Chapter 10: Summer Invitation

Jaune

It's been six whole months, and maybe a couple days here or there, since Blake and I started dating. I really want to ask her to come over during Summer break, but I have no idea how to ask her. I mean, she spent Winter holiday at Beacon, and I really wanted to ask her then, but we'd only been together a month or so at that point. I pace back and forth across the dorm, trying to work up the nerve to ask her. If I've learned anything while being with her, it's that I have to be straightforward about everything. Now, if only I could get the courage to actually do anything.

The last six months have been absolutely amazing. Thanks to Blake, I've improved tremendously in combat. I'm using a variation of Sambo now, which is really similar to boxing, but I like to rely on the tackles and holds a lot more than the punching. Surprise is my friend. My sword skill has also improved with Blake's help, too. She and Pyrrha work together for that one, where Pyrrha helps with my defense and Blake works on my offense. I can beat Cardin and his team, not all at once mind you, now.

The dates, too. Every Saturday, we alternate who gets to choose what we do. They always end up so amazing. Being with Blake is like flying ,without the motion sickness. The kisses, man. Ever since that first kiss, which was fireworks worthy, they haven't dulled at all. I might be a bit sappy, but I'm pretty sure that they get better each time. The more I get to know Blake, the happier I seem to be. I just can't believe that I could ever be this ecstatic in my entire life.

Then, there's the situation at hand. I want her to meet my family, to be accepted by my family. I've talked to my older sisters about her, and they said that Summer break would be a great time to introduce her. We'd be far enough into our relationship that the idea of being permanent, or at least lasting a long time, isn't so out there, and taking this step only makes sense. Also, since Blake doesn't have a family of her own, I want to provide her one. I want to give her someone to fall back on if anything ever happens to me. I want her to have a safe haven that she can go to and be surrounded by people who care about her. I know she has a team and all, but they can only do so much. Ruby and Yang have very finite resources, and Weiss, well, Weiss isn't a good choice for very obvious reasons. I know my team would take her in, but I don't want to burden them. Blake might not even admit it to herself if she even needed help, so the more people to help her without helping her the better. I know I can ask this of my family. I know that they'll help her. They just don't know that she's a Faunus. I mean, they definitely won't care, but she has to be the one to tell them. She has to trust them enough, let them earn her trust, for her to uncover one of her biggest secrets.

I take a deep breath and exit the room to walk over to Team RWBY's dorm. I knock three times before lowering my hand. Weiss opens the door, and I can see her signature eyeroll. I open my mouth, but before I can even speak, Weiss calls out, "Blake! It's your boyfriend." I laugh nervously. That word still gives me butterflies.

Blake steps out into the hall and closes the door behind her. "What is it, Jaune?"

I lick my lips and rub the back of my head, the nervousness getting to b=me little by little. "Um, I was wondering, if, maybe you'dliketogotomyhousethisbreak." I speak really fast. I don't mean to, but everything just boils down to me actually asking, and I can't help but try to get it out before I choke.

She looks at me in confusion. I see her trying to sift through the words. I mean, she's had near on two years of dealing with Ruby. I'm pretty sure she can figure it out. Understanding dawns on her face but is soon replaced by a crinkled brow to express her worry. "Do you think I should, though? What will they say about, um, you know what?"

I give her a reassuring smile. "They won't care. Personally, I think that that would actually seal the deal there for Raven, and possibly the entire group. I mean, they're really weird, but I think that they'll like you for you."

I can see her relent to my request, but a small spark of interest ignites in her eyes. "I see. So, sure, I'll spend the Summer with you." A small smile lights her face and I can't help but hug her.

"Oh, thank you, thank you. You won't regret this. Thank you!" I hug her tight.

I feel a tap on my shoulder. "Jaune… can't breathe."

I let go of her and step back. Rubbing the back of my head, I shoot her an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

She straightens her vest and looks up at me. "It's fine. So, tomorrow, I'm going with you when everyone leaves for break?"

I give my version of a dazzling smile. "Yep." I look over my shoulder at my door. "Um, I better go finish packing. And, uh, you should probably do the same." I give her a small peck on the cheek. "I'll, um, see you tomorrow?"

She gives me a lopsided smile. "Of course." We both turn from each other and go into our respective rooms. I really need to finish packing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Blake

I sigh at my luck. There goes my quiet vacation in Vale, but I suppose I'd do just about anything for Jaune. I open the door knowing full well that the other girls are on the other side, eavesdropping. All three of them fall on their butts when I push the door open forcefully. "Well, girls. I see you've overheard all of it. "

All three of them nod their heads. I roll my eyes at their behavior. Weiss is the first to get up and brush off her nightgown. "Well, I suggest that we all get a good night's rest. We do have to leave early in the morning." She lays down in her bed and turns over, probably tuning the rest of us out.

"So, Blakey. You're going with Jaune, huh? Try not to have too much fun. Don't do anything I would do." She gives me a playful smirk and climbs into her bed.

I pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration. "Shut up, Yang."

She turns over and winks at me. "Don't let Jauney-boy get any bella-booty, ya hear?"

I blush and go to the bathroom to shower and change into my yukata. When I get out, the lights are off, and everyone's settled down to sleep, thankfully. I fall asleep and thank god that I had already packed my things earlier in anticipation of renting an apartment for some quiet peace during the Summer. It seems that I'm not getting that, not with him having seven sisters.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Blake

I'm waiting outside my door for Jaune to come out. I had to upgrade my luggage from the beginning of my first year so that everything could fit. I have a large duffel bag and a bookbag now. I'm definitely nervous right now, and if I were the one to bite my nails, they'd be nonexistent right now. Oh god, will they really like me? Why is Jaune inviting me now? I mean, we were dating during Winter break too, yet he didn't ask me then. My mind keeps switching between this being too soon and too late, though I'm leaning more toward the too soon part. I sigh again as I hear Team JNPR moving around inside their room. My team's already left. We had heartfelt goodbyes, even Weiss, which really surprised me. We promised to keep in touch and spend one week together at the end of the Summer together. I think Weiss is going to have the toughest time. I won't be surprised if she goes to stay with Ruby and Yang on Patch early. Poor Weiss.

Yelling, from Nora obviously comes through the door. "Come on, Ren! We're going to be late!" I'm pretty sure she only has one volume at this point. I feel bad for Ren, but he seems to have adjusted pretty well to her, considering that they're still friends.

The next thing I know, Jaune's on the floor in front of me, buried in an assortment of luggage. I look down at him and can't help but laugh. "Hey, Jaune. I didn't know you fell so hard for me." God, I've been hanging around Yang too much.

He gets up, tumbling luggage everywhere. "Oh, you know, falling half the fun." He brushes nonexistent dirt from his combat attire and gives me a big grin. We both laugh at his comeback. "Well, are you ready?"

I gesture to my two bags. "Of course."

"Good, cause our airship leaves in…" he checks his scroll. "Oh crap, it leaves in less than ten minutes!" He grabs two duffel bags and scoots the rest out of the way to make a path in the hallway. "We better get going. I wouldn't put it past Dalton to just leave us." He starts to speed walk toward the exit, motioning me to follow.

I pick my stuff and follow him out. "Dalton?"

He looks over his shoulder at me and then straight back forward. "Yeah. He's our pilot. My family hired him years ago, and he's been with us ever since." He keeps walking toward the airfield, determination filling his every step. I see that going home agrees with him. I laugh at my thought, making him turn around in curiosity. I shake my head at him, and he jsut shrugs, continuing to walk on.

"So, it's a private airship?"

He nods. "Yep."

This brings more confusion forward to crowd my mind. "How rich are you?"

He shrugs. "We're well off, I guess. I mean, the majority of our fortune, or what others could call it, is spent on various charities across Vytal. But, we still keep enough to keep ourselves afloat, not to mention the fact that about four salaries are funneled into the household, as well. So, all in all, we're not Weiss rich, but we are rich."

I ponder this. I had no idea. Though, wouldn't you think that just a Hunter's salary would nearly have them on the edge of bankruptcy, what with seven kids to feed and all? Huh. I guess not. I shrug it off. "That's pretty interesting. You said four salaries?"

He nods again. "Yeah. My three older sisters work too, and all of them live at home. Two of them are Huntresses. They just graduated this past year. One of them, though, is an accountant. I would really have thought that Rouge, of all of them, would have been the Huntress, you know? But, nope. She chose a more sedate environment for work."

I nod. "Oh, so the fourth is your dad?"

He smiles. "Yep! Maverick Arc, world renowned Hunter and world's greatest dad." He squuares his shoulders and puffs out his chest in pride.

"He's your dad? Hmm, interesting. Didn't he take out that Death Stalker den that was rampaging the outskirts of Masterson?"

He makes a dismissive gesture. "It wasn't just him. There were three more, his team from Beacon, there too. It was a group effort."

"Still, that's a feat in, and of, itself. I quite admire him." We make it to the airship, noticing that the engine has started up, and the hatch is closing slowly. Jaune takes a running start, and I'm not too far behind. He fling his things in the opening and jumps up. I throw mine in too and use one of my clones as a jump off to reach the already closing hatch. I just make it before I hear a metallic click of the door locking into place.

Jaune, I can see, is utterly furious. I've never seen him like this before. He marches up to the cockpit, and I swear if it were possible, there would be steam coming from his ears. That's how angry he seemed. I can just hear him shouting at the man in the pilot seat. "God dangit, Dalton. You couldn't have waited five more seconds? You could have killed Blake with that little stunt you decided to pull!"

The man is utterly calm, and this just irks me. "Chill, Jaune. You're fine, the lady's fine, and you both made it. Nothing to be all worked up about." He actually has the nerve to chuckle.

"That's beside the point, Dalton. The possibility is enough to be cautious of your actions. I'm definitely reporting this. You'll be lucky if you can get a job after this little stunt." Jaune's voice is low and menacing, even giving me the chills. Jaune's not joking this time. This sort of authority, I thought, was only reserved for combat situations. He has seemed to prove me wrong. Dalton doesn't have anything to say to this, and Jaune turns on his heels to make his way back to me. He turns back into the lovable nerd that I'm falling in love with almost instantaneously. He rubs the back of his head and gives me that apologetic smile. "Sorry you had to hear that. It's just that this isn't the first time he's done something like this. Is was sorta okay for him to do it when it's only me, but for him to endanger your life is unthinkable."

I shake my head at him. "No, it's fine, really. Um, thank you, though." I blush a little and look into his eyes, smiling slightly.

"No problem." He places all of the bags on the wall across from us and grabs my hand to pull me toward the row of seats. "Now, we have a little bit before we get there, so come on. We might as well get some rest."

I sit down beside him and lean my head on his shoulder, starting to close my eyes when I have a realization. "Wait, what about your motion sickness?"

Jaune gives me a smile and a thumbs up. "Taken care of. See, I asked Goodwitch about it last year, and she taught me this really neat Aura trick that neutralizes the effects of motion sickness. Isn't that awesome?"

I give a small, lopsided smile. "Utterly. That's great, Jaune." I close my eyes at that, and seem to get comfortable fairly easily, falling into a deep sleep, devoid of dreams or nightmares.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A/N: You know, Jaune being rich is kind of just rolling off of Blake's back, ya know. Why? Because I didn't want to make it seem like she's shallow. And yes, Jaune dad's name is Maverick. That friend I know helped me pick the parent's names, so yh. I like it. It's a strong name, ya know. So, um, in the coming chapters, cause I don't know how many I'm going to do, it's going to be fluff and touchy-feely stuff. Get ready for it. So, um, favorite, follow, review, you guys. Love ya!