You know, other people might have gotten bored of the same old routine. Wake up, get dressed, go to classes, grab some lunch, and then get beat up before the school day is done. Well, Jaune had gotten pretty used to it after a while.

Worse still, he actually kinda liked it.

Not the getting beaten up part, no, but the rest of it was pretty good. He had a great team to work alongside, amazing professors with admittedly weird eccentricities, and most of all, a wonderful girlfriend. The kind of girlfriend he…

It was gonna sound corny if he said it - shoot, if he even thought it, but - the kind of girlfriend he hoped would be his wife someday.

That was a long way away, sure, but it was a pretty thought, you know? Even just thinking about watching Blake walk down that red carpet, a veil draped over her face, walking arm-in-arm with… huh. That did kind of spoil the thought, didn't it? He didn't even know her Dad.

Come to think of it, she didn't even know his family either.

Jaune sunk deeper into his beanbag chair, crossing his arms as he looked down at his side. He got the same coffee he always did when he and Blake hit up their usual cafe, booking the same room for the same number of hours. It was kind of like reliving a little slice of heaven for him. But these days, things kept feeling a little more different as time went on.

He turned in his seat, watching as Blake's eyes trailed over the pages of her latest literary obsession. Jaune couldn't make out the title or what it was about, but given how fast her eyes flicked across the page, he knew Blake was totally lost in it. But the thing that stole his gaze every time he stared at his girlfriend was the grin on her face.

It wasn't wide by any means, but it was soft and calm. It sat on Blake's face as if it always belonged. Was that what he was doing? He wasn't sure, honestly. Would he like to take credit for it? That was a scary thought. Probably not. After all, they had so many different friends to make the days that much better, right? Might as well share the credit.

Jaune watched as her eyes flicked up from her book, if only for a second to look at him. Her smile widened, like a twitch, her eyes getting this little crinkle as she stared back at him.

"What?" Blake curled a brow, laughing to herself.

"Nothing," Jaune shrugged, smiling wider as he settled deeper into his seat. "Just… I like looking at you, I guess."

Blake laughed again, folding the pages of her book shut, but keeping her thumb between the pages so that she didn't get lost. "Okay? Would you prefer talking to just staring?"

Now it was Jaune's turn to curl a brow. "Aren't we already talking?"

"Smartass." He watched Blake's ears openly twitch as she rolled her eyes. That was another thing to get used to - her ears being out in the open for all of Remnant to see. "Well, what are we talking about?"

"Whatever we can, I guess. Doesn't really matter. I'm just happy we're talking."

"You're such a dork."

"You love it."

Blake's smile widened, watching as a slightly red hue took to her face. "I do." Great, now Jaune felt something slightly warm in his cheeks. Only Blake had that effect on him anymore. "Then again, I guess I don't have much room to talk either. Not like we're the most sociable people on the planet."

Jaune snorted, sitting up in his beanbag chair as a loud pop came from his back. "Speak for yourself. I'm great at making friends."

"No, you're great at fumbling into them."

"That's the same thing," Jaune shrugged, smiling wider as he shot her a wink. "Just with a little less grace. But hey, who needs grace when you've got the natural Arc charm."

Blake set her book aside, standing up from her beanbag chair as she rolled her eyes again. "Okay, that's it, no more of that. If you start talking about the Arc charm, I'm going to have to do something about it."

"Oh yeah? How are you gonna do that?"

He watched as Blake slowly stalked over to his seat, her hair splayed out behind her as his eyes made the subconscious - though far from bad - decision to stare at her hips. That was, until she stopped at his seat, pushing his shoulder back into its soft surface.

"I'll have to shut you up." Her grin widened, her eyes getting this little twinkle, the same way they always did. That was just as much a good sign as it was bad. But that was alright by him.

Jaune felt the corners of lips pull higher. "We almost got kicked out the last time you tried this."

Blake leaned down, her long hair tickling the bridge of his nose. Her breath felt warm against his face, a minty scent trailing into his nose. "It's not like we did anything bad. We just… got a little into it before we were going to leave, that's all."

He leaned up, feeling something soft press against his lips. Jaune felt her lips curl up higher, feeling her hands press deeper into his shoulders as she got closer. The warmth of her figure pressed against his front until she was all but sitting on top of him. A feeling he'd never forget, nor hope to lose.

A part of him felt sad when she pulled away, hoping to follow. But her hands kept him still, even as her smile shook and chest rose and fell. "Careful, Jaune. If you keep this up, they might have to kick us out for actually doing it."

Jaune paused, letting his hands rest on her hips for a moment. She was right, as much as he hated to admit it. "...This is enough for me, I think." Or at least, it would have to be. He didn't want them to get kicked out of their favorite cafe, after all. His arms slinked around her waist, pulling her closer. "Do you mind if we stay like this for a bit?"

Blake hummed, feeling her press her body against his shoulder. Her head resting on the crook of his neck, her breath like hot tingles against his skin.

"I guess I don't mind," she said, feeling her hands press against his chest.

He could feel it, a loud, rhythmic pounding. Not just one, no, but two sets of it. One in his chest, and the other on his shoulder, feeling them thump in perfect synchrony. It was… soothing. Calm. It made his shoulders relax, his legs feel limp, and made his chest feel warm. Hot, even.

Even after months and months of being with her, it still felt unreal. Like it wasn't supposed to happen, and yet it did. As if the stars themselves had realigned just for this to be real, in the moment.

And now I know I've been reading through too many of Blake's books. Jaune thought, chuckling to himself as he held his aforementioned girlfriend close. At this rate, I'm going to be writing her poetry. God, imagine that.

He heard Blake chuckle after him. "What? What are you laughing at?" She asked, turning her head to look up at him. "Don't tell me you're ticklish all of a sudden."

"You already know I'm ticklish." Jaune rolled his eyes, smirking. "Matter of fact, we both learned that here. But no, it's not because I'm ticklish."

Blake hummed, feeling the vibrations trail along his shoulder before quickly fading. "Then what is it?"

Jaune let the gears turn in his mind, if only for a second. What was the best way to describe it? "It's… I dunno, it'll just sound stupid."

"So does everything you say."

Jaune snorted. "Rude."

"I still love you though," Blake said, feeling her nuzzle deeper into the crook of his neck. "So go ahead, say all the stupid things you want. Not like it'll make me suddenly fall out of love with you or anything."

"Are you sure? I've heard some horror stories from my sisters, you know?" The kinds of stories where they'd be happily dating a guy, and then he makes mention of something stupid - a hobby, or a passing interest, a stance, whatever - and then his sisters would just say that it just kinda… fell apart.

He felt Blake's hands push against his chest, watching as she pulled away, her eyes staring down into his like little spheres of gold. "Do I strike you as the kind of girl to suddenly not want to be with you after everything we've done together?"

"Well, no-"

"Then shut up and start talking, idiot."

Jaune felt his brows knit together. "That's oxymoronic."

"You're oxymoronic," Blake shot back, her smile growing as she took her place back at the crook of his neck. "Just minus the oxy part."

He felt a laugh crawl out of his mouth, shaking his shoulders as he held Blake close. "So snippy today, geez. Just what did I do to deserve this?"

"Stalling, mostly." Ah, well, when she had him, she had him.

Jaune sighed, leaning his cheek against the top of her head. "I dunno, I just… Have you ever felt like us getting together was kind of miraculous? Like, if our lives didn't shape up this specific way, we'd have never come to care for each other like this?"

Blake hummed for a moment, feeling her shrug against him. "I don't know. I never really put much stock in thoughts about divine intervention, especially not in romance. But if it happened, then I think I owe someone a very special thank you."

"And if it wasn't..?"

Blake shrugged again. "Then it wasn't destined to be, but happened anyway. Either way, I don't really think it means anything. I'm yours, and you're mine. That's all that matters to me."

There was a moment where Jaune forgot to breathe, staring down at her with his brows high. Wow. You know, he'd never really felt secure in the thought, but- "I really do want to marry you, Blake."

Jaune paused, his brows furrowing as the gears turned in his head. He felt the weight on his shoulder slowly pull away, watching as Blake turned her head up to look at him, golden eyes slowly blinking. Had his mouth moved without him thinking? Oh God, it totally did, didn't it?

He forced out a laugh, feeling a scorching hand along the back of his neck. "I-I mean, not now, obviously, but when we're older, you know? N-not that I wouldn't want to marry you now, but-"

A finger pressed against his lips. Jaune looked down at that thin finger before following the source, staring at Blake's bright red face. I don't think I've ever seen her so… Embarrassed? Flustered? Confused? I've never seen her look so beautiful before. She was always beautiful, sure, but never like this.

He had to save that image in his mind forever.

Blake let out a breath, the color in her rosy cheeks slowly fading, but a hint still remained. "L-let's just see if we can make it to our fourth year before we start talking about any of that. You're getting ahead of yourself."

Jaune pulled Blake's finger away before taking her hand in his. "Yeah, I am. I'm definitely getting ahead of myself." He hadn't even meant to say it. But there was a time that… that a brave, if not slightly foolish man had shared a shred of wisdom with him. "But my Dad told me that if you have something you want to cherish, you hold onto it for dear life. So yeah, maybe it won't be today. Maybe it won't be in a year, or two years, or four, or however long.

"But I hope that one day, I'll see you walking down that aisle."

He watched as red flooded back into Blake's cheeks, even in spite of the frown she sported. "We haven't even done half the things that normal couples do. You don't even know if we'll stand living together."

"Then we'll move in together."

"With what money? You're not thinking this through."

Jaune shrugged, smiling brightly. "When we begin our second year, we can start going on missions, right? Real ones, I mean."

He watched Blake arch a brow. "With Professors, yes."

"And we get paid for those."

"Jaune, where is this going?" It took everything in his willpower to not laugh. Jaune was sure that she knew where he was going. She just wanted to hear him say it.

Jaune closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. And then they pulled open. "When we enter our second year, move in with me."

He heard Blake push out a breath, her frown fading away as she stared back at him. "...Where would we even go? Housing isn't easy, and even if our work makes good money, who's to say it's enough? And our teams? What about them?"

Jaune hadn't even paused to think about them, honestly. Ren and Nora had each other. They were tough, and he knew that. And Pyrrha? Well, he didn't even need to think twice about her strength. After all, she taught him almost everything he knew, and with a little under a year, he had a lot to show for.

Blake chuckled at his silence. "See? You aren't thinking this through enough."

"I just-" Jaune sighed, shaking his head. "I want to show you how I feel. That this thing between us, it's not just something I'm doing for the sake of nice memories. I want you with me for the rest of my life."

Blake rolled her eyes, snorting as she brought her hands to his face. They felt soft. Warm. "I never once thought that you would want anything less. You are traditional, after all. But you're skipping a lot of steps. I mean, you haven't even met my parents."

And she hadn't even met his. She was right. Just how much did their little relationship skip over? How much did they, in trying to comfort one another, miss out on the normal things? What even were the normal things of a relationship?

Jaune felt his smile fade away, his eyes falling to the floor. No, he thought, shaking his head. Focus. You can sit here and wonder all you want, but it's not getting you anywhere. What do you want?

He looked up at Blake, his hands resting on her hips. "Okay, then. I want to meet your parents."

"Wha-"

"And I want you to meet mine." Jaune continued, cutting her off, a strange weight coming to rest on his shoulders. But he ignored it. "There's a lot of stuff that we haven't done in the right order. A lot of things that I still don't get, you know? But I want to."

He watched as surprise took to Blake's face, her brows shooting up as her jaw came loose. "I-I, Jaune, that's sweet of you, but… when would we even find the time? We're full-time students."

"Winter break." He didn't even need to think about it. A plan was starting to form, he just had to reach for it. "We've got two weeks of break for the winter. It's in a few months anyway. We can spend a couple of days with your folks, then we can go see mine." Oh man, he'd have to buy a gift for her family too. After all, he didn't want her parents to hate him.

Blake's eyes traced his face, feeling the heat wander from his eyes to his cheeks, flicking between spaces. "...I haven't seen my family in years. Not since I ran away."

Jaune felt his smile fade drop, feeling Blake slump against him. "Well, then we're in the same boat, right?"

"We're not though. Not really, anyway." Yeah, he knew that. He just wanted to show a little support. He watched a tiny smile pull at Blake's lips. "Sweet of you to say, though."

"But you still want to see them, right? I mean, like you said, it's been years."

Blake scoffed, her eyes falling to the floor. "I doubt they'd even want to see me. I turned into everything they hated about the Whi- …about the you-know-what."

Jaune gave her a little shake. "Hey, come on, don't think like that. Wouldn't you rather show them how well you turned out in spite of it?" He felt her cheek brush against his shoulder, looking down to catch her eyes. "I mean - and this is gonna sound a little messed up, but - imagine your life if you hadn't gone off the deep end with the you-know-who. We probably wouldn't have ever met."

He'd have probably never fallen in love with her.

Blake giggled, pressing her hands deeply against his chest. Not harshly, though. It felt soft, gentle. "Really? That's what you think of? I never thought you'd be so selfish about this topic." How couldn't he be? If it weren't for Blake and her past with the White Fang, he'd have probably never gotten close to her. In a very long-winded, roundabout sort of way. "But what if they hate me?"

"What if they've missed you?" His eyebrow furrowed, as serious as a heart attack. "What if they've wondered just what happened to their wonderful daughter? Do you really want them to spend the rest of their lives wondering about just what kind of person they raised?"

"And what about you?" Blake shot back, almost pointedly so. "What about you and your parents? You ran away from them, put your life on the line, and came to Beacon with just the clothes on your back. Can you really go back and face them?"

Jaune chuckled, bringing his hands to rest on Blake's shoulders to push a hint of space between them. He watched her brows furrow as a scowl took to her face. "For you?" He leaned forward, closing his eyes as he pressed his lips to her forehead. "I'd face my Dad without any regrets. We'd just have to hope that most of my sisters are out of town." That was where his main worry lied.

Not because they'd hate Blake - far from it. No, they'd probably love her to bits. The problem stemmed from… well, all the questions they'd ask.

He heard Blake sigh, feeling her press limply against him. "Okay. I guess that's what we're doing for winter break. Just… don't get any crazy expectations, okay? I can't promise my family will be happy to see me."

"That's alright," Jaune rubbed a hand against her shoulder. "I can promise you that my folks will love you, if nothing else. It's me that I'm not so sure about." Mom would have a few choice words for him. As for Dad? Well, he probably wasn't going to use words.

Blake chuckled, slowly pulling away before standing, placing her hands on her hips as she stared down at him. "You know, I'd like it for once if you didn't say all the right things." Uh, Jaune wasn't so sure about that. He'd seen how Blake got when he said the wrong things. "Why is it that I'm the only one to be worried about this?"

Jaune curled a brow, sitting up in his seat as he stretched his arms above his head, feeling a pop between his shoulders. "Who said I wasn't worried? You think I'm not a little scared of meeting your folks?" After all, Jaune had not only seen his Dad go through the many, many guys that wanted to get with his sisters, but he'd been a part of those talks too. Well, not really, he was just there. "I mean, if they're anywhere near as tough as you are, then I might be in a little over my head."

He watched as Blake rolled her eyes. "I don't think you'll end up being the main object of their attention."

"Here's hoping."

Jaune heard her snort as he stood up from his beanbag chair, yawning as he pulled his scroll from his pocket. It was already well into the afternoon, maybe an hour before sunset. They'd been here for hours already, and yet it still felt like they'd just showed up. Funny what being around someone you liked could do to people.

"Either way," Blake started, and he felt her hand come to grab at his, her fingers sliding and locking between his own. "I… think it'll be good. For both of us, I mean."

Jaune felt a smile pull at his lips as he pocketed his scroll. "It certainly wouldn't hurt, right?"

Jaune watched a smile cross her face, her cheeks gaining a rosy hue - a look that he couldn't stop loving. If it was something that he could see every day, he would die a happy man. "Not me, that's for sure. But you? I make no guarantees that my Dad doesn't try to rough you up." Oh, was that the kind of Dad she had?

Well, that was fine. "I've got a lot of aura." Jaune shrugged, chuckling to himself. "But let's just hope it doesn't come to that."

Blake nodded. "Right." He watched as her eyes fell to the floor, though her smile seemed to only widen. Her ears flicked, and something sparked behind her golden eyes as they came back up. Something that Jaune was familiar with. "How long do we have before they kick us out?"

He mulled the thought over, his tongue poking at the inside of his cheek. "...Half an hour, maybe?"

She took a step forward, her grip on his hand tightening as he felt her soft figure press against his chest. She glanced up at him through heavy-lidded eyes, her chin low as her shoulders seemed to get smaller. Her warm breath felt nice against his neck.

"Why don't we do something… fun with our last thirty minutes?"

"Here?" Jaune glanced around the room. It didn't have any cameras, sure, and the walls were soundproofed. But at the same time, it felt wrong.

Blake giggled, feeling her hands trail down along his hoodie, stopping at his abdomen. "Why not?"

He swallowed a knot, glancing at the nearest wall as his hands naturally rested on her hips. It was just subconscious at this point - not that he'd ever remove them. "But that's kinda…"

"Wrong?" Blake finished for him, her smile morphing into a smirk. "A little, but… don't you think that's exciting?"

His willpower nearly failed him then, his arms slowly slinking around her waist as he felt her hands trail lower. Damn it all, Blake was going to make a mess out of him at this rate. And worst of all, he… kind of liked that. He was sure she did too, honestly.

But before he could lean down and steal her lips, he felt something loud buzz in his pocket.

Jaune watched as the haze behind her eyes faded, if only for a moment as she stared down at his pant leg. "Do you want to..?"

He sighed, nodding slowly. "Maybe it's my team, you know? I still have to be a leader and all." Even if it meant missing out on a little fun.

But as he rummaged through his pocket, picking out his scroll, he felt something soft and warm tap his cheek. "It's not like we can't just pick it back up, right?"

Jaune laughed, unfurling his scroll before bringing it to his ear. "Y'ello, you've got Jaune."

"Jaune, hey, is Blake there with you?" Ruby's voice came over the line, and he felt his smile widen. "I've got some news."

"Is the world ending?" He asked. It better have been, given that something very special had just been interrupted. Not that he'd hold it against Ruby either way, just… you know, he was just kind of feeling it.

"It might as well be!" He winced, pulling the scroll away from his head as he watched Blake's ears twitch. "Can you put me on speaker?"

"Uh, I guess?" He gave the little speaker icon a tap, and before long it was full and bright.

"Am I on speaker now?"

He watched Blake roll her eyes, snorting quietly. "Yes, Ruby, you're on speaker." She said, feeling as her hand pulled away from his abdomen - a warmth that he sorely missed. "So, what's the world shattering event for today? Another Grimm incursion? Oh, maybe a terror attack?" You know, at some level, Jaune understood what she meant.

After all, they were going to be Hunters. World ending threats were going to be their bread and butter anyway, right?

"Worse!" Jaune curled a brow, turning to see Blake do much the same. "They canceled the Vytal Tournament!"

A moment of silence ticked by. Jaune blinked, letting out a breath as he felt Blake's hand go slack against his. "I… man, that kinda sucks."

"I was almost looking forward to that." Blake mumbled, her ears falling flat against her head. "What are they canceling for?"

Ruby groaned over the other side of the line, and Jaune could already imagine her slumping over. "Turns out, some genius dropped something over the side of the arena, thinking it'd be fine. Well, as it turns out, it dropped straight into one of the propulsion engines!" And given that a flying arena needed engines… "They sent the arena back to Atlas for repairs, so we're out of a tournament."

Blake hummed, feeling her hand pull away as she crossed her arms. "I'd call it unfortunate, but that feels like an understatement."

"Of the century, yeah." Jaune mumbled, feeling the corners of his lips pull down. Well, it's whatever. Not like he was going to personally go far in the tournament anyway. But he would have at least liked to see his teammates go far, you know? "Guess we've just got a black cat following us-" Something harshly thumped against his shoulder. "Ow! Why?!"

He watched as Blake shot him a flat look. "Just sharing how I feel about your joke."

He could only rub his shoulder, hissing. "I wasn't even making fun of you. It's a normal turn of phrase."

"Uh huh, I'm sure."

"It is!"

"Guys, focus!" Ruby cut between them, and Jaune's eyes fell back to his scroll. "Not only do we not have a tournament to compete in, we don't even have plans anymore! What are we going to do?!"

Wait, that's what Ruby was worried about?

Jaune turned his head up to look at Blake, finding an equally confused expression on her face. "Ruby," he started, pushing out a breath. "The tournament is canceled. The fairgrounds are still gonna be open though, right?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Then we'll just enjoy the fairgrounds." Blake cut in, a small smile cutting across her face. "It's not like the tournament was the main attraction for us anyway, right?"

"For you guys, maybe." Ruby snipped, whining over the scroll. "Some of us were actually looking forward to proving ourselves in the tournament. I know Weiss was." Yeah, and Jaune knew that Ren and Nora were more than motivated too.

He sighed, feeling his brows curl upwards, even if there was a bit of a crease between them. "It can't really be helped though, can it? Besides, I'm sure there's plenty of fun stuff that we can do at the fairgrounds for the next two weeks anyway, right?" After all, his hometown had little fairs every once and a while too, and those were always fun. Just what would Vale proper do with their fairgrounds?

Ruby only groaned again, and he could already imagine her kicking her legs about it. "It's just not fair! Every other batch of students got their two Vytal Tournaments! Where's ours?!"

Now, at any other time, Jaune would have tried to calm Ruby down. It was just what fellow team leaders did, you know? Besides, he'd never really seen Ruby get like… this. It was like watching a little kid throw a tantrum.

But that was before Blake swiped his scroll. "Ruby, listen." Blake started, her voice a little more tense than he would have preferred. "It's a shame, and I know that. But you can't do anything about it, I can't do anything about it, and we both know that Jaune can't do anything about it." Why did she have to say it like there was just no chance? Maybe he could… if he were someone else- okay, point take. "So why think about it so hard?"

"...Because I want to complain, and it makes me feel better."

Blake snorted, rolling her eyes. "Ruby, that's not very productive, is it?"

"No, but I don't want to be productive! I wanna be mad!"

Now it was Jaune's turn to snicker. "And there's no shame in that, but uh, you are kind of interrupting something."

There was a brief stint of silence from his scroll. "...I am?"

"Just a bit."

"Are you guys doing couple stuff?"

"Just a tad, yeah." Blake said.

"Oh," Ruby mumbled, the call going quiet again for just a moment. "Sorry guys, I didn't mean to interrupt. Just, uh, make sure you guys are safe, I guess?"

Jaune felt a twinge of heat in his face, hearing as his girlfriend snickered. "Th-that's not the couple stuff that we're doing, Ruby."

"Okay, whatever! Just don't get my teammate pregnant!"

The call clicked dead before he could even respond.

Great, now Jaune's face was even hotter than before. He looked up to watch Blake's face twisting, snorts and snickers forced their way out of her mouth. That was, until she started laughing, her arms coming to cross her stomach.

"It wasn't that funny…" He mumbled. The last thing he wanted was his friends thinking about him and his girlfriend being intimate. They were a healthy couple, and there was nothing wrong with that, but… people thinking about that felt weird.

He watched as Blake wiped away her stray tears. "But it was, though! I don't think I've ever heard her sound so uncomfortable." Yeah, that was the other part that really bothered him. The fact that it was Ruby of all people saying it. "Still, at least our friends will know to give us space now."

Jaune, for all his discomfort, managed to get out a laugh. "Really? That's what you're thinking about?"

"Why not?" She asked, leaning back against him as she straddled his waist. Her eyes shimmered again, her lips pulling up into a smirk. "You know that we were a little preoccupied before."

"Blake," his brows furrowed as his hands came to rest back on her hips. "You keep this up, we might end up having a problem."

Blake only giggled. "That's the idea. Or have you not been getting the hint?"

"I've been trying not to," he smiled, watching as Blake leaned down, feeling her hands rest on his cheeks.

"It's clearly not working." Blake whispered, her breath hot against his cheek, among the many other things that were warm against him.

"Yeah," he tilted his head up, leaning that little bit closer. "It's really not."

There were a lot of words to describe the feeling in his lips. Softness. Warmth. Heat. But Jaune preferred a simpler term. Passion. That need to be closer to someone already so close.

That need to breathe air into her the same way she did with him. To hold her close as her hand ran through his hair. To shift his hands further towards her back, sliding lower until they came upon a firm softness. Something that he let his hands greedily sink into.

He wasn't sure who pulled away first, only that he had to wipe his mouth. He wouldn't, of course, since he'd have to move his hand for that.

Jaune watched as Blake wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve. "Look who's enjoying themselves now," she started, her eyelids looking heavy. "And why do your hands always manage to land on my butt?"

"It's a nice butt." There wasn't much more for him to say about it.

Blake snorted. "Is that what you love about me?"

"Blake, I love everything about you."

She only giggled again, feeling a hand trail down his chest, then down his abdomen. "You're getting better at saying the right things." Even through his hoodie and shirt, he could feel the goosebumps forming on his skin. The travesty of it all was that her hand stopped short of his jeans.

"Can't go wrong with the truth." Giving her a squeeze, and not failing to thoroughly enjoy the shudder that left her. "Honesty works."

He felt her quickly peck his lips. "You should honestly stop talking."

Well, Jaune was more than happy to oblige, capturing her lips again as he held her close. He'd found that the best way to talk was without using words anyway. That, combined with something a little more selfish.

He just wanted to kiss Blake.

That was, until the timer on his scroll blared deafeningly loud.

He could feel his eyebrow twitching, and he watched as Blake frowned as she pulled away. "You've got to be kidding." She mumbled, her brows furrowing as she picked up his scroll. "How is it already time to go? We haven't even been here that long."

Jaune sighed, pulling his hands away to pluck his scroll from her hands. "Evidently not." They'd already been here for hours, if what his scroll said was right - which it probably was. "I mean, it can't be helped."

Blake only slowly pulled herself away from him, standing up, even though her shoulders were slumped forward. "I know it can't be helped, but… Dammit, I wanted to have fun."

"Well, I had fun." Jaune picked himself up from his beanbag seat, his arms and legs screaming as they finally could move again. "Okay, no more of that. It feels like my legs are made of-" He twisted his leg, a loud snap filling the room. "Yeah, that's it."

He heard Blake hum, raising her arms well above her head and- his eyes definitely didn't flick down to her chest or anything. Nope, no sir. Jaune was an Arc, and he would never do something like that.

To anyone that wasn't his girlfriend, that was.

As they flicked back up, he watched an amused grin spread across Blake's face. "But not enough fun, right?"

Jaune cleared his throat, stuffing his scroll in his pocket. "I never said that."

"But you thought about it."

"Not before you mentioned it, no." And it was true too! Jaune was a perfectly innocent young man with absolutely zero bad intentions. Most of the time. Fifty percent of the time. "A-anyway, uh, we should probably get going before the staff have an aneurysm."

He watched Blake roll her eyes again as her smile widened, something that he could watch all day. "Sure, whatever you say." She took a step closer, feeling her arm wrap around his own. That was well enough on its own, but then she got on the tips of her toes, her warm breath brushing against his ear. "Besides, our teams are probably going to be ignoring us for a while."

Jaune curled a brow. "And… why is that?"

"Because Ruby probably spread the word," she whispered, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "Let's go get a room. One where we won't get interrupted."

He took a deep breath, in through the nose, and out through the mouth. In another time, he'd have dug his fingernails into his leg and tried his best to ignore the burning feeling in his chest, the strange tension of it all. But now?

Now, I'm pretty sure Blake's broken me somewhere. He thought, a reluctant smile crossing his face. Not that I mind.

Jaune only took a step towards the door, pulling Blake along with him. "You're gonna regret that, Blake."

"Promise?" Amusement filled her voice as she stared up at him with those golden eyes of hers.

"Arc's word." He said, bringing a hand to his chest.

Blake's smirk seemed to only widen. "I'll look forward to it."

Yeah… Blake had definitely broken something in his brain.


Howdy.

Yup, I know, it's been a bit. I meant to get this out two weeks ago, but I've been busy getting ready with tons of different appointments and pre-ops and stuff. I've got this surgery coming up here in four days, so I felt the need to just get this done and out there before I'm bedridden for a few weeks. Nothing crazy, I promise - it's completely routine and the Doc said that it should take maybe a grand total of two hours max.

Anyway, aside from that, I guess I've just been doing my own thing. Finished a long term project that I hope to get traditionally published, but frankly, I don't feel the most confident in it. When you spend just short of two years on a project, and you lose some important things in the process, you want to make sure it can't fail. Then again, maybe that's my problem.

I'd write a long Author Note, but truth is, I'm exhausted from not having gotten enough sleep in ages, and I'm on the cusp of fixing my sleep schedule again. Wish me luck, I guess.

Oh, and before I forget: I promise not to leave you guys waiting so long for the next update. I've felt pretty shitty about it, but I've also been mentally going through some things that needed addressing. I thank you for your patience in advance, and appreciate you guys reading my shitty attempts at writing a half-decent story. I've got some things properly planned for the extras now, so hopefully it won't take so long next time. Until then.

Ciao, y buenas noches.

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