My upload schedule is a joke, hopefully I can't start uploading a little more consistently. Unfortunately, time has been hard to come by recently, hope you guys understand.
Chapter 13
Hours had passed since Jaune's outburst at Blake, and the former still sat silently, his thoughts being harshly critical of his own actions. He clasped his hands together and sighed, letting his hair fall over his eyes as his head hung low to the ground. The weather outside had slowly shifted into something that better complimented his mood—dark and gloomy.
He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the pond in front of him, his features mostly obscured by his hair, the tenseness in his crossed arms. He sighed deeply and stood up, trying to walk off some of that tension. His efforts were, as he expected, of no avail. Eventually he found himself sitting back down even worse off than he'd been before. He was upset with his mother, but he still couldn't figure out why he'd lashed out at Blake like that, she didn't do anything wrong.
"All I heard was a door slam and I got concerned."
The worry in her voice was still clear in his head, Blake genuinely cared for him, that much was obvious.
And you spat in her face.
He felt as though his inner self was laughing at his own childish behaviour, and it stung. He clenched his fists and turned his head in frustration, he might've hit something had a hand not fell on his shoulder.
"Hey." A familiar voice spoke softly, it was his twin sister, Joan. "I've been looking for you for a while now, I saw you storm out. What happened?"
"Ah, I got in an argument with mom and then took out my frustration on Blake, not my best move."
"Sounds rough." She nodded along. "How long have you been out here?"
"Few hours, I think. Sorry if I worried you." He glanced to her as she sat down beside him.
"Nah, you used to do this all the time, remember? Every time you'd get in an argument with one of us you'd storm out and sulk for a few hours." She chuckled.
"Yeah, I remember." He rolled his eyes with a faint smile. "I always went to the lake to beat myself up."
"And we'd always have to drag you back and force you to apologize to mom or dad."
"Is that what you're here to do now?" He lifted an eyebrow.
"You're your own man now, Jaune." She shrugged. "No one needs to tell you how to make amends, I think you already know how to do that."
"I'm just worried that Blake won't want to hear what I have to say, I really messed up."
"Are you kidding me?" She lightly punched his shoulder. "We're the Arc family, clumsy, stupid, and the masters of making everything worse for ourselves. But we're strong and resilient and we always bounce back from our mistakes a little smarter and a little tougher than we were before. Now be a man and go apologize to her, she'll appreciate it way more than you effectively ghosting her cause you're too afraid to own up."
"Gah, you're right." He buried his face in his palms. "I can be so stupid sometimes, thanks..."
"What's family for?" She smiled softly.
He chuckled weakly and stood up, getting ready to head back to the house and apologize to Blake.
It was rather silent in the house when Jaune made it back, shutting the door behind him. He made for his room and threw off his coat, changing into something a little more comfortable—a form fitting white tee and dark grey sweats. He headed back out and walked towards Blake's room, lifting his hand to the door before knocking twice. There wasn't a response, so after a few moments he knocked again. He was about to turn to leave and come back later when the door creaked open a little. He caught a glimpse of Blake's eyes peeking through the slit in the barely cracked door before she opened it all the way. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were dark and tired, and he realized that he'd woken her up.
"Uhm, sorry, I... didn't mean to wake you."
"It's whatever." She sighed. "Do you need something?"
He flinched but he supposed he deserved her ire, even if it hurt.
"I wanted to apologize, for earlier." He scratched the back of his head and glanced away. "I was upset and frustrated and sad and... I took it out on you, and that wasn't okay. You didn't deserve that, you don't deserve that. Not from me or anyone else."
"And?" She lifted an eyebrow expectantly.
"And it won't happen again."
Blake sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, swallowing heavily before meeting his gaze once more.
"I'm still upset with you, that'll take some time but... Thanks for apologizing." She glanced away just as fast. "I'm not used to it, I shied away from relationships cause of my ex, he never said sorry even when he was clearly wrong. So this is a nice change of pace."
"Your ex?" He lifted an eyebrow.
"That's a story for a different day." She glanced away.
"Ah, well... you should thank Joan too, she kinda talked me out of my funk." He leaned in. "I don't know if I would've come to you this soon had it not been for her."
"I'll be sure to." She nodded.
"If it isn't too much, could I ask for your opinion?"
"Of course."
"Well, there's still one more person I need to mend bridges with."
"Your mother?"
"Mhm." He swallowed heavily. "Even though she hasn't been the most fair, well, neither have I... and I want to be on a good standing with her before we leave."
"But?"
"I don't know how." He admitted. "I have my faults but I know I'm not the one out of line here, and I don't want to offer empty apologies."
"I'm not the one go to for advice then, I'd be the exact same if I were in your situation." She shook her head.
"Ah." Jaune deflated a little. "Well... Thanks anyway, I appreciate it."
"Yeah." She put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a gentle nudge and the faintest of smiles. "Any time."
He reached up and gently clasped that hand in his own, trailing it down to the small space between them. Lifting his other hand to her cheek, he thumbed over a lock of hair and tucked it behind her ear.
"I really am sorry." He sighed. "If I could go back in time I'd punch myself in the face and call me an idiot."
Much to his surprise, she lifted her hand to her lips, giggling softly at his joke. His eyes widened for a moment before he moved his hand from her cheek, moving her own from her mouth as he leaned in. Given the mood, he expected her to draw back, but she didn't. He felt her arm circle around his waist and pull him closer to her chest, her smile fading as her lips parted softly. With a breath, he pushed forward and kissed her, holding that position firmly as their eyes slid shut.
It was a little awkward at first, given that the air between them was still tense. It wasn't like the other kisses they'd shared, there wasn't any longing to be closer or deepen the bond. Instead, it simply served to say "I'll do better" without spoken words.
They held still some moments more before she pushed into him, savouring his lips for a few more seconds. She pulled back slowly, gripping the collar of his shirt in her hands as her eyes fluttered open. They exchanged glances in silence for some time before Jaune cleared his throat to speak.
"I'm gonna head into town, grab something to eat and clear my head." He rested his forehead against her own. "I don't want to sound like a broken record but I'm sorry."
"I know." She thumbed over his knuckles. "Bring me something back?"
"Yeah, of course." He nodded. "Anything specific?"
"In the mood for something with noodles, surprise me." She shrugged.
"Heard." He acknowledge simply as she receded back into her room, shutting the door behind her.
He sighed and turned away from the door, shrugging his shoulders before heading to the front to leave. He bumped into Joan in the living room on his way out, who was currently shoving her face with cereal on the couch as she watched TV.
"Hey, mmph..." She swallowed her mouthful of food before continuing. "How'd things go with Blake."
He didn't even have time to answer before she stuffed her mouth with another spoonful of cereal.
"It went well, thanks for the advice." He smiled.
"Thash-good-tah-hear" She spoke with her mouth full.
"What?" He lifted an eyebrow.
"That's good to hear!" She raised her voice after swallowing. "Sheesh, check your ears."
"Maybe you should actually eat your food before responding." He rolled his eyes playfully.
"Whatever." She shrugged. "You heading somewhere?"
"Yeah." He threw on his coat. "Heading into town for some food, I'll be back later."
"Ah, gotcha." She waved him off and turned back to the television. "Be safe or whatever."
"Yeah, thanks." He chuckled to himself.
Out of all his siblings he was always the closest to Joan, being back here and talking to her again was nice, and he certainly missed their playfully heated exchanges. He stepped out into the cold and made his way towards town, trudging through the snow carefully.
It was silent when he'd made it to the usually lively part of the town. He figured no one wanted to be out in this kind of weather and he didn't blame them. He was happy to see that his favourite Menagerian noddle bar was still open for business. He wasted no time in heading inside.
"Well I'll be damned." The owner of the place greeted him with a low gruffy voice. "I haven't seen you in years."
"I haven't been around." He smiled. "I'm visiting for the holidays. It's good to see you too, Hugo."
Jaune sighed and looked up at him, he'd nearly forgotten how tall the man was, he considered himself fairly tall but on Hugo—who boasted an imposing stature of seven foot two, he might as well have been Ruby's height.
"What'll it be today, then?" He asked.
"Hmm, I'll take a bowl of spicy noodles to go and uh... Any suggestions for a good dish with noodles and fish?"
"I've got just the thing, I can whip it up for ya, that'll be thirty lien."
"Sure thing." Jaune nodded, swiping his card before shoving it back into his wallet. "Wait, what's the dish?"
"Hah, and ruin the surprise?" Hugo lifted an eyebrow. "No, son, you'll have to trust me on this one."
"If she doesn't like it I'm coming back and returning it." He joked.
"She?" He smirked. "You find yourself a woman?"
"Hah, yeah, you could say that." He nodded. "She's from Menagerie, actually, like you."
"Really now?" He lifted an eyebrow.
"Yeah, Kuo Kuana more specifically." He nodded. "Her name's Blake."
"Belladonna...?" He lifted an eyebrow slowly as he muttered her last name.
Jaune's eyes widened.
"You know her?"
"It'd be hard not to know the daughter of Menagerie's chieftain." He seemed impressed. "You really hit gold there, my boy."
Silence filled the air.
"Uh, come again?" He nearly fell over.
"Ghira Belladonna?" Hugo gave him an odd look. "Chieftain of Menagerie?"
"The whatnow!?" He raised his voice. "How did I not know!? She didn't tell me!"
Silence followed once more before the bigger man broke out into hearty laughter.
"Oh my!" He wiped his eyes. "This is quite priceless, you seriously weren't aware?"
"No, I wasn't." He'd managed to calm down and speak clearly. "She doesn't talk much about her family or... anything about her past really."
"Well, now you are." His laughter slowed and he sighed. "Allow me to prepare your food, I'll return shortly."
"Y-yeah..." Jaune sighed. "You've given me a lot to think about."
One hour later...
Blake opened her eyes, awaking slowly to the sound of knocking. She must've fallen asleep again while Jaune had been gone. She got up and walked to the door, cracking it open to see the blonde standing before her with a bag of food and an odd look in his eyes.
"You alright?" She lifted an eyebrow.
"Oh, yeah." He nodded with a clearly fake smile. "Perfectly fine."
"I... don't buy that for a second." She took her food cautiously from his hands. "Thanks... You can come in."
He nodded and set his food down on the nightstand.
"Hope you like the food, princess." His emphasis on the word made her curious, nevermind the odd nickname.
"Alright, what's going on." She folded her arms.
"Nothing much really, just coming to terms with some new information."
"That being...?" She lifted an eyebrow.
"Oh, the usual stuff, things everyone goes through really. Like uh, learning that your girlfriend is the daughter of the chieftain of Menagerie."
Blake froze, her eyes widening.
"How did you..."
"The guy who runs the noodle joint is from Menagerie, knows your father." He paused for a moment. "I mentioned you and what do you know, seems like you and Weiss have something in common, princess."
"Don't call me that." Her glare was stern.
"You know what I realized then?" He returned the tone. "You know so much about my life and I hardly know anything about you. I respect your boundaries, believe me I do, but would it kill you to open up a little?"
"I'm not proud of my past." She grit her teeth.
"Neither am I, Blake!" He gestured to himself. "But I trusted you enough that I could tell you things I haven't told anyone else, and all I know about you? Well that's just the thing... I don't really know anything about you."
"Jaune..." She glanced away. "That's not fair."
"Isn't it?" He lifted an eyebrow. "Why is it that I feel that I'm the only one with both feet in this relationship?"
"I-"
"Nevermind." He shook his head, sighing as he pinched the bridge of his nose with furrowed brows. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. You should eat, the temperature outside already cooled the food, don't want it to lose all it's warmth."
He handed Blake her box of food before opening his own. They sat and ate with an awkward silence in the air, it was clear neither of them knew the words to try and lighten the situation, so neither tried. The food was good though, fish and noodles, something she normally would've drooling over but... Right now it just didn't feel the same.
"Thanks." She whispered softly.
"Yeah." He nodded. "Any time."
Silence followed once more, she had to find some way to gap the distance that had grown between them. She sighed and put her food down, leaving it unfinished as she closed the lid. She didn't think she'd be able to eat while she spoke, she took a deep breath.
"My father." She started, grabbing Jaune's attention almost immediately. "His name is Ghira, he's the chieftain of Menagerie as you already know... He also used to run the White Fang, back before their shift to violence. It's why I grew up in that atmosphere, why I aspired to be like them, and why it took me so long to let them go."
He set his own box down as well, turning his attention to only her.
"I regret a lot of what I did, I hurt people, a lot of people..." She swallowed heavily, her hands beginning to shake. "T-thinking about it still hurts, and I still lose sleep over it."
"Blake... You don't have to speak if you aren't ready, I shouldn't have-"
"No." She cut him off. "If I don't get it out now... I don't know if I ever will."
"Alright." He spoke hesitantly.
"I was in the White Fang since I was a child, practically since birth. It wasn't always the way it is now, under my fathers rule they operated peacefully, spare a few troublemakers. It was when he handed the reigns to another that they began the shift to violence. I didn't leave, still so driven by the fight for our rights in the world. Even when the violence grew out of hand... I stayed. Flash forward a couple years and I'm stationed with my team near Vale, in Forever Fall."
"I've never liked that place." He grimaced.
"Hah." She chuckled dryly, wincing slightly as she tried to continue. "My mentor, A-Adam... He was a good man once, but he was driven mad by the hatred humankind held for the faunus. We were lovers before I left to Beacon, and it hurt me every day to watch him fall further and further into insanity. He snapped when we lost our team to Atlesian troops, we had no clue they'd even been pursuing us, or why, but..."
Tears filled her eyes.
"There were seventeen of us, and after the attack, Atlas had killed all but me and Adam." She took a deep breath. "We went on one last mission, there was a train transporting Atlesian tech with the citizens on board. I thought our only intent was to destroy the tech, but after we did, Adam wanted to blast the entire train and everyone on board. So I did what I thought was right and... I left him, cut him off from the rest of the train and when I knew that everyone on board was safe... I left for Beacon, thought I could start a new life here, away from everything else. I almost didn't get let in, should've expected it but... Professor Goodwitch didn't want me here at all. It was Ozpin that gave me that chance."
"Hah, seems like we're pretty similar then." He smiled weakly.
"Yeah..." She returned the expression. "Yeah I guess so."
"Thank you." He sighed, his smile fading to a frown. "I shouldn't have pushed you like I did, but I'm glad you opened up."
She nodded lightly, reaching for her food so she could finish eating.
"It felt nice to get it off my chest." Blake admitted. "You're the first person I've opened up to this deeply."
"I'm flattered." He deadpanned.
It didn't take much longer for them to finish their food, a new silence surrounding them. Unlike before though, it wasn't uncomfortable, it actually felt nice. Jaune slid into bed beside her and sat against its frame, looping an arm around her back. She sighed contently and leaned her head on his shoulder, his hair coming down over her own. Swallowing, Blake turned to face him, pressing her forehead against his own, her breath painting his lips. She tilted her chin up, pushing closer to kiss him, he drew in and closed the distance between them himself. They drew apart slowly, her hand reaching up to stroke his cheek. She shuddered and pushed back into him, curving her chest against his own as they made out.
"Mm..." He groaned, trailing his hand down her side.
She pulled back and swallowed heavily, pushing her hands underneath his shirt before sliding it off of him. She threw it to the floor and put a hand on his bare chest, his own came up to clasp hers gently. She glanced down at his scar, she'd nearly forgotten about it.
"Does it hurt?" She whispered, trailing a finger down it's length.
"Not when you touch it." He shivered.
Slipping two fingers beneath her chin, he tilted her head up and kissed her again, even deeper than before. After a few moments she pulled back, pulling her own shirt off and tossing it aside. He glanced down and rested his palm on the skin of her stomach, leaning back in. She pushed him down onto the bed and straddled over him, eyes glancing down to the button on his jeans. He reached up wrapped his arms around her as she came down and kissed him once more, trailing her hand down to his pants, her finger ready to undo them.
Jaune shivered, pushing her away softly.
"Is something wrong?" She whispered.
"I... We shouldn't. Not here." He sighed, glancing away.
She smiled and sat up, still straddled over him.
"Alright." She put a hand on his chest. "Raincheck?"
"Yeah." He smiled back, putting his hands on her side.
She leaned down and pecked his lips softly before drawing away, crawling off of him. He rolled onto his back and laid down beside her, pulling the blanket over them. She pulled his form close to her own, resting her head under the crook of his neck.
"Blake?" He whispered against her.
"Hm?" She hummed in response.
"I..." He swallowed, glancing away from her. "I'm glad to have you."
"Yeah, me too." She pushed against him softly.
For a minute she thought he was gonna say something else, something she wasn't sure she was ready for. She frowned for just a moment, she hoped Jaune hadn't noticed, but he did.
"You alright?" He lifted a concerned eyebrow.
"Of course." She flashed him a smile, kissing his chin. "I've got you beside me, what's there to be upset about?"
She cursed herself internally for hiding her thoughts from him, but what was she even to say? She hadn't even thought about it before, everything just felt so natural between them. She figured she'd know when she was ready but... Now she wasn't sure how to say it. Jaune was amazing, a little rough around the edges but... He was amazing nonetheless. She knew deep down that she loved him, and that scared her to no end. After Adam, she thought she might never love like that again... Her heart thumped in her chest and a panic nearly overtook her...
But when she looked up and saw his contented expression, one that longed to be with her, to hold her closer... She felt a calm wash over her, and it wasn't so bad.
I'm sorry about the time it took me to upload this. Between work, technological complications, and other factors, it's just been really difficult. Things have started to slow down a bit so I'm hoping I have time to at least finish this story for you guys and push out a few more chapters for Drinking Buddies as well. Thank you so much for sticking around and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
As always, leave any criticisms in the reviews, it helps a lot. Thanks again!