Breaking Through the Bottom of the Bottle

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Five years after Beacon, Jaune's still going home alone as often as not. An unlikely encounter with Yang may have just the solution- drinks, company, and a hell of a lot of pickup lines.

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Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. Duh.

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She stilled when she found him. He wasn't too far away- hadn't truly left yet- but he was still further than she wanted. Off to the side, leaning over a metal fence with both arms, looking up at the night sky where what few stars there were struggled to be seen against the street lights. Jaune was looking off, at the semi-shattered moon rising over the horizon.

Yang took a breath and approached, sliding in beside him and leaning onto the same metal fence with her left arm and looking at the same moon with him, rather than at him. He had to know of her presence, but made no move to recognize it as a tension settled between them.

"Hey," she managed first.

"Hey," he returned. Strangely, he was the one who didn't let the silence return. "Sorry for snapping at you," he added, beating her to the punch.

"Sorry for scoffing at you," Yang returned. "I didn't mean to, it's just…"

"I don't hate her," Jaune interrupted, maybe wanting to speak more than her. "Or you," he added, shooting her a brief glance before looking back at the moon. "It's just… I've always been this way, don't you think? Had this flaw of caring too much."

"How so?" Yang asked, though she might as well have asked 'how is that a flaw?'

Jaune sighed. "I always get carried away when it comes to things like this. Knowing what to feel. Fall harder than I should, even when I shouldn't. Don't know when I should, or shouldn't. Weiss gives one fake flirt, and once I realize she's not just a jerk to Ruby I think she's serious and convince myself I have to love her. Pyrrha kisses me right before she dies, and I spend the rest of the year and then some wondering what could have been. Everything in the middle happened, and then Ruby at the end, and I just…"

He shook his head. "Why can't life lessons be obvious? Weiss taught me I shouldn't assume someone was interested just because of a simple flirt. Pyrrha taught me not to dismiss the possibility out of hand. Ruby taught me…" he sighed, but finished. "I still don't know what Ruby taught me. Not to believe someone's serious unless they come out and say it first?"

Yang frowned.

Jaune sighed. "I don't know, Yang. What do you think?"

"I don't think it's a flaw," Yang said, not looking at him. "Not really."

"Hurts enough to be one," Jaune muttered.

"You're just unlucky," Yang said. "If Weiss had given you a chance, you'd have probably surprised her, in a good way. That sort of single-mindedness never would have let you flirt with other girls, or get scared off by her family, or put off by her being… well, Weiss. And if Pyrrha hadn't died, you'd have made her so happy that you'd be drowning in babies by now. So many babies," she said with an only half-forced laugh. "You're the sort of guy who'd be happy spending the rest of his life making someone else happy. That is not a bad thing, if it's for the right person ready to accept it," she opined. "Ruby just… Ruby wasn't ready for anything after the first night."

And probably still wasn't, considering how her first time had turned out.

Jaune might have caught that as well. "You saying it was my fault?" he asked, surprisingly neutral in tone.

"I'm saying you wanted different things," Yang clarified, not judging. "You were expecting things to change. She didn't want them to. It…" Yang shook her head again. "It was a mistake. I should have stopped her. Or at least made her be clear about what she wanted."

"You knew?" Jaune asked.

"I'm her big sister and we were her team. What did you expect?" Yang asked. "It was senior year. She was the last virgin on RWBY. She was nervous of when, if, how she might lose hers. Then Blake and Weiss…" she shook her head. "They thought it'd be a good idea. Someone safe. Of course they didn't mean their own boyfriends. They didn't know, and I-"

"You?" Jaune prompted.

"She's my sister and I love her very much, Jaune, even when she screws up," Yang said as a matter of fact. "If I hadn't thought it'd mean more to her than it did - if I hadn't believed she was worried- If I hadn't known you'd try and treat her right…" she frowned. "I thought it was my job, as a friend and a sister, to stay quiet and support her."

"You? Quiet? About what?"

Yang looked at him with a well-worn smile, like someone in on an exclusive joke.

"There was someone interested in you back then," she admitted.

Jaune looked back in surprise, locking eyes for the first time since they'd stepped out.

"I never knew," he admitted.

Yang snorted. "Tell me about it," she said with a wry grin. "No one else did either. It was hardly obvious. Even I was surprised when I realized, but…" another wry grin, a bit thinner came up. "When Ruby started showing interest, I made sure she wouldn't get in the way."

Jaune was quiet for a bit, thinking back. "I remember us hanging out a lot more back then," he recalled, "but I can't think of anyone else who tried to confess." Had she been sticking close as a deterrence?

"She never did," Yang said, turning away and looking at the broken moon again rather than him. "She wasn't the sort to say that sort of thing straight out either. Still, after Ruby, I tried to hook you up with her. Hoped it might help with… everything."

"Was that… the night you took me drinking?" Jaune broached.

The one and only night, right at the end, the night before an almost-miserable graduation. Where despite the accomplishments and the presence of family, a bunch of barely bound friends had walked across the stage, given their sincere congratulations around awkward well-wishes, and then he'd made an excuse about family and left early and hadn't seen some of them since.

He remembered Yang looking miserable as she'd nursed a hangover that day. They'd barely spoken. She'd been nothing like the girl who dragged him from bar to bar the night before. Trying to encourage him not to give up, sure that he might find happiness at the next bar, or the next, or the next, increasingly anxious each time as the hours ticked away. They'd barely spoken since… since…

"She chickened out to the end," Yang explained, not looking at him as she said it. "Sorry," she added, looking at him briefly with additional sincerity.

"Don't apologize," Jaune said, looking at the moon with her. "It was… things were difficult back then. I was a mess. But bad as I was, I wasn't looking for, well…"

"A rebound," Yang said without emotion.

"Yang, that's ancient history. I've forgotten that conversation," he claimed with a deliberate smile.

She didn't say anything at first. Maybe that said something louder than words ever could.

"She wasn't supposed to be a rebound," Yang said eventually, looking at the broken moon. "She was supposed to stay. Follow you, even. I thought… I thought it could've turned things around. Made you both happy. Instead she missed her chance."

"Missed a lot of moping, more like," Jaune laughed self-depreciatingly.

Yang shook her head. "I know moping, Jaune. What I did after losing my arm? That was moping. You? You were trying to move forward after having your heart ripped out and broken. You might not have been graceful… but you were trying."

"You make it sound like I was something other than a mess," Jaune said.

"Some girls like dirty boys," Yang weakly joked. "Makes cleaning up that much more fun."

"Yeah, right," Jaune said, smiling a little bit none the less. "Or maybe they just have pity."

"That's not me." Yang denied it with exceptional finality, before sighing and getting back on topic. "You were down, but trying to move on. If anyone sulked, it was her."

"The girl you tried hooking me up with?" Jaune clarified.

"She got cold feet and just watched you walk away. Coward," Yang reflected with disdain.

"Sounds like she could have taken a page out of your book," Jaune said idly while looking at the moon.

Yang stilled. She didn't say anything at first, just shot him a questioning glance from the side of her eye.

Jaune shrugged, still looking at the moon. "If she was afraid to talk to me, she should have just taken a page out of your book," he repeated. "You're many things, Yang, but being afraid of social awkwardness isn't one of them. You're, like, one of the bravest people I know."

Yang chuckled. "Am I?" she asked.

Jaune glanced at her from the side as well. "Aren't you?" he asked sincerely.

"Give me a Grimm or a gang or a whole bunch of punks and sure, bring it on. But something that really hits close to home?" she shook her head. "When was the last time you saw me really invested in someone, Jaune? Openly. And no, Ruby doesn't count."

Jaune considered. "Blake," he answered. "There was a time when there were rumors about you two, but-"

"Strange how you don't need to be in love with someone to like and worry about them. Crazy, right?" Yang chuckled. "And yeah, that's about it- but that's my point. My friends. My team. My family. How often did you ever hear me actually say I was really into someone else?" she asked.

"Never," Jaune realized. "In fact, I don't even remembering you going after anyone freshmen year at all."

"Right," Yang agreed. "It's not like I'm never into someone. I'm just… I'm great as a friend. I'll be your confidant all day, keep your secrets and give you the honest feedback you need whether you want it or not. But the moment it's the other way around?" She shook her head. "I've been keeping my own secrets and faking that everything's fine since Ruby was five. Sometimes I get called out on it. But when I'm not it's just… easier to play things close to the chest, rather than just say it. Friendship is one thing, but when comes to anything closer…"

"You're just protecting yourself."

"Am I? Or am I just lying to everyone?"

"You don't think you're being honest?" Jaune realized.

"With myself? Totally honest. Everyone else?" she laughed. "You didn't even know I was interested in someone until I told you. Just coming out and saying it? That's just so lame," she complained like a teenager, before looking off more morosely. "If he said it first, it'd be another thing. I could say it then. But if I have to say it first, and he doesn't believe me… that's a recipe for heart break."

"Whereas Ruby didn't tell me, and broke my heart instead," Jaune contrasted. Yang's already wane smile thinned, and Jaune sighed. "Never mind," he tried moving on. "That, uh, a regular problem? Not being believed?"

"Flirting's easy, for the guys who can take a hint and don't need things spelled out," Yang said. "The ones who do, though…" it was her turn to sigh. "When you have the reputation of being a flirt, they tend not to believe you're sincere."

"I've never thought you lied about who or what you liked," Jaune vouched loyally.

She gave him a torn smile. "Lie? No. But I'm not entirely honest either. Not when I keep ducking the point I know I have to make directly," she said with another sigh, staring at the cracked and crumbling moon. She gave a bitter laugh. "I really don't like that about myself."

"I don't care," Jaune countered, and Yang's breathing stilled without meaning too. Maybe it was a bit too strong, or stronger than he meant, but Jaune rolled with it.

"You're worried that you're not as open about your feelings as everything else? So what? You're still better than most people I know. Even you're allowed to be shy about some things, Yang," he ruled, before he shot her a cheeky grin. "Besides," he added, "my mom used to say that actions speak louder than words anyway."

Yang remembered to breathe when she needed the air to laugh. And laugh she did- surprised at first, but then leaning back to laugh deeper into the night. It probably wasn't that funny- in fact, it wasn't- but somehow… somehow having anything to laugh about right now seemed like a relief.

"Wow," she said, wiping a tear with her left hand when she finally calmed down enough to breathe again. "Wow, Jaune," she repeated, chuckling again. "I almost thought you were being deep for a moment, and then you had to throw in a mention to your mom."

"What can I say?" Jaune smiled, glad the mood had lightened and not even a little put off by the 'almost.' "I had an awesome mom."

"No argument there," Yang agreed, recalling a brief meeting senior year… and the contrast with her own. "Still… isn't it a bit late in life to be citing her?"

"I'll stop repeating her advice when it stops being true," Jaune said claimed without apology.

A more comfortable silence fell as they looked back towards the moon, and maybe the night felt a bit warmer now. A warm breeze blew, not quite making Yang wish for her jacket, even as she rubbed her arm right above the prosthetic. A nervous habit she'd picked up after, when she had something on her mind but didn't want to broach it.

Jaune knew it too. He knew her too well, in some ways. "What is it?" he eventually asked.

Yang gave a smile, transparently mixed. "Just thinking," she said. "About what you said. Actions and words," she forced out.

"What is it?" Jaune repeated, not making it any easier for her.

She sighed, but not bitterly. "The elephant in the room. Been dancing around it all night," she admitted.

Jaune stilled, and a bit of the period of warmth subsided again. "This related to why you just so happened to be in my part of town tonight?" he asked.

"Partly," Yang admitted, not looking at him. "It's… something I need to get out. Been meaning to for a while."

"Not sure how to say it?" Jaune asked.

"Pretty sure I won't like the answer," Yang said.

Jaune didn't say anything at first, and she let a more uncomfortable silence fall.

"…would it help if I answered anyway, if I knew what you were trying to say?" Jaune eventually offered.

"You know what? It really would," Yang said after a moment. "You could save me years of suspense," she said, not daring to look at him.

He sighed. He stood. He gripped the rail with both hands and leaned back, as far as he could. And eventually, after much suspense, he gave his answer.

"I'm not going back to the reunion with you," Jaune said.

Yang stilled for a moment.

And then another.

Before letting loose a sigh and relaxing her shoulders.

"Can't say I didn't expect that," she admitted, neither surprised or disappointed.

He didn't say he was sorry. She wouldn't have believed it if he had.

"There's nothing I can do to change your mind, is there?" she asked.

"Not unless you know how to make a guy fall out of love," Jaune said, suggesting the impossible. "I'm not going back until I'm over it. Not even for you." He gave her a sad smile. "Sorry to waste your time, Yang, even though you came all the way out here."

"What about Ruby," Yang asked, looking at him directly. "Would you go back for Ruby?"

Jaune flinched. "Low blow," he muttered, not daring to hope. "And why would she want me to go back?" he asked instead.

"Because she's feels bad about it. Because it hurts her that it still hurts you, and you running away from her only makes it worse. Because it's been nearly five years, and she wants to apologize and see you back with everyone else and try and make things right again. Because-"

Yang softened, just a bit, as she reached down and pulled out her scroll, holding it with her thumb ready to dial. "Because she wants to make up with you. If not for us- if not for me- would you do it for her?" she asked softly. "For Ruby?"

Jaune closed his eyes and took a breath to compose himself. "No," he managed. "Not even for Ruby."

Yang's arm dropped, just like the rest of her. "Why?" Yang wanted to know.

"I promised myself I wouldn't go back until I could look Ruby in the eye, smile, and mean it."

"Stubborn dolt," Yang muttered. "You still could have called."

"Sorry," Jaune said, and he at least had the grace to sound it. "I didn't want to make things awkward or difficult."

"Did it ever occur to you we might have preferred that?" Yang asked. "Because we're you're friends? Because I-" she cut herself off a word too late.

"Sorry," Jaune said again, though this time he meant it. "I know I made things difficult for you. Getting stuck cleaning our mess- trying cheer up Ruby after-"

Yang growled, and reached up at her hair with her left hand as if to pull it. "Idiot," she snapped, a hint of real anger finally simmering. "It's not all about Ruby. I'm not all about Ruby. We do have other friends, and more people have been affected by this than just the two of you."

"I- I didn't think about that," Jaune admitted.

"I could tell," Yang snapped again.

"Sorry," Jaune apologized.

"You are," Yang continued, simmering. "Stubborn, stupid, and ignorant too," she added for good measure.

Jaune sighed, and pushed away from the railing finally. "We're fighting again. I don't want to fight with you again," he admitted. "Not tonight. Why don't we call it quits here and go our separate ways?" he suggested.

Yang's fire dimmed. "Jaune," she began, starting to reach out.

He gave Yang a smile so wide and forced he didn't have to look her in the eyes.

"It was good to see you again, Yang," he said sincerely enough. "Sorry you came all the way out here for nothing. Give everyone my regards," he said, before turning away from the railing and walking toward the exit to the street.

A few long strides and he was behind her, and past her, and onto the street.

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End Eighth Round

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Author Note:

And a swing and a miss. What's it going to be- three strikes and you're out, or third time's the charm?

So, by now, most of the dynamics are more or less laid bare. If you figured it all out before now... well, good. Intent was for gradual foreshadowing (or would it be backshadowing?) to give the rough idea before the actual conflict laid it bare. However much you gleaned, or not, was your own reward- and honestly, one of the advantages to popcorn-style posting. It's pretty hard to encourage speculation is the answer is posted along with everything else on the first day.

Chapter break for this chapter was a bit tricky, considering how this one ends and the next one picks up. There's two appropriate break points, really- where it ends here, and Jaune's answer to Yang's unspoken question. (See? He's not totally oblivious.) Ended up going with this break because, well, who would really believe Jaune was actually right at this point in the story?

More to come, obviously. Stay tuned tomorrow.