Cinder stared across the table, taking in the sight that lay in front of her. Jaune, dashing as usual, looked back, his presence brightening the room and warming her soul. It was almost enough to put tears in her eyes.

Perhaps it was just the environment or the fact that they were finally, finally together, but somehow, he looked even better now than usual. The candlelight gave his golden hair a certain glow and highlighted the blue in his eyes, giving him an angelic presence. And who's to say he wasn't just that?

She'd decided that was the perfect way to describe him. Her little blonde angel.

"How are you feeling about the Vytal Festival? Mercury said you were a little nervous. You're not too stressed out about it, are you?"

"Oh, I'll be fine," he said, waving it off. "I'm nervous, yeah, but I'm sure everyone else is, too. It's just a matter of practicing and building confidence."

"Well, if you ever need someone to talk to about it, I'm here for you."

Jaune smiled at her. "I appreciate that."

Cinder's heart fluttered. Things were off to a great start.

"So…" Jaune leaned forward towards her. "You and Mercury get along well, I take it?"

"We're not involved," Cinder said, almost cutting him off with how quickly she responded. "If that is what you were asking."

"What?" he said, confused. "You are teammates though, aren't you?"

"I mean romantically. There's nothing between us beyond being on the same team."

Jaune scratched at the back of his head. "That's… not exactly what I was asking, but I guess that's good to know, too."

"O-oh, of course," she said, flustered. That didn't make it seem like she had something to hide from him, did it? "What was your question, then?"

"I was just wondering about your friends. I don't think I've ever heard you talk about them before."

Cinder cleared her throat. "Well, there's Mercury, obviously. He's…" She found herself drawing a blank. Nobody had ever asked about her "friends" before, mostly because they weren't actually her friends. She couldn't just tell him that, though. What would he think about her if she couldn't even make friends with her own teammates? "Nice."

She had to do her best not to cringe at herself.

Looking back, Cinder realized that she'd never really had a need for real, genuine social skills beyond simple diplomacy, at least not until she and Jaune had finally been reunited. Faking it had worked out when needed, but at the end of the day, "friends" weren't really a part of her life. It really was a miracle that she'd done so well with Jaune thus far.

"He can be a bit reckless, but I suppose he's good to have around."

"Yeah? What about your other teammates?"

Cinder paused, trying to find the right words. "They're fine. Emerald is reliable, but certainly clingy. Overly attached, if you will."

That particular detail might end up becoming an issue. Emerald, when and if Cinder told her about Jaune, would probably get jealous, and she wasn't sure she could tolerate that kind of attitude towards him.

"Mint is… difficult. To give you some advice, I suggest you keep your distance. She's hard to trust."

Jaune nodded along, looking off to the side. Cinder's heart dropped.

You're clearly making him uncomfortable! He's not here because he wants to hear you trash the people who are supposed to be your friends!

"I-I'm sorry," she said, flustered, "I shouldn't be complaining to you like this. We should be having fun together."

Jaune looked her in the eye again and smiled. "It's fine, Cinder. No harm done."

His smile was enough to calm her down. Just like that, everything was perfect again. That feeling of serenity washed back over her and the candlelight seemed to glow brighter in his face. Oum, that smile…

She would kill just for a chance to get a glimpse of it. She had killed for it. If only she could tell him all she'd done for him, all of her feelings.

No, not now. At least not to the full extent of things. It would be too much. Too much, too soon. One day, he'd love her enough to accept all of it, maybe even be grateful for it, but that day lay in the future.

Besides, how would she even begin to communicate her feelings? What she had for him went beyond simple emotion. It just couldn't be expressed by words. It would be like sitting under the sky and trying to count the stars.

Cinder leaned her head against her arm. "You look so great in that outfit."

"Thanks," he said, his face tinted a light shade of red as he glanced from the table to her, like he wasn't sure which to look at. "Same to you."

Her heart stopped for a second, freezing her up. "I-I'm so glad you like it." The words came out shaky with excitement.

She really was relieved. Selecting the dress hadn't been easy, afterall.

"It's not the dress I like."

Her soul seemed to leave her body for a second. His words might've come across as suggestive if everything about him wasn't so pure, although she really wanted to believe that he meant something more by it.

Did he? Was he trying to imply something? What if he wanted to take things further and she didn't realize? She should say something. She could be missing out on the biggest opportunity of her life if she didn't!

"So, Jaune…" Cinder leaned a little closer to him.

"Thank you for dining with us, what can I get you started with today?"

Cinder looked over to the waitress, scowling. Couldn't she see that she was having a genuine moment with her beloved? The nerve to just walk up and interrupt them like that! "We haven't decided on anything yet."

"And you?" the waitress said, turning to Jaune.

Her scowl deepened. "I just told you-"

"I'm just fine for right now, thank you though," he said, giving the waitress a polite smile that she reciprocated before walking off. Cinder's eye twitched. What was she smiling at him for?

"As I was saying," Cinder composed herself, sitting up straight and looking him in the eye, "I was wondering if you're still free after this. I know your team may want you back before late, but I'd love to spend some extra time with you."

Jaune shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Great! Why don't you come back to my dorm and we can-" Cinder cut herself off. "Keep eachother company."

"Yeah, that sounds fun."

He spoke with the same chaste smile, just how he did when she had first tried asking him out. When he hadn't really known what she wanted. Oh well, even if he didn't understand now, he would once she made her move. Anticipation arose in her chest.

"Great! Lovely! Amazing, even!"

"We won't be disturbing the rest of your team though, will we? I don't want to bother anyone."

"My team? Of course not," she said, waiving the idea off. "I'll tell them to leave. They're not important. You are."

Jaune looked taken aback. "Oh…"

The two of them sat there in silence for a few seconds, Cinder staring steadfast into his eyes and Jaune glancing around the restaurant.

"Sorry, this might be awkward," he said, meeting her gaze with a look of sympathy, "But you don't really… get along with your teammates, do you?" Seeing her frown, he quickly tried to drop the subject. "Sorry, that was dumb, I didn't mean to-"

"No, no, it's alright." Cinder sighed exaggeratedly. "You're correct, I suppose. My teammates are fine, but as I said, they're little more than that. That's why I'm so glad I found you," she said, reaching over the table and taking his hands in her's. They were sturdy, but smooth. "You can give me so much more than they can."

She felt his fingers tense up. "You seem really sure about that."

Cinder tightened her grip. "I am. You can really make me happy, Jaune. We can make eachother happy. That's all I really want."

Her soulmate pulled away just a bit, leaning back in his chair. His mouth hung slightly open. "I… Well, that's heavy…"

"Look, I don't mean to put anything on you, I just…" Cinder's voice softened. "I've been lonely for a while, and you make that go away."

Jaune's gaze, full of empathy but only a little understanding, felt like a warm embrace. "Listen…" She felt his hands relax as he leaned back in. "I can't pretend like I know what you've been through, Cinder, but just know that I'm going to do whatever I can to be there for you."

Again, tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She couldn't bring herself to do anything but stare at him through vision that was quickly becoming blurry.

"I… Thank you, I…" Words she couldn't force out lodged themselves in her throat, blocking her voice. He only made it worse when he took his hands out of hers and wrapped his arms around her, leaning over the table to give her an awkward, but very much sincere, hug.

She'd never really felt him like this. Wearing his hoodie and holding his hand could only do so much for her, but this… this really did complete her. There was something so sweet and innocent in it. In all her years of yearning and fantasizing, she'd never imagined that he could make the world feel as pure as it did now.

Even as he pulled away, instead of leaving her feeling empty like she might have expected, Cinder was left with a lingering warmth and wholeness, as if his hold had given her something she'd been missing her whole life. Still, though, she preferred he stayed wrapped around her.

Her voice failed her completely this time. All she could do was stare up at him, her mouth hanging open and slowly forming into a passionate smile.

"Have you all decided on anything yet?"

Cinder, much to her chagrin, was snapped out of her daze by the waitress coming back for their orders. Her smile dropped back into a frown. Jaune's eyes lingered for a second longer, staying fixed on her while he turned his head before finally looking towards the waitress.

Her impatience grew as they continued to talk. She tried her best not to show it, but this waitress was really starting to bother her, interrupting them like this. Was it not obvious that they were sharing a moment of intimacy, or was she doing it on purpose?

Cinder eyed the girl suspiciously. Perhaps she was just being paranoid, but she would have to be to have any hope of keeping him. Couldn't allow anyone else to sneak their way in.

Once the waitress left, the two of them sat there in silence, unsure of what to say to each other. Cinder propped her head up on her arm with a smile, leaning her cheek against the palm of her hand with a slight tilt. Jaune, maybe not seeing the silence quite as romantically as she did, looked down at the table, his mouth curved upward ever so slightly.

After a moment or two, her beloved directed his vision back up at her and leaned back in his chair. "What made you want to be a huntress?"

The question took her off guard. She froze, holding a glass an inch away from her lips, having been in the motion of drinking from it. "Why do you ask?"

Jaune shrugged. "Just a conversation starter, I guess. Get to know you a little better and whatnot."

That made sense, she supposed. Given how much she knew about him, it was easy to forget that he didn't necessarily know her quite so well. It still felt a bit strange, too, that she'd poured out so much emotion to him and he was still asking such simple questions.

Cinder laid the glass back down on the table. "Well…" she bit at her fingernail and glanced around the room, suddenly getting nervous. "I…"

She tried to think of a quick, easy answer, but somehow, that seemed much harder than usual. It occurred to her how strange it was that she'd done so much off the back of lies, yet now, with her Jaune right across from her, lying just didn't come as naturally as it always had. In any case, she couldn't say nothing.

"I wanted to… help people. The world's a dangerous place, and I thought I could provide some safety. Protect the people who aren't capable of protecting themselves."

Jaune smiled, calming her nerves. "The world could use more people like you. You're certainly making my own reasons seem silly."

Cinder faced conflicting emotions. On the one hand, a compliment from her to-be lover always made her giddy. On the other, it felt criminal to be placed above him like that.

"And what might those reasons be? I'm sure they're just as good as mine."

Jaune looked off to the side as if he was embarrassed. "I wanted to be a hero. My ancestors were huntsmen, so I entered Beacon thinking I could be like them. Looking back, I might have been a bit in over my head, but I guess it's all working out," he said, smiling.

She looked at him, dead serious. "That's not a bad reason, Jaune. We all need purpose."

Jaune seemed to consider that for a few seconds, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that we all have something that we live for. Purpose. An end goal." Cinder never took his eyes off of him. "It's part of who we are. If you don't have purpose, why bother with anything? We all have the right to chase our goals, and if your end goal is to be a hero, who has the right to tell you that you can't chase after that?"

Jaune paused again and stared off into space. "And do you know your purpose?"

"Yes," she answered, "And I've never stopped chasing it."
"Has that worked out for you?"

"Just as much as I dreamed it would."

Another silence fell between them. Even now, while they sat there speechless, the clinking of plates and low chatter that enveloped the building failed to break through and come to her attention.

"So are you gonna tell me what it is or just leave me guessing?" Jaune said, amused.

"One day, darling," she said, smirking at him and bringing the glass up to her lips. Her lover laughed.

Cinder could've choked on her emotion. Seeing him feel such joy and knowing that she was responsible just melted her heart.

The waitress eventually came back with their food, and although she tried to tell her off with a glare, she ignored her either out of ignorance or a desire to keep her job. As for the rest of their time at the restaurant, it was possibly the greatest experience of her life, and that bar kept getting higher and higher since she found him.

Perhaps the best part, though, was when he let her hold his hand walking out. Finally, they had begun to establish a physical connection to their emotional one, and if she played her cards right, that connection would fully blossom by the end of the night.

"Are you still okay to come back to my dorm, then?"

"Sure, why not?"

Her smile couldn't have gotten wider. She'd have to get rid of Emerald and Mercury, of course, but that could be arranged with a word. After that, they'd be free to do whatever they wanted in privacy, away from the ever-attentive eyes of their teams.

She couldn't wait.

/-/

All things considered, Jaune was pretty happy with how things were going right now. Afterall, getting a date was no easy task, or at least not judging by his experience.

Looking back, he really had no clue how he ended up here. Months of pining after Weiss and flirting with who knows how many other girls got him nowhere, but somehow he managed to stumble his way into going out with Cinder. He certainly wasn't complaining, though.

Was the date a little awkward? Sure. But it hadn't been bad.

She was nice, seemed to really like him, too. Maybe there was something a little intimidating about her, and she may have been a bit emotional, but did he really care enough about that to ruin this? Nope. Not him. This might've been the best chance he'd ever had with any girl, no way he'd break things off this soon because of something as trivial as that.

So yeah, no matter how aggressively Cinder was pulling him through the halls, he was smart enough not to ask questions, even if he did have multiple.

"Don't worry, my teammates should have cleared out now," Cinder said, "We'll have plenty of privacy. Nobody to disturb us."

Wow, she must really like spending time with him. He'd really gotten lucky, huh?

Cinder opened the door and pulled him into her dorm. "I'm so glad you decided to come back with me. I'm sure it'll be a great time."

Jaune took a look around the room. She clearly kept it neat, because it looked damn near unused. Almost nothing was left lying around like you might find in JNPR's, and the things that were had been neatly organized.

He stood around for a second, not entirely sure what he was supposed to do.

Cinder sat down on the edge of her bed and motioned for him to join her. "Why don't you take a seat? You'll be more comfortable."

Listening to her instruction, he sat next to her, close but not too close. She quickly closed the distance, shifting over so that their shoulders rubbed together. He tried to be respectful and act like he didn't notice.

"I had a good time tonight. A really great one," she said.

"Yeah, it was fun. Thanks for planning all this, by the way."

"I was happy to, Jaune." Cinder turned her body so her chest was pressed up against her arm and their faces stood centimeters apart. He could feel her breath against him. "I loved every second of it."

The nerves finally got to him when he realized how close they were. He tried to look away, but Cinder wasn't having it, using her hand to pull his face back towards hers.

"You loved it, too, right?" Cinder looked him deep, very deep, in the eyes. Deep enough that he could see his reflection in her pupils. "Didn't you, Jaune?"

"Uh, yeah…" Jaune smiled nervously, off put. "Of course I did."

Cinder kept staring for a second before suddenly pulling him into a hug, her grip strong enough to constrict his breathing. He flinched at a faint, wet sensation against the edge of his ear before it occurred to him that she was touching her lips against it.

"That makes me so happy," she said, her voice shaking. He tried to respond, but the pressure from her bearhug stopped him and all he could manage was a pathetic wheezing noise. "So, so happy. I'm so glad that I found you."

What do I even say?

"Aha…"

Wow. What a great response. He truly was a genius.

Cinder pulled away from the embrace, gripping his shoulders at either side and keeping him still. Tears formed in her eyes and ran down her cheeks, ruining her makeup. "I… I'm sorry, I… Look, I don't mean to make you nervous, I just…" Unable to find the words, she slowly shook her head.

Jaune looked back with his mouth hanging open. His body froze up. "It's, uh… alright…"

Cinder paused to calm herself and took a deep breath, slowing the shaking of her body. "Have you ever kissed a girl before, Jaune?"

He stared blankly with his eyebrows raised, thinking that that was certainly an odd thing to ask him. Was she trying to make fun of him or something? "No? I suppose I haven't."

Cinder's mouth formed a soft smile for just a moment before she quickly leaned in and kissed him. He tried to pull away, only because he was caught off guard, but she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck and pulled him back towards her. His eyes widened.

Once it registered in his mind what was happening, he stopped trying to pull back and let her take control. She held him against her like he'd fly away if she let go, leaning her entire body weight on him and nearly forcing his back down onto the bed.

Slowly and hesitantly, Cinder separated herself and let him breathe. He looked at her with empty eyes and an open mouth.

… huh?

Eyeliner ran down Cinder's face as she brought her shaking hand up to his cheek. "So you are real," she whispered with a smile. If it was supposed to be a joke, he didn't fully understand it.

"I… what?"

She opened her mouth, making a noise somewhat resembling someone on their deathbed struggling to get last words out before they passed. Eventually, she managed to put them together.

"I love you."

…

…

…

His mind stayed in its current state of general blankness for a few seconds before the last thirty seconds finally caught up with him.

She'd kissed him.

And said she loved him.

Maybe he should've been happy, but that was just so… intense. More intense than anything he'd expected out of this. More intense than anything he'd wanted out of this, if he was being honest. He never saw things going this fast with anyone.

It occurred to him that she wanted a response. It also occurred to him, as he stared into her eyes, which seemed so full of hope and feeling, what kind of response she needed. The question was whether or not he should give it to her.

Did he like her? Yeah, to some degree. He wouldn't have gone out with someone he didn't like at least a little bit. He also had enjoyed kissing her, which he probably wouldn't have if that wasn't the case. She was kind, beautiful, seemed to care a lot. Their date had gone great. All reasons to have interest in her.

But did he love her?

As in the kind of love that people developed through long term relationships? He didn't really want to say it, but no, not really. They'd only even been on one date, was it even normal for someone to have that kind of feeling this early on?

Looking at her, though, with tears running down her face and her expectant smile… He got the sense that telling her that would truly, entirely break her heart. So did he want to break her heart, or did he want to lie to her?

Jaune avoided eye contact, looking down at the mattress they were sitting on. Cinder once again forced his gaze back towards her, her smile ever so slowly beginning to fall. Guilt started to rise in his chest.

Jaune never liked hurting people.

"I… think I love you too, Cinder."

The girl across from him let out the loudest sob he'd ever heard in his life and embraced him again, harder this time, with her nails digging into his back. "I knew you did!" she said, ugly crying. "I knew it! I knew we were meant for eachother! Ever since I met you!"

Despite the pain, he accepted it, figuring she just needed to let it all out right now. If this was how she felt, it would be best to let her express that.

They sat there together for a long moment until her crying grew quiet and her body still. Her grip never loosened up on him. "Cinder," he said, speaking softly into her ear.

"Hm?"

"I, um… have to go. My team's waiting on me."

"Why can't you just stay here with me?"

"I'm sorry, I just can't. My team's expecting me back any moment now, and they'll get mad if I stay over at a girl's dorm," he said, laughing nervously.

Cinder took a deep sigh and began running her hand through the hair on the back of his head. "Why is that any of their business?" she said calmly.

"Well, y'know, team business and all that, haha… I'll… talk to you tomorrow."

Jaune started to stand up, but not a second after he was on his feet, Cinder did the same and put her hands around his waist. "You should stay!"

"Cinder-"

"I'll tell my teammates to spend the night somewhere else! We can stay here together, and you don't even have to tell your friends anything."

Cinder tried leaning in again, but he pulled away.

"Maybe another time. I'm sorry, but I really gotta go right now."

Hesitantly, she took her hands off of him and let him go. "Okay, fine. I'll let you go for now."

"Talk to you later," he said, moving towards the door. He heard her say something about calling him in the morning before he closed it behind him, took a deep breath, and began walking back towards his dorm down the hall.

A few things flashed through his mind on his way. For one thing, he already felt bad for lying to her. He just didn't want to hurt her, and there really didn't seem to be any other option to avoid doing that. I mean, how would he have even begun to try telling her that he didn't feel the same way? With how she was looking at him? Or maybe he had this whole thing all mixed up. Maybe he did love her, and just didn't know it was love because he didn't have any experience with dating. Part of him hoped for that.

Arriving at his dorm, Jaune took a deep sigh before opening the door. Pyrrha, hunched over her desk, jumped at the noise and snapped her head towards him.

From one problem to another, huh?

"Hey," he said, doing his best to flash a smile and make everything normal.

Pyrrha stared for a few seconds before looking back down. "Hello," she said, her voice cracking.

"...You doing alright?"

His partner glanced back at him for a second, but quickly averted her gaze, turning her head towards the back wall this time. "Y-yes…"

"Do you wanna talk about anything?"

He received a quick shake of the head as she buried her face in the palms of her hands.

Jaune frowned. He wanted to comfort her, but she still didn't seem ready to talk. Maybe tomorrow. Or if not, he'd try the next. They'd have to sort things out eventually, right? They were partners.

"I'm gonna run to the restroom," he said quietly. No response.

He hesitated before closing the bathroom door, but even as he stood there waiting, his partner sat still and refused to acknowledge him. Dejected, Jaune decided there was no use at the moment and turned away from her.

She'd been distant the past week, to say the least. They had done everything together up until she confessed, but now he was lucky to get a full sentence out of her. He'd tried talking to her a couple times, but she always managed to avoid it. Today might've been even worse than usual, though. She'd never outright refused to look at him like that.

Leaning over the sink, Jaune closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, he saw a smear of red lipstick stuck to his reflection's cheek. Suddenly, her reaction made sense.

"Great going, idiot," he groaned to himself. "Helped out a ton with that one."

No wonder she didn't want to look at him, he might as well have just come in and told her everything that had just happened! Oum, why did this all have to be so complicated? Why couldn't he have been able to just get a girl and leave things at that?

Well, no use in dwelling on it now. He'd done what he'd done and now it was time to deal with that.

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Whelp, finally managed to finish this. Life's crazy, guys. The next chapters should be out quicker than this one. Thanks for the continued support.