Hello, and welcome to something entirely different! Okay, not really, it's another fluff fic, but hey! This is a more widely accepted ship than what I normally feature on my account. Fiora Scarlet (/u/CFCkyle on Reddit) and I have decided to write a collab as a way to apologize for our respective dark fics. So… yeah. This is going to be strictly fluff. You have been warned. If that's not your cup of tea, mug of coffee, glass of orange juice, whatever, you shouldn't have clicked, silly.

Shoutout to The Draigg for editing and general douchebaggery/being a hot piece of sexual chocolate help.

Fall Harder

Chapter 1

Ruby Rose sat alone in the creaky wooden chair in her dorm, watching the snow falling gently on the other side of the frosted window. Yang and Blake had said they were off to do some late-night sparring, and Weiss was in the library. She was wrapped up in her favorite cozy red cloak, sipping hot cocoa with the cute little strawberry marshmallows in it. Ruby snuggled further into the protective folds of the cloak as the snow started to pick up its pace in an attempt to reach the ground faster. Ruby took a sip of her delicious beverage, lost in thought.

I love the snow. It's hard to really explain… There's just something about its slow descent toward Remnant, the way it feels, the way it blankets the world like a mother tucking her child into bed.

Ruby, contrary to popular belief, was a very perceptive girl. While she acted immature most of the time, there were times, much like these, where she transformed into a completely different person. She would don a stoic face and take in every detail surrounding her. Having a mother who sacrifices her life for you will tend to have that effect. Ruby shook the sad memories out of her head and focused again on the snow outside. She tried to look for patterns, for a connection to be made. Maybe she could find answers in the chaos of nature.

Ruby sighed. Everything outside looked so sleepy and peaceful. It was amazing that even Beacon Academy, a school designed to train warriors the ins and outs of mortal combat, could be so calm. Ruby's thoughts started to drift in synchrony with the snow.

What a moment to be alone. Mom used to cuddle with me. I want to share this warmth and coziness with someone. Pass on the tradition. Who would be a good person to cuddle with? Yang? No… She'd fidget too much. Plus I think she'd be a little too warm. Okay… Blake? Uh… maybe not. She might not like the whole cuddling thing, and she might think I'm racist for wanting to cuddle with her like a cat. So that leaves… Weiss…

Weiss. Ruby wanted to snuggle with Weiss. Definitely. She needed a serious de-stress moment anyway, based on how high-strung she usually was. Of course, Ruby was partially to blame. Having a hyperactive girl two years your junior as your team leader tends to do that. Ruby was attempting to work on it, though; she just hadn't quite… worked out all the kinks? Something like that.

Ruby snuggled even deeper into her cloak. Her thoughts focused on the heiress. Everything about Weiss made Ruby feel warm inside. Despite having a rocky start, Weiss had grown kinder and more accepting of her teammates. Ruby wanted to make her partner feel like a part of the family. What better way to do so than cuddle? Especially when it was someone so pretty.

Ruby blushed. Her mind had wandered far enough. She roped it back in like she did with Zwei on a walk.

Why am I thinking about stuff like that? It's not like I have a crush on her or anything. I just really think she's cute and I want to spend every moment I can with her- Oh my god I do. I love Weiss.

Ruby jumped a bit in her chair, her head spinning. Weiss… Ruby was attracted to Weiss. How did that happen? Did it start that night she brought her coffee and promised to be nicer? Probably. Ruby rushed to her desk. She had to figure out how to confess her love without screwing it up. She knew Weiss was a loving person deep down, she just had to figure out how to get through to her.

She carefully took a pen and a stack of papers out of the top drawer and got to work on a note. What should she write? Ruby had virtually no experience of romance outside of playing that one RPG, but she doubted Social Links would be helpful in this scenario. In fact, she had no idea how she could get Social Links. Oh well, back to writing.

Ruby stuck her pencil on the paper. Why was this so hard? She took a deep breath and started writing the first thing that came to her mind: a formal letter.

Dearest Miss Schnee,

Greetings, most honorable Heiress of the Schnee company fortune-

Ugh. Too formal. Ruby crumpled it up and tossed it in the waste paper bin next to the desk with a resounding thunk. This was hard. How does that game make it so easy? She tried again, going for a more relaxed feel.

'Sup, yo?

I jus wanna let ya kno how I'z feelin' mah skrilla, cuz I wanna feel you up-

Alright, what was that? Terrible grammar and spelling while trying to match the inner-city vernacular? Why? That was a terrible idea. Another thunk sounded as Ruby tossed that note as well.

This was going to take a while.

Three hours later, Ruby sat there with a single sheet of paper left. It stared back at her, taunting her, daring her even, to write a single sentence. Ruby took it up on that offer and tried to write something that would be simple but heartfelt. She took a look at the finished work for a moment, before grumbling and throwing it on top of the pile of paper balls filling up her wastepaper basket. She didn't notice it bounce off the already overflowing mess and roll far under Weiss' bed.

Ruby picked up her bin and collected the crumpled notes littering the floor around it before taking it out to empty it into the recycling chute in the hall. Her teammates would be back soon and she didn't want them knowing what she had been doing. Especially Weiss. It obviously wasn't the time yet.

The next day, the team was sitting around in their room. Ruby had failed to come up with anything she felt really worked. Weiss was sitting on top of her bed, obliviously filing her nails. Blake was curled up in the corner without her bow, reading a book; Ronin of Romance, the sequel to Ninjas of Love. Yang was currently in the bathroom brushing her hair.

As the world seemed to move around her, Ruby lay in her bunk, her mind racing. Should she tell Weiss now? Should her confession wait until they were alone? Ruby groaned into her pillow. Blake looked up at her, cat ears twitching.

"Are you okay, Ruby," Blake asked with a tilt of her head.

Ruby jolted up, causing her bed to sway dangerously on its ropes. "N-nothing!" she sputtered.

"That's… not really an answer to my question," Blake replied.

Yang walked out of the bathroom, throwing the towel she was drying her hair with behind her, horribly missing the towel rack.

"Oooh," she said with a grin. "Has little Rubbles got a crush? Who is it? I'll beat the crap out of them if they hurt you but still… WHO?!"

Ruby collapsed back onto her bed with an embarrassed sigh. "You guys wouldn't understand," she said into her pillow.

"So you do have a crush?"

Crap! Ruby tried to think of some kind of comeback, maybe a witty retort. Nothing. She just lay there, letting the awkward silence grow.

"Sorry to interrupt this little tirade," Weiss said as she stood up, "but isn't it time we started cleaning up the room? It looks like a herd of boarbatusks invaded Beacon, and parent week starts eight days from now."

Ruby sighed again. She was starting to develop a habit of that. Weiss understood it may be caused by the snow and the laziness associated with being stuck in a building for so long, but dammit, the team needed desperately to clean their room. Weiss gracefully hopped off her bed. "Come on, chop-chop! Time waits for no one!"

Her teammates all collectively groaned and started to help out around the room. Yang tried to tease Ruby some more as Blake looked on. Weiss started vacuuming the floor to drown out the noise. That big-breasted blonde had better start helping or I'm going to take my electricity Dust and so help me I will ram it so far up her-

Weiss stopped her mind from going to that particular dark place. It was unfitting for an heiress to think such things. Even if she didn't necessarily want to have to keep up this persona of the brat around her friends. Are they really my friends? I mean, I've had acquaintances and business partners before… but friends? I don't know. I've never really had friends…

She finished vacuuming and looked around. Ruby had used her speed to collect the larger stuff off the floor and put it all in their rightful places. Blake was re-organizing her books. Yang was back in the bathroom, tidying up the counter and getting her assorted bottles of hair care products back into their correct places. Weiss looked on with pride. She may not be able to be team leader, but she was going to make sure the place was spotless by the time her father arrived next week. It was going to be tough, seeing him interact with Team RWBY and have to deal with Ruby and Yang's… boisterous… father, Tai-Yang Xiao Long.

She decided to work on cleaning out her general area next. She took care of her desk and organized it carefully, making sure everything was neat and in order. Moving to her bed, she took her sheets off. This bed had to look militarily pristine. That also meant cleaning out whatever junk had piled up underneath. Weiss shuddered. She was severely allergic to dust. Not the crystal kind, that would be catastrophic to her reputation as a Huntress and a Schnee. No, she was allergic to the old skin cells and assorted pollutants that collect around in areas of low air flow.

Weiss used one if her glyphs to collect all the dust in a single, compressed ball and launched it out the open window. She got on her hands and knees to look under her bed for any offending piece of trash. There was a single, sad little crumpled up paper ball sitting all by itself in an otherwise empty space. Weiss was curious. What could it be? Some old homework? She would take care of it after a little lunch break.

Weiss rushed back to the dorm, the rest of Team RWBY moving to go outside. She was the only one who wanted to be cleaning the dorms while everyone else had fun. She would allow it, they deserved a break, and Ruby had whined and given her the saddest puppy dog eyes the world had yet to bear witness to. In fact, Ruby had had a sad look on her face all day. Weiss hoped it wouldn't affect Ruby's role as Team Leader.

She opened the door to the room and went back under her bed to retrieve the paper. As her hand grabbed it, she felt a surprising feeling. Warmth seemed to be flowing from the paper to her hand. Not like a hot warmth, more of a feeling of affection. Strange. What's written on here? Weiss carefully opened it up. There was a note, addressed to her of all people.

Weiss,

I realize this is probably not the best time to do this, what with your dad coming by soon, and what I have to say may affect our relationship as teammates, but I can't stand it anymore. Weiss, I love you. I fell in love with you a while ago, but just finally realized it now. You're easily the most beautiful girl I have ever met, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, whether it be laughing together at silly things or comforting each other in times of pain… I want to love you for as long as I can. If you don't feel the same way, it's fine. I just wanted to get this off my chest.

Love,

Ruby

Weiss covered her mouth with her free hand as tears started to form in her eyes. Ruby… loved her? Her? Of all the people in the world, Weiss was the one Ruby had decided to fall in love with? Weiss slumped to the floor. That dunce. That adorable nitwit. That cute little idiot… oh my god… I'm in love with her, too! I can't be like this, my family's reputation… You know what? Screw the reputation. I am a Schnee, but above all else, I am my own woman. I will make my own decisions. I got this.

Weiss needed some time to comprehend everything that had just happened. She decided it was time for a walk. She put on her winter jacket and some shoes with better traction than those abominable knee-high combat boots before heading out the door, leaving the note on her desk.

Ruby rushed back to the dorm, a wide smile dancing on her rosy-cheeked face. She'd had plenty of time to think about the Weiss situation and decided to worry about it later. Right now, she was going to just get through the next two weeks without any problem-

A note. Ruby ran into the dorm to be greeted with a piece of paper on Weiss' desk. A crumpled up note.

"Nononononononono," Ruby muttered under her breath as she sped to the desk and read the paper. HOW HAD WEISS GOTTEN AHOLD OF THAT NOTE?! Ruby's mind was kicking into overdrive. If Weiss had read it, and she wasn't there, chances are she had gone on a walk or something, maybe to clear her head. That was supported by the fact that her snow boots and winter jacket were nowhere to be found. Ruby grabbed the paper and put it in her pocket before rushing back out of the dorm, just barely missing Yang and Blake walking toward the door.

"GottagofindWeissI'llbebackwhenIfindher!" Ruby yelled as she sped off, not bothering to wait for their response.

As Ruby ran through the halls, she tried to think of here Weiss would be. The library? No… The courtyard? No… The garden- THE GARDEN!

Ruby altered her course, blasting past Team CRDL as they walked out of the detention room, the wind from her speed causing the door to slam into Cardin's head and knock him out. If she noticed, she didn't say anything. She finally arrived at the garden, a little secluded place off the beaten path and definitely a good place to be alone in. Ruby saw Weiss sitting on a bench next to an evergreen tree. Ruby slowed to a walking pace, the petals from her semblance-enhanced speed blowing past her to announce her presence. Weiss started as a single petal fell into her lap. She looked up to see Ruby walking up to her.

"Room for one more?" Ruby asked quietly. Weiss nodded and brushed the snow off the other side of the bench. Ruby plopped down with a little "oof!"

Ruby pressed her hands between her knees, avoiding Weiss' eye contact.

"Ruby…"

Ruby looked up, tears streaming down her face. "Weiss, I understand that you don't feel the same way I do about you, but please, can we just put this behind-"

Weiss raised a finger to her lips, silencing Ruby. "You know," she began, "I've never had an easy life. Being an heiress required me to constantly move around and never get any real break from the insanity. I realize now that being here at Beacon with the team has helped me know what it's like to be on the other side... to be normal. You're a really good friend. I can't say that enough. I think… I think you're the first real friend I've ever had, and I'm sorry if I've been a... frigid bitch."

Ruby looked down. Friends… Being friends is fine… I guess…

"Ruby, look at me," Weiss said, holding Ruby's shoulders tightly.

Ruby obliged Weiss' request. She was surprised to see Weiss crying as well, but with a small smile, a caring smile, playing on her lips.

"I love you too, you big klutz." Before Ruby could respond, Weiss turned her body toward her and hugged her tightly. Ruby squeaked, not knowing what else to do except hug the heiress back. They sat like that for a moment before Weiss pulled away momentarily.

"Weiss…" Ruby sniffled through her tears. Weiss interrupted her with a passionate kiss. Ruby's eyes went wide. The world melted away. All Ruby could see was the blurry shape of Weiss's face pressed against hers. And she didn't care. The world could have ended for all she knew, but all that mattered now was that she and Weiss were together, sharing this special moment. Snow started to fall again, lovingly dusting their heads and shoulders with soft white flakes.

"Weiss," Ruby pulled her head away, breathless. "I couldn't have fallen harder in love with you."

"Same," Weiss replied simply. "I want to love you forever. What do you say, partner?"

Ruby's heart skipped a beat when she heard Weiss say 'partner' like that. The sincerity emanating from the white-haired girl just worked to triple-enforce Ruby's feelings for her.

"I say…" Ruby pretended to think for a moment, stretching out her answer. "Of course, you silly goose!"

They kissed again, this time a little more gently. It was a lover's kiss. They sat there, blissfully unaware of anything else, and they couldn't have been happier.

Alright! That's it for Chapter One! Next time, it's going to be some nice Bumblebee action! Be sure to rate, leave criticism, follow if you enjoyed, and check out Fiora Scarlet's crazy fics!