Hello, one and all! I'm back with a chapter super early this time around!

This one almost wrote itself. It's a fun and complicated little chapter, so I'll shut up now and let you get to it.

Song is "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" by Tame Impala.

Beta: Maxaro. Your color commentary was fantastic this week. It also gave me a few things to change, so thanks!

Enjoy!

Chapter 7: Feels Like We Only Go Backwards

The White Whale, despite its grandiose name, was a rather small venue, very similar to the bar that the Juniperberries recently played at. The main difference was that whereas the bar had favored itself more of a bar than a venue, The White Whale embraced its venue side much more, and the condition of the venue wasn't quite as up to par in comparison to the bar, with patches of chipped paint lining the walls.

The place was already packed with eager fans of Casey and the Red Rosies, which Blake found rather suffocating. She followed closely behind Jaune and the others as they tried to find a spot on the open floor that was less concentrated than the rest of the place. When they finally came to a standstill, Blake pleasantly realized that they had managed to end up surprisingly close to the stage area.

Jaune noticed Blake's apparent uneasiness and grabbed her hands, pulling her towards him.

"Hey," he grinned. "You know this song?"

Blake paused a moment to listen over the raucous crowd.

"Broke into the old apartment,

This is where we used to live.

Broken glass, broke and hungry,

Broken hearts and broken bones,

This is where we used to live..."

"Yeah, I think I do. This is 'The Old Apartment' by Butch Flowers, right?"

"Yup," replied Jaune. "I've actually been to one of Butch's concerts before. The thing about this song is that he always wants people to dance to it."

"Oh!" An amused smile played on Blake's lips, as she recalled a certain piece of info that Jaune had told her. "Is this the part where you break out you best dance moves? Oh, I've been waiting for this."

"Well… not quite," said Jaune, with a twinkle in his eye. "What Butch actually says is, 'For this song, I want you guys to go find someone to dance with.'"

With that, Blake remembered that Jaune was still holding her hands.

"Wait, hold on a moment-"

Before she could protest further, Jaune laughed and pulled her close to him, then back out, twirling her as she went. Having been caught off guard, she stumbled for a brief moment, but soon, Blake started moving in step with Jaune, letting him lead her.

At first, she concentrated on the patterns that Jaune pulled her through, doing her best to nail the rhythm down. But with each step, she grew relaxed, and with the departure of nervousness, a different feeling began coursing through her veins – delight.

And just like that, the world around her seemed to vanish. For a moment, it was just Blake and Jaune. She moved freely, guided by Jaune's hands. All her apprehensions began to fade away, and she put her faith in the blonde boy, trusting him to catch her if she fell.

They danced gracefully with one another, and the joy in Blake's chest came rushing out in elated laughter. As they moved, she turned her gaze towards Jaune, whose smile appeared to reflect the same joy.

In that single moment, Blake was happy.

But time passed by swiftly, and the song began to draw to a close, much to Blake's lament. With its final note, Blake found herself face to face with Jaune, pushing up against him. Their eyes wavered on one another for a moment more, and Blake almost lost herself in the pure blueness of Jaune's eyes before the applause from the crowd around them thrust her back into reality.

Blake leaned her head against Jaune's chest to try to hide the color rushing into her face. "You really are a good dancer."

Jaune smiled back at her. "You didn't do so bad yourself."

"I was just following your lead," Blake assured him as she pulled away from their embrace. "You made me look good."

The crowd had slowly fallen back into place, now more restless than ever. Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha gathered back around the two.

"You two looked grand out there!" beamed Pyrrha, and both Jaune and Blake quietly thanked her.

"Geez," muttered Nora. "You'd think that for such a rare show Casey'd pick a less shitty venue than this."

Pyrrha nodded in agreement. "I have to say, it does look rather decrepit."

"That's Casey for you," said Jaune, shrugging. "They'd pick hole-in-the-wall places way before any bigger stages. Although… did we check to see if they might have pulled the bait-and-switch?"

"Hmm…" Ren frowned. "That might have been a good idea to do beforehand."

"What do you mean?" inquired Blake.

"Sometimes Casey and the Red Rosies pull off this dick move where they spread the word that their show is at one place and time but it's really at another," explained Jaune. "There's usually some detective work involved to find the actual place, but we just so happened to take their word for it this time around."

"Oh," Blake sighed. "So there's a chance we're not at the right place or time."

Jaune nodded. "Yeah. Although, we're already here, so we might as well stick it out, right? Plus, that guy said he was bringing Yang here?"

"Actually," began Blake. "I don't think he ever specified which venue he was going to…"

Before she could complete the though, she felt a strong hand grab her shoulder as it turned her around, almost forcefully.

"Blake? What are you doing here?"

Blake looked up to see a tall, red-haired faunus man with prominent bull horns. He had a sly smile on his face, and the strong scent of alcohol wafted from his mouth.

"Adam? Hey, I guess it's been a while-"

The bull-horned man didn't let her finish as he pulled her towards him roughly and kissed her.

Immediately, the panic bells went off in Blake's brain. She tried to shove Adam away from her, but the man had the advantage of size and strength over her, and prolonged their kiss for far longer than she was comfortable with.

When he finally pulled away, Blake stood there in shock, her heart sinking into the pit of her stomach. She ventured a halfhearted look at Jaune, and cringed.

Jaune looked shattered.

The bull man continued to talk. "It's been forever since I've seen you! Holy shit, I think you might have gotten more beautiful since the last time we talked. Not that you weren't beautiful before, but damn, look at you now."

"And you're… exactly the same," mumbled Blake.

Adam grinned. "I see you've made some friends here. I thought my Blake didn't talk much to other people! Why don't you introduce me?"

"Uh… right." Blake weakly gestured towards the others, who had also gone quiet at Adam's appearance. "These are my friends Ren, Nora, Jaune, and Pyrrha. Everyone, this is Adam. He's… we're friends."

An arm wrapped around her shoulder sloppily, making Blake shudder. "She's my girl," slurred the bull man.

"Friends," Blake emphasized, albeit feebly, too overwhelmed by the current turn of events to resist Adam's advances.

"Hi," replied Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha quietly. Jaune remained silent.

"Well," smiled Adam, as he leaned against Blake. "Why don't I go get you some drinks? We got a lot of catching up to do, you and I."

"Um, I-" Blake objected, but to no avail, as the bull man steered her towards the bar counter.

She turned her head , looking pleadingly at Jaune, but the blonde averted his eyes.

Adam continued to drone on, but his words fell on Blake's deaf ears as her world came crashing down around her.

"Hey, Yang?"

"What, monkey boy?"

"Can you put me down? You're drawing a crowd, y'know."

Yang looked out of the corner of her eye. Sure enough, some people had stopped to observe what they were sure to be a beat down. Some of the rowdier folks even weaned her on.

"Kick his ass!"

"Make him squeal!"

"Down with the patriarchy!"

That last one made Yang chuckle slightly.

"Please?" Sun was practically begging her at this point. "This is just a little misunderstanding…"

Yang hesitated a moment, then dropped the faunus, who crumpled in a heap.

The crowd began to groan and boo.

"Oh, grow up!" Yang yelled. "I ain't gonna beat him up."

Grumbling, the onlookers dispersed.

Sun groaned as he climbed to his feet. "Fuck, man. That was starting to get out of hand."

Yang sighed and shoved him back against the wall of the nearest building. "You're not off the hook yet, monkey boy."

Sun gave a nervous laugh. "The last time you had me up against the wall, you were trying to do something else completely."

The blonde girl growled and lifted a curled fist to his face.

Sun gulped. "Okay, bad joke. I'll start talking now."

It took a good five minutes for Sun to relay the evening's events to Yang as they had happened. When he finally finished, Yang sighed and clutched her face.

"Dammit. I promised Blake I wasn't gonna drink too much…"

Sun peered at her. "For the record, are you sober now?"

Yang shook her head. "My head's only just beginning to settle, but at least I can think straight now."

"Oh good. Now I don't have to lug around the drunk girl who kept trying to get in my pants," snarked Sun.

Yang threw him a glare.

"I'm sorry, please don't hurt me!"

The blonde girl grew somber. "Look. I… I really appreciate you taking care of me this whole time. I really do. So… y'know, thanks."

"Uh… yeah." Yang's change in attitude threw Sun for a loop. He wasn't quite sure how to respond. "No problem… I guess…"

An awkward silence hung over them for a minute or so.

"So… what's the plan now?" Yang asked slowly.

"My friends said to meet at this street corner not too far from here. There's actually supposed to be a really nice pizza place there or something. You, uh, you wanna grab a bite?" Sun offered.

"Sure. I guess pizza sounds nice."

Nora reached up and grabbed Jaune by the shoulder. "Jauney?"

"Hmm?"

"You, uh, you okay?" she asked him.

"Oh, yeah! Why wouldn't I be? I mean we get to see Casey, after all! That's what we came here for, right?" As hard as he tried, Jaune was not very convincing.

"Jaune," murmured Ren. "We're sorry."

Jaune blinked. "For what?"

"Well…" Ren began. "We dragged you out to get away from the thoughts of one girl… and now this happened. Seems the night didn't quite go as planned, buddy, and for that… we're sorry."

"Ren, I'm fine. Really."

"So then, you're not upset about the Blake thing?"

"Oh." Jaune face fell for a split second, then returned to his fake bravado. "Well, y'know… we only just met tonight. Besides, I wasn't really looking for anyone, anyway."

"Jaune." Pyrrha stepped forward and gave him a smile. "You shouldn't need to legitimize the way you feel about things. It's okay if things are unplanned. Life happens that way, so you don't have to try to block out your feelings."

Jaune smiled appreciatively at Pyrrha. "Sometimes it's easier trying to just forget about it."

Nora scoffed. "That's never worked out for you in the past."

"I suppose not," chuckled Jaune. "Look, you guys. I'll be okay. If not now… then eventually."

Suddenly the crowd began to roar in excitement. Ren, Nora, Jaune, and Pyrrha turned towards the stage to see what the fuss was all about.

A gray-haired young man walked out onto the stage up front. He carried himself in a very confident manner; everything about the man screamed "smug."

"Ladies and gentlemen!" he announced with an arrogant smile. "You've all been waiting for this moment for a long time, haven't you?"

The crowd cheered.

The man smirked, and crooned, "What was that? I can't hear you!"

The cheers became louder, hurling approvals and uncontained excitement at the singular man on stage.

"I said, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

The room became so deafening that it hurt.

"Well then," he drawled, his smile growing even wider. "Why don't you all give up a hand…"

A collective breath was held.

"… FOR THE CARDINALS!"

The crowd hesitated for a moment as realization that they had been played dawned on them.

And as the metaphoric glass shattered, the boos of the audience filled the room.

"That's not Casey!"

"Yeah! We're here for Casey, you fucker!"

"Fuck you, man!"

Instead of Casey and the Red Rosies, a band of four thuggish-looking characters marched out onstage. The frontman, a tall, imposing man with brown hair, hunched over the mic stand. "We're The Cardinals, and we're about to rock your fucking world!" he snarled as the band launched into a fast-paced punk riff.

Over the din of the disappointed crowd and the incredibly mediocre punk rock, the four friends shared a knowing glance.

"We got baited," called out Jaune.

"Can't believe we didn't check," groaned Nora. "Let's go. If we stay in this shithole any longer, I might go punch that frontman. And trust me, he has a really punchable face."

By this point, most of the aggravated attendees were on their way out of the venue. As the foursome exited among the flocks of people, Jaune turned his head to see if he could catch a glimpse of the familiar amber eyes and bow near the bar counter, but as the rest of the crowd pushed and shoved against him, he reluctantly gave up and stepped out into now chilly night air.

Jaune shivered. Maybe I should've hung on to that jacket, he thought to himself wistfully as he trailed behind the other three. Who knows if I'll get it back at this point? I didn't even grab her number. Good job on that foresight, Jaune. Idiot.

The droves of people slowly dispersed into the city, and the foursome finally reached the van, which they had parked a few blocks down, with the parking space at The White Whale completely bursting at the seams.

"So… what do we do now?" wondered Nora out loud.

"Well, we could still check some of the regular spots to see if Casey left any clues we missed," mused Ren. "Besides, we've yet to show Pyrrha our favorite chowdowns and watering holes."

Pyrrha chuckled. "You guys don't have to, you know."

"Don't sweat it, Pyr-Pyr! That sounds like a perfect idea!" beamed Nora, but even her enthusiasm was beginning waver visibly.

They all climbed aboard the van tiredly, just glad to be away from the mess at the venue, but as Jaune stuck one foot in, he heard someone shouting his name in the distance.

"Jaune! Hold on a moment!"

He knew whose voice it belonged to. With a deep breathe, he turned around.

Blake skidded to a stop in front of Jaune and the van, moderately out of breath. "Thank God. I was worried you guys had left."

Jaune cocked his head. "What are you doing here? I thought you were that Adam guy."

"I, uh… I'd much rather be here. With you guys. I told him as much, too." Her eyes stared holes into the ground beneath them.

Jaune offered her a slight smile. "Yang didn't turn up?"

Blake laughed nervously. "That would probably be a nightmare for us all if she got 'turnt up' some more."

"Very funny."

"Eheh. Sorry." Blake shoved her hands deep in the pockets of Jaune's jacket. "The whole place went empty and she still hadn't appeared yet. I'm guessing she and Sun are near the other venue, wherever that is."

Jaune nodded. "Alright. Come on, then, let's get going. Besides, it's a little too chilly outside to just be standing here and talking." He started to climb in the van.

"Um…" Blake shuffled in place, her eyes drifting back to her feet. "You guys are still okay with me riding along?"

Jaune gave her a strange look. "Of course. Why wouldn't we be? C'mon now, we should get going." He offered his hand to the faunus girl.

She looked paused briefly, gazing at the hand, and graciously took it.

Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha shared a look and shrugged collectively.

Yang and Sun sat at the only occupied table in an otherwise very much deserted pizza place. The hours were pretty late there, accommodating for any of the Saturday night party-goers or stray potheads looking to indulge their munchies, but so far the pizza place remained empty. Even the guy who ran the place was nowhere to be seen.

A single medium pizza, topped with ham, pineapple, and jalapenos, rested between the two. On Yang's side, only a slice had been touched, much less finished, while Sun plowed through his fair share of slices.

"I was sure I had more of an appetite than that," admitted Yang, slumping back in her seat. "Funny, it's like I ate something while I was out."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" mumbled Sun in between bites.

"Geez," muttered Yang. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to talk with a mouth full of food?"

"Well, you knocked a perfectly good sandwich out of my hand while we were on that subway. So at the current moment I am very hungry. I'm gonna enjoy the fuck outta this pizza, and you're not gonna stop me this time, aight?"

Yang snickered. "Fine. Whatever floats your boat." She reached for another slice. "So, who are these friends of yours, anyway?"

The monkey faunus finished his fourth slice before pausing for a slight break. "Well, one of them's an old friend of mine, back when we lived in Vacuo. He's a pretty cool guy, but between you and me, I think he's compensating for something. Really nice guy, though, if you get to know him."

Sun held a hand up to his mouth briefly, modestly burping. "The other one is his girlfriend. I haven't met her yet, but she sounds like a bit of a bitch. For some reason, my bro's totally into her though, even though I keep telling him not to stick his dick in crazy…"

Yang's brow furrowed. "That sound's really familiar."

Sun grabbed another slice and dived in. "Funny you should say that. Apparently she says she knows you. Was surprised that you weren't with that Blake girl, she said."

"Ah." It was only too obvious as to who that was.

"Hey," Sun grunted, chewing thoughtfully. "Why don't you give your that Blake girl a call? You were a little too drunk to do it the last time around."

"Good idea." Yang finished her second slice before reaching for her phone and tried to make the call.

"Fuck."

"Whatsup?"

"My phone's dead," grumbled Yang as she put it away.

"Wanna use my phone?"

"Thanks, but I can't remember Blake's number for the life of me." Yang lightly smacked her face into the table. "There goes that lifeline."

"Guess you're not winning a million bucks," Sun joked.

Yang laughed. "Nope. Not tonight, anyhow." She glanced down at the now empty space at the table. "Oh holy shit. You actually finished the whole thing."

"Not a problem for me!" Sun sighed happily, patting his stomach. "Just a little bit of working out and I'll be back to good!"

"Wow. You're not a tool at all," teased Yang.

"Oi! I don't go around drinking my ass off until I can barely walk." Sun's eyes flashed competitively. "I can actually keep down my booze."

"HA! Yeah right. You don't even know how many drinks I had! I know that nobody can compete with me when it comes to drinking, and they can fight me if they think otherwise."

"Oh yeah, the assaulting random people part isn't so great either, by the way," muttered Sun before his former bravado returned. "How many drinks could you have possibly downed?"

Yang stared him dead in the eye. "Twenty-five," she grinned smugly.

"Oh." The confident look on Sun's face dropped immediately. "We talking beers or like straight up drinks?"

"Well," Yang scratched her chin. "They started off as mojitos, but I kinda lost track of what I was drinking by the end of it."

"Okay. That's pretty impressive," admitted the faunus boy. "Yeah, I couldn't hold a candle to that. Shit, even if that was just beers, that's still pretty crazy. Like, how are you not going to pee all the fuckin' time?"

"I don't know and at this point I really don't think I want to. For all I know, some poor homeless guy might be running around wiping the… uh… well, you get the picture."

"Unfortunately, yeah."

They sat there momentarily, trying to bleach the image from their brains.

"Well, I guess we should pay for this pizza," muttered Sun.

The blonde across from him frowned. "Well… I mean, I would… but there's literally no one here."

They glanced around awkwardly the eerily empty restaurant for any signs of life. "Hello? Yo, pizza man, you there?" Sun called out.

No reply.

Suddenly, a sly smile played on Yang's face. "Hey, Sun."

"Yeah?"

"Well… the pizza's out of the way… and there's no one here…"

"Uh-huh."

"… Wanna do it on the table?"

Sun's eyes widened. "I thought we were past this part."

Yang winked at him. "Oh c'mon. I might've been a little drunk, but I know a hot, good-natured guy when I see one. Besides…" She leaned closed to him. "We don't have to tell anybody."

"We don't?" Blake's threat echoed clearly in Sun's mind. "You sure?"

"Not a soul has to know." The blonde girl had practically climbed on top of the table at this point, her face inches away from the faunus's.

Sun swallowed nervously. Fuck it. "You remember that part where I said something about not sticking your dick in crazy? Yeah, forget I said that."

OH SNAP! DEY BOUTTA DO DA DO!

That was a fun chapter to write, indeed. Between the drama of Adam's entrance and Yang and Sun's antics.. shit's kickin' off!

Cameos by the dickheads Mercury and CRDL, if you missed it. That's all we'll be seeing of them, but I think everyone's okay with that.

Also, the song "The Old Apartment" is originally by the Barenaked Ladies. If you caught the Butch Flowers reference, good on ya!

(Admission of guilt: I totally skipped a class to post this. Dammit, UhhICanExplain, get your shit together...)

Reviews are welcome, as always. Please feed my incredibly small ego.

Until next time!