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

Ruby craned her neck off to one side to try and get a better look at her hair in the mirror. She had been sitting there, brushing it, fussing over it, trying to get it just right for her date with Jaune and his teammates today. She felt like things were a little strained with her and Jaune because of the talk they had and wanted to make today really special for them. She still really liked Jaune, definitely, but she had asked him to do her a favor by toning down his affection in public and so far, at lunch and in classes they had together he had done a really great job. They just held hands and hugged now. They still kissed goodnight when they were alone in the hallway at the end of the day and if they got spare moments away from everyone else they would definitely kiss some. But, she just didn't like doing that stuff in front of everyone else, Ren and Nora didn't so why should they?

"Relax Rubes, you two are already dating right? It's no big deal." Yang laughed from her spot on the edge of Blake's bed. She was all geared up in her workout clothes and Ruby figured she had a long day of weights and heavy bags set out in front of her, a very Yang way to spend an empty weekend..

"Yeah but I still wanna look okay Yang." Ruby pouted. She usually didn't care about her appearance this much, not like Yang or Coco, but she wanted to look nice to be out with Jaune and with Ren and Nora.

"You look wonderful Ruby. You really shouldn't fret so much." Blake said quietly from Yang's side. She was leaning back against her headboard and had decided to join Yang in watching their team leader get ready for her date, while Weiss was nowhere to be seen.

"Yeah, you're way too cute for him anyways. Just take a deep breath and calm down a little." Yang stood up and placed both hands on Ruby's shoulders, massaging with a tenderness surprising from her huge muscled fingers. Ruby just sighed and let out a huff of hair, blowing her precious hair all over her forehead.

"I don't know why I'm so worried. I just don't wanna mess it up." Ruby's chin fell to the table with another sigh as she slumped over and stared forlornly at herself in the mirror. "Are you sure you don't wanna come Blake? You could tell me if I was doing something wrong or if there was anything I wasn't doing that I should be or-" Ruby turned to her teammate, highs full of hope.

"Oh no Ruby. You two are going out with Ren and Nora. I couldn't intrude on that." Blake shook her head calmly. She had her legs folded up underneath her like she always did when she was reading, her amber eyes were shining just so in the morning sun and she had a warm smile that helped but Ruby at ease a little. Blake was always so calm about things like this, she didn't let herself get flustered or bothered.

"Besides sis, you'll have Nora and Ren there. You know you won't do anything too embarrassing with Nora around. Anything you manage to do I know she will be able to top no problem and Ren is cool, he'll step in if something happens." Yang leaned over and gave Ruby a quick hug. "So what are you waiting for, go all the way across the hall and get going."

"Oh no," Ruby sat up slowly with a smug smile, a little better now thanks to their support. "Jaune is gonna knock on the door and pick me up like it's a real date."

"But Ruby it is a real date." Blake laughed lightly but stopped when there was a heavy knocking on the door, far heavier than Jaune would have made. The three girls all looked over in surprise at the sound just in time to see their dorm room door swing inward fast enough to bang on the opposite wall and knock a few books off the shelf. Blake moaned softly.

"Ruuuby!" Nora called out, "It's date time!" Nora's eyes found the little brunette and she ran across the room to scoop her up. "We can't keep those boys waiting." Nora laughed and Ruby giggled as the older girl swung her up over her shoulder. Nora turned to Yang with a mock salute, standing at attention despite the little girl hanging over her shoulder.

"Yes Nora?" Yang asked with evident mirth in her voice.

"I promise to have her back early ma'am." Nora said in a voice like an Atlesian soldier reporting for roll call. Yang giggled and struck an attentive pose as well, returning Nora's sloppy salute.

"You see that you do." Yang called out in what she hoped sounded like Professor Goodwitch's voice.

"Hey are you ready to go yet?" Jaune called out from the door. "Sorry Nora beat me over here."

"Hi Jaune," Ruby grinned broadly from atop Nora's shoulder and did her best to wave.

"You two behave now." Yang levelled a finger at Nora and Ruby, "I don't want Ren and Jaune having to bail you out or fix some store you blow down."

"Awwww Yang, you are no fun." Nora stuck out her tongue, letting her mock salute and stance fall away.

"We'll be good Yang, I promise." Ruby called out over Nora's shoulder and kicked her feet happily as she couldn't do much else to turn towards her sister. Jaune made his way over from the door and grabbed Ruby around the waist, lifting her easily off Nora's shoulder.

"Alright, give me my girlfriend back." Jaune smiled as he eased her to the ground by his side. He leaned forward and gave her a warm hug but refrained from any further contact. Ruby grabbed his hand once they had separated and smiled.

"You remember what I said too Jaune." Yang leveled a serious glare at him.

"Oh I remember, trust me." he laughed nervously.

"We will be late for the airbus if we don't leave soon." Ren said calmly from the hallway, just outside the room.

"Man, I keep telling people. Ruby Rose is never late." Everyone laughed at Ruby's expense and she crossed her arms in indignation. "Well, I'll show you."

Ruby gripped Jaune's hand tightly and waved to everyone else in farewell.

"Oh no Ruby not again, please." Jaune moaned and Nora giggled.

Ruby let out a little whoop of joy as she darted out the open window of their dorm, fell the single story to the ground and rocketed off towards the landing platforms, followed by rose petals and Jaune's high pitched wails.

After a few moments of semblance aided flight across the campus Ruby skidded to a stop in front of the still empty landing pad.

"There, let's see them joke about it now." Ruby released Jaune and placed both hands on her hips in triumph. Jaune doubled over, panting for breath. Ruby slid over and lifted up his shoulders so they were eye to eye and gave him a brief, light kiss on the lips. "Thanks for that back there." Ruby had a fierce blush, "That's exactly what I meant." She smiled through her blush and pushed forward into a hug. She felt Jaune's arms wrap around her as well and her grin grew..

"Alright, break it up love birds." Nora yelled out in her overly loud, impossibly chipper voice. She was pulling Ren behind her at a much faster pace than the boy usually travelled but he seemed to be keeping up just fine, a content smile tugging gently at the edges of his mouth.

The airship arrived and they all filed quickly on along with the other waiting passengers. Once everyone was seated the doors hissed and the engines roared to life, carrying the students off towards Vale.

"Soo, what are we gonna do today?" Ruby looked expectantly between Jaune and Nora, assuming one of them had the plan.

"I thought you two planned the whole day?" Jaune looked at the girls in shock.

"What? No way. It's the boy's job to plan dates like this." Nora looked over at Ren with her biggest puppy dog eyes, "Right Renny?" Ruby blushed a little at Nora's use of the cute nickname. She and Jaune were not quite to that point yet of using pet names but she thought they were just adorable.

"You told me to prepare for a surprise. I assumed that meant you were handling today's plans." Ren said calmly and ran his thumb over Nora's in the hand he was holding.

"Yeah, duh, I wanted you to surprise us." Nora pursed her lips together.

"Ahh well, how about pizza then?" he offered calmly.

"That sounds good. What do you think Ruby?" Jaune leaned back, apparently happy now that they had at least some semblance of a plan.

"Of course. Pizza always sounds good." She smiled and gave Jaune's hand a little squeeze. The airship made a spectacularly loud set of groaning noises as they eased towards a landing, the powerful engines pushing back against the ground and the forces of gravity to slow their descent. They landed with a soft thud and the main door popped open, allowing a small staircase to descend and let them all out into the city.

"Forward! To Pizza!" Nora yelled and darted for the exit but was held fast by Ren's firm grip.

"Don't go barging through people Nora." Ren didn't seem to budge as she tugged and tugged towards the exit. "The pizza isn't going anywhere."

The four eventually made their way off the ship and down the street to a pizzeria she had never been to before but with a name Ruby was sure Yang would have absolutely loved, The Valed Oven. She couldn't help but snicker at the name as they approached. To reinforce the joke inside, they had a large black curtain hung around the back kitchen, effectively hiding the food preparations and giving their store its namesake, sort of.

"It smells so good in here." Ruby moaned in pleasure at the aroma of fresh baked breads and sizzling cheeses.

"It's our favorite pizza place," Nora announced loudly enough to draw several stares, and smiles from the workers.

"We do come here quite often. Even if the food isn't the best for us, it is very delicious." Ren smiled to Nora and stepped towards the counter to begin placing their order.

"Come on Ruby, let's find some seats." the blonde boy offered casually.

"Ooh, get some outside." Nora called after them as they began to roam the store in search of a table. Outside Jaune and Ruby came across a suitably large round table with an umbrella that would save them from the worst of the day's heat.

"Jaune they're so much fun." Ruby smiled over at her boyfriend as he seated himself next to her, "Are they like this all the time? Your dorm must be awesome."

"Yeah pretty much. Nora almost never shuts off, even when she sleeps she's mumbling and blabbering on about something." Jaune laughed and reached an arm around Ruby's shoulder which she happily snuggled into.

"This was a great idea. It's already so much fun." Ruby smiled and tucked her head against Jaune's shoulder.

"Nora's full of fun ideas. I think some of them might come from Ren too but she always offers them up." Jaune hugged her close to his chest.

"Pizzas up." Nora shouted and Ruby nearly jumped out of Jaune's arms in surprise.

"That fast?" Jaune asked in disbelief despite the fact that Nora was carrying two literally steaming hot pizzas towards their table.

"They use a dust fired oven here. It's really incredible." Ren seated himself and took one pizza from Nora and set it on the table between them. He then reached back up and grabbed the other pizza revealing a stack of paper plates in Nora's hand.

"You guys have this all figured out don't you?" Ruby had now recovered from her surprise and retreated to a slight distance from Jaune now that their friends were around. How in Remnant did this place cook pizzas so fast? That was just crazy they had gotten back to the table that quickly.

"Oh yeah, I told you, we come here all the time." Nora plopped down in her seat and quickly passed out the plates. Ren meanwhile separated the slices of pizza from one another and passed them out as well. The two pizzas matched and had all the bits you could ask for. Pepperoni, sausage, ham and even little bits of bacon were layered on top of and in between assorted veggies and peppers atop a sizzling mound of cheese. The gooey yellow deliciousness stretched between each slice as Ren pulled them from the main platters.

"Thanks so much guys." Ruby smiled across at the other couple, "This looks really good." The smell coming off the peis was intoxicating, grease and cheese and meat all mingling into a wonderfully mouth watering scent. Ruby licked her lips in anticipation of how good this must taste.

"Of course Ruby. It's nice to share it with someone else." Ren nodded over the table at her. Nora tried to respond but was already half way through her first piece of pizza and had a mouth too stuffed with doughy goodness to respond. Instead she just smiled at the little brunette and continued eating.

Ruby lifted her first piece with both hands, using one at the back and the other to support the front of the piece so all the toppings didn't just slide off onto her plate. Carefully she eased it forward and bit into the piping hot surface, feeling the myriad of flavors soak together in the grease the gushed into her mouth. It was so delicious she couldn't help but emit a loud, pleased hum.

"Oh wow, oh wow it's so good." She said as soon as she had swallowed enough to speak. She hungrily attacked it again, not wanting to wait any longer. She dove in, forgetting her initial care.

"It really is. Guys this is incredible. How come we never came here before? Like as a team." Jaune took another bite as he awaited an answer, too eager to get back to the food to hesitate at all.

"Well we like it as a date place." Nora wiped at her mouth with a napkin that Ren offered her. "It's special that way to us." Ren simply nodded and dug into his serving as well, smiling in happiness. He seemed to be enjoying the day as well, not just getting to go out with Nora to their favorite pizza place but getting to share it with his leader and Ruby.

"Oh then it's really cool of you to bring us here." Jaune leaned over and kissed Ruby on top of her head, "We'll keep it special that way too. Just for dates." Ruby blushed under his attentions. The idea of the pizzeria as a date place was really sweet and she wanted to keep it that way for Ren and Nora too.

"So what is Pyrrha doing today?" Ruby asked as she finished her first piece. Ren pulled another piece from the quickly dwindling pizza for her without being asked and slid it onto her plate.

"She actually said she was going to train with Blake. Didn't she mention anything?" Ren asked in honest confusion as he wiped his hands off a little.

"Huh, no not really." Ruby shook her head. "But I offered for Blake to come and she didn't want to. I guess because she and Pyrrha already had plans." Ruby shrugged her shoulders and smiled as she continued to mow through her pizza.

"Are we gonna do more team training together? I really wanna do it again." Nora's devious grin was back and Ruby was reminded of falling rubble and pink explosions.

"We actually talked about doing kind of like sparring matches instead. Especially since we have that big room to use now." Jaune straightened up a little as he took on the role of team leader for a moment.

"The four on four matches are so chaotic. It'll be good for all of us to get some one on one practice for a change." Ruby kicked her feet happily beneath her, she was just hoping for another chance to go up against Pyrrha with no distractions.

"Awww, okay. Only if I get to fight Yang though." Nora seemed put out at the idea of fighting in a classroom again instead of the big wide open.

"We'll all fight each other eventually, even our teammates and our partners." Ruby gave her a reassuring grin. "Even you and me again Nora." Ruby saw the flicker of recognition go across Nora's face, recalling a certain clash in the forest that hadn't ended well for the redhead.

"Ooh, another shot for revenge." Nora thrust both fists in the air, "I accept your challenge Ruby Rose." They both giggled furiously and the boys both sighed in unison.

"I know you're strong and all Nora. But Ruby here can take you again. No problem." Jaune leaned over and gave her a slightly greasy peck on the cheek.

"Aww Jaune," Ruby said in slight frustration and wiped at her pizza stained cheek with a napkin. Nora laughed and went to give Ren a similar kiss on the cheek but he caught her shoulder to stop her gently. She resigned to just kissing the air in front of him and they both gave each other a brief smile.

"What about Yang?" Nora asked as she pulled back from Ren, "Up to anything fun?"

"I don't think so. Her and Weiss said they were both just staying around school today. Yang'll probably go to the gym and Weiss is just studying again, she was already in the library when we left," Ruby moaned. "I get that she has perfect grades, but seriously she's always studying, even more than Blake reads and at least reading is fun."

"For how crazy you four are, RWBY's weekends are kinda boring huh?" Nora asked quite innocently. Ruby could tell she meant it as a joke and an observation, not that she actually thought they were boring.

"Yeah but don't tell Weiss. She'll give you a lecture on just how much fun she is." Ruby doubled over in laughter at her own joke. She pulled up, clutching her stomach to try and calm the chuckles and wiped a tear of mirth from her eye. She had definitely been laughing the hardest, but that wasn't really unusual for her. Jaune leaned forward and kissed her, laughing into her lips and pulled away, still shaking. That took Ruby by surprise.

"Oh Weiss," Jaune moaned out between laughs, "That's exactly what she'd do." Ruby stopped at the kiss, her laughter cutting off suddenly but Jaune barrelled forward. He sat up perfectly straight and held one finger out in front of him, lifted his chin and tried to impersonate Weiss's voice, badly. "Now listen here, I am very fun to be around. Studying is just important to me. Someone like you simply wouldn't understand." Jaune's imitation broke and he buckled in laughter again. Ruby chuckled a little nervously and then returned slowly to eating her pizza. There were a few moments as Jaune and Nora finished laughing at Weiss's lack of fun hobbies and then a silence spread over the group.

This was exactly the kind of reason that Ruby wanted to avoided kissing in front of everyone like that. Before, when he had kissed her on the head that was okay, it didn't mess with what she was doing or make a big scene that interrupted the conversation like this. Then he had kissed her on the cheek when she was in the middle of joking with Nora. Now this one had really thrown the whole conversation of track. She just wanted them to be able to hang out with their friends together like always but together, as a couple.

"So, Ruby." Ren started in his calm, even voice, "Was there anything else you wanted to do today? Since we don't really have a plan." Ruby looked up from where she had been intently staring at the end of her pizza as she nibbled on it and met Ren's eye.

"Uhhh, well. Not really." She set the pizza down and put a finger to her cheek in thought, then pulled it away in shock and wiped at her cheek with a napkin. "Oh," she dropped the napkin, "There's a new Tales of Remnant movie. It's like they come out with one every month or something. This one is about a huntress who had to save a community in the mountains because Death Stalkers were burrowing under their village. It started freaking the people out and that made more come and it just got worse and worse until she came to stop them."

"No way!" Nora knocked her plate to the ground as she gripped the table excitedly, "That sounds soo cool."

"Yeah it's awesome. When she got to the village she-" Ruby snapped her mouth shut, "Mhmmm no, I don't wanna spoil it. But last time Jaune and I went they gave us a discount for being Hunters. It was really cool. They said it was something the studio was doing so they probably will for this movie too and then we can still get snacks and everything."

"Oh Ren can we go? Please, please please." Nora clutched at his sleeve with both hands.

"I suppose so. It does sound like an entertaining movie." He turned to Ruby, "Is there a showtime soon?"

"Ahhh lemme check." Ruby ripped her scroll out of her pocket and feverishly found her way to the theater's showtimes.

"The last one we saw was really awesome. If this one is that good, you guys will love it." Jaune said happily and put his arm around Ruby's shoulder, giving her a light kiss on the head as she worked the scroll.

"Oh there's one in like a half hour. Totally enough time for us to walk over there." Ruby looked over at the other couple. "I mean, that's plenty of time for me." she stuck out her tongue, "I don't know about you though."

"Oh you are on Ruby." Nora stood suddenly from her spot, "Come on Ren. We're going." Nora grabbed Ren's hand and the boy did not protest. She got all the way to the gate out of the restaurant's dining area before she stopped and turned back to Ruby and Jaune. "Wait, what theater are we going to?"

A/N - Hey, thanks so much for reading and for all the comments on Jaune's character last chapter. I got one review last chapter that really hit the point of this whole section on the head. The wonderful Cara Lea got it just right, thank you for reading so closely. Hopefully this chapter does a good job of forwarding that idea and making it more evident as things begin to escalate.

I will have a double feature this weekend as usual, before my trip to Comic Con in San Diego. While I'm there I won't be posting, but I will pick up again on Tuesday the 26th which is right when I return. I hope you all can weather the wait while I'm gone. I really am going to try and get some one-shots up, maybe some of the great ideas I've gotten from all of you. I'm not sure yet. If I can really buckle down over the weekend and chunk some things out then I will try to spread those over the break.

Anywho, thanks so much for reading. I hope you're liking the story so far and that it's keeping your interest pretty well. Please let me know what you think as you read along, I absolutely love hearing from people as they move through my stuff.

-Zach