Chapter 14
Jaune smiled as he awoke, his arm wrapped softly around Blake's form. She was sleeping peacefully, her breathing soft and low, almost like a purr against his chest. He shut his eyes again, looping his arm around her back and pulling her just a little closer. She stirred, though she didn't wake. She usually did to the slightest sound, she must've been really tired. With a sigh, he gently rolled her off of him, fixing the blankets back over her as he stood.
"Where are you going?" She whispered softly, reaching out to grab his arm.
There she was.
He felt a smile curve on his face as he turned back to her. He took her hand in his own and squeezed it firmly.
"Just needed some air, you wanna come?"
"No." She shook her head into her pillow. "I'm sleeping in."
"How uncharacteristic of you." He leaned down and kissed her hair. "Get some rest, please."
"Mm..." She nodded and rolled over, facing away from him.
With a sigh, Jaune left the room and headed downstairs to the kitchen. He loomed over the fridge for a few awkward minutes, unsure of what to eat for breakfast. No one else was up, not that he knew anyway, his siblings weren't exactly famous for being early-risers. He reached into the fridge and pulled out a bottle of orange juice and a microwave burrito. Laziness was truly a killer, and he did not feel like cooking this morning. Having warmed up his food, he sat down at the table to eat, and it was then that he heard a door open followed by the sound of footsteps. His eyes perked up as his slightly younger sister, Violet, rounded the corner. Her hair was platinum blonde with—much akin to her name—violet streaks around the edges.
"Morning, Violet." He waved with a smile.
"Morning." She groaned, and it was then that he realized she was still wrapped in a blanket.
"Couldn't sleep?" His smile shifted to a smirk as he lifted a knowing eyebrow.
"Not even a little." She slumped down onto the couch in the living room across from him.
He stood up and cleared his throat, grabbing his drink before walking over to her.
"Everything alright?" He asked simply.
There was a moment of silence that stretched on a little longer than was comfortable, but he didn't break it, letting her speak when she was ready.
"No..." She paused, an air of hesitation about her. "Not really."
"Do you, erm... Do you want to talk about it?"
Again, silence filled the air.
"It's fine if you don't want to-"
"Look, Jaune." She sighed in exasperation, balling her fists tightly. "Ever since you got here, and don't get me wrong, I'm happy that you're here, but... Ever since you got here mom's been so standoffish with everyone, even dad. She's clearly upset, and trying to keep everyone smiling, it's... it's just fucking exhausting."
She groaned once more, and all he could do was sit there in surprise as she suddenly spilled it out so clearly to him.
"I..." He swallowed oddly, scratching the back of his head, unsure of what to say. "I really need to try to clear the air with her."
"Yes, you do!" She nearly shouted, covering her mouth immediately after. "S-sorry."
"It's fine." He sighed. "It's my fault. I ran away, Violet. Coming back like this after... After three and a half years, I should've known it wouldn't have been peaches and sunshine."
"None of us are upset with you, Jaune." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Mom's the one that's been out of line, I don't know why she's been so pent-up lately. I really thought she'd be happy to see you."
"I was never as close to her as I was to dad." He shook his head. "Dad's always been a free-range parent, mom never reflected that. I was belligerent, didn't listen to a lot of what she said. It led to us never quite getting along, not for a long time anyway. By the time we started to, I... Well, I just left. Because the one thing I wanted to be was the one thing neither of them wanted for me."
"Well, we're all happy you're back." She reinforced the statement. "I'm sure that mom is too, even if she won't show it."
"I-"
"You need to talk to her, Jaune." Violet sighed.
"I will, I just need to figure out how." He frowned, finishing the last of his orange juice before folding his arms.
"There's not gonna be a perfect moment, if you wait here until there is... you'll be gone before anything's been resolved." She shook her head.
"Gah, when did you get so mature? Where did the cute and oblivious Violet go?"
"Where'd the dumb as rocks Jaune go?" She hit back with a cold smirk, shrugging lightly. "A lot has changed over the last three years, for all of us. It's been different without you here."
He fell silent, a contemplative look overtaking his features, then one of sadness replaced it. He sighed and leaned into her, giving her a hug.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
"It's the life you wanted, Jaune." She shrugged, returning the embrace. "We understand why you did it, even if... I wish you'd at least given us a heads up. One morning... you were just gone. Nothing but a note to show for it. I was so worried that... we might never see you again." He didn't say anything, not that he had anything to say in the first place, but if he did, he likely wouldn't have. "But you got the life you wanted, and we didn't lose you, that's what's important."
"Yeah..." He nodded, pulling away from her. "Yeah, I suppose so. It's been rough, but the experiences, the friends I've made... The highs and lows." He winced, recalling the events of Oakenwood. "I wouldn't change them for the world, they've shaped me as a person."
"I'm glad to hear that." She shook her head. "Talk to mom, will you? For all our sakes."
"I will." He pushed himself to his feet, giving her a playful nudge. "You should try and sleep, Vivi."
"Ugh, I thought we were over that." She rolled her eyes.
"Look, I gotta live the rest of my life being called vomit-boy, you can deal with Vivi."
"You're so telling me that story." She grinned from ear to ear, expectantly awaiting his next words.
"Sorry, that's on a need-to-know basis, and uh... y'know how it goes." He shrugged.
"No fair." Violet huffed.
Jaune chuckled, shaking his head.
"I'm gonna talk to mom, thanks... for helping me out."
"Of course, just... get this figured out, alright?"
"Will do." He nodded and stood, finishing off the last of his food.
"Good." She returned the nod and watched him as he ascended the stairs and headed for his mother's office.
He wasn't sure if she was awake, but he knocked anyways, pleasantly surprised when he heard her voice beckoning him to come in from the other side. He took a deep breath and opened the door, finding himself in the confines of her office space once again.
"Son." She cleared her throat, glancing away oddly. "I wasn't expecting you, your father said he would be here soon..."
Jaune sighed and approached her, pulling up a chair across from her at her desk. He sat down and blew out some steam, trying to figure out what to say.
"Good morning." He led with, smiling softly.
"M-morning." She sighed, setting some papers down in front of her. "I take it you're still mad at me."
"Not mad, not anymore." He shook his head. "Just confused, looking for answers."
"Like what?" She leaned forward, focusing only on him.
"Like why everyone here is happy to see me again... Except for you." He glanced away from her.
"Son... Jaune." She amended, fixing her glasses. "I am happy to see you."
"Then why don't you show it?" He thinned his eyes. "Why have you been so..."
"So what?" She lifted an eyebrow.
"Nothing, nevermind." He shook his head.
"It's not nothing, Jaune." She sighed. "I know I've been disrespectful, and I know I've never been your greatest role model."
"Mom, I-"
"No. I'm sorry, Jaune. I want you to know that seeing you after all this time... nothing could make me happier, and I'm sorry I've managed to convince you otherwise." She took her glasses off and set them down gently. "Let's all go out as a family sometime before you leave, hm? Have a day out, I'll take a day off and we can spend time together. You can invite your girlfriend too, I need to apologize to her as well."
"That sounds..." He smiled weakly. "That sounds nice. I'd like that."
Silence fell upon them and he shuffled awkwardly, trying to find some way to rekindle the conversation.
"I blame myself, you know." She beat him to it.
"For what?" He lifted an eyebrow, giving her his attention.
"For you running away, me and your father, we never wanted you to have the life you have now." She continued. "You know this already, our family has spent generations in war, we wanted your life to be different."
"Dad held me back too, it's not-"
"No." She shut her eyes, letting her head fall forward slightly. "He didn't. Your father didn't like the path you wanted, but he was willing to let you go."
"What?" His eyes widened. "But he told me-"
"He told you what I told him to tell you."
Jaune winced, glancing away.
"Why tell me this now?" He swallowed heavily, rubbing his arm awkwardly.
"Because I wouldn't have otherwise." She shook her head. "...and you deserve to know. Your father wanted you to lead your own life and... I was too scared to lose you."
"So..." He furrowed his brows. "That's why Ozpin was so willing to let me in despite my forged papers, huh?"
His mother nodded weakly.
"You're more perceptive than you used to be." She admitted. "Yes, your father got in touch with him after you ran, gave the headmaster his approval."
"It's a lot to take in." Jaune pursed his lips, unsure of what else to say.
"I have a lot to make up for." She reached out and put her hand on his own. "If you'll let me."
"Of course." He nodded. "You're my mother, I'll always love and respect you."
"I'm happy to hear that." She sniffled, suddenly, glancing away from him. "Your father will be here soon, you should leave me, thank you for coming."
"No, mom, thank you for opening up. I'll see you around."
"You as well, son." She smiled, waving him off.
Jaune loosened his shoulders and walked out the door, shutting it softly behind him. He glanced up to see his father as he left.
"Oh, hey dad."
"Did you just come out of your mother's office?" He lifted a curious eyebrow.
"Yeah." He nodded. "We had quite the breakthrough on our feelings. Though, we can talk about that later, wouldn't want to keep her waiting." He chuckled.
"Your mother can be scary." He agreed.
His father passed by him and knocked on the door that the blonde just left. Jaune walked down the hall and towards the end, slowly pushing the door open to his room.
"Blake?" He took care to be silent.
He frowned, however, as he realized she had gotten up and left. He checked around for a bit, the bathrooms were unoccupied, the downstairs area was empty now too. He assumed Violet had gone to bed now. He looked outside too, just to be sure, but no sign of Blake anywhere.
"Hm..." He hummed to himself, stepping out into the snow.
Where could she have gone?
So much for her sleeping in.
Blake sighed deeply to herself, folding her arms as she trudged through layers of snow. She huffed and found herself against a tree by a frozen lake, leaning against it lightly. She'd stepped outside to get some air, having felt too cooped up inside all the time. She shut her eyes for a moment, only to have her peace stolen from her by a buzzing in her jacket pocket. She slid her scroll out and smiled softly, seeing that Yang had been calling.
"Hello?" She picked up expectantly.
"Blake!" The blonde's voice returned from the other side of the call. "Why haven't you been picking up my calls!?"
"Must be the weather, I haven't been getting any." She shrugged. "Is everything alright?"
"Everything's fine." She affirmed. "Weather's been rough here in Patch, too. I take it you headed out for the break?"
"Uh, yeah." She cleared her throat.
"Did you go to visit your family?"
"Oh, no, I didn't." She sighed.
"Blake, you need to-"
"I know! I know..." She swallowed heavily. "I just, it's scary... I don't know how Jaune can do it."
"What does vomit-boy have to do with this?" Yang sounded taken aback. "Where are you?"
Blake's eyes widened as she realized she'd accidentally given herself away.
"Oh, uhh... Nowhere?" She responded awkwardly.
"Uh huh, likely story. Spill it, kitten."
"I'm... I'm with Jaune." She admitted in defeat. "He's visiting his family for the first time since he came to Beacon."
"And you're with him!?" She could practically feel Yang's eyes beaming from the other side of the scroll.
"Yes, Yang, I am with Jaune. Need I remind you that he's the one who gave me a place to stay when-"
"Alright, alright, no need to rub it in, I said I'm sorry." She cut her off. "Are you two...?" She dragged out the question.
Blake remained silent for a moment, hesitating to answer.
"No, we're not." She lied. She didn't want to, but she wasn't sure how Jaune felt about telling them, so she held it in for the time being. "We've just grown closer as friends, when he heard I didn't have anywhere to go, he invited me along."
"Aw, that's lame. You two would make a cute couple, Blake and vomit-boy sitting in a tree..." She began to sing.
"Stop that." She blushed, her mind immediately picturing the scenario.
"Whatever you say, kitten. We're gonna go eat dinner, call you later?"
"Yeah, of course." She affirmed.
"Alright, peace!"
"Bye, Yang." Blake sighed and hung up the scroll, slipping it back into her jacket pocket.
With some newfound energy, the faunus trudged back through the snow, down the hill and back towards the house. It took her a moment to get back, but she did, kicking the snow off her boots before stepping inside. She shut the door softly and headed upstairs to Jaune's room. She knocked on the door, awaiting a response.
"Jaune?" She called quietly. "I'm coming in."
She pushed the door open to find him asleep in bed, the blankets pulled tightly around himself. She smiled to herself at the sight, stepping out of her boots. She slid her jacket off her shoulders and hung it along the bedframe, crawling beside him.
"Hey." She whispered, nudging him softly.
His eyes fluttered open, taking a moment to process the sight of her before him. He smiled when they did.
"Hey." He repeated in response, reaching out to stroke her cheek. "Where were you?"
"I went for a walk." She shrugged. "Yang called while I was out and about."
"Oh?" He repositioned to his side, giving her his attention.
"Yeah, she just wanted to talk. Though, I accidentally told her I was with you... She asked if we were dating."
"What did you tell her?" He lifted a curious eyebrow.
"What would you have wanted me to tell her?"
"Honestly?" He swallowed oddly. "I like what we have right now, it's just me and you. If Yang finds out, it'll be endless teasing. Ruby will be all over us with questions, Weiss will... probably be the only mature one."
"So you want to keep us a secret?"
"Not forever, just until it comes out naturally." He shrugged. "But, if you aren't okay with that we can sit down and tell them all when we get back."
"No, no, it's okay." She smiled, pulling his blanket over herself as well. "I told Yang we weren't dating, I share your thoughts, I like this... I like us."
Blake snuggled up against him, resting her head against his chest. He tilted his head and kissed her hair, wrapping his arms around her.
"I like us too. I..." He faltered again, the same way he did before. She knew why, swallowing a lump in her throat. But yet again, he couldn't bring himself to say it. "I like you, a lot."
"I like you too." She whispered, shutting her eyes. Admittedly, she couldn't bring herself to press him on it either. Instead, she just lost herself in the comfort he provided, and it certainly worked.
She felt him reach up and stroke her cheek, pulling back to look into her eyes. He smiled and leaned in, pecking her lips before pulling her against his chest once more.
"Wake me up when you wake up." She whispered. "We should try to get up before noon."
"Yeah." He nodded, holding her tight. "I will, same for you if you get up first."
"Mhmm..." She hummed. "I doubt I will, I'm admittedly still really tired."
"I'll let you sleep then." He loosened his hold on her, letting her nestle herself against him.
"Mmm... Thanks." She spoke softly, letting sleep slowly take her.
Jaune did the same, smiling to himself as he held her close. That smile faltered for a moment as he recalled the words he couldn't bring himself to say. He pushed past the thought and rested his head on top of her own, falling back asleep himself.
Everytime I think I'll be able to upload consistently life finds new ways to screw me over. This chapter took especially long to get out and for that, I'm sorry. I'm working on the chapters for my other two stories as well.
As always, criticize away, and tell me what you liked too! I can only handle so much negative feedback sometimes ;w;
Sorry for disappearing for so long again, I'd say I'll try not to make it a habit, but it's a little too late for that. Hope you enjoy the chapter!
:)