Watching the older teams carry stuff to the ballroom for that night's dance filled Astra with excitement. It had been so long since she'd been able to have a full party with lots of people and she was looking forward to what kind of events they'd have.

"So, what made them want to throw a party this early?" She asked Cobalt as she sat beside him on the large hallway's floor, sharing chips from a bowl.

"Well, they used to do it during the second semester, right before first-years had their first official missions," Cobalt explained, grabbing a handful of chips, "But after Beacon was rebuilt and my mother started working here, it was changed so that we didn't have to deal with so much in one week."

Astra shrugged. "I guess that makes sense. I don't think I'd be able to handle a mission once I'm all partied out." She dove her hand into the bowl, only for her hand to hit crumbs. "Wh " She glared jokingly at Cobalt. "Dude! I hardly got any of those!"

Cobalt swallowed his mouthful and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry," He apologized. "I had a small breakfast."

Astra sighed. "Alright, fine. I guess I'll just go buy more."

"Do you need me to pay for them?" Cobalt offered.

"Nah," Astra waved him off. "They're cheap anyway." She hopped to her feet. "I'll be back with more snacks! Don't watch the daily lives of other people too much without me!"

She made her way back up the hallway to find the nearest snack machine, more excitement growing as she passed a poster advertising the dance. This was going to be so much fun. She couldn't wait for the games, the entertainment, any prizes the games might offer…she couldn't imagine a better way to end the term before having to go back home to a quiet life for a couple of weeks.

Finding a machine, she was about to grab what she needed from it before she spotted a familiar black ponytail on the other side of the hallway. Dismissing the chips, she hurried over to greet her.

"Hey, Luna!"

Luna jumped and spun to face her. "Oh, hey Astra!" She replied. "I thought you were hanging out with Cobalt?"

"Ah, I am," Astra confirmed. "But he ate all my chips, so I needed to grab more." She perked up. "Oh hey, do you wanna come and people-watch with us?"

Luna smiled, but shook her head. "I'd love to, but I'm cheering Lily on while she trains with Jaune. I just came to grab her some water."

Astra grinned. "Aw, that's sweet of you! I'd join you if I weren't already doing something. I'll leave you to it though!"

She turned to get back to buying her chips, but Luna called after her.

"No, wait!"

Astra turned again and gave her a quizzical look. "What's up?"

Luna was staring at the floor, shuffling her feet. "There's just- I wanted to ask you something. It's not a big deal if you're busy though."

"Ah hey, I'm never too busy for you, Luna," Astra chirped in reply. "What did you need?"

Luna turned red and for probably the millionth time that term, Astra wondered if there'd been a sudden heat change. She never seemed to be able to pick one up, but maybe Luna was just especially susceptible to the heat. There was that whole 'dark hair' thing.

Luna grabbed at her hair. "I was just uh…wondering…" Her eyes darted up to Astra. "Did you want to go to the dance? With me, I mean?"

The words had come so quickly that it took a few moments for Astra to register them, but when she did, she let out a small chuckle. "Well, of course! I figured we were all going together, right?"

Was that a flicker of frustration on Luna's face? Anxiety stabbed into Astra. Had she said something to upset her or was Luna's mind elsewhere? If it was to do with her, how could she fix it? She was close to asking if she was okay when the frustration seemed to fade as quickly as it had appeared.

"Right!" Luna replied. "All of us! As a team! That's what I meant."

Astra chuckled again. "Alright, Luna, well don't worry, we'll all be there to hang out!" Maybe the frustration she'd been had just been Luna's classic nervousness. For extra assurance, she added, "It'll be fun!"

"Right," Luna replied again, not meeting Astra's eyes. "Well, I should get back to Lily. Can't leave her without support."

Without another word, she turned and hurried away. Astra stared after her, still a little confused, before shrugging and heading back to Cobalt.

"No chips?" He asked as she approached.

Astra checked herself, surprised. Somehow, talking to Luna had made her forget why she'd gone out there in the first place. "I guess I forgot," She replied. "I ran into Luna; she was being…kind of weird?"

"Ah, that's fine. I think we should go back to the dorm anyway." Cobalt stood up. "What do you mean by Luna being weird?"

Astra fell into step beside him as they started walking back. "I think she's just nervous about the dance," She replied. "She seemed not to know we were all going because she had to check whether or not I was."

Cobalt blinked at her. "Are you…sure that's what she was asking?"

"Well, yeah," Astra replied. "What else would she be asking?"

"…Right." Cobalt's lips tightened and Astra briefly wondered if there was something he wasn't saying, but she couldn't imagine what in the world he'd have to hide.

"Well, anyway," Astra decided to change the topic away from Luna. "Are you excited about the dance?"

Cobalt shrugged passively. "Yeah, I guess."

Astra clasped her hands together. "It's been so long since I've been to a proper party," She gushed. "What kind of games do you think they'll have?"

Cobalt stared at her. "Uh…games?"

"You know, party games!" Surely, he'd been to a party before?

"Uh, Astra," Cobalt replied. "I hate to break it to you, but it's not that kind of party. It's just…a dance."

Astra stopped walking, her enthusiasm slipping away. "Wait…you're serious?"

Cobalt looked apologetic. "Yeah, it's nothing huge like that. It'll just be…dancing, pretty much."

Astra sighed, her excitement squashed as she started walking again. "Aw, man…"

Getting back to the dorm, she flopped onto Luna's bed as Cobalt started sifting through his clothes to find something to wear. Astra was utterly disappointed.

No games? No prizes? No fun? What kind of party was this? She was fully aware that plenty of parties just involved standing around and not really doing anything, but they certainly weren't the kind of party she could enjoy.

After a while, Luna and Lily walked in, the latter clearly exhausted from her extra training.

"Ugh, I'm going to need a shower before I get dressed," Lily sighed, sniffing her armpits and reeling away. "Jaune was really hard on me this afternoon."

Luna blinked at Astra. "Aren't you going to get ready?"

Astra rolled onto her back. "Turns out, it's not a real party," She moped. "I know I said I was going, but…I think I'll just stay here tonight."

"What?"

There was a sharpness to Luna's voice. Surprised and slightly concerned, Astra sat up. "I'm really sorry Luna, it just doesn't seem like it'll be as much fun as I thought."

Luna stared at her. "That's- no." She shook her head, and Astra was sure of the frustration this time. "No, I can't keep seeing it's okay."

Lily moved away from Luna, standing beside Cobalt and exchanging a look with him that Astra didn't understand. Was everyone keeping secrets from her?

She climbed off the bed and stepped towards Luna. "Are you okay? I didn't think you'd care all that much…"

Luna looked sharply up at her. "You didn't think I- are you kidding me!? Do you think about anything!?"

Astra's discomfort grew. This was weird, confusing, and she didn't like it one bit. "What are you talking about?" She asked nervously.

Luna lifted her hands to her head, her face red and eyes wide. "You can't possibly not know!" She burst out. "Everyone else thinks I've been obvious; how can you not know!?"

Astra glanced at Lily and Cobalt, who looked severely uncomfortable, then back at Luna, feeling extremely anxious and strangely miserable. "Luna, I don't- "

"You don't what?" Luna snapped. "You don't care? You don't think you're interested?" She began to pace, her face contorted with stress and frustration. "Every time, I think something's going to happen, and you always shoot me down. I don't know why I keep falling for it!"

Astra backed away, panic rising in her chest. Was she dreaming? was this some kind of nightmare? She couldn't explain why, but the last thing she wanted was for Luna to be mad at her. And yet, here they were.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" She protested desperately. "Please, you're my friend, I don't want to hurt you!"

"That's exactly what's hurting me!" Luna shot back, her eyes wide and filled with tears. "Don't you get it!?"

"Get what!?"

"That I like you more than you're ever going to like me!"

The words hit Astra like a truck. The break in Luna's voice when she'd said them, the desperation. Was she saying what she thought she was?

Before she could say anything, Luna shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. "Just…forget I said anything." She croaked. Turning, she rushed out of the room, the door shutting beside her.

Astra was left in pain and bewilderment, tears welling up in her own eyes. She was shaking and hadn't even realized it. She turned to Lily and Cobalt, who looked deeply sympathetic.

"Guys…?" She asked tentatively, her voice shaking. "What's going on?"

Lily stared at her softly. "You really had no idea, huh?"

"She likes you, Astra," Cobalt added. "She has since she met you, I think."

Astra stared. "Like…like a crush?" Was it even possible? Luna Xiao Long, thinking of her that way? When she was just the kind-of-annoying party girl from Atlas?

"Yeah," Cobalt replied gently. "Like a crush."

Astra didn't know what to say. She hardly knew what to think. For the whole semester, and her friend, probably her best friend, had a crush on her. Probably the first person ever to have a crush on her, and it was Luna. How could it be Luna? How was Astra worth that?

And worst of all, how had she not noticed? How had she managed to break her best friend's heart without even knowing? The last thing she had ever wanted to do was hurt Luna. Not when she meant more to her than anyone else here, not when she was so important to her.

She froze as the thought entered her mind. Wait.

She had to ask. "What does…what does a crush feel like?"

"It's kind of hard to explain in words," Cobalt replied. "But it's…warm. And sometimes it can be downright hot. You find yourself getting excited just being near them and you never want to hear them stop talking. It's amazing and confusing and really difficult, all at the same time."

Horror settled in Astra's belly as shame washed over her. And yet, something felt lifted. "Oh, Gods," She sat down heavily on Luna's bed, staring straight forward. "I'm so stupid. The way I always feel around her…is that why it's so different to when I'm around anyone else?" She stared at her teammates desperately as slight amusement crossed their faces.

"So, you do like her back, huh?" Lily asked.

Astra wanted to sink into the bed. "I think I do…" Briefly, she imagined what it might be like to date Luna, and her heart glowed as if she'd used her Semblance inside her body. How had she denied it to herself for this long? How could she be so stupid?

She lay back on the bed with a thump. "I'm a horrible person…"

Cobalt stepped forward. "Hey, no, this is a good thing!" He insisted. "You can fix this!"

Astra sat back up. "But she hates me now!" She shook her head. "After all those times I let her down…oh, Gods." Realization slammed her in the chest. "She was trying to ask me to the dance, wasn't she? Specifically, me."

Cobalt looked awkward. "Yeah…I think she was."

Astra darted forward and grabbed Cobalt's shirt in desperation. "Tell me how to fix this."

Cobalt exchanged a look with Lily. "I think there's something we can do."

Lily nodded and smiled at Astra. "What's your classiest outfit?"