Chapter Seven: Actual Friends?
When Ruby Rose woke up, she felt a sharp pain in her the back of her head. She moaned and rubbed the spot where it hurt the most. "What the hell did I do last night?", Ruby asked herself.
"Oh, I'll tell you what you did."
Ruby looked behind her and saw Yang standing at the end of her bed giving her an angry glare. Ruby, as tough as she was, was a little creeped out by this. How long has she been there exactly?
"You broke Jaune's heart", Yang said, "Actually, let me rephrase that. You ripped his heart out, threw it to the ground, stomped on it, and spit on it for good measure. You hurt him and now he's probably at home crying and wishing he never even met you."
Ruby felt a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach as she listened to Yang say all this. "You saw all of that?", Ruby asked.
"Of course I did you idiot", Yang said, "Who do you think knocked you out?" Ruby couldn't remember the last time her older sister was so angry with her. It was quite unsettling.
"I knew you two weren't actually dating and I fucking knew you were gonna hurt him. Why couldn't you just fucking leave him the hell alone!", Yang yelled.
"It would've been fine if he hadn't asked me out!", Ruby yelled back, "We met after he asked me out for Christ sake! I made it perfectly clear from the beginning that I didn't want an actual boyfriend, but he still decided to ask. Besides, the way I rejected Jaune wasn't nearly as harsh as you say it was."
"Really?", Yang said obviously not believing a word she said, "How was it not extremely mean and worthy of a good punch?"
"Any other guy would've received a punch to the face and a kick to the nuts. Maybe even worse than that.p, but I didn't do that to Jaune", Ruby said, "Despite what you might think, I don't dislike Jaune. He's a great guy and I might even consider him a friend. I just don't want to date him."
"Ruby", Yang started, "It was obvious that Jaune liked you. I caught him staring at you whenever you weren't paying attention. Anyone with half a working brain could see that he wanted to be in a real relationship with you, but apparently you couldn't see tha-"
"Yes I could!", Ruby said interrupting her sister, "It was obvious!"
"Then why couldn't you just leave him alone instead of leading him on!?", Yang yelled even louder, "You saw that he had a crush on you, but you didn't think that him being a fake relationship with you would make him like you even more!?"
Ruby became silent. She hadn't thought of that. Jaune's little crush on her must've grown to the size of a whale while they were in they're fake relationship. Holding hands, sharing breakfast, getting to know each other while lying on Ruby's bed. It must've drove him insane.
"Fuck", Ruby mumbled.
"Do you realize what you've done now, Ruby?", Yang asked, her fiery temper seemed to die down a bit.
"Shut up and get out of my room so I can get ready for school", Ruby snapped, "I need to be quick if I'm gonna walk with Jaune to school."
"Excuse me?", Yang asked, "Why are you walking to school with Jaune."
Ruby rolled her eyes and said, "Weren't you listening? I said I consider Jaune a friend, and that means I get to walk to school with him. Besides, he still my fake boyfriend. Now can you please get the hell out?"
Yang didn't leave the room. Instead, she remained at the end of Ruby's bed glaring down on your little sister with burning hatred in her eyes. If looks could kill, Ruby would be a skeleton right now. Yang couldn't believe the nerve of her little sister. She actually had the gall to go up to Jaune and bother him after what she said to him last night.
"No", Yang said.
"No?", Ruby said.
"You aren't going to school today. You're staying in this room and you're not coming out until Mom gets off from work", Yang said as if Ruby had no say in the matter. Yang exited the room and closed the door behind her. Ruby stood in her room confused until she heard the door locked from the outside.
"What the hell?", Ruby said. She ran over to the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. "Yang! Open this door!", Ruby yelled.
On the other side of the door, Yang leaning on the door while chuckling. "I told Mom and Dad about what you did, so they installed a lock on your door, so now you can't sneak out.", Yang explained.
"That's fucked up Yang! You can't leave me in here! I don't even have any food!", Ruby yelled as she banged on the door.
"Oh relax", Yang said rolling her eyes, "Mom gets off work early today, she'll be home at noon. Now if you excuse me, I need to get ready to walk to school." Ruby started to hit the door even harder, but it still wouldn't move an inch. "Oh, by the way, my friends and I are going to walk to school with Jaune today. Maybe now he'll know what it's like to have real friends who don't take advantage of him."
As Yang went downstairs to get her jacket, she heard Ruby shout, "You keep your ugly friends away from my fake boyfriend you bitch!" Yang rolled her eyes and proceeded to get ready for the day.
Jaune didn't feel like going to school today. He was foolish enough to ask out Ruby Rose, and he paid the price for it. It happened in private, but he felt like everyone in the world saw it. He just wanted to hide from everyone on earth and become a hermit. Maybe he could pay someone to deliver him groceries.
He wanted to ditch school and just lie down on his bed. Ruby could say that her boyfriend was sick or something, but he was afraid that Ruby would come to his house and kick his ass if he didn't show up. He sighed and deliberately got out of bed. His head was aching and his face was still moist from crying for most of the night. His stomach was burning with hunger, so despite the fact that he didn't wanna leave his room, he went downstairs to fix himself some breakfast.
He entered the kitchen and got ready to make some pancakes. Normally he would have on a small smile while making his favorite breakfast food in the entire world, but all the happiness in his body was replaced with anguish. Was he an idiot for asking out Ruby? Was he an idiot for wanting to give her that Valentines Day card in the first place? Was he a fool for thinking he was good enough for that amazing girl? Was he good enough for any girl?
He was a skinny, weak, shy, and grisly looking boy that stuttered whenever he was forced to any kind of social interaction. What girl would want to be with a guy like that?
As all of these things clouded Jaune's mind, he wasn't paying attention to what he was doing and knocked over the gallon of milk. "God dammit", Jaune yelled out of frustration. He couldn't seem to do anything right.
As Jaune went to go get the mop, he heard his doorbell ring. He groaned as he realized that it was probably Ruby Rose waiting for him to walk her to school. He ran to the door to avoid keeping her waiting. He approached the door and took a deep breath, for he was about to face the beautiful girl that broke his heart.
He opened the door and to his surprise, he didn't see the beautiful face of Ruby Rose, he saw the gorgeous face of the raven haired Blake Belladonna. Jaune couldn't believe what he was seeing. She was just standing there with a small smile on her face, like she was actually happy to see him. She was wearing a thin, white winter jacket just thick enough to keep her warm. The cold winter wind was slightly blowing her luscious black hair, making her look like an angel in snow.
"Hello Jaune", she said.
"Uh...h-hello B-Blak-ke. H-How are y-you d-d-doing t-today", Jaune said. His stuttering was now back in full effect.
Blake giggled. This caught Jaune extremely off guard. He hadn't even seen Blake laugh before, yet here she was giggling, in front of his house no less.
"I'm fine", Blake said. Her pretty smile became even wider, "Could I come in?"
"S-Sure, m-make yourself at h-home", Jaune said as he stepped out of the way. Blake gave Jaune a little nod as she walked in Jaune's home. Blake's attention immediately went to the three small book shelves Jaune had sitting next to his couch. Being the book worm she was, seeing any type of bookshelf gets her attention.
"May I take a look of your books?", she said looking back at Jaune.
Blake's beautiful eyes made Jaune's heart flutter. "O-Of course.", he said.
Blake got down on her knees and started going through one of the bookcases. As she did this, Jaune just stood in the corner like a little kid afraid of a puppy that was in the middle of the room. After all of the stuff he's had to deal with with Ruby Rose over the pass couple of days, this moment here was definitely the most awkward moment of his life.
This gorgeous girl was, for some reason, inside his house and going through his bookshelves, and he couldn't even talk to her without stuttering like an asshole. "Relax Jaune", he thought, "Blake is a nice girl, you don't need to be nervous around her." Maybe the fact that this girl wasn't as scary as Ruby Rose would help him relax. Maybe.
Suddenly, Blake stood up and turned around to face Jaune. She had a book in her hand, he couldn't see what it was. She raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why are you in the corner?"
"...N-No reason...", Jaune said. Blake seemed to be even more confused by this, but she decided to let it go. She started to approach Jaune and the boy's heart started to beat incredibly fast. Why was she coming so close to him?
"Could I borrow this book?", Blake asked with a smile. The book was 'Guilty Pleasures' by Laurell K. Hamilton. It was one of Jaune's favorite horror novels and one of the first books he ever bought with his own hard earned money. Well, technically the money was given to him by a family member, but he considered it hard earned.
"O-Of course you can, j-just be sure to return i-it please."
"Oh I will", Blake said, "If you don't mind me asking, how many books do you have?"
Jaune thought about it for a minute and said, "I-I'm not sure, b-but I h-have four a-and a h-half bookshelves worth in my r-room."
"Interesting", Blake said. She opened the book and started to read the liner notes (the bio of the author, the summary, etc).
"W-Would y-you like s-s-some pancakes?", Jaune asked. Blake looked up from the book and smiled, "That depends, are you a good cook?"
Jaune chuckled, "W-Well, my sisters say that I'm a great chef, b-but then a-again, they're fucking insane." Blake bursted out into a little fit of laughter before saying, "Well, I'm not entirely sane either, so I would love to have some pancakes made by you."
"G-Great, come on I'll l-lead you into the kitchen", Jaune said as he started walking to the kitchen. As Blake followed behind him, she still had the goofy smile on her face that she's had the minute Jaune opened the door. "I really like this guy", Blake thought, "He's cute, likes reading, and apparently he's a good cook. I wonder if Ruby realizes what she's missing."
After Jaune mopped up the spilled milk, he started to make the pancakes, while Blake sat at the table and read her new book. Unbeknownst to Jaune, Blake kept taking small glances at him. According to Yang, Jaune's never had a girlfriend before. Why would someone as cute as him not have a girlfriend yet? It seemed like an appropriate question doesn't it? Why was his first relationship a fake one? It couldn't be the stuttering could it? Surely that wasn't the main reason. Blake couldn't really tell.
When Jaune cooking, he served Blake her pancakes and the two ate in silence, mostly because Blake was busy trying to eat and read at the same time. Jaune chuckled at how she was struggling to do to things at once, he nailed that technique a long time ago.
"You're a really good cook", Blake said, "I don't think I've tasted pancakes that taste this good, not even in restaurants."
"T-Thank you", Jaune said shocked at the praise that he was getting. He had only gotten praise about his cooking from his sisters, and he thought they were just being nice. They were always oddly nice when it came to him, it was one of the reasons he wore a blue cape to school when he was in third grade.
"What else can you cook?", Blake asked resting her head on her hand. She seemed like she was legitimately interested in him. Someone besides his sisters taking an interest in him was something that never happened to Jaune, but here this black haired beauty was wanting to know about him.
"W-Well, I really enjoy cooking turkey, especially since it's my grandmother's favorite kind of meat. I also loved barbecuing with my father when I was young, I always looked the Fourth of July because of that.", Jaune explained.
"Do you still barbecue?", Blake asked.
"No, not with my father at least", Jaune said, "He and my mother are barely at home anymore, it kinda takes the fun out of barbecuing."
"Oh", Blake said as an idea appeared in her head. She knew just how to make barbecuing fun for Jaune again.
"Well, I s-should get ready for school. I-I'll be back in a second", Jaune said as he went to go get dressed. As soon as Jaune was upstairs and Blake began to read her book, the sound of the doorbell's ring rang through the small house.
"I'll get it, Jaune", Blake called to him without putting down the book. She held the book tightly to her chest as she walked to the door. When she opened it and she had a mini heart attack when she saw that the visitors were Yang and Weiss. The two girls were shocked when they saw Blake at the door, but their shock was soon replaced with frustration.
"What the hell Blake?", Yang asked, "We agreed that we would all walk here together."
Blake nodded, "True, we did agree to that, but I changed my mind." Blake tried to slam the door in their faces, but Yang grabbed the doorknob and forced her way in, Weiss following closely behind. Yang slammed the door and both girls gave Blake evil glares.
Weiss, obviously sore, crossed her arms and asked, "Why did you show up without us?"
Blake couldn't come up with a good excuse that didn't involve her spilling out her true intentions, and the angry glare Yang was giving her was sure to make her crack under the pressure. "Alright fine", Blake said deciding to come clean, "I like Jaune."
Weiss became skeptical, "You've only met him once. How can you like him already?"
"You fell in love with Neptune after seeing him in the hall", Blake. Weiss, knowing that there was no way she could possibly win this argument now, sat down on Jaune's couch and didn't say another word.
Yang was so ecstatic when she heard this that she ran up to Blake and gave her a tight hug, knocking all the air out of the smaller girls body. "This is awesome!", Yang said as she released the hug, "You and Jaune would be the cutest couple ever!"
"But, don't you", Blake paused to catch her breath and than she continued, "have a crush on him to?"
"Duh!", Yang said, "But you two have so much more in common! You both like books and your both socially awkward weirdos, you're the perfect couple."
"There's more to it than that Yang", Blake said, "I don't ev-"
"What's going on?"
The three girls turned to their left and saw and Jaune standing at the end of the stairs. He was wearing a black shirt with matching pants and shoes. "W-What are y-you two d-doing here?", he said looking at Yang and Weiss.
Yang smirked, "Well Jauney boy, I decided that its about time that you got some actual friends."
"A-Actual friends?", Jaune asked.
"Yep", Yang said wrapping her arm around the small boy, "Actual friends that think you're a great guy and want to hand out with you, not fake friends like my sister."
"O-Oh, R-Ruby's not t-that bad", Jaune said.
"Why do you defend that dreadful girl?", Weiss asked, "She's just an obnoxious bitch."
Well this explains why Blake was at his house.
"Girls, I a-appreciate your intentions, b-but I-"
"Jaune", Yang said cutting him off, "We're not giving you a choice." Her smirk didn't fade, but Jaune felt her grip around him tighten.
"I'll get my jacket", Jaune said through gritted teeth.
Ruby never thought that her own sister would be this pissed at her. Sure she's been mad at her before, but never to the point where she would lock her in her own damn room. "Fucking Yang", Ruby mumbled, "Why can't she just mind her own business?"
She looked over at her alarm clock. It was only seven thirty in the morning. No where close to noon. Ruby groaned and tried to ignore the burning hunger in her stomach. It was killing her. She needed to eat something. Anything. She was starting to consider eating one of her shirts. It's not like she wore them anyway. The taste of fabric sounded very tasty at the moment.
Ruby rolled over, opened her drawer and started digging around for some snacks. She was hoping that she had some candy, gum, or any type of food in there, but there was nothing. Not a single crumb.
It was at this point when regret started to come in and overtake her. "I just had to make Jaune be my boyfriend didn't I?", she thought out loud. She soon realized what she said and corrected herself, "My fake boyfriend."
Her tummy started to rumble, but she ignored it and continued to think out loud, "Why did he have to ask me out? Fucking idiot."
She rolled over on her side and continued to speak, "I made it clear that I didn't like him, but he had to fucking ask me out didn't he. Daft idiot. Blonde dumbass. He's just a ditzy blonde moron. I don't even know why I'm thinking about him."
But that brought up a good question, "Why the hell am I thinking about him? He's the fucking reason I'm starving right now. He's just a worthless pawn...yeah..a worthless fucking pawn in my genius fucking plan." Her voice became down trotted and she was now silent. She was silent for a while, simply staring at her dresser. Every now and again, she would mumble the words, 'Stupid Jaune', or 'Blonde twit'.
She was now done focusing on Yang, she was now focused on the blonde fool that was dumb enough to give her a Valentines Day card.
"If he had just stayed away from me like a smart person would, I would be out there at school, eating all the cookies in sight", Ruby said to herself, "But instead, I'm in my room starving. Thanks Jaune, you idiot."
Though she was spitting harsh, angry words, her body language didn't give of the impression that she was angry or even the tiniest bit annoyed. She was just looking up at the ceiling talking to herself like a lunatic. It was like she was trying to convince herself that she was still angry, but she was failing miserably.
"I hate you, Jaune Arc. I wish I never met you", Ruby said, "My life was a lot better before I met you. I wish I never met you. You stupid ugly prick." As soon as the words 'ugly' left her mouth, she immediately regretted it. "Maybe that was a bit too far", Ruby said, "You aren't ugly. You're quite nice looking. I mean, I've see uglier men than you. You are leagues above them."
She could've just left it at that, but she didn't.
"You're much cuter than the guys Yang usually brings home, and nicer than all of those guys to. Most of them are too busy having their heads up their as to be kind to her, which results in either Yang or my dad kicking their ass. That didn't happen with you. You were nice and genuinely interested in me, even though I was practically forcing you to be my fake boyfriend."
Once again, if she stopped right there and left it at that, it would have been fine. Sure she went on for a bit too long, but it would've been forgivable, but she didn't stop right there, she just went on.
"Now that I think about it", Ruby said, "You're probably the cutest guy in school. Everyone in our school is either a dork with a thousand zits on his face, or an over confident dickhead that needs to deflate his ego. You're a cute, humble boy that no one could legitimately hate...except me. I hate you. You idiot."
Ruby continued to talk to herself about Jaune as if anyone was listening to her, all the while, she kept trying to tell herself that she hated him, but she was very unconvincing.
Author's Note: So, what pairing do you like better? Jaune with Yang? Or Jaune with Blake. Do you guys think Ruby deserves another chance with Jaune? How will Jaune fair with his first real friends?
P.S. Don't worry about Ruby, there's food hidden in her room that she hadn't found yet. I wouldn't let her suffer for that long.
