"Happy birthday... Second at Beacon." The voice was low and calming. Not excited and upbeat, like Ruby's, or quietly happy for her, like Blake's, but soft and understanding. He knew that birthdays weren't celebrations. Ironic, then, that he wished her a happy birthday.

"Thanks," She answered numbly. She wasn't really thankful. She didn't bother looking at him. For the others she had smiled and laughed, but with him, there wasn't really a need to. A few seconds later she felt the couch cushion shift next to her.

"Nothing from them?"

'Nothing." She confirmed.

"When's the last time you got something for your birthday?"

"Ruby, Yang and Blake got me a dress today. It's quite elegant; beautiful in a simple way." It was a charcoal grey, and really accented her eyes. The dress hadn't been much of a comfort for her though. Weiss knew she could have the most delicately crafted dress on Remnant at the snap of her fingers. It was nice of them to get her something, and she did appreciate the gesture, but it was also a painful reminder.

"And from them?"

"When I was seven. Father told me that it was the last thing I would ever need, that after that, there was nothing more that was necessary in my life."

"What was it?"

Weiss didn't answer. Instead, she just curled up closer to him, finding comfort in his solid presence next to her. It wasn't solid because he was made of tightly packed matter, but rather because he was an emotional pillar. Weiss knew that she could lean on him when the entire world was tilted and skewed beyond recognition.

She wrapped her hands in the folds of his black hoodie, pulling herself against him tightly. Weiss didn't need gifts, or well wishes, or distractions, all she needed was this. It wasn't much, but it helped.

"Do you get gifts? On your birthdays I mean." It was half a distraction, and half genuine curiosity.

"Yeah," Jaune sighed a bit. "My family tries to be nice. They are, really, all things considered. They've been supportive my whole life, tried to at least, even though I've pretty much been a failure."

"But there's still the pressure, isn't there?"

"Yeah, off-hand comments and little details. My father's worse than my mother, but they both do it. Things I don't think they realize they're saying."

"I don't know if that's better or worse."

"Me neither. Having a father pressuring you constantly though, that's tough." Weiss let out a sad chuckle.

"What is it?"

"I find it funny."

"What?"

"Have you ever heardr Ruby or Yang say 'father'? To everyone but us, they're 'dads' or something. They're fathers to us." Jaune was silent for a moment.

"Almost like it's formal," He replied. "Like being a child is more of a job than anything."

"Except for Blake of course. She just doesn't talk about her parents. I suppose she might not have ever known them." Weiss mumbled into her knees. She had tucked them up to her chin. It was a vulnerable position, and she probably wouldn't have done it around any of the others. "She might not have ever known them."

"It comes back to that idea again." He said, just as flat as she felt.

"Which?"

"Is that better or worse?" Weiss sighed. She didn't know.

"I think I'm a terrible person." She commented solemnly.

"What do you mean?"

"Sometimes I... I wish I had never known him. I wish that I had been lost as a child, maybe put up for adoption, or never born, or that something had happened to him - that's always the worst one. Then my father could always be a hero in my mind, and not some... Some..." She struggled to find her failing words.

"Monster?" Jaune offered, and Weiss had to squeeze her eyes shut. What kind of person thought of her own father as a monster? What kind of a person wishes, in the darkest corners of her heart, that she had never known him?

The silence was uneasy for a moment. Weiss could feel a tear coming to her eye, and despite her best efforts, it streaked down her face. An arm wrapped around her shoulder, and Weiss leaned into it, closing her eyes and letting the tear fall. She only allowed herself one though.

"I don't know if it makes us terrible for not wanting to be apart of our families, but I wish I wasn't an Arc."

"It's terrifying." She said.

"It's so... Constant." Weiss could think of nothing more accurate. Permanent, crushing, constant pressure.

"I just want to be normal, Jaune." That's all she had ever wanted.

"I know," He whispered softly into her ear, his hand stroking lightly through her hair. He didn't try to tell her that she was, he understood why she never could be, but his presence was comforting. If she had to face the truth, at least it might be with him by her side. She didn't know if she could do it alone.

They didn't move for a long time. Weiss just curled up beside him, allowing him to run his fingers through her hair, calming her, comforting her. The tears didn't come, and Weiss felt herself begin to relax. She breathed in his scent, which was surprisingly like pine, and had become one of her favorite smells.

"Jaune?" She asked, forcing the tears to stay down, speaking through the catch in her throat.

"Mm?"

"Can we go get some cereal?"

The water broke against the window, each drop splattering into smaller replicas as the wind drove them into the solid pane of glass. It was almost fractal in nature; an infinite repetition of smaller and smaller versions of itself. It created a steady pattering, calming, warm, and gentle. She felt him against her, and snuggled in closer. Something was playing on the tv, and she supposed that she could take interest if she wanted, but she was much more attentive to the pulsing of his heart and her own, almost magically synced in rhythm.

A gentle hand stroked her hair, and Weiss closed her eyes, allowing him to run his smooth fingers through her silky locks. She sighed in deep contentment, wanting the moment to last forever. It wasn't often she let herself go like this, and just like that little bit of chocolate cereal, the moment made her heart melt. They weren't together, not in any official capacity at least, but there was a certain intimacy to their relationship. They weren't friends, but neither did they feel the need to label what they were. It wasn't entirely a physical thing either, it was just an easiness. The relaxed, peaceful mood that came with his company.

"How's school going?" He asked her. Second semester of second year had just begun, and Weiss faced the largest course load she had at Beacon.

"Busy," She replied, not bothering to elaborate.

"Anyone you know in your classes?"

"Ruby's in advanced weapon design with me, and Pyrrha's in my combat class."

"That must be fun." Jaune said with a humorous edge to his voice.

"I'll beat her." Weiss deadpanned. She didn't like being reminded that no matter how hard she tried, she wasn't quite perfect yet.

"Weiss, you're quite possibly the most exceptional person I know. You can't be the best at everything though."

"Why not?" It's what she had been told she had to be her entire life.

"Because it's impossible."

"For most people, maybe."

"Weiss..."

"Look, Jaune, it's not something I have a choice about. I'm not in the same position as everyone else. If I'm ever going to fix what my father has done, or even live up to what he expects, I can't afford to have even the slightest of flaws."

"You don't though. There's nothing wrong with you, and just because someone is better at swordplay than you doesn't mean that you're bad at it."

"It means I'm not good enough at it."

A heavy sigh. Weiss wanted to pull away from him, but thinking about how much more she had to improve intimidated her slightly, and it helped to feel him next to her. She needed to feel him next to her.

"I think you might have one flaw." Weiss' stomach dropped. She didn't want to hear that, especially not from him. "You've taken the weight of the world on your shoulders."

"I didn't, it's just that-"

"You did, and I wish you could let it go for a minute." There was a genuine yearning in his voice that puzzled Weiss.

"Aren't I right now?" She asked, guilt churning in her stomach as she reminded herself of it. She really shouldn't be there relaxing with him.

"What are you thinking about now?"

"That I really should be getting back to studying." She got up and away from him. She stood, almost mechanically.

"So you're not really relaxing are you?"

"I guess not, but I need to go."

"Weiss, please-"

"I have to study."

"Just relax,"

"I can't afford to relax!"

"Everyone can."

"I'm not everyone. You should know that better than anyone else!"

"I know, but you don't have to carry that burden. You can-"

"Jaune!" She exclaimed, rounding on him. "I know it might be easy for you to brush off your family name and casually do the least you can, but I can't!"

The words left her mouth, and Weiss gasped. Her hand drifted to her mouth, covering it in shock. The hurt on his face made her hate herself more than she already did. The regret was instant, and made it feel like someone had skewered her through the chest with a white hot blade.

"Jaune," She barely whispered. "I-"

"Fine," He cut her off, standing and walking towards the door. His face reminded her of a storm in the summer, beautiful despite the horror it entailed. "Go study," He stalked through the door and into the hall without so much as looking at her.

Weiss sat back down on the couch, tears blurring her vision. She hadn't meant to say that. No... She had. She wasn't a good person. She knew how much the weight of his family name bore down on him, that he always had to strive to be better, and it was part of why she had started to get close to him. They shared that, but Jaune was able to detach himself from it more. She envied that.

Because there was no reason for her not to, and crying was unproductive, Weiss walked over to the desk and sat down, completely numb. She dragged her notebook in front of her, opened her textbook, and grabbed her immaculate gold and silver fountain pen, a gift from her father on her seventh birthday. It's intended use was for signing paperwork, and nothing else.

She started taking notes, the ink weeping occasionally as it sank into the paper when tears blotted her writing.

"Jaune..." She was hesitant, scared even.

"Yes?" It wasn't the friendly, understanding voice she was used to. It wasn't cold either, and that scared her more. It was just perfectly neutral, like he didn't care at all; like no matter what she did, he wouldn't react. Weiss was reminded of the faceless, nameless servants back home, and she wondered if Jaune was going to be like that soon.

There was nothing more terrifying to her.

"Can we talk?"

"Yes," The butterflies swirled around her stomach, but not the good kind. It wasn't nervous anticipation, it was fear of what she expected.

"Jaune..." She trailed off. She had been hoping, in the weirdest way, that he would be mad. He wasn't though, just numb in a way. Like he wasn't responding to her.

"What do you need?"

"Are you mad?"

"No," He paused, contemplating the question for a moment. "You're right, I guess."

"I'm not," Weiss practically pleaded.

"No, you are. I'm a failure to my family, and I haven't been fighting it. I thought that maybe just being the best that I could be would be enough, not just for me but for you too; I guess it's not."

"Jaune..." It was a whimper.

"You know, I should be used to it. I just finally thought I might be good enough for someone. I thought I might not let you down." He lowered his gaze to a spot on the floor. He leaned forward, his elbows pressing into his knees and the common room couch squeaking slightly in response.

It felt like someone had punched Weiss in the gut. Her insides twisted violently, making her want to retch. Her breath didn't come, her lungs no longer able to function.

"I'm sorry,"

"What?" Air finally escaped her mouth with the question. There was no reply though, and the silence filled the room, almost choking Weiss. Without elaborating on why he was sorry, Jaune stood and brushed past her. Weiss' stomach dropped as he pushed past her and out the door.

It felt like the world tilted under her, and before Weiss realized what was happening, she was lying on the couch, curled up in a ball. There were tears falling down her cheeks, but she didn't feel them. Her entire body felt like it was full of pins and needles, and a deafening numbness spread through her mind. She could have sworn that someone had chiseled out her insides and replaced it with a block of ice. She started shivering, even though the early spring weather was pleasantly warm.

He couldn't leave her, not him. There had been so few people that Weiss had let into her world, and he was the closest. He was her tie to the real world, the one where people laughed and sang and were happy. Jaune was the only one who anchored her, kept her from drifting back into the sea of silhouetted faces and paperwork.

And there was some undeniable part of herself that yearned for him. It was more than him just being an anchor, it was him just existing in her world. Having him around made her happy. She had never experienced joy the way she had around him. She wanted to hold him close, feel him next to her when the ice began creeping into her heart again. She wanted him to help ward off the pain that came with the name she had been born with.

And she wanted to make him happy, too. She wanted him to live, do his best, be rewarded for all his selflessness. He deserved so much more. He deserved someone that could make him smile.

But she was an awful creature. Just like she did with everyone, she had hurt him. How could she have hurt Jaune? Of all people, he was the one she wanted to be happy the most. He deserved it for his hard work. Why couldn't she just let him be happy? Why did she have to make him miserable?

Why was she toxic to everyone she loved?

Wow! That was an overwhelming response! I was going to do this weekly, but I think I can release another chapter today for all y'all. Thank you guys... and sorry for this chapter (please don't hurt me). The truth is that all real relationships have their ups and downs. I promise there will be more fluff, but not everything will be fluffy all the time.

Another note is that this story won't be linear. I tried writing it in a straight progression, and it just didn't work. So, the scenes will bounce around in time. I'll drop hints near the start of each scene to indicate the time frame if that's important.

I hope you're enjoy reading this! Any tips, tricks, suggestions or ideas are more than welcome, and will help me improve my writing!