Just Across the Way (WhiteRose AU)

The Day After

Weiss's POV:

I opened my eyes to a beautiful sight...well...it would have been. Ruby has zero grace whatsoever. It was only accentuated by the fact that she was drooling all over the pillow she had been using. She still looked cute. I looked over at her clock and it read "7:23". It was near the usual time I would wake up, but I could tell that Ruby wasn't the sort of person to wake up early, even for days she had to work, but the sounds of rain and the occasional crack of thunder told me that the roads may not be too safe to drive on. My arms had been wrapped around Ruby the entire night, and we had not moved very much since we fell asleep. It was going to be a chore to get my arm out from under her, without waking her that is...well...I thought it would be difficult. Ruby sleeps like she's dead. I'm surprised anything wakes her up at all. I was pulling my arm out from under her and slammed my elbow into the table next to her bed, which, alone, made enough noise to wake me, but my very...vulgar...remarks about my thoughts on the action were not quiet either, but Ruby kept sleeping...and drooling. I stood up and stretched. I grabbed my phone from the, very painful, bedside table and read the notifications.

"Fire Emblem Heroes: Your Stamina has been Restored."

"Cinder: Weiss, the store will remain closed today..."

Cinder's text message had been cut off, so I opened it fully in my messages app. 

"...The weather is too bad  in my opinion. I don't want to risk the safety of any employees, and one of Flynt's close friends is currently in the hospital, so we'll just leave the store closed for the time being. I'll keep you updated if anything changes."

I didn't reply, she sent it at around 6 A.M., and she would see I read it. I heard some noise downstairs. I decided it would be best to let Ruby sleep until she was ready to wake up. 

"Might as well go downstairs..."

I heard Yang snoring in her room as I went by. That meant the only other person in the house was Tai. Zwei was at the bottom of the stairs, asleep. I tried to creep past him, but dogs have exceptional hearing...and from what I've seen...this dog isn't exactly...dog levels of dog. I swear I didn't make a single sound, but he got up and started messing with my legs. 

"Morning, Zwei." I said as I pet his head softly. "Did you sleep well, little buddy?" He rubbed his head into my hand. "I assume that's a yes."

I heard footsteps coming from, what I  believed to be the kitchen/dining area. I turned to look at the opening between the living room and the dining area and saw Tai standing there.

"Morning, Weiss. You're not dead, so I can assume Ruby's hyperactivity is manageable for you." He chuckled to himself. I giggled.

"Just barely manageable." He laughed again. 

"Well breakfast will be ready soon. You eat pancakes right...or do you eat fancy stuff...like waffles?" He looked at me expectantly. I was confused, but he just looked at me with a grin. "I guess that horrible icebreaker made you deadpan...cake!" He laughed harder. I understood what he was getting at now. 

"Don't WAFFLE on, Mr. Xiao Long." I giggled at my own joke. He deadpancaked...I mean deadpanned! "Well you see...WAFFLE means to talk at length or great length-"

"NERD ALERT! Ruby's best friend is a nerd!" He laughed. 

"Intellectual!" I retorted. 

There was a stomping sound from upstairs. Yang then...well...opened with quite a Yang...I mean Bang. "I need to stop with the bad puns."

"CAN YOU PLEASE BE QUIET?! SOME PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!" Yang's father had an answer for that...

"Fine! Weiss, Zwei, and I will just eat all the pancakes ourselves!" There was a multitude of stomping, scuffling, and other movement, before Ruby and Yang both simultaneously yelled...

"PANCAKES!!!!" They were coming down the stairs at break-neck speeds, but as Yang went by, her father grabbed her shirt collar. 

"No pancakes for you, young lady. You get toast. Don't sass me like that after I make you pancakes." He gave a triumphant smile. The "I just did a Dad thing and won" smile.

"Awww...but Da-"

"No buts!" He yelled happily. I heard Ruby giggle from the dining room. There was a knock at the door.

"Who could be outside in this kind of weather? They have to be nuts..." He opened the door. A tall, blond, scraggly, and soaking wet boy stood outside, shivering. 

"H-hey...sorry t-to in-t-t-t-rude...but my car broke down back on the m-m-main road...c-c-can I stay here and wait out the s-s-storm?" He was obviously cold. He only had a thin hoodie with a bunny on it and some slightly torn-up jeans.

"Sure kid. Come in. Just don't track any mud. Please." Tai moved out of the doorway.

"Wait a minute...I know this boy...his name is..."

"What's your name, kid?"

"J-j-jaune Arc."

"He spent all of our senior year...asking me out..." He noticed me standing by Tai.

"W-w-weiss!" He didn't stutter because of the cold. He stuttered out of nervousness.

"Hey Jaune." I gave him a friendly smile. I may have...publicly...okay...very publicly...rejected him...a FEW...times.

"This isn't your family! Why are YOU here?!" He asked...scared.

"Well...it's a long story..." I rubbed the back of my head, I hadn't put my hair up. Oops. Ruby came out of the kitchen. 

"Jaune? What are you doing here?" I looked at her confused. How did Ruby know him? She seemingly read my mind. "Sorry Weiss, this is Jaune Arc. He's one of Ren's friends." I chuckled nervously.

"Yeah...I know the name..."

"Oh really? How?" She asked me curiously. 

"Now that..." I trailed off...

"Is a really long story..." Jaune finished for me.

(A/N: Hey guys...first off, I'm so sorry for the long delay. I haven't been in very good spirits lately...mentally and emotionally. I've been extremely depressed and for the sake of the story, I refrained from writing while I was in that dark place. I didn't want my current feelings and mood to affect the path this story took, as it is meant to be, at this point, a bit more light-hearted and fun. Secondly...THANK YOU SO SO MUCH! 400 is a big number! That's a 4 and two 0s. I never expected this little idea I wanted to share would get this far and it makes me so happy...and if I'm being honest...the positive response I've gotten thus far is what pulled me out of my own mind and problems and cured my depression. I cannot express the happiness I get when I see the read number even add...just 1 or 2 reads to it anytime I open Wattpad just to read. As of now, it is nearing 500...that's half of A THOUSAND! You guys and gals are so amazing. Thirdly: THE WEISS VOLUME 5 TRAILER WAS SO AMAZING, AND THEN THE BLAZBLUE TRAILER WITH THE RWBY PART WAS SO COOL! THERE'S SO MUCH HYPE, I CAN HARDLY CONTAIN MYSELF. Lastly, I just want to thank you all one more time. The next chapter won't have such a long delay, and if it does, there will be good reason, but I'm starting Band Camp and school again soon. Senior year...woo. Dual Credit classes take a lot out of me, but I promise I'll never stop writing this story. ~Open_Book1020)