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The sun had already set, but it’s distant rays still kept the evening sky illuminated for a few minutes longer, and Team JNPOR had just finished dinner. Ren and Oscar had already started on loading up the dishwasher and cleaning the pots and pans, Pyrrha and Jaune were upstairs pulling out some board games to play as a family, and Nora was in the living room clearing off the coffee table and lighting the scented candles on the end tables. Stacks of blankets and pillows had been laid out on the floor and the TV was playing soft instrumental tunes, creating the perfect, calm ambiance.
All five of them were buzzing with excitement for game night. Things tended to get… intense with team JNPOR when it came to competition, so setting the living room up like this helped keep that down a notch. Even though it was hard to try and accomplish that when Nora (someone who was outwardly competitive), Pyrrha (someone who had been raised to be competitive), Ren (someone who was very competitive but didn’t outwardly show it), and Jaune (a man who grew up with seven sisters) were all playing against each other. It was on the extreme side for all of them, even if it was hard to guess from an outsider perspective, but they had quickly learned how to get things exactly right when it came to game night.
Oscar had a competitive streak just like the rest of them, but it was way toned down comparatively, despite Ozpin “encouraging” him to be more like the others. It was all in fun and games though, and it was hard to take something like board games personally when it came to a family as tight as this one.
So, within minutes the five were gathered around the coffee table in the living room, a well-worn board game laid out before them.
“I call the pink piece!” Nora grinned, even though all of them had preset pieces they never strayed from.
Jaune scoffed fondly, “Like we’d ever try to take that from you.”
Nora giggled, “Yeah, I know.”
“Remember the first time we played this game together?” Pyrrha smiled softly.
“How could we forget?!” Nora exclaimed with a pout, “Is your faith in us so little, oh Great One?”
Pyrrha laughed, “Of course not!”
“It was a full night, but I think that was the most memorable part of it,” Ren murmured.
Oscar grinned lopsidedly at his family, “It became a staple game for you at Beacon, right?”
“Yup,” Jaune said, “The first time we played it though was the night of the Beacon dance. That night was… probably one of the best nights of my life, actually.”
“Agreed,” Ren sighed happily, affirmations of the same coming from the girls.
“Wait, I’ve never heard this story before,” Oscar frowned.
Nora gasped like she’d been burned, “ Never?! This is a crime of the highest order!”
“Could you guys, uh, tell me the story, please?” Oscar asked shyly, “I really, really wanna hear it.
“Of course!” Ren agreed instantly.
Jaune looked thoughtful, “You know, I think this might just be my favorite one.”
“It’s my favorite, too,” Ren said with a slight blush on his cheeks.
“Alright,” Pyrrha started, voice full of excitement and mystery, “Let’s start just a couple of days before the dance.”
~*~
“So, wait, you seriously haven’t had anyone ask you to the dance yet?!” Nora screeched angrily. “But you’re you! Beautiful, kind, kick-ass,” she counted out on her fingers.
Pyrrha shook her head amusedly, “Nora…”
“It doesn’t make sense!!!” Nora insisted, “Ren, tell her!”
The man looked up for a second from his book, “She’s right, I’m not quite sure what else there is to say.”
“If I am all of these things, Nora, then why won’t Jaune ask me?” Pyrrha sighed.
“Because he’s convinced that you’re out of his league,” Ren suggested, pushing down the burning jealousy that came with Pyrrha being so obsessed over their leader.
“He’s not!” Pyrrha cried, making both of them jump, “No one at this school is ‘out of my league!’ I’m just like everyone else here, and the fact I keep getting told that is insulting.”
Nora sighed and moved to sit down next to her friend, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders, relishing being so close to her, “Pyrrha… We-”
Jaune burst through the door, cutting Nora off and disrupting the moment, “I think I finally have it!”
“Have… what?” Pyrrha asked, head tilted curiously.
“It!!!” he repeated, basically vibrating with excitement, “I’ll ask that girl from Port’s class to the dance! The one with the dark hair and yellow eyes?”
His three teammates shared looks of pure confusion.
“ ...Blake??” Nora asked incredulously.
Jaune spluttered, nearly offended, “No, not Blake! The other one! Who sits in the very back?”
The silence that took up the space was nearly suffocating, and Ren really couldn’t take it anymore.
“If it makes you happy,” he sighed, going back to his book.
Jaune smiled, almost like he was relieved to have a least a little support, “Thanks, buddy! I knew I could count on you.”
Pyrrha resisted rolling her eyes, and Nora was nearly bright red with fury. Why did their leader have to be so freaking dense?!
Jaune went to leave the room, obviously charged up with his new revelation, but Ren called after him, holding the blonde back for just a moment.
“Don’t forget we have our last suit fittings in two hours! And then dance practice afterwards!”
Jaune popped his head back into the room, the grin on his face both extremely endearing and painful, “Got it, Ren!”
Pyrrha turned back to Nora, her shoulders slumped, the sadness on her face downright pitiful, “What were you saying, Nora?”
She shrugged, “Nothing, Pyr.”
~*~
“Wow…” Oscar breathed out, staring at the four of them with wide, shocked eyes, “You were all that out of sync?!”
Jaune blushed, “I think it’s more like… I was out of sync.”
“You could say that again,” Nora teased, “But I think all of us were having trouble admitting our feelings to each other.”
“It had seemed so impossible that we could all be together that I focused solely on the potential of being with Jaune,” Pyrrha explained.
“And I spent a lot of time being jealous of all three of you and the relationships you had with each other,” Ren admitted.
She leaned over to kiss Ren’s cheek, “Well, at least we’re here now, together.”
“But there’s more to the story? Right?” Oscar asked eagerly.
“Oh, you have no idea,” Jaune sighed, “So, the next morning was um…”
“Awkward,” Ren finished.
~*~
“Turned down again, huh?” Nora asked Jaune as they made their way to breakfast. He was clearly upset and disappointed, and it took all she had not to shake him by the shoulders and scream ‘I love you! I’m right here!’ in his face.
“Yup,” Jaune sighed, adjusting the collar of his uniform.
“How unfortunate,” Ren commented, not sounding very sympathetic.
“Why isn’t there anyone at this school who likes me?!” the knight whined.
Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha all gave the same sad, disappointed sigh. He looked at them with narrowed eyes, and took in their discouraged demeanors. The sighing, and the slumped shoulders, and the overall sadness reminded him very much of how he felt after Weiss had refused this latest time. It… really couldn’t be what he thought it was, right?
“Um, Jaune,” Pyrrha quietly tried to start, but she was cut off.
“I have to go!” Jaune suddenly said, taking the turn opposite of the one they were supposed to take to the dining hall. His three teammates stopped in their tracks and stared after him.
“Where are you going?! ” Nora yelled after him.
“I’ll see you guys in class! Don’t worry about it!” he shouted over his shoulder.
“I’m never going to date him, am I?” Pyrrha asked morosely, looking like she might cry.
Nora scoffed, “If he can’t see what an amazing person he has standing right in front of him then that’s his problem.”
Pyrrha smiled softly, “Thank you, Nora. If I didn’t know any better then I might say that you liked me.”
“Oh! Uh, well, you know it’s just a gal trying to support her best pal!” Nora explained awkwardly, giving her best thumbs up to block out the sound of her shattering heart.
“I very much appreciate it,” Pyrrha said, giving Nora a side hug before heading back off to the dining hall, leaving her other two teammates behind.
Nora felt completely rejected, all three of her teammates were just so freaking blind to how much she loved them and they just didn’t even care!
“Oh, Renny,” Nora murmured.
“Practice what you preach,” Ren shrugged, following after Pyrrha.
“HEY! YOU CAN’T USE MY OWN WORDS AGAINST ME!”
~*~
Oscar cringed and recoiled, “That’s… ouch.”
“Jaune wasn’t the only one having trouble looking at what was right there in front of him,” Pyrrha chuckled, “But we’re lucky things managed to work out in the end regardless.”
“Ain’t that the truth!” Nora grumbled, “I thought I would die from heartbreak before anything ever happened.”
“I think all of us were struggling with our feelings,” Ren pointed out, “We certainly made enough mistakes to prove that before we all started dating.”
“Jaune, why did you leave so suddenly?” Oscar asked him, frowning slightly, “That sounded kinda… rude, to be honest.”
“I had an epiphany,” Jaune told him, “And it made me do something that was definitely on the crazy side.”
“I’d say it was more romantic than crazy,” Ren argued.
“What was it?!” Oscar asked excitedly.
Nora grinned, “Okay, so, it was halfway through the night of the dance, right? And I think I’ve told you before about the, ahem, dress debacle.”
“Mhm!”
“You told him?!” Jaune whined, looking mortified, but was promptly ignored by his girlfriend.
Nora started up the story once more, “We performed this awesome dance we’d been working on, and then…”
~*~
Jaune pulled his team aside from the now over-hyper crowd of dancers, an excited and mischievous gleam in his eyes as he pulled Ren and Pyrrha by their wrists, Ren dragging Nora along with them.
“Okay, so, aside from the obvious,” Jaune grimaced for a second, looking down at his outfit with near disdain before returning to his previous demeanor, “I have a surprise for you three.”
Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren shared intrigued looks with each other.
“A surprise?!” Nora exclaimed.
“What is it?” Pyrrha asked, head tilted to the side curiously.
Jaune grinned, big and toothy, like he was unbelievably proud of himself, “Come on, I’ll show you!”
They followed him out the door and down the street, each smiling as they ran along the cobblestone path, the clacking of the girls’ heels and the boys’ heavy footfalls were essentially the only things audible at such a late hour of the night at Beacon. Pyrrha’s long hair whipped behind her as she chased after Jaune, a breathless chuckle on her lips as she clutched at his hand, Ren and Nora directly behind her, the latter skipping and humming happily while Ren seemed far more on edge, but still obviously excited.
“Jaune!” Pyrrha laughed, “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see!” he promised with the biggest possible grin on his face.
JNPR ran all the way into the city of Vale, took a few turns, and found themselves in front of a restaurant. The closed sign was on the window, but it was lit up inside by candlelight, and seemed to have only a couple employees waiting around.
“Jaune,” Ren started suspiciously, “What is this?”
He blushed, “Okay, this may sound crazy, and stupid, and a completely wrong assumption and if any of you get uncomfortable at any time please feel free to leave.”
Nora snorted, “I doubt anything here could make us that uncomfortable.”
“You’d, uh, you’d be surprised,” Jaune murmured. Pyrrha stepped forward to rest a firm hand on his shoulder.
“I’m sure that it’s lovely whatever it is, Jaune.”
He smiled softly at her, “Thanks, Pyr.” Then, he sucked in a deep breath, turned back to the front door of the restaurant, and grinned at his teammates, “No point in waiting around.”
Jaune reached up and knocked on the door, and one of the employees could be seen coming over to unlock it through the big glass window. It opened smoothly, the waitress gave them a clearly fake smile but Jaune couldn’t find it in himself to care. It was happening. It was finally happening.
“Jaune Arc, right?” she asked him.
“That’s me.”
“Come on in,” she said, stepping back to let the four through. It was a quaint little place, not many tables out in the main dining space and a counter in the very back displaying the desserts of the day. What was especially odd was that there was no one else in the restaurant save for JNPR and the few other employees. And still, there was something that immediately caught the eye of the group. One of the tables had candles set out in the middle, and then a bouquet of red roses, purple bellflowers, and pink lilies in the very center of the ring of candles.
“Jaune…” Ren breathed out, simply astounded by the sight.
Nora made a soft sound that was close to a sob, “Is… Is this…?”
It hit Pyrrha, then, in that very moment exactly what was happening. She stared at the table with wide eyes, “Oh…”
“I might sound crazy,” Jaune started, hesitant and suddenly self conscious, “But yesterday morning? When we were all talking together, just… being together, as a team, in the hallway as we went to breakfast, something… clicked, I guess. Everything that had happened between us up until that moment finally made sense and I realized that…”
He broke off for a second to breathe deeply, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as the feelings he had for these people nearly overwhelmed him, “I realized that I love all of you. R-Romantically. I want to be with all three of you because I can’t imagine living a life where we’re apart. I can’t imagine living a life where we don’t wake up in the morning and smile at each other and eat breakfast together, and tease each other, and train together, and protect each other.”
“I-” Ren tried to say, but was immediately cut off.
“Let me finish,” Jaune begged, “I understand if you guys don’t feel the same way. I really do, this is a really weird situation and these feelings are still kind of confusing, but… I mean what I said. I love all of you, and I think that we would make a fantastic unit if we were together. If anyone here doesn’t feel the same, then that’s okay. I hope I haven’t ruined any friendships and connections and hurt our team-”
Before Nora even knew what she was doing she had grabbed Jaune’s cheeks in her hands and pressed an open mouthed kiss against his lips. She held him tight like that for a few moments that felt like time had stood still, dreamily enjoying what she had wanted to do since that first day they had met.
“I’m on board, Fearless Leader,” she said, pulling back with a cheeky grin.
Pyrrha was quick to have her turn kissing Jaune, sighing against his lips happily, then immediately leaned down to kiss Nora as well, the two girls immensely enjoying the tender moment.
“I am too,” Pyrrha whispered when she finally pulled away from her shorter teammate.
The three of them turned to look at Ren, Jaune boldly outstretching his hand as an invitation.
“We want you, Ren,” he promised softly, “We always have.”
And that was all it took, the raven haired teen surged forward and kissed his knight deeply, quickly moving to kiss Nora, and then Pyrrha. He gave a rare, warm, soft smile afterwards that caused the others to beam at him happily.
“Same here,” Ren told them, the emotion in his voice thick and heavy.
They took their seats at the table, ordered their drinks and much later their food, taking the time to relearn each other. To get to one another intimately and romantically, in a way they had never gotten the chance to do before, in a way that had seemed so impossible for so, so long. The four slowly fell in love for the first time, completely enraptured with each other and the little nuances that came with individuality.
Hours later, curled up in their dorm room with chocolate milk, tons of blankets, and the first board game they had seen in the closet of their dorm, team JNPR had their very first night together as lovers, as partners, as people who would sacrifice anything so long as they could be together, happy and safe and warm.
~*~
“Just like that?” Oscar asked with sheer disbelief, “You all just… admitted everything to each other and fell in love in that one night?”
Ren chuckled, “It took far longer than one night, but… that specific night certainly helped.”
“It took the course of months for us to realize our feelings for each other,” Pyrrha reminded him, “There were a lot of bumps along the way.”
“And then even longer after that to figure out exactly how the relationship was going to work,” Nora added brightly, rubbing her hands through his hair.
“Well,” Oscar sighed, “I’m really glad that you guys figured it out, otherwise who knows where any of us would be right now.”
“It can’t be better than this, that’s for sure,” Jaune sighed, grabbing Ren’s hand and kissing his boyfriend’s knuckles, causing the slightly shorter man to blush.
Oscar glanced down at the board game, a silly smile on his lips, “So, it was really just the first one you pulled out of the closet?”
“Yup!” Nora said, “It was just one of those nights.”
“You mean one of the best nights of our lives,” Pyrrha sighed happily, “I think the only one rivaling it is the night we all moved into this house.”
Ren hummed, “It did start the progression of us coming to live in this way. More like… a family, than a young group of people in love.”
“I definitely prefer it like this,” Jaune admitted, looking at Oscar fondly, “We feel way more complete.”
“Agreed,” Pyrrha said, pulling Oscar into her lap, wrapping him in her arms for a tight hug.
“It’s so good to have a family,” Oscar said quietly as he leaned back against Pyrrha’s chest, herself resting her cheek on his hair.
Ren and Nora glanced at each other with that look in their eyes, the one that said so much about their past without either of them actually saying any words.
“It really is,” Nora agreed, eyes roaming across the room and over her family, “It really, really is.”
They played their board game, and snacked on popcorn, and cuddled up on the couch to watch an old favorite movie of the group. And if they fell asleep like that, warm and curled up in the safety and love they had for each other, then they didn’t mention it the next morning when they all woke up with cricks in their necks and sore muscles. It was too good of a night to complain about something so small. It was just too good.