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

The next morning came and went like a summer storm for Jaune, dazed as he was by the exhaustion from the previous night. He had waited up in the hallway for both Ruby and Pyrrha to return, wanting to ensure that nothing horrendous had come from their punishment. Professor Goodwitch was incredibly strict, and she had taken them to see Headmaster Ozpin. He hadn't interacted with the Headmaster much but his attitude with the whole launching students into the forest full of deadly monsters from the top of a cliff on their first day at school thing seemed to tell Jaune all he needed to know about the man. He must be absolutely insane. Only by lunch time did the whirlwind of activity seem to slow and his world came into focus as Ruby and Pyrrha explained the night's events.

"So you're saying he gave us a training room?" Yang asked through a mouth half full of sandwich.

"Yes, Headmaster Ozpin was kind enough to provide a place for both of our teams to train." Pyrrha nodded her head in Yang's direction to emphasize her confirmation of the blonde's suspicions.

"You two are the only ones that can turn getting caught by Goodwitch into a good thing," Nora laughed at Ruby and Pyrrha's embarrassed looks.

"He was just really cool about it. I mean we do still have to train." Ruby reached down and grabbed a strawberry from her plate, eating it whole save for the leafy green top.

"That is true." Ren gave Ruby a warm smile, "But it was still very kind of the Headmaster to reserve a room specifically for our use.

"Yeah Rubes, think about it. We can train like whenever we want in there." Yang brandished the remaining half of her sandwich at her younger sister like an over zealous professor with a pointing stick.

"I'm just glad we didn't get punished. I kinda feel like it was my fault." Jaune hung his head. "If I had been focused then Ruby and Pyrrha wouldn't have sparred and we wouldn't have got caught."

"Nonsense Jaune," Pyrrha's voice was melodic as she tried to reassure her partner, "We would have been caught eventually. It just happened to be the night Ruby was with us."

"Yeah right." Nora practically yelled despite their close quarters at the lunch table, "It was definitely the giant holes Ruby was putting in the ceiling." Pyrrha seemed slightly flustered that her attempt to placate Jaune had been thwarted but Ruby wasn't embarrassed at all. Instead she wore a look of immense pride.

"It's not my fault they make the roof so thin. This is a hunting school isn't it?" Ruby laughed and her sister joined right in. Those two were not good for the architecture's longevity, not to mention Nora and how competitive she felt around Yang.

"You should all feel lucky you weren't expelled. I mean honestly, what were you thinking? Having a sparring match on the roof. That's simply ridiculous." Weiss folded her hands in her lap and sat straight as a rod, looking far too regal and elegant for their school cafeteria surroundings.

"You know Ice Queen, you could at least be happy for them. You don't-" The ring of the bell for classes cut Yang's retort short and Jaune thanked Oum that they were all spared another of the two's vicious arguments.

"We will continue this after our classes." Weiss stood and gave Yang a steely glare and then strutted away with a huff.

"Oh yay! Maybe we can use the new room for you guys to fight." Nora jumped from her seat in excitement, "Wednesday! Wednesday! Wednesday!" she started up in a mock announcer's voice, holding her hand to her mouth as if she had a mic. "The showdown of the semester, Fire and Ice, Xiaolong and Schnee! Get your tickets at the door."

"You're not allowed to sell tickets Nora." Ren reached up and pulled her from the bench she was standing on.

"Awwww Renny come on! Why not?" Nora whined as she fell off the bench and landed on her feet in front of him.

"We have class now Nora. Come on." Ren reached down and grasped her hand, pulling her away towards their next classes.

"I'll see guys for fight night!" Nora called out over her shoulder and Ren waved as the two departed.

"I'll see you all later." Blake returned from depositing her lunch tray at a nearby trash can, "Ruby, please don't let Yang and Weiss fight."

"I'll try Blake." Ruby gave her a big smile and waved as she walked away, "I gotta get to class Jaune." She turned to her boyfriend.

"Oh yeah, me too." Jaune started at the thought of class. His was pretty far away and Professor Peach would be mad if he was late, if she was even in class today. Jaune hoped she was, they always had Port as a sub and he could only take so much of the man in a single day. He was brought back to reality as he felt Ruby's arms slip around his waist and bring him into a warm hug. Jaune smiled as he felt his insides just turn to mush at the absolute joy the gesture gave him. He wrapped his arms around her in return and gave her a little squeeze back. Ruby pulled away but he left his hands on her shoulders and leaned down to kiss her on the lips. Ruby's eyes went a little wide at the contact and she sort of froze. It was really adorable how cute she was when he kissed her like that. It was like he could always catch her off guard with these little spontaneous gestures.

"Alright, I'm gonna go then." Yang said loudly enough that Jaune pulled away.

"Oh, alright, bye Yang." Jaune waved to her, leaving his other hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"I have to make it to class as well. I may have to warn our Professor that Ren is dealing with Nora and may be a little late again. Pyrrha sighed inwardly and went trotting off after Ren and the destructive little redhead.

"Umm, Jaune." Ruby said quietly from his side. He looked down and saw her blushing, her cheeks nearly matching the tips of her hair. They were alone now and he let his hand fall down to hold her's between them.

"Yeah?"

"I really do have to go," she said quietly, "But uhh wanna meet up after classes are over?"

"Of course," He flashed her a smile, "Pyrrha and I were gonna check out the new training room. It's one we've never used before."

"Oh uhh yeah. Okay that sounds good," she gave him a weak smile.

"Have fun in class." Jaune swept down again and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Ruby smiled under her blush and gave his hand a quick squeeze.

"I'll text you." she released his hand and set off at a light jaunt towards her class. Jaune watched her depart for a moment and then turned to get to his class. He would definitely be late at this point and decided that another lecture from Port was better than Professor Peach's wrath and prayed she was absent again.

"Hey Arc, hold up," Jaune stopped at Yang's voice. He was already late so what could it hurt.

"Yeah what's up?" He turned to find the burly blonde strolling towards him, shoulders squared.

"That was one heck of goodbye kiss." Yang came to within a few feet of him and Jaune was suddenly reminded of just how much she could bench, and it was over four times his body weight.

"Uhh yeah," he laughed nervously and rubbed at the nape of his neck, "It'll be a long couple of classes until I see her again." He tried to laugh again but not much made its way out.

"Just remember that's my baby sister okay?" Yang peered at him through a curtain of blonde hair.

"Yeah, yeah totally." Jaune waved his arms about in front of him defensively and began to retreat a step. "I really gotta go. I have class with Professor Peach next."

"Alright then." Yang's very serious face eased into a smile and she turned to go. Jaune took the chance and sped off towards his class, casting a wayward glance over his shoulder to see Yang had turned back around and was watching him leave.

Professor Peach was indeed absent again and Jaune was able to sneak in the back of the class during a particularly animated portion of Port's retelling of a brave young warrior slaying ten griffons single handedly and without a weapon. Jaune eased himself into a seat in the back row and let his mind wander.

He still couldn't believe that he and Ruby were really dating. He never would have thought in a million years that he would actually be able to be with a girl quite as amazing as she was. It blew him away that she apparently liked him back about as much as he liked her. Every time he got to sit and watch a tv show with her or when she would text him good morning and meet him in the hallway, have one of their long conversations in the hall before bed or do all the other things they did together; it just made him so happy he wondered how he had trudged along before without that feeling.

The way he felt about Ruby now was definitely different from what he had thought of Weiss and even different from how he had felt about Ruby when they had started dating. With Weiss he had been attracted to her appearance, and her status as one of the most desirable girls on campus. He really didn't care about her name or her money, that wasn't it. He had been interested in the idea of proving himself by being able to date a girl like her. When he had gotten shot down time after time his self-confidence had taken a huge hit and Jaune was sure he would never find someone.

Then all of this with Ruby started. Sure she was very cute. But now that he spent this much time with her Jaune was convinced that on a cuteness scale she was way above a box full of newborn puppies and a close rival to the best cat videos on the CCT. No, forget that, she was definitely better than the cat videos. Plus she had that corgi, and that little guy was already a total ten on the adorable scale so that made Ruby like what? An eight million and ten? Yeah that sounded about right.

Jaune loved how he could pick her up when they hugged and the fact that she had to stand on the tips of her toes to kiss his cheek. The way she blushed and got so flustered when he leaned down to kiss her without warning. The little noises she made when they hugged, like a baby panda. She was all of these unbelievably adorable things, then she got out her scythe.

When Ruby had Crescent Rose in her hands she became a woman possessed, dealing death to any Grimm that approached her and certain doom to most any hunter that came near. Jaune had never seen her lose a sparring match in class, or even really seem like she was being pushed very hard. Sure she wasn't quite on Pyrrha's level or Yang's, but she was two years younger than all of them. By the time she was their age, Jaune was sure that his adorable little Ruby would be going toe to toe with fully trained, professional Huntsmen and Huntresses.

Jaune was pulled out of his thoughts by a buzz in his pocket. Ruby was saying that she wanted him to meet her by the library before they went to check out the new training room, she said she had a lot of studying to do for a test her professor had just told them about. Jaune replied that that sounded fine and then sent a quick update over to Pyrrha that he would catch up with her after seeing Ruby off to her study session. She didn't reply right away and he knew she wouldn't. She was in a practical weapon's course that involved a lot of hands on training. Not that she needed it, but it was part of the curriculum.

Jaune spent the rest of that class and the next idly thinking about all the different parts of Ruby he appreciated. Her never quit attitude, her undying devotion to hunting and her team, her cute little bangs tipped in red that just matched her cloak. The final bell for the day rang and he made a beeline for the library. Having spent the last four hours thinking about not much other than her had made him miss her intensely.

Ruby was waiting just outside the massive building, she had a small bag which was undoubtedly full of school supplies and was staring off across a field, watching several other students run drills with hulking swords lead by the ever intimidating Yatsuhashi. Jaune stopped for a moment to watch her as she watched them. Her hands were clasped at her waist on the strap of the book bag and she was wearing her hooded cloak over her school uniform in a blatant but clearly ignored violation of the school's dress code. He would have been content to watch her for a while longer, with her messy hair blowing in the light breeze but they both had things to do and so he snuck up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist, giving her neck a light kiss.

"Hey there beautiful." Jaune said as lovingly as he could, "Miss me? I know I missed you." Ruby turned in his arms to face him and gave him a quick hug back.

"Hey Jaune," the little brunette pulled away and grabbed hold of both of his hands, "Yeah I did. How was class?"

"It was good. Professor Peach wasn't there, so we had Port." Jaune laughed, "I didn't have to worry about being late though."

"You were late?" Ruby hit playfully at his shoulder.

"Yeah just a little." Jaune grinned in embarrassment, "I was kinda busy kissing someone goodbye and then Yang talked to me and stuff. A lot happened." He laughed again, surprised as he thought about it that he had even made it to class as early as he did.

"Yang stopped you?" Ruby dropped his other hand, letting her hands fall back together to clutch the strap of her book bag.

"Yeah. She wanted to talk to me about the way I kissed you. Said to remember that you were still her little sister." Jaune reached down to grab one of her hands again. She didn't pull away, but she didn't grab back either. "You were totally right when you warned me how protective she was." Jaune tried to laugh again, confident that her big sister being very Yang-ish would make Ruby laugh but was surprised to see all mirth absent from her eyes. He stopped and regarded her with concern. "Is something wrong Ruby?"

"Uhh yeah actually, umm kind of." Ruby stopped again and looked back at the students training in the field for a moment and then back to Jaune, "Well, it's just a little thing. Kind of a big thing I guess." Ruby stopped again and gave Jaune's hand a squeeze, finally holding it back. She took a deep breath, raised her eyes to meet his directly and exhaled. "I'm not really… I don't like kissing in front of everyone like that." she finally blurted out in a tumult of words.

Jaune stopped breathing for half a moment when she said she didn't like kissing but caught himself when she qualified the emotion.

"Oh, yeah, I get that." he said half-heartedly.

"No really though Jaune." Ruby dropped her school supplies and scooped up his other hand, "It's not that I don't like you enough, or that I'm embarrassed about being with you, or that I don't like kissing you." A blush rushed to her cheeks and she looked back at the ground but kept a firm grip on both of his hands. "I really do like kissing. It's nice." she mumbled out.

"It's okay Ruby. I get it." Jaune nodded his head and she raised her eyes back to his, blush still firmly in place. "I'll be better about that kind of stuff I promise."

"You're just the first boyfriend I've ever had. I'm still not really sure about all of this dating stuff. It all feels really weird to me a lot of the times. But I like you and I want to be dating." her silver eyes twinkled in the fading daylight and Jaune could feel himself melting. He had to hurry and get out of here or he wouldn't have any bones left to hold himself up. He'd just be a useless puddle of love sick hunter.

"You know you're my first girlfriend too Ruby," Jaune's smile faded a little when she appeared shocked, "I'm still really new at this too. So we just have to talk about stuff like this, because we're both learning still." Ruby's grin widened and Jaune felt a warm bubble in his chest, so pleased that he seemed to have said the right thing.

"Okay, well I really gotta go study and you have to go train." She looked down at the discarded bag of supplies, "I might have to go buy new pencils too." They both laughed. "I promise to talk about anything else that comes up okay?"

"Yeah I promise too." Jaune squeezed her hands. "Oh, actually, in that case. Pyrrha and I are training together again tonight. Uhh just the two of us. Did you want to be there? I know you have to study but the room is supposed to be one of the combat classes so there are like chairs and desks and stuff too right? You could study in there." Jaune felt very awkward with this whole situation. He didn't want to be distracted like the other night, but at the same time he didn't want Ruby to have any reason to be jealous of his partner.

"Actually we talked about it and Pyrrha and I are great Jaune. Really, it's totally okay. You guys are partners, just like me and Weiss. No problem." Ruby flashed a giant smile and Jaune was totally convinced. Also, he was reminded about the melting issue as he felt his knees go a little weak when her cheeks pushed her eyes shut in glee.

"That's so great!" Jaune exclaimed. He leaned down to kiss her goodbye but caught himself. He pulled back and looked around for any of their friends or other people. Ruby giggled and he felt her lips push up against his cheek in a light kiss.

"Thanks Jaune." Ruby whispered sweetly in his ear. "Now go train." Ruby released his hands, scooped up her bag and departed into the library with a wave, spinning on her heel as she went through the sliding glass doors.

Jaune again watched until the doors closed and her image was too obscured to warrant any further staring; then turned about and jogged back across most of the giant campus to where he and Pyrrha were going to meet outside the new training room.

That conversation with Ruby had actually gone really, really well. When he had seen her downtrodden face and she had started in all sad, Jaune was convinced he had messed up terribly, that he had pissed off Yang and she mentioned it to Ruby and that because of that she would be mad with him. But, Ruby was actually really cool about it. She just didn't want to be super gushy and kissing and stuff in front of their friends, probably mostly in front of Yang since that was her sister. Come to think of it, Ruby hadn't even mentioned that it made her uncomfortable until he told her about Yang stopping him. So it was definitely Yang that was making her uncomfortable so Jaune would just have to watch himself in front of her from now on. No problem.

Jaune reached the training room and was relieved to see that it was actually right next door to their morning class with Professor Goodwitch. That would make it really easy to remember where it was. Pyrrha was waiting patiently outside, decked out in her full combat gear and leaning down to stretch out her calves.

"Hey Pyrrha." Jaune called out as he approached, slowing his gait so he could talk as he walked.

"Hello again," Pyrrha smiled sweetly and pulled out of her stretch, "Are you ready to train?"

"Oh yeah, I'm ready to go." Jaune gave Crocea Mors a pat on his hip to show just how ready he was. Unfortunately he tapped the shield's expansion button and it flew open while still attached to his hip. His blade went clattering to the floor, ringing loudly against the hollow hallways and the sudden shift in weight threw him off balance and he skidded into the wall with a heavy thump.

"Good, it appears you have a lot of work to do." Pyrrha laughed merrily and unlocked the door to the training room, leaving Jaune to collect himself and follow after her.

A/N - So, it feels very weird to only be publishing "Friends and Loved Ones" this week instead of Friends and "Clubbin' ". What did you think of this chapter? There was more internal monologue going on with Jaune here than we usually get from the characters. Also, I'm not extremely comfortable writing Jaune's perspective all the time so please let me know what you thought of this section. Thanks so much for reading everyone, next chapter is on Thursday.

Oh also, on a side note. I will be going to another convention (Comic Con International in San Diego this time, the big one). That will start on the 19th of July and carry through the 25th of July so the 17th will be the last post until the 26th. Sorry about that, but just like before I don't feel I can give my stories enough focus while I'm at the convention and so I'd rather just not post at all than have lower quality or not follow up on reviews and PMs and everything like that.

Hope to hear from you.

-Zach