Chapter 15: Helping Hand

"Yang Xiao Long speaking. Who is this and if I owe you some money, Uncle Qrow, and you're calling from some payphone-." Before she could continue, the girl on the other line cut her off.

"Firecracker it's me. And if I was as drunk as your uncle is sometimes do you think I'd just be calling?" Coco said, chuckling a little.

"You know, you bring up a good point. Anyways, what's up? I usually expect a text from you, so I'm guessing this is a little more important." Yang said, wondering if she needed to go to the coffee shop to see what was happening.

"Only a little more important than normal. I'd rather talk in person, are you free to meet up somewhere?" The barista asked.

"I'm off for the day, so sure. Where and when?" Yang asked while grabbing a water bottle from her fridge.

"How about that diner that's between your place and Brewing History? I'm off in the next five minutes." The brunette suggested.

Yang took a sip from her water bottle and was actually kinda surprised that she suggested a diner, but hey, she wasn't about to pass up on it. "Sounds fine by me. Meet you there."

As Coco ended the call she took a few breaths, "Just calm down, Adel, it's not like you just asked her there on a date." Neo called out, a bucket of dishes in her hands.

"I know that, but… Look, asking someone for help on something like this is not easy. I chose to move out here because I thought I could take care of myself." Coco sighed as she thought about her family's business. "I don't like handouts."

"Even so, you need help. And it's either my sister or Oobleck who's gonna be able to help." Ruby chipped in with a shrug.

Coco groaned, since she knew the wolf Faunus was right, so she pushed herself away from the table. "Well, it's not like I can back out now anyway. I already told her to meet me over by that diner." She walked over and grabbed her jacket from the breakroom. "You two gonna be good without me for a bit?"

"We'll hold down the fort, don't stay away too long though!" Neo replied, winking suggestively.

Coco rolled her eyes and walked out of the shop. The brunette pulled her scroll out and checked the time. "Hmm, I've got about another two hours. Shouldn't take me too long to get there."

"Hhhmmm… I wonder what Coco wants to talk about? Not every day she asks for someone to meet her somewhere… Wait… she didn't… no she didn't ask me to meet her for a date. There's no chance in Hell. Not Coco Adel." Yang said, thinking aloud as she headed toward the street.

With her burgundy jacket on, Coco made it over and noticed that Yang was staring out at the street in front of her. "Uh, firecracker? You doing okay there?"

"Huh? Yeah, sorry just thinking about something. So the diner? Must be something really big." The blonde said, jerking her thumb in the direction of the establishment.

"What do you, oh, um, yeah it's a bit tough to talk about. Look, let's just head inside. I've got about another hour and a half, since Oobleck let me have a longer break today." Coco said as she and Yang walked inside of the diner.

After being led to a table and giving the waitress their orders, Yang broke the silence that started to form, "So what's on your mind?"

Coco twiddled her thumbs for a few seconds and sighed. "A lot, but the biggest issue is with my bills. I'm, well, I'm shit out of luck on paying those off myself, and even if I did, there's no telling how tough it'll be, come another month."

I didn't realize she was in debt. You wouldn't think that if you looked at her, then again she is a stubborn one. Just like Uncle Qrow. Yang thought as she processed what Coco was saying, before she spoke. "Well how about this, you know Ruby is out of my place. Why not just stay with me, at least until you get things settled or longer if needed?"

If she had water, Coco would've spat it out the moment she heard Yang say those words. "Wait, hold on, no, how, is it seriously that easy? No, I mean… What? How did you even suggest the exact same thing as your sister?" The barista was too shocked by how easy it was to talk with Yang to comprehend what just happened.

"Ah, so Ruby knows too. It's simple Coco, you're like my uncle and my sister. Neither of you like hand outs. The second you mentioned your bills it was obvious what you were asking, but getting you to ask it would be like getting strawberries away from my sister. I figured I'd suggest it." The blonde said, shrugging.

Coco sighed and rested her chin on her palm. "It's a bit more serious than strawberries, y'know. But yeah, I just… I don't know. I get I was the one who called you over, but still. Handouts have always been a problem for me. My parents tried getting me to stay back home once because they didn't want me to stress out with work when they own a clothing company that can supply me enough with money. I hated it honestly."

As the waitress set their food in front of them, Yang pushed her plate a little to the side, more interested in the trouble her friend was in than the food. "Coco, I understand that. I really do, but you need help, whether or not you want to admit it."

"Reality will bite anyone in the ass I guess." Coco lifted her glass of water up and took a sip. "I can't really hide it forever, so yeah, if there's anything we can do for planning here, I'd appreciate it more than anything."

Yang smirked as she finally pulled her plate toward herself, "When you have your next day off or if you can talk to Oobleck about letting you take a day or two to move I'll borrow Uncle Qrow's truck and help get anything out you still want. We can organize it after."

"Was this seriously this easy?" Coco asked and simply got a grin and a nod from the blonde. "Ugh, stressing this out was not smart. Alright, I'll let you know what day is good for me. And… Thank you." The barista finally let out a smile.

"Any time. Oh and if you touch the bill I'm locking you in my spare bedroom and moving your stuff myself. We clear?" The blonde said, arching her eyebrow, her fork halfway to her lips.

Coco's eyes widened and she started eating her food, not wanting to even try fighting to pay this bill.

"See, told you not to stress it so much." Ruby grinned at Coco, while dealing with a table that needed to be cleaned up. "So, what's the plan now?"

"Well, Red, the plan now is to finish working." Coco replied, gesturing at a few patrons, "Then see when Oobleck will let me get away so your sister can help me move out of my apartment."

"I'm glad my sister is letting you stay with her. Just means we can hang out more too. Oh, and Neo accidently got an order wrong… So… Y'know. You can yell at her for that." Ruby smirked and the other barista gasped at the betrayal.

"Ruby! How could you?!" Neo pouted, before looking at her manager, "I only put one shot too many in a latte I swear!"

"I take this very seriously, Miss Ice cream!" Ruby yelled back as Coco started chuckling, which was Ruby's intention, since she wanted the manager to lighten up.

Coco tried her best to look stern but failed as Ruby's self righteous look was overcome by her more adorable faunus traits, "I-It's not that big of a deal, Red. Neo does this all the time."

Ruby grinned and knew she did something right. "Haha, yeah I know. I just wanted to mess with her a bit and get you to lighten up. Seriously though, it's awesome you're rooming with my sister. Just try not to mess with her hair products though. She'll bite your head off about that."

"I think you have more to be worried about then Coco just messing with Yang's hair care products, Ruby." Neo said, not bothering to hide a smirk as she handed a customer their order.

Ruby looked confused at how she phrased that. "Uh, what do you mean by that, Neo?"

Instead of replying, Neo simply looked at Coco and flashed her a few quick hand signals. "Neo, just say it. I doubt Red knows sign language."

Neo's smirk was clearly getting wider, as she knew messing with Ruby would be good revenge. "Big issue you gotta deal with, Red, is walking in on a certain pair having a bit of 'fun'."

Ruby started to blush at first then her face paled and she shuddered. "Coco, do we have any bleach? I need to go scrub the image from my brain."

"No bleaching your eyes on the job. We have paying customers here who don't need to see that." Coco chuckled, but did think a bit about what Neo was saying. She shook her head a bit and sighed happily. "Okay, you two, no more horsing around. Let's get back to work."

"Aye aye, Coco!" Ruby and Neo said in unison. Though Neo still wore a large smirk and Ruby was giving the occasional shudder.

The moving truck parked right outside of Yang's place, as Coco took a breath as it was time to finally move her stuff into her new home. "I still can't believe I'm making a move like this. It felt kinda… Too easy? I don't know. Not complaining. Just saying."

"Sometimes the easy road is actually the right one. Now you ready to start unloading?" The blonde bartender asked, twirling the keys to the truck in her hand.

Coco sighed, nodding to the blonde as she saw Qrow opening the back of the truck. "Come on, you two. This stuff isn't gonna move itself, and I sure as hell won't bring it all in alone."

"If we don't hurry he's probably going to just park the truck in the lobby." Yang said dragging Coco behind her.

"Oh please, he'd probably fall asleep before making it to the door." Coco chuckled as she didn't go against getting dragged. She actually smiled a bit, feeling a lot better about the move, mostly because of Yang's positive attitude.

Hoisting a box with a grunt, Qrow jerked his head toward the bed of the truck, "There's at least a dozen more in there. How much stuff did you have, Adel?"

"Enough to hear you complain about it apparently, but seriously, thanks for helping out." Coco said as she reached for one of the boxes. "Hey, Ruby, think you can handle this box? I'm gonna try carrying a heavier one myself."

The box in question jangled as the red haired wolf Faunus lifted it. "Ornaments? Want me to leave this one out for anything important?"

"Yeah, just put it somewhere I can find it after we're done here. I wanna see what kind of stuff I got in there for any holidays coming up." Coco said as she grabbed a heavier box, grunting a bit as she held it in both arms. "Ugh… Is there anyone else that can help with this labor lifting nonsense?"

"Take one of the others instead, Coco. I think a large box of dishes are getting close to your limit." Yang suggested, sliding a few of the boxes closer to the edge of the truck bed for easy reach.

With a sigh, Coco handed the heavy box to Yang, since she was holding her arms out. "Thanks." She smiled and reached over, grabbing one of the lighter boxes as she, Ruby and Yang walked over to the front door. "Say, Ruby, when you moved into your place, what was the talk like with Weiss about getting furniture and all that?"

"Not too difficult actually. We thumbed through a few catalogs and picked out what we wanted for our rooms, then compromised on what would be in the kitchen and livingroom." Ruby replied with a smile, "I even got Weiss to build some of the furniture. Which the timing works since her classes are starting in a week or two, so she'll need something comfortable to study on."

"Sounds like you two have got things worked out well enough." Coco said, smiling as she was happy for her friend. "I don't know if I have to worry about that myself here, since Firecracker already has furniture up."

"See you say that now, but I'm always open to the idea of updating the furniture in this place." Yang said, setting her box down near the door and fishing for the key to her apartment.

"Don't regret offering, Firecracker. The Adel touch is not to be messed with… And I meant furniture!" Coco blushed, realizing how she worded that.

Yang suppressed a chuckle with a snort, "I know what you mean, Fashion Queen. But seriously I do need to update this place, feel free to make suggestions."

"Trust me, I will." Coco's cheeks were still a little red, since she couldn't stop thinking about what she had said, and what Neo joked about the other day.

Ruby glanced at Coco suppressing a shudder as she thought, If that happens they damn well better have the door locked.

Yang finished up in her shower, walking into her room as she sighed a bit. "I swear that girl stresses so much. I told her she could be in my room when I was done." As she reached for a brush, her scroll rang. "Hmm? Oh, mom." She smiled and answered her scroll. "Hey, mom. What's up?"

"Not too much, Yang. I just thought I'd give you a call and see how things are going." Summer said, chuckling a little at her step-daughter's enthusiasm.

"Well for me, I've got nothing new going on, but for a friend of mine, well… She moved in with me." Yang chuckled back, knowing her mom would comment on how blunt she was about news giving.

"Sounds like you already found someone to help fill that quiet apartment of yours again. Pretty quickly too. So is it anyone I know?" The older wolf Faunus asked.

"It's Coco. She's having some trouble with her bills, so I offered to let her stay with me. She was a little… Stubborn about it at first, but I got her to see it's fine to just let someone help out." The blonde smiled as she recounted the dinner she had with Coco.

"Well it's good to hear you're helping her out. It sounds like it was easier to do that then it was to get Ruby to decide to room with Weiss." Summer said a smile in her voice.

"That's because I'm just as stubborn about getting through to people. You know me, mom. Besides, you said it yourself. This place was too quiet for my taste." Yang commented.

"Agreed, though if I'm remembering what you've told me in the past correctly, Coco may want one or two design changes to your place at some point. Do you have any ideas?" Summer asked.

"Nah. I'll let her decide on that. If she's living here from now on, that means this is her place too. So yeah, I want her to choose what she wants to get for it." Yang answered, though she seemed a bit more intrigued on what Coco would get for their apartment after what her mom said.

"That is the best way to go about it. Oh before I forget, I'm going to be send you and Ruby a little something in the mail in the next few days so keep an eye out." The Rose matriarch said.

"Mom, I swear if you send what I think you're sending…" Yang couldn't contain her excitement, but did manage to hold back on continuing her thought. "You know what, nevermind. I want it to be a surprise."

"Just keep it a secret, a game warden isn't exactly supposed to be sending things like that in the mail too often." Summer said conspiratorially, "Also I'll be sending over some wild game as well. Make sure to share it with your sister and Qrow."

Before Yang could respond, Coco knocked on the door from the other side. "Yang, are you done changing yet?" The question made the blonde sigh as she had told Coco before to just wait in the room for her anyways.

"Yeah, Coco! I said you could wait in here anyway!" Yang called back, "Sorry, mom, Coco is still acting kinda strange. Wanna see if one of your pep talks can get her mind straight?"

"Seeing as she'll be my daughter's roommate, I would love to help out." Summer replied in a chipper tone.

Yang switched her scroll to speaker, "You're on speaker, mom. Say hi, Coco!"

Coco was taken aback by that, but she walked in anyways, sighing as she smiled a bit. "Uh, hey, Mrs. Rose. Not sure if Yang told you, but I'm-."

"She did, and please Coco just call me Summer. Everyone else does. Yang tells me something is on your mind, do you want to talk about it or should I just guess as to what's troubling you?" The wolf Faunus asked.

Coco groaned a little, but knew she couldn't avoid things for long. "It's not exactly confidence boosting when you gotta pack up everything and move out cause you can't handle your bills. It's… I don't know. Annoying? I guess that's the word."

"I think I understand. Don't think of it as packing up and moving because of a few bills. Think of it as one door closing and another opening. The door that lead to you living on your own closed, so Yang opened another for you. A new door, a new chapter to the story. That's how you should look at it. A new start and another chance to keep making the most of your life." Summer said, almost as if she had been planning to give this speech.

Coco blinked a few times, stunned by how Summer spoke, but she did feel some relief with it. "Damn, I mean, shit, Mrs… I mean, Summer. Didn't think I'd feel better that quick. Thank you…"

"It's my pleasure, Coco. If you ever need to talk I'm sure Yang can give you my scroll number. But I think I've kept you both long enough, I'll talk to you both later. Have a good night girls!" The wolf Faunus said, her smile clear in her voice.

"Night, mom!" Yang smiled as Coco managed to say goodnight right before Yang ended the call. "Soooo, how ya feeling now?"

"I'm feeling better, I needed that." The barista said, smiling brightly.

"Good. Now then, we need to talk about a lot of stuff… Mostly you telling me what kind of furniture you want." Yang grinned, but her grin vanished almost instantly when she saw Coco smirking back at her.

"Ohhh, you made a mistake letting that be the first thing we talk about, Firecracker." The rest of the night was a barrage of online orders that the blonde could barely keep up with.

AN:

Shadow: These just come out when we write them… So blame me for that one. Sorry. Just need to be in the right mood for writing RWBY stories.

Phoenix: Technically that's true no matter the fandom you're writing for. That being said there may be another hiatus in a few weeks when the Stardew multiplayer drops.

Shadow: We enjoy that game, so yes, when multiplayer hits we gonna be on that shit. Anyways, the pairings are not hidden. It's pretty obvious, so take that as you will.

Phoenix: Indeed. Just a quick heads up, as a few of you know I am currently writing in cycle so the next personal story I will update is VKS. I'm gonna break my cycle for a bit with that one cause and possibly do a second or third chapter back to back I'm close to finishing up the first arc, so FiS and Desserts are getting skipped for an update. Also as a quick question, how many of you are shipping the wolf and cat in our little short tidbits?

You guys know what time it is.

Cat: Meow? Meow… Hiss. (Why are we dressed up in medieval wear? Seriously… This is bad on the tail, yknow.)

Wolf: Woof, growl. (Because it's fun? And cause it makes you look ridiculous.)

Cat: Hiss… Meow, Mrow! (Shut it… And you look stupid in it too, idiot!)

Wolf: Woof- (See you say that-) *Get's hit by a galloping horse*

Cat: Meow… Meow… (What… You know what, forget it. Not gonna question it) *Cat begins to eat tuna sandwich*

Wolf: Ruff… Woof... (Did anyone get the number of that horse? I have a horseshoe I need to give back.)