Blake's morning started the same way it had for the last week. A pair of arms wrapped around her waist as her bare back rested against Jaune's chest, her bow having been discarded in some odd corner of the room. She'd have to look for it later, but for now, she was more than content to wait.

Blake pulled the covers closer to her chest, being further enveloped by the warmth around her. Something about being wrapped in a thick blanket while being held close made her feel so safe. Like everything in the world was okay.

She felt the blond boy's hand drift up to her midriff, pulling her closer to him. She rolled her tired eyes as she placed her pale hand against his. The Faunus girl couldn't help but run a thumb along the back of his hand as she felt his warm breath against her nape.

If Blake had it her way, she would've stayed like this forever.

The blond boy behind her let out a quiet groan as he buried his chin further into her left shoulder, prompting Blake to smile softly. How long had she been awake for now? It wasn't longer than an hour, she knew that. Oh well, it's not like it mattered. It wouldn't matter as long as she was here with him.

Though much to her disappointment, she felt a hand untangle itself from her midriff, Jaune's groggy, incoherent murmurings telling the whole story. As she flipped onto her other side, she watched as her boyfriend rubbed the morning crust from his eyes. His hair was an absolute mess, resembling a bird's nest more than it ever did the usual scraggly mop.

As Jaune's eyes slowly managed to pull blurry splotches into recognizable shapes, he blinked, staring into a pair of amber eyes. A small smile rested on her face as the ears atop her head twitched. Even after just waking up, the first thought his tired brain could conjure had been touching her bare ears. Of course, he wouldn't, it's too early for that sort of thing.

"Hey," she said, her half-lidded eyes staring into his own as he felt one of her pale hands against his chest. "Sleep well?"

Jaune quietly chuckled to himself, "Yeah." Hiding a wince as he stretched his arm around her. From his shoulder blades and up, Jaune felt anything from tiny cuts to massive scratches as he tried to make himself more comfortable.

Blake curled a brow as a smirk spread across her face, "I'd hope so." To accentuate her point, she pulled herself closer to the boy.

She watched as the blond boy's eyes drifted away as he stared at one of the beige walls. "Who would've thought running could be so exhausting, right?" It wasn't exactly what she was referring to, but it was close enough.

The raven-haired girl could only roll her eyes as she threw an arm over his shoulder, "Really, our run is what got you exhausted? Nothing else?" She had her doubts if she was being frank.

Jaune raised a brow as he pulled his girlfriend a little closer, "Well, it's not like I'll ever get tired of you." Smiling as the words came out of his mouth. It was the honest truth and nothing else. Blake had brought a level of serenity to his life in more ways than he could have possibly imagined.

Though, he found himself a little confused when Blake deadpanned, "So it is the sex that you're here for." She said, slipping back into her old monotonous voice.

"What? No!" His eyebrows shot for the stars as his mouth went slightly agape, "I'm here because I want to be. If I didn't like you, I probably wouldn't have stuck it out for as long as I have, you know?" Jaune wasn't there to get his rocks off, as nice as it was. He was here because he honestly liked Blake.

Blake's mask was washed away by a small smile. "Yeah, I know."

She watched as the blond boy's eyebrows furrowed, "Then why-"

"I just wanted to hear it from the horse's mouth." She nonchalantly replied. Okay, she wanted to tease him at first but seeing such an honest reply made her heart beat a little louder. Not by much, but enough so that she could feel it.

Though, much to her surprise, she watched as his eyebrows shot right back up, blinking as he silently back at her. "A horse, am I?"

Blake paused for a moment as she stared into the pair of blue eyes in front of her. A horse..? "Wait, no, that's not what I meant!" She screamed out, her face heating up with the force of a thousand suns. Her pale hands glued themselves to her face as she flipped over onto her other side, quietly groaning to herself.

Jaune only laughed as he took in the sight of an embarrassed Blake. Rarely ever did he get to see her like this, so he made sure to take it all in. "I mean," he started, sitting up and letting the blanket fall to his lap, "If it's any consolation, that's a pretty good compliment."

Blake only groaned louder, pulling her blanket over the top of her head. The only male Arc rolled his eyes as he patted her covered shoulder, "You can't just hide under the covers all morning."

"Watch me." Came her sharp response, to which he failed to curtail his laugh. "I want to die." Her voice cracked and waned as she slowly curled up into a ball.

Blake's ears twitched as the boy let out a sigh, the darkness that enveloped her slowly being pulled away as her blanket was pulled down to about her collar bone. As she turned her head to look over her shoulder, she saw the blond smile down at her, "Nah, you'll be fine. Besides, you're stuck with me. You're not dying before I've got my say."

"I'd like to see you try." She mumbled, giving him a less than enthusiastic glare.

"Really? Would you? Because I think of tons of things that would stop someone from dying." She watched his eyebrows shoot up, almost as though he was hoping she'd give an honest retort.

Blake snickered to herself as a rather improper thought squirmed its way to the front of her mind, "I'm sure you could, but it's a little early for it." A smirk spread across her face as she stared up at the blond, her previous embarrassment having dissipated. Neither of them had showered or brushed their teeth for something like that. They hadn't even eaten yet.

"Really now?" He asked, failing to hide the humor in his voice as he crossed his arms over his bare chest, "And do tell, what might it be too early for?" Now, Jaune was many things, but stupid wasn't one of them. Over the last week, he'd learned just how tiring a certain nighttime activity could be. He was half certain that he lost ten pounds in water weight alone. Speaking of which, he should really hydrate soon.

Instead of replying with words, he watched as Blake sat up, making sure to keep the blanket close to her chest as she leaned in and gave him a peck on the lips. He tried to lean deeper into it, but a pair of slim hands against his chest kept him from moving forward, "If this goes any further, neither of us will get the taste of morning breath out of our mouths."

Yeah, that was a pretty good point.

Blake watched as the boy leaned back, sighing as he brought a hand to the back of his head, "Guess that'll have to wait for later then." If she had to guess, he must've been a little disappointed. That was fine, it meant that he'd put more effort in later.

The Faunus girl's smirk grew wider as she inched closer to the edge of the bed, "Impatience is a bad look on you, Jaune." She hadn't exactly had much of a chance to tease the boy after, uh, the whole week. There wasn't much left to tease since both of them had seen just about everything.

Instead of getting a reply, the amber-eyed girl watched as her boyfriend rolled his eyes, getting out of bed as he looked for whatever clothes he could scrounge up to make himself decent. She followed his lead, ignoring the chilly morning air as she grabbed her baggy hoodie from off the ground. The cold soon disappeared as she dressed, the hoodie covering her from her shoulder down to her mid-thigh. It may not have been a lot, but it was enough.

Meanwhile, Jaune only put on a pair of wrinkled jeans and little else. After all, it wasn't like he needed anything more than that. Though, as he stared at the rest of the room, he'd only then realized just how much of a mess they'd made. Crumpled clothes littered the floor haphazardly as Blake's bedsheets barely clung to her bed. And that wasn't even mentioning the fact that Weiss' bed was still lacking sheets of its own.

"Hey, uh, you think we should try and find some bedsheets for Weiss' bed soon?" He asked, turning to face the raven-haired girl, trying his best not to notice how her hoodie ran a little high.

He heard the girl let out a hum as she placed a pale hand on her chin, "I mean, there's a closet just down the hall. I'm sure it's got some spares in there." Came her response, shrugging her shoulders as she walked over to her dresser.

Jaune only shook his head at the lax response, shoving his hands into his pockets. God, what time was it? As he turned back to face the bed, he saw his scroll sitting on top of Blake's nightstand. As he casually waltzed over to the nightstand, he plucked his scroll from atop the stand before flicking it open. Well, it was half-past eight, so they had some time. Not a lot, but still.

"Right, well, I'm gonna go get a fresh change of clothes. Do you mind if I use your shower?" It wouldn't have been the first time he had to use it, but he felt like he should at least ask. After all, Mama Arc didn't raise a mannerless son.

Blake quirked a brow as she rummaged through her drawers, trying to find a pair of clothes for the day. Sure, she could wear what she always did, but she wanted to try something different. She could only wear the same vest and shirt for so long before she got a little tired of wearing them. "Sure, feel free."

As she dug through her admittedly lackluster assortment of apparel, Blake's eye was caught by a shirt she hadn't worn for quite some time. It was the shortly-cut zip-up that she wore when she and Jaune went to the Nathaniel King hotel. With the sound of her door creaking open and clicking shut, Blake pulled the shirt out from her dresser.

As she held it out in front of her, she curled her lip to the side. Well, it was the middle of spring, and she was feeling pretty great as of late. Why shouldn't she wear her zip-up shirt? Plus, Jaune would appreciate it too. After all, she knows so.

"Well, that settles that." She muttered, folding the shirt neatly before setting it on her bed. Soon enough, she walked back over to her dresser before pulling out a pair of form-fitting black pants and tossing it on top of her shirt. Though just as she was about to get ready to take her things and shower, a breeze carefully brushing her bare legs reminded her of one particularly important article of clothing.

She tried her best to suppress her laugh as she dug through her drawers for underwear, but a giggle slipped out nonetheless. It was too early to be awake, especially after how comfortable she'd gotten sleeping in all week. Grabbing a pair of underwear from her drawer, Blake put it together with the rest of the outfit she had in mind.

Hopefully, today would be as easy as the rest of the week was, she thought.


Jaune's morning started about as well as he thought it could. He had a pretty girl in his arms, he took part in a bit of pillow talk, and kissed his girlfriend, what else was there to say? Life was great! He brushed his teeth in his room, may or may not have joined Blake for a quick shower, and now he was just lounging around as Blake finished doing whatever it was she was doing in the bathroom.

So there he sat, relaxing on Blake's made bed as he flicked through bad memes on his scroll, waiting for his girlfriend to step out of the bathroom so that they might do something. Now, as for what that something would be, he had no clue. They could go out for breakfast? Yeah, that didn't sound too bad. Maybe he could text Ren and Nora about that Mom and Pop diner that they kept going to.

"That doesn't sound like that bad of an idea, actually." He muttered, flicking closed his scroll as he leaned backward on the bed, using his arm to support him. Maybe he could take her out for some pancakes or something?

Within the span of that thought, Jaune snickered to himself, "Okay, now I know Nora's breakfasts are getting to me." Not that it was a bad thing. Sure, eating pancakes could get a little tiresome. But he had to admit, when they were good, they were good.

A little repetitive, but he'd never say it out loud.

As he continued to ponder quietly in his seat, he heard the sound of the bathroom door creak open, raising his head to see. His eyes soon caught sight of Blake wearing her short cut zip-up, the fabric clinging to her shoulders along with accentuating her bare midriff. Ah, there they went again. The chimpanzees in his brain demanded a release from their cages.

But even though he tried to ignore the neurons firing in his head, he couldn't help but notice how the odd water droplet would drip off a strand of her hair. It never ceased to amaze him just how great Blake was in every single way. Did that make sense? Like, she was pretty, smart, patient in his case, and most baffling of all was that she was his girlfriend.

Okay, so he still wasn't over it.

He heard her let out a sigh as she walked towards him, her shoulders slouched as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. "God, who would've thought that a good shower could be so heavenly?" She asked, to which Jaune only rolled his eyes.

"Maybe you'll start using warm water now." Sarcasm oozed from his voice as he quirked a brow. It was the only complaint he had to make about his morning. When he went to go and join Blake, he was more than a little surprised at the sudden chill from the running water.

Blake rolled her eyes in response, sitting down next to the boy before flopping back, throwing her hands above her head as she melted into her mattress. She'd forgotten how nice warm showers were. Come to think of it, why hadn't she been taking warm showers? Maybe there was some point to be made about old habits. Frankly, Blake didn't care for it.

"Well, I'll have you know that it's more healthy to take cold showers. It's better for your skin, and it helps you wake up in the morning." Her wet hair splayed out behind her, and she could already tell that she was going to have to dry her sheets off later, but whatever.

She heard the boy snort as he tumbled backward, "Yeah, well as it turns out, a specific part of my body needs warmth to work. So, as lovely as those benefits sound, I think I'm gonna stick to warm showers." The raven-haired girl giggled as she tossed an arm over the boy's chest.

"I guess I'll have to get used to it then." Instead of getting any kind of response, she felt an arm slink around her waist. She'd gotten used to the feeling of being held close, a feeling that she would have otherwise never guessed she could feel had she not experienced it. But if she was going to be honest, life hadn't felt so great in a very long time.

For years, Blake had to deal with a horrendous lack of amenities, fragile relationships that relied on a chain of command, having to bottle everything up in silence, and waking up to the same cycle over and over again. After she deserted the White Fang, she didn't think much would come from her life. Even doing the Beacon initiation was done on little more than a whim. Granted, she later justified her joining Beacon with the idea that she was fighting for equality. Again.

She was more than capable of making impulsive decisions, that much she knew. But plenty of good came from those decisions. She forged friendships that she was confident would last, was getting an education, wasn't living on the streets, and most of all, she was happy.

Happier than she ever thought possible.

"Hey," she muttered, turning onto her side to lean her head on the blond's chest.

"Yeah?" The hand that rested on her waist pulled her closer, much to her delight.

The auburn-eyed young lady paused for a moment as she thought about how best to approach the subject. Her eyes gazed up at the ceiling, glassing over as she pondered deeply. She'd never told Jaune much about what her life was like before Beacon. It shouldn't have been something that should have worried her, but she couldn't help but feel anxious at the thought of bringing up the subject.

She felt a lump forming in her throat, but found the force to swallow it, "Do you remember how about a week ago, we went and burned Weiss' dress in the forest?" She started.

Jaune snickered as a smile spread across his face, "How could I not? I think that's simultaneously the funniest and grossest thing we've ever done." Never in a million years did he think he'd ever have to burn Weiss' dress after Blake put it on. Sure, they might have only burned it after they'd done some less than socially appropriate things, but that didn't matter. At least he got to see Blake in Weiss' dress, and that alone was a victory.

In response, he felt one of Blake's hands slap against his chest, "It wasn't funny when we did it." Came her retort, and she was right, it wasn't. It was, however, a lot of other things, stimulating being most of them.

"Hey, it was fun, right?" He quirked a brow as he looked down at his girlfriend, her bow-less ears twitching freely.

As much as she wanted to disagree, that would make her a liar. Not that she wasn't capable of being one, but she preferred not to be. Especially now. "A little," she mumbled, her voice slightly muffled by his gray hoodie. "Remember when you said if I ever wanted to talk about it..?"

Jaune let out a hum, tilting his head as he stared at the Faunus girl? What was she- oh! That's right. The blond boy hummed again as he quietly nodded.

"Do you mind if I..?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, her hand slowly grabbing at his hoodie. He didn't mind it. Everyone had their ways of self-comfort. He supposed this was just one of the many ways Blake helped herself.

"Go ahead."

Blake murmured to herself as she laid against his chest, and for a moment, things were quiet. A heavy silence spread across the room, but it was hardly oppressive. At least, not for Jaune. All he did was hold her close until she felt comfortable.

He felt her arm around him squeeze him tightly, as though he would disappear if she didn't. The blond boy didn't even bother to hide his smile. Instead, he opted for a simple response. He dipped his head down and kissed the top of her head.

"I… I haven't felt safe in a long time. Until recently, I mean." She croaked out as she snuggled closer to the boy, "I spent a lot of time living in the wilds. In camps with barely enough food to survive on." The images flashed through her mind. Armed guards patrolled the perimeter of campgrounds as sentries maintained a vigil in makeshift towers. There was a night in particular that she remembered vividly.

The sound of heavy rain pouring down, lightning cracking in the sky before a harsh thunder rattled her skull. The tent that she stayed in was hardly big enough for her, but she put up with it as best as she could. What she couldn't stand, however, was the rain seeping through her tent and still managing to drench her. She was cold, hungry, and young.

"It was awful." She mumbled, an uncomfortable irritation forming behind her eyes.

Jaune remained silent. There wasn't much for him to say. It wasn't like he hadn't heard of stories like that before. As unfortunate as it was, some people didn't have the money, resources, or even working potential to stay in Frontier Towns. If they could not supply for the town, they found themselves exiled. It was cruel, but some towns found it a necessity.

The blond boy let out a quiet sigh, turning onto his side and wrapping both of his arms around the raven-haired girl. He quietly hushed her as he held her closer, rubbing a circle into her back. "I'm sorry."

It took her no longer than a second to return the embrace, "You shouldn't be," She started, her voice cracking as her hands dug into the back of his hoodie, "I chose to live like that, and it was a mistake. I spent years of my life living like some kind of vagabond for a cause I didn't fully understand. And knowing all of that really, really sucks."

Jaune found himself suddenly feeling parched, what with the fact that his throat was as dry as a desert, "Exile camp?" He asked. God, he hoped not. If the stories he heard were anything close to the truth, then Blake had to deal with quite the experience.

He heard her let out a hollow chuckle, a husk of a smile on her face, "I wish. At least it wouldn't have been my fault."

The blond boy's brows furrowed as he stared at the girl in his arms. If not an exile camp, then what? There were few other camps for people to live in on the Frontier. Unless… "You weren't a bandit, were you?"

In response, he felt a closed fist thump against his chest, a pair of auburn eyes glaring at him. "No, I wasn't a bandit. I… Promise not to be mad, okay?" Her voice shook as she stared up at him, her once angry eyes flicking away to stare at the wall.

Blue eyes blinked in confusion, but the team leader shrugged his shoulders, "I, Jaune Arc, do solemnly swear to not be mad at you, Blake Belladonna, and should I find myself breaking this oath, may my family condemn me and may my soul rot in the eternal pits of damnation, for my name is Arc." Reciting his familial oath as was drilled into him from a young age.

Despite how much she didn't want to, Blake rolled her eyes at the Arc promise. "Do you always have to do that when you promise something?" She asked, letting her hand rest on the boy's chest.

"Only when it matters."

The Faunus girl couldn't help but let out a breath as a small smile broke through her otherwise sour mood. The fact that Jaune could remain serious after reciting such an oath never failed to make her smile. "Well, you promised," she started, swallowing back the knot that so desperately wanted to form. "So, I used to be a part of the White Fang."

A sudden surprised cough from Jaune was enough for her to stare at the side of his head, her eyebrows shooting up towards the sky. "Anyone catch the license plate on the car that gave me whiplash?" Sarcasm pooled in his voice as he brought one of his hands to his mouth.

"Hey, I said 'was,' okay?" She retorted defensively, her heart beating loudly against her chest. He wasn't mad, right? She really hoped that he wasn't.

"No, no, I get that, I do! It's just, you couldn't have shared that tidbit a little differently? I mean, come on, you can't just drop that on a guy." His heart wasn't ready for that information in the least! He figured she would've been bunking with refugees, not terrorists! Wait, was Blake a terrorist?

"Let me explain first before you ask any questions, please." Her voice trembled in a way that Jaune had never heard before. It was enough to make him feel like he was guilty of a crime. All he did was throw his other arm back over her. He'd save his judgment for now. "I joined when I was a kid. More like I was born into it, really. My parents helped run the White Fang back when it was for peaceful protests."

She heard the boy let out a hum as his arms squeezed around her, not harshly but gently. Well, it was nice to know that he was paying attention. "After a while, my parents stopped associating with the organization. They said things were getting too radical, too violent. So they up and left. I should have followed them out."

The Faunus girl felt the blond next to her let out a breath against the top of her head, with what emotion he had in mind, she didn't know. That scared her more than she wanted to admit. "I kept fighting because I thought that it was for a good reason. I called my parents cowards, how they didn't have the will to see the cause through. Years later, I learned that it takes more strength to not turn to violence."

"I mean, you're not into the whole 'killing humans because of equality' thing anymore, right?" The blond next to her asked.

"I'll let you take a wild guess." She mechanically droned out, deadpanning as she stared at the boy that was her boyfriend. She really did like Jaune, but sometimes he could ask questions that hurt her brain. Granted, she put up with it because she lov- liked him.

Jaune let out an honest chuckle as he leaned his head on top of Blake's, "Then it's in the past." He spoke lowly, barely above a whisper, "I may not know what it was like to be in that kind of situation, and I don't think I ever will. But I know you, and I know what kind of person you are. So, if you say that you're not down with that, then I believe it."

All the tension that built up in Blake's body disappeared at his words, her frame loosening as she leaned against him. She didn't expect any different answer, if she was being honest. But the fact that he wasn't upset put her mind at ease. There it was, no more secrets. No more anything, really.

"Thanks," she mumbled, her hands digging into his gray hoodie.

Jaune laughed again, this time a little louder than before, "I mean, I wasn't expecting it, but hey, everyone's got something. Pyrrha's the Mistral Champion, Ruby's a prodigy, Weiss is rich, Yang's a party girl, and I guess you're an ex-White Fang member. Meanwhile, here I am, being a farmer." Seriously, among all of his friends, he was the most normal. Or rather, the most average. It wasn't something he disliked though, he'd come to terms with his relative normalcy, and he was doing just fine with it, so why bother being upset about it?

The blue-eyed boy heard his girlfriend snicker to herself, but he only basked in the warmth that she provided, "And yet Ruby's the one that uses the farming tool." She quipped. Jaune didn't bother biting back his laugh, clenching his eyes shut as his voice bounced off the walls.

This time it was Jaune's turn to snicker, "You know, I was meaning to ask her about that when we first met, but I got a little distracted by the massive gun attached to it." Thinking back on it, Jaune remembered being a little impressed at the idea that his fellow team leader could even lug her weapon around. But now that he had a bit more experience under his belt and the bruises to prove it, he couldn't help but feel that it was bordering on the impractical.

It was still cool though.

Blake let out a hum as she clung to the boy's side. On the topic of firearms, a question lingered in Blake's mind. "Have you ever fired a handgun before?" Tilting her head as she stared up at him. She watched his eyebrows shoot up as he stared back at her, "You know, something like my Gambol Shroud."

"Honestly, not really. But that's got more to do with the fact that your weapon's one of a kind." Came his sarcastic reply, a playful grin on his face as he lightly shook her. Right, she forgot that Jaune was still a massive dork.

She quickly patted his chest as she stared at him through slightly furrowed brows, "You know what I meant."

To her further annoyance, Jaune only laughed, "Guilty as charged," Holding his left hand up as his smile grew wider. "But if I've gotta be honest, handguns never really piqued my interest. I'm not sure if you can tell, but I sorta grew up thinking swords and shields were the coolest things in the world." Blake's brows rose only for a second before quickly falling again.

"I'd have never guessed." She monotonously quipped, her stoic mask barely maintaining itself as she listened to her boyfriend laugh. The idea of a young Jaune running around with dreams of grandeur as he waved around a wooden sword and shield snapped into Blake's mind a little too easily. It was a funny thought.

"You say that as if it's a bad thing." At least, Jaune hoped it wasn't. After all, he'd gotten far enough with just his Granddad's old sword. What else did he need? He paused for a moment, staring up at the roof for a moment. Huh, that was a good question. What else did he need?

The blond boy heard the girl next to him let out an 'uh' as she stared at the side of his head, "Well, it's not really a bad thing. Considering how you got into Beacon, focusing on your sword and shield works fine. It lets you prioritize the fundamentals of your weapon and develop your style, leaving you a more stable fighter." See, that sounded like a logical reply, and it probably was, considering it was Blake talking. But Jaune couldn't help that there was a 'but' coming up.

He felt his smile falter for a moment as he continued to stare up at the roof, "Maybe so, but I can't help but feel like you aren't telling me something." He replied, flicking his eyes towards Blake, staring at her from the corner of his eyes. What was the point in lying about it?

Blake refrained from clicking her teeth as Jaune saw through her, "It's useful to have one thing to focus on at a time, but if there was one technique that could do it all, don't you think everyone would have learned it by now?" The best way she could think of approaching the situation was through a rhetorical question. It was the only way she could approach the situation without coming off as rude.

Much to her annoyance, she watched the boy shrug his shoulders, "I mean, I probably wouldn't be able to use that technique if it existed, so it doesn't matter." He idly waved his left hand as he brushed off her comment.

"That's not the point. The point is that despite how good your grasp of the fundamentals is, there are still things that you can't compete with." What could he possibly hope to do against a purely ranged combatant without the means to at least contest them? Say, for example, that she and Jaune were to have a spar, she wouldn't dream of closing the gap and fighting him in melee. She may have had years more of experience, but Jaune was built for frontline combat.

She heard him let out a hum as his eyes glued themselves to the ceiling, curling his lip to the side in contemplation. "No one can account for everything, so why bother trying? What good is being a jack of all trades if you're not the best you can be at all your skills? Plus, we've got teams for a reason, you know?" It was a reasonable counter-point, but Blake failed to see it as anything more than an excuse.

"A Jack of all trades and a master of none is still better than a master of one." The amber-eyed girl recited the idiom as she pulled the boy closer. Not that her pulling changed the distance between them, what with them being glued to each other.

The blond snickered to himself as his eyes drifted away from the ceiling before settling on Blake. The way that her head rested against his chest gave him a feeling of comfort that he wouldn't dare describe. "Hey, that's a cool spin on the quote. Where'd you hear that?"

Jaune's smile grew wider as he heard Blake snicker to herself, a small smile on her face as she stared at him through half-lidded eyes. "That's the actual quote, Jaune." A giggle slipped from her mouth as she finished speaking.

"Wait, it is?" He muttered, tilting his head to the side as he stared at his girlfriend. He felt an eyebrow unwillingly climb as his eyes flicked about the room. Since when had that been the quote? He'd grown up listening to people around him just say the first half, so he figured that that was all there was to it. Come to find out that he was wrong, and now the whole world was upside down.

"Uh, yeah." Her voice was chock-full of amusement as she rocked him back and forth, "Don't tell me you didn't know that?"

Much to Blake's amusement, she heard the blond boy next to her quietly huff as he turned his head away, "I don't know a lot of things, okay? Much less about quotes and stuff. There wasn't exactly a whole lot of learning to be done on the frontier aside from what you need to know."

A smirk spread across her face as her brows rose slightly, a quiet hum slipping out, "Oh really? What other kinds of things were you taught on the frontier?"

To her surprise, she heard Jaune laugh as he further sunk into her mattress, "Oh, all sorts of stuff. Hunting, bartering, skinning, camping, and time management." Blake felt her eyebrows furrow at the last one, which stuck out to her like a sore thumb.

"Time management?" She asked aloud.

"Oh certainly. After all, how else is a guy supposed to know when he's supposed to be doing something important? Like, I don't know, getting some bedsheets before your team gets back." He elaborated, not bothering to mask his concern as he went to sit up.

Despite the excellent point that he was making, Jaune found himself being pulled back down to the mattress, his body jostling as the sound of creaking bedsprings filled his ears. Before he could even manage to get a word out, a familiar weight settled on his body. The feeling of Blake's body pressing against his was more than enough to silence whatever words he wanted to get out.

"I mean, we still have time." Her voice carefully drifted into his ear, like a siren song that lulled away whatever common sense he had. Now that just wasn't fair. That wasn't fair in the least. Here he was making a good point about how they had things to do, and she pulled the rug out from under him. And worst of all, he melted right into it.

His hands found themselves resting on her bare waist as she leaned down. A soft, gentle feeling brushed against his lips as her hair carefully tickled his forehead. There was little else for him to do but reciprocate. After all, it wasn't like he disliked the feeling. On the contrary, he was quite the fan.

Blake felt the pair of hands slowly climb up her sides as the light pecks grew more vigorous, her hands grasping at blond hair as her breathing became slightly more ragged. The feeling of warmth slowly trailing up her sides gave her goosebumps as she instinctively sucked her abdomen inward. She wasn't sure what it was, but the feeling of being so close to Jaune, the feeling of being able to be so affectionate with him, it was a dopamine rush that nothing else could ever hope to match.

Gentle pecks turned to playful bites and deeper kisses as calloused hands dug at the skin beneath the hem of her shirt. A raspy breath escaped her as she broke away from the liplock, her hips bucking against his as she panted against his shoulder. Though she was hardly given any reprieve as she felt a suction against her neck, a breathy gasp forcing its way out.

Jaune didn't know why, but whenever he heard Blake make noises as she did just then, he always felt a little more invigorated. Like he was just doing something right. He kept repeating the process, running his hands across her pale skin as he freely nibbled at her neck, sharp breaths and quiet groans were more than a reward.

He wasn't sure how long he'd done so for, but it got to the point where a whine slipped from Blake's mouth, "Jaune," her sweet voice trailed on, shaking and breathless, "do more." A singular, near-silent demand drifted into his ears.

It flipped a switch in his head.

In one fluid motion, Blake found herself on her back, her legs lifted above her, and her pants thrown against the wall. With a loud thud, her discarded pants crumpled to the floor as she laid against her mattress, failing to hide her smile as she watched a pair of blue eyes trail up her legs. Much to her amusement, his eyes stopped to ogle a certain article of clothing, one that she'd spent a fair bit of time picking out.

Blue eyes slowly blinked before flicking up to catch her own, "You planned this, didn't you?" Despite being phrased as a question, the way he said it only made her smile widen.

"No idea what you mean." She replied with ragged breaths, her chest rhythmically rising and falling as he kneeled on the mattress.

You know, despite having been played, Jaune couldn't help but feel like he was a winner. That bothered him, if he was being honest. On one hand, Blake had expected him to respond the way that he did and played off of him. On the other hand, he got to watch Blake squirm under his touch. He didn't know who was winning more.

But you know what? That's okay.

If Blake was going to play it coy, then he might as well take it all nice and slow. He leaned down and kissed the lower part of her inner thigh, nothing serious, just a light peck. Then he did it again, but a little higher. And again, and once more, carefully and excruciatingly slowly trailing closer and closer to the source of heat that drew his attention. His favorite part of this whole process? Oh, it had to be how she panted and squirmed.

You know, he was pretty glad that no one else could hear his thoughts. Because if not, that would be very embarrassing.

Oh well, it's not like that mattered, because the only person that mattered right now was right in front of him, and that was enough for him. And right now, he wanted nothing more than to indulge in a bit of fun. As he carefully pecked closer to the source of heat, he heard Blake take in a sharp gasp, letting it go with a shuddery breath. He smiled to himself, alright, enough teasing.

Or so he thought until he heard the sound of knuckles rapping against the door.

In less than a second, whatever atmosphere that was built up between them shattered as both blond and amber eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Blake was quick to throw the covers over herself as she watched Jaune leap out of bed, rushing towards the pair of crumpled pants in the corner of the room. The blond boy tossed the crumpled black pants at her, and she did the only thing she could think to do, and that was rush to try and put them on beneath her covers.

While Blake was busy trying to put her pants back on, Jaune was dealing with his own predicament. See, as it turns out, the male body had quite a fascinating reaction when it came to pretty women. Now, hypothetically, if Jaune had to describe his situation, he'd say that he was just about ready to go camping because he was pitching a mean tent.

As the doorknob jiggled again, and with his favorite junior not catching the hint, he did the only thing he could think of. "Get down, Mr. President!" He yelled, diving face down to the floor with a heavy thud as the door behind him swung open. It wasn't exactly a painful landing, but it was hardly comfortable.

Blake blinked as she stared at her boyfriend, who was sprawled out against the carpeted floor, before turning to look to the source of their interruption. She suppressed a gulp as the team heiress stood in the doorway, her brows resting neutrally as she pointed at the sprawled-out blond.

"What's it doing here?" Her voice came out cold and distant. Well, more so than usual. Wait, did she just refer to Jaune as an 'it'?

Blake felt her right eye twitch as her ears flattened against her head, "He's keeping me company. Also, you're back early. I thought you were going to be back by noon?" She snapped back, venom subtly lining her voice. Weiss barged in while they were in the middle of a moment, called her boyfriend and largest source of joy in a very long time an 'it,' like he wasn't a human being, and then had the gall to act like had the right to bring back a bad attitude.

To say it made her mad was an understatement.

The Faunus girl watched as her previously uncaring demeanor was replaced by one of shallow smugness, if her smile was anything to go off, "I thought you might have appreciated the company." Pressing a dainty hand against her chest, "Though it seems I'm late."

From her peripheral vision, she watched as Jaune's mouth contorted to the side, his eyebrows furrowing as he rested his head against the back of his hand, "Hey, I'm great company, alright?" He snipped, his voice oozing with the annoyance that he felt. "Not that you'd know, but whatever."

Much to Blake's surprise, Weiss playfully rolled her eyes, "How could I? You two spend so much time with each other that it's a miracle anyone sees you two at all." Weiss' right hand found itself on her hip as she stared down at Jaune's back. "Though I do have to ask, why are you on my floor?"

Jaune awkwardly laughed for a moment as a hand moved to the back of his head, his cheek resting against the harsh carpet. "Oh, you know, working out." Wincing to himself as he realized just how bad an excuse that was.

"In our room?" A singular white eyebrow shot up as her other hand found itself on her hip.

"Blake's quite the motivator." It wasn't untrue, per se, though he was omitting just how she was 'motivational.' "No one knows how to make me crack a sweat quite like she does."

The amber-eyed girl quietly snickered to herself as Weiss turned to give her a questioning look, "We were playing a punishment game, and Jaune just so happened to be on the losing side today." A bit of elaboration never hurt, even if she was lying.

"Uh huh," She muttered, ice blue eyes drifting away from the couple, settling on her naked bed. "Where'd my bedsheets go?"

"Oh… Shit." Blake's ears twitched as she heard the blond boy mutter. Yeah, uh, that was her bad. She figured they might have had more time and- fuck.

The Faunus girl found her hands glued to the sides of her head as she quietly groaned to herself, "Okay, promise not to be mad?" Her voice was laced with a layer of guilt as she failed to find the courage to look the white-haired girl in the eye.

"What did you do?" Came the snappy response of the heiress. Blake felt like it was less of a question and more like an interrogation. But to be fair, even if Weiss didn't know it, it was justified. Oh gosh, how was she going to break this down?

The raven-haired girl quietly blew raspberries to herself as her eyes darted about the room. There weren't any pretty or flowery words or explanations for her to use so that she could justify the act that she'd committed with Jaune around a week ago. Now that she was thinking about it, they should've just gotten the new sheets earlier in the week.

"So," Blake slowly drew out, her right hand slowly being drawn to her left forearm, "About a week ago, we were relaxing in the dorm, watching movies, playing a game, and we found a bottle of alcohol under my bed." Wow, did the room just get warmer, or did that have to do with the fact that Blake's face resembled a tomato?

"Wait, you found a bottle of alcohol? You didn't put it there? Wait, better question, why was there alcohol under your bed?" Weiss, to her credit, was asking some very good questions. She was taking the news rather well. Granted, that might have to do with the fact that she hadn't gotten to the best- er, worst part, but still!

"I don't know! I know that I didn't put it there!"

Weiss soon turned to face the blond boy, who slowly found the courage to peel himself from the carpet and sit cross-legged. Jaune found himself pointing at himself as a deadpan was tossed in his direction. What did he do?

"Hey, I didn't have my first drink until a week ago, so don't go trying to pin this on me." He wouldn't take the fall for something he didn't do. He may have been a lot of things, but an alcohol smuggler wasn't one of them.

Jaune watched as snow-white eyebrows shot up, pale blue eyes widening as they stared back at him, "I didn't say anything about you hiding- wait, first drink?" Oh, he should not have said that. From the corner of his eye, he could see Blake's ears flatten against her head, the heat from her glare warming the side of his head.

"I mean, we didn't drink too much- we didn't drink enough to make ourselves sick- no, that's not right either. We didn't make any mistakes is what I'm trying to say." Listen, he was trying to salvage the situation as best as he could, and considering that he was so good at salvaging things, there wasn't a whole lot to work with.

The sound of Blake slapping a hand against her forehead reverberated off of the walls as her hand slowly slid down her face, a look of deep annoyance on her already upset face. Just as Weiss moved to open her mouth, the Faunus girl cut her off, "Before you get started, just know that you've got no right telling me how we spend our weekends together." Interrupting her with her typical monotonous tone.

"Oh my goodness, I hate it when you do that so much," Weiss muttered as she rubbed her temples, taking a deep breath as her eyes closed shut. "Okay, just please tell me that you puked on my bedsheets so that I can get over this."

Blake sucked in air between her teeth as she turned to stare at the blond boy, who only shrugged as she flicked her eyes back towards the heiress in the room. Okay, it seemed like Blake had to make a choice. She could either lie to Weiss and say that she puked on her bedsheets, or she could tell the truth and never hear the end of it. Now, when phrased in such a simple way, it felt obvious. But if she ever found out what happened to her bedsheets, there would be to pay.

"Um," she started, a hand slowly raising before finding its place on the back of her head, "I don't think I can do that." She mumbled, failing to mask the shame in her voice. Why was it that she had to be a decent person?

Weiss let out a sigh as she shook her head, her hands still firmly placed on her hips, "I promise I won't be upset, so long as you washed my bedsheets. Just make sure you don't ever drink that much while you still-"

"I didn't puke on your sheets." Came the Faunus girl's shaky reply, her ears folding against the top of her head as she stared at the wall behind Weiss. She tried to ignore the tumbling in her stomach, but that nauseating feeling kept punching upwards. As if a creature had found itself trapped in her stomach and wanted to crawl out.

"What?" The very confused heiress replied, her head tilted to the side as her hands fell from her hips.

"Don't get mad-"

"What did you do to my bedsheets?" Weiss' voice came out strained through clenched teeth, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her skirt.

Blake felt a bead of sweat drip down the back of her neck, the feeling of her dry lips making itself all the more apparent to her. "So, we did a little bit of drinking a week ago, and… we got a little handsy."

Weiss blinked once, then twice, then finally thrice before it finally clicked in her mind. "You did that on my bed?!" Her shrill voice caused the ears atop her head to twitch violently. "That's absolutely disgusting! I sleep there!"

"In our defense," Jaune started, raising his hand as an awkward smile took to his face, "we were drunk. Like, really drunk."

"And that makes this better how, exactly?" Came Weiss' snappy response, and if looks could kill, Blake was pretty sure that Jaune would have turned to ash by now.

The Faunus girl had to admit, it really didn't. "It doesn't. But at least you know now."

"I'd have rather you just lied to me and told me that you puked on my bed. But I suppose we don't live in the ideal timeline." The venom that once took to the Heiress' voice slowly trickled away, replaced by withering apathy.

Jaune had to admit, this whole situation felt terrible. While he didn't have much in the way of feelings for Weiss, or at the very least, positive feelings for her, he could empathize with her situation. Her teammate and her stupid boyfriend did some less than morally upstanding deeds on her bed. And while he may have felt a fair bit of pride at doing that, if only slightly out of spite, he couldn't help but feel ashamed.

However, there was a thought nagging at the back of his mind.

"Wait, what would be the ideal timeline?" He thought out loud, bringing a hand to his chin as his eyes narrowed. He could only imagine. World peace, no Grimm, no potential energy crisis, maybe space travel, you know, cool stuff. But he could imagine living in a relative Utopia to get rather boring after a few weeks. Plus, his future career would be obsolete, so.

Much to his surprise, he heard Weiss scoff from where she stood, "Hopefully one where I never have to see your face again." You know what, that's fair.

Jaune couldn't help but feel like he had overstayed his welcome, if only slightly. Plus, there was also the fact that if Weiss was already back, his team would soon be back too- Oh no. Did he forget to clean his room? "Right, well, uh, as nice as this has all been-"

"Hardly." Weiss cut him off, deadpanning as she crossed her arms.

"I've really got to be going." He said as he pushed himself to his feet, grabbing his shoes and stuffing his loose socks inside of them. "You know, gotta get ready for my team and all that." Failing to hide just how weird he felt about the whole ordeal.

"I'll walk you out," Blake mumbled, stealthily putting on her pants under her covers before tossing her blanket off.

She followed behind Jaune as he shuffled to the door, pulling it open before stepping out. As she followed him out of her room, she closed the door behind her, not missing the huff that escaped Weiss' mouth. With the click of the door, Blake let out a deep sigh, letting her shoulders slump forward.

"That could've gone better." Her left hand glued itself to her forearm as she tried to shake off the awkwardness of the last ten minutes. Gosh, what she would have done to have her memory of the last ten minutes disappear.

Jaune quietly laughed to himself as he leaned against the door to his room, "Yeah, no kidding." He muttered as the back of his head thudded against his door.

For a moment, the two of them shamefully stood in front of one another, staring, but not actually looking. If nothing else, the two of them were both terribly lost in thought. There they both were, in the middle of the hall, in between both of their dorms, maintaining eye contact as their brains collectively held one thought and one thought alone.

"You wanna..?" Jaune started, thumbing behind his shoulder with raised brows.

"Yeah." Came Blake's hastily formulated answer.

After all, the two of them were interrupted, it was only right that they finished.


Okay, I think that's about that. As I'm writing this, I'd like to let you all know that I've finished this document on Christmas. Truly a miracle, I know. I'd like to apologize for my uncharacteristic slothfulness when it came to developing this chapter, but if I'm being honest, I'm getting real tired of writing Street Lights.

Quite frankly, there's not much more to touch on. Nothing new or anything that I find of import or excitement. Sure, one could argue that I could go further down the line and introduce more members of the cast, but there wouldn't be a point in doing that. I'd argue that it would only serve to inflate an already massive word count.

Plus, I'd be lying if I didn't say I wanted to work on some other projects, considering that I've been working on just the one since February of 2021, which has been really awesome, by the way. Seriously, how many folks can say that they've written a massive story in little more than, what, ten months' time? So yeah, this has been a major success for me as a person, getting a chance to prove to myself that I can do something like this.

It's pretty cool.

I've got to say, this story's been tons of fun, even with the last month of slogging through it. I've met tons of cool people, got a chance to hear other people's stories, met folks from all over, it's certainly an experience. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't going to end soon. I think I've got maybe one more good chapter in me before I start turning to more anthology-style chapters for side stories if any interesting ideas pop up. You know, simple stuff. Meeting family, getting a house, finding work, the small stuff. Stuff that matters, I suppose.

But I doubt anyone's willing to read through this massive Author Note as it is. Thank you all so very much for getting this story to not only 1,085 follows, but also getting it to 100,000 views. It's honestly a little jarring looking at the numbers and thinking that behind every number is a pair of eyes, but it's pretty fucking sick.

So yeah, I guess all I gotta say is Thanks.

This would normally be the part where I ask you all to follow and favorite and all that, but there ain't much point in that anymore. After the next chapter, that's it for the main story. Do keep in mind that I'll be uploading side-story chapters on here for the sake of not making folks follow another story and just inflating numbers because that's dumb. But still, I'd love to hear the thoughts of all you wonderful people in the reviews, and if you'd like, come and join the discord server that's being run by a good friend of mine. Relax, I promise that we don't bite.

So yeah, that's about it. Ciao, y buenas noches. Oh, and I hope you had a Merry Christmas.

Discord: /7ksPCNs3ZM