Emerald knocked twice on the supposed to be the Xiao Long residence, followed by another set of knocking but this time kind of exaggerated and louder on purpose.

No one bothered telling them this was it, or are they just now another pair of lost and misguided youngsters trying to find their way back through a secluded cabin because it definitely gave off that kind of unwanted vibe. They were both sure this was the location of the address Ruby had given them, and they were on time, which is a good thing. It was surprisingly a near distance from the apartment they were living in at the moment, taking only almost fourty-five minutes of their time before arriving at the said home, praying they weren't meant to be mistaken.

She sighed, "Are you sure we're in the right place?" she turned to look over her shoulder and asked Mercury who stood behind her, silently waiting before someone from the inside will gladly welcome them. A part of him wished it was a familiar blonde who will open it for them, but he'd be damned if that was the case.

"Just you wait." he replied while keeping his eyes straight, anticipating someone, whichever of the sisters to appear right before their very sight.

And as if on a cue, the door went ajar then an all smiley Ruby greeted them cheerfully, still full of high energy like when Mercury first met her, "Hey, you came!"

He smirked, "Sure we do." it felt weird for him to see someone get so excited just by seeing him, by seeing them. Who knew his mere presence could make someone happy? It was one of the last things he could think of for someone who grew up with a troubled and unhappy environment. It felt different but in a good way.

But instead of acknowledging his presence first, her gaze quickly darted at his former partner, "You're Emerald?" she happily asked and those silver orbs practically sparked at the enamoring appeal of his mint-haired friend.

"Yeah, the one and only roommate." Emerald snorted a laughter and smiled at the young one despite the latter's lack of introduction yet apparently because of the fleeting feeling. At least she was being natural this time and he could already tell Ruby is going to like her unlike when Yang first encountered her.

"Come in!" Ruby giddily stated while excitedly letting them in, "Yang, Mercury's here!" she shouted, and that's when the realization struck him like lightning as the overall attention of the other invitees were now at them - that now's the moment he was about to meet more of the people in Yang's life alike.

"Uh, maybe she doesn't hear us," Ruby waited for a moment for Yang to respond or come at them, but she didn't, so she just shrugged and scratched the back of her head, "Anyway, I'm Ruby, Yang's sister." she finally introduced herself proper and offered a handshake which Emerald gladly complied to.

"Oh, the birthday girl?" she smiled upon the realization, of course it had to be her with the way she was so excited and high spirited, "Happiest birthday then!"

"Thank you! I'm really glad you came."

Their house gave this cozy kind of vibe within. Huge and wide enough for an average family, and almost everything were made out of wood. It was definitely warm inside, the kind of warm that will make you stay because it felt safe and sound. Totally, the atmosphere was nicer and tranquilizing in comparison to his old home, where his recurring nightmares began. Brushing the unnecessary thought off his head, at least Yang had a much better life than him. She had a place where she could call home, and people around her that she can call her family.

He was glad.

Even when he tried his best to scan his eyes around their home, of course the first person whom his eyes landed on was her, and only her. Whether he liked it or not, whether be it on purpose or not.

Mercury didn't intend to go look for her in the first place, Ruby invited him, or was that really it? At least that's what he likes to believe in.

He saw Yang in a corner part of the living room and she was talking with a guy, tanned skin with ocean-blue hair. She was laughing and he was too, as if they were enjoying conversing with each other. There was this stupid, unwanted feeling suddenly rushing up his whole, like irritation amongst his skin due to some spreading infection. Was it jealousy? Or just plain annoyance? He wasn't sure either. Fuck, do I look I care? Of course not, fuck.

"Yang! Mercury and Emerald are here!" Ruby repeated, her voice was already loud enough for others to hear but she was too busy talking with this other guy that Emerald had to nudge him hard on his elbow just for him to react.

"What?!" he whispered out loud, scowling at her.

"Looks like you're not getting what you want tonight. Should we make our exit?" Emerald chuckled, making fun of him but Mercury's actually starting to get irritated. He doesn't care about what other people think, but going to a birthday party while your 'girlfriend' continues to ignore you, that stinks.

Ruby sighed, "Wait, I'm telling her-" she was already about to approach her sister, stopping on her tracks when Mercury prevented her doing so.

"Hey, just let her do her own thing. It's fine. She's a grown up woman." he looked at both Ruby and Emerald, and then at Yang. His lips purse into a thin line while running his hand through his hair, this has always been his way of expressing his frustration.

"Are you...sure?" Ruby asked reassuringly, her tone somewhat concerned.

"Yeah."

There were a number of people invited as well, not more than ten though. Everyone seems to be having fun and all, having their own little chit chats and good laughs. Mercury couldn't help but to think he might unintentionally ruin this moment again. With Blake and Sun present as well, of course they had to be there, his presence alone might already irk those two.

Yang still doesn't give a shit about him on purpose, he knew that. He knew that she knew they were already there, just pretending they really aren't there.

Is she trying to give him the cold shoulder now? Mercury will give her that if she wants, even colder and might even be beyond the freezing point if she doesn't stop being this childish.

"H-hey, Mercury, will you help me out on the kitchen?"

Mercury almost jerked back at his own standing position when a familiar voice called out to him. Deep down inside, he was actualy hoping it's going to be Yang, but that's a complete lie he knew beforehand. It wasn't her when all this time he had his eyes on her.

It was Blake.

"Uh, okay?" and before he knew it, those words already escaped right through his mouth. He didn't know what else to do or say, but just to simply comply to it was by far the right thing to do than be a jerk and cause more conflicts between him and her.

He's not going to do that again now that Yang pretends like he's some kind of invisible thing, at least there's another person willing to talk to him in this room and of all people, it's the same person he had shitted on before.

Before he went on, he gave Emerald a clueless look and she only nodded in return. Ruby grabbed her by the wrist and she let herself get dragged in the middle, where she was now supposed to talk and interact with Ruby and Yang's long term friends.

He sighed, at least he's not yet about to do that. Thanks to Blake.

She started heading towards the kitchen, and Mercury followed suit. Somehow, he already knew what's this all about. That's why it felt like a favor he was compelled to do despite the circumstances.

When they got into the kitchen, he was expecting to see Sun, but he wasn't around. It was just the two of them, and surely it was so awkward. Way awkward than he thought.

Blake continued to bake some cupcakes, while Mercury just stood in one part of the room like a stupid, still tree. He was waiting for her to ask him for help, like what she initially said, but there was none. His arms were now crossed in front of his chest while leaning his head and left shoulder against the wall, looking at her from a distance.

No one was initiating the talk when he knew Blake was probably going to confront him about what happened last time, fix the misunderstanding and not add anymore fuel to the fire.

"You see, I'm sorry." Blake began to apologize and then faced him, putting a momentary stop to her baking duties. She can't even look at him in the eye any longer, it felt heavy inside.

"I should be the one saying that."

"No, what you said to me, you were right."

Mercury bit his lower lip, "You know Yang likes you, right?" he sighed, "Not as a friend, but more than a friend." without further ado, he knew he should get to the gist of it.

Blake briefly closed her eyes, smiling bitterly, "She never told me about what she truly felt, but I can see it in the way she looks at me back then. The way she cares about me, how she holds me and everything. They were yearning, and you don't have an idea how bad I feel for not returning those little things. I feel awful. But I love Sun, and I love Yang as my friend. It's...different. But now that you're here, I know she's in good hands. So whatever negativity you thought about me, I deserve it. You're the right person for her, not me. I only cause her pain, and I never intended to hurt her if anything. The first time we met and you were already able to see through me, I guess that applies to Yang as well. She's a strong girl that's hard to read ever since the accident that costed her an arm, as you can see. So I'm very sure that you'd understand her way deeper than I do, after all, you're her boyfriend." she explained, and her tone was so calm and the sound of her voice was so soothing, that it's hard to listen to her without feeling woozy. The way she said each word felt like she was making him understand her very reasons, which made him gulp.

It was kind of funny that Blake was able to say such things bearing the thought he and Yang have been together for a while now. Little did she know, everything was just for show.

Who knew getting into a fake relationship would turn out like this? It was meant to be fun and all, Mercury never thought he'll get in too deep. Does agreeing to this stupid project a bad decision now? But then maybe, this was his favorite mistake.

Just when he thought he was the one being aloof, it seemed like Blake already knew what he was going to ask, as if she had read his mind. He wasn't expecting her to somehow have a tendency of being forthright just like that, "You think so? Until now she doesn't even talk to me ever since I spoke ill about you. You're on a different level, Blake. She'll always choose you." he said instead, looking down on his feet.

"Yang's a short-tempered person, but I'm sure she's fine. She doesn't hate you. If I know, she was even the one who asked for you to come today through Ruby."

"Yeah, her sister told me that."

"See? She really wants to talk to you, and wants to see you. Just be patient with her, and eventually she'll be the most clingy and sweetest person you'll ever meet. Also the most understanding. She's the group's mom and cares for everyone like her own children. She's that amazing." Blake finally smiled, with the enthusiasm back in her eyes now. He can't help but think that's far from happening, but a little faith to her words wouldn't hurt.

Mercury didn't know how to react or what to say for a moment. Confused, he narrowed down his eyes at her, "Why are you saying all of these things to me?"

"I just wanted to clear my mind, and lessen the weight off my chest. I never even told any of this to Sun, because that's a different story. I just know that you'll get what I mean even though you didn't like me, so I thank you for that."

He let out a laugh through his nose, "Hey, don't thank me, I haven't done anything yet."

"That's for listening, and for being there with her."

"I...I don't know what to say." he said, shrugging. Admittedly, everything that Blake revealed to him rendered him speechless. He didn't exactly know what to feel, there's too much to think about it.

Instead, Blake just chuckled at him and gave him a piece of cupcake that she wholeheartedly did, "Here, you might want to taste test this? Anything with strawberry is her favorite."

He thoroughly looked at the dessert, how it was so simple with its pinkish color, icing and strawberry on top, yet seemed like a good munch, "Sure, I'll keep that in mind." he smirked as he started to eat, nodding at her as if to say that she did a good job.

Mercury already left even before Blake managed to finish the last set of cupcakes. Somehow, his view about her gave a different feel with their little talk. It gave him a clearer mindset, when he didn't ask for it. At least, he kind of understood now why Yang and Sun like her. There's something with the way she tries to fix things on her own.

When he got out, he caught a glimpse of Yang only to see her already looking at him with what he can assume was a mix of curiosity and longing clouded in both of her lilac-colored orbs. It almost took his breath away.

When their gazes met, there was this tiny pining feeling that can be felt when they exchanged glances. It was still Yang who looked away first, while he continued to walk and take a sit beside Emerald, who was with Ruby and a certain white-haired girl with a huge side ponytail.

So the current set up was pretty neat. There were four sofas positioned in a closed quarter, with each space occupied while there was a tiny round table placed on the center with a single bottle on top of it.

"Since when are you a dog person huh, Em?" Mercury started, raising an eyebrow at her when he saw how there was a Corgi dog on her lap while Ruby and the other girl were petting him. However, the dog seems to be enjoying the moment.

"Oh Merc, I don't have to be a dog person for him to like me. Guess what? Zwei doesn't like you." Emerald retorted back, and then the dog began barking back at him as well.

Zwei? So it has a name...cool. He jokingly glared at her, "Hey, I took a shower."

"Mercury, this is Weiss." Ruby suddenly introduced, even though he wasn't really asking.

Looking at her with an almost awkward expression, "Ah, the one you've mentioned before? The Schnee girl." he said and really tried his best to sound interested.

"Schnee girl? That doesn't sound nice at all but yes, that's me." Weiss wasn't sure of how to take the remark, whether to laugh or not.

"And Weiss, he's Mercury. Yang's boyfriend."

"Yang's boyfriend?!" overhearing their conversation, that guy with the ocean-blue hair shouted, as if that was a shocker and because of that, everyone's attention were now on him, "Damn, I know you're a tomboy and all along I thought you were only into girls." he snapped his finger while shaking his head. Mercury thought that gesture meant that he'd probably hit on her already if he only knew before that wasn't the case.

At the back of his mind, Mercury wanted to smirk and say to him, "Ha, loser. Guess who's man of the year?" but who he was kidding anyway.

"Girls and boys, for your information." Yang corrected, pointing her finger at him with squinted eyes, "And for the nth time, I'm not a tomboy!" she flipped her golden hair that was lying around her right shoulder, and that made everyone laugh.

He looked at Mercury again, offering his hand, "Just kidding, dude. I'm Neptune by the way." this guy's almost like Sun, but their difference from what Mercury could tell right now is this one's a prick who probably had a list of the girls he hooked up or get laid with.

And, he honestly hated that kind of person.

Staring at his hand before accepting it, he glanced at him with dead eyes, "Mercury." he said simply, like the usual.

"And...we have Sun." Neptune can't help but find their names so silly at this point. Whether it was pure co-incidence or not, three boys named after heavenly bodies or gods in the same room was a little funny, "Wow, don't you think we should start creating a boy group? The Solar boys, something like that."

"I'll probably be the most popular member, just so you know." Sun pointed at himself using his thumb with a huge smile on his face. Mercury even thought he'll probably start out a fight once he sees him, but the boy's a natural nice guy unlike him who's an asshole.

"Hey, the cupcakes were all done." Blake got out of the kitchen, smiling and sat close beside Sun. He enclosed her in an embrace while she buried her head in his chest. Mercury could've sworn these two needs privacy.

"Save that for later! Now that we're complete, should we start playing a game?" Ruby's energy never fail to make Mercury cringe sometimes. She stood up, leaving Weiss and Emerald's side and then sat beside a blond guy, who was with a pretty girl with red long hair, "Hi Jaune, Hi Pyrrha." she waved her hand at them, "Where's Ren and Nora?"

"They won't be able to come, sadly." the blond answered, while Ruby just pouted, making a sad face.

"What game?" Yang asked, chuckling. She was like the only one being supportive of her sister's silly choice of a game.

"I'm sure you guys know how seven minutes in heaven works, right?" Ruby grinned, travelling her eyes at everyone.

"Ruby, are you sure about that?" the Jaune boy asked, looking at her with worried eyes and that almost made Mercury laugh. Someone's afraid of getting laid in seven minutes.

"What? There's nothing wrong about that! Is there?" Ruby nudged his elbow, jokingly raising her eyebrow at him while Jaune just let out a heavy sigh.

"Oh Jaune, just let the birthday girl do whatever she pleases." Pyrrha chuckled softly, placing her hand on his shoulder.

Ruby and Jaune seemed to be very close though, but maybe Pyrrha had a thing for his Arc.

"Come on guys, Ruby's now eighteen! She's already legal, besides Dad's not yet around. So I kind of approve it..." Yang winked at her sister, slightly smirking.

"Exactly! So, we might as well start?"

Ruby obviously was trying to hide the playful smile on her lips when she started to spin the bottle. Everyone was anticipating which one of them might be the first not so lucky one except for Mercury.

He was just lazily leaning back on his seat while staring at the ceiling, when Emerald suddenly slapped his left thigh hard.

"What was that for?!" he groaned, voice a bit louder than ordinary when he realized that the bottle, as luck would have it, was pointed at him.

Mercury briefly closed his eyes then aggressively ran a hand through his hair when he saw how everyone was now looking at him as if waiting for his reaction, "Okay, stop staring at me. What should I do now?"

Supposedly, after picking the first person to enter a room, there will be another bottle spinning to pick the second person amongst the circle that will be paired up with him. Mercury wished it was Emerald and nobody else though.

But before Ruby could spin again, Yang stood up.

"I volunteer." she said and then walked towards him, grabbing him by the wrist and Lord knows how Mercury wasn't ready for this.

Then again, for whatever reason he can feel the same excitement he felt when she had challenged him the first time they met.

Fuck Yang.

Thanks a bunch guys for continuously reading! I really, really appreciate all of your messages ^^; this story has a long way to go as far as I've already planned out, so do anticipate! /cheers