Day 16/30

July is one of the hottest times of the year. With summer in full swing, most people tend to bask in the warmth and enjoy the lovely weather before the chill of Autumn brings the first signs of cold and winter.

By most people, I mean everybody except for one particular individual.

"Merry Christmas everyone!"

That was the last thing Yang, Ruby, Jaune, Pyrrha, Sun, and the Lieutenant had expected to hear while eating breakfast and enjoying some cartoons on TV. The four stared wide eyed at the pine tree that had toppled into the room, with Nora standing proudly over it. The spritely girl donned a Santa hat atop her head, grinning as a shower of pine needles flew up from where the tree had fallen.

"I'm sorry, what?" Jaune asked.

"Christmas, silly!" Nora gladly answered, "It is July, after all!"

"Last time I checked, Christmas was in December," Yang corrected, to which Valkyrie scoffed.

"Haven't you heard of Christmas in July? It's, like, only the best repeated holiday since Halloween! I'm surprised you didn't know about it, seeing how you know about a second April Fool's Day."

"Ooh, burn…!" Ruby whispered in her sister's ear, to which Yang snatched one of her cookies and tossed it across the room. "No! That one was extra chunky!"

"Well I hope you didn't expect us to get you any presents," Sun said, holding a spoonful of cereal with his tail, "Kinda hard to buy gifts without any warning."

"The holidays are not just about receiving gifts," Pyrrha corrected, "It is a time to spend with those you care about and be thankful of the things you have. I think that may be the reason behind Nora's reason to celebrate the occasion more than once a year. Am I right, Nora?"

"Um, yeah!" Nora laughed nervously, "Totally that! Definitely not just so Ren and I can chop down a tree, decorate it, and then knock it back down again for fun! Nope! Not that at all! Right Ren?" She turned to her best friend, who was wearily walking inside with an axe in hand exhausted and tired.

"Sure… Let's go with that."

"You should have asked me for help," the Lieutenant said, "I don't like to brag, but I'm quite skilled at handling big pieces of nice, hard wood, especially in the morning."

"Phrasing, dude." Sun groaned.

It took Jaune a bit to notice the tree Nora dragged in looked a bit familiar. "Is that the tree from the front yard?"

"Maybe."

"Aw, that was Zwei's favorite!" Ruby exclaimed, picking up the cookie Yang had thrown off the floor and stuffing it in her mouth, "He always tinkles on that one first when I take him out!"

Staring at his hands, Ren sighed as he turned to go upstairs. "If you need me, I'll be in the bathroom for a while. I'll bring down the decorations you packed when I'm done, Nora."

"Would you like help putting the tree up until Ren returns?" Pyrrha asked Nora, who gave her a thumbs up. She smiled at Jaune, who had just finished his plate. "Care to joins us, Jaune?"

"Uh, not now," Jaune declined, hastily grabbing his dishes. It was obvious that he was avoiding time with Pyrrha; even during breakfast he hadn't really said a word to her or even looked at her. After having told Qrow about how he felt of her, being around her felt much more awkward and nerve-wracking than ever. "I've got some, uh, things to take care of. Sorry, Pyrrha."

"Oh…" Nikos tried her best to smile, but failed as Jaune left without another word. Her disappointment was noticed by everyone, Nora especially. Puffing out her cheeks, she grabbed Pyrrha's shoulder and started pulling her away. "Nora, I said I was coming-

"GIRL TALK!"

Once the two Team JNPR members were gone, the remaining four housemates stood up with dishes in hand, Yang shaking her purple head in disappointment. "The day Jaune finally grows a pair is the day I decide to permanently keep my hair this ugly color."

"I think your hair looks fabulous!" the Lieutenant said cheerfully, flinching when Yang glared at him in disapproval. In the midst of fear, an idea popped in his head. Why fear and thoughts of pain gave him inspiration was best left unquestioned. "Oh! Take my plate, Ruby! I've got an idea! I have to go!"

Leaving in a flash, the big guy left Ruby with a second set of dirty dishes atop her own. She started at the empty plate in confusion. "…How did he eat without taking his mask off?"

After washing his hands ten times in a row, Ren finally exited the bathroom, much to a waiting Roman's relief. On his way to Nora's room to pick up the box of decorations she had packed away in a suitcase, he noticed Jaune's head poking out from his own room. His teammate beckoned to him to come in, to which Ren obliged. It seemed Jaune wanted another one-on-one talk with him about something personal; at least this time Ren was wearing more than just his towel.

"What seems to be the problem, Jaune?" Ren asked, sitting beside Jaune on his bed.

"It's… It's Pyrrha," Jaune forced the words out, "You remember the dance, right? Back at Beacon?"

"I remember how hard it was practicing that synchronized routine."

"I'd rather not think about that. Anyways, before that Pyrrha and I were up on the roof. She'd gone up there alone, and I followed her, and we talked about things. She said she wished someone like me had asked her to the dance, and I never really understood what she meant until not that long ago. Ren… I think she likes me."

Ren had to force his hand down so he wouldn't facepalm himself. "I would have never guessed…"

"And then I started thinking about Weiss, and how I just wanted her to be happy with someone. And when I realized that someone couldn't be me, I realized why I had followed Pyrrha up in the first place. I wanted her to be happy the same way I wanted Weiss to be. She had done so much for me, with training me and supporting me, that I just… I just couldn't get her out of my head. Nobody had ever had that much faith in me before, especially not a girl as kind and as caring and pretty as her. Then I realized I didn't like Weiss anymore… Ren, I like Pyrrha. As in like-like."

Doing his best not to run down and tell Nora the extremely good news, Ren patted Jaune on the back and laughed. "Jaune… You have no idea how long we were waiting for you to say something like this."

"I don't get it."

"Of course you don't. You wouldn't even be able to guess just how right you are about Pyrrha liking you. She's completely head over heels for you."

"…Are you serious?"

"100% serious."

"Oh no… Oh no oh no on no…" Clutching the back of his head, Jaune stood up and began pacing in circle around the room. "This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!"

"Why? Why is you and Pyrrha liking each other bad?"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!" Jaune shouted, throwing his arms out in frustration, "It's not like when I asked Weiss out! I expected to get turned down! If I do it to Pyrrha, she'll say yes! I don't know what happens after that! Do we just kiss right off the bat?! Do I take her out to dinner?! Heck, I can't even do that since were stuck in this freaking house! Oh God, this is just bad on all levels!"

"Calm down, Jaune," Ren eased his teammate back down onto the bed, "You're not doing this alone. Nora and I will do whatever we can to help you out here, okay? We're you're friends. We'll make this work. Trust me."

Breathing in deeply, Jaune let it all out in one big sigh. "Okay… Okay, Ren. What's the plan?"

"Leave it to me. I have to get the decorations for Nora, and I'll let you know as soon as think of something. Just stay here and relax."

"Thanks, Ren," Jaune smiled as Ren stepped out the door, "You're a lifesaver."

"Don't mention it… Seriously, don't mention it. I don't want the Lieutenant coming to me for help with his feelings."

Turning over a new leaf was not something Cinder ever considered doing until yesterday. Now, she was realizing it was the best thing she had ever done with her life. She sat on her bed with Zwei, occasionally scratching behind the dog's ears as she sewed herself a new dress from scratch. Reaching for some red thread, she nearly pricked her finger with her needle as an uninvited guest barged into the room.

"Could you please knock?" Cinder snapped at the Lieutenant, letting her venomous side slip out.

"I need you," the big guy said, reaching into the front of his pants.

"If you touch me, I will gouge out your eyes with this needle."

"Not like that," the Lieutenant clarified, pulling out a piece of notebook paper, "You're good at sewing, right? Make this for me. It shouldn't take you that long."

"Why was that in the front of your pants and not your pocket?"

"See how the trim is fuzzy here?" the big guy said, completely ignoring her question as he pointed out the details of his commission, "It goes around the bottom too. Can you make this before midnight?"

"I don't even want to touch that paper, let alone make what's on it," Cinder scooted back on her mattress to avoid contact with the paper, "I'm busy with my own thing right now."

"Please? It would mean a lot to me."

As the Lieutenant gave her his best puppy dog eyes from behind his mask, Cinder bit her lip in frustration. Though making something for Adam's lackey was the last way she wanted to spend her afternoon, she was trying to change herself for the better. She didn't want Ruby's encouraging words to go to waste. If this was how Cinder had to make friends around here, then this these last 14 days were going to be difficult.

"...Fine," Cinder caved in, taking the paper between the tips of two fingers, "I'll start right away. Come back in about two hours or so for it."

"Great! That'll be just enough time to set everything up!"

As the Lieutenant left as quick as he had entered, Cinder let Zwei crawl on her lap as she studied her commission. "...Who wears a Santa suit in July?"