And back to Weiss' P.O.V.!

I sat there, shocked. Suddenly I felt very angry. Not just at Blake, but at Summer, too. If she hadn't thrown herself in front of that bullet, she wouldn't have died, it wouldn't have been Blake's fault, Ruby wouldn't have run away, everyone would be okay. But... Blake said all of the hostages were killed, so she would still be dead. Even if she had escaped, she wouldn't have been able to live with herself for not saving the man. She always was so selfless. I supposed that was where Ruby got it. Ruby. The suspense of waiting for her to wake up was tearing me apart, and I could tell it was hurting Blake too. Also, I realized, someone was going to have to explain this whole thing to Yang...

When Ruby woke up, the first thing she said was

"Weiss?" I had been spacing out, so she startled me.

"Augh! Ruby, you're awake! How are you feeling?" She coughed weakly and smiled a little.

"My throat hurts a bit, but otherwise I'm great. Except... What happened? I remember the fire, and then Blake came in, and I yelled at her." She frowned. "And these two guys came running, and the roof collapsed on me, and then Blake pushed me out of the way, and I passed out cause everything was on fire and I couldn't breathe. Is everyone okay?" I nodded.

"Yeah, they're all fine, thanks to Blake. She pushed you out of the way and got trapped herself, and she made Sun and Neptune take you to safety. You know Neptune, and Sun's that Faunus thief, the one on the news all the time. I'll explain later. Anyways Yang, Blake's new guard showed up just before I set off to look for you. She's the one who rescued Blake." Ruby sat up and buried her head in her hands.

"This is all my fault. If I hadn't ran off, none of this would have happened. I feel so bad for yelling at Blake, then nearly getting her killed." I looked at her angrily.
"You shouldn't have run off, Ruby. But you had every right to yell at Blake. Even she admits it. But," my eyes softened. "She's worried you're still angry, and I am too. You have every right to be angry, but you should talk to Blake. Please." She looked conflicted, but as always, the kind, forgiving part of my sister won out. She sighed.

"Alright. How long has she been awake?" I kissed her forehead, something I didn't to often. I couldn't help it, she was just so cute sometimes. "A couple hours now. She's been talking with Yang. You want me to ask her to come in?" She nodded.

"If you could. I just woke up, and I'm fighting back a bit of a headache. I'll be fine, I just don't want to move." She coughed again. I stood up and walked over to Blake's room. Yang wasn't there, and Blake was reading a book.

"Hey Blake. Ruby's awake, and she'd like to speak with you, but she can't really move. Would you mind coming to talk with her?" She looked up, surprised. "Oh, hey Weiss. I... Alright. Let me get dressed, I'll be right there." I nodded, and left the room. I checked in on Ruby, and let her know that Blake was on her way, then decided to find Neptune. We had met a couple of years ago at one of my father's many parties. My father often set up suitors for me based on political interest. At the time I had been going with a young man my age named Jaune Arc. He was sweet, but he was a bumbling idiot, and he got on my nerves. And besides, the entire court (except apparently Jaune) knew that Pyrrha Nikos had her sights on him. I hadn't seen either of them for a while, I wondered vaguely how they were. I liked Pyrrha, she was the epitome of socialite. She was nice, pretty, had perfect manners, and- oh. There's Neptune. I waved at him, and he walked over. I put my hands on my hips.

"Where were you?" He shrugged apologetically.

"You and Blake were having a moment, I didn't want to get in the middle of it. Besides, I got you some strawberries, Ruby says they're your favorite." He pulled out a box of them from behind his back. I glared at him.

"Don't think you can buy my forgiveness, you-" I was cut off when he stuffed one in my mouth. I made a muffled squeaking noise, and Neptune laughed.

"What was that, Snow Angel? I can't hear you, your mouth is full." I bit off the end of the strawberry and swallowed it, then grabbed one and stuck it in his mouth. The look on his face was priceless as his laughter was stopped so suddenly. His eyes went wide, and he made a squeaking noise that was similarly undignified to mine. He pulled it out of his mouth, minus the tip which he had evidently bitten off, then began knawing off the remaining red parts of the strawberry. Then he picked another one out of the box and ate that one too. I quickly finished mine off and grabbed another one, determined to keep pace with him. I ate it in one bite, then we each grabbed another one, and ate those too. Laughing, Neptune lured me over to a nearby bench with the perfectly ripe berries and we sat down and ate them together. Finally, there was only one strawberry left. Neptune and I looked at each other for a moment, then reached for it at the exact same time. Our faces came startlingly close as we reached for it, but Neptune's hand got there first. I watched in horror as he popped it into his mouth. Our faces were so close I could smell the strawberry on his breath.

Then suddenly, I could taste it.

It was over before I knew he had kissed me. He drew away quickly, blushing.

"I-I'm sorry, Weiss, I don't know what came over me. I just... I'll go now. I'm sorry." He stood up hastily and speed walked a few feet.

"Neptune- wait!" I called after him. But he was already gone, having teleported to who knows where. I could still taste the strawberry on his breath, could still smell his cologne, could still feel his lips against mine.

Don't apologize. I want this, I want you. Please come back, Neptune. I leaned back on the bench, pressing my lips together in a failed attempt to preserve the kiss. Then it hit me, finally.

He likes me too. The man I had been crushing on for months liked me back. I smiled to myself.

Neptune's P.O.V.

I appeared in the kitchen, scaring the heck out of Sun. I fell down into one of the chairs and put my head in my hands.

I really did it. I kissed her.

"Oh, I'm an idiot, to think she'd like me back... She's so perfect, and I'm a rebel." I muttered to myself. Sun walked over to me and put his hand on my back.

"Dude. Calm down. What happened, man?" I pulled my face out of my hands and looked at him.

"I kissed her. I kissed Weiss. Oh, dusts, she must hate me now..." He looked at me, a huge smirk on his face. It turned into a smile, and he doubled over laughing. I crossed my arms.

"I thought you were my friend. Don't laugh at my predicament, this is serious!" He laughed even harder.

"You and Weiss are so oblivious! Everyone can see it but you two!"

"What? What do you mean?"

He managed to stop laughing and sat down next to me.

"Neptune," he said in a mock serious tone. "How long have you liked Weiss?" I considered this.

"A few months now, I guess." He nodded.

"What a coincidence," he replied. "That's about the same amount of time Weiss has been crushing on you." I gaped at him, openmouthed.

"You mean- she likes me back?"

"Yup. And the whole world could see it except, apparently, you two." I put my head back in my hands.

"And I left her! Gah! I kissed her and just ran away!"

Sun just smiled at me.
"Dude, go talk to her. She won't hate you, I promise." his smile turned into that smirk he got when he had an idea. "I have a plan."

Sorry this chapter is a little bit short, I've been busy. I'm taking a little break from the action for a few chapters to try my hand at some romance, so tell me how I did!