Author's Note: It's weird knowing that my longest fanfic ever is finished? I've just finished Chapter 10 at the time I'm writing this, and I have an epilogue planned for after that, but aside from the epilogue it's over? It's just strange to think that I'm finally finishing something I started in November. Oh well. I did actually just decide what I'm going to start writing for my next long Renora fic, but I'll wait until the outline for it is done to say anything else on that.
Chapter 9: What A Nice Countertop
Sunday, 7:40 am

He left the dorm room while tying off his ponytail with uncommonly shaky hands, immediately clasping his hands behind his back afterward. Though none of his ways of expressing his feelings were obvious by any means, it would have been easy for anyone who knew him to see that he was deep in thought. Rather distressed thought, judging by how his brow was furrowed at the hardwood floor. His current emanation was the Ren equivalent of Nora nervously fishing for words and clumsily dropping items.

The sound of ceramic shattering caught his attention. "Ahck- damnit!"

He paused in his anxious stride to turn back towards the kitchen. "Nora?" he asked as he poked his head through the doorway.

Popping her head up from her position on the floor like a deer in the headlights, she went paler than normal. "Oh, hey Ren." she said, each word emphasized much longer than necessary.

It was fairly easy to tell what had happened simply by a scan of the room. A barstool was overturned against the counter just in front of the shelf holding plates, with half sat on the floor Nora beneath it… and the remains of what used to be a plate littered around her leg.

He sighed. Never a dull moment. "Are you alright?" he asked, mincing around the plate's dismembered corpse to offer her his hand.

Blushing furiously- out of embarrassment or, well, the reason he'd gone to find her, he couldn't tell- she took it and rose, letting him pull her over towards the island as opposed to the broken dinnerware.

"I'm fi-Ah!" Trying to set her foot down, she ended up stumbling backwards and probably would have hit the counter if not for his catching her by the waist and her grasping onto his shoulders.

They stood like that for a minute, both staring wide-eyed at the other, with the room dead silent except for the sound of heavy breathing.


Sunday, 7: 35 am

"How does it feel to be a liar?"

Pyrrha groaned, "I just hate seeing them so upset." She stood up, putting her scroll in her pocket.

"Going back to the dorm?" Yang asked.

Pyrrha nodded, "Yes, but we should stagger it a little. Wouldn't want to catch up to her."

Yang stretched her arms high above her and yawned, "But anyway, yeah, I think we all do. But hopefully they'll make up when they run into each other."

Pyrrha let out a small laugh, "Don't you mean 'make out'?"

The blonde shrugged, "Honestly, at this point I dunno."


Sunday, 7:44 am

Clearing his throat, Ren pulled back and averted his gaze to the island beside them. Nora dusted herself off and laughed, "Heh, thanks for the um, save."

"Anytime." What a nice countertop.

She rubbed the back of her head, "Um, we, well, I, should probably clean up the uh, plate." Nora brushed past him towards the closet.

"I can help," he said, voice strained.

"That- that's okay." She said, retrieving the dustpan and tiny broom.

"No, really, I can-"

"It's fine, you don't have to-"

They both stopped and stared at each other for a few fleeting seconds. "Nora?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you still angry?"

She bunched up, "Not really." She said, voice small as she set down the cleaning supplies on the marble. "If you don't really want to do 'more', we- we don't have to."

Ren shoved his hands in his pockets, "I really wouldn't… mind being 'more'."

She sighed sadly, "I figured, I'm not going to force-" She shot up like a rocket, "Wait, really?"

Part of him wanted to sarcastically comment on how he'd now answered this question four times, but the bigger part just smiled awkwardly and said, "To be quite honest, I'd like it a lot. I just… I dunno."


Sunday, 7:40 am

"I just don't understand; What do you mean you don't know?" Pyrrha tilted her head, still unsure about Yang's explanation.

"Well…" Yang shrugged. "It's not like her bumping into Ren is going to solve this entire thing. If anything, they're just gonna start arguing again."

"You really think so?" Pyrrha asked, a worried lilt to her normally chipper voice.This morning was really not going well, and she'd just woken less than 2 hours ago.