Merry Christmas! :)
The conversation that took place with Lapis and Jasper was . . . stressful, to put simply.
It took Peridot a good couple of minutes to get her reasoning through to them, but once they finally gave her a chance to explain herself, they complied, and Peridot was free to go visit with Jaune without the disapproval of her friends.
However, Peridot was, rather begrudgingly, forced to agree to tell them everything that took place once she got back. Lapis and Jasper weren't particularly happy with the arrangement, and felt that if Peridot just ended everything now, all would be good, and the three could go back to normal. However, Peridot felt the need to talk things over with Jaune. Leaving the professor on bad terms was the absolute last thing in the world that she wanted to do, and truthfully, whether her friends agreed to it or not, she was going to visit her and get things worked out. Maybe, maybe she'd have to agree not to be so . . . 'touchy' with her. Although Peridot refused to admit that's what they were doing, it was hard to avoid the reality of the situation. She liked her teacher. Her teacher seemed to be a little . . . flirty? Charming? Either way, their relationship wasn't as platonic or professional as it should have been.
Peridot wished it didn't have to be that way.
But unfortunately, it was.
And she was going to get everything worked out tonight. If not for her own sake, then for her friend's sake, because it sure as heck seemed to be important to them.
It was around seven-thirty when Peridot headed out to Jaune's house, and it was just starting to get dark outside.
Once she arrived, it took her a couple of minutes to work up the nerve to get out of her car and step up to the porch. Once she finally did, she took few shaky breaths before she could manage to ring the doorbell.
Unfortunately though, the time she spent waiting for her professor to answer only worked to build up her anxiety.
Oh God, what if she was mad about leaving her at the restaurant?
What if she told me to leave?
What if she thought I was an awful person?
What if she hated me?
That last thought was too much to bare, and Peridot quickly shook it out of her mind. Luckily, the door finally creaked open, yanking Peridot from her thoughts and giving her some distraction from her worries.
To Peridot's surprise, Jaune looked a little . . . off.
Her hair seemed a little more messy than it should have. Her eyes looked faintly foggy, and her clothing wasn't prim and tucked in like it usually was. Instead, it looked looser. Peridot winced and covered her nose and mouth with her hand. There was a familiar scent that she recognized from the nights she would take Lapis and Jasper out to the bars.
Jaune was drunk, or at the very least, had been drinking.
Jaune eyed Peridot up and down, a frown forming on her lips and a look of disdain setting in along her facial features.
"What?" she asked in a harsh, almost whispery breath. Peridot pinched her nose a little tighter.
She was definitely drunk.
"Um . . . I- I wanted to talk. I- uh . . . I wanted to say sorry. I just . . . Could I come in, please?" Peridot asked hesitantly. She honestly didn't want to go inside while Jaune was in this kind of state, but up and leaving seemed like an even worse option than the first. Been there, done that. It was one of the reasons she was here in the first place, wasn't it?
After a moment, and a reluctant sigh, Jaune stepped out of the way, making room for Peridot to step inside.
"Please don't take too long. I'm not really in the best state of mind for conversation right now." Jaune stated wearily. Peridot nodded and quickly stepped inside.
She expected to get some sort of invitation to sit down, or to follow Jaune out to the living room, but Jaune remained by the door, leaning back on the wall behind her and staring down at Peridot, an expectant expression on her face.
". . . Well?" the professor urged. "What do you need?"
Peridot shifted uncomfortably, finding it awkward to have to look up at the woman rather than being at eye-level with her, like they would be if they were seated.
"I just . . . I wanted to talk about last night. I'm sorry I walked out on you . . . but I thought I needed to? I mean, not that I wanted to or anything! I just, thought it would be better if I went with my friends, because they're worried and they said you might be . . . tricking me or something and I just wanted to um . . . make the right choice . . . I think . . ."
Peridot's eyes darted around as she spoke, avoiding the foggy yellow eyes in return for eyeing up the walls, the floor, the photos, and the visible parts of the living room. Anything other than Jaune. But once she was finished, they reluctantly fell back onto her.
Her expression hadn't changed at all.
". . . They believe i'm manipulating you?" she asked in a quiet, irritated tone. Peridot swallowed thickly, giving a simple nod of her head.
"Y-yeah . . ." she replied shakily. "Is . . . are they right?"
Jaune stared down at her, giving her a slow blink and a careless shrug of her shoulders. "I need your help."
Peridot's face dropped. "But . . . they're right, aren't they?" she asked, her voice dropping into a shameful and discouraged tone. Although the saying was cheesy and overused, Peridot swore she could feel her heart break.
Jaune didn't like her at all, did she?
Jaune's eyes rested on Peridot's face. A few clear thoughts seemed to be running through her drunken, swimming mind.
Peridot came to apologize. Peridot seemed to have a clue about what Jaune was doing. Peridot was upset.
She needed to change the situation. Now.
Jaune took a step forward. "Peri . . ." she breathed softly.
Peridot winced and turned her head to the side. Jaune's breath was bitter-sweet, like a tart wine and something along the lines of cranberry or orange juice. Maybe that's what she was drinking? Peridot didn't know, and she didn't care either. She hated the smell of alcohol altogether, whether it was beer or wine or coolers. She hated it. She loved Jaune, but, she wasn't comfortable right now. Not with this type of Jaune, who seemed less composed and less . . . well, like herself.
Peridot looked up swiftly once she felt hands on her shoulders. Her heart thudded painfully in her chest. Jaune was staring down at her, and once Peridot took a small step backwards, Jaune took two forward, pressing Peridot gently against the wall.
"You're my favorite student, you know." Jaune murmured.
Peridot shut her eyes tightly. Her heart fluttered in excitement and she bit her lip, trying to keep her mind focused.
"Wh-what . . . what do you need my help with?" Peridot choked out. She couldn't think straight, so she decided to allow pretty much anything to tumble out of her mouth without much thought to it. It was better than saying nothing.
Jaune smiled, leaning her head down and resting her forehead on Peridot's.
"I just want to find my sister. That's all." she stated cooly.
Peridot lifted a hand to cover her nose. ". . . That's why you started talking to me, isn't it?" Peridot murmured. Jaune gently took Peridot's hand in her own, removing it from her face and lowering it slightly.
"And why is that such a bad thing?" Jaune questioned.
"B-b-because . . . y-you don't . . . you d-didn't . . . you don't really like m-me." Peridot stammered. Her thoughts told her to pull her hand out of Jaune's, but she found herself gripping onto it a little tighter.
What the hell was going on?
She couldn't function right, she couldn't speak normally, and she couldn't move her body. She wanted to move away from Jaune but . . . why? Why did she want to get away from Jaune again? What was she supposed to be mad at her about? Jaune didn't really do anything wrong, did she?
"Peridot." Jaune smiled, gently lifting up Peridot's hand and pressing it back against the wall, easily intertwining their fingers together. She lowered her head down a little more, placing it just in between Peridot's ear and her pinned hand.
"Of course I like you . . . " she whispered softly.
Peridot's shoulder's lurched from sudden chills up her spine. Jaune's empty hand gently moved from Peridot's shoulder to her neck, gently caressing it. A few fingers lingered on her throat while the others moved underneath her chin, lifting her head up to face Jaune.
Peridot's breathing quickened.
She couldn't think.
What was there to think about?
Jaune's lips gently pressed against the corner of Peridot's mouth, her mind swimming in too deep a pool of alcohol to have hit the mark. Peridot tensed, and although her mind didn't seem to be present, her body seemed to have a mind of it's own to work with. Peridot's head slowly turned itself to the side until Jaune's mouth was on top of her own.
And neither of them moved for some time.
Once Jaune seemed to get it through her mind to stop, her head lifted slightly, putting a little bit of distance between both of their faces.
"Could you please help me?" Jaune asked in a soft, sweet tone. Peridot blinked the foggyness from her eyes, nodding a little as she did so.
"Y- . . . yeah. O-of course I can. Of course."
Peridot silently watched as Jaune trailed her hand down Peridot's arm, tracing it back upwards again until it rested on Peridot's cheek.
"Thank you." she breathed, resting her lips on Peridot's forehead for a second before she took a step back, leaving Peridot dazed and moonstruck against the wall of the semi-familiar house.
Peridot took a quick, swallow breath, looking up at Jaune and biting her lip.
"Let me just . . . I'm going to go get my laptop." she said quickly, fumbling with the handle to the door before she rushed outside, fumbling again to unlock her car door.
Was it this warm outside when she arrived?
Peridot shook her head and grabbed the computer in the passenger's seat, slamming the door before making her way back inside.
The funny thing was, Peridot couldn't really remember why she came here in the first place.
But hell, was she glad she did.
COMMENTS
Dorito : Amazing. Cute. Tragic. Perfect!
Oh geez, those are such nice complements! Thank you so much! :)
Guest : Awe man this chapter was incredibly comfy. And can I say I love the way you write in the little details and write in general. I'm enjoying this nice slow paced cozy ride.
Thank you so, so much! This is such a kind little complement! I'm so glad you found this chapter comfy, I was hoping it would feel a little more layed back. And I'm really, really estatic that you like my writing style! Looking back at other chapters, I think I could've done a bit better, but I'm really happy that it seems to be okay. :)
Dwarfy-sins-too-much : I love this. It's really clever,and has enough angst to satisfy me. Definitely a good read. :D
Oh man, thank you so, so much! I'm a really big sucker for angst, and I tried to put a good amount of it in here, so I'm really glad that you like it! :)
Guest 101 : Thank you so much you're so AMAZING. We were so ecstatic to see that you updated on her birthday! Thank you so much for doing that. Hopefully you can update soon oh and happy Halloween
I've had a couple of people request chapters on certain dates, mainly for birthdays, just like you did. You're the first person to come back and thank me for getting a chapter done by a certain day, thank you so, so, so much for that. I'm really grateful to you for that. I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to finally get done, but I hope you/your friend likes this one too! Happy very, very late Halloween, and Merry late Christmas too! :)
Luna : Thank you for the update! This is an awesome story and I'm glad it's not on hiatus or anything. Keep up the work. Also I think it's lie down not lye down but that's my opinion. I share your pain with that word.
Thank you so much! And oh God, I'm so, so sorry that I went on hiatus right after you left this comment. Oh geez, i'm such a big jerk. But thank you so much for pointing out my error! I'll make sure to go back and change that sometime soon. :)
San's Wife : Happy Halloween!
Happy very, very, very late Halloween to you too! And Merry Christmas! :)
Insane Wise-Man : Its really good, I'm already awaiting the next chapter... Okay that's a lil extreme, knowing you just updated. But still, its one of the best AU's I ever get the chance to read.
Thank you so, so much! Oh geez, that's such a big complement! I'm so sorry I've been on hiatus for so long, but I'm really happy that you looked forward to new chapters! I hope you liked this one! :)