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The door shut behind Yang and she left Blake alone in the dorm with the knowledge that Ruby was on her way. A sudden, terrible sense of apprehension gripped at Blake. Yang and Weiss were headed out for the night, or at least for most of the evening, on a date together. That was great for them, Yang was making an effort to romance Weiss and Weiss was allowing herself to be romanced. Awesome. But, that meant Blake and Ruby would be alone in the dorm for the evening. Blake didn't know if she could handle that much more alone time with Ruby. It was already tortuous enough the way they'd spent the weekend. But, now they had to be like this on weeknights too?

Blake wanted to be around Ruby. She wanted to spend time with her and cuddle her and read together and do all of the things they did. But, at the same time, she wanted to do them as a couple and doing them platonically was beginning to wear on her. She wasn't impatient with her, how could she be? No matter what Yang had said, Blake still wasn't completely convinced that Ruby was interested in women and if that wasn't the case then Blake just had to face the fact that it wouldn't happen for them. But, the other possibility, the chance that Yang was right about her little sister and that she did like girls, that she might be interested in Blake. That possibility was even more dangerous for Blake to consider. Absolute refusal she could deal with, but that lingering hope… That's what was driving her insane.

Ruby came to a halt outside the doors to the dorm building. Weiss had gotten her so excited that she ran as fast as she could, rose petals and everything, all the way to the dorms. Several times she had nearly smacked into people but narrowly avoided them. She was glad she hadn't bowled anyone over because that would have definitely put a damper on her spirits.

The issue was, now that she was here, Ruby was nothing but a ball of nerves. In the library it had all seemed so simple. She liked Blake and everything in the world indicated that Blake liked her back. But, now that she was face to face with the actual act of confessing her feelings to the gorgeous raven haired girl. She didn't think she could do it. How could she just put herself out there like that? What if she was wrong? What if Blake was just an amazing friend?

The door to the building swung open and Yang emerged, carrying Zwei in her arms, right in front of Ruby.

"Hey sis," Yang caught the door before it could hit Ruby, "Watch out, you shouldn't just stand there." Yang waved her hand in front of Ruby's face but the little brunette didn't react. "Rubes. Hey Ruby." Yang stepped directly in front of Ruby and leaned down so they were eye to eye. "Hey, yo, Remnant to Rubles." Ruby finally opened her eyes wide with a start, broken from her trance.

"Oh hey Yang." Ruby shook her head to gather herself, "Uhh, you're not headed up to the dorm are you?"

"No Ruby," Yang started slowly, "I'm actually just headed out to meet up with Weiss. We're gonna take Zwei for a walk." She hefted the dog in her arms up to indicate who she meant by Zwei and the little dog let out a joyful bark. Yang turned her head and looked up at their dorm room window then back at her sister, "Blake's all alone up there right now. Wasn't there something you were gonna go do? Ya know… up there, with her."

"Whuh? No. Uhh Why would you think that?" Ruby was suddenly very aware of the fact that Yang seemed to be very aware of her plans.

"Well, I'm your big sister, I'm dating Weiss so she told me, and, well, you're about as subtle as a Goliath sis'." Yang laughed and clapped her hand against Ruby's shoulder. The contact did a lot to calm Ruby down, help her center herself. "I can tell you for sure Ruby. You've got this. Don't worry at all." She snuck behind Ruby and pushed her towards the door gently with her free arm. "Go get her girl."

Ruby stumbled forward and stopped right at the door, but she only hesitated long enough to open it and sneak inside. She poked her head back through and yelled after Yang.

"Thanks Yang." She waved empathically and Yang shot her an enthusiastic thumbs up before trotting off towards the library to catch up with Weiss, Zwei following close behind on his bright red leash.

"Calm down Blake, calm down." Blake paced back and forth between the two sets of bunks. She was so nervous waiting for Ruby that she hadn't even been able to sit still. She was really glad that she was getting to wait in their dorm at the very least. That meant that no one got to see her pace. She had tried to be calm, deep steady breathing, fidgeting with her hands, staring out the window. It hadn't helped when she had seen Ruby walking up to the front doors, that hadn't helped at all. Now, she knew it was coming, the impending moment where she and Ruby would finally be forced to confront whatever it was that was going on between them. At this point, she was really considering jumping out the window, climbing down the tree and just hiding somewhere they would never ever find her.

There was a small click as the door opened and Blake, as lost in thought as she had been, nearly leapt out of her skin and actually did leap up and onto Ruby's bed. She landed with all the skill and grace her heritage and training granted her, falling into a heap and making the bed swing about wildly.

"Blake? Are you in here?" Ruby eased slowly into the room. She peeked just her head around the corner and looked around, eyes finally landing on the bunk swaying side to side.

This was perfect, Blake could just hide here. Surely Ruby hadn't seen her yet. If she just stayed as still and quiet as possible, she would be okay. If the dust damned bed would stop swinging, then she could just lay here and Ruby would go away and by the time she came back the others would be back and they wouldn't have to face all this awkwardness.

"Blake, can you come down here please? Yang took Zwei. You don't have to hide." Ruby called up, looking directly at Blake and the bunk. She knew she was here, Ruby had spotted her and now she looked even more foolish than if she had caught her pacing. At least pacing was something people did.

Blake slowly pushed herself up and out of the blankets, emerging into the fading natural light provided by their giant window that looked out over Beacon. She slid down off of Ruby's bed, why was Blake in her bed again, and landed lightly on her bare feet on the floor. Blake had her hands folded in front of her and seemed very interested in the ground. Ruby was tempted to say she looked shy, but this was Blake, why should Blake be shy around her? It was just the two of them after all.

Ruby forced herself to release her cloak. She hadn't even realized she was kneading it between her fingers until she had been struck with the urge to do so. When she found that she was already crumpling it between her fingers she realized just how nervous she still was. Maybe Blake's nervous for the same was a good sign then right? If Blake was just as nervous as her then she probably liked Ruby a lot too. So why was this so hard to do? She just had to open up and be honest about her feelings with Blake.

Blake lifted her head and met Ruby's eyes, reminding her that she had asked Blake to come down and stop hiding in her bed just to leave her standing there in the middle of the room without saying anything.

"Ruby I-" Blake started but Ruby lifted her hand to cut her off.

"No Blake, I have something I need to say and it's really, really hard and if I don't just say it right now I don't think I will ever say it so I have to just do it." Ruby took a quick breath and held it, trying to steady herself. Okay, now or never. She looked at Blake and felt herself melt a little inside. So, instead of looking at those shimmering golden orbs that just seemed to beg her to be nice. She closed her eyes, released the breath and jumped in. "Blake I think I really, really like you and I don't know what to do but I just had to tell you so uhh… yeah." Once it was out there Ruby didn't really know what to do. She kept her eyes closed and waited, waited for whatever was to come.

Silence.

Blake looked at Ruby, standing there with her eyes shut and her fists clenched, looking like she was bracing to be hit by a train. She liked her? Or at least… She thought she liked her. Blake couldn't believe it. Ruby Rose, the most adorable little Grimm slaying huntress ever was right in front of her and actually liked Blake. She had hoped against hope so many times since she realized how she felt.

"Ruby," Blake started softly and was glad to see her eyes drift open ever so slightly. "Ruby, I really like you. I have for a little while now. But. I wasn't sure. I didn't know how you felt. You were dating Jaune so I thought you wouldn't like me the way I like you. Then, we would read and stuff. It was really hard for me. I tried to just be your friend but…" Blake let her sentence fall short. How was it, that even with Ruby right there telling her she liked her that Blake could still find a way to get so down on herself?

"Uhh Blake. You don't have to be like that anymore." Ruby took a small, cautious step forward, "I-" she cleared her throat, "I'm really sure that I like you. I love spending time with you, I think about you all the time. I can't help it, I just do. When I see something funny or have something happen to me I always think, 'Oh wait until I get to tell Blake about this.' When I'm in our afternoon classes I just wanna be done so we can train together or read or even just talk like we did the other night." Blake felt a lump in her throat as Ruby described all the ways she knew she liked Blake. It was so sweet and so perfectly encapsulated the reasons she liked Ruby.

"I've known you were special for a long time Ruby. When we started at Beacon and I got to know you, I knew we would at least be really good friends. You're so spontaneous and fun but loving and caring and selfless. I, well, I have a lot of trouble having confidence in myself to do things Ruby. Sometimes, I think back to all the things that have happened, my time with the White Fang, being a Faunus all my life and having to deal with how people treat me because of it. But, you are just, you're always there for me, always thinking of me."

"But that's just because-" Now it was Blake's turn to cut Ruby off.

"It's just because you're an amazing person Ruby." Blake took a small step forward now, slowly closing the gap between them. "You're so incredible because you're like this constant ray of light and happiness that never dims or fades. You're just always there and seeing you and how happy you always are, it always makes me happier too. That's why, I realized how I felt after what happened with you and Jaune." Blake took another, slightly larger and more confident, step forward. "It was when I saw how sad you were, that something had managed to make that light falter. I realized that I wanted to be the reason you could shine brighter. I wanted to be able to make you happy like you had been before."

"It really meant that much to you?" Ruby lifted her hands and clutched them together just beneath her chin. "I didn't realize-" Ruby felt a catch in her throat as the emotions of what Blake was saying threatened to overtake her. No, she would not cry in front of her again. This was happy, this was good, this was the best thing Ruby could have hoped for. "I didn't know I meant that much to you."

"You mean more than that to me Ruby." Blake stopped her advance, she needed Ruby to come to her too. She couldn't be the only one making any sort of moves. Ruby had said herself, she thought she liked Blake. If Blake just overwhelmed her with all of these feelings that she had been holding onto for so long, it would be bad. She didn't want to pressure Ruby into anything with how strongly she felt.

"I guess. I just never really saw it because I didn't let myself even consider that I might be interested in you. I had never even...well before Jaune I had never liked anyone that way before. I had a few like crushes and stuff. I thought people were cute or funny at Signal. But… Jaune was the first time I felt my chest get tight around someone, the first time it made me nervous to talk to them and feel like I wanted to hold their hand or kiss them or anything like that." Ruby turned off to the side slightly. "Then when we broke up, I didn't think I had known what I was feeling. It was so weird, how different everything was once we started going out. Like, he acted really, really different around me and I think that's why it didn't work. I don't know."

Ruby turned back to face Blake and she could see small pools of unshed tears in her silver eyes. Was she sad? Was she going to say that she couldn't be with Blake or even give it a try because she was still caught up over what had happened? It had been long enough now Blake thought that wouldn't be an issue. Of all the things that she was concerned about being an issue, that hadn't really been one of them. Now that it was rearing its ugly head though, Blake couldn't understand why she had missed it. Why had she brought him up at all? Why had she put those thoughts in Ruby's head?

"So I was worried that I didn't know how to tell when I really liked someone and if I was right about it. Then, then the other night, when we went out to the bookstore and stuff. I felt that way with you Blake. I felt like I liked you and it scared me so much. It scared me because I still didn't know." Ruby wiped at her eyes and moved closer to Blake, they were now within arm's reach. Blake could practically feel Ruby they were so close. "But, I do know that I can trust you Blake. I know that we can figure things out, or at least try to and that even if we don't that we'll be okay."

"Of course you can trust me Ruby." Blake wanted to hug her but she still wasn't sure, "We just, we would need to be totally honest and open with each other."

"Yeah, I think we would need that." Ruby met Blake's eye, "I think everybody needs that."

"So, we just have to talk about things. No secrets, ask questions." Blake started to feel hope, it looked like this would actually happen for them. "If one of us ever wants something we just have to ask."

"Okay, well, I have a thing then." Ruby glanced at the floor off to the side and rubbed the toe of her boot against the ground. "I don't know if it's a question. That doesn't sound right. Like a uhh…"

"What is it Ruby?" Blake leaned her head to one side. "You can just say it." She smiled at her gently, hoping Ruby could start this off by trusting her enough to just say whatever was on her mind.

"It's not that easy. It's kinda weird." Ruby swung her hands behind her and locked her fingers together. Oh gosh, it had seemed so easy before, but this was so much different than that time. "I uhh, I really want to kiss you Blake." For once Ruby was able to keep her voice slow and controlled, not releasing the nervous phrase so fast the other person barely understood. She knew that if Blake didn't hear, she would never muster the courage to say it again so she kept it slow and even.

"That's not really… I'm not-" Blake stammered and Ruby knew she had messed it all up. She and Jaune had been together for a while before they had ever kissed. Jaune had even asked to hold her hand the first time. Of course asking to kiss Blake when they weren't even really dating yet was way too fast. How could Ruby have possibly thought that it was an okay thing. "It's just that… I want to be sure Ruby. I want to be sure that you're certain about this. I know it's weird and it's new and I don't want you to feel like you have to or anything." Blake folded her hands behind her back now, she wanted to be as unimposing as possible, to make herself look completely innocent to Ruby and not threatening at all.

"I'm sure Blake." Ruby nodded and kept her hands behind her, "I wasn't when I came in here. I was confused and really scared and nervous about this whole thing but...now that we talked… I think it's because I finally said it out loud." Ruby took a quick breath and nodded her head. "I'm really sure Blake. I want to be your girlfriend… Uhh if that's okay?"

"Yes Ruby," Blake clenched her hands tight. She absolutely could not believe that this was happening this way. "I would be more than happy to be your girlfriend." Just as the words finished leaving Blake's mouth, Ruby was darting forward and wrapping her arms tightly around Blake, hugging her as close as she could. After taking just a split second to collect herself and ensure she didn't collapse to her knees Blake returned the hug. For a second they held each other and then Ruby pulled away, leaving her arms around Blake's waist but staring up into her eyes.

"So uhh… I know that we really did just start dating like one hug ago. But I already asked and you never answered and it's just. If we just go with you never having answered then I'm gonna feel really self-conscious about having asked even once we do do it. It's just… I'm not saying you have to say yes, I'm only-" Ruby had to stop. How was she supposed to keep talking with those incredibly soft lips pressed against hers.

Blake was listening to Ruby babble and go on about her insecurities until she realized that she had basically been given express permission, not just permission but an invitation, to kiss Ruby. That was an opportunity that she was absolutely not letting anything get in the way of. So, without even letting the younger girl finish her rant, because who knew how long that might take, Blake leaned down, pulled her close and kissed her.

She kept it short. It was their first kiss. She didn't want to turn it into some kind of long drawn out thing, nor did she have any desire to deepen it or make it more than just a kiss. What she did want to accomplish was to show Ruby just how much she cared for her and how much she cared about this relationship they were embarking on together. So, Blake tried to push all that tenderness and affection into the action. She held Ruby close but not tight, pressed her lips to Ruby's firmly but not forcefully, trying to balance everything as well as she could. Then, she pulled away first.

"Oh." Ruby blinked her eyes back open, "Oh wow." She glanced around as if trying to get her bearings and then found her place back in Blake's eyes. "Uhhh well…Now I'm definitely sure I'm okay with this." Ruby wiggled her hands around Blake's back until she could bring her fingers together and pull Blake closer to her, pressing their waists together. Then she leaned her head in and rested it on Blake's shoulder. "Do you wanna keep reading? I think we have a while until Yang and Weiss get back."

"Ruby, I would love nothing more than to sit and read with you." Blake placed a soft kiss on the crown of Ruby's head, relishing in the soft feel of her hair against her lips. She held it there for just a moment, and Ruby hummed happily in her arms. This was absolutely the best feeling Blake had ever experienced and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted it to stop so they could read. Then again, reading meant they got to cuddle together on her bed, or maybe even on up on Ruby's where that curtain she had made could separate them from the rest of the world. Plus, it would make Ruby happy, not that she seemed unhappy now, but still, she had asked. "Come on, let's go."

Blake broke the kiss and stepped away towards the shelf where their book was waiting for them, the page from where they had stopped last marked by a small strip of red cloth that Blake had chosen because it reminded her of Ruby's cloak.

"I know we usually lay in your bed. But, well, I saw you in mine when I got here and I thought it might be nice. Plus, when they bring Zwei back he'll want to jump on me and I don't want him to get on your bed but he can't reach mine so we'll be safe and…"

"Ruby." Blake stopped her, "Of course we can. It makes no difference to me so if you want to then just ask." Blake lifted the book happily from the shelf and moved towards the hanging bunk. She just hoped that the joy of seeing them together would overwhelm Weiss's anger at having two people on the dangerously suspended bunk right above her head.

A/N - Alright, there it is. Finally. Forty Five chapters, 200k words, nearly 100 followers and 20k views later we finally get Ladybug. Thanks so much for coming on this ride with me. Only five chapters left for this story, but I am seriously considering a "Friends and Loved Ones 2" at some point. Though I will probably come up with a better title than that and it will probably be after Volume 4.

What did you think of this chapter? Of how they are starting off their relationship. I'd love to hear what you think. This chapter specifically is obviously kind of an important one and I would like to know how you think I handled it. So please, if you don't review anywhere else on this story, please review here.

Thanks so much for reading! You're all wonderful people.

-Zach