The next Saturday, Ruby did come back.

The look on her face when she saw Weiss was one of joy, and relief. She bounded over to the counter, a grin plastered on her face. "I was worried you wouldn't be here! Where were you the past few days?"

Weiss looked over, surprised. She was worried? "I don't work most weekdays," she explained. "Just Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The usual? To have here?"

"Yes, please!"

Blake gave Weiss a knowing glance and stepped up to the counter to take the next person's order while Weiss made the tea. Ruby was eyeing the cabinet of sweets. "I can't choose...do I get the cinnamon roll, which was really good last time, or try something different?"

"I recommend the gingerbread," Blake advised, overhearing, as she took another customer's money. Ruby smiled and said she'd take one.

They were unusually busy this morning. Weiss has to make two people's coffees while Ruby's tea brewed. She didn't have much time to converse with Ruby, or to get flustered by her presence, which was still somewhat distracting, even if it wasn't completely unexpected.

Ruby took the same table by the window, and once again, sat there for a while, slowly sipping the tea. Weiss couldn't help but wonder why Ruby seemed to be looking over at her so often, quickly, guiltily averting her gaze whenever Weiss met it, laughing a little at herself.

This time, Ruby stayed even after she finished her tea, pulling out a book from her bag. When Weiss passed her, serving drinks to a few writers in the back corner, Ruby asked when her break was.

"12:30. I get half an hour."

"Cool." Ruby then returned to her reading.

Weiss felt her stomach flip. Was Ruby going to wait around until 12:30? For her? Why?

The rest of the morning passed pretty uneventfully. Ruby kept on catching Weiss's eye as she passed by, smiling, her tea well and truly finished by now. She really was going to wait for her. Blake gave Weiss a quizzical look when she noticed Ruby was still there, her red cloak draped over her chair, but Weiss didn't have much of an idea of why Ruby was waiting around either, nor why she'd been coming in daily recently, hoping to see her.

By the time 12:30 finally came, Weiss was terrified. What if she knows? What would I say? Heck, what do I say anyway? Why does she want to talk to me in the first place? She probably knows I like her, damn it. But then, if she had a problem with that, why does she come back? Why did she keep coming back to find me during the week? Why would-

Weiss's internal monologue was interrupted as Blake nudged her. "You've been drying that same mug for the past five minutes - I think it's good."

"Oh, right."

"Are you going to have your break or...?"

"Right. Yes."

Blake let out a quiet, long, 'ohhh' as she connected the dots as to why Ruby was still here and why Weiss was so nervous. "You'll be fine," she said affectionately, nudging her again.

"You think?"

"Of course."

Weiss nodded, and took one last deep breath before striding over to the table by the window. Ruby was still absorbed in her book. Weiss paused, then pulled out the chair on the other side of the table. Ruby looked up.

"Is it really 12:30 already?"

Weiss nodded mutely. Ruby folded the corner of the page she was on, then closed it and moved it to the side of the table. "Hi."

"Hi."

The stared at each other for a couple of seconds. "So..." Ruby started, as lost for words as Weiss was.

Damn it! Why does this have to be so awkward... "So, uh..." she broke off, glancing around the room for something to talk about. She caught Blake's eye, and the other barista tried to stifle a laugh, then discreetly picked her own book up and waved it in the air. Weiss mouthed the words 'thankyou so much', then turned back to Ruby. "What's the book about?"

Ruby's silver eyes lit up. "It's a romance book. Set in World War Two. About a British girl who pretends to be a guy so that she can join the Air Force, but falls in love with a German fighter pilot who was shot down over allied territory in Italy," she said easily, smiling. Weiss's heart skipped a beat. She was beautiful when she smiled.

Weiss carefully rested her elbows on the table, folding her arms. "Does the German like her back?"

Ruby shrugged. "He thinks she's a guy."

"Oh, of course," Weiss said quickly.

"But..." Ruby went on tentatively, glancing at the book, "The author, Riley Fisher, was going to make him bisexual originally so that he fell in love with her in the outset, but the publishers said there was no way it would turn a profit that way."

Weiss sniffed disdainfully. "Homophobes. She should have self-published."

Ruby relaxed, apparently relieved that Weiss shared her opinion. "I know, right? It could have been so...deep. He could have fallen in love with her thinking she was a guy, found out she was a girl after all, then continued to love her anyway. It could have made a huge statement about love going beyond gender, and that sort of thing."

Weiss nodded, about to agree, but Ruby went on: "But...I read on her blog that in the end she likes it better the way it is. The plot was simpler, stronger, easier to follow. So I suppose some good came out of it."

Weiss was genuinely curious now. "How does it end?"

"I don't know yet. I don't think it'll be a completely happy ending - there's too many things that could go wrong. But I really hope they end up together."

Weiss nodded. So Ruby was open to those sorts of relationships too - to love going beyond gender. Maybe not personally - she was probably still straight - but it was still good to know she probably wouldn't judge her if she knew. She checked her watch. Only a few minutes had passed. "So..." she paused, trying to think of a way to keep the conversation going. "Are you new in the neighbourhood? I hadn't seen you until now." And I definitely would have remembered you.

"Yes, we moved in about a month ago, a few blocks away. I normally walk, but Yang, my sister comes on her motorbike during the week, sometimes. Our father was offered a job here."

"Yeah? What does he do?"

"He's a teacher at Signal. We'd have bought a house closer, but it's really expensive over there. What about your family?"

"My father owns a mining company. My mother when I was really young."

Ruby's face fell. "Oh, wow. I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. I'm used to it. Winter didn't take it well though - she's my older sister, so she remembers her."

Ruby nodded. "Actually...my mother's dead too," she said quietly. "I was really young. She was in the army."

Weiss smiled weakly. "I suppose we have a bit in common then."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"So..." Weiss frantically searched for a topic to try and keep the conversation moving. "Why do you only ever get tea?"

"I can't get white rose anywhere else. And I get really, really high on coffee."

Silence fell again. After the pause came long enough that it was awkwardly, Weiss tentatively asked what she'd been dying to know for the past few hours. "Why did you wait? Why did you keep coming back?"

Ruby paused, stiffening. She glanced around the room as if looking for a reason to be here, sighing as she gave up, defeated. "I wanted to see you again," she said quietly.

Weiss blinked. "Really?"

"...yeah."

"Why?"

Ruby looked behind her, as if searching for a way out of this. "I...er..." She dropped her gaze nervously, fingering the pages of her book. "I like you."

Weiss's eyes widened - Ruby seemed to pick up on this, so she hastily corrected herself. "Not in that way! Not in that way! You seem nice. I want to get to know you better."

"Well...I like you too," Weiss said slowly, her cheeks burning, leaving Ruby to interpret that any way she wanted.

Ruby's eyes brightened, and she grinned. "I'm going to keep coming back then," she said cheerfully, winking. Weiss felt her breath catch in her throat.

"I'd...like that."

***

The next morning, Sunday, Weiss felt incredibly happy. Slightly delirious, even. Because she knew Ruby was coming back.

Blake couldn't quite figure out why Weiss was in such a good mood - she was generally pretty sour this early on a Sunday - they hadn't even opened yet. They had to restock on Sunday - the owner of the place, Emerald Sustrai, had been away for the past month, and had left her friend, (Weiss suspected he was more than a friend,) Mercury, in charge of making sure baked goods got delivered each morning, and so on, but he didn't like to hang around. Emerald was a pretty relaxed boss - she wasn't there half the time, since she felt she could trust her employees.

Blake sorted through the stuff Mercury dropped off, while Weiss put the chairs down, made sure the coffee machine was plugged in, and so on. "So," Blake said, grinning, making Weiss look up. "What happened yesterday?"

"We made coffee and got paid," she tried to say as flatly as possible but failed miserably as she literally skipped across the room to behind the counter. Ruby's coming today!

Blake almost laughed at that. "What happened during your lunch break?"

"We talked," she said brightly.

Blake walked over, resting her elbow on the table beside her. "About what?"

"Books, mainly. Oh, and dead parents," she added flippantly, too happy to show any emotions besides that.

Blake frowned. "You seem awfully...cheerful about that."

"Why shouldn't I be?" Weiss grinned as she took Ruby's chair by the window off it's table.

Blake promptly concluded that she was barking mad.

When they finally opened up, Weiss was ecstatic. All morning she glanced out of the frosted windows for a hint of red, or listened for the hum of her sister's motorcycle. After two hours of tuneless humming and whistling, wishing customers an absolutely fantastic day, smiling incessantly and Blake nearly calling a psychiatrist, Ruby turned up.

Weiss's elated mood instantly turned to a terrible feeling that she hadn't thought this through as soon as Ruby opened the door, her red cape disturbed by the wind outside. Her mind seemed to freeze up as she met her eyes - those stunning, silver eyes.

What do I say?! What was I thinking?! God, I can't even-

"Hey, Weiss."

Weiss's neck felt a little warm now, her stomach tying itself in knots. "Hi. The usual?"

"Yes please, but I can't stay today. Yang's waiting outside."

Blake looked up sharply, glancing at Ruby. "Did you say...Yang?"

"Yeah, she's my sister," Ruby said cheerfully, while Weiss moved off awkwardly, blushing and such, to make the tea. "Do you know her?"

Blake frowned. "Wild yellow hair?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

Blake tipped her head to one side. "You don't have the same surname."

Ruby shook her head. "We're half sisters. How do you know her?"

Blake blinked. "Just a...thing. I thought I met her at a concert once. Three years ago. Wonder if she'd remember me." The barista's eyes shone with emotion that Weiss couldn't miss - curiosity? Wariness? Maybe even nostalgia?

Ruby remained ignorant of this, apparently not really one for reading the atmosphere. "I'll tell her you were here." Blake's eyes widened, and she was about to protest, but Ruby interrupted, oblivious. "Oh, and can I get a cronut, too? Chocolate, please."

Helpless, Blake bit her tongue and put the cronut into the paper bag. Weiss narrowed her eyes - she hadn't missed the exchange, but she guessed Blake wouldn't appreciate her prying. She turned around and handed the tea to Ruby. "One white rose tea," she said, smiling.

Ruby held her gaze, and Weiss could feel her cheeks heat up as their eyes locked. They both did nothing but look at each other for a long moment, before Weiss handed her the cup. Ruby grinned. "See you tomorrow?"

"Sure. Have a good day."

As Ruby left, Weiss glanced over at Blake. She was resting her head in one hand, leaning on the counter, staring into space. Weiss thought it wise not to interrupt her. She was about to tend to the empty paper take-away cups that needed coffee in them, but Blake suddenly said, "She likes you back."

Weiss froze. "What?"

"Ruby. She likes you back."

No. No, that couldn't be right. That would be a foolish thing to hope. What were the chances of Ruby liking girls? And even if that was the case...the chances of someone as innocent and bright and perfect as Ruby were even slimmer. She started making some coffee. "Blake, you're mad. I hope you know that."

Blake shook her head, then strode over to the coffee machine to help Weiss. "No, seriously. She likes you back. Why else would she keep coming back here?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's the tea."

"She said she likes you."

"Platonically."

Blake narrowed her eyes, a smile playing on her lips. "I don't think so. Think about it, okay?"

Weiss swallowed. "You really think it's possible?"

"Yes. And even if I'm wrong, if you don't tell her how you feel, you'll always...regret it." She paused, running one hand through her thick, black hair. "You've changed, since she came in. You used to be kind of...bitchy. I don't mean any offence, but..."

"Yeah, I know," Weiss said, grimacing, as she placed a coffee cup on the counter, then called out, "Alfred!"

Blake frowned as the guy grabbed his coffee. "Wasn't that the weird guy who has maple syrup?"

"No. They look really similar though, don't they?"

"Mm."

Blake handed a cup of tea to an 'Arthur', then turned back to Weiss. "I really think she might have feelings for you. Just...think about it, okay?"

"...alright."