In The Name Of Love (ch7)

EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS!!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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													Chapter 7. A Little Closer

Blake lay there on her couch for a little while simply relishing the gleeful feeling dancing around in her chest.

She kept replaying her conversations with Ruby in her mind, chiding herself for the times she'd said stupid things and praising herself for the times she'd actually sounded intelligible.

But no matter how embarrassed Blake felt about herself, Ruby had never seemed to mind any of her comments. She was just such a happy person in general, and she was overjoyed to finally have someone like Blake to rant about her obsession with freely.

And then there'd been the walk back here together, how they'd brushed shoulders or bumped into each others' sides under the umbrella, how Ruby had tripped and Blake had caught her...

She quickly pushed herself up and shook her head, realizing she was acting like a child with these infatuations. Blake briskly got up from the couch and found her parents chatting in the kitchen. After the usual greeting, Blake talked about her day in minor detail.

"I waited inside for a bit after my shift was over because of the rain."

"Oh," her mother fretted. "I'm so sorry neither of us could drive you home, dear." She skirted the table and kissed Blake's head. Blake shrugged.

"It's all right. I got someone to walk me home."

"Ah, yes," her father grinned. "I'm sure Weiss was well-prepared with an umbrella."

"Actually," Blake said. "Weiss was sick today. She didn't go in. A... A new friend walked me home."

"Oh? A new friend, eh? I thought by now you would've known and been friends with everyone you were going to friends with in Vale."

"Her family just moved here," Blake explained. But she didn't want to give away too much information about who Ruby was. Her parents seemed satisfied with that much and didn't question her further.

"Well in any case," her mother said. "Be sure to thank her the next time you see her, and give Weiss a call, too."

"I will, mom."

They had dinner together, and all throughout the meal Blake was feeling excited again. She'd never mentioned Ruby to her parents before, but their candid acceptance of her even without meeting her relieved Blake.

After she'd finished cleaning her dishes, she gave each of her parents a hug and a kiss before retreating to her room.

She logged onto her social media accounts and played around for a bit before ultimately ending up on Ruby's page once again. She'd only made one post today that read:

"Even rainy days can be fun if you let them!"

Blake's lips curled up when she read it over. Part of herself wanted to believe Ruby had typed that in reference to her time spent with Blake, but another part felt it was too self-indulgent to believe that.

Nonetheless, Blake liked the post to show her support, even if Ruby still didn't know who she was online. She'd been planning on telling her today, just in case Ruby found it weird or wanted Blake to stop, but one way or another Blake had missed her chance to say it. Hopefully she'd have many more opportunities in the future.

She was just stretching out and settling into a relaxed position when her cell phone went off and scared her out of her wits. Blake scrambled to fish it from her pocket and swipe the screen. There was a flustered text from Weiss:

//Blake! Did you tell Yang to text me? She just texted me and it nearly gave me a heart-attack!//

Blake smirked. She'd been planning on texting Weiss a little later, but she supposed now was fine too.

//I didn't tell Yang to do anything. Ruby was at the café today and I told her you were sick. She's the one who insisted Yang should text you and see how you were doing. Which, I'm guessing you're doing better now that she texted you, right?//

Blake only got to have her fun teasing Weiss for a moment before it was sent right back at her.

//Quiet! I'll bet you had quite the day with Ruby then, right? Did you run all the way home alone in the rain or what? Tell me all about it, Belladonna.//

Blake grimaced and gave in, then texted out to Weiss in minor detail that she and Ruby had merely talked for a while and then walked back to her house together. Weiss took her fair share of jabs at Blake for that before both of them came to a silent truce.

In terms of getting to communicate more with their respective crushes, today had been a fairly successful day.

Blake ended the conversation by wishing Weiss well and closing her phone to get ready for bed.

As she lie there, she just kept reliving the memories of the walk home in the rain with Ruby until she fell asleep.

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The next morning she texted Weiss, who said she felt mostly better, but Winter was insisting she stay home another day just to be certain.

Blake made sure to check the weather forecast this time to ensure it wasn't going to rain before she set out for the morning walk to the café. She arrived to find that Coco was there to take over Weiss' shift today, and together they set to work.

Blake liked to think she would've been able to act somewhat normally today when Ruby walked in.

But because of what had happened yesterday beneath that umbrella – which, in retrospect, wasn't really much, but to her mind it was monumental – she ended up freezing the second the sisters walked in today. The duty of greeting them was left to Coco.

"Hey there! You two are becoming regulars, huh? That's what we like to see. So what can we get for ya?"

Blake had to admit she was a little impressed and a little envious of Coco for being able to converse with them so naturally. Blake and Weiss would stumble through words with minimal amounts of confidence at best.

/But I guess that's because she doesn't have a crush on either of them.../

"Hey there!" Yang greeted them back with a nod instead of a wave, because both of her hands were occupied by shopping bags. Blake couldn't be entirely sure, but she thought the blonde looked a little disappointed at the fact that Weiss wasn't here. "I'm gonna try today's special."

"And I'm just gonna have the usual!" Ruby piped. "Hehee, it makes me sound so official to say that!"

Blake forgot her nervousness long enough to smile.

"One Strawberry Swirl Summer Special coming right up."

She and Coco turned around to prepare the drinks. Blake was contentedly filling Ruby's cup from the machines when Coco slid in next to her.

"So tell me. Who's got the hots for who? You got eyes on the blonde, or is she Weiss'?"

Blake sputtered and almost dropped Ruby's cup.

"Th-That's not-"

"Oh, so you're for the little sister, huh? I never knew you had it in you, Blake." She smirked, and from beneath her shades Blake could see her eyes were dancing with teasing mischief. "Lemme know how things go, though knowing you and Weiss I wouldn't be surprised if those sisters had to make their moves first."

With that she left Blake at the machines and went to ring their customers up.

Blake was so dumbfounded she nearly stood there at the machine until Ruby's cup overflowed and she had to quickly grab a napkin to dab away the excess.

/Wh-What did she mean it might be up to Ruby and Yang to make the first moves? They wouldn't have to make any moves unless they... unless they liked us too-/

"Blake, hunny," Coco called. "You finished with that drink yet?"

"S-Sorry!" She put a lid on Ruby's drink and hurried to the register to hand it off to her. Ruby grinned back and when she reached out to take it her fingers touched Blake's.

"Thanks! I'm glad you didn't get sick from the rain yesterday, too."

"That's... only thanks to you," Blake mumbled.

"Speaking of sick people..." Yang cleared her throat to cut in. "I was thinking maybe, if it's cool with you Blake, after your shift you could walk Ruby and I to Weiss' place? Maybe it wasn't my place, but I kinda went and bought her a little get-well gift." She smiled and lifted her arms a bit to indicated the shopping bags.

If Blake had whiskers she knew she would've felt them twitch in amusement when she imagined the look on Weiss' face if she showed up at her house today with a gift-giving Yang at her side.

"That sounds like a great idea. I'm off in another hour."

"Perfect! Ruby and I will chill here until then."

With that, the two of them turned and headed off to get a table. Blake was left staring at their backs for a moment until she felt a poke in her side and jolted.

"Sooo~" Coco hummed. "It's fine if you tease Schnee and bring her crush straight to her doorstep, but I'm not allowed to poke fun at you, huh? Hypocrite."

"Shut up." Blake swatted her hand away playfully and Coco snorted.

"You two are too cute, Belladonna."

Blake somehow made it through her final hour of work for the day, which was of course interspersed with catching glances and waves and smiles from Ruby, and then getting a snicker or smirk from Coco every time.

When her shift was over and Velvet walked in to take her place, Blake quickly pulled off her apron, hung it up, and clocked out all within the course of thirty seconds.

"Bye, Velvet," she said, pointedly not mentioning Coco for all the teasing she'd put her through.

"Goodbye, Blake! Have a lovely afternoon!"

"Good luck."

"Oh, she will," Coco looked from Velvet to Blake. "And it's us who should be wishing you good luck, Belladonna."

She finished with a wink, and Blake whirled around and ran to the other side of the counter before she could be subjected to more teasing.

Ruby and Yang had finished their drinks a while ago and had spent the remainder of the hour chatting and playing games on their phones. When Blake approached them they both perked up and got to their feet.

"Oh boy!" Ruby sang. "Time for Operation Gift-Giving!"

"It's just a little thing," Yang reminded her before turning to Blake for instruction. "All right, please lead the way."

"Sure."

Blake headed out the doors, holding them open from Ruby and Yang as they passed. She guided them on their ten-minute walk to Weiss' house.

And ten minutes had never felt quite so long before.

Yesterday at least she and Ruby had been moving a bit quickly in the rain, but today they were all set at a saunter, compensating for the bags Yang had on her arms.

Briefly, Blake wondered if she should shoot Weiss a warning text or at least a hint of what was about to happen, but she ultimately decided against it. She wanted to see the look of utter shock on Weiss' face.

But for now during their walk there, Blake was internally debating what to do. She wanted to strike up a conversation, particularly with Ruby, but she wasn't sure if she could do that with Yang there. She didn't want to say anything stupid in front of her crush's big sister. It'd almost be as bad as saying something stupid in front of her father.

So Blake held her tongue and stuck to the minimum of phrases such as "this way" or "watch your step on the curb here."

But luckily for her, Ruby was chatty by nature and provided Blake with plenty of questions she could respond to.

"Whoa, the neighborhood is so much nicer when it's not all rainy and gray! What kind of flowers are those?"

"Petunias. And those are honeysuckle. The neighborhood smells like this for half the year at least."

"Oooh, I love it! I think we had some of those near our set! I remember that smell! Oh! Is that a bird's nest up there?"

"Yeah. I think it's a robin's."

"Aww so cute!"

With Ruby leading the conversation, Blake easily fell into step beside her. While Ruby followed her lead physically, Blake followed hers verbally.

She was also extremely thankful for the fact that Yang kept back a few paces. If anything, she was giving them space – either because she knew what was kindling between them, or because she was keeping a watchful eye on Blake – but either way Blake greatly appreciated the breathing room.

With Ruby to talk with so freely now, Blake almost got lost in the conversation and walked right past Weiss' house. She had to timidly pause the procession and ease them back a few paces.

"Here," she said, nodding to the small mansion. "I always come to her house to watch the new episodes of Ninjas."

"Ohhh that's so neat! Weiss is a good friend, huh?"

"Yeah," Blake smiled. "A really good friend." Which is why I'm giving her this gift.

Inclining her head, Blake led Ruby and Yang up the sidewalk to the front door, which was where she had them pause. Blake took out her phone and sent Weiss a quick text that wouldn't give anything away, but would ensure that she came to answer the door herself.

//Weiss, I need to drop something off really quickly. Could you come get the door for me, please?//

She sent the message, then nodded to the sisters. They waited for a moment or so before Blake heard movement from inside, the scuffling of feet heading for the door before the lock clicked.

"Honestly, Blake. What could you possibly be dropping off-"

But the second Weiss laid eyes upon her unexpected visitors, she fell dead silent.

Yang stepped forward with a huge grin.

"Hey there, Weiss! Sorry to intrude, but Ruby and I just wanted to swing by and give you a little get-well present, y'know?" She reached into one of the shopping bags and pulled out a small wrapped box.

Weiss was still in too much shock to comprehend everything right away, so she only stared with her mouth agape.

Blake had to keep herself from chuckling out loud. It was a bit of payback for Weiss teasing her about being alone with Ruby yesterday. Though throwing this level of surprise at a sick girl might've been a bit mean. Blake decided to grunt in order to snap Weiss out of her trance. She shakily reached forward and accepted Yang's present.

"Y-Yang, Ruby... th-thank you. You didn't have to-"

"But we wanted to!" Yang said. "The café's not the same without you."

"Yeah!" Ruby chimed in. "Hope you feel better soon, Weiss!"

"I... I..."

"Well, we don't wanna overstay our welcome," Yang said. "Let's get goin', sis."

"Kay. See you guys tomorrow!"

The pair turned and began heading down the stairs. Blake called after them.

"Do you know how to get back from here?"

"Yeah, no sweat! Thanks again for showin' us the way."

"Thanks, Blake! Bye bye!" Ruby gave a happy little wave before she scampered off after her sister.

Blake and Weiss both watched them go in silence. But ultimately, Weiss was the first one to get her senses back.

"Blake." Her voice was low, somewhere between a growl and a whimper. "What... on earth were you thinking? To bring her here-"

"Oh shoot, I think I have to get going."

"Oh no you don't, Belladonna!" Still cradling Yang's present in one arm, Weiss reached out with her free hand to grab her friend's shirt. "You're not going anywhere! Explain-"

"Weiss?" Winter's voice sounded from behind her just as she appeared. "What's going on? Who were those girls?" The second she noticed the gift in her younger sister's hands, Winter raised an eyebrow. "Did they give that to you?"

"Winter! Well, you see..."

"Weiss, you told me you were getting better, but your face is red. If you're running another fever I'll have you take the rest of the week off."

"That's not it! Honest!"

In her haste to pacify her older sister's concerns, Weiss released Blake. No doubt Winter was going to ask all about Ruby and Yang now, and Weiss would have no choice but to spill the beans about her crush.

Blake felt a little guilty for putting her through that, but in the end it'd be better for Weiss to have another ally, especially in Winter.

So with a tiny mumbled apology, Blake stepped down the stairs and jogged out of range of Schnee property. She'd be sure to text Weiss later if Weiss didn't frantically call her first.

As she walked back home, Blake had a bit of a spring in her step. She'd talked a bit more with Ruby today, and though she would've felt more at ease if Yang hadn't been there too, it was still progress.

Blake knew in time she'd find a way to be alone with Ruby again so she could explain that she followed her on social media and was a bit bigger of a fan that she'd initially let on. There was still so much she wanted to talk to her about, but it wasn't so much about Ninjas Of Love anymore. They'd gotten the opportunity to discuss that several times now, and as much as Blake enjoyed it, there was more to their relationship than just that.

Ninjas Of Love had brought them together, but it only brushed the surface of who they were. Blake wanted to know about Ruby now, more than just her favorite drink or her casual weapon collection.

Blake wasn't sure how to go about getting to that more personal level with her, but inching ever closer by the day seemed like a plausible method. This sort of thing was almost starting to feel natural now, walking around town with Ruby and Yang, getting to chat with them, showing them hers and Weiss' houses...

They were all getting closer and closer by the day, and Blake was both nervous and excited to see how much closer they could become.

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A/N: The Blake/Ruby scenes were very casual and light this chapter, but I promise they are getting their big moments of focus coming up! Stay tuned!