Ruby hummed and helped herself to another strawberry snickerdoodle. Her favorite! "Mmm..." She chewed on the warm, soft snack and closed her eyes appreciatively. Between everything that happened recently she never had time to bake anymore and Weiss kept trying to limit how many sweets she ate.
Okay, maybe she kept the whole team up all night cause of a sugar high, but only did that once! Once! Denying her cookies was cruel and unusual! And it wasn't like that test detention they got was the end of the world or anything. Not even Yang helped her, her big sister and the one persons she trusted most. She betrayed her just like all the rest and no amount of pleading, puppy dog eyes and promises that it wouldn't happen again would sway her.
Traitor!
And then her savior came. Jaune Arc, her fellow leader, best (guy) friend, and, as she found out, really good baker. Apparently seven sisters with most of them having sweet tooths made him really good at making the good stuff. She didn't even ask him. He saw her distress and, like the knight he wanted to be, decided to bring her out of her slump in the best way possible.
Waking up to him knocking on their door with a plate full of cookies felt like a dream. She hugged him so hard that they both nearly toppled over. Weiss was confused for a second before she saw the cookies in his hands and tried to take them. Never! She grabbed them out of his hands and sped off to the roof, Weiss screaming about how she shouldn't have those. Ha, she said, ha! Just cause her traitorous teammates were her second family didn't mean she'd let them make her miserable.
The tenth cookie came and went. The pajama-clad reaper squirmed in her seat and kept a close eye on the door. Weiss, Blake and Yang were probably looking for her now but she was going to take her time with this. She went three days without a single sweet or strawberry! Three! The only person who got away with doing that to her was her dad and no one else.
The door cracked open and Ruby's eyes widened. She grabbed the plate and prepared to either run off again or shove all the remaining cookies down her throat when Jaune came out with both hands up, "Hey, easy, it's just me." His mouth curled up in that awkward smile and he shut the door behind her, "Figured you'd be up here."
She swallowed the eleventh snickerdoodle and wished she had some milk, "Where's everyone else?"
"Weiss is at the cafeteria and Yang's in the courtyard. Blake's back at your room cause she figured that you'd come back when you realized you were still in your pajamas." Ha. They underestimated her, then, "But really I think she just wanted to go back to sleep."
Thank the gods for lazy partners.
Jaune sat next to her, "So...any idea what's going on? I didn't think bringing you some cookies would make them freak out like that."
"They're being dumb." Another cookie down the hatch. Yum, "I made a single teeny, tiny mistake and they mutinied! They wouldn't let me have anything with sugar in it. They should be arrested for torture, I tell ya!"
"Is that the reason why you were so bummed? I thought it was cause of that detention you got."
"What? Nah." She waved a free hand lazily, "Weiss is the one making a stink about it. You think she's never been in detention or something."
"I mean...you did kinda tackle Professor Port when he was opening that Grimm cage..."
"Whose side are you on?" Ruby pouted. Sure he had a crush on Weiss for a while, but after the dance he didn't do anything. She figured it was over and done with.
"Just saying, you kinda left me holding the bag back there. Thought Snow Angel was gonna kill me." Snow Angel. Weiss stopped complaining about the nickname, though she didn't exactly like it. She probably thought it was cool since he didn't use it to flirt with her again, "Yang was pretty mad too, but I think that's just cause I woke you guys up so early."
"Yeah, uh...better hope you don't get either of them for Professor Goodwitch's class." She cringed.
"Oh, I know." He laughed and leaned back, looking up at the early morning sky, "Ah well, it's worth it. Least you're smiling again."
Her face heat up slightly and she grinned back. Yep, totally worth it. Just like she'd expect from her first ever friend at Beacon, "W-Well, if we get paired up then I'll go easy on you!" It was only when the words were out of her mouth that she realized how bad it sounded. Like she was pitying him, "N-Not that you need me to! You've been getting way better and you totally don't need me to-"
"Hey, it's cool." She looked for any sign that he was offended and trying to hide it. Nothing. Then again she wasn't exactly the best at looking for all those suble signs, "Anyway, we should probably get back to your dorms someone sees you out in your jammies."
"Right."
She finished off the cookies and went back to her room. Just like Jaune said, Blake was sleeping and barely stirred when she closed the door. At least she got first dibs on the shower. Usually Weiss and Yang went ahead no matter how early she woke up.
A half hour later she felt better than she had in days. She'd barely put on her uniform when the door crashed open again and both Weiss and Yang trudged in, circles under their eyes. Her partner and bestie scowled when she saw her sitting in bed and pointed an accusatory finger, "You're going to pay for that, Rose." Ooh, last name. Weiss always did that when she wanted to be serious. Or whenever she wanted the shower first.
"Ugh, just leave it alone, Weiss cream." Yang yawned and grabbed her uniform, "Of course her boyfriend was gonna get her a fix. It's our fault for not doing something about it before."
Wait, what?
"If I'd known Arc was a baker I would've dealt with this." Weiss put a hand on her chin, "Well, I suppose the punishment has been meted out at this point. Still, it's good to know for future reference. I failed to take Ruby's significant other into account."
She wasn't imagining that, right?
"I told you he was gonna be a problem," Blake said, getting up from the bed, "We probably should've told her boyfriend why we were doing this. He had no idea we banned her from snacking."
There was that word again!
"He's not my boyfriend!" He was a boy who was her friend, but there was a space between those two!
Everyone, even Blake, looked at her like she was an alien. Yang had a pitying look on her face and ruffled her hair, "Rubes, it's okay, you're a growing young girl and this is totally normal." Was she...she was was using her 'mom' voice! Oh, heck no! "I mean I would've liked it if you told me you were going out with VB, but hey, it wasn't like you were being subtle about it."
"Subtle about what?! We're just friends!"
Blake raised a brow while Weiss - Weiss - patted her head like she was Zwei, "I don't see any reason why you're hiding it. While I personally can't see the appeal of Arc, it's not as if we would judge you too much for your choice in partners."
"But...But-"
"Can we stop talking about Ruby's relationship already? I don't wanna be late for breakfast." Blake tied her bow back to cover her ears and began brushing her hair.
"We're not-"
"You're just saying that cause we've got tuna sandwiches." Yang grinned. Blake rolled her eyes and didn't say anything, "Anyway, VB better hope he doesn't get me for Goodwitch's class. I really need to let off some steam now."
"Hold it!" Ruby stamped her foot and jumped onto the closest chair so she could tower over her traitorous teammates, "Me and Jaune aren't going out!"
Yang raised a brow, "Uh-huh, sure," she said, clearly not believing her. Ruby's cheeks puffed up, "Right, so that guy you're 'not' going out with just decided to bake you cookies first thing in the morning?"
"He saw I was depressed cause some people were being jerks. Friends do that."
"Mm-hm. And I suppose friends also go out with you to buy weapon parts every weekend?" Blake asked, brow also raised.
"Well none of you guys went with me." She crossed her arms and pouted. Sure, she could get a little intense with how much she loved to spoil her baby, but that didn't mean everyone could just ditch her like that, "And who cares anyway? Every time I ask any of you you always make excuses."
"We don't care, you're the one in denial." Weiss scoffed. Ruby was so tempted to speed over there and wipe that look from her face, "And FYI, keeping us up all night because you wouldn't stop talking to him on your scroll is also rude."
"Yeah, Rubes, we know it's your first boyfriend but come on." Yang grinned.
"He's not...we're not- argh!" Ruby let out a frustrated cry and sped off out of their room. She couldn't deal with this now. Everyone was being dumb. So what if Jaune did all those things for her? She did things for him too! She helped improve Crocea Mors and helped him with his training too whenever Pyrrha was busy. They were friends, friends did stuff for each other.
Okay, and maybe she spent more time alone with him than anyone else, but so what? He got her. They were leader buddies and he was her first friend in Beacon. Even if Weiss was her bestie there were things she couldn't do with her that she could with Jaune. Blake was too busy reading books and Yang...well, as much as she loved her sister, there was a reason they didn't have the same friends back in Signal. And it was just cause they were two years apart.
Yep, was just her friend. Her best friend. A guy friend. Her boyf-
...
She stopped and huffed in front of the cafeteria. Whatever, her team was being dumb.
Weiss Schnee liked to think that she was as good as the rest of her peers. Months ago she would've said she considered herself better than them, and in some avenues that was true, but her pride had tapered off in the months she spent at Beacon. Still, one thing that couldn't be denied was that she was in the upper percentile when it came to knowledge. She'd never once gotten anything below a 90 in every single class and she fashioned herself an analytic mind even outside of the classroom.
That was why she found it so frustrating that Ruby - her partner and, much as she'd never admit it out loud, best friend - was so willing to deny what was right in front of her. The red cloaked reaper was stubborn to a fault, to both her benefit and detriment, but she was never willfully ignorant.
"Red like roses...fills my head with dreams and finds me..." Her partner sang as she packed the basket full of food. She spied some sandwiches and more than a few sweets before she closed the basket. Oddly enough most of it looked handmade. While Ruby was hardly so terrible that she couldn't make sandwiches, she always preferred to buy them from the cafeteria or down in Vale.
"Going somewhere?" Weiss asked. It was just the two of them in the room. Yang had gone to town to try and find some excitement while Blake went to a book signing. Zwei was also gone for some reason, thouhg whenever she asked Ruby just smirked.
"Yup!" The younger girl smiled brightly, "Having a picnic! I've been looking forward to it all week."
"A picnic?" Hmm, Ruby didn't seem the type, though she supposed that was her own misconception. Living in Patch with its dense woodland must've made eating out a fun weekend activity, "Would you mind if I came with you? I don't really have anything to do..." She would've called Winter but she was busy with work. She was suddenly reminded of the rather sad fact that, outside of her team and team JNPR, she didn't really spend time with anyone.
Ruby froze for just a moment, her smile becoming stiffer, "Ahaha...well, I'd really love to, Weiss, but I was kinda hoping I could go alone." Her eyes widened, "But we can totally go on one next week, promise! I'll even make a cake!"
"Calm down, you dunce. I'm hardly so fragile that one rejection will break me." She scoffed, though her lips still quirked up in a smile all the same. That Ruby cared so much for her friends was just one of the reasons she cared for her partner, "I'm surprised you're planning to go solo, however. That doesn't seem like you."
"Uh...I'm not going alone, exactly." Weiss blinked when Ruby mumbled someone's name under her breath. She continued louder when she saw Weiss' look, "I'm going out with Jaune. I thought I should pay him back for those cookies and a picnic sounded like a good idea."
"I...see." She blinked again, "I just don't understand why that requires you two to be alone. Is my presence so offensive?" she asked lightly. Weiss wasn't as prone to teasing as Yang or even Blake, but already she could see the gears spinning in her partner's head as she scrambled for an excuse.
"W-Well, it's just..." Ruby swallowed and held the basket like a shield, "I only packed enough for two people! Yeah! I don't want you or Jaune to go hungry or anything!"
"I could just buy some food from the cafeteria. After all, when it comes to picnics it's the company, not the pabulum."
"The what? You just made that word up." Weiss rolled her eyes. The girl's vocabulary still needed work, "But you still can't go. Jaune's already there and I don't wanna make him wait any longer."
"You could just tell me the location and I can catch up. It's no bother." Weiss had to stop herself from grinning as younger girl again tried to scramble for an excuse. Eventually she just zoomed out of the room, leaving her alone. She rolled her eyes again and picked up a book to get started on next week's assigned readings.
Honestly, if Ruby just said she wanted to go on a date she wouldn't have pressed. Why she insisted on denial, she had no clue.
Blake Belladona liked to observe people. People watching, she liked to call it. Yang called it being lonely and creepy, which the cat Faunus refused to acknowledge with a reply. Her partner thought that was creepy but somehow saw nothing wrong with wrecking a nightclub. Clearly her standards for normal behavior was biased.
Her team were the most frequent 'victims' of her habit. It was easy with them. No matter how different Ruby, Yang and Weiss were, they all tended to wear their hearts on their sleeve. Even Weiss, for all her attempts to appear prim and proper, didn't take long before she was just as open as the others. And even before that she wasn't exactly subtle.
One teammate in particular drew her attention for the few weeks. Ruby Rose was never one to lie even when it would've been for her benefit. She chalked that up to having Yang as an older sister. Between the two, one of them had to play the role of the good kid.
Which was why she found it so odd that she insisted on doing so now. Ever since the day Jaune baked for her she'd squawked and screamed about how the two of them weren't dating. Even when they made it clear they didn't care she still refused to admit it, continuing to deny, deny, deny until even Yang stopped got tired of bringing it up. Which was saying a lot considering how patient the blonde could be when it heckling people.
"Who's a good boy? You are, Zwei, yes you are!"
Blake closed her book - Ninjas of Love II: Kunoichi Kitty's Love Quest - with a sigh and gave a withering look to the only other occupant of the room. She'd decided to stay in to get some reading done when Ruby, today of all days, decided to do the same. Not to read, of course, but rather to pet the little monster huffing and puffing at her lap. She rued the day he came in the mail and she no longer felt safe in her room.
She debated going out and possibly being caught by the ignorant masses reading the pinnacle of literature when Ruby's scroll rang. Her face brightened and and she pressed it to her ear, "Hey, Jaune!"
Of course, her not-boyfriend. Blake sighed and stood to leave. Dealing with Ruby cuddling the hellbeast was bad enough, doing it while she gushed about her fellow leader was too much.
Sadly her plans went up in smoke. Ruby's grip on her nemesis slackened and, seeing her movement, jumped towards her with a fierce war cry. Blake screamed and they both rolled on the floor, fighting fiercely. He attacked her face with that disgusting tonge of his and resisted all of her attempts to pry him off, barking that ungodly sound as he did. This was how she died.
And through it all Ruby was no help, giggling and snorting at whatever Jaune said while she fought for her life. Eventually the conversation ended and she cut the call, "Aww, Blake, I knew you liked Zwei!"
"I do not!" She finally managed to pry the stubby terror and shoved him back into Ruby's arms, "Ugh, you know if you want to talk to your boyfriend-"
"Not my boyfriend!" Ruby squawked just a bit too quickly.
Blake sighed. Any other time she would've let it go, but the fact that she was so dopey about Jaune that she let her suffer meant she was vindictive, "Really? You do know that no one's being fooled by that."
"You can be 'not fooled' all you want, I'm telling the truth!"
"So everything you're doing is normal?"
"Yup! Just something friends do for each other."
"Uh-huh...so, when you and Jaune were sleeping together in the common room?"
"We were both tired."
"And all those picnics and movies you both go to and refuse to let anyone come with?"
"Come on, like you wanna watch X-Ray and Vav."
"You stayed the night in Vale with him at a hotel last weekened."
"We missed the last bullhead. Were we supposed to sleep on the streets?" Ruby crossed her arms and looked up at Blake confidently, "We're friends, Blake. Friends do stuff with each other."
Really? Blake sighed. Alright, she was asking for it, "Ruby...you were staring at him in the showers yesterday."
Her team leader's eyes widened and she squeezed the monster tightly. Good, "S-So what? The showers are co-ed like the dorms! And I was just worried about him since he got a really big hit from Cardin!"
"Uh-huh. And what part of that worrying included you licking your lips and drooling while staring at his chest?" If Yang were here she would've said Blake looked like the cat that ate the canary. She never liked that saying, but she had to admit seeing Ruby's face turn red and her squeezing her nemesis like a stress toy was satisfying.
Ruby didn't say anything and, as was becoming all too common nowadays, she zipped out the door as fast as her semblance could carry her. She took the little monster with her too, meaning she was alone. Blake smiled and picked up her book again.
Yang Xiao-Long was a lot of things. A kickass fighter, a bombshell, an awesome friend and, most importantly, the best big sister in the world. She was sure Weiss would disagree and put up her own big sis as an example, but facts were facts and it was indisputable truth that she couldn't be beat there.
Of course being the best big sis in all of Remnant meant some assumptions. Like the idea that she hated the idea of Ruby dating. Correction, she hated the idea of Ruby dating some scumbag who'd take advantage of her. She hit one creep who wanted in her sister's skirt after the first date and suddenly everyone thought she was a weirdo who wanted Ruby to die an old spinster.
Which was why she approved of Ruby dating vomi- Jaune. Sure he wasn't the strongest and Ruby could probably spank him even without Crescent Rose, but he was a good guy and she trusted him not to hurt Ruby. Ruby made him happy and she made him happy. Win-win.
Which was why she found it so weird that, even months after that fateful day, she still refused to admit it. Was Ruby scared that she'd flip out or something? That as soon as she actually told the truth she'd come storming over their, hair alight, give Jaune the Overprotective Big Sis Talk™ and ruin things? Cause she wouldn't! She'd just make sure to break his balls if he ever actually did hurt her, but until then she was totally cool.
Now they were just a few days away from spring break and making plans. Weiss planned to go back to Atlas while she and Ruby were heading home to Patch. Blake was staying in Beacon and waved off their offers to come with them. Apparently she had plans in Vale and the break was as good a time as any to do them. Oh well, it'd just be her and her little sis going back home.
Or at least it should've been before Ruby dropped the bombshell that he was going back to Jaune's hometown for the first week. Meeting his family, she said. Weiss and Blake stared at her but didn't say anything. At this point they were convinced Ruby would never spill and until today Yang would've joined them.
Yang grabbed her gushing sister and dragged her to the corner of their room, "Rubes, we need to talk." She sat her down and held her hands. Silver eyes blinked and she looked up at her, confused, "Listen...you know I love you, right?"
"Uh...yeah?" She blinked again.
"And you know I want you to be happy, right?" Yang smiled and squeezed the smaller girl's hands.
"Sure...?"
"So I need to know why you won't just tell me you and Jaune are dating-"
"Oh my gods, Yang!" Ruby huffed and pulled her hands back. She threw her hands up, a frustrated look on her face, "How many times do I have to tell you that me and Jaune aren't dating? We're just friends!"
"Ruby..." Yang sighed and held both of Ruby's shoulders. She wasn't gonna zip out of the room again, "Ruby, you're gonna spend a week over at his house. Just the two of you. I know you're awkward but you know how it looks, right?"
"But we're not gonna be alone! There's his mom, dad and all his sisters! Except Saphron cause she left home."
"You know that's not what I meant."
"It's not a big deal." She puffed up her cheeks and Yang had to resist the urge to pinch, "And besides, it's not like I'm gonna spend the whole break there. We'll head over to Patch the week after."
"Ruby. He's introducing you to his parents and you're introducing him to ours. That's what you're saying right now." Dad would like Jaune. Which was a good thing cause Ruby would've been pretty mad if he turned her first boyfriend to mush.
"Arrrghhh!" She shook off Yang's hands and stood, stamping her foot as she did, "That's enough! I dunno why you guys think me and Jaune are dating, but I'm done talking about it! If you three are gonna keep being dumb I'm sleeping over in JNPR's room!"
She stomped out of the room and slammed the door behind her as she went. Yang, Weiss, and Blake looked at one another and she sighed. Okay, that didn't go well, but what the hell was she supposed to do? Her sister was so massively in denial that it actually hurt. Blake said a week back that maybe Ruby wasn't lying and she was actually so deep in denial that she honestly believed she was telling the truth. Yang didn't really buy it, but what if she was onto something?
The blonde sighed again and stood up after half an hour passed. Fine, if Ruby wanted to make it that way she'd play along. Better than her little sis holding a grudge over the break.
She opened the door and saw JNPR's room door ajar. Convenient, "Hey, Ruby, I wanted to-" She stopped and stared, eyes wide, at the sight that greeted her. Ruby - her sweet, innocent little sister - practically eating Jaune's face while she straddled him. Their clothes were a mess, buttons hastily undone while both of her hands grabbed at his abs. Man, Pyrrha deserved credit for those.
"Y-Yang!" Ruby yelped and fell off the bed, hands windmilling as she crashed. The reaper groaned and looked up at her, "Wh-What are you doing here?!"
"Wanted to say sorry and that you were right about you and Jaune totally not dating." She gave a wide grin when Jaune coughed and tried to shrink in on himself, "I'm just gonna leave you and your totally platonic friend to do what you guys want. 'Kay?"
"...Okay." Ruby nodded, face still blazing.
She was almost out when she looked back, "Don't worry, Rubes, I'm sure dad's gonna love him."
"Get out!" She tossed a pillow. Yang cackled and ran out. Oh yeah, she was gonna milk this for weeks.
Jaune Arc liked to think he was a good person. Not flawless, but a good person anyway. So when he saw Ruby - one of his first Beacon friends and fellow leader - looking like she was just told Crescent Rose had to be dismantled, he was rightly worried. This was Ruby, the girl who smiled and kept her head up no matter what happened. Roman Torchwick attack? No problem. Teammate was former White Fang? Didn't matter.
So he made it a priority to bring that smile back. A depressed Ruby Rose was just wrong. It was like a Nora that hated pancakes or a cheerful Ren.
But what, he thought. He wasn't good at building weapons and she wasn't the kind of girl that you could cheer up with buying something that would cost more than his entire stipdend for the term. It had to be something he could give her that wouldn't bankrupt their team.
And then it came to him. Baking, of course. Ruby loved cookies and strawberries so why not give her exactly that? And Jaune, just to toot his own horn a bit, was a damn good baker. Had to be when six out of seven sisters had a sweet tooth. Especially Lily. His youngest sister was into any kind of dessert as soon as she had teeth to chew and what kind of big brother would he be if he didn't spoil her just a bit?
The dentist bills were his parents' problem anyway.
So it was that he woke up extra early, even before the perpetually sugar crazed Nora Valkyrie, to enact his plan to cheer up his fellow leader. Thankfully Beacon's kitchens were already open and all students were free to use the facilities. Something about helping foster independence and training them for when they had to take care of themselves once they were fully trained Huntsmen. Didn't matter. All he knew was that hopefully by the end of the day Ruby was back to her normal, cheerful self.
It took a couple of hours to get everything done. Making everything from scratch complicated things, though thankfully all the ingredients were already there. When the snickerdoodles were out of the oven the smell made his face break out in a smile. Oh yeah, Ruby was gonna love these. Hopefully it'd cheer her up after that detention. Detention with Ms. Goodwitch was bad enough. Detention with Professor Port and his 'extra steamy' stories was enough to break even the stongest of wills.
He waited for them to cool a bit before transferring them to a plate. Jaune hummed all the way back to team RWBY's dorm. He couldn't wait to see the look on her face. The rest of team WBY would be happy to have their cheerful leader back too.
Jaune knocked on the door and grinned when he saw Ruby's groggy face greet him, "Morning, Rubes." He raised the plate and her confused look turned to one of sheer surprise and relief when she saw the pile of strawberry snickerdoodles, "Thought you could use a little pick-me-up."
"Jaune..." She looked up at him with tears in her eyes before she screamed and tackled him in a bonecrushing hug. Er...wow, he didn't think she was that hungry.
"What's going on...?" Snow Ang- Weiss said, blearily sitting up on her bed. She rubbed her eyes and looked to him and her squealing leader, "Arc, what are you-"
And then her eyes went wide when she spotted the cookies he was holding. He was about to offer some of them to her too when she suddenly screamed.
"Arc, no!" She stumbled out of her and fell on her face, legs still tangled in the blanket, "You don't know what you're doing! Stop!"
"Wha-"
"You can't stop me, Weiss!"
Ruby grabbed the plate and zipped out of the room in a flurry of rose petals. Jaune could only watch her go in utter confusion while the B and Y of team RWBY finally woke up from the sudden screams, "What's going on?" Yang grumbled, her hair looking far messier than any time he'd ever known her. Blake looked the same, hair covering her face so much that only one golden eye peeked out. She looked like a ghost from a Mistralian movie.
"It's too early for this..." Blake growled.
"Ruby has absconded with a plate full of cookies!" Weiss yelled.
That woke them up. Or, well, it woke Yang up. Blake just groaned and and covered her face with a pillow. Was...Was she crying?
"No...no!" Yang raised both hands up and looked at them, her eyes shellshocked. What the hell?
"Yes, it's true..." Weiss was on her hands and knees on the floor, banging her right fist like a woman who was just told she had only hours to live, "This...This fool has given Ruby a plate full of confections. I...I tried to stop her." She choked back a sob. What the hell was going on? Did everyone snort crazy dust while he wasn't looking?
"Huh. Well, it's a good thing the culprit chose not to leave the scene of the crime." Yang stood up and cracked her knuckles, eyes red and a murderous smile on her face.
"Woah, hey! Stay back, Yang!" He almost bolted then and there before he remembered that the other blonde was way faster than him. If he made it back to JNPR's dorm he could survive, but that wasn't a bet he was willing to take, "I-I just wanted to cheer up Ruby! I thought you guys would be happy!"
"Happy?! Why would we be happy?!" Weiss cried again, "It's because of her mad sugar rushes that we received that week-long detention from Professor Port." His former crush tucked her knees to her chest and rocked back and forth, "He's already told us about the time he saved that village of Vacuo warrior women and how they expressed their 'gratitude'! I am not going to risk another week, Arc!"
"What does that have to do with anything?! I thought she was bummed cause of the detention and I wanted to cheer her up!"
"She wasn't sad because of that." Blake groaned, voice still muffled by the pillow, "She was sad because we all unanimously agreed that for the entire week Ruby was banned from eating any kind of sweet or strawberry. Which you've now broken."
"Oh..."
"Yeah, oh." Yang's eyes were still red, though she at least made no move to come closer to him, "Ugh, please tell me you controlled the sugar intake in those things, at least. If Ruby comes back with her Semblance working 24/7 I really will kill you."
"Of course I did." He had to learn how once Lily came back from her fifth dentist appointment.
"Then maybe all hope isn't lost." Weiss sighed and stood up. In any other situation seeing Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao-Long in their pajamas might've drawn his attention. Now he was focused on getting out of here with his legs intact, "Still, it wouldn't do to let her indulge so openly. We should try to find her and see if we can limit the damage, at least. I'll check the cafeteria. If my hunch is correct she would've gone there for some milk."
"I'll check the courtyard. Rubes always did like to eat out," Yang said.
"I'll stay here just in case she doubles back," Blake added last. Honestly she looked like she was just going back to sleep but he knew better than to call her out. At least they calmed down now.
He got out of their room before they remembered how much they hated him for violating Ruby's punishment. He found himself going up to the roof soon after. It was Ruby's 'secret spot', though how secret it was he had no clue considering anyone could just go up there.
He chatted with his fellow leader for a bit, acting clueless all the while. A part of him hoped that this was all some elaborate joke and that the rest of her team were just stressed from Port's detention, but no. Apparently Blake told him the exact truth and it took everything he had not to slam his face against the wall for how close he came to dying just cause he wanted to cheer Ruby up.
Oh well, it was worth it to see her smile again.
He went back to his room just in time to see the rest of his teammates waking up. Pyrrha always woke up early to get a headstart on training while Ren and Nora...well, they did whatever Nora wanted and Ren had to be there to make sure she didn't blow up the school.
"Morning, Jaune. You're up early." Pyrrha yawned and gave him a sleepy smile.
"Yeah, uh...something came up." He scratched the back of his head.
"Hold on a second..." Nora got up from her bed and walked closer to him. And then she sniffed him. Jaune had to resist every urge to push the short ginger away as she sniffed and hummed all over him, "You smell like cookies!"
"Nora, what-"
"You made cookies!" His sister from another mother shouted, "Where are they, Jaune-Jaune! Your queen demands her tribute!"
"Nora, please..." Ren sighed.
"You woke up to bake?" Pyrrha asked.
"Yes, but it's not what you think." Jaune sighed too. He should've made extra for them, now that he thought about it, "Look, I'm sorry, but I gave it all way to Ruby. I wanted to cheer her up and I thought some cookies would help. I'll make some for you guys next time, I promise."
Nora looked crestfallen for a bit before her face lit up in a gigawatt bright smile, "Aww, it's okay, fearless leader! Of course you'd try to make your girlfriend happy!" Wait, what? "Ruby's so lucky to have someone like you!" She cooed and gently slapped his left cheek like a proud mom.
He looked to the rest of his teammates. Ren just nodded, happy that Nora had calmed down again. Pyrrha - his partner, best friend, and another girl he considered family - looked...sad? No, it was more melancholic. When she caught his gaze she smiled softly and nodded, "Indeed. I expect the rest of team RWBY is happy now that everything's back to normal."
"Yeah, you'd think so." He still remembered Yang's implicit threat to break his limbs, "By the way, Ruby's not my girlfriend."
Nora scoffed. Loudly and with a force to rival Magnhild's blow. Ren hummed, which Jaune recognized as 'I don't believe you but I'm not going to argue'. Pyrrha just looked uncertain though he caught a hint of hope in her eyes. Weird.
"I'm serious, she's not."
"Aww, no need to be so shy! You two look cute together." Nora's eyes flickered to Pyrrha before the smile came back, slightly more forced.
"And I'm telling you we're not dating." Jaune sighed. He'd been through this enough times to not get flustered. Four older sisters meant they thought every single female friend he had was a girlfriend in the making.
"Jaune-Jaune, you baked her cookies."
"And Ren makes you pancakes. Is that what you mean when you're together?" He smirked slightly.
"Of course not! I mean we're together, but not together-together! That'd be weird." Norah shot back. Again, Ren just nodded, all too used to Nora's assertions, "And that's totally different! Me and Ren have been together for years! You've known Ruby for months and you're already baking for her!"
"I did say I'd bake for you guys too- wait, was this all to make sure that I'd actually do that?"
Nora smirked, "I confirm and deny nothing. I expect my tribute in a day's time."
"Yeah, yeah..."
Nora Valkyrie was someone who wore her heart on her sleeve. Sometimes it got her in trouble, cause Ren said some situations were better handled with 'tact', but it was something she refused to change. Honesty was the best policy, after all, and if you had to lie to cheer someone up then was it really better than telling them the ugly truth? No, she thought, honesty was the best.
Which was why she had to be honest with Pyrrha. She knew about the girl's crush on their fearless leader. Heck, it seemed like the entire school knew about it...except for Jaune-Jaune, of course. How the guy could come up with strategies but still miss what was right in front of him she had no idea.
It was a long and...awkward talk. Jaune was Pyrrha first love and she knew it was hard to let that go. Maybe it was hypocritical of her. After all, she was too scared to take the next step with Ren cause of the chance that he didn't feel the same. As long as they were still just 'together' she could keep pretending that it could last forever and the chance of breaking what they had wasn't there.
"I know I should move on. It's clear the two are together," Pyrrha said.
"Yeah..." Jaune-Jaune could deny it all he wanted but it was obvious what they were. All those picnics and movies? The way he went with her to do what she wanted even when the rest of her team bailed? It was just like her and Ren, "But hey, I mean there's other fish in the sea!" She did her best not to say anything about how Pyrrha had a sea (heh) of people to choose from considering who she was. Pyrrha hated being reminded of it.
"Yes. Thank you, Nora- woah!" The shorter redhead surged forward and tackled the champion in a tight hug, "What are you-"
"Me and Ren are here for you!" Nora shouted. Babbling now, she continued, "We can totally have a girls night! We'll go out on clubs, get guys to buy drink for us, set the whole town on fire! Literally! Team RWBY did that once!" Still had no idea how they didn't get in trouble for that, especially considering how traumatized Blake was. Headmaster Ozpin was definitely playing favorites.
Pyrrha laughed softly and returned the hug, "Thank you, Nora. I appreciate it."
They stayed that way for almost a minute. Nora smiled. It would've been better if he and Pyrrha got together, but she wasn't gonna hate Jaune for liking who he did. Love worked in mysterious ways and all that.
The door opened before they could separate and Jaune stepped in. He barely stepped inside before he saw the two of them, her head on Pyrrha's chest, and his face flushed. Ooh! "Uh..." He coughed, "Should I come back later?"
"Aww, jealous, Jaune-Jaune?" Nora wiggled, making Pyrrha blush, "You know you can join us! Bring Ren, too! We can make it a team bonding activity!"
Jaune coughed again, though this time he laughed. Success, "Uh, I don't think he's gonna agree to that." He closed the door behind him while she and Pyrrha separated. The mood was lighter than before, though she still saw a hint of melancholy in Pyrrha's smile.
"Out on another date with Ruby?" Nora grinned and put her hand on her chin, laughing like a dirty old man. No lying. She wasn't going to pretend it didn't happen. The sooner Pyrrha got that the better.
"We went to the movies, yeah." Jaune rolled his eyes. He stopped saying they weren't dating, but it didn't mean he agreed whenever they said the two were dating. He just liked to give 'neutral non-answers', as Ren called them, "The new X-Ray and Vav came out and she didn't wanna go alone."
"Yeah, nothing sadder than going to the movies alone. You're a really good boyfriend, Jaune."
"Whatever you say, Norah."
Lie Ren was often misunderstood. As Nora's designated best friend/caretaker/warden he had to keep a calm front in order to deal with his childhood friend's hyperactivity. That wasn't to say he didn't care, but all too often people thought otherwise, mistaking his reticence for apathy and silence for unfriendliness. This led to more than a few people choosing to keep their distance from him.
Which was why he appreciated it when Jaune treated him as family. His brother from another mother, as he called it. He would've appreciated it more if he did it when Ren hadn't just come out of the shower in nothing but a towel, but he appreciated it all the same.
Which was why he thought it was his duty to help Jaune through his...relationship issues.
"I don't know how much more I can keep going, Ren." Jaune sagged on the bed, hands covering his face. Ren sat next to him, thankfully fully clothed, "Everyone's convinced me and Ruby are together. No matter what I say everyone just ignores it!"
"Hmm." Ren nodded. He liked to think that he was good at reading people's emotions, perhaps partly due to his Semblance's abilities, but even he was confused as to the reason for Jaune's complete denial. It was clear to all that the two were in a deep and loving relationship. Except for them. They simply refused to even acknowledge the idea and denied or brushed away any and all insinuations to the contrary.
"I mean, it's like people have no idea what friends are like!" He threw his hands up, "We go to the movies? Friends do that! We stayed at a hotel? Friends can do that too! Friends can do a whole lot of things without it being weird!"
"I'm sorry for being presumptous, but didn't you share a bed in that hotel?" Ren asked.
"Th-That was just cause we didn't have money for a double bed!" Ah, of course. Absolutely sensible, "I mean I tried to sleep on the floor, but then Ruby felt bad and said she'd sleep on the floor. And I when I tried to sleep down there anyway she got a pillow and did the same thing! So it was either we both slept on the floor or we both slept on the bed! That makes sense, right?"
"Of course." He didn't bother pointing out that Ruby joined him on the bed despite offering to sleep on the floor before. No doubt he'd come up with a practical reason for that. Probably something about sharing body warmth in the room that had a thermostat.
"So yeah, I dunno why everyone's making such a big deal about it!" Jaune groaned, "I've been trying to act like it doesn't bother me, but there's only so much I can take! Yang's grinning and telling me how her dad's gonna love me and Weiss gave me a formal congratulations! She had it mailed by envelope and everything! We live across the hall!" He waved the offending envelope. Ren caught the hint of Atlesian Orchid in the paper. No less could be expected from the Schnee heiress.
"It sounds as if our friends are supportive."
"Yeah, of their weird shared delusions..." Jaune grumbled.
Ren sighed and put a hand Jaune's shoulder, "Jaune?"
"Yeah, bro?"
"You have a ring." He gestured to the small box on his close friend's lap. A box he'd been extremely protective of once Nora pointed it out hours before, "You bought Ruby a ring."
"Yeah?"
"And...you do not see the implications of this?"
"It's a friendship ring. For best friends," Jaune said, not a hint of awareness on his face. Had Ren been another person he would've slapped Jaune silly for that. Instead he kept calm and chose his next words slowly and carefully.
"Jaune, you claim that ring is wholly friend related without any other purpose."
"Yup," he said, popping the p. He was even taking from her habits. Oh dear.
"So would you give Nora or Pyrrha the same accessory? Or me?" Going roundabout wasn't working. He had to be blunt.
"Jaune's eyes widened, "What, no! Of course not."
"So you understand-"
"I mean, you, Nora, and Pyr are family!" Jaune continued, oblivious to Ren's falling expression, "You don't give a ring to family, but for a best friend? Yeah, that's cool." Ren uttered a silent prayer for Pyrrha's last hopes, "See? Friends do things for each other."
"..." Ren looked down at his lap and closed his eyes, a man defeated.
Jaune's scroll rang and he suddenly stood, "Oh, I gotta go! I told Ruby I'd pay her back for installing that gravity shroud on Crocea Mors' shield." His face broke into a lovestruck (though Ren was sure he'd deny it) smile, "Man, she's gonna be so pumped when I give her those chocolate covered strawberries. Can't wait to see the look on her face."
"Now? Jaune, it's 7 AM on the weekened."
"Yeah, figured a little breakfast in bed would be the perfect thing to start the day." He nodded like an eager puppy, again missing the implication, "That reminds me, you think I should give her the ring before or after the food?"
"...I think she will be happy regardless of the time." He knew better than to think that Ruby would catch the implications either. The two were seemingly trying to one-up each other in increasingly flimsy denials.
"Ah, you're right! See you around, dude." Ren waited till his brother from another mother left the room before he hit his head on the wall just once.
Pyrrha Nikos was known by many times. Mistral's Prodigy, the Invincible Girl and, by some of her more hardcore fans (and her agent...), the Goddess of Victory. Titles she once held with pride before the adoration turned to unintentional ostracization. While she never quite lost her pride in the victories she achieved, it was a double edged sword. The more she won the more her peers considered her above their reach. And for some that adoration turned to jealousy and spite.
Despite it all she refused to lose. Perhaps getting defeated would taper off the image, make her look more approachable, but despite everything the idea of holding herself back was never more than a half-baked idea. She earned her wins. While others claimed she was a prodigy gifted with natural talent she'd worked to achieve her skill. To throw it away on a false defeat spat in the face of all her efforts.
Which was probably why her loss felt so bitter right now.
Pyrrha sighed as she brushed her hair. She was being dramatic. After all, could it truly be called a loss when Ruby hadn't even realized they were competing in the first place? As downcast as she felt right now she couldn't find it in her to be angry at either her or Jaune. They were both good friends and deserved to find happiness. And while she would've loved it if Jaune found it with herself, she couldn't deny that the two brought out the best in each other.
If only they realized it.
She sighed once again and lowered the brush. At first she'd taken their denials with a tentative hope that perhaps the two weren't in a relationship. As the weeks passed and they continued to claim they were nothing more than friends, however, hope turned to acceptance and then eventually irritation. It was obvious to everyone that the two were together, officially or not, and their behavior around each other had only gotten more excessive. Just a couple of days prior they'd already made plans to visit each other's families and even opined the idea of visiting his sister Saprhon in Argus over the summer. Just the two of them.
It was hard to take defeat in grace when the winner kept claiming she hadn't won.
"Oh! Hey, Pyr." Jaune stepped into their dorm room, a smile on his face. Pyrrha smiled back. It was easier now. The irritation helped her from feeling sad, "Any plans today?"
"No. How about you, Jaune?"
"Eh, nothing much. I was gonna hang out with Ruby, maybe go out in Vale." Ah yes, another one of their not-dates that would likely end with them staying the night at another hotel.
"Hm. Jaune, could we talk." She looked him in the eyes. He blinked, surprised at the sudden seriousness in her tone.
"Uh...sure? Is something wrong?"
"Not wrong, per se, though I am confused about something." She put her hands on her lap, "You've claimed time and again that you and Ruby aren't in a relationship, correct?"
"This again? Come on, we're just friends! Best friends!"
"Would you ever think about becoming more than that?"
"...What?"
"Let's say you two are 'just friends' and we're all wildly imagining all the implications. Would the thought of dating her cross your mind? How does it make you feel?"
"Uh, I mean, that's just..." He coughed and pointedly looked everywhere but her, "R-Ruby's one of my best friends, you know? I can't just think about it."
"Why not?" Pyrrha said, voice growing firmer, "How different would it be if you two were together? Would you really have to change how you're acting?"
"I...well..."
"I'm sorry if I'm overstepping my bounds, Jaune, but as your partner I do want you to be happy." And Ruby made him happy, more than she could, "Think about it, okay?"
Pyrrha left the room, leaving Jaune to stew on her words. Dating Ruby. He'd be lying if he said he never considered it. She was a cute girl. Younger than he was but so much braver and stronger than he could ever be. It didn't matter if she was facing down a Nevermore or fighting a thief inside a stolen Atlesian mech, she never gave up and did everything she could. He admired that about her. Lov-
The door opened with a bang and Ruby stomped inside, face set in a fierce pout.
"Ruby, what's wrong?"
"It's Yang." She let out a frustrated breath, sitting close to him on the bed, their legs and sides touching, "She's making a stink about me visiting your family for the break and now she's saying we're dating again." She threw her hands up, "Cause friends can't visit each other's families, right? Ugh, I really hate her right now."
"Yeah..."
Ruby gave him a worried look and touched his right arm, "Something wrong?"
"H-Hey, would you, um..." Gods, why was this so hard? He asked out Weiss and even serenaded her, so why couldn't he just bring it up with his best friend? "When you got mad at Yang saying we were dating. Is...the thought of it really so bad?"
"What?"
"Like I know I'm not that much of a catch, but-"
"No, Jaune! No, no, no!" Ruby grabbed the sides of his face with both hands, "You're great catch! An awesome one! Any girl would be lucky to have you!" Their faces were so close now. Weird, they were just as close before this but suddenly his face felt warm. Ruby's did too, her cheeks dusted a pretty shade of pink, "It's not you that's the problem. It's Yang and the others butting into everything."
"So the two of us dating...what do you think?"
"H-Huh? Well that's..." She still hadn't let go of him, "I...I dunno, I've never really dated anyone before so I didn't r-really think about it."
"Really? Never? Not even back at Signal?"
Ruby huffed, "Puh-lease, Yang always got all the boys. And girls." She rolled her eys, "A bunch of people back then made friends with me cause they thought I'd be their ticket in. I was just 'Yang's little sister'. The awkward little girl who liked weapons, not like her cool big sis."
"Well, they're idiots then. Anyone would be lucky to be friends with you." He raised his right hand and gripped her wrist gently. Not to try pry her off, just to squeeze her warm skin, "...You know, you never really answered."
"Huh?"
"Us dating. Is it really that bad?"
"...Not if you don't think so."
He leaned forward and kissed her. It was brief, just a quick peck on the lips before they separated like they'd both been burned. Ruby's face had gone from a cute pink to a blazing cherry red that matched the shade of her cloak, "...That was my first kiss," she mumbled.
"Oh..." It wasn't his, not that it was anything to write him about. He shared his first one with a girl back in Domremy. Isabel, a girl who lived a few houses from him, back when he was fifteen. The relationship lasted maybe a couple weeks. Still, the feeling of fire in his lips from the kiss he shared his Ruby was nothing compared to the awkward fumbling with his first crush.
"...So, we're dating now?" Ruby asked, face still flushed.
"If you believe everyone else, we've been together for weeks now." He grinned weakly, Ruby doing the same in turn, "...Ruby Rose, do you wanna go out with me?"
"Yup."
He expected their next kiss to be soft and hesitant. Instead Ruby pounced on him and acted like his lips were chocolate covered strawberries. He barely managed to catch his breath when the five foot nothing girl pushed him down on the bed, both hands grabbing at his uniform while her tongue pinned down his and made it cry uncle.
Everything was a blur after that. Yang barged in at some point and Ruby yelled about being interrupted, but honestly he was still in a daze. All he remembered was Ruby jumping on top of him again as soon as Yang was out the door.
Man...his family wasn't gonna believe this.
Jaune Arc was confused.
Very Confused.
This was nothing new to Jaune, he got confused quite often. He knew full well that he wasn't the smartest kid in beacon, not even close in fact. He really lacked common sense though. This is the same kid that thought it would be a good idea to bullshit his way into a school designed to teach already trained warriors how to further their abilities, despite the fact that he has zero training, no skills whatsoever, and not even having his Aura unlocked. So...yeah.
But while Jaune Arc may be an idiot, he was not stupid.
...ok maybe he was stupid too.
'Rustle Rustle'
Jaune was awoken, but remained perfectly still and quiet as the foreign body entered his bed. It was obvious what was happening. He was no stranger to having to comfort his younger sisters in the dead of night after they were awoken by a nightmare or decided to watch a scary movie and couldn't sleep. He had little problem sharing a bed in order to make his sisters feel better.
Jaune allowed the body to get comfortable next to him, he even relaxed his grip on the blanket so his sister could wrap herself up. After all movement ceased, Jaune finally allowed himself to relax as he started to drift off peacefully into dreamland.
His snuggle buddy was far from peaceful however. Jaune quickly realized that his sister was trembling quite badly.
"Must've been a pretty bad nightmare", Jaune thought.
Jaune rolled over onto his side and wrapped his sister in a warm comforting embrace, still pretending to be asleep. The trembling quickly slowed down and eventually came to a complete stop. Jaune could practically feel his sisters red cheeks on his chest.
"Must be embarrassed about needing me to comfort her".
With a calm sister and an early day in the morning, Jaune started to quickly return to unconsciousness.
...
...
...wait.
His sisters weren't anywhere near him right now.
He was in Beacon.
...
...
So who was in his bed?
Jaune barley opened his eyes in order to identify the culprit. His whole team was still sleeping peacefully, the body in his bed was quite small so it wasn't Yang, the hair on their head was dark so that ruled out Weiss, and there were no cat ears on the crown of the head so that eliminated Blake. Which only left one option remaining.
His best friend in Beacon, Ruby Rose.
Jaune Arc was confused.
Why would Ruby sneak into team JNPR's room and into his bed despite her sister sleeping in the same room as her? Surely she could offer more comfort than he ever could. Jaune wasn't strong, or fast, or smart, or agile, or anything good really. So why would Ruby seek him out of all people for comfort?
A quick and subtle glance downward revealed that Ruby was still awake, her cheeks blazing red and her arms wrapped around Jaune's torso. Should he talk to her, try to get answers? Or should he just let her peacefully fall asleep next to him?
After a moments debate, Jaune decided the best course of action would be to keep his mouth shut. Ruby was obviously embarrassed and he didn't want to make this situation any worse for the poor girl.
...
Wow she's cute.
Ruby was easily the cutest girl in Beacon and the cutest girl he'd ever seen by a landslide, it wasn't even close. If his sisters heard him say this then they would skin his ass alive so he wisely decided to keep that thought to himself. But her perfect beautiful silver eyes and the way the moon gently reflected it's light onto them was captivating. The blush still present on her cheeks made her look even more beautiful, if such a thing was even possible.
She wasn't as mature as Yang, or as doll like as Weiss, or as Mysterious as Blake, but she really didn't need to be. Because she was perfect. Just looking at her had Jaune's cheeks heating up quite badly.
Jaune made a mistake. He was so captivated by her beauty that he neglected that he was supposed to be pretending to be asleep.
Ruby looked up directly into Jaune's eyes. The standoff couldn't have lasted more than 3 seconds, but it felt like an eternity. Steam quickly erupted from Ruby's ears as she attempted to form words with her gaping mouth. All that came out however were whimpers.
Before Ruby could say anything that would likely wake up the rest of his team, Jaune quickly pulled her closer to his chest to muffle her words. He wanted her to feel safe and comfortable. She obviously climbed into his bed for a reason so he wasn't about to force the poor girl to leave.
He wanted her to stay.
After a few moments, when he was sure Ruby wouldn't wake up his team with her apologies, Jaune relaxed his grip on the girl and spoke to her.
"Nightmare?" Jaune quietly asked.
Ruby's subtle nod was all he needed. Jaune had nightmares too. These days they mostly revolved around him not being able to protect those that he cared about and failing as a huntsman, a leader, and a friend. After years of nightmares, Jaune just got used to them, he knew the life of a huntsman was dangerous, he accepted that risk because he wanted to be a hero.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Whispered Jaune. He never talked about his nightmares to anyone. He never wanted to bother anyone with something as silly as a dumb hallucination while he was sleeping. But maybe Ruby would feel better if she got it off her chest.
After a few seconds, the young huntress spoke up trembling once again. "Grimm." She spoke softly. With that one word, Jaune understood completely. It wasn't too far fetched either. In their line of work, they would be facing Grimm every day, and the possibility of death by Grimm was quite high. "Hundreds of Grimm." She continued. "Me and you f-fighting for our lives." She pulled herself closer to Jaune as if she was afraid he was just an hallucination.
Jaune felt a dampness on his bare chest and quickly realized that his friend was crying. He kept quiet though, not wanting to interrupt her.
"Y-You, pushed me out of the way of a claw m-meant for me." Ruby was now audibly sobbing into her friend. "Y-You...You took the hit instead of me. You saved my life, and I got away." Jaune didn't need to hear anymore to know what happened next. "Y-You didn't."
Jaune hugged Ruby tighter to his chest to assure her that his heart was still beating. His friend was scared and she needed him now. He had to be a fearless leader after all.
"I'm here, I'm not going anywhere." Jaune assured his terrified friend.
"P-Please, d-don't leave me. Don't make me go." Ruby pleaded to her friend.
Jaune maneuvered himself so he was laying eye level with his friend. Her eyes were bloodshot with fat tears pouring down her cheeks. "I won't, I promise." Jaune gently brushed Ruby's hair out of her face and placed a gentle kiss on Ruby's temple. Pulling away and looking the red faced huntress in the eyes he added, "And an Arc never goes back on their word."
All was silent, no words needed to be spoken between the two friends. But for the first time that night, there was no fear in Ruby's eyes. All that remained was a small smile on her lips. "Thank you Jaune, you're a great friend."
Ruby stared deep into Jaune's eyes with hesitation clear on her face, after a moment she slowly started to lean forward.
...no way...was she?
Jaune was not prepared for this, not even close. He had no idea how to do this, he didn't even know where to start. His heart was like a jackhammer in his chest, threatening to explode at any second, his face felt like it was on fire. "What should I do? How should I do it? HELP ME!"
While Jaune was having a mental breakdown and on the verge of passing out, he remembered the wise words of his father that he had never acted upon. "Remember son, all a man needs is confidence." His fathers voice echoed in his head.
For the first time ever, Jaune listened to those words and started to lean forward to the girl.
When their noses bumped he knew there was no going back, not that he wanted to anyway, this was a dream come true for him, he'd had a crush on Ruby for a long time. After one more moment, their lips met. Jaune always imagined how his first kiss would go. He would read stories where a couple would kiss and they would be overcome with lust, but there was very little of that here. All he felt was pure unbridled happiness. The kind of happiness that could last for hours but feel like it was over in one second. As such, Jaune decided to savor every moment of it.
"Mm!" Ruby's face was redder than ever but that didn't stop her from leaning further into his embrace. Their kiss was gentle and clumsy, both of them having zero experience with romance. But she didn't mind one bit, as clumsy as it was, she loved every moment of it.
Both of them remembered that they had to breath and reluctantly pulled away from each other gasping for air. Their cheeks were both blazing red but their smiles wider than ever. Ruby still had tears streaming down her cheeks, but these were no longer the tears that were caused by a terrible nightmare, but rather tears that were caused by being truly happy for the first time since her mother passed.
Jaune decided that it was now or never, if he didn't say it now then he might never work up the nerve to try again. He slowly opened his mouth and spoke.
"I love you."
Ruby's eyes and smile grew impossibly wide, she was beautiful. With less hesitation she leaned forward along with Jaune for another kiss. This time was much less clumsy than the first, both of them quickly falling into a rhythm. Jaune pulled Ruby closer to his chest to embrace the young huntress.
"Mm!" Ruby leaned even deeper into the kiss wanting to feel even closer to the blond knight. Jaune happily allowed this, wanting to savor every single second.
"Hahhh! hahhh!" All good things must come to an end. The two separated and gasping for air, breathing heavily with a red tint still clearly present on both of their cheeks.
Ruby snuggled close to her new lover and for the first time ever, conveyed her feelings to the blond.
"I love you too."
Ruby had no more nightmares that night.
Beep Beep Beep Beep
Jaune hated waking up to an alarm. There was no worse way to start your day then a loud noise blasting into your ear. Team JNPR decided that Ren should be in charge of setting the alarm every night, they didn't need an alarm set for everyone in the room, so they only set one and trusted it to wake everyone up.
Ren reached over and silenced the loud device, earning a tired groan from everyone in the room. Jaune had long since learned that he only had about 30 minutes of peace and quiet in the morning until Nora ate her sugary breakfast and got a sugar rush that lasted all damn day.
Everyone slowly got up and got their morning routines underway. Jaune's morning routine consisted of laying in bed until someone forced him to get up and get dressed. This time it happened to be Nora.
"Wakey Wakey fearless leader, we're gonna do some morning training after breakfast so you better be ready to get whipped into shape!" Nora rocked Jaune back and forth to annoy him enough to get out of bed. It was quite effective actually.
"Alright, alright I'm up, I'm up..." Jaune miserably forced his sore body out of bed only to discover a weight laying on his chest that prevented him from sitting up. "Hm?" "Thats strange, why does my chest feel so heavy?" Removing the blankets from his bare chest he quickly discovered the reason that he was unable to sit up.
"Oh no!"
Jaune had completely forgotten about last night! There Ruby was, clinging to him like a child would hug a stuffed animal, in her adorable pajamas with her hair an absolute mess. "How am I gonna explain this to my team?!"
Ruby groaned on top of the blond, clearly annoyed about the noise and the shaking. "Ugh, five more minutes Yang." Ruby complained while hugging Jaune tighter. Mumbling incoherently in her half asleep state.
"Ruby?" Jaune said with fear.
"Hm?" Ruby prettily fluttered her eyes open as her vision adjusted to the bright lights in the room. "Jaune?" She asked innocently. "What're yo-" another four seconds passed as Ruby's memories started to catch up with her as to the events of the previous night. After coming to terms with what was happening her entire face, up to the tips of her ears flooded with the deepest red he had ever seen.
Flash
Oh dear god no
Nora had taken advantage of the distraction and snapped a picture of the two lovers with their faces mere inches apart. The smile that was plastered over her face was the most soul crushing thing he had ever seen, because he knew full well what Nora would do with that picture.
Ruby blasted towards Nora with semblance enhanced speed that had the side effect of launching Jaune off the other side of the bed. Nora quickly moved the scroll out of the short huntresses reach before she could remove the evidence.
"Nora! It's not what you think I swear! Please delete that picture!" Ruby pleaded on her hands and knees with her cheeks blazing red. "Please! Yang will tease me until I die if you show that to her!"
While Yang would be keen on teasing Ruby about this for the rest of her life. Jaune wouldn't even live to see it if Yang got a hold of that picture. His only saving grace was that Ruby was in his bed and not the other way around. If Yang had discovered Jaune sleeping in Ruby's bed then she would kill first and ask questions never.
The normally stoic Ren had a look of surprise on his face at seeing the situation unfold before him, with Ruby pleading to the ginger girl. Pyrrha had a look of sadness visible on her face, no doubt feeling sorry for Jaune due to what fate he was doomed to meet at the hands of the blond brawler.
Ping
All color drained from both Jaune and Ruby's face as the familiar noise of a message being sent came from Nora's scroll. There was no doubt in their mind about what she had just done.
If there was any doubt, the loud crash that came from across the hall left no room for debate. Jaune only had one chance at surviving. Lucky in order to survive he had to do what he does best. So Jaune quickly got up and hauled ass out of the dorm room, running as fast as his untrained body could carry him. On the plus side, this might just be the best morning workout he ever got. Running for your life would do that to you.
So in the span of 5 hours he managed to get a girlfriend, have his first kiss, sleep with a girl for the first time, unintentionally give someone the worst blackmail on him possible, and summon the wrath of someone who could and would kill him so easily it wasn't even funny. Where did he go wrong?
Jaune Arc was confused.