So… I don't know who's made it to the New Year, but in my time zone, I still got like… over 3 hours. So, I'm not late, I'm early. To anyone living in my time zone. Honestly, I had a completely different idea in my head while starting this, and then… well, this is what happened instead. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, have a fabulous New Year, and I own nothing!

New Year's Eve

It was the beginning of an end, and the end of a beginning as the hands on the clock grew closer and closer to midnight. The end of a fabulous, incredible year, and the beginning of a brand new one.

Nora giggled and hung up another streamer, this one bright gold and sparkling in the lights she still had hung from Christmas. The dorm room might be small, but even if they were fitting eight people in, she was going to make it festive and fun!

She'd sent Jaune and Pyrrha to make sure Team RWBY was going to be ready, as well as grab some extra desserts and cider. If they were staying up until midnight, they were going to need all the extra sugar they could get! Plus, Ren was baking a cake, and they had lots of hot chocolate mix, and they were going to have so much fun!

"Nora? Are you okay out there?" Really? Fall down once –okay, maybe three times- and she needs to be checked up on because it's quiet?

It was Ren though, so she couldn't be very upset.

"I'm a-okay! Look how sparkly and pretty everything is!" Nora leapt off of her bed towards Ren, giggling non-stop when he caught her, spinning them around once before her feet hit the ground. "Do you think everyone will like it?"

Ren looked around the room, streamers hung haphazardly around the walls, the beds pushed to the sides and blankets strewn around into the semblance of sleeping areas. There were more pillows than anyone needed, but since they'd all end up laying on them, Ren didn't figure that mattered all that much. "It's… festive."

"Yay!" Nora giggled more, reaching up to boop Ren on the nose before she noticed something on his cheek. "Hey! You have frosting on your face!"

"I was…"

Nora swiped the frosting off with her finger and ate it with a happy hum. "That's yummy! Hey, do we have more? I could totally…"

"Wait until we have cake," Ren finished, nudging Nora back with a small smile. It was too easy to let himself be amused and give her more frosting, but Ren handed her a bag of cups instead. "Write names on these, and then you can help make punch."

"Oh! To use up those holiday drinks, right? Like the punch, and the sherbet ice cream and ginger ale and…"

"Nora."

"On it!" Nora dove for her bag, looking for a marker to start writing names. But just writing names was boring and so she started doodling pictures to match the names, moving from roses and weapons and animals and…

"Hey, we're back!" Pyrrha had somehow managed to open the door, despite carrying four bags and closely followed by Jaune and Team RWBY.

"Hey!" Nora was finishing the last cup, putting a hidden drawing on the bottom for Pyrrha to find later. "You're here! We can start having fun!"

"You look like you were having fun already," Yang noticed, watching Ruby start running around, knowing Ruby would now insist they decorate their own dorm room as well.

"Well, yeah, but now we can have even more fun!" Nora laughed easily, dashing around to hand out the cups as fast as she could. Then, they could…

"Hey! You made the punch already!" Nora cried out indignantly, watching Ren stir the punch slowly. As an answer, he pointed towards the unopened ice cream, earning himself a loud squeal.

"Punch please!" Ruby was already waiting for it, while Jaune opened up a bag of cookies. All that sugar… already…

Ren could already tell this was going to be a long night.

()~~()~~()

"Pyrrha!" The movie had just finished, and of course, Nora was the first to initiate conversation. "Who would you kiss at midnight?"

"H-huh?" Pyrrha turned red, and interestingly enough, so did Jaune. "Wh-why would you…"

"Cause of the movie!" Nora flipped over onto her back, pushing into a bridge so that Pyrrha was upside down in her vision. "They were talking about kissing at midnight, right at the beginning of the new year! So, who would you kiss?"

"W-well…"

"I bet Nora would kiss Ren!" Yang took mercy on the redhead, laughing as she teased Nora.

"Well, duh!" Nora winked at the girls when Ren blinked in surprise. "Who else would I kiss? I mean, there's Jaune, but he's Jaune! And I suppose Pyrrha wouldn't be too bad, but really, why would I skip over Ren in the first place?"

"…Nora."

"Yes Ren?" Nora beamed over at her best friend, taking a large gulp of her punch.

Ren didn't say anything, but he offered a plate of cookies, something Nora took very happily.

"Cookies? Are these the good ones, or are they the nasty crunchy ones that make everyone… they're the good ones! You know, the first time we had these was when we were like… eight, right? And we were just shopping for cookies, because we'd had those nasty brownies that were rock hard, so we wanted cookies, and we got these because they were on sale and super cheap! Like that candy we got that lasted forever and then…"

Yang leaned over to Blake, eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. "Do you know what she'd talking about?"

"…So then all the candy was put on the gingerbread house, which was waaaaaaaaaaaaay too pretty to eat, and then we had cake! Delicious cake, just like the one you made! We should eat that now Ren!"

The long rant finally over, Nora had to take a few deep breaths, looking at her partner expectantly. "Well?"

"Does anyone else want cake?"

"Me!"

"I do."

"What kind of cake is it?"

"Only the best cake ever! Chocolate! So we have to have giant slices and… hey, where'd Ren go?"

"He's cutting the cake," Jaune answered quietly from his corner of the room, looking very awkward. He was friends with all the girls, even Weiss after all of his fawning, but even so, he was very much outnumbered in this room.

"Oh. Okay! So, what should we watch next? Or wait! We don't have time before the ball drops! We have to watch it!" Nora flipped the tv to the news without waiting for anyone else to agree, laughing easily. "Hey look! Music! We should dance!"

Nora grabbed Ruby's hand, spinning around in a circle cheerfully.

It was the end of the year, but that didn't have to be sad! It could be a happy thing, to say goodbye with a smile and a laugh, and welcome in the new the same exact way!

()~~()~~()

"Is it midnight yet?" Nora had ignored the pillow and blanket piles, sprawled out on her bed carelessly, staring absently at the tv. She couldn't even tell you what was happening in front of her eyes, but her friends were all curled up together, either asleep or as exhausted as she was.

"Half an hour left," Ren looked at his watch, shifting slightly so Nora wouldn't fall over if he moved. His arm was asleep from how tight she was holding onto it, but he knew she'd end up latching onto him tighter if he tried to escape.

"No…" Nora whined, peeking up at him with a frown. "Ren, isn't there any sugar left?"

"After you and Ruby ate all the cookies?" Ren smiled slightly, knowing Nora was just tired and not really upset. "Just half an hour more, and then you can sleep."

"Promise?"

"I promise," Ren managed to meet Jaune's eyes, amused to find the knight with Pyrrha's head on his shoulder. Ren knew that Nora had probably hoped for something like that to happen, maybe even for them to have kissed, but at the rate everyone was going, no one was going to be awake at midnight, except maybe Jaune and Ren.

Ren shifted slightly to grab at a blanket, covering Nora with it as carefully as he could. She might not want to fall asleep, but he knew that Nora wouldn't be able to keep herself awake much longer. His suspicions were confirmed when her grip on his arm loosened, her face shifting to a more comfortable position on his shoulder.

Less than twenty minutes later, Jaune was asleep as well, and from the silence on the floor, Ren assumed that Team RWBY was passed out as well.

Not that he could blame any of them. They'd filled up with sugar –something Ren had avoided since he was trying to stop Nora from eating everything- and then crashed… hard. He was surprised any of them had made it this far.

Still, in that sugar-induced craze, they'd all somehow managed to make a mess, watch the movie as loud as they could, and have their own party without getting a noise complaint. Ren could definitely consider that a win.

Holding back a yawn, Ren rested his head on top of Nora's, not able to quite regret not being able to clean everything up. Normally, messes made him uncomfortable, to the point he couldn't leave them alone. This time though, he was too tired and comfortable to really care.

Plus, he'd make the others help this time. It was mostly their fault anyway.

Smiling a little, Ren reached for the remote, careful not to jostle Nora, who was peacefully asleep; even with her exhausted like this, he didn't want her to wake up and realize he'd turned the ball drop off. That outburst would wake everyone up, and the chaos would start again.

Leaned up against the wall, with Nora sleeping on his shoulder, Ren took a moment to appreciate the silence. It was a rare thing around Nora, for there to be such quiet, that Ren couldn't bring himself to go to sleep himself. Being with Nora like this was enough of a recharge for now…

In the distance, Ren could hear Beacon's clock tower striking twelve, the start of the new year. Next to him, Nora stirred a little, even though there was no way she could possibly hear the chimes in her sleep.

She was probably on her own internal clock, making sure she was up to greet the new year.

Unable to help himself, since no one would see him anyway, Ren hugged Nora closer to him, hesitating only a moment before pressing a light kiss to the top of her head. There was nothing to it, just a small innocent kiss, but at midnight… at the beginning of something new…

There was always a possibility for something more.

There it is! Thank you so much for reading guys! I wish you the very best in the new year to come, and hope to see you in the next story!