Disclaimer: RWBY and all affiliated characters/titles belong to Rooster Teeth, those wonderful geniuses.

The curtains over Team RWBY's huge window did little to stop the Sunday Morning sunlight from pouring in on them. Ruby pulled her sheets up over her head and rolled away from the harsh, natural light.

"Agh, someone shut that off." Ruby reached behind her and batted a hand at the light, trying to shoo it away like an insect.

"You can't shut off the sun you dolt." Weiss called up from her bunk beneath Ruby, "That's not how it works." Ruby groaned into her pillow and folded it across the back of her head in a vain attempt to shut out the light.

"Come on Rubes, up and at 'em." Yang stepped over to Ruby's bunk and lifted one edge of the suspended frame so that Ruby rolled out of her bed and onto the floor with a loud thunk.

"Owww, hey Yang. Come on!" Ruby protested indignantly from her new spot on the floor. "It's Sunday, don't I get to sleep in?"

"Sleep in? Are you being serious?" Weiss's stare was so intense Ruby could feel her eyes boring into her even through the sheets and blankets that had plummeted to the ground with her. "It's already two in the afternoon Ruby. Frankly, you've slept quite enough for one day."

Ruby flung the blankets off of herself with a desperate flail of her arms and wiped at her eyes to clear her early morning vision. She found Weiss's alarm clock sitting on her bedside table and the numbers clearly read 1:45 PM. She looked to the window and saw how high the sun already was in the sky.

"Whuh? How come no one woke me up?" Ruby lurched to her feet and continued disentangling herself from the blankets that seemed determined to ensnare her. There were a few moments of silence from her teammates. As Ruby finally extricated herself from the blanket based deathtrap she looked around at the sullen faces around her.

"You, uhh, you had kind of a rough night you know? We wanted to let you sleep." Yang pretended to be incredibly interested in a bird outside the window and looked away from her little sister. The events of the previous evening came rushing back to Ruby in a frightening torrent of emotions. The fight with Jaune, the yelling, crying in her room with her teammates. He thought she had dumped him….

"Oh… yeah…" Ruby's shoulders slumped and her smile slipped from her face.

"But today's a new day right? You can go in with a level head and talk things through." Blake spoke for the first time and Ruby was surprised to see her sitting attentively at the edge of her mattress, book nowhere in sight.

"Do you want to talk things through though?" Yang's voice drew Ruby's eyes back to her, "I mean, didn't he do exactly what you asked him not to?"

"I still think that this is a colossal waste of time. We have so many, much more important things to focus on than boys and drama and love…" Weiss drew the last word out sarcastically, showing just what she thought of such things.

"But… I mean… Shouldn't I try to fix it?" Ruby looked from Weiss back to her older sister. Hoping from some advice. Yang had rarely lead her astray in serious moments like these.

"You don't have to. Sometimes if you force something like this it still winds up ending but the longer you stretch it, the worse the break-up is." Yang took a small side-step and leaned against the bookcase near the window. "Do you remember that girl I dated like two years back Ruby? We would always fight and then make-up and then be at each other's throats again by the weekend?" Ruby nodded her head and noticed Weiss perked up and turned to listen to Yang's story. "Well when we eventually ended things for good. Let's just say it was really gross."

"Aww Yang the heart breaker." Weiss started in sardonically.

"Actually she dumped me." Yang deadpanned and Weiss dropped her accusing finger and snapped her jaw shut before another phrase could escape. "I just feel like if we had ended things earlier we might have been able to go back to being friends ya know?"

"But that's not every relationship. If you think you may be able to salvage it Ruby, you should at least try." Blake's eyes had never left Ruby, completely ignoring the other two girl's exchange. Ruby's thoughts were interrupted when Zwei pushed hard against her leg and whined.

"Oh dang it Zwei. Right now?" Ruby looked down at her dog sympathetically.

"I'll take him sis' don't worry." Yang grabbed their dog's leash off of Ruby's desk and trotted over to attach it to his collar.

"Oh can I come with you? I love walking him." Weiss nearly fell off the edge of her bed in her rush to scratch at Zwei's head. "'Cause you're just so adorable aren't you? Yes, yes you are."

"Alright, alright Princess. We're taking him to the bathroom though, not out on a date with you." Yang pulled at Zwei's leash and led him out the door with Weiss close behind. "Hold tight, we won't be gone long."

Ruby waved farewell to her sister and partner and threw herself down on Weiss's bed with a sigh.

"Could you rewind time a couple hours so I can sleep more?" Ruby flopped her head forward so her chin was against the mattress and stared across the room at Blake who was still perched at the edge of her bed.

"What are you gonna do Ruby?" Blake had all the seriousness of Professor Goodwitch and Ruby forced herself to adopt at least some of that tone.

"I don't know Blake. I've never done this before." Ruby lifted herself up and pushed over to sit at the edge of Weiss's mattress. "I don't want to not have Jaune as a friend anymore. I don't want to not have all of Team JNPR as friends anymore." Ruby's eyes started to swell and she clenched the edge of the bed to try and hold back her tears. She had been awake all of what three minutes and she was already crying. She needed to grow up.

Ruby looked down at her lap and rubbed at her eyes with her arms to try and stop the tears before they could really start. Then she felt an arm around her shoulders and looked up to find Blake had moved across the room and was sitting by her side. She had her arm around Ruby and was running tiny circles on her shoulder with her thumb.

"Like Yang said last night, you just have to go with what makes you most comfortable." Blake said softly and pulled Ruby's head gently against her shoulder. Ruby curled her arms around Blake's waist and leaned into her. Feeling the warmth coming off of Blake helped calm Ruby down and after a few moments she pulled away with one last sniffle.

"Thanks Blake. You're the best." Ruby leaned in for one more quick hug which Blake returned and then stood. "I'm gonna shower and then go talk to him." Ruby gave Blake a confident smile, incredibly relieved now that she had decided on a course of action and trotted off towards the bathroom.

One quick shower and a fresh change of clothes later found Ruby standing in the hallway, facing Team JNPR's door. She raised her fist slowly and knocked at the door, immediately regretting it and wishing that if she pulled her hood down over her eyes that she would turn invisible. Just as she decided it was worth a try and went to fling the thick fabric down over her face the door swung open to reveal the happiest face on campus.

"Gooood Morning Ruby." Nora said with an impossible amount of cheer.

"It's not morning anymore Nora." Ren's voice called out from somewhere in the dorm room.

"Well it kind of is for us. We just got up." Nora gave Ruby a not so subtle wink.

"Hey Nora." Ruby said nervously. She was really hoping that Jaune would have been alone in here. What were the chances of that though right? Apparently very small. "Thanks for yesterday. I had fun with you guys." Nora face broke into a huge smile.

"Oooh I had fun too Ruby. Maybe sometime we should ditch the boys and just go out on the town together." Nora put both hands on Ruby's shoulders with far too much enthusiasm, "You should come out to the club with me and Yang! We had so much fun last time. Oh my Oum." Ruby chuckled a little and levered Nora's hand off of her shoulders with no small effort.

"You know I'm not old enough to drink, right Nora?" Ruby tried to give her a reassuring smile, happy that she had a feasible, legal excuse to avoid going anywhere near that part of Vale.

"Nora, I believe Ruby had a reason for coming over." Ren was as calm and perceptive as ever. Where even was he? Ruby tried to crane her head around Nora to see the boy but couldn't find him anywhere in the dorm. Who she did spot however was Jaune. She lifted a weak hand in hello and he eeked out a tiny smile.

"Hey, Jaune, can we talk?" Ruby said so quietly she was certain even Nora hadn't been able to hear. But, the redheaded girl stepped quietly out of the way and Jaune approached the doorway all the same.

"Hey Ruby. Yeah. Come on." Jaune motioned out into the hallway and Ruby stepped back so he could pass. She cast one last look into the room and saw Nora with an expression she had never worn before, a frown. Ruby turned back to the hallway and followed Jaune down the stairs and out of the building so they could have some amount of privacy.

They walked just a short distance from the building to a small clearing that lay under the shadow of the CCT tower. Ruby glanced around and realized this is where she and Jaune had wandered on the very first day in search of the dorms. She fondly remembered how they had searched for another three hours to find the dorms. If only they had known they were so close, or that they weren't even supposed to sleep in the dorms until after initiation.

"Is here good?" Ruby asked quietly. Jaune had not stopped walking yet and Ruby didn't want to drag this all out any longer than it had to be. It was like pulling out a splinter right? You have to just do it because the worrying and fussing is worse than the actual thing. Jaune stopped and turned around. He had his hands shoved in his pockets and didn't meet her gaze.

"Yeah, I guess, yeah." Jaune kicked at the ground and stared out at the tower. "Can I say something real quick though. Before you start?" Ruby nodded her head, "I just, no matter what happens right now I wanted to say I was sorry for the way I acted. You asked me to do things and I said I would and then I didn't. I wasn't really listening to you I guess."

"I'm sorry too Jaune. I didn't even talk about it. I just sort of demanded that you change and I didn't meet you in the middle or anything." Ruby clasped her hands behind her back. Standing here apologizing to each other isn't exactly how she had seen this starting, but maybe it was a good sign. Jaune finally lifted his eyes to meet hers.

"And last night… I was just tired and kinda lonely and confused about everything that had happened." He pulled his hands out of his pockets and kneaded his fingers together in a small ball in front of him.

"And I was just so frustrated I wasn't really thinking straight Jaune. I shouldn't have freaked out like I did." Ruby let her hands fall to her sides and fiddled with the hem of her cloak to try and muster up the courage to follow the plan she had made.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Jaune's eyes had what Ruby thought was a glimmer of hope and she felt her chest tighten. She didn't mean to mislead him with all the apologizing and now she was having second thoughts. She closed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek. She couldn't let herself get distracted again. She had made her decision for the right reasons and she had to stick to it.

"Jaune, I don't think we should keep dating." Ruby let the comment drop between them like a dying ursa. Jaune stared at her across the gap between them and she watched that glimmer fade.

"Ruby?" Jaune didn't move, he didn't stretch out his hand towards her, he didn't tear up. He had thought she had broken up with him last night so this shouldn't be a huge shock to him. But still, she expected him to react a little more energetically than this.

"I just. I don't know if I can." Ruby wanted to turn away and hide her face. She was so ashamed that this was what she had picked and she felt like a coward. She didn't want to risk all the friends she had made outside of her team since she got here. She didn't want to destroy the lives everyone else had built. She was so scared.

"I guess I just figured… after we had some time to think and everything." Jaune shoved his hands back in his pockets. "Can I at least know what happened? Was it really because I was too clingy? Because I was all over you all the time?" He looked absently into the trees and she couldn't read his face.

"No...umm kind of. Not really. But sort of." Ruby wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault, that she was just a stupid little girl but she knew that wasn't true. "I just…" Ruby felt like she had told him this before and didn't want a repeat of last night, "You know, I'm still way younger than everyone else...and, I'm not really very comfortable with a lot of stuff yet."

"But I would never make you do anything Ruby." Jaune kicked at the ground with his toe, scraping it through the dirt.

"I know." she paused, "I know. That's not what I mean. I mean like all of this." she gestured widely at the school around them. "I don't know what I'm doing with any of it."

"So what was all that about making other people uncomfortable then? Was it really just that you were uncomfortable with me?" Jaune turned away from her a little more and continued to scuff the ground with his shoe.

"No, really. I mean not at first. I wasn't uncomfortable with you Jaune. I just…" she took a deep breath to steady herself, "I never liked when Yang used to kiss her, uhh, partners around me. It always made me feel really weird. I hated that sometimes it made me feel like I couldn't hang out with my own sister. So I didn't want to make anybody else feel like that."

"Oh, I guess I kinda get that…" Jaune pulled his hands out of his pockets and threw them behind his head. The light caught in his hair and Ruby saw again some of the things that had pulled her to him in the first place. He was so true to himself, there was no hiding. As he stood there she could see how hurt he was and how he was trying to process what she was saying. "But why did you let it get to be such a big deal? Why didn't you just tell me about that?"

"Well there was another reason too. And it wasn't really- I couldn't tell you about it." Ruby saw Jaune's face scrunch up in confusion. She still didn't feel like it was her place to out Pyrrha's feelings for Jaune, especially right now.

"What?" Jaune kept searching the tree line for something he couldn't seem to find.

"It's because of someone else." Ruby blurted out much more quickly than she had planned too. Jaune turned suddenly to face her, shock and betrayal on his face. He brought his hands down to his sides and even though they stayed open Ruby could tell he was angry.

"Someone else? What?" Jaune's entire stance seemed to fall apart and Ruby realized what she had just said.

"No, no! Not like that." She waved her hands about in front of her frantically. "It's just. Us being together was hurting someone else and I didn't want that."

"How could us being together be hurting someone?" Jaune had a slight edge to his voice but Ruby completely understood how that could make him upset.

"It was someone that had-" Ruby stopped herself again but decided at this point she had to tell him something or risk him really getting angry and ruining the whole point, "Someone else that likes you and seeing us together hurt her a lot."

"Someone else…. Who liked me?" All of Jaune's tension fell away, but then he shook his head just a little and met her eyes again, "Why should that matter though Ruby? We were together. That's what should matter."

Ruby looked down at the ground. She knew what he meant. It was the same thing everyone else had told her when she had wanted to avoid this entire situation in the first place. But even after they started dating that feeling that she had betrayed Pyrrha somehow never went away. Even after they sparred on the roof and made up in Ozpin's office, she still felt like she was ripping the other girl's heart out just by being with Jaune.

"Because Jaune. We can't put ourselves first. We have our teams to worry about. Because we're supposed to be the leaders." Ruby knew that sounded like a terrible, canned, lecture class line and Pyrrha wasn't even a member of her team. But, it was how she always felt, even before she was a leader.

"So that means we don't get to be happy?" Jaune sounded like he was begging with her, or with fate.

"It just means we have a lot more going on than anyone else… and," Ruby lifted her eyes back to his slowly, afraid of what she might find there, "and I just don't think I'm ready for all of this too." Ruby waved her hand between them to show that she was talking about them, not about her role as leader of RWBY.

"Yeah… okay. If you're really sure." Jaune's shoulders fell completely loose at his sides and he sighed as he tucked his hands into his hoodie's front pocket. "We gave it a heck of a shot though didn't we?"

"Mmhmm," Ruby hummed in agreement because she found herself unable to speak properly. That was it, they were really broken up now, actually done.

"I guess, I guess we just go back to how we were before right?" Jaune returned to scuffing the ground with his shoe, pushing against the line he had made before to form a small cross on the ground, "Or at least try?"

"I would really like that." Ruby smiled for the first time since she had decided what she had to do, "I would really, really, like that." Jaune raised his eyes back to hers and smiled weakly back. Ruby stepped forward towards him and calmly rested her hands on his shoulders. Jaune's smile faltered but he didn't pull away at all. Ruby closed her eyes and leaned slowly up to put a light kiss on his cheek and then stepped back and turned away. She raised a hand to her cheek and wiped a single tear away before he could see it.

"Ruby…?"

"I'll see you in class tomorrow? I still haven't fought anyone for Goodwitch's class." Ruby said without turning around. She didn't trust herself to see him again.

"Yeah," Jaune's voice was shaky and uneven, "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." Ruby had to forcibly will herself not to run away across the clearing back to her room. She took each step slowly and deliberately until she rounded the corner of the hedges and then broke into a full sprint back to the safety of her bed.

A/N - So I guess in a way that could the considered the end of an Arc. Like a story Arc I mean, don't take that as some sort of terrible pun about Jaune.

Tomorrow's chapter will start to move the story away from Jaune and Ruby's break-up to show what everyone else is doing and how they're all handling it.

I hope you're enjoying the story still, even if it is a bit sad right now. That's just the way things are sometimes though, but it has to get bad before it can get good right?

Thanks so much for reading, please leave me some vicious reviews to let me know how terrible this chapter was so I can do it better next time.

-Zach