It took the rest of the day and most of the day after, but I finally decided on a black and red suit with a black jacket and dress pants with a red shirt and straight necktie with black dress shoes. Just before I headed down to the ballroom, I straightened my hair for probably the hundredth time that night and headed out.

I entered the ballroom to find Yang at the podium, greeting students as they filed in.

I approached the podium and gave her a wave. "Hey Yang. Nice dress." I said with a smile.

"Thanks." She replied. "I like your choice of clothes, but your hair color kind of makes them clash."

I shrugged. "Yeah, but who cares?" I said with a laugh as I walked past her. I looked around to see if Jaune and Pyrrha were together. I managed to see Jaune by himself, Neptune chatting up a couple girls and Weiss trying to make sure everything was perfect, occasionally getting a couple of glances at Neptune. In Weiss' eyes I saw what looked like sadness. I then remembered the compliment Neptune shot at Weiss yesterday and thought of something.

I put the thoughts of looking for Jaune and Pyrrha together aside for the moment and walked up behind Neptune, giving him a tap on the shoulder.

"Hey, Joe, how's it going? Got yourself a date?" He said with a cheerful voice as he turned around.

I shook my head. "No, my date is… not here just yet." I said with a smile as I thought of Velvet. "How about you?" I asked with crossed arms.

I saw him get a little nervous and start to fidget. "Uh… yeah about that…" He trailed off.

I sighed at him and motioned for him to follow me so we could talk in private. Once we were upstairs and out of earshot, I waited for him to continue.

"Weiss asked me to the dance and I said no." He continued.

I gave him a confused look. "Why?"

He fidgeted again. It's-it's because I…I.…"

"Out with it." I rushed him.

"Can't dance." He said quickly as he turned his gaze to the floor.

I crossed my arms again. "Dude, you do realize that Weiss likes you right? Otherwise she wouldn't have asked you to the dance." He nodded in acknowledgment. "So you're telling me that you'd rather place your own pride over her heart?"

"Well when you say it like that, it kind of makes me sound like a jerk." He stated, insulted.

I nodded back. "And I think that you are just because you can't admit to Weiss that you can't dance. I've seen how she looks at you and I know for a fact that she likes you. How about you go talk to her and see what happens?" I offered.

He took a deep breath and looked back up in my eyes. "I will. Thanks, Joe."

I waved him off. "No problem." He started to walk away. "And Neptune!" He turned to face me. "Drop the whole 'cool guy shtick' just be Neptune Vasilias, not 'Neptune the cool guy'." I said with a smile. He smiled back and nodded, heading down the stairs.

I looked over the railing and saw Pyrrha walk in wearing a long red dress with her hair done in its usual ponytail and she headed straight for the balcony on the second floor.

I managed to see Jaune follow her and I followed him to see where he was going.

Jaune followed Pyrrha out to the balcony and I listened in on their conversation, hidden by darkness.

"Hey, Pyrrha." I heard Jaune say.

"Hello, Jaune." Pyrrha replied.

"I haven't seen you tonight."

"Arrived late, I'm afraid."

"Well you look really nice."

I smiled to myself. Here it comes.

"Thank you." Pyrrha replied.

"Your date isn't going to beat me up for saying that is he?"

Uh oh. My smile faded.

"I think you're safe for tonight."

"So… where is the guy?"

"There is no guy."

"What?"

"Nobody asked me."

At this point I was so tempted to just reveal myself from the shadows and yell out "You're the one she likes! Just go and have a nice night!"

They continued conversing and Pyrrha even admitted to Jaune that he was the type of guy she wish she was here with when Pyrrha walked right past me and back into the ballroom. I waited for Jaune to say something, but only silence followed.

I sighed to myself and walked out on the balcony where my team leader had his head in his hands on the railing.

"So you're either stubborn or stupid." I stated as I approached him with my hands in my pockets.

"What?" Jaune asked, looking up from his position.

"Jaune, Pyrrha literally just poured her heart out to you and you did nothing. You wanna go ahead and tell me why?"

He took a deep breath before saying anything. "It's because I don't deserve her. She's Pyrrha Nikos and I'm just Jaune Arc. A dumb blonde kid who snuck his way into Beacon using fake transcripts."

I leaned my back against the railing. "So you think that just because of your status that you're not fit to take Pyrrha to the dance?" He nodded back. "Jaune, I just had a similar conversation with Neptune about Weiss. He decided to put his own pride ahead of her heart." Jaune's head jerked up at the news as I continued. "He thought that just because he couldn't dance that he should just go to the dance alone. Your situation with Pyrrha is no different. You seem to think that you should deny her happiness simply because you think that she can do better, but guess what? I've seen my fair share of dirtbags in this world and I think that you're the best she can do."

Jaune took a minute to digest the info I gave him. "Alright. I'll go talk to Pyrrha." He said with a smile.

"That's the spirit." I said as I slapped him on the back.

I headed back to my position on the railing and saw Yang and Ruby talking.

"Hey, Ruby. Yang." I nodded at them both as I leaned up against the railing.

"Hey, Joe." Ruby said in her normally cheery voice.

I smiled. "You seem to be feeling better."

Ruby nodded back at me. "I'm just happy that Blake came to the dance." She replied, gesturing down to Blake, who was now dancing alongside Sun.

That didn't take long. I thought as I felt myself grinning.

"So where's your date, Joe?" I heard Yang say.

"Not here." I replied vaguely.

Yang gave me a quizzical look. "Is she in the restroom?"

I shook my head. "No. She's… away."

"And by away you either mean on vacation or on mission. But the only team on mission right now is team CFVY…" I saw Yang slowly put the pieces of the puzzle together in her head. "…Which means that your date is either Coco or Velvet and since I've seen Velvet hanging around you a fair bit before she left, I assume that it's her?" The blonde brawler asked with a smirk.

I sighed. Here comes the endless teasing. "Yes, I probably would've asked Velvet to the dance if she wasn't on mission." I stated.

Yang was about to say something else when her attention was diverted by several students laughing at something.

The three of us stopped and looked over the railing to see Jaune in a white dress walking towards Pyrrha.

"Well there's something you don't see everyday." Yang said, breaking the stunned silence between herself, Ruby and me.

My jaw dropped at the sight. "I just told him to go talk to Pyrrha, not to wear a freaking dress!" I accidentally blurted out.

Yang and Ruby looked at me, astonished.

"Oh, like you neither of you could plainly see that they belonged together!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Ruby said while Yang just shrugged. I looked down at my teammates and felt my heart warm at the sight of Jaune and Pyrrha dancing in sync with Nora and Ren.

I looked around the rest of the ballroom and noticed Cinder dancing with Mercury. Despite her surroundings, Cinder looked sad compared to everyone else while Mercury held a smirk on his face as they talked.

Whatever, tonight's not about them, it's about relaxing. I thought as I looked back at my teammates.

I spent the rest of the night talking with Sun, Neptune, team RWBY and my own teammates, not partaking in any of the dances, mainly because I only wanted to dance with Velvet.

With everyone thoroughly exhausted from the dance, my teammates and me were the first ones to call it a night at ten, mainly because the four of them looked they had just ran a marathon. Pyrrha even managed to fall asleep before we even got back to the room, making Jaune carry her bridal style while she held a small smile on her face.

I unlocked the door and held it open for Jaune with Pyrrha in his arms as he gently set her down in her bed, pulling the covers over her sleeping figure and bidding her goodnight.

I smiled at the sight as Ren and Nora walked in, showered, changed into their own sleepwear and went to bed.

I had just rolled out my sleeping bag when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned to face Jaune in his rabbit onesie with a sheepish smile on his face.

"Joe, I wanted to thank you for getting me to talk with Pyrrha."

I chuckled quietly, not wanting to wake the rest of the team. "It was no problem Jaune. Seeing you two together makes me think about what things might've been like between Denara and myself if she survived initiation." I said with a smile, remembering the beautiful face of the wolf-faunus.

Jaune's eyes held a look of sympathy within them. "How are you dealing with that by the way? If you don't mind my asking." He added the last part quickly.

I just smiled weakly at him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Jaune, the three of them were my friends. I'll never get over their deaths, but I think that they'd want me to move on with my life." I said, as I looked him back in his deep blue eyes. "And I don't mind you asking me questions about them, just try not to make a habit of it." I declared.

I removed my hand from his shoulder as he nodded at me and went to bed.

You did good, Jaune. I thought with a wide smile as I put my head down on my pillow.