Beautiful Roses (RoseGarden)

Chapter 7: Confessions to Make

Ironwood never showed up and that Qrow wasn't even close to breaking Jacques. Ruby and I were almost caught by Jaune as he was trying to find retrieve us. The way he acted was contradicting what his eyes shown. Jaune acted calm and collected when we spoke to us, but his eyes glinted when he saw us together. Does he trust me enough to be with Ruby? It's like... he was the older brother to Ruby... 

We follow him back to the group and for the first time, I see defeat inside Weiss's eyes. Even though she got injured back at Haven, her eyes were showing any signs of giving up. But here... it was different. "Weiss, what happened?" I ask, immediately regretting it.

"He wouldn't break!" Just like that, she snapped. She banged her fist against the wall, making a small dent into it; I gulped seeing that.

"Calm down, Weiss." Ruby walks up to her, holding her hands up in surrender. "We can break him."

Suddenly, Nora gasps, her eyes growing in size by every second. "Break?!" A creepy smile appears. 

"Nora, don't tell me-" Jaune was cut off by Nora. The way he spoke... it was like he knew what she was going to say.

"Let's... break... his legs! Please, Weiss! Let's break his legs!"

"Yeah, let's do it." She agrees as we all walked out.

Ruby takes my hand and pulls me back. "R-Ruby?"

"We need to tell... I can't hold it any longer..."

"I'll tell, okay? I don't care if they hate it, but I'll tell."

"Promise?"

I nod, "I promise."

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Nightfall came and still no news about Ironwood. I kept thinking about that promise I made to Ruby... how would I even tell them? Who should I go first? Yang or Qrow? Family or friends?

'Oscar, please, go talk to Yang.'

'Thanks.'

'Anything to stop your constant questioning. Just so you know, leave me out of this drama. I hate this type of drama, love and hate.'

'Understood.' I went to Yang's room, knocking softly on her door.

"Who's there?" She calls out.

"It's me, Oscar."

The door opens and I was greeted by Yang. "What do you want?"

"It's... about Ruby..."

She opens the door wide and acknowledges me to come inside. "Let's talk then."

I walk inside and sighed deeply. "I-I made a promise to Ruby... and..."

"What promise?"

"Yang... I really like Ruby..."

"I know."

"Eh?" I look up to see Yang's eyes happy and her smiling.

"Oscar, you and Ruby are terrible at hiding secrets. So, what else do you want to talk to?"

"W-was it that obvious?"

She nods, "Of course. Basically, everyone knows."

"Even Qrow?"

"Especially Qrow. You might want to talk to him first. That'll be your biggest challenge."

"Thanks, Yang."

"No prob. Just, take good care of Ruby. I know she's been through a lot."

"I'll do my best, Yang."

"Good luck."

I rushed over to Ruby before going to Qrow's room. "Ruby. Yang and basically everyone knows about us..."

"I knew it... we weren't hiding our little secret that well..."

"I just need to Qrow and we should be fine."

"What about Ozpin? I mean you all share a soul, right? How does he feel about this? I bet he doesn't like this kind of idea, huh?"

"Ozpin... he minds his own business..."

'Oscar! That's not true!'

"Really? He doesn't mind?"

"As long as it doesn't involve him, he's fine with it."

'Oscar, stop telling lies.'

"Wow... okay. Well, good luck on talking to Qrow."

"Thanks. See you in the morning?"

She nods, "Of course, silly." She hugs me before kicking me out of her room.

I reached to Qrow's room, gulping before I knocked on his door.

"Q-Qrow?" I knocked again, louder than the last time. "Qrow? Hey, are you here? Where is he?" I sigh, banging onto his door.

'Oscar, think like Qrow. Where would he be at this time? Think.' I thought about it and I couldn't think of any place he would be. Ozpin sighs, disappointed. 'Oscar, he's an alcoholic. Where would he be?'

"The bar."

'Exactly.'

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I pushed through the bar, trying to ignore everyone there. All they do is drink and drink. Asking me why I'm here and asking if I was too young to be here. I need to find Qrow, I need to talk to him.

"Oscar." I jumped when I heard my name. I turned around and sees Qrow with a shot glass in his hand. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I needed to talk to you."

"Our job wise or personally?"

"Personal."

"Lemme guess, rose petals, a gem, getting warm?"

I nod, "Pretty warm."

"If Ruby likes you, that's fine. If your a huntsman, that's fine. Listen, pipsqueak, you should never make promises that you can never keep, understood?"

"Qrow, where is this going?"

"Don't make promises that you can never keep, stay true." He pushes me as we both exited out of the bar. "Oscar, take my advice and listen to Ozpin. You will make promises and you will never keep them. I know how that feels... not keeping something that I said to someone..."

"Who was it? With whom did you break a promise?"

"Her mother... Summer Rose... I promised her that I'll protect her during battles. I promised that she'll never get hurt... during a battle, she got injured. She... was too close to me... Tai promised that she'll be safe and he stole her. She forgave me and she knew it wasn't my fault... I promised her... that I'll love her..."

"Qrow... I'm... so sorry..."

"Don't be. Just, know what promises you make and you need to be sure that you can keep them."

"I will, Qrow."