"Weiss! Hurry up, time to start judging!" Yang said, dragging Weiss away from Ruby's side. "You gotta get a good look at everyone; we've got like thirty people in this thing." As Yang dragged Weiss away, she winked at Ruby and mouthed Get into position! at her.

Ruby nodded and gulped. She moved into the sitting room where there was a large group of people milling around, and at one end was a table with four clipboards on it. Ren and Velvet were sitting down, and soon enough Weiss and Yang joined them.

"Alright you guys, simmer down! We're gonna get a good look at each of your costumes; figure out what the hell you are, then we'll judge you. Alright? Alright. Now, Cardin Winchester come up please…" Ren said as a large boy dressed as Hellboy walked up to the table.

This went on for a while, the four judges examining everything from a ghoul to a Magical Girl, and finally Ruby heard Yang call out "And Ruby, get up here!"

Ruby walked up to the table and saw Weiss's mouth drop a little as she whispered in Yang's ear. Shrugging her off, Yang introduced Ruby to Velvet and then proceeded to ask her a few questions. "Who are you supposed to be?"

Ruby gulped. "Um, Sebastian. From Black Butler." Velvet grinned at this.

After a few more minutes, they waved her back and they began discussing something. Five minutes later, Ren said "Alright. We will be announcing the results at midnight, so in three hours. Until then, have fun guys!"

People filtered back into the main area of the house, and Ruby was about to get out when she was pounced on.

"You didn't tell me you were entering!" Weiss said in her ear, causing Ruby to jump a little.

"I didn't? Oh. Sorry! Was I not supposed to?" Ruby grinned sheepishly, trying to hide her nervousness. She laughed a little and scratched the back of her head.

"No, it's fine. But I'm now a bit suspicious as to that last category you added." Weiss said pointedly, staring at Ruby, who just stuck her tongue out.

"Anyway, where's Yang?" Ruby asked, looking around. "I wanna talk to her."

"Not sure. But I'd guess she's by the pizza." Weiss said, and Ruby walked off. Sighing, Weiss located a certain catgirl hiding away in the corner. "Blake?" she asked, confused.

"Oh! Hi Weiss…" Blake said, looking around the room.

"What are you doing here?" Weiss asked.

"Hiding. From Yang, mostly." Blake said, blushing. "I don't trust her to be….tactful. In a place like this, where there is much alcohol."

Weiss nodded. "Anyway, did you know Ruby was entering in the costume contest?"

Blake blinked and answered a little too quickly. "Um, no. She entered? But didn't she help design the thing?"

"She isn't a judge, so it isn't too bad. But I wish I had known that when she made up that last prize category..." Weiss muttered, thinking.

Blake shifted uncomfortably. Weiss attributed it to her being still less-than happy about her costume, but Blake was also pointedly avoiding looking at her, which she luckily didn't notice.

"Hmm…" Weiss was still thinking. "What is she up too…?"

Clearing her throat, Blake spoke up. "A-anyway, when do you want to implement Project Ice Flower?"

"Shush! Not so loud, moron!" Weiss said, clamping her hand over Blake's mouth. "And not yet. Now it has to be after the judging, because Ruby might actually win something and if we go off alone it'll look suspicious."

Blake rolled her eyes, but nodded. "Are you sure you aren't just nervous?" she asked dryly, smiling.

Weiss blushed. "Quiet!" she said in a loud whisper as she turned around and stomped off, but not before throwing an "I'll let you know when we move into phase one!"

Blake giggled and texted Yang.

How are things with Subject No. 1?

Just met up with her. She's nervous, but I'm calming her down now. We all good on your end?

Weiss wants to wait till after the judging.

Perfect.

Yang smiled as she texted her girlfriend back, Ruby sitting next to her on a couch.

"Yang, I'm really nervous. What if she rejects me? What if she gets all creeped out and doesn't want to be my friend anymore? What if-"

"Ruby! Trust me; it isn't going to come to that." Yang said, throwing an arm around her little sister.

Letting out a big sigh, Ruby leaned into Yang. "I hope so…"

"Anyway, have I said how much I like your costume? You make a damn fine butler."

Ruby punched her sister in the leg. "Shut up. I'm not just any butler you know. I'm Sebastian!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, big scary demon thingy. Blake made me sit through that thing and I fell asleep most of the time."

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "Most of the time?"

"Well, we were usually doing other stuff like-"

"Ew! Ew. I don't want to know." Ruby said, covering Yang's face with her hands. Yang laughed and pulled Ruby closer to her.

"Good luck tonight." Yang said softly, playing with a bit of Ruby's hair.

"Thanks." she answered, and stood up after a few minutes. "You and Ren doing well?"

Yang coughed. "Yeah! Yeah, just fine. You should go find Blake, I think she's hiding."

Ruby narrowed her eyes, and then walked off to find her friend. Yang sighed and texted Ren quick.

How goes it?

Going to be difficult. Weiss is stubborn and really liked that Captain Jack costume that Sun wore.

Right…Sun. Hmm….

What are you thinking?

Abort mission. I have an idea…

…

Ruby found Blake sitting in a corner playing around with her tail. She sat down next to her and poked her nose.

"Boop." Ruby said, giggling.

Blake blinked and looked at her. "Mew."

Ruby melted. "Blaaake! Did you seriously just mewl at me! That was so cuute! Do it again!"

Blake blushed and looked at her feet. "Nooo. I was practicing for…..ummmm….nothing."

"Oh? Would this nothing happen to be blonde, dressed as Athena, and be my older sister?"

Shoving Ruby to the side, Blake turned redder. "No! Maybe. Shut up."

Ruby laughed and cuddled up to her friend, who sighed and put her arm around her. "Why are you hiding back here anyway?"

"I'm hiding from Yang. I don't trust her to act decent with so much alcohol around." Blake said in a very matter-of-fact voice, even though her face was still red.

Ruby giggled. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I wonder how much she's had already."

Blake rolled her eyes. "If I know Yang, which I hope I do, too much."

Ruby hugged her friend and let out a deep sigh. "Hey Blake?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you love Yang?"

Blake felt her face heat up. "Um…yeah. I mean, yes. Of course."

Ruby nodded. "Is it easy to say it?"

Pondering for a moment, Blake frowned. "Sort of. It depends. If it's just us, then yeah, it's pretty easy. If there's other people around, then it's a little harder. I'm not sure why. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just nervous." Ruby said, fiddling with Blake's tail.

"Ah that's right, you're telling her tonight huh?" Blake said, smiling. "I'm sure you'll do great. Do you have a plan?"

Ruby nodded. "Sort of. Kinda. More of a half-plan. I hadn't really thought about it."

"Yang told me you're trying to get Weiss's Favorite for the costume contest?"

"She said she wasn't telling anyone!" Ruby said indignantly. Then she sighed. "Yeah. Part of the prize is that the winner gets to have a drink with Weiss. We thought it'd be funny to see people stumbling over themselves to try to impress her."

"And was it?"

Ruby thought back to the sitting room, where almost all the boys had tried to look fancy and paid a lot of attention to Weiss. She giggled. "Yeah. It was pretty funny."

"So what do you do if you get picked?"

Ruby was silent.

"Half plan, huh?"

"Shut up."

…

Judging time rolled around and everyone fell silent as a rather tipsy Yang stood up on a table and began reading aloud from a clipboard.

"Alright guys, so here's the results for the contest. Your beautiful judges, and Weiss-"

"Hey!"

"Eheh, sorry. As I was saying, us judges have been delibalating…deriverating…um…talking about it for a few hours now and we have your results!" People laughed at Yangs unintentional comedy, and she held her hand up as she read out the winners and the prizes.

Ruby was wringing her hands in anticipation as various costumes walked up and bowed, curtsied, shouted profanity, or otherwise accepted their rewards and praise. And finally they got to the end of the list, where Yang nearly fell of the table offering it to Weiss.

"I'm not standing on a table." She said haughtily. Yang held up her hands in a 'whoa' gesture and backed off.

Weiss cleared her throat. "Anyway, the last category is, as you know, the Head Judge's Favorite. That's me. And while you all had great costumes, I have come to a decision."

Ruby bit her lip in anticipation.

"The winner is Sun Wukong with his quite excellently done Jack Sparrow costume!"

Ruby's jaw dropped as a well-built blonde walked up to Weiss with a strange sway in his step.

"That's Captain. Captain Jack Sparrow." He said, speaking in an odd voice that somehow combined a drunken slur and precise enunciation on odd syllables. "And thank you, Queen Elsa, for bestowing on me this great, great honor. Now, allow me to get you a drink! Where has the rum gone, anyway?"

Weiss giggled as Sun dragged her over to the table, Ruby staring in disbelief. Yang walked over to her and dragged her off to the side.

"What happened?" Ruby hissed.

"I dunno. Weiss changed her mind, I guess. She's really stubborn y'know…" Yang said, scratching her head. "Do we have a plan B?"

"No we don't have a plan B!" Ruby said in a scorching whisper, holding her head in her hands and groaning.

"Hey, it's okay. We'll think of something."

Ruby shook her head, and then heard Weiss cry out.

"Hey! Watch your drink, asshole!"

Ruby and Yang perked up and quickly walked over to where the noise was coming from. Sun was smiling sheepishly, and Weiss had some form of liquid all over the front of her dress.

"Hey, I'm sorry. Didn't think you were gonna just let go like that."

"Jeez! Now I'm all soaked!" Weiss said. "I gotta change…"

Ruby saw an opportunity, but her sister beat her to it.

"Hey Weiss, that dress was a pain and a half to get you into. Lemme help you out, I have your change of clothes in the car." Weiss opened her mouth to protest, then thought better of it and walked off with Yang, yanking her phone out of the purse she had brought with her, furiously texting.

…

In the corner of the room, Blake heard a small cling come from her phone.

WTF Blake? Your girlfriend just intercepted our target!

Blake rubbed her eyes and smiled a little.

Uh oh. She texted, her tongue poking out of her mouth a little as she thought. What do we do?

I don't know! Think of something!

Blake grinned. Things were going perfectly. She stood up and stretched and went off to find the inevitably disappointed Ruby.

She found her on the back porch, just sitting there. "Hey Ruby, you okay?"

"No."

Blake sat next to her and stared at the sky. "I assume it all went to hell?"

"Yang was a drunken ass and it all went to hell."

Nodding, Blake clapped her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Guess that's just the way things happen. The world ends, not with a bang, but with a drunken sister."

"I don't think that's how the quote goes." Ruby said in a sour voice.

Blake shrugged and gave Ruby a cookie. "Eat that. Then close your eyes."

Ruby took the cookie and ate it. "What for?"

Smiling, Blake took Ruby's hands and stood her up. "Trust me."

Ruby closed her eyes and Blake led her down a stone pathway…

…

"This is just nasty! Thank god I was planning on changing anyway…" Weiss muttered furiously as Yang dug out her change of clothes.

"Change in the car quick, I gotta do something." Yang said her voice suddenly clear and unslurred.

"What? Why in the car?" Weiss said a little too harshly, but Yang didn't really care.

"Just do it and trust me. Change in the car, and then wait for me to come get you. Don't get out of the car."

"Fine."

…

Blake left Ruby telling her not to open her eyes under any circumstances, and met up with Yang.

"She in position?" Yang asked in a hushed voice.

"Yup. She thinks I'm getting her something. Which I technically am." Blake said. "How goes it for you?"

"She's changing. Pretty upset too, you guys' plan failed miserably."

"As intended. Now, I'm gonna go back inside, but Ruby is currently sitting on that marble bench we saw."

Yang nodded and quickly ran back to the car, and she rapped on the door. "You done?"

Weiss huffed and said. "Yes. What are you doing anyway?" Yang opened the door and grinned.

"Close your eyes and come with me."

"What?!"

"Just do it."

…

Ruby was sitting on a hard surface, and from the noises, she guessed she was near some bushes of some sort. She heard the chittering of crickets and the gentle swish of leaves moving in the gentle breeze. She sat and waited for Blake, and sure enough she soon heard crunching along what sounded like a gravel path.

"Blake? That you?" she called out, but received no answer.

Yang led Weiss carefully down into the backyard and into a small garden. Weiss still had her eyes shut as they crunched on the gravel and heard Ruby's call. Yang covered Weiss's mouth quickly and whispered in her ear.

"Say. Nothing." Weiss couldn't have even if she wanted too, so she nodded. "We're in this neat Zen garden thing Ren set up. When I tap on your shoulder, sit down. Then in thirty seconds, open your eyes."

Weiss sat down when she was told and heard the quick crunch of Yang running off.

"Blake? Blake, what's going on…?" she heard Ruby say, a small trickle of fear finding its way into her voice.

Under her breath, Weiss counted out thirty seconds and opened her eyes. And what she saw nearly made her gasp. The moon was full with no clouds in the sky, and the stars twinkled down upon a beautiful arrangement of bushes taller than her. There was a small archway with the gravel path she had just walked on, and there were three marble benches inside the little alcove of bushes.

Across from her, not five feet away, sat Ruby Rose, her eyes shut and her hands clasped in her lap. A lonely tear ran down the side of her face as she called out again for her friend.

"Ruby…" Weiss whispered as she slowly stood up and began walking.

"Blake? Blake this isn't funny anymore. I'm opening my eyes." Ruby said, but before she could she felt a hand clamping over them. "Ahh! Who is that?"

She heard a soft voice in her ear. "Ruby, I want you to calm down. In thirty seconds, I'm going to move my hand, and I want you to be calm, okay?"

"Weiss?" Ruby said, surprise evident in her voice.

"Shush. Thirty seconds. Calm." Weiss said in the same soft tone as she sat down next to Ruby, her hand still over her eyes.

Ruby let out a shaky breath and waited. When the hand moved, she saw Weiss, wearing the dress she had worn to Pyrrha's party. "Weiss…" Ruby whispered, not believing her eyes.

"I thought…I thought you'd like it." Weiss said, smiling gently, laying her hand over Ruby's.

"What…what is this?" Ruby said, her eyes wide.

Chuckling, Weiss shrugged. "To be honest, I don't really know."

The two of them sat still for a few seconds, so close and yet so far away. But Ruby stared right into Weiss's eyes and felt herself slowly leaning forward.

"Weiss…I need…I need to tell you something."

"I do too…but…you go first." Weiss said, gripping Ruby's hand.

"Weiss…I…I think that…I think I'm in love with you." Ruby said, her voice barely audible when she was done. Weiss's head dropped, and she felt her eyes welling up and the tears dripping down over her face. "Weiss? Are you…oh, no, I screwed up…Weiss I'm sorry…" Ruby said, her voice choking up.

Weiss shook her head. "Weiss, I'm so sorry, please forgive me!" Ruby said, her voice a little panicked now.

Weiss looked up with tears in her eyes and a smile on her head. "You dolt." She said in a voice so full of love and affection she thought it would break. Before Ruby could react, Weiss had leaned in and she pressed her lips to hers.

Ruby felt happier than ever before as she let go of Weiss's hand and wrapped her arms around her neck as she kissed her back.

They broke apart after almost half a minute, breathing heavily. They kissed twice, three, four times more as they held each other tight.

"Ruby, I love you…" Weiss said, her voice strained and tight. "I love you so much…"

"I love you too Weiss." Ruby whispered, her arms tight around her. "Gods, I'm so happy right now…"

Weiss leaned back and laughed, wiping her eyes. "You're happy? I've been trying to do this for weeks!"

Ruby smiled and laughed as well. "You should have told me earlier…"

"I know, I know. But it was…surprisingly difficult. And the interruptions didn't help."

"So all those times you told me you wanted to tell me something…?" Ruby asked hesitantly, finding Weiss's hand again with hers and gripping tight.

"It was this, the whole time. I even had it all planned out tonight too, but that all went to hell."

"Mine did too. What happened to yours?"

"Yang happened. What about you?"

Ruby blinked and her eyes narrowed. "Wait. Yang ruined your-"

"Surprise?" A voice came from outside the bushes, causing Ruby and Weiss to jump and yell out in surprise. Blake and Yang walked in and sat on the bench opposite to them and they both looked a bit embarrassed, although Yang looked rather proud of herself.

"You….you…you…!" Ruby said, although she couldn't think of any word fitting for this situation.

"I'm sorry Ruby, but we both were so tired of seeing you guys dance around this. We decided to have just a teensy bit of fun…" Blake said, rubbing the back of her head.

"You both knew?!" Ruby screeched. "The whole time?!"

The two girls nodded, looking guilty. "Yeah. And Pyrrha. And Jaune. And Ren. And Nora."

Weiss looked appalled. "You two are such…such….argh!"

Yang smiled. "But it was worth it right!? I mean, our plan worked!"

Ruby and Weiss looked at each other and smiled. "Yeah," Ruby said, smiling. "It did."

"So no harm done, right?" Blake said, a little nervous.

Both girls' heads snapped back towards them. "Oh no." Weiss said, her eyes gaining a rather…malevolent gleam. "You are both going to pay dearly for this little escapade."

Yang gulped. "No, it was my idea! Don't drag Blake into this."

Ruby smiled. "Oh, I know that look. You're both in hot water."

Yang and Blake looked at each other and seemed to telepathically communicate, as both of them stood up and bolted at the same moment.

"Do you want to chase them?" Ruby asked, giggling.

"No. Not right now. Right now, I'd rather do this…" Weiss said, leaning in to kiss Ruby again, holding it for a while.

When they finally disconnected, Ruby took a deep breath and her face was really red. "O-oh. Okay…" she said as the two girls resumed kissing underneath a full moon.

…

Blake and Yang walked back to the house, looking behind them at the two friends that were finally done being stupid.

"We did well, eh?" Yang said, grinning.

"They weren't serious, were they?" Blake asked, her face a little less than pleased. "I mean, they were just joking about getting us back?"

Yang blinked. "I…um…wouldn't bet on it."

Blake sighed and leaned into Yang, kissing her quick. "This is all your fault."

"Yeah, sorry."

"You can make it up to me later."

Yang laughed, and they walked back into the house.

Author's Note

HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGH. THE FEEELZ TOO MANY FEELZ.

I think I've outdone myself here. Seriously. That scene in the little garden thingy took a while! I had to get it right, you know?

In all seriousness, I like how this turned out. Now we have finally resolved that bit, stories over right? Right?

Why are you looking at me like that? You're scaring me. Wait, is that a pitchfork?

Wait! Wait, we can come to an understanding, right? Right? I can write more chapters! Yeah! How many? Um…I don't know.

Nonono put it down! Don't spear me. How about…ten more. For this arc. Yeah? Then that'll be the end of summer and we can start a new arc with the second school year if you guys still like it! Yeah? Good. Now just put the pitchforks doooown…there we go.

Whew.

But yeah, so I'd call this our halfway point in the first arc. I'll have to think up some more things to keep the story interesting, but don't worry, I'll come up with something. Come to think of it, I still haven't introduced Penny yet….and Weiss does strike me as the jealous lover…hmmm….gears are turning.

Anyway! I hope your jimmies have been unrustled by the latest and greatest installment of Every Rose Has its Thorns, and please remember to review! You guys have been dropping the ball lately! Although I do want to thank a certain guest reviewer who keeps going by XAnonymous. Dude, you have reviewed every damn chapter I've put out so far and I couldn't be more thankful. I look forward to reading your review almost as much as you look forward to my chapters, so I hope you stick around!

As always, enjoy Chapter 11 – The Fateful Party Part Two, and have a wonderful day.

Spike