Oh, love me
Mister, oh, Mister!
Can you make me believe
This is not a dream?

Walker honestly didn't remember why he decided to come to this dance. Was it the punch that he knew Ren had made? Was it because Skyler finally nutted up and Walker could get some closure to his team leader's relationship status? Was it because Dante grabbed his arm and said "You're going to the dance and you're going to like-" oh yeah, that's why.

He let out a groan of annoyance. You'd think Dante would be happy enough that he somehow coerced Hazel into going with him, but apparently not; he had to drag his partner along with him too. Speaking of that first thing, Walker spotted the two clinking together the plastic cups of juice, smiling, laughing, and generally seeming to have a good time.

Despite his current situation, he couldn't help but feel happy for Dante. After seeing that abysmal ask strategy that Auriel had seemingly tricked him into, at least it paid off. Walker sighed, chuckling a bit at the memory of catching Dante with that sign and butter.

Hey Mister
Oh, Mister
Is it sad that my heart's
Beating frantically?

Walker was far from the only person here who came alone. He looked to see a surprising amount of people here without a date, including, but not limited to, Ruby (which was no real surprise), Jaune (again, no surprise there), the entirety of Team ATUM (who seemed to come as a group?), Pyrrha (okay, how the hell - oh yeah, Jaune's an idiot), and... Weiss?

He blinked in confusion at that revelation. Walker was fairly certain that Ruby's partner had been planning to come here with Neptune, but there she was, sitting in a chair near the corner of the gym, alone, with Neptune nowhere in sight.

Just my feelings alone
Make me lose my breath
Then you give me that look
And I'm over the edge

Walker thought for a few seconds before shrugging, Well, misery loves company.

And with that, he headed over to the punch bowl, got an extra cup, and paced over to Schnee heiress, sitting down next to her. Weiss jumped slightly, having only just noticed him via the sound of him taking the seat.

She blinked at him a few times before speaking up, "Uh... can I help you?"

Walker sighed, "I guess we're doing this now... I noticed you were over here all by yourself at a party you were preparing, not even looking proudly at what you had helped create."

You and I
My, we play
Quite a dangerous game

He then reached the extra cup of punch to her, "Which most likely means something went wrong at the last minute, so I figured I might as well investigate. What, did Ruby accidentally get the wrong shade of red when it's actually the same shade and you're just stubborn?"

Weiss snorted indignantly, but still gingerly took the the cup out of his hand, "Hardly. It's... personal."

"Yeah, I get that," Walker replied, taking a small sip from his cup, "I wasn't going to come initially, but you aren't the only one with an overly enthusiastic partner."

That at least earned him an earnest giggle, "Yeah, that seems like something Williams would do."

Love is war!
Love is war!
Love is war!!

They were quiet for a few more seconds before Weiss spoke up again, "How do you handle it?"

Walker raised an eyebrow, "Care to be more specific?"

"You're whole... family thing," she elaborated, "I'm not asking you to explain what your situation is, but, well, you at least seem more... put together than I do. There's so much pressure on me as the heir to the SDC, and I at least think I'm doing well with it, but... well-"

"Sometimes it gets overwhelming and you feel the weight of expectations crushing you to the ground?"

"Yeah..."

Can you tell me
The answer, please?
Can't you see
I'm down on my knees?

Walker paused before looking at the ceiling, "Well then, I do believe we have the opposite problem when it comes to family. You get too much attention, and I don't get enough. In that case, I don't know what exactly to say to help you. What brought this up?"

The Schnee heiress sighed, "I think I was just recently reminded of my general standing. Some... insecurities came up, I suppose. That perhaps I'm not good enough for anyone really. Not for the company, my father, my teammates, or even just getting someone to come with me to this stupid dance."

I'm begging
Please tell me the secret of
Obtaining your love!

It was at this point that Walker put two and two together. She hadn't chickened out and didn't ask Neptune to the dance or something like that. She was rejected. And that... refused to make sense in Walker's mind for whatever reason. Sure, Weiss could be bratty at times, but the appeal was still there, and even her negative traits were slowly getting ironed out in her time here at Beacon. Perhaps the most eligible bachelorette in the entire country at the moment.

So how the hell did Neptune, the suave ladies' man, who shamelessly flirted with her upon first contact, turn her down? Walker decided to push that to the side for now. Weiss' insecurities first, confront Neptune later. Because Walker suddenly felt rather peeved at him, and he found that odd. Again, questions for later.

Oh, love me
Oh, love me
Mister, oh, Mister

"...Well, I suppose you tie yourself to the bonds you've made yourself," he finally spoke up.

At her look of confusion, he continued, "It's something I've been slowly coming to terms with. We may have opposite family issues, but I believe that the solutions may be the same. Maybe it's just Dante slowly chipping away at me, but I think I'm beginning to believe that the place we were born into matters very little in the long run."

He turned his head to look her in the eyes, "The circumstances of our birth are irrelevant, and what we do with our life determines who we are."

Can you make me believe
This is not a dream?
Hey Mister, come on, Mister
With the sound of your voice put a spell on me

Weiss held his gaze for a few moments, soaking in his words. Ever since Neptune turned her down, she'd been grappling with her place in the world. It was then that she realized that she never really had a goal of her own. Being born into the Schnee family had seemingly robbed her of choosing her own path. Even after she graduates from Beacon, she held little doubt that she'd be forced to go right back to Atlas to continue being the good little heiress her father wanted her to be.

She was barely a person in the eyes of Jacques Schnee; merely a tool to carry on what he started.

But now, after considering Walker's words, she suddenly realized why Winter had forfeited her own position as heiress. Her sister became a soldier because being under Jacques lacked the freedom to do what she wanted: to protect innocents and those she loved. The people she befriended with her own free will.

Tried to hold back my love, but I no longer can
So I'll give you my heart, everything that I am
You and I, my, we play
Quite a dangerous game

Despite this realization, she kept calm and even snarked, "What, was that a quote from a cat poster?"

Walker smirked, "Dante got it from a children's movie."

After that, it was like a dam broke. They both cracked up at this entire situation. It felt... nice, in a sense, to break the tension and just enjoy the presence of others. And of course, neither of them noticed that Neptune, who had previously been approaching them, had stalled at the sight before looking down in disappointment and walking away.

Love is war!
Love is war!
Love is war!!

At some point during this, Weiss' eyes wandered to the dance floor and spotted her blonde teammate dancing with her date. Yang's gaze was already on Weiss however, and as soon as their eyes met, the blonde's eyebrows wiggled suggestively. At that, the white-haired girl's breath hitched, halting her laughing with a few coughs and a red face.

Walker's laughing came to an end much more naturally as he also gazed across the dance floor. He seemed to be deep in thought before turning to her again.

"Hey... do you wanna-"

His question was interrupted by the uproarious laughter that came from where they both were looking previously, causing them to look back to the crowd... and almost immediately regretted it. They then bore witness to the sight of Jaune Arc in a white dress briefly talking to Pyrrha before the entirety of Team JNPR took to the dance floor like squirrels to climbing.

It was... quite a sight.

Love is war!
Love is war!
Love is war!!

Walker and Weiss stared in... well, they weren't sure what emotion they were feeling. Horror? Astonishment? Confusion? Some mixture of all three? They weren't sure. And it was at that moment that Weiss' shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Well, at least I'm not suffering alone," she muttered, holding up her juice cup, "Cheers?"

Walker clinked his own glass against her's, "Cheers."

And they both downed their drinks in one go.

Love is war!
Love is war!!
LOVE IS WAR!!!
______________________________________________
At first, I wasn't quite sure what to do with this chapter. My first draft was actually Skyler confessing to Yang after Hazel tells him to get his act together, but that got somewhat rewritten into last chapter, with Hazel being replaced with Blake. And it was some time after that when I realized that romance is not at all my strong suit, which is strange, considering how much of a shipper I can be.

It's not that I feel bad about my romance writing, but I do feel it to be subpar when compared to everything else, especially once pairings becomes official. I find myself much better at writing the buildup, aka building actual friendships between characters. And it was at that moment when I figured, "Hey, I haven't focused on Walker in a bit. Let's make him talk to Weiss." And I decided to mess with canon just a tiny bit.

And my God, was writing that conversation tough. I know that's kinda obvious from how long it took for this chapter to come out, but usually when I write stuff, it all comes out naturally and in one go. But this dialogue was unnecessarily difficult to pin down, which should not have been the case for two characters who have more in common than even I initially realized. Guess I'm gonna have to get used to that...

Song used is "Love Dramatic" by AmaLee. Because obviously. Gotta officially end the Love Is War shenanigans with the first OP. Till next time guys!