Chapter 26

Hello everybody and welcome to another chapter and amazing this time it was only a month's wait, what a shock! But seriously this chapter while having no plans for it was so much easier to write then the last one.

It's been about a week since Ruby showed off Crescent Rose to me, and things have been pretty… standard. Wake up, go to work, hate work, see Ruby after I come home, eat Mac n' cheese, and then go sleep. Really it has been quite dull and that's the first time I can say that since Ruby moved in.

Just got to get through today, and then I'll have a nice day off where Ruby will probably want to hang out, which I have no problem with. Thankfully though it has been a slow boring day and I only got an hour left on the clock, and I'm not going to tempt fate by saying something stupid.

Nope nothing is going to happen… shit. Why am I such an idiot!? Alright what's the last second 'job' Cinder will have for me this time? Go on the roof for some package, find some dead animal in the vents, or god forbid spend an extra hour at work with Merc- the sound of the door chime caught my attention and I could see just barely over the aisle… a black bowler cap with a feather on it. Oh thank god it's only Roman.

Roman quickly spotted me, and walked over to me at speed I surprised he was capable of with how slow I always see him move.

"Hey kid, nice to see you rocking that outfit" He said referring to the suit he bought me.

"Oh thanks and… do I need to pay you back for this?" I asked nervously knowing that I can't pay it back with the funds I have.

"Jaune don't sweat it" He said waving his hands before placing them on his chest "I told you, it was on me"

"It's just-" Before I could even finish he placed his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in close.

"Listen Jaune, normally I'd ask for people to pay me back, but since Neo took such a liking to you, you can keep it for free" Roman explained giving me a light tap on the chest with his cane.

"She took a liking to me?" I asked curious as to what that exactly meant.

"What you didn't think so?" He asked baffled. "She gave you her number" Oh right she did… OH SHIT I HAVEN'T CALLED HER! "So anyway Jauney-boy I'm about to have a meeting with Ms. Fall, and I need to ask a favour of you"

Oh crap here comes the 'job' just didn't expect it from Roman. "What is it?" I asked trying not to sound annoyed.

"Can you watch Neo for me?" He asked and you cannot believe how relieved I am to hear that it's something normal.

But wait a second… "Neo's here?" I asked.

Torchwick sighed a pulled me out of the aisle so I could see the cash register and there she was looking at some jewelry. I guess since she's so short I couldn't see her over the aisle.

"So can you watch her for me?"

"What is she a teenager? I think she can take care of herself"

Roman sighed again "No but A. I don't want her spending too much money and B. I'd rather that silver haired idiot not flirt with her" Roman explained looking at Mercury, who was currently doing what else… checking Neo out.

"Alright I'll keep Mercury off of her, and… how much is too much?" I asked curiously.

"Anything over… 3 hundred" Roman said and my jar nearly hit the floor.

3 hundred Lien!? You know how much food I could buy for 300 Lien. I could actually eat real food on more than a weekly basis.

"Alright… I'll watch her" I said trying to sound normal.

"Thanks Jaune… and here's fifty Lien for your trouble" He said handing me said money which was probably chump change to him. "Alright, the meeting is probably going to last a few hours, so keep an eye on Neo until then and I'll… double what I just gave you" Roman said giving me a smack on the shoulder before running off to Cinder's office.

As I watched him go I pocketed the money he gave me, before taking a deep breath and walking over to Neo. She was looking at some necklaces, looking especially at one that cost over 300, I'm not sure if I should really stop her from buying it or not. Then again if she does I might not get that extra fifty, and I could use a little extra spending money.

Walking over to Neo I gave Mercury a look that told him to back off, which caused him to huff but I know he won't do anything. "Hey Neo" I said trying to sound casual. She seemed surprised to hear me but it was also clear she was excited due to how fast she turned around. She gave me a smile and a wave, and I could hear Mercury mutter something but couldn't make it out, probably just him being jealous that I can actually talk to woman without them screaming 'HELP!'

"So how you been?" I asked and Neo took some time to consider before she raised her arm and gave a sideways thumb shaking it slightly up and down. "So nothing special?" I asked for clarification and she nodded in response.

I saw her eyes look towards Mercury for a second, before she grabbed my arm and dragged me away to the other side of the store. "Tired of him looking at you?" I asked which made Neo crossed her arms with a single nod. "You know he really isn't… THAT bad of a guy" I said straining to say it, Neo simply raised an eyebrow at that not seeming to believe me.

Before I had a chance to say anything else she raised a finger telling me to be quiet, while she reached into her pocket. She pulled out her scroll which looked to be the newest model (No surprise there) and began to type on it, for a second I thought she was just responding to a message, but as it would turn out she used it to write me a message.

'Why didn't you call? ' She asked and I expected while that question I still wasn't sure how to answer, because while I was busy all of last weekend being at Tai's place, this whole week I've basically done nothing.

"I'm really sorry but I was really busy" I said lying though my teeth. She didn't seem happy with that answer giving me a quick glare before she started to type her response.

'Too busy for one phone call!?' Dammit she actually seems pretty mad, well if there's one thing I've learned throughout all my time living with seven sisters it's…

"Listen I'm really sorry ok and I really should have called you" Apologize and blame yourself, I mean it's not like she could have called me or anything. Neo now didn't seem as angry but it was clear she wasn't going to forgive so easily.

'I tried calling you last Saturday and Sunday but you weren't there' Oh so that's why I had multiple messages from no one.

"I was out of town those days" Which was true and a valid reason which she seemed to except with her face softening a little.

'I even tried on Monday' She quickly wrote, but Monday was the day I was in Ruby's room, I didn't even check my answering machine when I came home that day… or since.

"Listen I'm sorry but I was helping a friend of mine" That was probably the best way to put it. "But why didn't you try again?" I asked which seemed to have saddened Neo, with her slumping her shoulders.

This time she slowly wrote her response 'I thought I should wait for you to call after I failed 3 times in a row' That does make perfect sense 'After a few days I thought you didn't want to talk' Awwwww dammit.

Neo if I'm being perfectly honest… Oh she's probably going to really hate me for this "I forgot I had your number" I cringed as I said it expecting her to yell for a moment before remembering she can't. So I used this opportunity to maybe salvage this "But it's not like I hate you, I-in fact your one of the few people that I even li-" I was cut off when I felt gloved finger on my hand.

I saw that Neo was giving me a half smile, and holding up her scroll with a message I couldn't believe 'it's cool '.

Never have I been so happy to see those words and I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Quickly Neo wrote another message 'Can you hang out now?' I was bit shocked to see that but extremely pleased; I checked my watch to see that my shift ended five minutes ago.

"Yes I defiantly can" Neo had a big cheesy grin, pumping her arms in excitement, before she took hold of my hand and quickly dragged me out of the store.

Neo didn't slow down once we were on the side walk thankfully, with it being late in the day there weren't too many people out. We passed by stores so quickly that I wasn't entirely sure where we were going; all I knew was Neo was going to take me there.

I tried asking where she was taking me but that didn't seem to slow her down, this better not turn out like when Ruby took Pyrrha and me to a mysterious place. I at least had faith she wasn't going to take me to a place that was dangerous.

Finally we stopped and I could get a proper look at where I even was, I saw that I was on Sanguine Rd. which I've been down a few time so I'll know how to get home from here. What I wasn't sure of was why Neo brought me here? The only thing around here that I can remember is- my thoughts were cut off as I noticed a massive line on the other side of the street leading into some kind of club… oh please no.

"Is that where we're going?" I asked pointing to the club. Neo answered with a smile before she began to walk across the street, and I followed her begrudgingly.

It's not that I hate clubs, I've never even been in one, but at the same time there is a reason I've avoided them. Mostly it's people… what I mean is I don't have anyone to go with because Pyrrha never wanted to go to one and I never even thought to ask Ruby. Honestly I've always been a little curious what they're like but without anyone to go with I didn't think I'd do too well at them. So then what's the problem… well it's that line.

There has to be at least 50-75 people in that line I can't imagine how long we'd have to wait. "You sure you want to wait I mean we could go somewhere else" I said but Neo seemed unaffected by my words, and just walked right up to the bouncer, (Who had to be three times the size of her) she gave him a wave and he seemed to recognize her and just like that opened the door for her, making the line groan in annoyance. Neo looked back at me and waved for me to follow, which the bouncer who, now that I got a good look at seemed to be wearing a suit much nicer than mine, well at any rate he thankfully allowed me to get through as well.

The first thing to hit me was the music, which while wasn't the worst was just absurdly loud; I always knew that the music was loud at nightclubs but this just too much.

"How'd you, just cut the line like that!?" I yelled and Neo just pulled out her phone and typed 'Me and Roman set the guy who owns this joint with all his staff's uniforms' Well that explains why that bouncer was so well dressed.

We were currently at the top of a staircase and I was able to check out the club from here. There was large amount of people in the center, which I would guess is the dance floor, with a bar to the right of them, while there were tables on the left, many of which weren't taken. Behind the Dance floor on a higher level I could see the D.J. who was wearing a bear helmet? That's just really weird.

Neo actually looked at me with a questioning look, it think she wants me to pick where we should go. "You wanna dance?" I asked which she smiled in return before we both walked towards the crowd.

I'm not sure why I asked if we should dance, since I'm only good at dancing when I actually have a partner. I'm not very familiar when it comes to club dancing; I looked around to see how other people danced and, most of these people seem really bad but… what do I know?

Neo was already dancing like a no one was watching, which was probably the case. She was ushering me to join her, and well I really can't be any worse than most of these people.

xXx

The less said about my dancing the better, if any of my old intruders saw me today they would kill me. Now I wasn't the worst on the floor (Thank god) but I had no idea what to do. Even with Neo trying her best to show me, what I should do it just didn't jell with me. I think I should just stick to ballroom dancing.

Even though I sucked I will admit it was pretty fun and, I found it kinda relaxing once I was able to just except that I sucked.

After about four songs we both agreed to sit down and get some drinks, which I was fully ready to go to the tables I saw earlier, but Neo stopped me and just shaked her finger at me. At first I thought she wanted to go to the bar but to my surprise (which after the incident with the bouncer, shouldn't have been) she took me to the V.I.P. area.

The V.I.P. area was quieter than the rest of the club which I was extremely thankful for. I honestly thought I might have gone deaf with how loud everything was. Outside of it being quieter here, the table and chairs were so much nicer looking and we have a whole room to ourselves!

"Thanks for this Neo" I said which made her wave her hand dismissively.

We sat down in some actually really comfortable chairs, on the table were some menus for drinks, and I had no idea what any of them were.

After a minute a waiter who looked almost identical to the bouncer came, in had wore full black suit with matching shoes and a red tie, but new to his outfit was the red tinted glasses and black bowler cap… I can see Roman's influence. He asked for our order and I still had no idea what to pick so I just asked Neo, since she pointed one out for him in a second. She picked one called the 'Scarlet Heater', from the look of the waiter and Neo I could tell that something was special about this drink, and that I'm going to regret having one.

As he left I looked over at Neo and she gave me a shit eating grin before I asked "What's up with that drink?" She played dumb and gave me a shrug "If I die it's your fault" Neo seemed amused by that but I was dead serious.

I think she could tell I wasn't joking as she pulled out her scroll 'Don't worry it won't kill you I'll even have a sip before you to prove it' While that did make me feel better, I had a feeling that she's had this drink before and knows what to expect.

I looked around the room and saw that I could basically see the dance floor from here and could even see the exit on the other side of the club. Honestly I don't think I'll be going clubbing again, if I wanted to dance, and I mean really dance I'd could go to so many other places with better music, and my ears wouldn't hurt by the time I leave. Then there is the drinking, which while it hasn't started I could do at home or a bar, where I could just sit back and relax.

I really appreciate Neo taking me out and all, but if she drags me here again I might ask her if we can go to a different place.

There was a light tap on my shoulder, and I turned to see Neo had a message for me 'How's things been?' She asked looking curious.

Letting out a sigh I then answered with "Things have been going better than most of the time"

Neo smiled and was quick to type a response 'How so?' Normally when people ask me about my life I don't believe that they cared, but if there is one thing Ruby has showed me, it's that they're people in my life that actually do care.

So I answered honestly "Well for the first time in three years, I've had a friend I can trust" Neo gave me a questioning look so I elaborated "ever since I moved here I didn't have much in terms of friends… or even people who I can talk to" I felt her hand on my shoulder "But then one day this girl moved in next door, and she quickly became my friend" I said with a smile on my face "And ever since then, I've known I have someone I can not only trust, but I know actually cares about me" I said with smile on my face taking a breath "And I feel the same way about her" I finished and there was no lie in my voice, for the first time in a long time I not only trust and care about somebody, but they do back, and I couldn't be happier.

Neo simply looked at me with a knowing smile before writing 'Do you trust me?' For a moment I thought about that, and when it comes to people in my life, she's up there on trust scale.

"You've given me no reason not to" I answered just as the waiter arrived with our drinks.

He placed them down without a word and left as quickly as he entered. I then inspected Neo's was some colourful concoction that matched her hair near perfectly, with it mostly being a mix of brown and pink, but tinge of white could be seen. It's like it was tailored made for her… then again, it probably was. She took a sip and seemed to enjoy it greatly, before she looked over at me to see I haven't even touched mine.

I grasped the glass, and took a moment to look over the drink to see if anything crazy was inside, such as a spider, or worms. Even without anything like that inside I was still nervous about it, with the reaction's Neo and the waiter gave it was obvious, something was up with this drink. But aside from the fact it was pure Scarlet Red liquid, I could tell nothing by looking at it.

Finally I took a sip and for moment it tasted like a red wine, but soon the name 'Scarlet Heater' made sense… THIS THING FELT LIKE IT MIGHT BURN OFF MY TOUNGE! I was so surprised that I didn't even spit it out; I swallowed it and didn't get much better going down. My eyes were tearing up, my tongue was hanging out of my mouth, and I was making some kind noise that was mix of pain and a gasp.

Looking over at Neo for help I saw she was holding her scroll up, wait was she recording this? My suspicions were answered when I saw that shit eating grin on her face, and I have doubt she'd be cackling if she could.

"You know how I said you've given me no reason to distrust you?" I asked while my tongue still felt sore, and I probably sounded a little weird but whatever, she could understand me from how she nodded "Now you've given me a reason" The look of shock on her face was so priceless, I wish I had a camera.

At the same time she looked really sorry for what she did, and I wasn't actually mad at her, so I just gave her light punch on the shoulder and said "But don't worry about it was just a harmless prank"

She looked like she wasn't sure I was being truthful and I let out a sign "If I was actually angry I would have left" I said which seemed to have made her accept that. I looked down at my drink and with a shrug took hold of it again; I mean I might as well finish it.

Before I had a chance to even take another swig Neo took hold of my arm and shook her head. "You don't want me to drink this anymore?" I asked to which she shook her head again. "I mean if I'm going to pay for it-" I stopped when I saw her shaking her head. "Are you saying I'm not going to pay for this?" I asked pointing at my drink while she nodded. "Then…" She pointed at herself and I had to guess she would be paying for it.

She guided my hand back to the table so I could set down the drink, and then she slided her own over to me. Then without me even noticing she took my drink from my hand, before I had a chance to argue she simply smiled and pointed to her drink that was now right in front of me.

It was clear what she wanted, but I didn't want her to drink that 'Scarlet Heater' it was just awful. Though I knew there was no point in arguing so I took a swig of her drink and while it was a little too sweet for me, I wasn't going to complain after the last thing I drank.

I then watched as Neo took a sip and while her reaction wasn't as bad as mine, it was clear she didn't enjoy it at all. She set it down and while her hands were off it, I snatched it a guzzled the rest down before she could even react.

Again it took a moment before it kicked in and it was so much worse this time, and this time I had no chance to spit it out with how fast I down it. I let out a painful scream as it felt like I might throw up, but with how long I've spent holding back vomit it was easy to do it. I took a few deep breaths before I looked back at Neo, trying my best to smile and laugh it off like nothing was wrong, but I don't think it turned out that way. Since from how terrified she looked.

Honestly I feel terrible right now and would like nothing more than to leave. Unfortunately I can't do that because it would be a pretty big dick move to Neo.

Thankfully though, like she just read my mind I saw the message 'Do you want to go?' on her scroll.

"Yeah… I would" I said still recovering from the burning. I stood up and stretched while Neo down the rest of her drink quickly as I watched her do so a question popped into my mind "Hey what's that drink called?"

She looked surprised by the question but quickly answered 'It's called a Neopolitan' I could see a slight blush on her cheeks from showing me that. But that name works very well it's brown, pink and white like the Ice cream, but isn't the Ice cream spelled with an A instead of an O… wait a second!

"Was the O in the drink name intentional?" I asked and Neo gave a nod with her cheeks getting brighter "Is that drink named after you?" I asked and again she nodded "So that would mean your full name is Neopolitan" I said and she nodded again with her cheeks even redder which I wasn't sure why, is it because she doesn't like her full name? "Well that makes your name make a lot more sense, and it's honestly kinda cute" I said which seemed to have surprised her as she gave me a questioning look. "Honestly it suits you so well" Neo began to type up a message for me and her cheeks were much less red now.

When I read out what she wrote my cheeks went kinda red 'Really!? Because most people call it a stripper name'

"That didn't even cross my mind, I just thought Neopolitan, your hair, the name is perfect" I explained which made her very happy if the smile on her face was anything to go off of. "Now come on let's get out of her" I said gesturing her to get up and she followed me quickly.

As we left the room Neo left some lien on the table to pay for our drinks, and we left the club as fast as possible.

I'm not sure how long we were in there, but at any rate it was dark out. We got a good distance away from the club before; I started to wonder "where are we even going?" Neo turned to face me a shrugged.

"I think we should head home, it's pretty dark out" I suggested and Neo took a moment to think it over before nodding in agreement.

Neo waved a goodbye before she began to walk away, and seeing her walking in the dark like this made me realize something, how tiny she is. Now I don't mean that height wise, which is true, I just mean that in the sense of everything about her, her arms, her legs, her body, all of it's so tiny. If someone attacked her, I doubt she'd be able to protect herself.

So that's why I found myself walking beside her, not five seconds after she walked away. She gave me a confused look and I nervously asked "Mind if I walk you home?" Neo began to wave her hands dismissively before I blurred out "I just don't want you to get hurt" She seemed taken aback by this, and maybe she found it insulting or something, I should probably explain myself "It's just there are a lot of crazy people who come out a night in Vale and I know you're still new here because you flew in wh-" I was stopped from my blabbering when I felt a nudge on my arm, I looked to see Neo smiling while she moved her head in a gesture for me to follow her. I let out a sigh of relief as I followed her, and tried my hardest to calm down.

For about a block I didn't say anything, unsure of what I should even say, I mean I'm walking a woman back to her home, most guys would see this as an opportunity, but I really don't want to come off like that, and I hope to god my nervous blabbering helped with that.

As we reached a streetlight, seeing the stop light made a person pop into my mind "I hope Roman isn't angry that you were gone so late" I looked to see that Neo made an overdramatic sigh motion that made let out a laugh.

After the light changed and we walked across the street, she pulled out her scroll and typed 'He won't be a problem so long as the meeting went well' I think we both had a feeling the meeting wouldn't go well.

We came to a stop not too long after, and it was clear this area of Vale was much nicer than mine just from these houses; each one had to be at least a million lien. Neo gestured to the house to our right which I assumed was her place, before I had a chance to say goodbye she began typing 'Did you have fun tonight?' that's an odd question.

"Of course I had fun tonight, even when I nearly threw up my guts" I said with a laugh which in turn she smiled at. "Listen it was great to hang out with you, and I'd love to do it again sometime"

Neo gave me a questioning look while she typed 'Does that mean you'll actually call this time?'

"Of course it does" I said making her smile "But why don't you give me your number again just in case" I said nervously, Neo sighed before she pulled out a pen and wrote the number on my hand.

'Now don't wash that off before you write it down somewhere' She wrote and I gave her mock salute and said "Yes ma'am" Which made let out a noise that I assumed was her version of a laugh.

We both waved goodbye, and she quickly ran up to her door, entering a code before opening it and giving me another wave before she disappeared behind the door. I let out a sigh, as I knew going home was going to take awhile.

Beginning my walk back, I took not even ten steps before I heard someone call out "Oh Jauney boy!" It didn't take a genius to figure out who. I looked back to see Roman jogging towards me, which probably was rare for the man.

"What is it?" I asked hoping to god he isn't angry because I took Neo out without asking him or something.

"Well kiddo you almost forgot your extra payment" He said and honestly it's quite the surprise he'd even keep that promise, let alone do it without me asking. He reached into his wallet, and pulled out a hundred lien!

"Didn't you say I'd only get fifty?" I asked making sure he didn't want change or something.

"I did kid, but since you brought home Neo in such good mood, I decided to double it" He said putting the hundred in my hand.

"Thanks but it was no problem" I said because it really wasn't.

"Nonsense boy you showed my Neo a goodtime, that's worth a reward" Wait hold on a second he said 'My Neo' but she isn't his daughter.

"So can I ask you a question about you and Neo" I said hoping this wouldn't sound awkward.

"She's not my daughter" He said nearly instantly.

"No it's not that, I already knew that much but… what is she to you?" I asked hoping that maybe Roman could give me a better answer.

"Well it's quite simple Jaune, she's my protégée" He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You're protégée?" I asked for clarification.

"Yes! Because if and when I do die or… god forbid I lose my fashion sense, I need someone to take over the company" Roman explained.

"Alright that makes sense, anyway have a goodnight Roman" I said giving him a wave goodbye as I turned around.

"One more thing Jaune… please call Neo within the next two weeks, she gets rather infuriated when people break their promises to her" Roman said which made me a tad scared, but looking down at the number on my hand I knew I'd be able to call her soon.

"Good to know" I said before I began to walk home and there was just one problem… I had no idea where I am.

xXx

As I brushed my teeth, I heard Roman and reentered the house; I really hope he doesn't keep me up with talks of his meeting, and how much he hates this Cinder woman.

I must say though tonight out with Jaune was an amazing time, never once did he seem uncomfortable by my lack of voice; I knew there was a reason to keep trying with him. Plus it was super nice of him to walk me home, even if I didn't need it, in fact if Roman wasn't here I might have invited him inside.

Speaking of that he never once he suggested the idea, maybe he figured I was living with Roman, but even so I could tell he wanted to walk me home more so because he was cautious about my safety, then getting something out of it.

Next time we go out maybe I could go to his place, so we could have some privacy. Then again with how he talked about that girl, he might have his sights on her instead.

"Honestly Neo you might have found yourself an actually decent guy for once" Roman said interrupting my thoughts, but I did agree with him, Jaune was already more of a gentleman than the other men I've been with, even though I'm not with Jaune.

I spat out the toothpaste and doused the brush in water to clean it, before I began to walk to my room. As I reached my door I was once again interrupted by Roman. "Stop right there young lady" I hate when he calls me that "Before you go to bed you need to know all about my meeting" NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO… I was so close to escaping this. "So Cinder told me…"

KILL MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Honestly this chapter was just so I could have Neo and Roman back in one since it had been like ten chapter since they were last featured, and people enjoyed them… well at least they enjoyed Roman. Hope you guys enjoyed Neo and that little bit at the end in her perspective.

Fun fact this the second chapter that was in Jaune's perspective to not include Ruby aside from a mention, it was pretty weird, but after the last two major Jaune chapter's were almost all just him and Ruby, not to mention one was just last chapter, I thought maybe a break from that would be nice.

Also broke 100K with this chapter and once again I'm reminded of how much I've done… and how much I have still have to do.

Anyway thanks for reading, hope you've enjoyed, review if you can, and have a great day.