*Author's Note**Hey guys, Dravyn here. Time for the Crux (pun intended) of my little story. The past 13 chapters have all been for this moment; the confession. I took some time to plan this out (for once) instead of just doing it spontaneously while hyped up on Monster and sugar. I won't add any more boring things here, I'll leave those for the afterword. Without further ado, I bring you chapter 14*

Ruby was walking around Vale. She didn't know what else to do. When she had asked Yang for some advice on how to approach to subject of romance with Jaune, Yang had left abruptly and quite angrily. She wondered why Yang would just storm off like that. Maybe she needed to go to the restroom? Whatever it was, she hadn't waited for her big sister's return. Afterwards, she had decided to leave and head into town. No specific goal in particular, she had just wanted some time to think.

Heading down to her favorite cafe, Dust in the Wind, she sat down at her usual spot. She remembered about the time this place had opened. It was only a month ago, but getting in was nearly impossible then. She just happened to be passing by when the shop was opening and decided to step in. She somehow managed to become acquainted with the manager (that is a story for another time right there), and ever since had been a regular after school and on weekends. Flagging down a waitress, she ordered her usual; hot chocolate (with some extra milk), chocolate chip cookies, and a little dish of chocolate chip pudding. Handing over her customer appreciation card, she had the second to last spot clipped. One more visit, and she qualifies for a free sundae!

Waiting for her order to come, Ruby thought more about Jaune, and the events that led to them becoming friends and subsequently becoming teammates. It seemed so long ago that he had puked all over her boots, and earned the nickname "Vomit Boy." Now that she thought about it, that event was kind of funny. Who figured that she would make a friend from having her boots vomited over? Well, following that rather eventful meeting, she found out that he was a really nice guy despite apparently having a mother-complex and a weak stomach. Following that was the initiation, where Jaune quite literally dropped in out of nowhere. She had to admit, that part wasn't exactly fun, nor could she find anything funny about it. But the fight afterwards was awesome. The second one even more so. Then all the classes and the Ursa thing.

Thinking on all of this, her order came. Looking at her wonderful assortment of chocolaty sweets and drink, Ruby dug in. Her sweet tooth lit up like Yang's hair during her "special monthly time". After satisfying herself and paying her bill, Ruby bid the manager a fond farewell and left to go wander a bit more. She randomly thought about messaging Yang via her Scroll, to see what her sister was up to. Reaching for the little bag she kept at her belt, she realized she had forgotten her Scroll back at the dorm. Passing it off as nothing, she went ahead with her little walk.

Spending the day just heading from store to store, checking out clothes and accessories like any other normal girl her age, Ruby had picked u some things. A new sketchbook, a set of colored pencils, a new apron (Yang wanted to try on her old one and accidently tore it), and a basket of strawberries. Well, it was a good thing that her parent trusted her with a larger allowance than they did Yang. Yang found this was a bit unfair, but some events had led to her losing their trust and them having to drop the hammer on her harder than Magnhilde (again, a story for another time).

With with sun starting to get low, the sky turning an amber-orange color, and her arms starting to get full, Ruby decided to head back to the dorm. Arriving just before dark, Ruby stood before her door, anxious. She was a little worried about facing Jaune. Yang might have told him something, and she wasn't sure how she'd be able to face him. Steeling herself and heading on in, Ruby came face to face with Yang. Over her shoulder, Ruby saw Ren on the couch, watching some video on a couple of people walking into doors. I mean, they literally kept walking into More Doors. Weird. She never knew he was into that stuff.

"So Ruby, how'd it go?"

"Hmm? Well, I guess it went great?"

"Really? So you two are together now?"

"Huh? What's that about being together?"

"Wait, you never saw him?"

"Saw who? I was out all day in the town. I went to the cafe and got my usual, went shopping and bought some art supplies, strawberries, and a new apron. And speaking of my apron, how dare you ruin my old one! That was a gift fro-"

"Yeah yeah, I know!" Yang practically shouted. Turning away from Ruby, she started to mumble. "Damn coward! He stood up to me, and I gave him consent. And he still couldn't confess to her! I'm gonna rip his family jewels off and make a woman out of him!"

"Uhm, Yang? Is something wrong?"

Turning back to face her sister, Yang hurriedly denied it. "No no, Ruby. You were alone today? Never even got a message or anything on your Scroll?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot my Scroll in the dorm today. I was long into town before I even realized it."

"Oh, for the love of..." Yang was now trying to figure out how someone like Ruby could be her sister. Compared to Yang, Ruby could be a klutz. Yang usually attributed this to her sister being such a prodigy in weapons and combat that she lacks basic skills and abilities. Common sense and memory were two of the things she sometimes seemed to completely lack. But Yang loved her regardless. "Check your scroll. Now."

"Uhm... okay?" Going over to her bed and grabbing her Scroll from under her covers, Ruby booted it up and found a new message in her inbox. Opening it up, she checked and saw that it was from Jaune. The time shown below the message indicated that it was sent almost eight hours ago, just after she had left the dorm. Without further ado, she opened the message up.

Ruby,

Please meet me in the courtyard. I'll be waiting.

-Jaune

"Uhm, Yang? Has Jaune come back at all today?"

"No, why?"

"Uhm, nothing. I'm going to be going out for a bit. Put my strawberries away, please?" About to leave, Ruby had a thought and turned around. "Oh, and Yang? If I find any of my strawberries are missing, there will be no place on this planet safe enough for you to hide." And with a sweet smile, she turned around and left.

"Uhh, Yang?" Ren began. It seemed he was paying attention to the sister's conversation. "Are you okay? You seem a bit pale."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just praying that none of these strawberries go missing."

"Why?"

"When it comes to her strawberries, Ruby doesn't make death threats lightly. And did you see her petting Crescent Rose? She was serious..."

Leaving behind Yang and her partner, Ruby went to the courtyard. When she got there, she found Jaune sleeping on the bench. Well, he was complaining earlier about not getting much sleep. Looking over the sleeping Huntsman, she saw a notebook with a lot of crossed out sentences and stuff. Picking up the book, Ruby decided to look through some of what was written.

Ruby, I love you.

Hey Ruby? How are-

Ruby, do you want to-

Wanna go on a date? With me? Maybe?

Ruby, I know this is kind of sudden-

Reading through these, Ruby found that they were all confessions! Jaune wanted to confess to her?! What?! Wait, Jaune liked her too? The more Ruby read what was on the page, the more red she began to grow. Half of these seemed normal, but the rest were just plain embarrassing. She was so engrossed that she failed to notice Jaune waking up.

"Uhhhh, wha-? Ruby?"

"Jaune!"

Looking up from the page, Ruby found herself facing a somewhat drowsy Jaune. Jaune's eyes began to to adjust, and he began to wake up. The moons faint light allowed Jaune to see Ruby. Holding the notebook. His notebook. The one he was planning his confession in...

"Waaah!" Lurching forward and grabbing the book from Ruby, he attempted to hide it behind his back. Face turning a deep crimson, he quietly asked Ruby, "Did you see them?"

"Yes."

The two teens stared at each other in awkward silence. They both knew how they felt. They both knew how the other felt. But neither of them knew how to say it. They just stared at each other, under the moonlight. Finally mustering some courage, Jaune finally spoke.

"Ruby, you read them, right? You read them all?"

"Yes Jaune, I did."

"Then you already know. So I might as well do this right." Bracing himself, Jaune got up off of the bench, and stared straight down at Ruby. Jaune fumbled, trying to grab Ruby's hands in her own. He finally succeeded after a few seconds of trying.

"Ruby!" her practically shouted at her. Well, nobody said he was good at this sort of thing. "Oh uh... Will you- err. Do you want go out with- no. Uh, well... Uhm..."

"Jaune, are you asking me out on a date?"

"...yes. So uhh... what do you say? Will you got out with me?"

"Jaune."

"Yes Ruby?"

Hopping onto her tip-toes, Ruby gave Jaune a quick peck on the cheek. Caught by surprise, he recoiled slightly. Then he just stared at Ruby, having trouble processing what had just happened.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Y-yeah. S-so, does this make us a couple now?"

"Uh, I guess? Maybe? Sorry, I'm not so sure how this works."

"Yeah, same. So uhh, what now?"

She honestly had no idea. She was completely ignorant of how love and stuff worked. Well, she could maybe talk to Yang about this. She's rather experienced with this kind of stuff. But for now, Ruby just stared at her partner. She just stood there, under the broken moon with her new boyfriend. Her first boyfriend. And she felt that everything was alright.

*Afterword**Well, as promised, they got together! The next chapter will begin Ruby and Jaune's little love comedy, complete with Yang's teasing and horrible puns, Weiss ripping on the happy couple, Nora being... Nora, and the rest of the two teams just heckling the two goofy hunters. As my idea pool is getting a little shallow, any suggestions or such are appreciated. Anyhow, to those of you who have read this far, I'm glad you're enjoying the series. Also, I haven't had a chance to say this, but thanks for enjoying this. It was my first try at writing romance, and to be honest I wasn't sure it would be received well. This pairing isn't exactly smiled upon, what with people preferring to throw Ruby to Weiss and Jaune to Pyrrha. But most of you seem to actually like this, so thank you for sticking around. I'll continue to write, and I hope you all continue to enjoy. See you next chapter.*