Keyboards (ch5)

2-DAY EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

TRIGGER WARNING: This is going to be another intense chapter so please be advised and take care in proceeding if you choose to do so!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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														Chapter 5.

As soon as she woke the next day, Weiss sent a quick "good morning!" text to Blake before she got out of bed. It was a particularly chilly morning, so she tugged her robe over her sleepwear and put on her slippers before heading downstairs for breakfast.

Winter was there, but their father had already gone off to work.

The sisters spoke for a while as they ate, but Weiss made certain not to mention Blake, no matter how badly she might've wanted to. She didn't want to risk her father catching wind of this, lest he forbid her from meeting Blake tomorrow.

Tomorrow…

Weiss hid a smile behind her hand as she finished eating and stood to begin cleaning dishes.

When she returned upstairs, she went to her desk and turned on her laptop. She did have a small amount of homework to complete over the break, and she started on that, taking breaks in between to go on her blog. Unable to contain her mirth, she made a personal post:

"Tomorrow is going to be one of the best days of my life!"

It only took her an hour to finish all of her homework for the entire 3-week break. Her reward was reaching for her phone to see Blake's reply to her good morning text.

. . .

Blake woke up fairly late in the morning; nothing unusual during break. Picking up her phone, she saw that Weiss had sent her a "good morning" text a few hours ago.

So she's clearly a morning person, Blake thought with a little chuckle as she sent a text back to Weiss:

"Good morning Weiss! How did you sleep last night?"

After she sent her message, Blake changed her clothes and went down to the kitchen. On the counter was a note from her parents, and without having to read it she knew what it would say. Pouring a bowl of cereal, Blake sat at the table eating her late breakfast, waiting for Weiss to text her back.

. . .

When she checked her phone, she was more than delighted to see Blake had responded and quickly sent another reply:

"I slept very well, thank you! I'm honestly surprised, considering how excited I was all evening. I couldn't stop thinking about you!"

She sent the text before she could think it over. A few seconds too late, she realized it might have sounded a bit awkward, so she frantically typed a follow-up message:

"Sorry! That must've sounded weird, right? I just meant that I was so excited about talking to you and meeting up tomorrow!"

She sent that message as well and needed to put her phone down on her desk, lest she start rambling to Blake. She distracted herself with blogging for another moment or so instead.

. . .

Blake finished her bowl of cereal and put it in the sink, filling it with water to clean later. She felt a vibration in her pocket, and a smile appeared on her face knowing that it had to be Weiss. When she neared the end of the first message, her phone vibrated as Weiss sent her a second text.

Blake laughed a little, an easy smile on her ace as she finished reading everything.

"It's all right, Weiss. It's not weird. I spent most of last night thinking about you, too. So either neither of us is weird, or we both are. In my opinion both are fine. I'm glad you slept well. What are you doing today?"

After sending her text to Weiss, Blake walked upstairs and laid down on her bed to enjoy the day of vacation. Though she'd just come up here specifically to lie down, she also felt like she wanted to go out for a jog because of the trills of excitement coursing through her.

Why am I so happy to known that Weiss was thinking about me last night like I was thinking about her?

. . .

She was relieved to say the least that Blake didn't think it was weird. Weiss was even a bit flattered to know Blake had been thinking about her, too.

Weiss shivered a little bit and pulled her robe tighter around her, tying the strings around her stomach as she typed a response.

"I'm not doing much today at all! I just finished all of my homework for over the break actually.

How about we do another call? I'm just so excited about tomorrow, I don't think I can contain myself, and I always feel so much better when I'm talking to you!"

. . .

Blake waited for a few minutes before Weiss texted back. Shivering slightly. she pulled her blanket up her legs before reading and typing back:

"Wow, you got all the work for the break done already? I've barely started it. And sure, let's have another call. I'm excited too, and talking to you is one of the best parts of my day!"

Blake sent her message and put her phone to the side. She grabbed her laptop and leaned back into her pillows, pulling the blanket up before turning her laptop on.

. . .

It made her feel so happy when Blake confessed she enjoyed speaking with her. Weiss had never gotten to feel that kind of warmth fluttering in her chest before she'd met and started talking to Blake.

She turned on her laptop and waited until she saw Blake's icon light up, indicating she was online as well. Weiss started the call, prepping herself a bit to look nice for the video. She was still in her nightgown and robe, but didn't think Blake expected her to look as though she were ready for a banquet. She'd already planned out her outfit for tomorrow, though.

As soon as Blake appeared on-screen, Weiss smiled at the sight of her, also looking happily lazy and dressed in pajamas.

"Good morning, Blake!" Weiss felt her heart start to thump harder; this always happened, even when she'd just known the girl as Cat. But now that she knew Blake's real name and was going to meet her…

Weiss thought her heart might burst out of her chest.

"H-How are you today?" she asked excitedly.

. . .

Blake grabbed her headphones and plugged them into her laptop before answering the call.

"Good morning, Weiss!" She replied with as much enthusiasm as her friend. She felt a bit better about being in her casual clothes when she noticed Weiss was dressed comfortably as well. "I'm doing well. Just woke up not too long ago so I'm enjoying the lazy morning. How about you Weiss? How are you today?"

Blake felt as her heart started to pump a little faster.

I get to meet her tomorrow…

. . .

"I'm doing well! I can't wait for tomorrow!" She smiled, following Blake's lead and plugging in her headphones. She hadn't used them much last time, but she could hear Blake more clearly this way.

They talked the day away, telling stories for hours, just like they had yesterday.

Weiss didn't notice the time passing by, and her headphones prevented her from hearing other things properly.

She didn't notice when her father came home.

She must've been talking too loud, laughing too cheerfully.

Weiss was enjoying a hearty giggle as Blake finished telling a funny story about her cat.

That was when the door to her room burst open.

Weiss jumped and gasped loudly, yanking her headphones off instantly as fear gripped her heart. Her eyes went wide, her voice thick with terror.

"F-Father…"

There was cold fury in his grey eyes, and they cut into her soul. Weiss jolted, but couldn't look away. His voice was booming - furious - and seemed to shake the entire house.

"What are you doing?! You told me you had a project, and here you are playing online?" he bellowed. "Worthless! Every last inch of you! I don't know why I bother keeping you around! You'd be better off dead to me! Your sister slaves away in her room every day while I'm at work, and what are you doing? Blogging? Useless! Do you really think any of those people care about you? I want you off that contraption immediately! And don't join us for supper!"

He spun around and stormed off, slamming the door behind him and making the room shake.

But Weiss was shaking worse. She'd started sobbing and trembling the second he'd started yelling. She was curled up in her chair defensively, tears drenching her face as she whimpered, heart pounding.

It hurt. Everything hurt.

Somewhere along the lines of her father's enraged discourse, she'd shut off the call with Blake, but as she looked to the black screen now, she couldn't find it within herself to call her again.

She wanted to-

-but she couldn't.

Weiss hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face, trying to stifle her sobs to no avail.

. . .

Blake had been so happy to see Weiss smile and hear that the other girl was doing well.

She had just finished telling a story when she'd heard the loud slam come from Weiss' end of the call.

"Weiss-?"

Blake cut off when she heard an angry voice start to yell in the background. She watched as Weiss jolted and turned to face the person Blake could only assume was her father.

"Weiss? Weiss! What's going on? Are you all right?"

Blake heard the horrible things he said. She saw the sheer terror in Weiss' face. She felt the girl's panic as if it was her own.

Suddenly the call ended, leaving Blake staring at a blank, silent screen.

She immediately sent Weiss a message online and texted the girl at the same time:

Weiss, are you all right? The call ended suddenly and your father sounded mad. I'm worried about you...

. . .

She didn't know how long she sat there like that, curling fearfully in her chair. She was afraid to move, afraid to cry too loudly, afraid he might come back and yell again…

She heard her phone go off, but she was scared to answer that, too. What if her father found out she had Blake's number and was texting her? He'd end their friendship for certain. Weiss didn't want that. She didn't want…

She didn't want to do this anymore.

The sun set, shrouding her room in darkness, but still she refused to answer her phone. The tears didn't stop either, nor did the shaking. It was getting colder, and she was shivering violently, both from the air and from the lingering terror of being berated at so vehemently by her father.

Weiss' mind was jumbled, and her chest felt suffocated. She couldn't stop crying - she couldn't breathe.

She didn't know how much time had passed before she finally dared to reach for her phone.

But she didn't read the frantic texts Blake had sent her. She merely typed up a message with shaking fingers, tears dripping onto her screen to obstruct her vision. She sent it and put her phone back on her desk, far away from her reach.

She… wouldn't need it anymore.

The only thing on her mind from then on was the same word she'd texted to Blake:

Sorry…

. . .

Blake sat staring at her phone and computer for a long time, waiting for any kind of reply from Weiss.

Her father had sounded furious, and while Blake hadn't heard everything he'd said since the call had been cut off, somehow she knew why he was mad.

Weiss had said her father was strict and put a lot of pressure on her to be perfect. It hit Blake that their calls always ended at the same time of evening, and today they had talked longer than normal. Weiss typically got off before her father got home, but today she hadn't noticed the time and hadn't heard him because of her headphones.

A vibration in her palm stopped Blake's thoughts as she quickly read the text from Weiss. It was only one word:

Sorry...

A cold chill ran through her. She didn't like that word. Not like this.

Blake typed back quickly, hoping to help like she had helped before:

Weiss, please don't do anything bad. Your father is wrong. You work just as hard as your sister and we both know it. You may not be perfect, but neither is anyone else. Don't think for a second no one cares about you. I do, Weiss. I care about you and I want to meet you. More than anything.

. . .

Her phone went off again, but Weiss wouldn't read it. She only touched it one last time to turn if off completely.

After that, she slowly uncurled herself from the chair, but her legs were still shaking too much for her to stand. She fell to her knees on the sleek wooden floor, and more tears jumped to her eyes. She just couldn't stop hurting, couldn't stop trembling. It was cold, and her robe was doing nothing for her.

More time passed as she sent prayers of apology out to Blake. Every passing second was another wasted heartbeat, another second she was being useless, another second her existence was meaningless.

She knew she'd only hurt Blake in the end with all of these horrible feelings. It was better if… she just disappeared.

Weiss crawled up into her bed and curled herself up, not even bothering with the blankets. If she was lucky, her condition would kill her in the night and let her freeze. If not, she'd do something about it tomorrow.

Her pillow was drenched within minutes despite the dryness of her throat. Her stomach was hollow, and her heart was heavy and slow. It was annoying. She wanted it to stop altogether.

She dug her nails deeply into the fabrics of her pillow, biting down on it in another spot, voice broke.

"I'm… sorry, Blake…"

. . .

Blake kept texting Weiss, hoping the girl would respond and let Blake know that she was all right.

But that reassurance never came.

After an hour, Blake gave up and put her phone down, not knowing what to do now. She wanted to find Weiss' address and go to her house right then and there, but she knew that wasn't realistic of her; Weiss' father would never let her through the door.

Eventually, she closed her laptop and set it on her night stand before curling into a ball on her bed. Her eyes were damp and her vision blurred before she squeezed her eyes tight. Worry gnawed at her and she couldn't think of anything else but Weiss.

The thought of something bad happening her - her father's abuse or worse - hurt Blake. She cared about Weiss, and all Blake wanted to do was help her.

But what can I do...? Nothing...

She started to drift into an uneasy sleep because she had no other choice.

. . .

What she experienced that night wasn't sleep, but more like losing consciousness due to sheer exhaustion. She was freezing, but she couldn't move, aside from the shivering. She felt hollow, numb.

And yet she could still feel the pain, the crippling ache in her chest and the pounding in her skull.

The only thoughts in her head were jumbled, faint images, some of Blake, but most of her father's rage.

She kept hearing his words, shouting and echoing in her mind, haunting remnants that wouldn't leave her alone.

"Worthless… useless... better off dead..."

He'd said those words to her so many times…

She finally believed him.

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A/N: Please be cautious in proceeding to the next chapter as well.