand, but it wasn't working. She was terrified and shaking – angry at herself for not being able to think clearly and do something.

There was a towel by Ruby's head that she might have been using to dry her hair, Weiss grabbed it and pressed it against the cut. Looking up the steps, Weiss noticed that one of the railing posts had been broken off. If Ruby had fallen down the stairs, she might have struck it on the way down.

Fear pulsed through Weiss' body – it was an unimaginable fear and one she hadn't felt in years. The thought of Ruby being hurt was Weiss' greatest weakness, at times it felt like her only weakness and now she was reliving it.

Quickly, Weiss pulled out her scroll and called the most recent number. She wasn't sure what to do with her free hand while she waited. She couldn't roll Ruby over, not if she was severely hurt – Weiss knew well enough to know that she was no medic.

"Ms. Schnee?" Violet answered and Weiss lost control.

"Call an ambulance right now! Ruby's hurt and I don't know what to do! Violet come back and help me!"

The line hung up and Weiss stared at her scroll for a moment in absolute disbelief. However, before she could even process a coherent thought, the door flew open and she turned to see Violet stepping in with her scroll pressed to her ear.

"Yes, we need an ambulance at 2195 Ebony Court, it's at the far end of the road."

"She fell down the stairs!" Weiss cried out, stroking Ruby's hair as her stomach tightened like a vice. "She's hurt; I shouldn't have left her – I should have told Yang. I should have…"

There was so much she should have done.