Confessions (ch8)

Final chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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														Chapter 8.

They lazed around a while longer until the afternoon, where they finally opted to shower, only to slip back into their sleepwear afterward. They snacked on the food they kept in the room, and Weiss opted to make Blake a cup of tea.

They spoiled one another in little ways until their partners came back. Evidently, Ruby and Yang planned to go out early the next morning, so they crawled up to their beds to sleep early for once, and before long, Weiss found herself sitting on Blake's bed once again, leaning onto her shoulder and dozing lightly as the Faunus girl read her book.

"Let me know whenever you want to sleep," she murmured, slipping an arm across her girlfriend's stomach.

. . .

Blake hummed, an idle acknowledgement in the back of her throat as she turned the page of her book. She looked down when she felt an arm drape across her stomach. Weiss' eyes were drooping, fighting against the strain of dreariness, and Blake threaded her fingers through that hand.

"Soon," she murmured, careful not to disturb the two other occupants. "Just let me finish this chapter."

It was a few minutes before the final words drifted through her vision and the book closed for the night. She stretched to place it back on the nightstand, making sure it was safe and secure on the surface. The light switch was flicked off, the loss plunging the room into darkness.

Squirming, Blake reached for Weiss, searching even when she didn't need to. Weiss hadn't moved, was still leaning against her shoulder with that same tired face. It was probably just the rain. An insistent pattering against the windowpane that Blake had never really been fond of, and with the book out of the way, the noise jumped to the forefront of her mind.

"Sleep now," she said, tugging a rather sleepy Weiss down with her as she drew up the covers. She pulled Weiss close to her, the feeling and weight grounding in the murkiness that settled around them.

. . .

"Mm, good night," Weiss mumbled as she settled into position at Blake's side. She slid in to kiss her cheek softly. A yawn, and her mind slipped to the border of unconsciousness, though it didn't cross the line just yet.

She lay contentedly for a while, listening to the hissing of the rain, but that didn't compare to the faint purrs rumbling beneath her ear as she curled into Blake's collar. She pulled Blake's waist close and squeezed her beneath the blankets, sighing as the familiar scent and warmth enveloped her.

It was just when she was about to fall asleep when she started to feel something was… off.

Blake's purrs cut off abruptly and her body twitched in small jolts as she slept. Her heart started to pound, and Weiss felt nails dig into her back.

"Blake…?" She whispered, drawing back slowly to glimpse her face, only to find it beaded with sweat. "Blake-?" Her voice rose a bit in panic and she rubbed the girl's back, debating whether she should wake her or not.

Weiss reached one hand up to Blake's forehead and emitted a light flow of her aura to cool her down, praying whatever ailed her would soon pass.

. . .

The dreams were thick and clinging, tendrils of long forgotten fears sticking to her skin in the night; like being dragged under the surface just long enough to choke on that first swallow before being pulled back up again.

She saw Adam, familiar despite the time - the distance - figure soaked in the downpour falling from between the fire escapes. Red and seeping, he looked as if someone had pulled him from the trash heap where he had first found her, shoved him to the ground and left him to rot in the sewage that bubbled up from the underground.

She tried to pull him out, but the grime was dense, consuming, appearing as if to swallow him whole back down into the underbelly from where he came - from where they both came.

She saw Weiss, cold despite the closeness, the life missing from her eyes. White and chilled, she was sprawled unmoving between sheets, ignorant of the pleading falling silently from Blake's lips - fists wrapped tight in the folds of her white dress. Begging that if she asked nicely enough, apologized for what she had done, Weiss would come back to her.

But the body held sure within her grasp vanished, melted between her fingertips, and the sudden emptiness slithering up her spine curled around her throat, the pressure slowly rising until there was nothing but the darkness and the soft patter of the rain on glass.

The murkiness of the dorm room materialized slowly, the soft strokes of a hand rubbing up and down her back bring her back to reality. Blake breathed out shakily, lungs tight and heavy. Her hands hurt, their death grip on Weiss' nightgown the cause, but she didn't dare let go.

. . .

Weiss swallowed thickly, almost choking on it and needing to force it down. Blake's condition only seemed to worsen with every passing second, and it scared her. Before long, she was crying, increasing the flow of her aura as she looked up at the girl's face in the darkness. The outlines of her ears were flat against her scalp and she was shaking, so vulnerable to her nightmares that it had Weiss fearing for her safety.

The nails in her back were sharp, but the pain only demonstrated how desperate Blake was for purchase to channel the agony she was suffering - how terrifying the nightmares were.

"Blake…" she sobbed, begging. "B-Blake, please wake up…" Her hands were weak now as she trembled, scared for the Faunus girl as the rain continued to hiss.

A small sound reached her ears - it sounded strangled, but it was a sound of awakening. Weiss looked up sharply to see amber eyes crack open. Relief washed over her, mixed with so many other things.

"Blake…" she sighed. "Your heart's so fast. It's okay, I promise." Sniffling, Weiss shifted herself, moving up so she could press her lips to the girl's forehead, then lightly over her lips as Blake struggled for breath.

She pulled Blake's head to her chest, willing her to stop shaking so badly. She wanted Blake to know she was there - for her.

"It's okay…" The hands at her back slowly, slowly uncurled. "You're okay, Blake. I'm here. Just breathe…"

. . .

Her arms wrapped firmly around Weiss, pulse thundering in her ears. She buried her face in the crook of Weiss' neck, the familiarity comforting despite the fear that lingered like an old wound too stubborn to heal. It left her ragged, her recuperating body unable to cope with the worst of the recoil, and she shivered in Weiss' arms.

It had been awhile since the nightmares had been this bad. Small fever dreams brought on by stress during the years, but carefully-planned distance kept others from noticing. She didn't need the pity; she didn't deserve it.

And yet Blake pressed closer now, the image of lifeless white still so real it felt suffocating. She couldn't get her hands to let go, but they loosened at the sound of Weiss' voice.

"Sorry, I-" She choked, her voice a rasp as she tried to breathe in between fading tremors. "I didn't mean to wake you up..."

. . .

Weiss' heart sank when the first words out of Blake's lips were an apology. She'd never been so close to another person, never felt someone else's fragility so clearly-

-never heard someone collapsing as they slowly came apart from the inside out.

It was terrifying.

"Shh…" She stroked Blake's hair gingerly, easing her fingertips over the fur of her ears and coaxing them to loosen. Her other hand went down to Blake's shoulders, rubbing circles slowly in contrast to the girl's speeding pulse. "Don't apologize. It's all right, Blake. Everything's all right." She kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her lips again, then back up between her ears.

"...You can tell me if you'd like. If you need to talk about it, I'm here. Or not. Whatever you want, so long as you're okay."

She pulled Blake in as tightly as she dared, pressing herself against the girl's pounding chest to keep her frantic heart from bursting out. She kissed her head again, breathing deeply as she finally started to calm down, willing Blake to do the same.

. . .

Blake stayed silent, Weiss' words of encouragement sifting through her ears like a pleasant breeze. Weiss was solid against her, a point of stability in a darkness that was frightening more than it should be.

Then again, it wasn't really the darkness, but what would be gone when she opened her eyes.

She buried her head in Weiss' collar, breathing in the familiarity she had perhaps grown too attached to over the last few weeks. It was more than she could have ever hoped for, but she had forgotten just how hard one could fall when in love. And how easy it would be to lose it.

"Just nightmares," she mumbled into Weiss' skin, her throat closing before she had the chance to elaborate. The time she spent with the White Fang wasn't exactly something she wanted to bring up again.

. . .

"All right... I understand. Shh, it's okay," Weiss murmured. "You don't have to say anything else." She hushed her, pressing kisses to each of her ears, then trailing down her temples and to her forehead, rubbing the girl's back all the while.

She could tell the sound of the rain was affecting Blake, and Weiss opted to eliminate the issue as best she could manage.

Cradling Blake's head to her chest as she continued petting through her hair, Weiss began to sing softly.

Her voice was soothing. An soft hum that was a welcome distraction to the rain steadily falling outside. A healing kind of lullaby.

. . .

Blake focused on her, on Weiss' words, and eventually she felt her heart slow. It was a steady beat, pounding, every thud pushing against her chest, but soon that faded too.

There was a certain tranquility in the silence that followed, when words themselves weren't needed and the comfort Weiss offered was all-encompassing.

Blake owed her an explanation - there was no escaping that - it was merely finding the strength to explain. To face whatever came afterward with nothing but acceptance. She could do that.

"Thank you." It was a whisper as Weiss pulled her closer, the soft brush of lips over her brow a caress. "For everything, Weiss."

. . .

Weiss hummed, glad to hear Blake speaking normally again.

"All right. You hush now." Weiss scolded her gently as she continued rubbing Blake's back in soothing motions.

She wished this could be it. She wished her song could've cured Blake's nightmares and prevented any future ones. She wished all of the girl's fears and insecurities and pain would go away and that all the bad things could simply be wiped from her mind. She wished Blake wouldn't have to suffer in remembering any longer.

But Weiss was no angel, and she knew it was impossible. These things would take time to heal, if they could heal at all.

Weiss sniffled, resting her chin atop Blake's head, noticing her ears were still flattened.

"I'm sorry. I wish… I could take half your pain, or something. I don't want you to be alone with this…" She could feel more tears dripping down, ashamed that she couldn't do more. "But I'll… I'll be here from now on, as best I can for you."

. . .

Blake exhaled shakily, her insides bubbling uncomfortably when she heard the near silent fall of Weiss' tears - the muttered assurances. It was almost enough to make Blake falter.

"It isn't something I want you to bear, Weiss. I did-" Her voice hitched and she swallowed. When she forced herself to continue, her words didn't make it above a whisper. As if that would lessen their weight.

"I did some really terrible things back then." Her hands tightened again, fingernails pinching the skin of her palms even despite Weiss' nightgown crumpled in her grasp. "I was naive, impressionable, and so ready for change."

. . .

"And do you honestly think you were the only one?" Weiss challenged softly. "You weren't. Others made the same mistakes, on top of much worse ones. And it wasn't just the Faunus of the White Fang; my family has done some pretty terrible things as well, even beyond the extent which you know."

She continued holding Blake, gently but firmly in case she needed to pull away for whatever reason. Weiss was just glad she'd stopped shaking.

Blake needed her right now. She kissed her girlfriend's head again.

"Whatever you did, it's in the past. You don't have to go back there, Blake. You're here now with us - with me - and that's where you're going to stay from now on."

. . .

She felt Weiss shudder, and Blake couldn't believe she had almost forgotten the atrocities Weiss must have seen while at home and in her father's care. How it had shaped who she was, and ultimately how she changed.

The scar on Weiss' face only served to prove just how strong she was. Immovable sometimes in her stubbornness, but where it counted, Weiss was steadfast in her resolve, always there when it mattered most.

It was herself who she was worried about, fluttering between past relationships whose past ties outweighed their benefit, and the stability she craved like a drug. Running had become instinctual more than Blake cared to admit.

"How can you be so sure?" she muttered, hiding her face. "How can you be so sure all of this isn't going to fall apart one day?"

. . .

Weiss felt a pang go through her heart when Blake challenged her like that, challenged her affections.

Of course, when Weiss had imagined being together with her, and then when she'd actually confessed, she'd thought about the possible outcomes, how they might not be together forever in that way. It would hurt them both, but that possibility existed; she couldn't ignore it, so she steeled herself to accept it as best she could.

"I'm not sure," she murmured. "I'm not sure if all of this will fall through. But even if we're not together like we want to be, we'll still always be teammates. I won't forget the time I spent together with you, the things you taught me, how you did nothing but change my life for the better. I won't forget how I love you, and how you love me."

She squeezed her again, protectively, as if challenging more hurtful thoughts to try and attack Blake, because the heiress knew they'd would fend them off. Together.

"But… there's no way I can be sure. That's the truth, and you deserve nothing but the truth; even if it might hurt, it's better than a pretty lie."

She pulled back slightly to find Blake's eyes as she spoke her next words:

"But you can be sure… that I'll do my damnedest to make this work for you - for us. I'm going to do everything within my power and then some so long as it means I can keep you by my side, Blake Belladonna."

. . .

Her ears flicked forward, her name falling from Weiss' lips firm and without doubt. It made her heart ache, this deep rooted-pain that was so close to pleasure that it may as well have been.

Blue eyes were alight in the dark, and Blake found that it didn't take much to get lost in them. She wanted to.

Blake leaned forward, capturing Weiss' lips. The touch was yearning, almost desperate, her hands uncurling from their grasp on Weiss' nightgown to thread through the hair at the nape of Weiss' neck. Her grip was gentle, hesitant even, and when Blake pulled away it almost felt like she could lose it all.

But Weiss was here, close to her and alive and so damn beautiful in so many ways that Blake smiled. A weak little thing, but a smile all the same, and she pulled herself forward again, pressing another quick kiss to the side of Weiss' mouth before tangling herself in limbs and sheets, taking without shame the contact she craved.

"I think I like you, Weiss," she muttered into Weiss' skin. "I think I like you a lot."

. . .

She welcomed the kiss with open arms - both literally and figuratively. Her fingers weaved through Blake's silky black hair, nails occasionally brushing over the fur of her ears as the rain gradually slowed and became quiet. The storm didn't matter anymore. Nothing else mattered anymore. Only Blake.

She indulged herself in those lips with great care and gentle passion, needing Blake to know she was here for her and always would be. She was glad the Faunus girl was feeling better now, even if it was just a bit. She never wanted to see or feel Blake come undone like that again, but if she had to, she'd be there to support her.

Weiss whimpered when Blake pulled away, a silent inquiry as to ask whether or not she was all right. A small peck to the chin reassured her though, and she squeezed the small of Blake's back tightly and breathed a sigh of relief. Their heartbeats were fast and hard against each other, but it wasn't because of pain or fear anymore; it was love.

Weiss blinked away a few more tears - happy ones - as she nuzzled Blake's cheek, chuckling softly.

"I have a confession. I think I like you a lot, as well. No…" She kissed Blake's forehead with a smile. "I know it."

. . .

A warmth bloomed in her chest the moment Weiss kissed her forehead, spread to the tips of her fingers, her toes, and she tugged Weiss closer. Blake wanted to etch the sound of Weiss' laughter into her bones, an ever present reminder of the happiness they had acquired so awkwardly. Blake wouldn't trade it for the world, and a tired sigh escaped her lips as she hugged Weiss to her.

She tried not to think about morning, about letting go and all that entailed. Instead she focused on the body against hers, the soft rise and fall of Weiss' chest, the hands at her back, all of it. The security she felt right now. She hoped it never left.

"I love you," Blake said, and she hoped she would always have the opportunity to continue to say those words. To remind Weiss just how much all of this meant.

There would always be that possibility of failure; Blake knew that more than anyone.

But in no way did it mean an end to possibility.

It simply meant there were things they could work on. Together.

. . .

It was nice to be able to fall asleep to the feeling that everything was all right. It was a reassurance Weiss was sure not she nor Blake had experienced for a long, long time until now.

She wanted Blake to feel that way forever, knowing she would always hope the same for Weiss. Whatever insecurities caught up to them, they would get better with the acceptance of the other. Wounds both physical and emotional would heal with time and love, and between them, there was enough of both to go around.

There would be trials ahead, but neither of them would have to face them alone. Never again.

Because they had each other.

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A/N: And at last, another old roleplay completed in fanfic form! Thanks so much to whomever finished reading all the way through!