Weiss just ran. She didn't care where, or how far. She just ran. Eventually she found herself in the car, driving. Tears were streaming down her face and she couldn't think of anything except that she just needed to get away.

It started raining outside and Weiss pulled over. She looked around and saw she was not too far away from Ren's place. She pulled up and stood out in the rain, knocking on the door.

After a few moments, the door opened.

"Weiss? What's wrong? Are you alright?" Ren asked, pulling Weiss inside. "Get in here, you'll catch a cold…"

"Ren…?" Weiss whispered, standing stock still.

"Yeah?"

"Can you do me a favor…?"

"Yeah, sure. What do you need?"

"Can I stay here for a little while?"

Ren opened his mouth to ask why, then noticed that not all the wetness on Weiss's face was from the rain. He closed his mouth and nodded, pulling Weiss towards a spare bedroom. She stood near the bed, not sure what to do.

"Hold on a minute, I'll get you some clothes. You're soaked." Ren said, disappearing down a hallway.

Weiss just waited, her entire body numb with cold and shock. When Ren returned, he had a shirt and a pair of pajama pants in his hands.

"They might be a bit big, but I'll run your clothes through the dryer for you. They'll be dry by morning. Can I get you anything? Tea, something to eat?" Ren asked, putting the clothes down on the bed.

"No." Weiss said, staring blankly into space.

"Alright…well, hurry up and change. Don't want you catching a cold." Ren said, pointing her towards the clothes.

I'd deserve it. Weiss thought as Ren left the room. She slowly undressed herself and pulled on the dry, slightly oversized clothes. She sat down on the bed and waited for Ren to return.

"Hey, you all good?" she heard a voice from the hall.

"Yes."

Ren came in and collected the wet clothing and handed it to one of his buddies, who nodded at Weiss and left. Ren sat next to Weiss, not sure what to do.

"You sure I can't get you anything?" he asked after a moment.

"Sleep." Weiss said, lying back on the bed, pulling the covers over her.

Ren sighed and left the room, turning out the light. Weiss cried softly into the pillow until she had no tears left, then she slowly felt herself drifting away to sleep.

…

Blake drove to the dorm and checked both rooms. She didn't find Weiss, not that she expected too. She guessed the most likely spot would be wherever Penny is, and then realized she didn't know where Penny's room was.

She knocked on a random door and it was opened by a sleepy-looking girl with her hair dyed green. "Yeah? Whatchu want?"

"I'm sorry for bothering you at this hour, but it's kind of important. Do you know which dorm room a girl named Penny lives in? She's about as tall as me, red hair?"

The girl thought for a moment. "Crazy-Obsessive Penny? First floor, the room on the right next to the stairs."

Blake thanked the girl, who grunted and closed the door. Running down the stairs she arrived outside Penny's dorm room and knocked.

"It's open." She heard from inside.

Opening the door, she found Penny curled up, rocking back and forth on the floor.

"Are you…are you alright?" Blake asked, not sure what was going on.

"No…I almost had her….she was almost mine….then she came in and stopped it…stopped me again…just like always…" Penny whispered, not really paying attention to Blake.

She really is obsessed. Blake thought, slowly backtracking out of the room. Penny didn't seem to notice as the door shut and Blake ran back upstairs, dialing Weiss.

There was no answer. She tried Pyrrha, Nora, and then finally Ren.

"Hey, I was wondering when one of you would call." Came the voice from the phone.

"Oh gods is she with you?" Blake asked, relieved.

"Showed up outside my door, in the rain, crying. Asked if she could stay here for a little bit. I almost asked why, but figured I'd get an explanation from one of your group in due time. What's going on?"

Blake laid out the details, and Ren let out a whistle.

"Damn. She's asleep now though, and I think even if you woke her up she wouldn't say anything. After asking if she could stay, she became very mono-syllabic in her answers to whatever questions I had."

"Thanks Ren," Blake said with a sigh. "I'll pick her up tomorrow, okay? Just make sure she doesn't run off."

"You can count on me." Ren said.

"Good. Bye." Blake said as she hung up. She headed back to her car and drove to the hospital.

"Did you find her?" Yang asked as she walked in.

"Sort of. She's at Ren's place right now, sleeping."

"Then we should go get her!" Yang said, jumping up.

"Yang. It is currently…late as fuck," Blake said, not really feeling like checking the time. "And we're all tired. Any encounter any of us have with Weiss right now is not going to resolve anything. I'm going to go get her tomorrow, Ren won't let her run away. So let's just wait here. Alright?"

Yang grumbled, but sat down.

…

A few hours later, a doctor walked into the room. "Who here is," he said, checking is clipboard quickly. "Miss Xiao Long?"

Yang jumped up. "Is Ruby okay? Did you fix her?"

The doctor smiled softly. "She had three broken ribs, one of which managed to puncture her skin and the other got her lung. Do you remember exactly what happened?"

Jaune shakily raised his hand. "From what I understand, Ruby was pressed up against the wall in between that and another person, and Weiss, a, um, friend, kinda tackled them and squished Ruby against the wall."

The doctor arched an eyebrow. "Then she got really unlucky. She must have gotten hit at just the right angle to make the rib break the skin."

"Is she okay?" Yang asked again, getting a bit closer to the doctor.

"She'll be okay. She's sedated now, but we managed to patch up her chest and she should be ready to go home in about a week or so. After that it'll take a month or so for recovery, but rest assured, unless we're caught by surprise by something, as long as she takes care of herself she should make a full recovery."

Yang sighed with relief. "Thanks, doc."

"It's nothing. You should all go home though, Ruby won't wake up until morning at the least. We can call you as soon as she's awake."

Yang wanted to stay, but Blake pulled her away. "Yang, we can't do anything here. Let's get some rest."

"Yeah. I think waiting here longer will just drive me crazy." Jaune put in.

"Alright…let's go." Yang sighed, defeated. "I'm tired."

…

They arrived at the dorms and crashed into bed, Blake opting to sleep in Yang's bed, not wanting to see the bloodstain on the floor where Ruby collapsed. Yang offered no protest as Blake crawled into bed next to her and snuggled up her head resting on her shoulder.

Morning arrived, and after eating a quick breakfast, Yang drove to the hospital and Blake to Ren's house.

Ren opened the door with a small smile when he saw Blake. "Hey. She's back here, eating. She hasn't spoken."

Weiss was sitting at the table, picking at some pancakes. Her expression was blank, and her eyes were red and puffy. Blake walked over and sat opposite her.

No words were spoken for about ten minutes, and then Blake spoke up. "Ruby's going to be okay."

Weiss's head shot up as she stared Blake in the face. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it and nodded.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Blake asked softly.

Weiss didn't say anything. She pushed her plate forward and placed her elbows on the table, hiding her face in her hands.

"Weiss…don't make me have Yang interrogate you about this. I don't want that."

"It was an accident." Weiss whispered, her voice hoarse and raspy.

"Elaborate."

"I arrived outside the door…to apologize to Ruby and Penny for acting the way I did," Weiss started. "I heard them saying…strange things. And then when I walked in, Penny had….Penny had Ruby pressed up against the wall. She was kissing her. I had heard Ruby telling her to stop, but she kept going."

Blake sat in silence, waiting for Weiss to continue.

"…I saw red. I charged forward, not really thinking. I just wanted Penny off of her…I heard a crack, and a scream. I thought it was Penny. Then Jaune showed up and….and…and…" Weiss trailed off.

Blake stood up and walked around the table, pulling Weiss up. Flinching, Weiss grimaced in preparation for a slap or a punch, or whatever was coming. But what she wasn't expecting was for Blake to wrap her arms around her.

"Weiss I'm so sorry…I should have listened to you when you were talking about Penny…if I had listened to you, none of this would have happened…" she said with her voice choked up a bit, holding Weiss close.

Weiss awkwardly hugged her back, saying nothing.

"Do you…do you want to come to the hospital with me?" Blake asked hesitantly.

A few moments of silence, then Weiss nodded. She was already dressed in her clothes that she had worn last night, dry thanks to Ren. They left, with Blake muttering thank-you's and apologies to Ren, who just waved them off.

They arrived at the hospital, and Yang marched up to Weiss, who hid behind Blake.

"There had better be a very good explanation for this." She growled at them both, and Weiss whimpered a little at her tone.

"Yang, it wasn't Weiss's fault. I'm not even sure if it was her that did it, it could have been Penny." Blake said, putting herself in between Yang and Weiss.

"We'll see about that. The doc said Ruby's waking up, so I thought I'd wait for you."

"She is? Can we see her?" Blake asked, worry in her eyes.

"In a few minutes." Yang said, sitting down. Blake led Weiss over and sat down next to her , holding her hand gently.

The doctor arrived after a moment. "Your sister is awake now, Miss Xiao Long."

Yang jumped up and nearly ran up to the doctor, who led her to where Ruby was staying. She opened the door and cautiously approached the bed. Ruby was blinking awake.

She was shirtless, but she was wrapped in bandages, and a cast. "Yang." She croaked out. "Hey…"

"Hey Rubes…how are you?" Yang whispered, gripping Ruby's hand.

"Well let's see. One of my best friends just tried to rape me, I have a punctured lung, and my ribs are broken in three spots. So I'm doing pretty great." Ruby said, her voice laden with sarcasm.

Yang let out a nervous laugh and gently stroked Ruby's cheek with her hand. "The doc says you'll be okay in a month or so, as long as you take care of yourself."

Ruby nodded, smiling. "That's good. They fixed my lung already he said, otherwise I wouldn't be talking to you."

Smiling, Yang inspected the cast. "So how itchy are you underneath that?"

"You have no idea."

They both chuckled, Ruby wincing at the pain. "Is it just you here?" Ruby asked.

"No, Blake is here…and…Weiss." Yang said, grumbling.

"Yang. Don't get mad at Weiss, okay? It wasn't her fault. Penny was….was…touching me. And kissing me. I don't think she was going to stop either, so honestly I'm happy Weiss showed up. Besides, Weiss didn't hit me that hard. It was Penny that crushed me into the wall." Ruby said, poking Yang on the nose.

Yang grumbled. "Whatever. I'll go get them."

As soon as Yang walked into the waiting room, Blake jumped up. "Can I-"

"Yes, Blake. You too Weiss. Go see her." Yang said, smiling. Blake darted off as soon as Yang told her the room number, Weiss trailing behind. Yang grabbed Weiss's upper arm as she walked by, and she flinched.

"Weiss. I just wanted to tell you that…oh fuck it, come here." Yang wrapped Weiss up in a bear hug and kissed her forehead, swaying from side to side a little bit. Weiss hugged her back, burying her face into Yang's chest.

"I'm sorry Yang…" she whispered and Yang growled.

"Don't say that. It wasn't your fault. Wasn't your fault." Yang whispered back, and the two girls stood there for a few moments like that before Yang let go. "Go see your girlfriend."

Weiss didn't need telling twice as she walked down the halls to find Blake sitting next to Ruby's bed, grinning.

"Weiss!" Ruby said as she saw her come in. "My hero!"

Weiss blushed as she slowly approached Ruby's left side, her expression turning guilty as she saw the cast. "I'm not your hero." She muttered.

"Yes you are. Penny was doing terrible things to me and you saved me." Ruby said, reaching up to grasp Weiss's hand with her right arm.

"Some saving I did. You're in a hospital!" Weiss cried out, gripping Ruby's hand.

"Better a hospital than therapy." Ruby said softly as she pulled Weiss down and kissed her. She stayed like that for a moment before breaking off and smiling.

Weiss looked like she wanted to cry. "You are such…a stubborn…idiotic….dolt!" she said as she put her arms around Ruby's neck, careful of her chest, and hugged her. Ruby lifted her arm and patted her on the back.

When Weiss broke off, she sniffed. "But you know what?"

"What?" Ruby asked, smiling.

"You're my stubborn, idiotic dolt." Weiss said, smiling wide.

"And you're my Weiss." Ruby said simply, her smile turning wide too.

Blake made a face. "Are you guys trying to make me throw up?" she said teasingly.

"Yes." They answered at the same time.

Blake burst out laughing, which caused Weiss to laugh, which caused Ruby to laugh.

"Ow! Ow. Okay, laughing is bad right now." Ruby said, grimacing.

"Sorry." Blake said. "Anyway, I'm gonna go fetch Yang. Then we can all hang out and watch TV for a bit or something. Do you think we could get pizza delivery here?"

Blake continued rambling to herself as she walked off to find Yang, leaving Weiss and Ruby alone.

"Weiss?" Ruby asked quietly.

"Mhm?"

"Since you're my girlfriend, that means you agree with me on stuff right?"

"No, but go on."

"If I say Penny is the biggest, meanest bitch in all the land, you'd back me up right?"

"Oh most certainly."

"Penny is the biggest, meanest bitch in all the land."

"Definitely."

…

Blake and Yang returned to find Weiss and Ruby with big grins on their faces. With a look, they both agreed to not ask.

The doctor was at first reluctant to let them order takeout, but after relentless begging from Yang, Weiss attempting to be charming, and finally a double order of puppy-dog eyes from Blake and Ruby, he caved and let them order a few pizzas.

They also called Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren and told them to come. They ended up having a quiet little party inside Ruby's rather cramped hospital room, but no one really seemed to mind.

"I'm so glad you're alright." Jaune said as he gave Ruby a hug. "You scared me."

"Sorry, Jaune. Won't happen again."

They marathoned a few movies on the laptop Ren had brought with him, and soon enough the pizzas were gone and other duties were creeping up.

Blake left, saying she really needed to study for a test tomorrow. Yang and Pyrrha had kickboxing, and Ren and Nora were going on a date, which invited much slapping of backs and squealing of girls.

Eventually the room was cleared of everyone except Ruby and Weiss.

"Don't you have stuff to do too?" Ruby asked, smiling.

"Oh, tons." Weiss said offhandedly, making absolutely no move to get up from Ruby's side.

"So…you're not leaving then."

"Nope."

"Well, as long as you're here…"

"What?"

"My boob itches."

"Ruby!"

"What?! You're my girlfriend, help me!"

"But…"

"Weiss….please?"

"…pervert."

Author's Note

MMMMMFEELSGOOD.

There we go. Proper squee. Much better.

SO. We're sixteen chapters in, I've run out of plotlines, and I have another story (The Strife of Sanity. Alice in Wonderland crossover, read it! It's totally badass!) to work on.

This means some slightly bad news. I'm gonna put this story on hiatus for now.

HEY. OI. PITCHFORKS DOWN. ON THE FLOOR.

Better.

This does not mean I'm done with this story. Not by a long shot. We still have to get into Weiss's father, which will be a whole bucket of fun, we do technically still have to deal with Penny, who will be making one last appearance, and also I have much, much more squee to write you guys.

But the problem is I'm getting some severe writers block with this story. So we're gonna call these 16 chapters Arc One of Every Rose. I'm gonna put a Completed mark on this story and when I have a decent idea of what the everloving fuck I'm doing with this, I'll put up Arc 2 as a separate, new story.

So don't unfollow this one! When Arc 2 is up I will post a quick chapter on here saying so. But don't be expecting anything for a good month or so.

In the meantime, if you like me as an author and can't get enough, try reading my other story! It's an Alice in Wonderland crossover with RWBY, and I'm quite proud of it. It's an idea I've been sitting on for quite a while now, and I think I've done it justice so far. It has an actual plot, unlike this story, so I think it'll do well.

Now to address a few complaints about the last story.

Ruby couldn't have broken her ribs in such a way because of a shove

Incorrect. First of all, it wasn't a shove. Ruby got mooshed in between a very hard wall and Penny, who most definitely could have injured Ruby on purpose as a sort of 'if I can't have her no one can' sort of measure. Secondly, bones can break simply by falling off a chair at the right angle. A squish into a wall can certainly do some serious damage if you're unlucky, which Ruby was.

Blake is a hypocrite for being protective of Ruby

This has some merit, but think of it this way. Everyone is in shock, their best friend/girlfriend/sister is hospitalized and none of them really know what happened. Yeah. Anyone would be going a little nuts here, which is why we see Yang going a little punishment-crazy and Blake having to hold her back.

Anyway.

This will be the last chapter of Every Rose for a while as I think about what direction I want to take this story in. It is definitely not over. But you guys will have to wait about a month or so for a new set of chapters.

Enjoy the squee-inducing conclusion to Part 1 of Every Rose Has it's Thorn, and have a wonderful day. And please review.

Spike

PS: You can find my other story here: s/10731465/1/The-Strife-of-Sanity

PPS: It isn't White Rose, but it's still awesome.

PPPS: Totally not self advertising.