Moving Forward (ch2)

Exclusively for patrons only! Chapter one is linked on my Patreon account!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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							Chapter 2. 5AM Confessions

After a long, barefooted trek up the tedious flights of stairs, Blake finally reached her floor with her temporary roommate in tow.

They'd been jostled by other tired tenants all the way up, and by now were nothing short of zombies as they groaned repeatedly and made for Blake's door.

When she glanced over her shoulder, she found Yang was still a good half a dozen feet behind her, so Blake paused and waited for her to catch up. The blonde girl was still shivering understandably, considering her worrying lack of clothing, and Blake ushered her toward the door.

Blake then opened her precious notebook. On the inside cover was a small pocket where her key was located; she always took this notebook with her no matter what, hence why she always kept her key inside.

With a click and a twist of the wrist, the door unlocked, and the two girls stepped inside.

The room was dark, and Blake quickly rushed over to her desk to flick on her lamp; the softer glow of the shaded bulb was more preferable at this time of night... morning, and she was certain that turning on the main light would effectively blind the both of them.

"Sorry it's not much," she mumbled, placing her notebook back on her desk. The room suddenly felt much smaller with two people inside it now.

But Yang didn't seem to mind.

"You don't hafta apologize for anything. I'm beyond grateful you're lettin' me stay the rest of the night. If not, I'd've had to go bother the landlord about a new key, get scolded about leaving mine in the room in an emergency, and then I'd feel bad about buggin' 'em and go back to bed feelin' all guilty. Or I wouldn't've even've bothered going to the landlord and would've just crashed outside my door and slept till mornin'. Or maybe not even've slept at all..."

Blake listened quietly throughout the girl's short discourse.

"Sounds like you have experience," she said before quickly correcting herself. "Sorry. It's none of my business."

Blake headed to her dresser and began sifting through the drawers, searching for a shirt and pants she could lend the girl. Yang shrugged, pulling the borrowed robe a little closer around her collar.

"You're not wrong, though. Somethin' similar happened in my old dorm," she confessed. "Heh, I was a failure at college even when I wasn't in class."

By then, Blake had extracted a long pair of sweatpants and a knitted sweater she rarely wore due to its yellowish color.

"Well, college isn't easy. And it's not for everyone. I never finished." She walked slowly back to Yang and offered her the clothes. "Here. These'll keep you warm for the rest of the morning. I'll get you some blankets. You can change in the bathroom if you want."

Blake then went to a small closet, and Yang headed to the adjacent door which led to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Blake hadn't said much to her just then, but for some reason, those few simple little words had made Yang feel better about a lot of things.

As she shed Blake's robe and folded it neatly, it was with a small smile on her face. She pulled on the sweatpants that were almost a perfect fit, and then wrestled her way into the sweater. It smelled of mahogany, likely from being at the bottom of the drawers untouched for so long, but Yang didn't mind at all. She picked up Blake's robe and stepped back out into the main room, finding the dark-haired girl had laid down a blanket on the floor beside the bed.

Blake went to the small love seat in the corner of the room near the covered window and removed the little decorative pillow from it. She returned to the makeshift bed on the floor just as Yang reached it.

"Sorry," Blake said again, handing her the pillow. "I know it's not much."

Yang shook her head as she accepted the pillow.

"Like I said, ya got nothing to be apologizin' for. You're really savin' my neck here. I'll get this washed for ya tomorrow," she said with a nod to the robe. "It's the least I can do."

"Alright," Blake agreed; she knew the girl wouldn't be satisfied until she could 'repay' her somehow for letting her stay the night. "But for now, let's get some rest." She went to the window and closed the curtains where she'd opened them earlier to reach the fire escape. "Do you have to be up at any particular time?" she asked. "If you do, I can set an alarm."

"Nah," Yang waved her hand dismissively. "I'm kind of a bum right now. Takin' a semester off to try and figure myself out, y'know?"

"Yeah. That's good," Blake said, turning off the lamp and leaving the room in soft shadows. "It's better to take a break sometimes instead of pushing yourself until you break."

Yang sat down on the blanket on the floor, placing the small pillow behind her as she chuckled softly.

"You sound like you've had experience," she commented. "But yeah, that's none of my business, either."

"It's fine..." Blake murmured, sitting down on the edge of her bed at last. Her eyes traveled over to find Yang sitting up on the floor. "I dropped out of college after my first semester. Too much unnecessary work with too little reward in the long run. And way too much money.

"With my writing, I've managed to scramble by and scrape up enough cash for rent every month. I'd much rather work hard doing something I love and have a home to come back to at night instead of toiling away and exhausting my energy and my wallet just to get a degree. If this is what's in store for me every day for the rest of my life, I'll take it over spiteful professors and uncaring counselors any day."

She wasn't sure why she'd gone off on such a long-winded speech just now. Perhaps it'd been the obscure hour of morning it was, and hour that made her feel unafraid to think or say anything to anyone.

Or perhaps it was because in the short amount of time she'd known Yang, she'd found the blonde to be very personable, respectful, and a good listener.

That was more than could be said for Blake's entire ex-college campus combined. Years of being labeled and placed in categories back in high school had led her to start believing people like Yang didn't exist, so she was more than glad to be proven wrong.

Even now, the girl was still looking up at her with patient eyes, sensing Blake had more to say. And she did.

"Society makes you think you have to go to school, graduate college, get a career, get married, and then have kids. They make you feel like there's no other possible way to live life other than that. And they hate when people try to defy that or go against it. They try to push you back into line, and if they can't do that, they sweep your existence under the rug entirely. But it's not so bad under here. It's really not. We get by, somehow."

Yang could hear the little smile in her voice as Blake finally finished speaking.

The blonde was at an absolute loss for words.

Never before in all her life had she heard someone say such things. The ever-present ache in the back of her chest that had been guilting her for the past two months dissipated within a matter of minutes of hearing Blake talk.

Yang was hardly an emotional person in the presence of others – life as a big sister had trained her to keep her feelings bottled up so she could care for others instead.

But she couldn't stop the tears from overflowing then, dripping down her cheeks and onto the sweatpants.

Blake had just been in the process of laying herself down when she heard the soft sobs coming from the floor, and she quickly shot up.

"Yang?" Slipping her legs off the bed, she dropped promptly to the floor and knelt down beside the girl. "Hey, are you alright? Are you hurt? Do you h-have to take medicine or something?" Worry flared hot in her stomach as she prepared to move or dart to the door if need be.

But Yang shook her head.

"No... nothin' like that. I'm... I'm okay..." she muttered. "Better than okay after... hearin' you say all of that."

The red flag in Blake's mind slowly lowered as she realized Yang wasn't in pain; in fact, the tears were good ones, tears of relief in a way.

Blake was glad she could be the kind of person Yang never thought she'd find, because Yang was that person for her as well.

The blonde sniffled, wiping her arm over her eyes. "Sorry for the waterworks..." she mumbled. "I don't wanna get... stuff all over your pretty sweater."

"It's fine," Blake said softly, reaching out a hand and resting it on Yang's shoulder. "Really, it's fine, Yang. Don't worry about it. I'll get you some tissues." She lifted herself up onto her knees and reached for the box on the bedside table, pulling out a few tissues before handing them to Yang. The blonde accepted them gratefully, blowing her nose in one and dabbing at her eyes with the other.

"Thanks..." she mumbled.

Blake nodded toward a small waste bin under the bedside table, and Yang deposited the tissues there.

There was another moment of silence as Yang sniffled a few more times. Blake still knelt beside her, the hand on Yang's shoulder rubbing gently.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

The response wasn't immediate, but Yang turned around to face her in the darkness. Only a very dim haze of moonlight was coming in through the curtains, and Blake could make out the shine of her guest's lavender eyes. Her lips were in a small smile, and that eased some of Blake's concerns, but still she waited for a verbal reply.

It wasn't the one she'd been expecting, though.

"Hey, Blake? Are you okay with hugs?"

The writer blinked in confusion several times as she processed the question.

"I guess so. I mean I never really-"

She cut off with a small gasp as she felt Yang wrap her arms around her shoulders. The other girl's face went to Blake's shoulder, nuzzling into her hair and the side of her neck.

"Okay..." Yang whispered. "I just thought I should ask first in case you weren't. But god, I'm glad you are, because I really need to hug you after hearin' you say all of that."

Blake couldn't remember the last time she'd been hugged – probably by her parents before she'd gone off to college two years ago. And judging by the tightness of Yang's grip, the blonde girl hadn't exactly been getting much satisfaction with embraces recently either.

But it was clear that she loved giving them, as the way she held onto Blake suggested that Yang had years of practice and thoroughly enjoyed physical contact when it was wanted.

Blake had never been one for such things, but for whatever reason right now she was finding she didn't mind one bit. She returned the hug, hesitant at first, but gaining a bit of confidence as the seconds ticked on.

"Thanks for asking," she murmured. "It's nice to find someone who respects boundaries."

She felt Yang nod against her shoulder.

They stayed like that for only a moment before Yang let her go.

"You're a great hugger," she said with a grin, the tears having dried.

Blake felt her lip curve up on one side.

"Thanks," she chuckled. "You, too."

Yang offered a little grin, and Blake felt something warm curl in her chest.

It was then the blonde's gaze traveled to the digital alarm clock on the table above her.

"Oh, crap! It's five-freaking-thirty. Sorry I kept you up."

"It's alright," Blake murmured. "Like I said, I don't have to do anything important tomorrow, er- today. We can sleep in a bit. Then I'll take you to the landlord to get you back into your room and maybe we can grab breakfast or something if you want."

Yang perked up at the suggestions.

"Really? You'd do that? That sounds awesome! Thanks so much!"

"Like I said, don't worry about it," Blake smiled.

She couldn't deny that in the hour she'd known Yang, she'd already taken a liking to her. And something told her the feeling was mutual, considering how Yang had just cried in front of her and hugged her like that.

She remembered her prior offer to show Yang around the complex; with any luck, they could try it out after they woke up.

Yang let out a loud yawn, snapping Blake from her thoughts.

"Let's get some shut-eye," Yang mumbled.

"Right."

Reassured that the girl was alright now, Blake stood and crawled back onto her bed, lifting the comforters and slipping underneath. She could already hear the birds starting to chirp outside...

Normally, she'd groan to herself and desperately try to fall back asleep, only to wake groggily a few hours later.

But now, she was actually a bit eager for the morning, wondering what it would be like to wake up with someone else there with her.

Resting her cheek on her pillow, she closed her eyes, letting out a small sigh.

Yang laid down on her back, closing her eyes on the ceiling, the blanket and clothes Blake had given her serving to shield her from the chill of the wooden floor. She listened to the sounds of Blake moving about on her bed, waiting until she'd grown still before speaking softly.

"Thanks again, Blake. For everything tonight," she whispered. "You helped me out in more ways than I think you know."

Blake smiled a little at her words, offering a reply.

"Don't mention it. I'm glad I could help a bit."

She heard a contented sigh from her guest, and recognized it as the sound of a person quickly losing consciousness. Before Yang could drift off, Blake offered one last little phrase.

"Good night."

She couldn't recall the last time she'd spoken those words, and Yang couldn't recall when she'd last heard them, either.

"Night," she replied with a smile.

Despite the exhausting and hectic events of the cold autumn night, the two girls fell asleep soon afterward feeling warmer than they had in a long while.

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A/N: Will be more chapters in the future!