The Restless Tides
Neptune couldn't find it in himself to answer Jaune. The guy had every right to be upset with him and honestly... if he were in Jaune's shoes he probably would've done the same thing. "Weiss Schnee asked you to the dance. What in the world could possibly keep you from go--"
"Can't dance!" he squeaked out. It had been the first thing to pop up in his mind and true to himself, he had let it slip out. He wasn't good under pressure and often failed miserably in such situations--socially anyway. Truth be told, he wasn't as "cool" as he made himself out to be. It was an image and an image he worked hard on. Scarlet and Sage were well aware of his forced coolness, but Sun it seemed was thankfully far too Sun to notice or give much thought to it, the lovable dork.
"Beg your pardon?"
"I can't dance, man," continued Neptune, deciding to roll with it. It was half true anyway, so it wasn't like he was completely lying to him. And it seemed effective too. Jaune had finally stopped his barrage of questions and seemed rather taken aback with him.
"But, you're... so... cool," rambled Jaune dumbfoundedly, gesturing to Neptune's overall appearance with his hand.
"Thank you. I try really, really hard," admitted Neptune.
"You would rather break a girl's heart, and go to a dance alone, than just admit to everyone that you can't move in rhythm to music?"
It was a split second decision. When Jaune put it so bluntly like that, and the fact that he was friends with Weiss and was probably going to tell her this, it sounded pretty lame and cruel. Okay, incredibly lame and cruel. Really, really cruel. "No..."
"What?"
Taking in a deep breath, he built up as much courage as he could. "Look, you're clearly a good friend." He really was. There was something about Jaune that made him feel like he could trust in the guy, and that if they got to spend more time together they might actually end up as best friends. They'd just gotten off on the wrong foot.
"Where are you going with this...?"
"So I can trust you, right?" asked Neptune, choosing to ignore Jaune's question for the moment or else risking what little courage he had right now. Jaune stared at him questioningly before slowly nodding. "You promise you won't tell anyone?"
Jaune seemed to be considering it for a moment and Neptune was about to give up and regret coming clean with him when Jaune let out a sigh and nodded. "Yeah, I promise. What's the real reason behind you turning down Weiss?"
"I-I like someone else." There. He had said it. And damn, it sure felt great to get it off his chest. Sun might not think he was good at keeping secrets, but when it came really important stuff, he could keep his mouth shut. The fact that Sun didn't know was proof enough of that.
"Who?"
Neptune shifted uncomfortably. "I'd rather not say." He really didn't want to. He had his reasons for keeping his crush a secret. At first he had been inclined to come completely clean with Jaune, but in the end he couldn't. He still couldn't be completely honest with himself, much less a stranger--a new friend. Jaune gave him a long, hard look and Neptune found himself avoiding his gaze yet again. "Look, if you want Weiss, she's all yours. I don't want to get in your way." That was quite possibly the most honest thing he had said to Jaune all night and it made him feel even worse.
"Does she know?"
"Weiss? No."
Shaking his head Jaune clarified. "The girl you actually like."
"I don't think so... Actually I'm pretty sure that, uh, she doesn't even know I like her as more than a friend," he explained.
"But you like her," pointed out Jaune.
Neptune nodded. "... She's... pretty cool."
"Then just go talk to her. No pick up lines, no suave moves. Just be yourself. I've heard that's the way to go," advised Jaune, the annoyance in his tone dropping.
"Yeah, but--"
"Hey, you don't have to act cool all the time. In all honesty if you could be a little less cool, I'd really appreciate it."
The annoyance in his voice was spiking back up again, and he had reason to, but the problem was that it was more complicated than what Jaune made it out be. "Yeah... okay," he muttered, not able to muster up the courage to properly explain the situation. "Thanks. You're a really cool guy, Jaune. I'll talk to Weiss, clear things up with her."
"Alright, don't lie to my face,"sighed Jaune, accepting his offer of making amends by returning his fist bump.
He left Jaune outside to go back inside and look for Weiss. Jaune had a point and he was right. He was acting like a jerk and the least he could do was apologize to Weiss and give her some kind of explanation... even if it was going to be half true.