Love (And Other Difficulties)

Late Night (Ruby Rose)

Ruby tried to make it a habit to follow her heart.

She wouldn't say she could properly handle all the mushy feelings she had for you, they made her feel gross and nervous and she'd never been in a situation like this before. She can't remember the last time she had a crush on something that wasn't a weapon and even then, she could gush with excitement about them without feeling like some type of fool. She remembers the first time she ever ranted about what an amazing person she found you to be; Yang had worn a smirk on her face, Weiss had rolled her eyes like she had realized the most obvious thing in the world, and Blake wore a small, fond smile. Ruby had felt frustrated at the moment because she hadn't quite pinpointed what those feelings she felt for you were even if it seemed overly obvious to her teammates but now that she knew... She felt it made her worse.

She didn't want to be in a relationship especially not now when she had so many other things to worry about... but she couldn't exactly ignore you, either. Not when it was becoming glaringly obvious you returned her feelings. Not when you supported her and talked to her and did everything you could to motivate her to keep moving forward even she felt like she needed to take a breath. You were a pillar of strength, a beam of hope, and you were infinitely important to her, but that only seemed to make her even more scared.

You could be taken from her so easily with just one wrong move.

You and Ruby might not be together but she had to let you know how much you meant to her.

"Hey... Can we talk?" She only just knocked on your door, not even waiting for a response before she entered. You glanced up at her from your bed, where you'd been sitting preparing to open the door before she'd let herself in. You can tell that she's nervous by the way she's shifting back and forth on her feet, and how she hadn't even waited for you to get the door before stepping inside. "Sorry, I know it's late."

"It's okay. I've been having a hard time sleeping." You covered your mouth as you yawned, "What's up?"

She feels tongue-tied suddenly as you approached her, your head tilted questioningly as you waited for her to explain her appearance in your room. Normally she was never at a loss for words, especially when nervous, but you looked incredibly cute in your pajamas with your bedhead and her heart was fluttering and she felt like she might actually vomit on your shoes if you kept looking at her-

You reached over and stroked her cheek under the guise of brushing her hair out of her face but it was a move Ruby was familiar with. It was one of those things she'd done to you before when she felt this urge to touch you but didn't know what to do. There'd been times where she'd held your hand when in a tense situation damn well knowing what she was doing and pleased to see that you weren't rejecting her touch. She'd leaned against your shoulder when she was tired and playfully punched you in the arm when you were teasing her about something, there had been so many times she'd touched you in so many different ways and they all felt equally intimate.

She had said she'd come to talk but words weren't needed that night.