Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of the characters, they are owned by Rooster Teeth.
To say that Jaune and Blake's current situation at the moment was awkward, would be an understatement.
After allowing her into his home, Jaune began to make tea to comfort them from the cold.
"Thank you." Blake said, as Jaune handed her the cup.
Jaune nodded and grabbed a chair to sit down, facing Blake.
As Blake nervously sipped her tea, she would glance at Jaune every other second, anxiety taking its toll on her.
After just sitting there in silence for what seemed like a long time, Jaune finally spoke up.
"So… ." Jaune trailed off.
"How've you been?" Jaune asked.
Jaune mentally cringed, clearly not liking his choice of question.
"You couldn't have come up with something better?!" Jaune mentally berated himself.
"I've been alright." Blake answered.
"Good." Jaune blurred out, awkwardly.
A couple more minutes of silence followed, unknowingly broken by quiet voices coming from outside.
"What are they saying now?" Ruby whispered.
"Nothing, they aren't saying anything." Yang whispered.
"Do you think we should help?" Ruby asked.
"No, this is something Blake has to do for herself." Yang told her.
With that, a moment later, Blake had decided that it was time to come clean and tell Jaune the whole story.
"Jaune." Blake said.
Jaune looked at Blake, his focus almost completely on her and the words she was speaking.
"Before I tell you why I'm here, I have to apologize." Blake said.
"I neglected you and ran away when you needed me to be there and for that I am truly sorry." Blake apologized.
"I know you probably won't forgive me, but I needed to say it, as well as what I'm about to tell you." Blake said.
Blake sighed, looked at Jaune one more time before closing her eyes and started her story.
"Do you remember that day… when we were supposed to meet up in the woods?" Blake asked.
"All too well." Jaune thought.
Despite his thought, Jaune didn't speak, simply letting Blake continue on.
"I had shown up first, Pyrrha arrived a little bit later." Blake said.
"We waited a little while for you but after you hadn't shown up, we decided to just go on our own." Blake told him.
"When we got there, the rain had already made everything slippery, but… I was so stubborn and naïve, I thought it would be alright." Blake said.
"I started climbing up a tree, to get a view of the town like we always did." Blake said.
Blake started welling up, doing whatever she could to hold the tears back.
"Pyrrha tried to talk me out of it, she said it was dangerous." Blake said.
"I should've listened to her." Blake said.
"I reached for a branch, but as I went to move, it broke off." Blake said.
Blake's breathing began to grow heavier as she remembered the experience.
"I clung on to the tree and I couldn't look down, I only heard Pyrrha shouting at me to hang on and that she would help me get down." Blake told him.
"I kept my eyes closed and the next thing I knew, I was falling." Blake said.
"I hurt my leg after I landed on the ground, but I had made it down." Blake said.
"I went to thank Pyrrha, but… she didn't answer." Blake said.
"I looked around, trying to see if she had gotten down or if she was still in the tree… that's when I saw her." Blake told him.
Blake couldn't hold back any longer and started to let her tears fall.
"It was my fault, she died trying to save me." Blake said, through her sobbing.
It was as if in that moment, Jaune's perspective had become more clear but somehow all the more dreadful.
He finally understood why Blake had avoided him and left him alone after all these years, seeing that she had felt responsible for the tragedy due to her actions.
But while he did understand, Jaune could not bring himself to speak to her or comfort her despite how much he had wanted to.
Jaune could forgive her, but to have her back in his life was a complicated decision that couldn't be made in just a moment.
Jaune simply stood up, walked to the front door and opened it.
Blake looked up and saw Jaune, hiding his eyes behind his hair to avoid eye contact.
Blake wasn't sure if he was angry or upset, but knew that leaving would be for the best.
As Blake made her way out, Jaune spoke one sentence before closing the door.
"Give me some time." Jaune said.
As Blake watched the door close, she wiped away the tears on her face.
Blake was both hopeful and terrified upon hearing those words.
As Blake walked away, she noticed something moving out of the corner of her eye.
Blake sighed, recognizing that bright blonde hair anywhere.
"I take it you two heard everything." Blake stated, in an unamused tone.
Both Yang and Ruby slowly walked out towards her, with embarrassment in their expressions.
"Yeah, so… I guess this changes things for you two." Yang said.
Blake couldn't respond, not sure of anything at the moment.
"It wasn't your fault." Ruby said.
Ruby held on to Blake's hand.
"You made a mistake, but you didn't know, you couldn't have known." Ruby said.
Ruby didn't know why but she felt that she had to reassure Blake at this moment.
"This Pyrrha girl sounds amazing… do you mind if you tell us about her?" Ruby asked.