A/N: No jokes today, sorry. I hope you enjoy it!

X

-Yang-

The trip back to Jaune's house was uneventful, save for Weiss nearly squeezing the life out of her on a turn that was taken too tightly. Yang would freely admit to being impressed by Weiss standing up to her father (and, apparently, managing to blackmail him in the process), but that was irrelevant to what they were on their way to do. Weiss had a promise to keep, and she was going to make sure it was kept.

As she pulled Bumblebee next to the curb and killed the engine, she surveyed the parked cars and noted that Vermilion's car, a blue mini-cooper, was nowhere to be seen. Had the restaurant owner not shown up, or had she already departed for her job? Likely the latter, she determined. Removing her helmet, she turned to her passenger and asked, "Before we go in there, Weiss, I gotta ask: do you want me to hang close by for support, or just stay within earshot of you?"

The former heiress sighed as she extracted her own head. "Wouldn't it be more accurate to say that you're there to support Jaune, all things considered?"

"True," she admitted. "But the question still stands."

Weiss paused to think about it. "It... might be better for you to be at the scene in order to avoid giving Jaune any misconceptions about what you are or aren't aware of. You were the one to stood up for him behind the scenes, so to speak, so it would be good for him to know that."

Would it, though? She couldn't say for sure, actually; still, Weiss was correct in her belief that they should avoid any additional misunderstandings. "We'll see how it goes, then. Let's find out how Olive's job interview went, shall we?"

They approached the house without another word between them, but Yang made sure to refresh her usual grin as she knocked on the front door. When Lavender answered, it was clear that she was in a good mood. "Welcome back, you two. Get your errands done already?"

"Indeed we did," answered Weiss with a sisterly smile. Yang was hardly surprised to see that it seemed completely genuine; the Arc family had a tendency to bring that out in people, after all. Weiss continued talking as they entered the house. "Any good news for Olive?"

"Yep yep! She's got the job, not that there was much doubt, although Vermilion and Jaune did haze her a little."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"They kept bugging her about silly things, asking stupid questions like 'do you know what it means to rotate the ice in the ice machine' and looking completely serious while they're doing it." Lavender shrugged. "Apparently, Vermilion wanted to test how Olive acted when she got flustered."

Jaune's voice piped up as they entered the living room. "Olive was pretty funny about when we described the fake rotating thing, too. 'Wouldn't that take like half an hour to do!?' But my dear little sister did oka-"

Olive jabbed him just below his left shoulder. "I swear to the gods I will get you back for that. Count on it."

"You just punched me in the arm..."

"Anyways." She ignored her brother's pained grunt. "I'll probably be starting in a week or two, depending on how Sis can arrange the schedule. It was decided that Jaune and I will work the same days to avoid any transportation problems."

"Good deal. Congrats." Yang held up a hand that Olive was quick to high-five. "Kitchen or Server?"

"Kitchen to start, I'll probably move up to server when I turn sixteen." A sly grin slid onto her face. "Maybe one day I'll even take it over and rename it after myself."

"You'd bump your sister out of her own business just to see the name 'Olive Garden' on a sign? That's pretty devious of you." In the corner of her vision, Yang saw Weiss lean down to whisper something in Jaune's ear. He nodded without saying a word, pointing a finger upstairs as he stood up and made his way to the staircase, Weiss following close behind. Yang turned back to Olive and said, "I'm gonna talk to Jaune for a minute, Olive, but I'll be back down so we can lament your last week as an member of the non-workforce together."

"Hmm?" Olive glanced at the departing backs of Jaune and Weiss. If the Arc made any deductions about the scenario, she kept them to herself. "Sure, see you when you come back down. Maybe we can plan a 'working woman' party or something silly like that. Have fun."

"Copy that." She departed with a friendly wave and quickly caught up to the retreating pair. When she fell into step behind Weiss, causing Jaune to send her a questioning glance, she explained, "I know what's on the ice queen's mind."

"Ah." He nodded and opened the door to his bedroom. Taking a seat on his own bed, he asked, "So, out of curiosity, what errand did you have to run this morning, Weiss?"

"I had to speak to my father about what happened on Wednesday. We came to an... agreement, of sorts." Weiss shuffled her feet, making her nervousness readily apparent. Jaune, no doubt sensing the atmosphere, remained silent so that she could continue at her leisure. "I have to find a new permanent residence, as I am moving out of the Schnee estate."

He was more than a little surprised, but he quickly recovered and softly said, "Wow, that's... I'm sorry to hear that. Don't worry, though; you can stay here as long as you need while you get your life sorted out."

Weiss shook her head. "Don't be sorry; it was for the best and I managed to make the most of the situation. And... thank you; however, that isn't what I needed to talk to you about."

"Oh. Well, what's up?"

"It's... I..." She let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Yang. Maybe I do need to tell him by myself."

'Nerves, huh? Guess I would have 'em, too.' "No problem. I'll be outside the door to make sure nobody listens in." She left without waiting for a response, gently closing the door behind her and leaning her back against it. Yang wasn't ungrateful for the sudden guard duty, as it gave her time to process some thoughts of her own.

Just a few nights prior, she had chosen the "Summer" route for herself and allowed Pyrrha a clear shot at Jaune's heart. However, thanks to some asshat with a liquor bottle, the redhead wound up missing that shot completely- well, it likely wasn't all the alcohols fault. In his own words, Jaune had admitted to not having any romantic feelings towards the redhead whatsoever. Even had Pyrrha not gotten unfortunately drunk, it was entirely possible that the end result would've been the same anyways.

"Well, you do look pretty amazing tonight."

Yang felt her face flush at the memory of it. Sure, the atmosphere had been awkward after he said it, but at that time she'd been trying to hide her affection for him for Pyrrha's sake. His words, though... did he look at her not just as a friend, but as a woman as well?

Wasn't this her chance, then?

Her eyes roamed to the door as she moved away from it, a dozen questions running through her mind. Weiss said she wanted to be there for him if he allowed, but how would Jaune treat Weiss after today? Were the former heiress's intentions platonic or romantic?

And were they just not talking, or were the walls thick enough to block out sounds below shouting level? Yang placed her ear to the door and listened attentively. She could hear Jaune's voice, but it was muffled and quiet, giving credence to the thought of the walls being well-insulated.

Weiss responded, even quieter than Jaune.

Silence for a moment, then what sounded like a drawer opening and closing.

Jaune's voice, muffled but growing clearer this time. Was he closer to the door? "-just... not right now. I'll see you when I get back from work."

Alarmed, Yang quickly shifted to the left of the door and placed her back against the wall, doing her best to look as if she'd been that way the whole time. It wasn't a moment too soon, as Jaune walked out of his bedroom and shut the door behind him. He was carrying his work clothes in one arm while his empty hand was closed into a fist, and his upset eyes-

No, that was putting it mildly.

Jaune was angry.

-Jaune-

When Weiss had approached him and asked if they could talk privately, Jaune felt it natural to assume that she wanted to talk about her staying at the Arc home. Obviously he was fine with it, and his sisters got along with her pretty well.

Once Weiss was found with her words failing her and Yang was sent away, however, it dawned on him that something was very wrong. Weiss didn't say a word for a solid minute after Yang left the room, and he found himself standing to approach her. "Weiss, what's wrong? You can talk to me."

Weiss was practically boring holes into her own feet with her gaze. After some more silence from her he was about to speak again, but before he could Weiss suddenly gave him a full bow. "I'm so sorry!"

Needless to say he was baffled. "What in the world do you have to be sorry for?"

"I... Last Saturday, you were supposed to meet with the person you've been talking to on Beaconbook. But that person never showed up."

"Right, you heard me arguing about it with my sisters that first night. What about it?"

She looked up for the first time since Yang walked out, her crystalline eyes positively swimming with emotion as she was quite clearly holding back tears. "Crescent... It's me, Crystal."

Jaune could almost hear the gears in his mind freeze in place. Weiss was Crystal? Crystal was here? Thoughts of their many, many conversations began playing in his mind all at once. He remembered times where he confided in his dear friend just how rough it was being the male parent figure for his family. Times where he thought that he had somebody who really connected with him, despite their anonymity.

Weiss's visage began to superimpose itself as the face on the other side of the message boards. Crystal was bound by a legacy that was being corrupted right in front of her eyes... The SEC! Of course, what else could it be? She'd complained of feeling trapped, and they'd bonded over it.

A grin of sheer happiness began to spread, and had his brain and body not metaphorically been stopped in time Jaune would've ran up to her for an embrace. Weiss was Crystal! Crystal was here! His Crystal was-

Wait.

His arms, almost raised for a hug, began to drop to his sides. "...Weiss, how long have you known about this? That I was Crescent, I mean."

"I found out..." She looked back down, unable to meet his gaze any longer. "...when I saw you sitting outside of the restaurant."

A spark was lit in the back of his mind as the gears began to turn. What was that spark? "You saw me?"

A drop fell from her face, and it hit him that Weiss was crying. "Yes..."

The spark began to smoke a little, for it had turned into embers. Jaune asked the only question he could think of. "Why?"

He knew that Weiss heard the true question. Why was he left alone, if she had actually been there? Her tears were falling a little harder, but not so hard that she was sobbing. "I was dropped off by Klein that day, but when I saw you there I hid myself. I was so... so convinced that you had only expressed interest for me last year because of my family name; so when I realized you were Crescent, I..."

She steeled herself by taking a deep breath. "I called Neptune and had him pick me up."

The embers became a visible flame; but, bizarrely, that heat turned to ice in his voice. "Neptune? Really now. Why not just have Klein pick you up instead?"

Weiss still refused to look at him. "Because... Neptune had previously invited me to see a play. When I was panicking that day, he was the first person to cross my mind."

He started to pace back and forth on the floor. It wasn't much, but it was better to do that then what he really felt like doing. "Wow. I guess it's good to know where I stand in your life."

She flinched even as her tears continued falling, and Jaune knew his words had struck a chord. He was speaking from hurt, obviously, but what the hell else could he do? Almost every aspect of... whatever relationship he had with Weiss had just been unceremoniously flipped on its head. Some foreign part of him wanted to yell, to flip out and tear her apart.

Another mental cog fell into place, and he looked at his bedroom door as if he could see through it. "Yang knew about all of this."

lt was a statement, not a question. "Yes, but she's been looking out for you from the beginning. From easing my mind at the thought of meeting Crescent, to accosting me when I acted so horrendously out of line... She's been fighting for your sake this entire time."

Had she, now? He felt a swell of affection for his fellow blonde, but had to shove the feeling aside to deal with the here and now. He turned back to Weiss, whose tears had stopped falling but was still bowing her head, and gave an aggravated sigh.

He wouldn't act on his anger. Couldn't, really; because as much as he wanted to hate her right at that moment, the fact was that she was still Weiss, the person that he'd picked up cold and broken on the streets less then a week prior. She was still Crystal, who until now had practically been his best friend. If he threw her out, he'd been abandoning every effort he had ever made for improving her life.

However, there were still things that needed to be spoken aloud.

Jaune walked over to the open closet and extracted his work clothes from their hangers, then he fished inside of his dresser for a small envelope. Finding what he was looking for, he shut it and stood just in front of Weiss. "Weiss, look at me."

She complied, flinching again as she saw his clenched jaw and the hurt in his eyes. Slowly, Jaune raised the hand that contained the envelope and held it between them. "Arc rule number one: an Arc always keeps their word. This is a spare house key for you to use, so don't lose it."

Almost timidly, Weiss accepted the envelope and opened the loose end of it; sure enough, a small key slid out and landed on her open palm. Eyes wide with surprise, she looked back into his eyes. "Jaune..."

"Weiss, this... this whole thing hurts, you know? Maybe some day I'll forgive you and we'll be able to put all of it behind us." Grabbing his work shoes and sliding them under his arm with the rest of the work clothes, he started walking to the door. "Just... not right now. I'll see you when I get back from work."

If she responded he didn't hear her, and as he closed the door behind himself his hand closed into a fist. What he wouldn't give to have a home-installed punching bag right now...

"Jaune."

Yang's voice broke him out of his stupor, and, with a start, he realized that he'd been glaring right into Yang's face. He unclenched his fist immediately and sighed. "Sorry, Yang. I'm a little- well, you know why I'm sure."

"Yeah." Yang placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, which gave him just the faintest amount of comfort. "Your sisters are all still downstairs, but if you go down looking like this they'll know something's wrong. Breathe for a second."

"Right..." He took a few deep breathes, focusing hard on curbing his anger and relaxing his facial features. It was an effort, but after a couple moments he could feel his jaw finally slacken and his pulse slow down. "Alright. Am I passable now?"

"Hmmmm." She brought her hands up to his cheeks and moved his head back and forth, as if she were examining some precious relic. "Better. Less rage, more 'kicked puppy'. You can pass it off as Weiss sharing some unfortunate news."

"Like she's being forced to moved out of her multi-million Lien estate?"

"Exactly!" She gave an audacious grin as she released his face, and he felt the warmth of her attempt to lighten his mood. "Seriously, though, are you gonna be okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll be okay. I'm gonna drive around a little before work, try to blow off some steam before I even attempt to serve Vermilion's customers."

He wasn't sure what spurred it, but he spontaneously decided to grab her left hand with his free right hand. The movement surprised her only briefly before she shifted her hand above his so that they could hold each other's hands properly. "Yang, thank you for... anything and everything you've done. I don't know exactly what you did since I didn't ask Weiss, but she made it clear that you were looking out for me."

"Don't worry about it." She brought him into a hug that he could only return with the one arm. Once again, he was met with the smell of lavender coming from her hair. Shouldn't that have blown away from her motorcycle ride? "I'm here for you, and I know you'll be there for me if and when I need you."

"Of course I will." She stepped back and gave him enough space to comfortably walk past her. "See you at school tomorrow?"

"You know it."

Managing to sneak past his sisters without arousing suspicion was something of an achievement, but he pulled it off and hit the road in his truck. He skipped between songs until he found some pop singles that had little to relate with his current mood, all in order to calm down some more before work.

The last thing related at all to Weiss he allowed himself to think was to wonder how he was supposed to treat her around his sisters. After all, if they found out she was Crystal, the former heiress could very easily be subject to hostile actions from the lot of them.

No; it was best for everyone if he kept that secret between them. Maybe forever.

-Weiss-

It was done. She'd hated every single moment of it, but Jaune finally knew the whole truth.

Strangely, what hurt the most was the fact that he hadn't yelled at her. She would've welcomed it as what she deserved, but he instead chose to bury his anger, say his piece, and simply leave. Now here she was, collapsed on his desk chair with a house key to this very home.

'An Arc always keeps their word' indeed.

Some indeterminate time after Jaune left, Yang opened the door just enough to put her head through. "Hey. Need me to distract any Arc girls from talking to you."

"...Just for a little bit, if you don't mind."

"Can do." With that the door closed, leaving Weiss alone to wipe away any evidence of tears. She took solace in the fact that Jaune said he might forgive her some day. Some day was better than never, in her opinion.

The past had finally been dealt with. Now it was time for the present.

Once she considered herself decent enough to be seen, she made her way downstairs to join the rest of the Arc family. Everybody was situated around the living room with the t.v. on, although only Juniper and Jade were paying it any mind.

Weiss sat on the sofa next to the Arc matriarch, who gave a gentle smile at her arrival. "I was wondering when you would join us. Is everything okay?"

"Things could certainly be worse, I suppose." It was a diplomatic answer, designed to answer the question while leaving it open to interpretation. Schnee habits die hard. She hadn't chosen her seat by chance, however, as she needed to talk to Juniper specifically. "I heard from Jaune that you're part of a law firm. Are you by any chance still practicing?"

"I'm more of a consultant nowadays; why, do you need legal advice?" The wiry woman gave her a mischievous grin. Was she where the Arc children got their silly side from? "If you're going to be arrested soon, I'm sorry to say that I only deal with civil court cases."

"Goodness, I hope that I never need that type of assistance. What I need is a legal aid to help me go over a contract once it's e-mailed to me. While I like to consider myself business savvy, my father's legal team is nothing to sneeze at; so, if you would be willing to help me dissect the terms and lawyer-speak, I would gladly pay for your expertise."

"I see." Juniper was thoughtful for a moment, briefly turning her attention to the show on the screen before dismissing it. "You're entering into a contract with your father, which leads me to believe that you're either signing your life away for a job, or you won't be returning to live with him."

"The latter. Jaune has already given me a house key-" She produced it from her pocket as evidence. "-so that I might live here a while longer. If that's okay with you, of course."

"Of course it is, dear. However, as I told you before, you will be expected to pull your weight around the house."

Weiss recalled their initial conversation on Wednesday night. "Did you have something particular in mind?"

Juniper's grin returning did not set her mind at ease.

X

Not gonna lie, the initial storyboard had Weiss holding onto the Crescent/Crystal secret for much longer; however, if I did that, I felt that the story would be in danger of stagnating. With all of that said, how do you all think I handled it?

Please consider leaving a review, and have a nice day/night!