It was a few minutes before Sterling emerged from the seclusion of the gardens, looking rather happy with himself. Of course, that didn't last long, as he turned a corner in the dorms to find Mercury and Emerald standing, apparently waiting for him. His eyes immediately narrowed. "What do you two want."

"You're getting in the way of our work, Sterling." Mercury didn't seem too happy with him, eyes narrowing.

"Somehow I doubt that." Sterling shrugged, seemingly indifferent or uncaring of the taller guy. "If you were doing anything besides getting the education you desperately needed, Mercury, sis would have told me about it. Now are you just going to waste my time, or do you have something important to tell me?"

Emerald was slowly moving back, apparently not wanting to get between the two guys. Mercury sneered. "You think I have to take your shit, Sterling? I could just tell Cinder you went missing."

Sterling snorted at that. "I remember putting you on your ass the last time we sparred, Mercury. I have no problem doing it again." Emerald snickered at that, and his eyes flashed over to her, offering a smile, before the frown formed from putting his attention back to Mercury. "I don't care who you think you are, or what you think of me. But I am your superior, Mercury. And I tire of hearing your shit. Get out of here."

Mercury was fuming, but he knew better than to make a bigger scene than they already were making. He turned on his heel, heading down the hallway. Sterling gave Emerald a smile and a nod of his head, which she returned before following after Mercury. He was sure the girl would have a laugh at the hothead later. Suddenly feeling satisfied with himself, Sterling continued on his way to his own dorm room. He needed to rest after that battle; his body was still a little sore from the fight.

He slid into his dorm only to be assaulted by his team, all of them laughing and grinning. "Holy shit, Sterling, I didn't know you could fight like that!" Raz was laughing, his hand patting his back roughly, which made him groan. Sterling pushed them off of him, moving to lie on his bed, arm draping over his eyes.

"We've fought before, Raz. And at least you should have known, Amy."

"Yeah, but that was more impressive than the Death Stalker!" Even Amy was excited, a grin on her face. "Why don't you fight like that more often?"

Sterling frowned, turning his head to reveal his eyes. "Because I only ever use my full strength at challenges I believe deserve it." His head went back, covering his eyes.

"So you sandbag… why? To make the opponent feel better about themselves?" Terra chuckled at that, sitting over on her bed, legs crossing.

"I prefer to be challenged. Using everything I have on simple fights is boring."

"Aah… so that's why you let Yang win?"

Sterling jumped up at that, shooting a look of daggers at Terra. "I did not LET her win."

"You folded when you could have still finished it. That's letting someone win."

"Alright then, Terra. You go verse a team one verse four and see how you feel after five minutes."

Terra crossed her arms, although a smirk crossed her lips. "No thanks. I don't have to prove anything to anyone to have them date me."

Raz roared with laughter at that, and Sterling's nose flared at that. "Great, I needed another person on my case." He rolled over, eyes glaring daggers at Terra. "I'll have you know I asked her to the dance, and she said yes, so get off my ass about it!"

"You did, or she did?" Raz shot back, earning a glare from him.

"I don't have to take this shit." Sterling sat up, swinging his legs over the side of his bed, but Raz had already jumped the room, pinning him down by the shoulder.

"Where are you going? You look tired."

Sterling scowled; his hand grabbing the other by the back of the neck, and with a steady jerk Raz impacted the wall on the other side of the room. The rest of his team seemed frozen as he got up, leaving the room in a huff. He heard other doors open and looking in the hallway from the impact that he made, but he ignored them. He had to blow off some steam now.

He headed to the gym, throwing his hoodie in a locker before moving over to the weights. He stalled though as he saw Jaune and Ren working out, Ren spotting his team leader. Sterling smirked to himself. He hadn't stopped to talk to anyone of Team JNPR, but he had heard things, and they definitely had strong teamwork and coordination. Sterling went to the free weights, not really wanting to interrupt or talk much. It didn't seem to be possible, however.

Jaune finished his reps, turning to look at him, and Sterling saw his face light up as he curled his weight. "Hey, aren't you Sterling? You were amazing today?"

"Huh?" Sterling turned to look at Jaune, before nodding. "It was alright. Pyrrha was the amazing fighter today. She won her match."

"I don't think you understand what you did-" Jaune started, but Sterling interrupted, letting the weight fall to his side.

"I understand exactly what I did." Sterling said, his voice cold. "I lost a match I entered foolhardily. I may have impressed a few people, but it proved a point to myself: I am not strong enough, I am not fast enough, I need to become better."

"It's not about speed or strength." Ren spoke up, and Sterling turned to face the man, a look of confusion on his face. "It's about what's in your heart. You knew when you were defeated. That took more strength and knowledge than most have."

"But-" Sterling tried to think of a response, but Jaune was fast to interrupt.

"Ren's right. It was brave to say that you lost. And I think you won more than you lost in that duel."

"Eh? What are you on about?" Sterling looked at Jaune, an even more confused look on his face. But it was Ren that answered.

"Yang."

"OH NOT YOU GUYS, TOO!" Sterling didn't seem as upset about it as he was with his team, though. At least they weren't poking fun at him about it… yet.

"We saw how she was looking at you." Jaune said, with a smirk. "I'm surprised you're here without her."

Sterling blushed at that, looking away, his hand coming up to scratch the back of his head. "Yeah, well… I asked her to the dance after that, so…"

"Just don't do anything that would hurt her." Sterling turned, and he saw the look Ren was giving him. Did he know? A sudden shiver went through his spine, and with that he put the weights away. He didn't feel like working out now, too much was going on through his mind. There was hidden meaning in Ren's voice, and he would have to think on it.

It was the alarm on his scroll that woke him up. He groaned as he looked at the time. It was the weekend, why was his alarm going off? He opened his scroll to see that it wasn't an alarm, but the alert… for his birthday. He groaned again, closing the scroll before rolling over in his bed. That lasted all of two minutes before he could feel the breathing behind him. His eyes opened to see the shadows of three heads on the wall. He slowly turned his head, and his vision was quickly obscured by shredded paper.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Came he excited shouts of his team, followed up by laughter. Sterling was annoyed as he wiped the confetti from his face.

"How do you guys know my birthday?" Simultaneously the three of them pulled out their scrolls, opening them and thrusting them into his face. Right there was his picture, all dolled up with ribbons and balloons, with HAPPY BIRTHDAY below it in large letters. Sterling groaned at that, pulling out a pillow and covering his face.

"Come on, it's not going to be that bad. After all, today's the dance? That has to be a present for you!" Terra seemed overly cheerful about that, which pulled another groan from Sterling.

"Who gives a damn about my birthday."

"Come on, it'll be alright." Raz chuckled at his captain's distress. "Let's get you something to eat, and then we can do some training for the day."

Sterling sighed at that, throwing the pillow to his feet and sitting up. "I swear to god, if other people know it's my birthday, I'm going to punch you, Raspberry."

"… On second thought, I'm not feeling so hungry…" Raz chuckled unassumingly as he went towards the door.

"YOU TOLD OTHER PEOPLE!" Sterling jumped up, launching himself off the wall at the other male, but he was already through the door, and Sterling face-planted on the wood. "YOU BASTARD!" He picked himself up off the ground and ran off after him. He saw Raz turn the corner, although Sterling skidded to a stop as he turned it as well, the mass of yellow hair taking his attention and temper away. "Oh, uh… Good morning, Yang." Sterling blushed slightly, his gaze rising to see Raz mocking him from a distance. But now he had no reason to pay him any heed.

"And happy birthday to you, Sterling." Yang seemed to have a grin on her face, and Sterling looked at her in shock.

"How do you know?"

With that Yang pulled out her scroll, showing his image with ribbons and balloons with HAPPY BIRTHDAY written under. Sterling sighed. "Yeah, it's my birthday."

He was surprised at the feeling against his lips, and he let out a soft sound as he fell into that kiss. His eyes were closed as she pulled away. "Be good and you may get a present." His eyes opened, and he could see the mischievous look on her face. Before he could ask her what she meant, though, she was already heading down the hallway. She looked back at him though, and the wink that came made his spine tingle. He took a deep breath before heading off, towards the Cafeteria. He felt the day was going to be long, and that the dance couldn't start soon enough.

Night was only just setting, and Sterling was just getting out of the shower. By the time he reached his room, Terra and Raz were already leaving the dorm to head down for the Dance. "You better hurry, Sterling, or you'll upset your date!" Raz chuckled, but Sterling didn't care. There were a few other things he had to do.

Amy was still in the room, although she was putting on stockings as he entered. He didn't pay her much mind, moving to get his clothes ready. Sterling saw this as a chance, though, so after putting on boxers, he slid his shirt on, turning to Amy as he buttoned it up. "Hey, Amy, tell me, how were you before coming to Beacon?"

"Huh?" Amy lifted her head up to look at Sterling. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering. I should have gotten to know my team a long time ago."

Amy nodded a little, grabbing her heels as she started to talk. "I grew up in the feral lands, the jungles of the world, with my family. My father died when I was young. My mother… she was an amazing woman, strong enough to fend off the Grimm with my aunt. She taught me how to fight, and I helped her since I was six. But I knew I had to get stronger. Becoming a huntress was just the next step." She shrugged as she stood up, getting use to the shoes.

"And your thoughts on the White Fang?"

The look on Amy's face went sour at that. "They have no guts, attacking the innocent to prove they are equal. Waste of space."

Sterling nodded, and immediately felt scared, but he didn't let that show. "When's your date gonna be here?"

"Meeting him at the door. All is well with that, lets me get use to walking in these."

Sterling chuckled at that and nodded. "Go knock him out, Amy, he's a lucky guy."

Amy didn't seem to be as sure as he was, but she walked out of the room, leaving him alone. Immediately he went to his scroll, sending a message to Cinder.

[Will be moving in shortly, will keep recon at the dance.]

He closed his scroll, finishing getting dressed and heading out the door. Most of the area was cleared out already, the stragglers making their way towards the Ballroom. Nervous feet guided him towards the front doors, and he took a deep breath before he pushed them open.

The moment he saw her he knew that tonight would be the most amazing night of his life. Yang looked ethereal in that dress, and he found himself unable to breath for a long moment. Her hands went behind her back, and she acted shy, but he could see the excitement in her eyes. "Sterling, I was starting to think you wouldn't show."

He couldn't help but smile at that, walking forward. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." His eyes went over the beauty, something not missed on her.

"See something you like, killer?"

"Would you hold it against me if I said I did?" Yang chuckled at that, her eyes getting flirty, and immediately Sterling realized what he said, turning red. "No, I mean… that's not what I meant…"

Yang stepped around the podium, moving to Sterling, pressing up against him, eyes locking. "Really now? And here I was hoping…"

Sterling's throat went dry at that, and he bit his lip in his nervousness, which seemed to bring a smirk to her face. "Come on, Sterling, let's have some fun." She slowly stepped back, taking him by the hands and pulling him towards the dance floor. He didn't resist, a smile on his face as he let her lead. His hand went to her hip as they settled, the other lacing in hers as they started a slow step. Sterling was just proud that he didn't step on her feet, but Yang seemed to be surprised by it.

"For someone who only trains in fighting, you're a good dancer." She said, a smile on her face.

Sterling blushed slightly at that, although the proud smile held on his face. "Um… actually, I've been taking lessons for the last week or two for this…"

Yang looked surprised at that, although quickly smirked. "Trying to impress me?"

"Every minute." Sterling couldn't help but laugh softly as he shifted, bowing Yang back.

"Color me impressed, then."

Across the room, Emerald and Mercury were watching the dance from the balcony. "It seems all the dancers have partners… even your brother."

It was a moment before Cinder replied. "He should be watching the party."

"Should we interrupt?" Mercury seemed all too eager to do so.

"… No. Let him have his night. How long do I have?"

"You should probably be home by midnight, just to be sure." Mercury seemed put down that he was denied ruining Sterling's evening.

"I'll keep my eye on the clock."

It was an hour later that Sterling and Yang left the dance, moving as though secretive, small laughs, panting, the cold night air feeling good after being in a room with everyone at Beacon for so long. Sterling felt alive as they went through the gardens, stealing glances back at Yang, his heart pounding hard. They stopped a few times, pushing against each other, stealing glances, stealing kisses and running ahead of each other, but it wasn't long until they stopped at the dorms, Sterling pulling out his scroll, sending a message to Raz. [Please, take a night out in Vale, I'll pay you back, I need the dorm.] He unlocked the door, letting Yang in first, but suddenly he felt shy.

"Are you sure you want this?" He said. His face was tinged pink from the cold bite of the air, but he was sure that there were more of nerves there now.

Yang smiled, closing the door behind him as he walked in. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."

Sterling let out a sigh of relief, turning to her with a smile. He took her hand, pulling her to him, wrapping his arms around her hips and kissing her, feeling passion he never felt before in his life. He could feel her hands pushing at his coat from the shoulders, and his arms relaxed, falling back to let the coat drop.

"Yang…" His voice was soft, soulful as he looked into her eyes. "I loved you since I first saw you. I just…"

"Shh." Her hand came up, a finger on his lips to silence him. "Those three words are enough." Her hands went behind her head, undoing the clasp of her dress and letting it drop to the ground.

As Sterling let his eyes go over her, absorbing her pure beauty, he knew that he would never turn back, that she was the one that he wanted to be with for life.