Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

For once, Jessica was happy that her boyfriend drove an old beater of a car. It smelled a little funky, the speakers weren’t that great, and she was nervous to go on drives out of town in case the stupid thing broke down. But it also had a bench seat in the front. Which meant that, on nights like tonight, she could ride cuddled up to Jaune.

The Domremy Combat School prom had been as amazing as she’d dreamed it would be. She’d been a little nervous about how her fellow Huntress & Huntsman trainees would treat Jaune, seeing as how he went to a more traditional non-combat school and warriors tended to have chips on their shoulder, but everyone was nice. She’d felt beautiful in her shimmery, long green dress; although it hadn’t fit him the greatest, Jaune’s rented tux had made him plenty handsome in her eyes. And she had gotten to dance the night away with the man that…

I’m surer than I’ve ever been. I love him. I love Jaune Arc.

Smiling, Jess sniffed the jasmine and hibiscus blossoms of her corsage, the white blossoms going perfectly with her dress. The delicate scent filled her head and her heart as she snuggled a little tighter against Jaune. Grinning, he looked down at her, and she batted her deep jade eyes back up at him. “What are you smiling at, you handsome guy?” she murmured softly.

“You, Jess. You’re so, incredibly, beautiFUL-” 

That was another thing about Jaune’s beat up car; if you didn’t pay really close attention to it, like when you were staring at your gorgeous girlfriend, it tended to drift all over the world. The headlights danced crazily for a moment as Jaune jerked the wheel and Jess felt like her stomach was in her throat, but the cantankerous machine settled back down into its lane.

After catching their breath, Jess and Jaune both giggled with relief. “Thanks, Jaune! But… maybe save it until you get me home in one piece?”

“Heh, right… sorry!” His blush is adorable as ever .

Sighing with contentment, she let her mind drift back over how she’d met her lovable dork of a guy. She’d left Atlas to come to Ansel and live with her aunt after none of the combat schools in Atlas would accept her, citing her as “lacking the skills and constitution necessary to be a Huntress”. Domremy had, frankly, had much easier entrance requirements, and protecting the world from the darkness of the Grimm was too precious of a dream to just give up on.

Domremy encouraged its students to interact with others at the more traditional local school. Most of its trainees were too snobby about becoming fighters to do much of that, but as a newcomer, Jessica had taken advantage of it. It was at intramural volleyball game that she’d first met the gangly blonde boy whose arm she was now on. He hadn’t been the best athlete, not by a long shot, and he hadn’t been particularly good at being cool or flirting. But he was earnest, funny, and genuine, and the whole combination had just done something to her teenage heart. They’d been together for two years now, and she treasured every awkward yawn-to-arm-around-her movie date they’d gone on, being adorably bad at miniature golf together, licking ice cream off each other’s noses… all of it.

And the kissing. ESPECIALLY the kissing!

She chewed her lip nervously. A thrill went through her at the thought that, tonight, it might be time for… more than kissing. The thought had her heart racing as the road and trees flashed past on their way to her home. Now that the thought was on her mind, the relatively short drive felt like it was taking forever. A couple of times Jaune even glanced over at her, picking up on her tension but being naively innocent as to what was on her mind.

He’ll find out soon enough , she purred to herself.

At last, Jaune’s car clunked into her driveway and parked under the outside lamp. Jess had been about to get out of the car, but instead giggled as Jaune sprinted around the vehicle to open her door for her and offer her his hand.

“My lady,” he said with a bow.

“My handsome knight!” she smiled back. His eye twitched at the appellation, but Jess had too much on her mind to really think anything of it. 

The walk to her front door was slow as they pressed themselves into each other’s sides, enjoying their body warmth against the cool spring air and laughing at each other’s chit-chat. Eventually, though, they were standing by the door, holding each other’s hands and making eyes at each other.

It was Jaune who cleared his throat first. “Well… thanks, Jess. Tonight was… really amazing! And you’re so gorgeous!” He started to lean down for a goodnight kiss, but his eyes fell when she stopped him with a finger on his lips.

“Jaune… w-what if we make it… more amazing?” Breathlessly, she stood on her toes to whisper in his ear. “My aunt isn’t home.”

She’d never seen her boyfriend’s eyes so big, not even the first time she’d guided his hand under her shirt. “Jess… d-do you, do you mean…?”

Her green bangs bounced across her eager face as she bit her lip, smiling and nodding.

“Are you… are you sure?”

Stars his concern for me is so sweet and adorable! But right now, I want him to just… take me!

By way of an answer, Jess stood on her toes again and kissed him. With a lot of tongue. A lot .

“Does that answer your question?” she murmured huskily.

‿︵‿︵‿  ‿︵‿︵‿

Jaune moaned as he rolled off of her, collapsing on his back and staring up at his girlfriend’s ceiling as he breathed heavily. Next to him, Jess was also breathing deeply, though the sound of it was much lighter.

“That… that was…” he murmured.

“ Incredible ,” she whispered as she cuddled up against him under the sheets. Where they were naked together. Which was a thing that had never happened before, and his brain was still scrambling to process just how soft and smooth her skin was, and how much of it there was touching him.

“W-was it really?” Jaune asked in surprise. “I mean, you were amazing, Jess! But I was…?

“Yes, you were, silly!” her eyes sparkled in the moonlight streaming through her window as she raised herself up enough to grab his face and give him a kiss. “You were incredible, and sweet, and I loved every minute of it because it was with you.”

“Wow,” Jaune smiled to himself as he crossed his arms over his head, a smile of satisfaction settling on his face. Jessica groaned and rolled her eyes fondly.

“What? You called me ‘incredible’! That’s pretty high praise for a first time!”

“Oh you think so, do you?” she cocked an eyebrow. “You been doing research on first times or something, Jaune? Why would that be, hmmm?”

Jess couldn’t maintain a straight glare against the panicked look in his eyes, and she collapsed laughing onto his chest. Where her head remained. Which felt really, really good. Jaune reached down and brushed her hair, and the little moan of contentment she made made it even better.

“Jaune?” she murmured quietly.

“Yeah, Jess?”

“...I love you.” Her voice was barely a whisper, and her words made Jaune’s breath catch in his throat. He could feel her body tense up against him, and he swallowed hard as he prepared to say the words that had been on his mind for the past several weeks.

“I love you too, Jessica.”

Chapter Text

“...what do you mean you got into Beacon ?” 

Jessica’s slice of pizza fell from her fingers and landed upside down on the diner table with a wet splat, sending grease and tomato sauce spraying across both the surface, and her and Jaune. She didn’t care. Her boyfriend, who tripped over his own feet playing intramural volleyball, had just told her that he’d been accepted into the most elite combat school in Remnant.

“Just what I said!” Jaune answered, pointing his chin out defensively. “I applied on a whim, and they must’ve liked what they saw and accepted me!”

She continued to stare at him in disbelief. He’s lying. Even if this wasn’t completely unbelievable in the first place, it’s so obvious that he’s lying. Pain welled in her chest. One of the things she loved about the tousle-haired blonde boy was his frankness and openness; why was he being deceitful with her all of the sudden?

Taking a deep breath, Jess tapped into her Huntress training and tried to find her calm. Still, her voice trembled as she asked “Jaune… what the fuck did you do?”

His dark blue eyes blazed defiantly for a moment before his bravado collapsed under her gaze. “Is it… is it really that unbelievable that I could be a fighter, too?” he asked dejectedly.

Her hand went across the table and rested on his. “No, Jaune, I know you could be… but you didn’t go to combat school. You haven’t even unlocked your aura! And… like I said, Beacon is the school! It’s even more elite than Atlas! I’ve heard that it sometimes takes students with exceptional backgrounds who didn’t go to combat school, but… unless you’re secretly a superhero or something…”

Pulling his hand away, Jaune slumped back in the diner seat. “...I forged my transcript,” he muttered.

“You WHAT?!”

“I forged my transcript, okay?” he spat back, with more anger than she’d ever seen from him.

“Why in the Grimm-damned abyss would you do something like that?!” Jess exploded. “You don’t know how to fight, and it’s gonna be obvious the first sparring session you go to! That's… that’s if you even survive initiation without an aura! I’ve heard crazy stories about what Beacon gets up to for that!”

Jaune ground his teeth as he seethed, unable to meet her eyes.

“Why are you doing this, Jaune? I thought… I got into Haven Academy! It’s on another continent from Beacon! I thought… I thought the plan was you were going to apply to that culinary school in Vale that you liked, and then we could still be together-”

“I don’t want to be a damned cook, Jess!” Jaune slammed his fist on the table, making the silverware jump and their drinks tip over. “I’m not going to spend my life sitting around, baking cookies, okay? My grandpa, he was a big damn hero! He fought in the Great War, he saved people, he… he protected the world…”

“That doesn’t mean you have to, Jaune! You’re not him!”

“So what, you don’t think I can be? I’m not good enough to be a Huntsman?” he snapped.

Jess sat back, stunned. “T-that’s not what I said at all!”

“That’s what everyone thinks though. ‘Jaune the dork’, ‘Jaune the funny guy’... ‘Jaune the loser’.” He sniffled, wiping his nose on his sweatshirt. “What if… what if I want to be a hero, too?”

“...you don’t… you know I don’t think you’re a loser, Jaune!” Jessica’s own voice was strained. “You’re funny, you’re caring… until now, I thought you were honest! T-those are the things… that’s what I love about you, baby…”

Those blue eyes that she loved getting lost in, looking up at or staring down into, were brimming with both guilt and anger. “You deserve a knight, Jess,” he muttered.

The number of times she’d called Jaune ‘her knight’ slammed into Jess like a tidal wave. “Is that… that’s what this is about?” she asked incredulously. “Jaune, you already are my knight! You don’t have to be able to slay Grimm for me to feel that way! That’s… that’s not what I want!”

“It’s what I want,” he stated softly. 

Her breath shuddering, Jess pressed her face into her hands. “Okay. Okay, I understand that, but… baby, you’re going to get yourself hurt, or killed, trying to fake your way into being a Huntsman!”

“There it is again! You don’t think I’m capable, you don’t-”

“I know you aren’t, Jaune! Not for this!”

“-think I’m good enough…” the couple stared at each other hollowly as his voice trailed off, both feeling something break between them as Jaune finished his words.

“No, Jaune, not- that’s not what I… look, you can, you can join a sparring gym! Take combat lessons! Explore this a safe way! You can still withdraw from Beacon and-”

“I’m not doing that.”

The words hung like a dead weight in the air between them.

“Fine. So you’re going to insist on going off and doing this. On another continent! ” Jess threw her hands in the air, her frustration finally overtaking all of her efforts to be mature and understanding. “What does that mean for us?” A flicker of worry went through Jaune’s eyes. “Don’t tell me you didn’t even think about that? Well, maybe you didn’t, since you clearly aren’t thinking!”

“I thought… I figured we could do long distance? We can video chat every day…”

“I’m not laying in bed alone every night wondering if today’s the day my stupid boyfriend got himself torn apart trying to play Huntsman!” she snarled back. She took a deep breath. A lot of the teen girl magazines advise giving them ultimatums when they’re being stupid. That… that always sounded like a bad idea to me, but maybe it’s what I have to do?

“You need to make a choice, Jaune. This really bad idea? Or me.”

Jess could see the man she loved, that she really thought loved her, shaking on the other side of the table. The fact that it was taking him so long to answer her scared her more than any fight she’d ever been in, even the ones against live Grimm.

“...Jaune…”

“Then I guess we’re done,” he stated bitterly.

The words hit her like a shockwave. “You’re… you’re really going to throw me… throw us … away for this stupid scheme?”

His eyes were trying so hard to be angry, but Jess could see the wetness spilling out of them as her own misted over. Suddenly, Jaune stood, and tossed a handful of lien on the table. “I’m sorry you don’t think I can be your hero, Jess,” he muttered as he walked quickly past her and towards the door.

Jessica stared at the ruined meal, and her ruined life, in disbelief. Eventually, the tears caught up to the numbness inside, and her head dropped into her arms.

Chapter Text

“Hi-yaaa!”

Jaune brought Crocea Mors down in a savage chop, swinging with everything he had. He was pretty sure the blow would’ve taken the head clean of a Beowolf… if he’d been fighting such a beast.

Of course, Pyrrha Nikos deflected in handily, and tripped him with her spear for his trouble. He staggered as the momentum of his swing carried him forward… but this time, at least he didn’t fall. And, he was able to bring up his shield arm in time to catch the followup strike the Invincible Girl tried to land on him.

“Nice job!” she called out as she sprung back into a parrying stance. 

Jaune mimicked her and circled, sword coiled for a lunging stab. His heart soared at Pyrrha’s encouragement, but he checked his expression with a smirk. “Did you let me block you again, though?”

The redhead smiled at him and shook her head. “I honestly didn’t, Jaune. You blocked that all by yourself. You’re getting good!”

“I’m getting better,” he sighed, feinting a couple of jabs. Pyrrha thrust her spear in response, buying herself space to leap back and switch to her assault rifle. A burst of practice rounds exploded from Milo, but he caught them easily on his shield. “I’ve still got a long, long ways to go.”

It was Pyrrha’s turn to sigh. “Let’s just call it ‘a ways’. Maybe not even all that long?” 

Jaune gritted his teeth. “How can you honestly say that, though? I mean, compared to you-”

“Stop it, Jaune!” she snapped, immediately looking chagrined by the edge in her voice. “You can’t compare yourself to me. I don’t want to brag, but… I’m a champion . If you’re constantly comparing yourself to me, or… I don’t know, Yang… you’re never going to feel like you’re measuring up. You deserve to take credit for what you've improved!”

He dove, swinging low at Pyrrha’s knees. She deftly lept over his slash, opting to somersault instead of stabbing with her spear. “That sounds a lot like you’re saying I’ll never be good enough though!”

Pyrrha snarled and threw herself forward, switching Milo to a short sword and delivering a series of slashes of her own. Her movements were a blur in Jaune’s vision, but to his surprise, he found himself not only parrying her, but even counterattacking a couple times. “Stop. Putting. Words. In my mouth!” she emphasized with each strike. “There’s a big difference between ‘As good as me’ and ‘good’, Jaune.”

Their shields clashed together, and the two partners pushed each other back. Pyrrha relaxed for a moment, her bright green eyes brimming with earnestness. “You really are learning fast. You’re going to make a great Huntsman Jaune, sooner rather than later. You just need to stop beating yourself up so much.”

Jaune lunged again, feinting with a high strike before going for a low slash again. He was rewarded with a flicker of light from Pyrrha’s aura as his blade connected with her shin. “Gotcha!”

“See?!” Pyrrha exclaimed excitedly. “You tagged me!”

Jaune felt another surge of encouragement in his chest. Affirmation from Pyrrha really is one of the best feelings, isn’t it? Weiss definitely has it good in that department . Grinning, he decided to be unpredictable and strike again, before she expected anything from him. This time, he’d feint low and go high.

Pyrrha quickly demonstrated why she was the Invincible Girl. Jaune barely had time to see her brilliant smirk before she dropped and surged upwards, lifting him bodily with her shield and sending him tumbling over her head. Damn, she threw me high! he had a second to observe before he was falling again. His training kicked in and he pivoted his body to get his feet under him, but his landing was intercepted by Milo in spear form as the butt of the weapon slammed into his belly and sent him flying. Jaune tumbled across the training room before he bounced to a stop, gasping for breath.

When he looked up, Pyrrha was smiling down and offering him a hand up. With a groan, he reached up and took it, allowing her to hoist him to his feet. “So I tagged you!”

“One of those things is not like the other!” Jaune mumbled as he shook his head.

The lyrical charm of his partner’s laughter put a grin back on his face, though. “Seriously, that was a good spar! Time for a break, though?”

“I… think that’d be a good idea, yeah.”

The two trainee Hunters walked over to a bench facing a window and flopped down. Jaune tried to stretch the soreness out of his arms while Pyrrha fished in her cooler bag and retrieved a pair of chilled Sunflower Pops. Her partner took one gratefully, twisting off the cap and taking a long swig.

“You really think I’ve got a chance, Pyrrha?” he asked, reservation in his voice.

Giving him a soft smile, she leaned over enough to bump shoulders with him. “I really do, Jaune.” She paused and pursed her lips, evidently thinking carefully about her next words. “Look… I care about you, Jaune. As my partner, and as a friend. If I didn’t think you were on your way to becoming a Huntsman… if I still thought you were going to get yourself killed the next time you fight the Grimm…” her voice dropped. “I wouldn’t be telling you I thought you could.”

The sincerity in Pyrrha’s voice filled Jaune’s chest with warmth. “Pyrrha… you’re a really amazing partner, you know?”

The redhead smiled bashfully, a blush rising on her cheeks. Jaune realized, not for the first time since Team JNPR had been formed, that the Pyrrha Nikos he and his friends got to see was so much more genuine than the one whose face was plastered on billboards and product endorsements all across the kingdoms. It was an experience he felt enormously privileged to have.

“You’re pretty great yourself, Jaune.” They sipped their sodas in silence for a moment, watching the lights of the Vale skyline twinkle in the night outside the window. “It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?” Pyrrha murmured.

“Yeah… sometimes it’s hard to believe that just outside the walls it’s a wild land full of Grimm.” He paused. “That’s why I’ve got to get good enough… more than good enough. I need to be able to protect all of that,” he said, gesturing outwards. “I need to be the hero who can do that.”

Pyrrha hummed, and nodded. “Yeah… I think that’s a big part of why we all do it. We want to keep our world, the people we care about… each other… safe.” She gave her partner a sideways smile. “I’m not saying I approve of what you did to get into Beacon, and how incredibly risky it was, but… I understand why you did it.”

“At least somebody does,” Jaune muttered darkly, a hint of pain in his voice. Eyes widening, Pyrrha was about to follow up on his statement, but he seized the conversation initiative. “Speaking of beautiful… you got your dress for the prom picked out yet?”

“Oh, that was smooth, Jaune!” Pyrrha laughed. “Were I not a taken woman, who prefers women, you’d have gotten serious points with that one!” Jaune smirked and bowed playfully. “Yeah, I do,” she said softly, a soft smile spreading on her face as she continued. “I can’t wait for Weiss to see it.”

“I’m sure she’s gonna love it, Pyrrha. You two… the way both of your eyes sparkle when you look at each other… you’re so good together.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Makes me feel like a dumbass for wondering if I had a shot with Weiss when the semester started.”

Pyrrha sprayed soda out of her nose as she tried to stifle her laughter. Jaune’s cheeks burned while she struggled to recover her composure. “I’m sorry, Jaune… it’s not you, I swear. Weiss is just… really, really gay!”

“Well, at least I dodged that embarrassment!”

Pyrrha’s chuckles faded out as she finally recovered her composure. “What about you, Jaune? I know not every girl at Beacon is a lesbian! You must be drowning in sweethearts who want to go to the dance on your arm!”

Jaune deflated as he sighed and slumped on the bench. “Yeah, that’s… definitely not the case.” His dark blue eyes flicked over to his partner wearily. “Honestly… I don’t even know if I’m ready for that.”

“Oh?” Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. “I’m sensing a story here.”

“Not much of one,” Jaune grimaced. “Back in Domremy, I had a girlfriend, and… Jess is amazing.” His eyes grew distant and his voice wistful. “She’s smart, she’s kind, she’s beautiful… she actually earned her way into Haven.”

“Jaune…” Pyrrha rested a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, we don’t-”

“She loved me, so much. And… I love her. But then I threw it all away to come here.”

“Ahhh,” Pyrrha responded, connecting the dots between his statements about his fraudulent admission. “She didn’t approve.”

“She was sure I was going to get myself killed. And she was right, I probably would have… without you.”

“Oh Jaune,” she sighed, wrapping a comforting arm around his shoulder.

“I miss her, Pyrrha. I miss her so much!” A sob shook his body, prompting Pyrrha to hug him closer and rest her head on his shoulder. “I don’t even want to go to the prom with anyone else, even if they had asked me. I’m probably not even going to go.”

“Jaune… I can’t say I really understand. That month where I thought I’d lost Weiss was… it really fucking sucked. But I know the circumstances were different.” Pyrrha sighed, trying to find the right words to help her friend. “I’m not gonna say something pithy like ‘you need to move on’. Just… I think you can acknowledge your hurt and still find things to be happy about? I mean, even if you parted on bad terms… would Jess really want you to stay miserable over her?”

Wiping his nose on his sleeve, Jaune sniffled and looked up at her. “You really… yeah, I suppose you’re right. Maybe I should just fake it until I make it? I mean, it’s working for everything else so far, right?” he said with a hopeful smirk.

Pyrrha giggled. “Tell you what! I’ll be your winggirl there too!” As he cocked his head quizzically, she lit up the room with her grin. “You come out to the dance, and I guarantee I’ll keep your dance card full of pretty girls! And I’ll definitely save you one myself!”

Taking a deep breath, Jaune found himself unable to stop a grin from forming on his face. “Well, I’d be a real idiot if I turned down that offer, wouldn’t I?”

“You definitely would be,” Pyrrha hummed primly.

“Alright then… I guess I better find myself a tux!”

“Tomorrow,” she stated firmly. Standing, she flourished her sword. “Tonight though, we’re gonna do a few more rounds of you convincing yourself you’ve got what it takes to be a Huntsman!”

Chapter Text

Jess looked up from her book… whose page she hadn’t turned in at least an hour… at the chaotic gaggle of boys who came spilling through the door of their guest dorm at Beacon. “Jess! You missed out on the craziest food truck!” Sun exclaimed excitedly as he vaulted into his upper bunk.

“Check it out: raw fish!” Neptune gushed. “It was so good, they had so many crazy sauces! You’d have loved it!”

“You would not have loved it,” Scarlet remarked dryly as he sauntered in after the excitable teammates, closing the door behind him. “The disaster twins here spent most of the time daring each other as to who could snort the spiciest hot sauces up their noses.”

“Seriously?!” Jess groaned as she slumped in her chair. “How… how are either of you allowed out in public without a leash?” Sun and Neptune looked at each other and laughed. Shaking her head, she looked up and smirked. “...so, who won?”

“Neptune blinked in order to keep Sun from killing himself,” Scarlet answered before either of their teammates could launch into a more graphic retelling of their competition.

“Always the more mature of the two,” Jess rolled her eyes. “Thank you, Neptune!”

“Awww, Jess!” Sun whined. “Why do you always pick him?”

“See: ‘more mature’,” Scarlet responded as he fetched a Sun Pop from the fridge. “Admittedly, that’s a very low bar to clear.”

“Neptune, I’m feeling distinctly unwelcome here, bro,” Sun huffed as he hopped back down from his bed… and immediately grabbed his stomach. “Also, I’m not feeling too good, buddy.”

“Me either,” his blue haired teammate groaned as his belly audibly gurgled.

“OUT!” Jessica barked, pointing to their dorm room’s door. “Whatever is about to happen, it needs to be in the public bathroom! You two are NOT destroying ours with the consequences of your stupidity!”

As Sun and Neptune scampered out of the room, Jess sighed and collapsed back on her bed. Scarlet sat down next to her and patted her knee sympathetically. “Why, WHY am I having to play mom to those two overgrown man-children?”

“Because ‘the motherfucking patriarchy’, love,” her partner chuckled. “The cause of all problems since forever.” When Jess huffed, he looked down at her with a hint of concern on his face. “It really was a fun food cart. If you’d like, we could go back sometime for a more civilized meal.”

Levering herself back up into a sitting position, Jess pondered the offer. “Hmmm, maybe. I’ll… I’ll see how I feel.”

It was Scarlet’s turn to sigh. “Is that a for real ‘maybe’, or a ‘maybe’ like every one you’ve said that has turned into a ‘no’ since we got here?”

His teammate pouted up at him. “Scarlet, why are you calling me out like this?”

He threw an arm around her shoulder. “Because I’m concerned about you, Jess. You really can’t spend our entire semester abroad here hiding out in our room.”

“Are you sure about that?” she smiled weakly.

“Yes, yes I am. You can either come out with me of your own free will… or I task the chaos twins to abduct you and make you go have fun!” Rubbing her shoulder, his voice softened. “They’re really worried about you too, even if they suck at expressing it.”

Jessica let her head slump on Scarlet’s shoulder. “I know. I’m sorry I suck. I just… I know he’s here, and I really, really don’t want to see him.” Her voice caught on her words. “I gave him my heart, my body… everything, Scarlet! And he just… threw it away so he could chase his near-suicidal idea!”

“I know, baby girl. I know.” Scarlet kissed his partner on the head gently as she began to shudder with repressed sobs. Almost as soon as they’d been matched as partners, it’d become apparent to him that Jessica Cruz had a lot of relationship baggage. Fortunately, Scarlet had plenty of experience being a shoulder for his girl friends to cry on. He even felt like she’d been making progress moving on… until their team had been picked to represent Haven at the Amity Games. Which necessitated spending a semester at Beacon, the school her ex had broken up with her to go to.

If it’d been up to just the two of them, he’d have been willing to decline the games to spare her the experience. His partner was way too sweet of a cinnamon roll to have to have her wounds torn open again like this. But, Jess had been completely unwilling to deny Sun and Neptune the opportunity they were ecstatic about. As much as Jess and Scarlet got annoyed by their two teammate’s constant shenanigans, they really did care about the guys.

Jess sniffed as she wiped her tears away and brushed a neon green bang back behind her ear. “Nope, not gonna cry about this again …”

“It’s okay if you have to though, love,” Scarlet murmured into her hair. They sat cuddled like that for a while, until suddenly Scarlet snapped his fingers. “I got it, Jess! A way to break your funk!”

Turning her head, she looked up at him with a mix of skepticism and hope. He grinned down at her. “Beacon’s prom is coming up, and you, Jess, are going to be an absolute heartbreaker for it!”

His partner giggled. “Awww, thanks for the thought, but… I’m me , Scarlet…”

“Oh voids no you are not putting yourself down like that!” he chided her. “You are naturally adorable, and by the time we’re done dolling you up, you are going to have every boy in this place drooling over you!”

“Ew, boy drool,” she muttered, but Scarlet could see the sparks of interest lighting in her bright, ocean-green eyes. “But… it’s not like I’m going to find anyone to go with in time…”

“Oh, darling, you’re going with me!”

“Scarlet! That’s not fair to you! I know you’ve got your eyes on a couple cute boys here already!”

“Whatever,” he rolled his eyes. “I’d rather keep my options open anyways. Going with a guy just risks him trying to put me on lockdown.” Scarlet flipped his own bangs and gave his partner the brightest, most excited smile he could muster. “C’mon, Jess! What do you say?”

Jessica pondered for a moment. Honestly, I still don’t actually want to go… but Scarlet is so concerned for me, and excited about this idea! I can’t make him keep worrying like this… and maybe it’ll end up being fun? “Alright, partner, let’s do it!”

‿︵‿︵‿  ‿︵‿︵‿

This was a *fantastic* idea! Jess thought to herself as Scarlet escorted her into the Beacon ballroom. True to his word, her partner had helped her put together a look that was many, MANY steps above “teenage girl at a prom”. Black lace overlayed a shimmering deep emerald princess dress, tantalizingly sheer on her shoulders and her back. The gown cut off high enough on her shins to show off the shiny black stiletto boots she’d found, and they’d finished off her look with a white fur stole and strands of pearls on a golden chain woven into her hair. 

Scarlet had had to drag her away from twirling in front of the mirror to actually get her here, and she felt absolutely amazing. Especially hanging off his arm, with his immaculately-tailored ivory white tux that far outshone the rented tuxes most of the other boys were wearing.

“Told you we’d make you the belle of the ball, darling!” he grinned down as he noticed the beaming smile on her face.

“We make a pretty great team, huh?”

“You know it!”

Jess and Scarlet had also been practicing their dancing, and after she slipped the DJ some lien, they quickly had the opportunity to show it off as a spicy tango came on. “Think of it kind of like being in sync for a fight,” Scarlet had advised as she’d struggled to spin into his lift’s. “Except in this case, the enemy is sad shuffle ‘dancing’, and we are going to absolutely *slay* it!” Once she’d figured out how cross-applicable their combat training was to pulling off an intimate dance, they’d quickly mastered a routine that, when they’d previewed it for Sun and Neptune, had left both of their jaws on the floor.

“Scarlet, no offense bro, but it kills me that a guy who doesn’t like girls gets to do… something like *that*!” Sun had exclaimed. “Strictly platonic admiration of course, Jess!”

“I’m quite willing to show you two how it’s done as well, if you’d like,” Scarlet had winked, painting a brilliant blush on Neptune’s cheeks as Jess had laughed.

As Scarlet pressed her raised thigh to his hip and she threw her head back, Jessica tapped into her semblance to make the hardlight Dust crystals in her bangles fluoresce, putting on just enough of a light show to add some magic to their dance without making it abundantly obvious what she was doing. Flourishing into her semblance had been one of the best parts about going to Haven for her. Jess had known she had some basic ability to manipulate hardlight since her early days at Domremy and had quickly come to favor using her staff, Pale Flare, as a kind of blaster for the powerful energy. But with training and hard work, she’d learned to greatly amplify what she could do, creating both more intense attacks and sculpting almost anything she could imagine with the exotic substance.

As the song wrapped up, the mid-sized crowd that had circled around them on the dance floor hooted and cheered. Grinning ear to ear, Jess curtsied, then leaned in to whisper to Scarlet as their admirers dispersed with the start of the next song. “I’m not sure who had more boys oggling them, you or me!”

“Oh, me, obviously!” Scarlet teased her. “You’re beautiful, Jess, but have you seen me? ”

“Were I a boy, I would climb you like a tree!” she grinned. “Speaking of… I’m going to cut you loose to go do your thing while they’re still eyeing you up.”

“Sounds good. You get out there and get some too, gorgeous!”

“Right after I get a drink! I need to cool off just a little bit from that hotness.” 

Scarlet quickly set off into the crowd while Jess made her way to the punch bowl off the side of the dance floor, trying to bring her pounding chest back down to a reasonable heart rate as she sipped the sweet and spicy fruit concoction. As she made to head back out onto the floor, she definitely noticed several guys moving in her direction, making her heart flutter with excitement.

That was when she saw him.

Through a momentary clearing in the crowd, Jess couldn’t help but notice Jaune as he dipped a statuesque, gorgeous blonde woman low to the floor. When he brought her back up, she laughed heartily and kissed him, the face she used to gaze up at with love in her heart , on the cheek. A small audience of beautiful young women clapped and cheered, then the blonde dipped out and was replaced with- stars, is that Weiss Schnee? The heiress?! -and the two quickly took off across the dance floor.

All the excitement and confidence evaporated from Jess like it was Grimm smoke. The sweet, awkward dork of a boy she’d fallen in love with had glowed up dramatically without her, laughing his way through dances with billionaires and girls who could easily be models.

Was I… was I *wrong*? I thought he was throwing me away… but did I make the mistake? He’s so much better without me! Was I the one holding him back? Her empty punch cup crumpled in her hand, and raindrops of weak green light began to drizzle from her jewelry. Jess didn’t even notice the tall, handsome dark-haired boy and the spunky redheaded girl on his arm who sidled up to her.

“Hey, so we’ve never done this before…” he started.

“But we couldn’t help but notice you from across the room, and we… we *really* like your vibe…” his partner continued.

“Sorry, I have to go,” Jessica muttered reflexively as she turned and fled the ballroom, leaving two very confused attendees behind her. Her breath was ragged as she burst out of a side door into the cool Vale evening, drawing in deep gasps of fresh air as she tried to handle her racing thoughts. It wasn’t working. All she could do was see herself getting smaller and smaller as Jaune laughingly danced with a harem of gorgeous women. He wasn’t even laughing at her; she wasn’t even worth his attention anymore.

Jess started to run, only for one of the thin heels on her boots to snap and send her sprawling to the ground. The tears began to flow freely as she pushed herself to her knees and looked down at her scraped up hands and the dress that had made her feel so beautiful, now torn and ruined.

“FUCKING- AAARGH!” she screamed as she slammed her fist onto her other heel, breaking it off as well, and staggered to her feet. Fuck this place! Fuck the tournament, fuck him, FUCK ME! The sounds of the dance behind her receded quickly as Jess pulled out her scroll and began looking up flights back to Haven

Chapter Text

Hey there! Just a little update to let you know that, going forward, this story will be updated as part of the <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/52734082/chapters/133380283">consolidated Scattered Petals fic</a> I've put together. I'm going to leave this up, but it won't be updated here anymore.

If you haven't checked out all the other stories in this timeline, you really should, as they're going to be increasingly interwoven going forward.