Willow Schnee was feeling emotionally drained throughout most of her conversation with Fox. The two of them had spoken for nearly an hour, going back and forth about their experiences- or lack thereof, on Willow's part- with relationships. A particular focus had surfaced surrounding the boundaries between friends and more, and the longer they talked, the more Willow began to worry. She could so easily see her relationship with Qrow turning into exactly what had happened between Fox and Cerise, and that was the last thing she wanted in the world. The fact that Roman had very nearly botched his chance with Kali only made the situation seem even more dire… but none of that was what had eventually spurred Willow to finally start to simply let go of her inhibitions. It was something very specific that Fox had alluded to more than once, but never outright said.

"…Fox… I get the feeling that the root problem here is that you feel like you aren't good enough for Cerise. Perhaps, not good enough in general… and no matter what any of us say, it isn't going to change that feeling deep down. Is that it?"

"Something like that," Fox admitted. The pair had eventually taken to laying atop the bed next to each other, Willow looking at the ceiling while Fox just remained still. "Lame and angsty, I know, but… it's true. I'm usually at least functional, but things are all just hitting me at once right now from every side. It really sucks, and I'm gonna be in a rut for a while."

"I can imagine it does indeed suck," Willow acknowledged as she placed her hand atop Fox's. "I won't try to placate you, especially when we just met… but I will tell you not to give up. On Cerise, or anything else. You're an impressive hunter and a good friend, and I do want the best for you. Shall we… take a little break, and then perhaps focus on something more positive? I'm thinking about going to grab a drink…"

"Honestly… I kinda want to just take a nap, if that's alright? Nothing against you, I'm just drained. Didn't get much sleep last night with everything going on."

"I understand completely," Willow answered as she sat up and smoothed out her skirt. "We all have days like that. If you change your mind or need anything, though, you have my number. Do feel better, Fox. I'll check in later tonight."

"Thanks," the boy offered as Willow made her way to the door. "It's… nice to know you've got my back. I've got yours, too."

"Noted," Willow said with a small wave. "I'll see you soon."

The heiress made her way out into the hall in short order… or at least, she made an attempt to. As she opened the door and stepped through, she ran straight into who she didn't expect to see at all… and yet, perhaps she should have, given how things had been going. Qrow managed to catch her mid-step with his hands on the sides of her shoulders, preventing a collision at the last possible second. The pair of teens merely stared at each other for a moment, until Qrow stammered forth a greeting.

"H-hey," the boy began. "Uh… the others are in the jacuzzi, starting up a little chill session down on the deck. Barty's starting the barbecue, and we're planning to just take the day while we wait for Professor Calavera to get here and help us out. I came to see if you wanted to join us. And Fox, of course…"

Willow blinked, pulling the door behind herself fully closed before beginning to walk forward. Qrow backed up as the girl more or less forced him into the bedroom across the hall before closing the second door as well.

"Wil? What's going o-"

"We need to talk," Willow stated firmly as she made her way toward the bed and sat down on the edge of the mattress. "The party downstairs can wait. Come. Sit."

"…okay," Qrow said uncertainly as he strode over and took a seat on the mattress. "I actually did want to talk to you soon, so… depending on what this is about, maybe we can kill two birds with one stone. Or one, if it goes badly."

"Funny," Willow said wistfully as she rolled her eyes. "I want to talk about us, Qrow. I may be inexperienced, but I'm not totally ignorant as to what's been going on between us. At least… I hope not. There is something there, isn't there…?"

"That's what I wanted to talk about, too," Qrow admitted with a nervous laugh. "I think… yeah, there's definitely something going on. I'm inexperienced too, you know. There wasn't a whole lot of room for romance on the mountaintop, and during our first year, I was mostly focused on other things…"

"Like potentially assassinating all of us?" Willow quipped.

"…hey, I came around," Qrow defended. "Both of us did."

"You did," Willow agreed as she placed her hand atop Qrow's. "And… I'm glad that you did, and that you came into my life. You've been incredibly helpful and welcoming to me, and I believe I'd like to move things forward. You're good enough for me, no matter what you may think."

Qrow blinked in surprise as Willow rubbed at his hand, unsure that he had heard correctly.

"…I… don't think you mean what you just said. I hope."

Willow immediately tensed up, withdrawing her hand and clutching it to her chest as a faint blush crept across her cheeks. The girl cleared her throat, desperately replaying her words in her head to try to find the issue.

"I don't… Qrow, I meant to say that, no matter what you think of yourself, I think highly of you. The girls have been teasing me occasionally about having feelings for you and the way you act around me. I can only imagine that the reason you haven't yet approached is because of some feeling of… inadequacy? Right?"

It was Qrow's turn to go on the defensive, his pallor matching Willow's as he scooted a bit to the side to put some distance between them. He regarded Willow with a look of utter confusion and embarrassment… and couldn't help but mentally curse his Semblance for any involvement it might have had in the situation.

"Willow, I don't feel… I-I mean, if you mean that we're from totally different classes, that's not a huge deal. Yeah, it's a little awkward, but it's not like… what do you mean? I think some wires are getting crossed here, and I'm just not really understanding what you're getting at."

With a little whimper, Willow inhaled deeply through her nose and sat up a bit straighter, folding her hands in her lap as she desperately tried to maintain her composure. She cleared her throat, adjusted her clothing once again, and adopted a more businesslike tone in a futile attempt to regain control of the situation. All the while, she felt close to just bursting into tears from sheer embarrassment and running out of the room.

"…I know your story, Qrow. About your time with Those Above All, and how Raven was always the favorite while you two were growing up. Based on what I've observed, both in you, and other people around us, I can't help but think that perhaps you've been hesitant to talk to me about this obvious attraction between us because of how you feel about yourself. That is it, isn't it…?"

Qrow's cheeks had gone fully pale as he stared at Willow, mouth agape. He made a soft, sputtering noise before closing his mouth and shaking his head. Though he could follow Willow's logic… he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing.

"Wil, I… that's… I don't even know where to begin. Kinda? Nothing you've said is wrong, but I've just been… I haven't made a move mostly because I'm nervous and I really don't want to screw this up, not because of any feeling that someone else would be better for you. I didn't think you were really looking at anyone else, unless…"

"Oh, I didn't mean to imply…" Willow began before she heaved a colossal sigh and put her head in her hands. "I'm making an absolute mess of this, aren't I? Maybe this is too soon, but I didn't want to wait any longer and risk you losing interest, or… I was just trying to get into your head, and reassure you that I'm interested no matter what you may believe about yourself, or what I think of you, o-"

"Willow?" Qrow interrupted before scooting back to sit close to Willow. "Stop. Just… stop. I think I can see where you're coming from, but this… this really isn't the way to do it. I feel… you know what, never mind. Let's just focus on what matters, and talk about what to do from here."

"How you feel does matter," Willow insisted as Qrow wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She looked up with a frown, finally meeting Qrow's eyes once again. "It's really all that matters to me, so… what were you going to say?"

"I was going to say I feel really uncomfortable with all of this right now, and the way this conversation played out has put me in a bad place mentally… but it isn't your fault."

"How on Remnant is it not my fault?" Willow asked. "I'm the one who screwed this up so badly that you're now forced to salvage the situation and figure out what I'm even talking about."

Qrow slicked a hand through his hair, squeezing Willow a little tighter as he lowered his voice.

"…alright, it's absolutely your fault, but that doesn't matter! It doesn't matter nearly as much to me as knowing that you feel the way I do about the two of us. That being said, I have to ask… what made you think this was the right way to discuss our relationship? Why not just 'hey Qrow, do you want to be more than friends? I like you, and you're a cool guy.'"

Willow let out a small laugh, unable to hide her amusement at the suggestion.

"I suppose I just… got a little overzealous and overconfident. Roman and Kali recently made it official, as did Taiyang and your sister, and I just finished talking to Fox about his own feelings for Cerise. I think I may have been emboldened by my conversation with him and drew parallels between you two that aren't really there."

"…so that conversation didn't go well, I take it?" Qrow asked.

"Well… he is feeling a little better, I think? So… that's why I thought I could handle this. Qrow, I'm so sorry…"

"Don't be," Qrow reassured with a gentle squeeze. "The path was rocky, but we got there. You just confused and worried me a little bit, that's all. If you are interested in starting a relationship… I'm in."

"Then I'm 'in', as well," Willow confirmed with a smile. "And I'm also terribly sorry."

"Hey, like I said- you're not wrong," Qrow replied. "And maybe there are some parallels. I've thought about whether or not you'd be interested in something like this because of who I am, so you weren't totally off base in your line of thinking. That is part of the reason I took so long to approach you, I just don't really stew in those feelings anymore. Well. Until just now…"

"Can I give you another feeling to focus upon instead?" Willow offered as she reached over to cup Qrow's cheek. "I practiced a little."

Qrow furrowed his brows as he was pulled into a brief, gentle kiss, his mind racing and his body not quite keeping up. His own offering was clumsy and unpracticed, leaving him feeling inadequate indeed.

"Like… with a pillow, or…?"

"…with Kali," Willow admitted. "But you cannot tell anyone, including Kali. She can't know that I told you."

"You've been making out with Kali?" Qrow asked, his disbelief of the situation growing by the second.

"It's been an interesting few days," Willow admitted as she let her hand drop back into her lap. "Though I suspect now, they'll be even more interesting, moving forward. Shall we go and join the others?"

"Now, hold on," Qrow protested as he held up a hand. "I haven't been practicing and didn't give that kiss my best effort. I demand a do-over."

"…how about we go for a best of three approach?" Willow proposed as she brushed her hair back behind her ear.

"You won't hear any complaints from me."

Author's Note:

Things are looking up. For now.

-RD