It was always obvious.

The way we stuck together. His attachment to me. The way I protected him from everything. If you couldn't tell we had feelings for each other, you were blind. About as blind as I was.

I refused to believe he liked me. The signs that he liked me were clear, but I refused to believe they were true. I just thought he stayed close to me because I protected him, and because he was so vulnerable to other people. He was never vulnerable to Grimm. Whenever we went Grimm hunting, he'd be the one protecting me. But whenever we were in school, it was the complete opposite. He'd stay close to me.

I thought it was just him. Powerful in battle, but a scared child at school. I thought I was just his closest friend, so he stayed close to me.

I wish I'd accepted it sooner.

I finally accepted the signs that one night.

I had just come out from the bathroom, and I saw (Y/N) asleep in his bed. I smiled down at him for a moment. But that smile started to disappear when I realized he wasn't sleeping soundly.

He was shaking.

I grew concerned, and I bent down to check on him. I was going to shake him awake, but when I put my hand on his arm, I could immediately feel him starting to stop shaking.

I looked at his face, and he seemed to calm down.

I stared for a moment, and I thought about everything. I thought about how he stayed close to me, how he seemed to be uncomfortable whenever I took just five steps away from him. I started to wonder...

Did he feel the same way?

I decided to test it. I slowly and carefully bent down, and I kissed him on the cheek. As I sat up, I could see a small smile appear on his face.

"What'cha doin'?"

I turned around to see Yang watching, with a smirk on her face.

"I'm just... trying to find something out," I said.

"Find what out?" Yang asked.

"If he likes me," I said.

Yang got confused. "Like, if he 'like-likes' you?"

I nodded.

She paused for a moment, before she burst out laughing.

I shushed her. "The others are asleep."

"Sorry," Yang said, calming herself down. "Y-You really can't tell?"

"I-I could kinda tell," I said. "I just... didn't believe it."

"Ruby, he clearly likes you," Yang said. "Just tell him."

I looked down at (Y/N). As I looked at him, I wished I could see his (E/C) eyes.

"Alright, I'm gonna get some shut-eye," Yang said. "You can tell him tomorrow."

I looked at Yang as she lied back down, and closed her eyes. As she fell asleep, I looked back down at (Y/N). He looked so peaceful, and I didn't want to disturb him. But the more I looked at him, and the more I thought about it, I didn't want to tell him tomorrow. I wanted to tell him now.

I started to quietly shake him.

"(Y/N)," I said. "(Y/N)."

His eyes fluttered open, and he looked up at me.

"Hi, Ruby," he said.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked.

"Sure," he said.

"... In private?" I asked.

He hesitated for a moment, before sitting up. "Okay."

I stood up, took his hand, and led him out of the room. I led him through the halls, trying to think of a good place to tell him. This was going so fast, I didn't know where to go. Then, I remembered a good spot just outside the school.

I led (Y/N) out of the school.

"Ruby," he said. "Where are we going?"

"Just wait a second," I said.

Soon, we came to a cherry blossom tree on a hill near the cliff, showing a beautiful view of Vale and the moon in the sky.

"What are we doing here?" he asked.

"I just have something I need to tell you," I said.

"Why out here?" he asked.

"Y-You'll see," I said. Then, I took a deep breath, and I tried to find the right words. "So... ever since I first saw you, I've been... interested. You caught my attention right away." I wasn't liking it so far. I was just saying whatever came to my head, and I sounded like an idiot. "And whenever people hurt you, I've been keeping you safe. And you've been sticking close to me every second. And I... I like that. I like being with you all the time." I sighed, angry at how I was getting my feelings out. "Sorry, I sound like an idiot."

"It's fine," he said. "Where is this going?"

I stayed silent for a moment. I still don't know what was making me so nervous. I already knew he liked me. So, I took a deep breath, and I spoke.

"I like you," I said. "No, I love you. Ever since I first saw you. I love you, I love being around you, I love spending time with you, I just love everything about you. I would've told you in the morning, but I couldn't keep it in."

(Y/N) stared at me for a moment, wide-eyed. "R-Really?"

"Yeah," I said.

I waited for him to confess his own feelings. He was clearly taking a moment to process this, and I understood. I probably would've needed a moment to process that if he told me.

"I-I like you too," he said. "I've always felt... broken. Like I don't belong here. Like everyone hates me. You make me feel safe, secure. You make me feel like I belong. I'm scared when I'm not around you. You protect me, and you make me happy. If you aren't around, I feel alone."

I smiled. "So... are we...?"

"I guess," he said.

My smile grew, and I pulled him into a kiss. He stopped for a moment from the shock, but once it passed, he embraced me, and kissed back.

And in that moment, I thought about the situation. Things were already going pretty fast. It wouldn't hurt if I kicked it up a notch, right?

So, I slipped my tongue out of my mouth, and into his. I'm pretty sure he was shocked at first, but he went with it.

Once we finally separated, I looked at him with a huge grin.

"What?" he said.

"Want to have some fun tonight?" I asked.

"I'm sorry?" he said.

I pointed at the tie on my pajama pants. "Are you going to help me untie this or what?"

That was the best night of my life. I had never had so much fun, and I haven't had that much fun ever since.

I just wish I could've done it one more time.