Yaaaaay, more angst and general bad decision making. I must say, this is delicious to write for me. I hope you have as much fun reading as I did writing.


"So... what did you want to talk to me about?"

Jaune said nothing, letting a cool evening breeze slow the pounding of blood in his ears. This wasn't him, this wasn't the Arc that he wanted to be. Just talk it out with him, talk it out...

Receiving no response as Jaune composed himself, Neptune made the first move. He started cool and casual, as he usually did.

"This party's pretty lame, huh? I mean, ballroom dancing." He made a derisive "pffft" sound, causing Jaune to tense up. It was no good. Hearing him speak so freely was infuriating.

"Yeah..." he growled under his breath, trying his best not to let his anger show.

"Cute girls though, huh?"

There was a sharp cracking noise as Jaune tightened his fist.

"Is that all you think about?"

"Huh?" said Neptune, puzzled. Was Jaune always this tense? When they'd met, he'd had a feeling that the blonde was a pretty chill guy. Then, as Jaune turned around, he caught a glimpse of the same face he had worn back then. A look of contempt, disappointment, restrained frustration. Back then he had also been angry, but was it because of Neptune himself?

Maybe he just doesn't like me?

"Do you even care about the girls you're hitting on? How they feel about you?"

"Whoa!" What, was this guy an SJW or something? What was wrong with how Neptune did things? It was all in good fun.

"Where's this coming from?" Neptune asked, but Jaune advanced on him swiftly, the sudden movement causing Neptune to stumble back a few steps.

"Did you do it?" he seethed, mere inches from Neptune's face. Do what? That? He didn't fool around like that! This damn pervert, thinking he can just drag him out here to ask something like this?

"What? No!"

"Then why... why is she alone?"

"Who? You're not making any sense right now!"

"Weiss Schnee!" Jaune exploded, so loud that some dancers turned nonchalantly at the noise. No one paid any heed as he continued. "Did she ask you to the dance?"

"I... uh... yes..." he admitted.

"Did you turn her down?"

"Well... yeah."

"WHY?" Jaune raged, abandoning his worthless attempts at peaceful conversation. This guy had no right to be sheepish, not with what he'd done. It was him. He was at fault here.

"I, uh... it, uh... it just didn't work out, you know?"

"What? You think that you're too cool, too many other options? Weiss Schnee asked you to the dance. What in the world could possibly keep you from go-"

"I can't dance!" Neptune exclaimed.

...

...

"Beg your pardon?"

"I can't dance, man!"

Jaune blinked. So even the mighty Neptune ran into trouble here and there. The confession almost shocked him out of his rage.

But not yet.

"So you're saying..." he began tentatively, "you would rather break a girl's heart and go to a dance alone than just admit to everyone that you can't move in rhythm to music?"

"That about sums it up, yeah."

Jaune grabbed Neptune by his orange and black tuxedo, ruffling the bow tie and pinning the blue haired hunter against the wall. From this angle no one could see what he was about to do, and the music was certainly too loud for them to be heard in the open night air.

The other boy winced and looked up to glare at his aggressor, but quickly shrunk down as he caught a glimpse of the hatred in Jaune's eyes. The blonde was seeing red, his breathing ragged and deep as if he was a Grimm himself.

"Wh-what are you doing, man?" stammered Neptune in the face of the vengeful Jaune.

"Unforgivable. I can't even believe you."

"Look, if you want Weiss she's all yours! I don't wanna get in your way!"

"That's not it... you don't understand. She didn't want a pity date, she wanted something real." Jaune shuddered at the words as he recalled the incident with Pyrrha. "She doesn't want me, she wants you. You don't understand, you don't understand! You fall for girls all the time, and they fall for you all the time. It's nothing to you, isn't it? Some of us fall in love once in a lifetime, and when you're the man who could warm Weiss Schnee's heart you take responsibility. You don't blow her off for some stupid reason like not being able to move your legs to a beat."

Neptune frowned and drew himself back up to his full height. "What are you talking about? What gives you the right to decide who I take to the dance and who I don't take the dance?"

Jaune moved his hand to Neptune's shoulder and pushed him back against the wall forcefully. "When you see someone treating a beautiful vase like a cheap knockoff, you scold them. People like that have no respect for the appreciation of important things."

"You're talking really weird, Jaune. Are you okay?" he squeaked as Jaune increased the pressure on his arm. He could try to push Jaune off, but making the blonde angrier seemed like a bad idea, even for him.

"Never better." Jaune wasn't used to this feeling of power, of control. All his life he had been a relatively weak and timid kid, never sufficiently brawny to stand out and excel next to his peers. It almost surprised him how he managed to hold the larger boy down with the force of his outrage. Those extra sessions with Pyrrha had certainly paid off tremendously.

Pyrrha. He remembered her hurt expression clearly even through the haze of emotion he was experiencing. Didn't he have to do this for her too? And Cardin? The weight of all the people he had caused problems for suddenly crashed down on his head, but he used it to lean into Neptune all the more and caused the blue haired boy to draw a sharp breath. Neptune had to pay for what he did. It was all his fault. His fault.

Jaune raised his free fist, his knuckles blanching as he squeezed.

Why was he still holding back? Surely Neptune could have just turned on Jaune. In a fight, wouldn't the playboy win by a mile? Was Jaune... actually stronger than him? Between the two, who was really mighty? Who was really wrong?

His fault.

He shook the jumbled questions out of his head. His target was right in front of him. Neptune trembled under his grasp, almost in tune with Jaune's jittering knees.

No.

Why was he holding back?

Was he... still wrong?

His fault.

His fault.

What was his fault?

Somehow, Jaune couldn't remember. The events of the past few days were blurring together like ripples in a clear pond, obscuring the substance underneath.

He had to pay.

For what he did.

But what had Neptune done?

A heavy hand fell on Jaune's tousled blonde hair, in complete disarray from the excitement. He drew a short breath, sending waves through his bleary vision. Neptune was still in front of him. Cardin was behind him, one hand in his pocket, standing tall.

He almost looked kind of cool right there.

"Jaune," he said softly. "What were you planning on doing?"

The blonde released his grip on his quarry's tuxedo. Neptune slid down to the ground, sighing in relief. Jaune stared at his feet, ashamed. Of what? His inability to finish the job?

"Jaune, this isn't you. Actually, you look more like me a year ago."

"Bet you weren't fucking shaking like a leaf," he cursed, biting on his lip.

His fault.

"Why?"

Jaune turned away and walked to the railing, unable to face the gentle eyes of his former tormentor. He kept his gaze on the campus, watching the wind kick up storms of leaves.

"Was it for her?"

...

"Or was it for you?"

Jaune pivoted on his left leg and swung hard, but Cardin knocked away the unsteady attack like nothing.

"You can still throw a punch at me, huh?"

"Stop sounding so damn reasonable," he hissed.

"I know what it's like to feel stupid, Jaune. I've been stupid for most of my life."

"I know."

"Jeez, don't agree with me over something like that." Cardin frowned jokingly. "But in all seriousness. I know what it feels like to be wrong too."

"I'm not wrong!" shouted Jaune, but it came out halfheartedly.

"It's okay. You can't always do the right thing. No one does."

"SHUT UP! It's his fault!"

"You sound like a five year old, Jaune."

"NO! It's him! Do you know what he does? He toys with girls like its nothing, he never takes anything seriously, he... he..." Jaune was drawing a complete blank. "He... he took her..."

Cardin snorted. "I know how that feels. Not like I held it over you." Cardin leaned on the railing next to Jaune. "So even the pure Jaune of Arc gets jealous. Amazing."

Neptune positioned himself next to Jaune on his left side, and the two larger boys flanked him as he glared intently at the topiary. He wouldn't look them in the eyes. Imagine a wall on either side, yeah, that's it. Block them out.

"I'll do it," said Neptune.

"What," Jaune responded flatly, dreading the answer in spite of himself.

"I'll go talk to Weiss. If that's what you want."

"You like her?"

...

"Yeah. She seems pretty cool."

"Be careful with her. If you don't... I won't forgive you." The threat carried no impact, an empty promise if anything.

"Don't worry. I'll take responsibility. Hearing you be so honest with yourself... its almost inspiring in a way. If that makes sense." Hearing Neptune spit his own words back at him was too much. Jaune hung his head between his shoulders and laughed.

"I'm sorry, Neptune. That was a stupid thing to do."

"Everyone does stupid things," the blue haired hunter reminded him. "At least, we do." He gestured at himself, Cardin and Jaune collectively, earning genuine, booming laughter from Cardin. Jaune joined in, and Neptune followed suit. When had the playboy become part of the group? Wasn't he... no. He was never to blame. Jaune had been pushing his responsibilities on him from the start.

It was pointless for him to continue considering him as an enemy. He was just another victim. A victim of Jaune's childish game.

Jaune twinged as he noticed Neptune subtly smooth the new crinkles in his suit.

"No, I really mean it. I didn't mean to involve you in this. Well, actually, I did but... I mean I feel bad for getting you involved in this. In the end it was..."

"You don't have to say it. Just enjoy the party. They really did a great job with the decorations and everything." With that, Neptune waved a little goodbye and strolled casually back inside, as if nothing had happened. He was a man who would keep his word, even despite being so damn wishy washy. It almost hurt to watch him go, he was being so damn nice.

Why did he have to be so nice?

If he had just been an asshole, it would have been so much easier.

Jaune placed his face on the cold railing, wrapped his arms around his head and started to cry. Loud, raucous sobs made his shoulders pound up and down like pistons. Cardin steadied him with a hand on his back.

"Don't go falling apart on me, man. Aren't you my +1?" He chuckled at his own joke, but Jaune refused to stop. Sighing, Cardin grabbed him by his blonde mane and lifted his head up, up to face the moon. The light lit up tear tracks on Jaune's face, and his eyes widened. Hypnotized by the shine, his weeping slowed to a halt.

"Quit it. It's depressing to see you bawling your eyes out like this."

They stood there for a few seconds in silence, Jaune sniffling and hanging by Cardin's iron grip. It felt like it did when the larger boy had bullied him, an almost nostalgic feeling.

He gulped down his sorrow. The ex-bully waited patiently.

"I'm not sure... what I should do. I got everyone involved. I can't just turn around and laugh it off like you."

"Who's turning around, jerk?" Cardin released his grip, letting the team leader stare into the sky without his assistance. "You just have to keep moving forward."

"How do I fix it?"

"Hell if I know. I don't fix things, I break them."

"I need to do something. Get my friends back."

"They're still there. They're waiting for you to come back to them."

"Are you sure?"

"Not at all," he uttered confidently. "But I read that line yesterday and it sounded kinda cool..."

"You need to get that under control."

The other team leader gave him a wink.

"Don't worry, Jaune. I won't tell anyone you were crying. Your secret's safe with me."

"The last time you said that, it didn't turn out so well."

"I'm hurt. Now go back to your teammates." Cardin gave Jaune a gentle shove, ushering him towards the dancefloor. Hesitantly at first, Jaune finally gave in, wiped away his tears and smiled.

"I'll fix it this time, I promise."


As usual, leave a review to tell me how I screwed up, how you want the story to go, how much you hate me, etc. I truly love reading reviews, so thanks in advance for taking the time to tell me just how you feel about my sleepy, self indulgent writing.

Following public demand, the title has been changed to remove the (Alternate).