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Chapter Text

Jaune had never seen Pyrrha so tired before. She could fight a whole team in combat class by herself without even breaking a sweat, she could tear countless Grimm to pieces in mere seconds, and she was one of the few people who was able to deal with Nora when she was in the middle of one of her sugar rushes after a maple syrup overdose.

So, seeing his partner struggling to even keep her eyes open and her head from falling straight into her notebook that was, for the first time, without any notes from their class, was quite worrying.

Pyrrha had spent the whole weekend in Mistral. Her mother had suddenly called her at a Thursday night, and the only thing Jaune was able to pick up from their rushed conversation was something about contracts and problems with one of her sponsors, as well as understanding that the girl's presence was unquestionably required.

Then, when Friday came, knowing best than to question her strict mother, Pyrrha was on a plane to her hometown as soon as classes ended for the day. It all happened just as suddenly as it sounds.

His partner only got back to Vale Monday at dawn - when she arrived at Beacon. Pyrrha only had time to throw her luggage in their dorm, grab a little something to eat and put on her uniform, because it was almost time for class. But even if his partner did all of that with incredible speed - all the while muttering how she firmly believed that all that stuff could have been solved without her having to leave Vale - he still could tell she was a wreck.

Jaune was supposed to look out for his teammate's well-being, as it goes since he was their team leader; and as such, he insisted she skipped class for the day to have some much-needed rest. Still, Pyrrha was having none of it. They had an assignment from Professor Peach due that day - which she had, apparently, completed during this mess of a weekend too - and it was also required the student’s presence as its final evaluation.

"And besides...” She started, but a yawn interrupted the sentence. "…It's Monday, we only have classes during the morning. I can handle a few more hours…"

"But-"

"Jaune, I'm fine. Stop worrying." She gave him the tiniest smile he has ever seen, and he could tell that even that required a big effort from her.

Realizing that trying to reason with a sleep-deprived Pyrrha was going nowhere - and arguing with her was just a waste of her already scarce energy, really - he decided to just give up. "Ok, fine. But don’t expect me to wake you up when you fall asleep in the middle of the class."

Pyrrha just answered with an indistinct mumble, and continued to walk in the direction of their classroom.

Except that, that was definitely not the direction of their classroom.

He just sighed and gently tugged her by her arm.

"Pyrrha, no… This way."

Her response was to blink, following him blindly.

This was going to be a long morning.

Luckily, for them, the class was very short. Professor Peach just asked them to turn in their assignments, spoke briefly about them right after; requested the reading of a new chapter of the textbook for next week and then she was gone. The class that was supposed to go for the next few hours only lasted around one hour and a half. Really, what was up with that woman? If Jaune hadn’t had this subject with her, he would swear that the Professor didn't even exist.

However, this one hour was enough to drain completely the remaining energy from Pyrrha. She was supporting her head with her hand, with her eyes barely open. When the students started to gather their stuff to leave, she just gave in and let her head fall on the table.

"C'mon Pyrrha, now you can finally get some rest." He tried to cheer her up and touched her shoulder, but she didn't even move. But she did mumble something between a yawn that vaguely resembled “I think I'll just take a nap here.”

"Wouldn't you rather sleep on your bed?" He invitingly asked in return, presuming she did say what he thought she had said.

"…Yes?"

"Then let's go."

"Just ten more minutes…” She adjusted her arms on the table so she could lay on them.

"You're always telling me that sleeping on the desk is not good for my posture."

Pyrrha opened one eye, and for a second he thought that he had won the discussion.

"You sound like my mother."

He sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I think I just sound like you." She made a face and he laughed. "Let's go. Team leader orders."

"Can't." She closed her eyes again and turned her head right, facing his opposed direction.

"And why is that?"

"Mmr… Headache." That only made him more worried.

"You have a headache?" Realizing that the volume of his voice could be bothering her, he lowered his tone to a whisper. "That's just one more reason to why you should go to bed."

"Mhmh." Pyrrha agreed with him, but still didn't make a single effort to get up. And Jaune? He could only softly roll his eyes at the scene.

After more than one year living and studying together, Jaune knew Pyrrha could be stubborn sometimes. Yet it was that good kind of stubbornness, like when she refused to give up teaching some new combat technique to him even after he thought he was helpless. Despite that, now she was reminding him of his little sisters - too tired from watching TV past their bedtime, but at the same time, refusing to go to their comfy bed.

Usually, with his sisters, he would bribe them so they could go to their room, but he knew this tactic would not work on his partner; for he had nothing to offer her and he didn't want to talk much because of her headache.

Besides, there was another solution. It didn't involve a lot of talking, and that was good; however, it was a little bit more… complicated.

Still, he couldn't just leave her there… Falling asleep in an uncomfortable classroom desk with a headache hammering on her temple. So, Jaune looked around; the room was empty, and all the other students were long gone. Ugh, fine. He would offer her this option, and if she didn't accept, then she would just have to deal with it.

Jaune circled around the stand to get her from the other side, since she was, fortunately, at the right end of it, and that would make his job way easier.

Her head was buried in the crook of her arm, so he poked her on her shoulder.

"Pyrrha, as your partner, I refuse to leave you here." Jaune began, and the other half of his partnership didn't even stir. "So, if you help me a little bit, I-I'll… I'll carry you to the dorms, ok?"

For a moment Jaune thought that she had already fallen asleep and didn't hear a single word he just said; but then her head moved by an inch, and he heard an almost inaudible “What?”

Pyrrha’s reaction nearly got him to backtrack and just pretend that he didn't say anything, but he took a deep breath and insisted.

"I'll carry you. You're not doing fine and you need to get some proper rest in a real bed." He tried, this time with a more assertive air.

Jaune couldn't believe he was doing this. There was no way she was going to accep-

"Hmmr. Fine..." Pyrrha groaned, sitting as straight as she could in the chair. "How…?" She waved her hand lazily in his direction.

"Oh." Carrying her bridal style was out of the question, that would be really embarrassing. So, Jaune resigned himself to the same way he did with his little sisters, he guessed it would have to do.

Turning around, he then crouched and requested, "Just… hop on?"

Jaune looked over his shoulder when she didn't respond, his eyes meeting her tired ones; she just blinked slowly, this was a bad idea.

Then she got up, wrapped her arms around his neck - one of her hands gripping her notebook and pen tightly - and jumped on his back. He wasn't expecting her to jump in so fast, however, years of his sisters hopping on his back demanding piggyback rides without warning kept him from falling. His hands moved instinctively to get a grip on her legs, adjusting her weight on his back. She was, obviously, heavier than his little sisters were, and definitely way taller.

"Are you all set?" He asked her. Pyrrha then wiggled a little and hugged him tighter, muttering an affirmative sound on his shoulder.

"O-ok, let's go", he started walking, finally leaving the classroom.

Thank the Gods the hallways were empty, another advantage of being dismissed earlier. He really did not want many people seeing them like this.

But if someone saw them… it's not like it was a big deal, right? He was just helping his partner. There was nothing weird about carrying your sleepy teammate on your back, right? Yeah! Right! Jaune was just trying to help. Absolutely nothing weird with a girl clinging on your neck. He could feel her every breath on his skin, the strong muscles of her legs on his palms, her chest against his back, plus something lightly tickling behind his left ear…

Wait…

That wasn't right.

"P-Pyrrha?" He was definitely feeling something going through his hair now. "What are you doing?"

"Hmmm? Nothing..." She answered slowly. Except it was the exact opposite of nothing because he could feel a finger tracing circles on his head. "Your hair is just really nice..."

"W-what?" He stuttered, feeling his face heat up. Why was she doing this now?

"Hmhm." She agreed and let out a short weak giggle, even though this was not the answer he was looking for. Pyrrha then proceeded to press all her fingertips in a spot behind his ear, sliding them outward until all her fingers were buried in the messy strands afterward. "Soft…"

Jaune could feel his blush spreading to his neck and ears. "S-stop that!"

She giggled again, and ignored his plea completely, continuing to play with a lock of his hair. He took a deep breath. After all, it was just her lack of sleep acting.

But, he hated to admit, this was really nice.

Yep, he really hoped no one saw them like this.

Finally, they got to their dorms without incidents. Jaune could feel his back aching for carrying Pyrrha all this way, even though the building they were having their class was the one closer to the dorms.

She had settled down with his hair halfway through the route and was probably asleep again, which was good, because he didn't feel like he was going to combust in embarrassment anymore; even though a small fraction of his brain kept telling him that he didn't want her to stop because he was enjoying it. Naturally, Jaune just shushed these thoughts away; this was not the time for this. Now was time to figure out how to grab his Scroll and unlock the door without dropping his partner on the floor.

"Pyrrha?" He whispered. No response. "Hey, Pyrrha?" He tried again, a little bit louder this time, and he felt her stir. "I need to unlock the door. I'll have to let you go for a moment."

Her only response was to groan. Jaune could swear she was complaining.

"C'mon is just for a second, your bed is waiting on the other side." That seemed to be what she wanted to hear, because her legs started to move. He slowly loosened his grip on them, expecting her to place her feet on the floor. Instead, she crossed them over his torso - very much like a baby koala would - and tightened her hold on his shoulders.

He yelped, self-conscious of the high pitch, not expecting this shift of balance; he quickly managed to get back to a solid stance all the same while placing his hands on the door and keeping his feet apart.

"Hm… I guess this works too..." She hummed an agreement on his neck; he could feel his face hit up all over again. Pyrrha was just really close now.

He withdrew his Scroll and punched the code to unlock the door as quickly as he could. Fortunately, the device was in his coat pocket, and not somewhere like the back pockets on his pants. That would have made things way more complicated.

Jaune let out a breath of relief when the satisfying beep of the code being accepted sounded through the hall, anticipating the moment where he would be able to stretch his back again. The room per se was empty, Ren and Nora having agreed to spend the day out in order to not disturb Pyrrha while she rested. So, as soon as they were dismissed from class, they headed to Vale to check out this new arcade, and maybe try not to be banned from this one for a change.

He didn't even take one single step forward before he noticed the problem. Or, should he say, problems.

Pyrrha's luggage was still all over her bed, her pillow was probably stored in the closet; besides, her mattress was bare, since they usually take out the sheets to wash every Sunday, and this time was no exception.

Jaune sighed. He decided that putting her on his bed for a while was the best option - knowing from experience not to trust Nora's, as it had a serious chance of exploding; Ren's was always so perfectly and neatly made that he could never bring himself to disturb it. He took ahold of her legs again, finally stepping into the room and closing the door with his foot. Turning his back to his bed when he completed the trajectory, he lowered himself so he could sit Pyrrha safely on the mattress. "There. Here we are. Unfortunately, your bed is a mess, but you just sit here in mine for a bit while I sort yours out. Ok?"

"Hmmm." Was her answer. He decided to take that as an 'alright' of some sort. "So... can you let me go now?”, even though she was already sitting on his bed, her arms were still wrapped around his neck and her legs crossed over his torso. Pyrrha didn't let go; in fact, it seemed her grip on him only got stronger. He could feel the flush rise on his cheeks… again. "Fine, you can just take a nap in my bed while I get your bed ready then."

His knees were starting to hurt from his crouching position when she finally decided to move. He could swear it was like she was lagging - he would ask her to do something, and she would only answer seconds later. Jaune could not blame her though; she was pretty tired after all.

Slowly, but surely, they made progress. He placed her feet on the floor, while her arms uncrossed from his neck; though her hands stopped before she parted completely, and clung to the collar of his coat.

"Mh... need to take these off…" She muttered in his ear.

WAIT, WHAT?!

He must have heard wrong, her words were totally mumbled anyway; there was absolutely no way she just said he needed to take off his shirt or something like that. Nope.

His face was on fire, plus he was too shocked to let out even an "Excuse me? " so what came out instead was just a weird choking sound. However, before he could do something about it, Pyrrha let him go, and then pushed him away with all the force a sleep-deprived person could muster. Even so, he barely stopped himself from falling face down on the floor, and when he turned around to see what she was doing, he just found her taking off her heels.

Oh! That's what she meant.

Jaune let out a breath he didn't notice he was holding and shook his head. “Focus on your task!”  He mumbled under his breath. Getting up from the floor, he went to work on her bed. He started placing her luggage on the floor - a backpack and a bag that was heavier than he expected, probably because it contained the metal parts of her combat gear. From time to time, he glanced at his partner to see how she was doing; it looked like she was moving in slow motion. She had just tossed one of her shoes to the side and was now fighting with the straps of the other as he went to the closet to retrieve some clean sheets and a pillow. When he got back, she was finally free from her heels, tilting her head back lazily and letting out a pleased sigh.

Although, apparently, she was not done yet. She bent down slightly again and began to take off her long socks, the dark fabric slowly being replaced by her pale skin. Jaune had already lost count of how many times this happened this morning - this thought running quickly through his mind as he felt himself blush again - and he should definitely stop staring like an idiot because the pillow was not fitting in the pillowcase, probably because he was trying to fit it sideways.

Finally, he was able to shove the stupid pillow in its place. He started unfolding the bedsheets to place them on the mattress then, but a frustrated groan came from his partner, interrupting him in the middle of his task.

It appeared she had given up taking her socks off when it passed her knee, probably too tired to fully bend to pull out the rest, and was now just repeatedly picking the elastic border, which was all tied up in the middle of the crumpled fabric she had already pushed down her thighs. With her eyes closed and an annoyed expression on her face, she kept muttering something that was, probably, really insulting to the socks; as if doing that would just magically remove the rest of it.

Jaune’s first thought was that he should probably help her, then not even a second passed and he slapped himself mentally, that would be just… wrong.

Yet she was struggling because of some dumb socks, and Pyrrha and struggle didn't even belong in the same sentence.

He sighed; he was too kind for his own good. "Hmm… Do y-you… need some help with that?"

Her eyes cracked open by a small fraction. She tilted her head to the side, processing his question; then Pyrrha closed her eyes again and just barely stretched her legs forward.

So that was a "yes".

He couldn't believe he was doing this. It seemed like this phrase was his mantra for the day.

Turning to her direction, he sat on the floor in front of her and shot a quick glance to her face to see if she was really okay with this, after all, he didn't want her to freak out suddenly and kick him in the chin or something like that. Then he noticed the bags under her eyes, broadcasting how obvious it was how utterly exhausted she actually was; Pyrrha just needed someone’s help at this moment.

So, no big deal, right? When his mother was busy, Jaune helped his little sisters get ready for their ballet performances and school dances all the time; he knew how to handle some socks. He just needn’t think too hard about it.

First, he started with the one that was already halfway off. Jaune gripped the fabric that was bundled under her knee with both of his hands and pushed down, blushing and looking away from that enticing movement. The sock slid down slowly so as not to alarm her, following the curve of her calf easily. In the end, he didn't even need to look directly to see what he was doing, and with less than five seconds he was already tossing it with her shoes.

Now, the other one was a bit more of a problem. It was still all the way up her thigh, the border hidden under her skirt; and by the gods, he was definitely not going to put his hands there, Jaune wasn't this low. He wondered for a second then if someone could die from embarrassment, because that was all he felt at the moment.

Then, before he could start regretting his decision to help her, he cleared his throat and asked, "C-can you… p-pull down the other one a little bit f-first?"

After a few seconds of delay, Pyrrha let out a tired sigh; without even opening her eyes, her hand moved down to do what was just requested of her. He averted his gaze quickly at the same time, not risking the chance of seeing things he was not supposed to see. Jaune was pretty sure his face was stuck in a very deep shade of red by now.

She let out a grunt; he was almost mastering her sleep-deprived language, so it probably meant she was done. He hesitantly looked back to her to find her other sock pushed a few inches down her skirt. Well, it was totally better than before, though he would have preferred if it was a little bit lower, like maybe on the floor. He scoffed. Who was he kidding? Jaune was enjoying this much more than he was trying - and probably failing - to let on.  But he decided to end this as soon as possible, and asking her to move it again would only make this saga last even longer than it already had.

He took hold of the elastic border that was on her thigh and slid down, repeating the previous process once more. Now that he hadn't a bundle of fabric ready for him to hold, his fingertips brushed over her skin, which was really smooth by the way; he felt like his whole body was blushing. Her legs seemed to go on forever... why did she have to be so tall? Pyrrha let out a tiny satisfying hum at his touch, and his face invented a brand new shade of red.

Why was this happening to him?

Perhaps if he took it out without looking like he did with the other one, it would be better for his mental health. So he closed his eyes, and, nope, bad idea, that only made his brain focus on the sensation of his fingers sliding on her skin and the sound of almost inaudible sighs escaping from her throat.

Hence, the snapping of his eyes wide open, and, as fast as he could, trying to find something else to focus on, only to find Pyrrha fidgeting with the golden button of her uniform jacket. It unclasped easily, giving way for her to start removing the intruding cloth. Taking off a jacket was such a trivial action, he’s already seen her doing this every day after class for the last year; yet something about her slow movements, the way the fabric slid down her shoulders and arms, revealing the white shirt underneath it, was almost hypnotizing.

She threw the piece of clothing on the floor next to him without even thinking, or caring; Jaune looked up at her face then, only to find her half-open eyes staring back. Pyrrha blinked slowly at him and looked down; following her gaze only to find out that he got distracted from his main objective. His hands were still on her legs, the sock yet to be completely removed. So Jaune muttered a sorry!, and Pyrrha’s only answer was a sound that could maybe be interpreted as a giggle or a tiny snore.

Finally, after a small eternity, he threw the sock in the general direction he had with her other stuff. He exhaled. This simple task made him feel out of breath for some reason and lasted longer than he expected.

A realization came to him at that moment; if someone happened to open the doors a few seconds ago, and finding him helping to undress his partner while she was sitting on his bed, they would most likely get a really wrong idea. Jaune felt his already dark blush spreading to his ears and neck. “It wasn’t like they were doing something wrong! Plus, he was just trying to help! She was tired from a stressful weekend, barely having the energy to speak, and with a headache to top it off!”, he reasoned with himself.

“Oh! The headache! Oh, yeah, that’s right.”

He had almost forgotten about it. "Hey, do you need some medicine or something like that?"

Pyrrha shook her head negatively. "Already took one…" She sighed. "Just need to… hm…" His partner didn't finish her sentence, preferring instead to show what she meant by moving her hands up to her head to remove the circlet lying there, and then placing the golden piece on the nightstand next to his bed. Next, she raised her hands again and started tugging her hair tie out to undo her ponytail. When she wasn't getting the tie to come out, she let out a frustrated groan; then looking at him with a tiny pout on her lips, he already knew what she wanted without her even needing to ask.

Jaune just changed his position from sitting to kneeling in front of her instead. His partner closed her eyes at the same time as he put his hands on her hair tie, pulling it out gently; he did not want to accidentally tug a strand and end up hurting her accidentally. The little elastic band slid off smoothly; and when it was almost halfway down her long hair, she lowered her head until she was laying her forehead on his shoulder, causing his breath to hitch.

He finally got rid of the hair tie, her red hair cascaded down her back, and, for a moment, he felt a sudden urge to run his fingers through it. Jaune just shook his head lightly instead. What was he thinking?

His hands were being attracted to her shoulders in order to push her away from him; but as he started doing just that, she groaned in protest, not wanting to be moved.

"C'mon Pyrrha." He pushed her a little bit stronger. It made her stir a bit, so he kept insisting. "I still have to finish getting your bed r-" She raised her head with his last push, his words getting caught up on his throat suddenly; he had to bite his tongue to prevent a gasp from escaping. Jaune had forgotten how rare it was for him to see Pyrrha with her hair down; she always had them tied in a ponytail, or, sometimes, a messy bun, so he could probably count on his hands the exceptions to the standard way in which he found her hair.

She tilted her head to the side, and kept looking at him through her half-lidded eyes, probably wondering what had caused him to stop so abruptly. His heart skipped a beat. She does look really cute like that.

Wait. What. Nope. What?

"Hmm, Er… Do y-you need something else?" He took his hands off her shoulder; she just looked around slowly.

Then in a blink of an eye, she let herself fall on his bed like a ragdoll. Turning around to lay on her stomach, she moved her legs around the mattress until she found a comfortable position, her hands curled around the sheets as she let out an involuntary moan of relief. He just pretended he didn't hear that; it's not like he could blush even harder anyway.

Putting into consideration that his partner was going to be probably out cold for at least the next few hours, Jaune closed the curtains to make the room darker for her to sleep; then he went back to her bed, happy to be able to focus on something else.

When he was almost done with the sheets, however, he surprised himself when he wasn't able to hold back a yawn from escaping; it looked like Pyrrha's drowsiness was contagious and had just caught up to him. After carrying her all the way to the dorms, his back begged for rest; a nap wouldn't be a bad idea right now. In fact, it was a top priority in his must-do things at the moment.

Yet his bed was occupied and he didn't want to sleep in Pyrrha's bed without asking for permission; she probably wouldn't mind, but still.

So he decided to try something. He walked to her side, crouched down and whispered, "Hey Pyrrha, are you awake?"

Surprisingly, she answered with a small grunt, so he continued. "Do you want to move to your bed?" 

She made a face as if she thought his question was the most stupid thing she ever heard and buried her face in his pillow, muttering a tired but firm "No."  

He sighed; guess he wouldn't be taking a nap here after all. But Pyrrha was the one who really needed rest, not him.

"Fine. I'm leaving then if you don't need anything else." She didn't move, so he straightened his back and turned around to leave.  

However, before he could even take a step, a hand on his wrist stopped him in his tracks. He looked back at Pyrrha, wondering what else she could ever need right now. She stared at him with her eyes cracked open just enough for him to notice a speck of green; her mouth was mostly still buried in his pillow, but he still could distinct her request loud and clear. "Stay."

"Hmm… w-what?" Why in Remnant would she need him to stay?  

Like she had been doing for the most part of the morning, she didn't answer him with words; instead, she just yanked him down towards the bed with incredible strength.  

He let out an ugly yelp.

The upper half of his body fell onto the mattress, his head face-down on her hair, which was spread around the pillow. He ended up crushing the arm she pulled under the weight of his body. As for his knee, well, it collided painfully with the wood on the side of the bed; the opposing leg dangling out of the bed, looking for a safe place to step on.

Jaune hissed in pain, biting his tongue to prevent a loud curse to escape while removing his face from the pillow. He spat a few strands of hair that had caught on his mouth, and whisper-yelled:

"Pyrrha! What are you doing?!" He wanted to scream, but that would be just rude considering her situation, and the pain in his knee didn't allow for his tone of voice to raise.

She just smiled at him and pulled his wrist once again, as if silently asking him to get closer.

Right at this moment, he found out that his previous statement about him not being able to blush even harder was completely wrong. "Y-you want… me? To stay? H-here?" He almost forgot how to form words.  

The only response he got was her scooting back closer to the wall, offering the space for him to climb on the bed and its companion, the pillow.  

This could not be real.

When he hesitated for too long, she seemed to get impatient. So Pyrrha tugged him again, with a strength that made him wonder where it had been hiding when she needed to take out her dumb socks. He rolled on the bed towards her, and she let go of his wrist to hug his arm. Her grip was tight, and when he tried to move away, her face would turn into a frown and her hold on his arm would get stronger.  

Jaune gave up when it was clear she wasn't going to let him leave, letting out a defeated sigh. So he shifted around looking for a more comfortable position, feeling her squeeze his arm one more time.

"It's ok, I'm not leaving." He said soothingly. This seemed to reassure her, if the loosening grip on his arm and the soften expression on her face was any indication.

He managed to kick his shoes off and fully climb on the bed. Then he just laid there, staring at the ceiling, motionless and stiff as a wooden plank.

Pyrrha was way more comfortable with all of this. She slowly scooted closer to him and placed one of her legs, her very bare leg, over his. He let out a chocked gasp, feeling as if his brain was short-circuiting; she just let out a weak giggle at the sound. He couldn't believe she was finding this funny.

She touched her chin on his shoulder. Then he noticed the straying arm, but only registered her actions fully when he suddenly felt her finger tracing a line on his neck. He gasped again; her touch sent goosebumps all over his body, his blush spreading again to his collarbone and ears. He could feel his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

What is she doing?

"You have a little mole right… here...", she touched the black dot again, letting out a tiny chuckle.

Jaune couldn't take this anymore.

"P-Pyrrha? What are you doing?! Please… go to sleep." His words came out rushed and mumbled; it was hard to remember how to speak when she was tracing random patterns on his skin.

She laughed weakly again, humming an agreement while moving her hand away, and snuggled into his neck.

"Goodnight, Jaune."

He froze.

He could swear he felt for a second a light and quick pressure on his neck, in the same spot where she was touching before, something soft…

Had Pyrrha just kissed him?!

No way! What?! She probably just accidentally brushed her lips on his skin when she formed her words…

Was that still a kiss?

It was just an accident…

But what if it was intentional?

His mind rapidly fired the arguments, trying to reason with what had just transpired.

Jaune managed to stutter a goodnight back, but it wasn't even close to being night, and there's absolutely no way he was going to fall asleep now. The soft touch felt like she had flipped a switch that sent a wave of electricity through his body, causing him to be more awake than ever.

This could only be some kind of torture; if he knew that sleepy Pyrrha would get this touchy, then maybe he should have let her take a nap on the desk… He would just sit there with her and wait until she was feeling well enough to walk on her own. Perhaps he could have even begun to read the new chapter of Professor's Peach book…

Again, who was he trying to fool? He always procrastinated his readings until the day before the deadline. And, of course, there was no way he could have left Pyrrha in the classroom; she was always helping him, and today he finally had the rare opportunity to return the favor.

Maybe he was overreacting, this wasn't so bad after all…

Taking a nap sounded like a good idea... If he could just close his eyes and fall asleep…

But he couldn't. His heart was still beating faster than normal and he wasn't even able to regulate his breathing. He was, in fact, hypersensitive; every inch where her body touched his was burning - he could feel her steady breathing on his neck; his skin tingled in a weird way where she touched him seconds before, almost like an itch, making him want to scratch the spot…

No... that was not it…

He wanted her to kiss him again.

Jaune shook his last thought away before he could fully process it. Burying his itching neck into the pillow to see if it would make the strange sensation to go away, he turned his head to the side.

However, he didn't consider that turning his head also meant being face to face with his partner.

She was sleeping soundly, an expression that could only be described as relief in her face; lips parted while she exhaled through her mouth. Her bangs and a few loose strands of her hair had fallen around her face, giving her a messy look.

By pure instinct, he moved his hand to put the wild strands behind her ear, causing her to let out a small sigh at his touch, lips curling upward in a soft smile.

His heart did a weird double beat. She was beautiful.

Oh, shit.

The realization stroke him like he was being hit by a bus.

He had a crush. On Pyrrha. Of all people, really?

His eyes wandered through her face, her messy bangs, her perfect eyebrows; her eyes, that even if they were closed at the moment, he could still picture the shade of green on his mind with a surprising precision; her cute nose, her lips… Gods, he wanted to kiss her.

Yep, he had a really huge crush.

Then another realization hit him, this one not nearly as nice as the previous one.

He had fallen for another girl that was out of his league.

Jaune felt defeated; he was used to this sensation, but that didn't make it easier to deal with.

Then he felt Pyrrha's arm suddenly come around his waist as if she knew he needed a hug, and this made a spark of hope arise on his chest. Maybe she felt the same way…

Well, they were snuggling on his bed and she was the one who initiated it…

"It's just because she is super tired after a whole weekend dealing with stressful paperwork and without a decent night of sleep”, a little annoying voice whispered in his head. "She's borderline unconscious."

Oh, no! Did that make him some kind of perv?

Stop being ridiculous, she wasn't unconscious. She just needed someone to help her because she was too tired even to walk.

So that meant she was just using him or something?!

No way, she was way too kind to do something like this… It could only possibly mean that she trusted him. Right?

Yeah, he didn't really know that. If she was too tired even to walk, she could also be too tired to think straight.

That doesn't even make sense!

Maybe he should leave… Just in case. Would she notice? She seemed fast asleep. But she looked so happy, and comfortable, and cute, and he did not want to disturb her…

Cute, huh?

Oh, gods.

The ridiculous back and forth discussion inside his mind kept him awake for a long time. Why did he have to overthink this?

Then, finally, after… minutes? Hours? He couldn't tell, but it felt like an eternity; his eyelids got heavy, the argument inside his head turned too messy for him to keep up, and he was able to fall asleep.

Pyrrha stirred in the bed, feeling herself crossing the line from dreams to consciousness. She groaned mentally, still not wanting to wake up at the moment, sensing that her body was still tired; after all, a one hour nap was not going to recover all the energy she lost during the whole weekend.

So she kept her eyes closed, trying to get back to the dreams that she had already forgotten, clinging only to the sensation that they had been very pleasing; and clinging to the pillow she was hugging - it was soft and comforting, and smelled nice, which made her smile while letting escape a sigh of contentment.

Pyrrha’s mind was still too slow to process that she didn't sleep with any extra pillows, noticing vaguely that something was off only when said pillow moved on its own.

Her brow furrowed, that wasn't right…

And she knew the smell, but her thoughts were still too hazy for her to recognize it.

Sliding her legs up and down a bit to get a better notion of her surroundings, she could feel that they were over something that wasn't exactly soft. At least, not as soft as the thing her arms were circling.

Her hands took even more liberty and wandered around; she felt that the texture of the fabric felt the same against her palms and against her legs.

It felt like their uniforms… It felt... Like a person?

Wait…

Suddenly her mind cleared and her heartbeat accelerated, she could tell for sure from where she recognized the scent.

Jaune.

Her eyes snapped open and she got her confirmation. His sleeping face was only centimeters away from hers, making her back off abruptly, surprised with the proximity.

Pyrrha swallowed down a gasp, feeling her face heating up. She was, for some reason, in a bed cuddling her partner.

When and how did this even happen?!

Rubbing her eyes to get rid of the residual drowsiness, she tried to remember how she got herself into this situation. She recorded arriving at Beacon just in time for class, the class itself being nothing more than a blur… did they have any new assignments? The clearest memory being the sensation of being tired and the pain in her head; well, she also remembered Jaune being with her during class, and him offering to help her get to the dorms… on a piggyback ride?

After that, things were blurry… she couldn't tell if they were dreams or not. He helped her get ready for bed - was there something about socks? And for some reason ended up sleeping with her.

A sudden memory caused her blush to intensify; the reason was her pulling him towards the bed when he tried to leave.

She covered her mouth in disbelief.

"Ok, calm down."

Pyrrha raised herself a little to look around the room, strands of her loose hair fell in front of her face.  She was only wearing the shirt and skirt of her uniform, her other clothes scattered around the foot of the bed. A bed that she knew wasn't hers, because hers was in front of them, neatly made and just waiting for someone to lay down.

What had she done?!

Gathering the information from her messy memories, she could tell they didn't do anything serious; he just helped her go to bed… Then they took a nap... And winded up cuddling. That’s it.

She bit her lip, preventing her from laughing and screaming at the same time; she just could not believe the situation - that he had done all of this for her; from carrying her all the way from the classrooms and even making the bed.

But now she felt a little guilty, he had all this trouble just for her to steal his bed at the end. As she looked down at him, she saw her partner as tired as ever, even when sleeping; his brow was slightly furrowed, his mouth was curled downward slightly as if his own dreams were bothering him. Pyrrha wanted to comfort him somehow, but she contained the urge to run her fingers through his messy blonde hair.

And… Oh, no… What if he was like that because he didn't want to be here with her? What if he just felt obligated to help her because she was his partner? What if he had something else to do this morning and she ruined his plans?

Sighing, she let herself fall in the pillow again; part of her felt embarrassed for what she did, but the other had to admit - just laying down with him made her heart grow warm and butterflies to dance in her stomach. If she could, Pyrrha would just lay there, enjoying this moment for as long as possible.

She cringed, thoughts of her being selfish coming to the front of her mind. Maybe she should leave and go to her own bed… after all, he had all that trouble to get it ready for her in the first place…

However, leaving wouldn't be easy; especially because she didn't want to wake him up since she was stuck between Jaune and the wall. She couldn't jump over him, it would never work. But, maybe, sliding down to the edge would…?

Pyrrha took a glance at his face again and sighed. Truthfully, she didn't want to leave; however, she believed it was for the best. When he awakens, she would do everything she could to apologize to him. So she experimented moving away, doing her best to not wake him up. Though before she could completely take her head off the pillow, Jaune started stirring, bothered by her movements.

She froze.

In just one second, his face turned into a slight frown, mumbling something intelligible. He even turned on his side so he was facing her, using the opportunity to wrap one arm around her waist, totally frustrating her plans of leaving.

Oh.

This couldn't be real. She had to be dreaming; it's not like it would be the first time anyway.

Her face burned; her heart was beating so loud that she briefly wondered if the sound could be enough to wake him up. She thought it couldn’t get any worse - or better, really -, but then she felt like she was going to explode when, suddenly, he pulled her back to his front, pressing their bodies together. This time she wasn't able to hold back a loud gasp from escaping.

Pyrrha could feel his muscles stiffing at the sound, his expression turning into one of confusion. Her eyes widened like dinner plates.

Oh, no.

Jaune’s eyes cracked open slowly; the moment he looked at her, the confusion was immediately replaced by realization, and then… acceptance? He blinked once; then closed his eyes again, as if there was nothing unusual in this situation.

A breath of relief escaped from her mouth. That was close.

Then, his eyes abruptly snapped wide open, and his body jumped as if he had just been pinched. Well, guess her relief only lasted one second there. She could swear they both looked like deer caught in headlights right then.

His partner, for instance, looked like he was about to scream; however, before he could even react, she blurted out, "I'm sorry!"

She backed off to the wall. He yelped and removed his arm from her so fast that she heard his joints crack. Then he did the same as her; but he did it too fast, and without noticing where he was exactly, he started falling, since he was the one laying on the edge of the bed, a chocked scream escaping his throat.

Pyrrha instinctively took hold of him and yanked his body in her direction. He also held her, trying to recover his balance and a solid place over the mattress. So now they were hugging again, breathing heavily because of the startle the avoided accident caused, yet now they were more awake than ever.

"Gah!" Jaune moved away from her again, but not as fast at the same time, careful not to repeat what had just happened seconds ago. "Sorry!"

"No, no! You're not the one who needs to apologize! I'm sorry!" Pyrrha sat up quickly, pressing her back against the wall.

'No!" He sat up too, as he waved his hands in front of himself in an attempt of an apologetic gesture. "It's f-fine! D-don't worry."

"No, I'm serious." She placed a hand on her forehead under her bangs, which were messy from the nap. This discussion was ridiculous. "I'm sorry. I should never have done… this." She vaguely gesticulated towards the bed.

His stunned expression morphed into something that she could swear was hurt.

"O-oh…" Jaune looked like a puppy that had just been kicked. "Don't worry, really… You were just really tired and… needed someone at the moment…" He looked down, avoiding her eyes. "I understand..."

Wait, what? He had interpreted her words all wrong. He thinks I regret it.

"N-no! That's not it at all!" She extended a hand in his direction. "That's not what I meant!"

He looked back at her; their eyes locked onto each other as she continued. "I just… Caused you all this trouble..." He opened his mouth to speak, but she placed her hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "I guess what I'm trying to say is… thank you. You did many things for me today when you didn't really need to… That… That was very sweet of you, Jaune." She felt the blush rising again; Pyrrha diverted her gaze, but focused on him again just as quickly. For his part, he didn't look upset anymore, just a little surprised. "I'm sorry." She said, this time with a laugh, not being able to contain herself from apologizing yet again. "I kind of made you waste the rest of your morning."

"O-oh!" He straightened his back. "Don't worry, really. I didn't have any plans… and I kinda wanted to take a nap, too?" He chuckled, shrugging his shoulders awkwardly next. "And no need to thank me. I-I… I would do everything all over again if it meant helping you…" Her heart skipped a beat. "I don't really have a… hm… a lot of opportunities to do that..." He then rubbed the back of his neck, as he usually did when he was embarrassed. Pyrrha always thought it was a cute gesture, but this time there was something different to it that she couldn’t quite put a finger on.

The room was mostly dark because of the closed curtains, so she was only able to notice that he was blushing - a lot, actually - because the deep shade of red had spread to his neck and ears too.

His words made her flush just like him, though what prompted the warmth to spread all over her body was the way he was looking at her. It was a soft look she had already seen on his face, yet never directed at her. In fact, the last time she recorded seeing this expression was months ago, before the Beacon Dance, when she overhead Jaune talking to Ren about Weiss.

Oh! Could it be…?

Pyrrha dared to hope.

She beamed. "Stop being so stubborn and let me thank you" She lightly punched him in the shoulder, to which he pretended to hurt - like he always did after being able to take the punches without falling on the floor, that is. They shared a chuckle, and their eyes met again, her breath instantly quickening. The look was still there, filling her with immense joy; and at that moment, she wondered if she could ever get used to it.

That, combined with the warmth his gaze provoked, made a rush of courage rush through her.

"Perhaps… we could get something to eat sometime? I'll pay! As a way to thank you." She blurted out before she lost the guts to do it.

Jaune once again seemed genuinely surprised. However, before she could even reconsider, he began, "Ah! Hmm… Y-yes! That's… that sounds really nice. Yes!" He was blushing even harder now. "B-but you don't need to pay for me…"

She rolled her eyes. "Sure…"

He sighed. "You're going to pay even if I insist you not to." It wasn't even a question.

"Maybe…" She shrugged, biting her tongue to hold back her laugh.

He pointed a finger at her. "We'll see about that."

Then Pyrrha released the laughter she was holding just now, Jaune joining right after her. Their exchange was so natural, the former present tension now gone; after all, he was her best friend, and if she was reading his signs correctly, maybe they could be something more soon.

Part of her couldn't believe what was happening; maybe she was still asleep and having one of those dreams where she had the courage to ask him on a date, and he accepted. But no. This was happening, for real. She felt her body relax, and a yawn escaped from her mouth almost without her noticing. She had forgotten how tired she still was.

"Would you… would you like to go back to sleep?" He asked, concern clear in his voice. "How's your headache?"

Pyrrha always thought his worried face - the one with his brows furrowed lightly and a tiny pout on his lips - was so cute. But now, combined with that look of his that made her go weak, it made her heart melt.

"I'm feeling better… But I'm still pretty tired." Another involuntary yawn escaped her mouth while she finished her sentence. "Going back to sleep does sound wonderful..."

"Yeah…" Also letting out a yawn as if to say he agreed with her, his probably influenced by her own.

Without even thinking, she allowed herself to collapse on the mattress again, a hum of contentment finding a way out of her lips. She saw that Jaune was startled by her fall, a blush darkening his face once again, by the corner of her eyes.

Oh, right! This is his bed.

"I-I'll let you rest." He made a motion to get up, but she noticed the obvious hesitation and his own slow movements; he was tired too.

"Wait!" She grabbed his wrist before he could get up from the mattress, a sense of dejavú rushing through her. Pyrrha wanted to say that she would move to her own bed, but as he turned around her heart screamed for her to change her mind. Maybe, just maybe, she could allow herself to be a little selfish from time to time.

"You can stay if you want…" She surprised herself with how small she sounded, so she quickly cleared her throat. "I noticed that it doesn't look like you slept well…"

He avoided her gaze, maybe this was a bad idea after all. "I was just thinking… about… stuff…" He chuckled. "And took me a while to fall asleep."

"I-I don't mind if you stay…" She tugged his sleeve lightly. "…If you still want to take a nap, that is."

Jaune just sat there on the edge of the bed, looking at her like she grew an extra head.

Pyrrha rolled her eyes, and, feeling the remnants of the courage she felt when asking him out, scooted closer to the wall. She patted the place on the mattress in front of her, inviting him to join his partner.

"Hmm… Are you sure about that? I don't want to bother you or anything…" His genuinely concerned voice, along with the detected spark of hope engraved on it, made her sure of her decision; especially when the sentence ended with a repressed yawn.

"Yes, Jaune, I'm sure." She smiled as bright as she could muster.

He looked around, a hand running through his hair and face. "Fine..." He groaned, but a trace of a smile could be seen under his hand. "But… hmm… can you let me go for a bit? I need to do something…"

"Oh! Of course! I'm sorry!" She let him go quickly, feeling her face heating up.

He shook his head at her apology. "I just want to take his off so it doesn't get crumpled…" He began undoing the buttons of his jacket. "And I don't want to have to wake up earlier tomorrow looking for the iron…" She hungrily followed each of his movements to remove the cloth with her eyes, her face exploding with heat. Was this some kind of payback? "And it's kinda hot in here…" He rolled the sleeves of his shirt up, and now she just felt like she was about to combust. What had he just said? She wondered if he noticed the implication on his words; and confirmed that, yes, he probably did after a few seconds, when she saw the tip of his ears turn red. This boy was going to be the end of her if she felt like this only by just watching him remove his jacket… While she was laying on his bed… With half of her own clothes scattered around the floor, and with him about to join her in the mattress. She wondered if he had noticed all the little things on their whole situation that made it look anything but platonic.

Because she did now. And she couldn't un-see them.

Pyrrha almost didn't notice when he laid down beside her, putting a respectable distance between them until she saw his eyes staring back at her own.

She avoided his eyes, feeling too self-conscious, all the while looking for something else to focus on; and, nope, that was his mouth and staring at was not a good idea right now. Then her eyes trailed lower to his neck, where she noticed a black dot - a little birthmark - and for some strange reason, she had to contain her hand from moving on its own accord to touch it.

All of this only lasted a few seconds; so before it could get awkward, she decided to say something, "What were you thinking about?" She looked back to his eyes, deciding it was a mostly safe place to focus on. The worst thing that could happen was for her to drown in those blue oceans of his.

"What do you mean?" He whispered, sounding a little hoarse.

"You said… you said you weren't able to sleep before because you were thinking about some… stuff. What was it about?"

Jaune averted his gaze and licked his lips. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears while she followed the movement. "I… I-it was nothing."

"Right", she knew that when he acted like this – his voice cracking the way it just did -, he was lying. Her voice softened, "You know you can tell me, right?"

"I know..." He signed; his determined expression surprised her when he raised his gaze to meet hers. "And I will. One day... Just… not now, I'm still figuring some things out…"

Something about his answer filled her with hope and anticipation, making butterflies flutter in her stomach. So she just responded with a smile, which made his face flush and him to look down embarrassed. It was adorable, and she found out that she quite liked making him blush.

"W-well! G-goodnight!" He stuttered, his eyes quickly shutting.

Pyrrha let out a chuckle before doing the same.

It wasn't even night.

The next time she woke up, she could only focus on how their legs ended up tangled again, and that his arm was around her once more.

Her whole body was vibrating in sync with her heartbeat. Jaune was so close that if she moved an inch forward their noses would touch. She shifted in place a bit, enjoying their proximity, his warmth, his scent of homemade soap, letting out a pleased sigh to the sensation of pure comfort that being held by him provoked. Unfortunately, her movements caused him to stir too. He was waking up. Pyrrha blushed, backing off a bit; she did not want to overwhelm him with her closeness.

He opened his eyes slowly and moved the hand that was over her waist to rub it over them. When he noticed that she was awake too, he only seemed to be a little embarrassed - in contrast with the shock from the previous time. "Hmm… hey.” Jaune whispered.

"Hello." She answered in the same tone.

"How are you feeling?" Her heart did a double-jump then at how the first thing he did as he woke up was to check up on her.

She stretched her limbs as much as she could in the small space. "I'm feeling great." Her body wasn't feeling like it was crushed in a blender and her head didn't feel like it was going to explode anymore, so, great. Then she felt her stomach rumble. "Just a little hungry." She looked around. "What time is it?"

"I actually have no idea." He laughed. "But I think it's already past lunchtime…"

"Already?!" Her stomach grumbled again with the mention of lunch. She placed a hand over it. "I think I really need to eat something now."

"Oh, right! You just nibbled on a piece of toast when you got here and didn't eat anything else!" He sat on the bed, and she was forced to repress a complaint from escaping at the distance that suddenly existed between them. "C'mon. Let's find something for you to eat or your headache might come back."

The need to eat spoke stronger than her desire to stay in his bed, though. So she got up too, but a little too quickly; so when she raised herself up, her body complained about the sudden shift of balance, making the world spin. "Wha-"

She felt hands on her shoulders. "Are you ok?" His tone dropped with worry.

"I'm fine" She chuckled. "I just got up too fast. But thank you, Jaune."

"Right." Jaune didn't sound convinced, so he offered a hand for her to get up. "I think it's best if we look for something to eat at the cafeteria. Going to Vale could take a while."

"You're right.” She blushed as she took his outstretched hand, noticing that, when he said going to Vale, he was probably referring to the agreement they made between naps.

He pulled her up gently, but the residual feeling of dizziness from before still made her stumbled forward. He was there to catch her by the arms. "Wow there!"

She groaned in frustration; even after sleeping, her body still felt a little slow.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine." Her answer came out sharper than she intended. She realized he probably would think her change in tone had to do with him; so before he could react, she hasted to apologize first thing. "I'm sorry" The embarrassment washed over her. She couldn't help but think how she faced worse things on a battlefield, and how she had learned hunters were supposed to endure a lot more stress. But a few days without sleep could pretty much cause her downfall. Her mother would be disappointed.

She sighed. "It just feels like, even after all of this and the fact that I'm feeling better, my body is still not awake yet." She let out a huff. "It's a little frustrating, actually."

"Hey. Don't apologize." His tone was soft; she looked up at him at that, his gentle gaze making the blood rush to her cheeks. "You just spent two whole days without time to rest. And I bet you haven't eaten a decent meal in… I don't even know how long. I would be surprised if you just got up like a little nap solved everything." He blushed. "N-not that I'm doubting your potential or anything! It's not even possible for me to do that! Y-you're the strongest person I know!" He took a deep breath in the middle of the rambling. "But even you need to take a break from time to time."

A small gasp escaped her lips, her heart filled with warmth. "Thank you, Jaune." She beamed at him. He never placed her on a pedestal anyway, so she knew that if there was one person she didn't mind seeing her in this state, it was Jaune. Pyrrha probably would have hugged him if he wasn't still holding her by her upper arms.

"D-don't mention it.” His blush darkened when he realized that he was still supporting her, so he let go quickly only to scratch the back of his neck. "Should… Ahn… Should we go?" He pointed at the door.

"Ah! Yes! But just let me get ready first." She looked down at herself, still wearing half of her uniform, and the rest of it laying on the floor.

"Oh. Right. Go ahead, I'll wait." He placed his hands in his pockets and stood there while she tied her hair back into the usual ponytail and put on her jacket and shoes, deciding not to deal with socks right now.

"Let's go?" She asked once she was done.

"Let's."

He grabbed the doorknob to open the door; not even considering that the difference in the luminosity might be screeching - since they had the curtains closed on the room. So when the outside light filled the space, they both squinted their eyes, blinded by the afternoon brightness; groaning in comic synchrony.

"Okay, I can understand why Pyrrha might still be tired…"

It was the next morning. They were waiting for class to begin, already seated at their usual desk, when Nora suddenly started the interrogation, "…But what about you, Jaune?"

"Hm?" He just blinked slowly at her in response. Pyrrha didn't even show a sign that she had acknowledged the question.

"I'm saying that you both look like a wreck!"

"Nora, let them be."

"But Ren, look at them!" She waved her hands to the pair.

Jaune was with his head placed over his crossed arms, fighting to keep his eyes open. Pyrrha was just staring off into space, dark spots under her eyes.

Ren just shook his head and went back to reading a book.

"So, what happened?!" Nora asked again, not letting go of the matter as easily as her partner did.

Jaune flinched at her tone of voice; however, after a small groan, he started. "I… we… just took a nap…" He yawned.

"A nap…" Pyrrha agreed, her tone of voice indicating that she was daydreaming about doing just that.

"A really long nap yesterday…" He blinked, taking such a long time to open his eyes again that Nora thought he had fallen asleep. But her suspicion was proved wrong when he continued. "So when it was time to sleep last night… I just couldn't even shut my eyes."

"Hmhm..." Was Pyrrha's addition to his explanation.

Nora opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by their Professor arriving and calling for the students' attention and silence. So she just narrowed her eyes, pointed two fingers at them, and then right after to the duo, before turning her head forward, still suspicious of their tale.

It was halfway through the class and the teacher's speech sounded like gibberish to the sleepy partners. The only coherent thought Jaune could think of was how yesterday at this same of the day he was sound asleep on his bed. He chanced a glance at Pyrrha, who was staring intensely at the blackboard ahead of them, where the teacher was writing topics about the subject; but her eyes were totally glazed and without any focus whatsoever.

An idea formed in the boy's mind then.

"Hey, Pyrrha." He whispered. Scooting closer to her on the bench, he poked her in the arm. She jumped on her seat, startled by his touch.

It took a few seconds, but, eventually, she turned her head lazily in his direction. "What?"

"Do you… want to head to the dorms after class?" He yawned. "To take a nap?"

She let out a breath and copied his position, letting her arms fall on the table and placing her head on them. "Oh, yes… That's…" Now it was her turn to yawn. "That sounds grand."

He closed his eyes and nodded. "Hmhm…"

"But let's make it shorter this time." She added.

He let out a weak chuckle. "Totally…" 

"And maybe we could head to Vale to eat after." Pyrrha stretched her arms in the table. "After all, I still have to thank you."

"You could thank me by carrying me to the dorms this time." Jaune said without even thinking.

"Ha. Ha. Sure." He could practically hear her eye roll.

"I'm serious." He laughed.

"And I didn't say no." His partner let out a small giggle.

Pyrrha changed her position as she raised her head from the table and placed her chin over her palms. "But first…" She let out a sigh. "…We have to go through this." She made a floppy gesture towards the front of the classroom.

He hummed in agreement and turned his gaze forward.

The lecture of their teacher and the voice of their classmates turned once again into no more than a fuzzy background noise just a few seconds later. They both were too tired too fully comprehend what just happened in their brief exchange; there was no second guesses, the sleepiness towered over any embarrassment.

But if there was one thing that they both knew for sure, it was that they couldn't wait for class to end.

Chapter Text

"I thought... that was never going to end…" The words came out muffled by a yawn Jaune wasn't able to repress - much like many others before.

His partner walked by his side, only replying to him with a short, almost inaudible hum and a weak nod. Well, walking wasn't exactly the best word to describe her steps, the dragging movement shining through her ever-confident posture.

He wasn't any better, worse probably. Pyrrha could be nearly dropping to the floor out of exhaustion and still look ready to model some professional advertisement - probably a mattress one, but still. Despite that, they both slowly, but surely, marched away from the building they just had class in, with their dorms in mind; the promise of a comfy bed and a nice nap being just enough fuel to keep them moving, if not dragging, forward.

Jaune had a little extra motivation too. The memories from the previous day were adamant in filling his mind at every opportunity. Anticipation and excitement mixed around on his chest, swirling through his nerves in a way that made him completely understand why people named the sensation after butterflies. The flutter of their wings, the same twist and turning inside him.

He still couldn't believe they had shared a bed! Yeah, he had to admit, it was a bit awkward at first - totally justified in his opinion, they were close friends for sure, but not that close; it was a bit shocking. But then the way Pyrrha had asked him to stay with her twice, the way she snuggled closer to him, and on her own terms, the way she beamed as she thanked him, how she had looked so peaceful and adorable while sleeping by his side… reminiscing on those moments only brought the ever-growing, dreamy desire to make them come true once more. And that was more than enough to make him feel like a kid on his birthday.

As well as enough to make him realize - and admit - he was absolutely head over heels for his best friend.

That realization wasn't too welcomed at first. How much of a wishful thinker he could be to believe someone like Pyrrha could like him back? She was… Well... Pyrrha - she had to be the definition of "out of your league". He wouldn't even be surprised if her picture, or just her name, really, was used in dictionaries to exemplify the expression.

Then their shoulders bumped and the back of their hands brushed together superficially, yet an electric wave found its way up his arm, leading directly to his heart, as they climbed up the stairs leading to their floor. Exchanging a tired glance to their messy pace, Pyrrha's quiet giggle only reached him because she was that close. A stubborn sensation of lightness overcame his doubts with such ease that it actually caught him off guard.

Would it be bad if he just dared to hope? If he wanted to believe?

"Do you have your scroll with you?" His partner spoke up for the first time since they had left the classroom, halting in her tracks as soon as they stepped on the corridor that lead to their final destination.

"Hm, yeah." He patted his coat pocket just to be sure.

She hummed, tired and satisfied. "Keep it in your hands then."

He squinted in confusion, but still granted her request almost blindly, hands acting faster than his mouth could stutter out a request for an explanation.

Then Pyrrha's tired expression lightened up with her smirk, and when Jaune blinked again, she wasn't standing in front of him anymore. Any interrogation he was planning to do being caught up on his throat when, with the swiftest of motions, Pyrrha swept him off his feet. Literally.

"Wha- Pyr-RAH!" He yelped as the arms under his back and knees raised him from the floor as if he didn't weigh more than a pillowcase full of feathers.

"I told you I didn't say no." Was her only explanation. His drowsy, startled brain took one second to understand what she was talking about.

"You could thank me by carrying me to the dorms this time."

"I didn't think you were actually going to do it!" Jaune blurted, feeling his face heat up at an alarming speed.

"Oh… You want me to let you go?" Pyrrha muttered, though the way her hands shifted under him told Jaune that her letting him go was about to hurt - maybe just a tiny little bit more than needed.

"Please don't!" It came out as a squeak. One of his arms instinctively reached for something he could cling to, going around her neck without even thinking.

Her giggle filled his ears as she started walking, carrying him through the remaining path as if they were newlyweds. Feeling flustered, he groaned in response, his hand automatically running over his now complete pinkish face.

Just yesterday he had thought to himself carrying her bridal style was out of the question. Now she did exactly that to him - like it was nothing at all, like it didn't bring a lot of implications that he didn't even want to acknowledge. His brain short circuited.

Despite everything, a persistent grin managed to break through his lips under his palm. Jaune bit the inside of his cheek to contain what would ruin his annoyed act. Glancing up towards his partner, the almost-smug curl of her mouth, together with the bright color on her face, was enough for his heart to skip multiple beats.

Yeah… It wouldn't be that bad if he dared to hope…

He didn't even notice they were now in front of the door, only getting a hint when Pyrrha looked back at him. Her eyes fell on his own and as soon as she did it, there wasn't any time left for him to even make an attempt at concealing his blatant staring. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed soon after, motioning towards the door with a somewhat shy lean of her head instead.

Jaune turned his head towards the lock a bit too fast, face tingling with so much warmth he was sure she could feel it. He stretched his scroll towards the scanner, typing the code as best as he could in his position.

Pyrrha adjusted him on her arms so they could cross the threshold. He immediately clung tighter to her neck as the hands acting as support abruptly wavered under him, swallowing back a gasp.

"I'm not going to drop you." Her words were tinted with an amused smile as she closed the door with a light kick.

"Y-yeah. Right." He squirmed a bit on her hold, trying to steady himself better. The playfulness barely detectable behind her tired tone clashed suspiciously with her reassuring words. "This could end just as suddenly as it started."

She only rolled her eyes, lowering her arms towards the floor, and he carefully recovered his footing. "See? Safe. And in my defense…" She continued and turned to her bed. "...You were the one who asked me to carry you."

"Guess I did…" Jaune sighed in defeat, raising his hands in surrender. Deciding against adding anything else to their conversation, afraid his blossoming smile would give away how he actually felt about the unexpected ride.

Soon he was already throwing his uniform jacket to the side, loosening buttons and ties and getting rid of shoes. A quick pass through the dorm's closet, and he was dressed much more appropriate for a nap, replacing the stiff clothes with the softer fabric of plain shorts and cotton shirt.

His body shuddered deliciously as it hit the mattress, as if his bones and muscles collectively sighed in relief, a yawn that ended in a freeing breath escaping all on their own. Although the sensation of pure comfort only lasted a few seconds, seeing that as soon as he settled, he noticed clearly more than felt how his heart was pounding inside his chest a bit too quickly for a body that wanted a reinvigorating rest.

His eyes followed Pyrrha while she left the closet after also favoring light clothes in place of her uniform. He heard her sigh as she sat on her own bed, and a cold flow of energy pooled inside his stomach then.

They had agreed to take naps after class… But that didn't mean they were going to do that together.

He shut his eyes tight. Of course... It wasn't going to happen again, was it?

Only a few seconds after creaks of her bed signalizing Pyrrha had laid down, Jaune let out a frustrated breath. For some reason, even with his accumulated exhaustion, keeping his eyes closed was now the ultimate task.

He stared at the ceiling, then more wood squeaks disturbed the silence, the excessive shuffling of sheets that accompanied could only mean his partner hadn't fallen asleep as quickly as her drowsy state had let him believe so.

He rolled onto his side, facing her. The sighed exhale escaped against his will and Pyrrha glanced up at the sound. His gaze was mercilessly captured by expectant green.

Jaune swallowed, feeling he should say something, anything, to break the silence that paired over their heads with the weight of mutual hesitation. Pyrrha didn't make any effort to look away. He was nearly one hundred percent sure she was thinking the same thing as he. Still, why couldn't he just… do something about it?!

Pyrrha had one hand dangling from the edge of her bed, so he saw how her knuckles clenched slightly — his own mindlessly mimicking the movement over the mattress until her fingers barely stretched forward before relaxing. A tiny jolt of energy traveled through his chest. It could have been just a random movement to free the stored tension, yet he could only see it as an involuntary, or even conscious, motion to reach him.

She opened her mouth, but somehow Jaune beat her to it. "Pyrrha…" His whisper scraped against his throat. The words she was about to say were replaced by surprised inhale. "Do you want to… hm..." He didn't finish, having to stop to get rid of the lump on his throat.

Yet, she understood. "You… don't mind…?"

He only shook his head. How Pyrrha could think something like cuddling could actually bother him in any way was inconceivable to him.

He saw the curl of her lips growing while she stretched her hand towards him again, this time turning her palm upwards in an invitation.

Jaune didn't waste any more time, abandoning in a second his bed in a way he hoped it wasn't too slow nor too excessively eager. Timidly, he crossed the small space between their beds with quiet steps, watching Pyrrha scoot to the side to free a spot over the mattress just for him.

Every inch of his skin burned as he settled by her side. Her dropped eyelids made hard to know if she had her eyes closed or was just avoiding his own. But then again, none of that mattered when she glanced up and he was able to easily count every facet of green, and for a second he didn't have the strength to look away.

Somehow, the infinitesimal distance between them was even more tortuous than the one that existed between their beds. He felt like he didn't have permission to get closer, and, at the same time, like there was no need to be as nervous as he had felt the previous day.

But before he could get caught up on his own uncertainty, Pyrrha shifted in place, untangling the sheets over her form and silently offering the edge of the cloth to him so they could share.

He unfroze immediately, not wanting to make a fool of himself, tugging the covers over his shoulders. It was obvious the sheet wasn't made for two people, so for efficient use, they had to scoot closer to the center of the bed.

They both avoided each other's eyes in subtle self-consciousness, though Jaune certainly wasn't going to complain about the situation. Pyrrha's forearms lightly pressed against his chest as she curled her hands under her chin. He felt like he should be embarrassed — she probably could feel how fast his heart was beating just with the superficial contact. Still, he paid no mind, letting the warmth overcome him freely, any embarrassment promptly turning into butterflies that circled around on their flight. This feeling was way more enjoyable, he had to admit.

His eyes were closing without him even realizing. Both of their beds shared the same faint scent of floral clothing softener, yet the tinge of the sweet and spicy of her characteristic perfume towered over, giving him a thrilling kind of comfort with each inhale, letting out a breath after that relieved his muscles of any lingering stiffness in them.

Though it was only a few seconds after and he was shuffling again, the arm that had been unmoving - almost uncomfortably so - above his side wandered on its own accord, his mind too tired for second guesses, just reaching for the soothing warmth in front of him.

His hand shyly fell over the curve of her waist, only dawning on him what he had done when he heard the quietest of gasps, which, in turn, almost got him to recoil. But then Pyrrha shifted under his touch, his hand curled around her shape properly with the movement, and she let out a breath.

Jaune could actually hear her smile — oh, how was he sure of it.

"Goodnight, Jaune." She whispered just loud enough for him to catch it, the words carrying a trace of playfulness. And as his eyes fluttered shut, all that was left behind his eyelids was the engraved picture of how that smile had tilted into a small smirk.

He let out a silent chuckle. It wasn't even night time. Though he recalled she had also switched the time of day yesterday, yet now it wasn't her lack of sleep acting up.

Jaune also remembered another little detail of that exchange. So before responding, he tilted his head down, letting his lips brush over her bangs as they formed the words. "Night, Pyrrha."

She could hear his smile too, he was also sure. He only wondered if she was asking herself — if the brief touch was supposed to be a kiss or not, just like she had done with him the day before.

The gratifying stillness of sleep fully enveloped him in no time.

He awoke with something tickling his neck, shivering under the sensation. Unconsciously raising a hand to brush off the disturbance source, his fingers met something hard, burying themselves in short strands of hair. He heard a groan, the warmth in front of him stirred, and Jaune finally stopped to take notice of what exactly was going on.

Pyrrha had moved closer to him on her sleep - the twin-sized bed didn't exactly offer a lot of space for mobility -, her bangs buried on his neck, hair pressed against his skin, and in his lousy attempt to brush them away, he had accidentally tapped her forehead.

"Oh. Pyrrha! Sorry!" He quickly whispered after realizing she was also awake, reluctantly creating some distance between them. He was careful to mind the edge to avoid any accidents. Even so, he found out he wouldn't be able to retreat too much even if they were in a larger bed.

Pyrrha had one arm around his waist and didn't make any motion to loosen the grip, raising her other free hand to rub her eyes, letting out a sound that intertwined a yawn and a giggle. "Don't worry about it."

She looked directly at him then, post-nap drowsiness still present on her features, though her half-lidded eyes crinkled slightly on the side, a detail only visible because of their proximity.

His heart did some risky acrobatics on his chest. She just looked… happy. And, well… cute. He only registered now that she hadn't bothered freeing her hair from her ponytail, still, a few locks escaped from the tie, messily framing her tired expression. He had to shove away the urge to brush her bangs back in place.

Jaune cleared his throat, deciding to speak up before the silence had a chance to turn heavy, burying his burning cheek on the pillow. "Hm… how long we have been here?"

"Ah… Let me check…" She rolled onto her back, hand leaving his waist with a trailing touch that even through his shirt left goosebumps on his skin, reaching for the Scroll over her nightstand.

"We… took an hour and a half nap." She provided him with a satisfying hum.

He hummed back in acknowledgment. Fidgeting with a wrinkle in the pillowcase while dodging loose strands of her ponytail, he licked his lips before starting. "Are you… hungry…?"

"I could eat, yes." She let her hands fall over her stomach, turning her head towards him. She was faster also, asking first the exact question on his mind. "... Do you want to go to Vale? Like we planned yesterday?"

The grin rose to his face a bit too brightly. "Yeah… that would be great."

He did his best to not stare at how his partner stretched after they got up, arms raised behind her head while letting out a relaxed exhale. So Jaune just rushed out of the bed to change as a solution, not really minding how quickly they had parted - after all, their day wouldn't be over yet.

She still found a way to sneakily pay for him.

Still, as he watched through the rim of his cup as she carefully nibbled on a cookie, tongue poking out for a second to quickly reach persistent crumbs on the edge of her lips, he found himself entertain the idea of, next time, not letting that happen.

Next time.

The thought didn't sound so impossible. It felt nice.

His leg bounced restlessly under the desk, eyes fixed on the clock above the blackboard, the teacher must be thinking he was paying ultimate attention to the notes scribbled on it by the way he was staring intensely at that direction.

Though the calculations for safe Dust usage was the last thing on his mind - he didn't even use dust!

Ten minutes until the end of class. Jaune knew they were completely free from any activities for the rest of the afternoon, he knew Ren and Nora were planning to head to Vale to restock their kitchen supplies, and just hang around the city in search for the best end of day treats like they did every week, he knew the dorm would be nice and quiet.

Perfect for a nap.

There was one thing left to complete the picture though. And he could be one question away from making it reality.

Yet, every time he thought about it, every time he even looked in her direction with the question on the tip of his tongue, his mouth would slam shut, going completely dry, and he could feel his face heating up, chest filling with a sensation that wasn't cold nor warm, and he couldn't tell if it felt nice or not.

Why was asking your best friend to cuddle so hard?!

He had asked her the previous time - and she had accepted! It was when they were both groggy with sleep though, now that his mind was at full alert, it felt like he had swallowed a tube of glue. The fact he had nearly complete certain she wouldn't deny the request didn't help either. How you were supposed to act and what you're supposed to do when your newly admitted crush - which in addition, was someone more than incredible and definitely out of your league - seemingly liked you back?

He honestly didn't know. That never happened to him before…

His dad's advice about how confidence was the way to go came to his mind. Still, he couldn't even picture himself even attempting something similar to his act to Weiss when he had something for her a year ago. First, because now he cringed hard to those memories, and second because Pyrrha deserved something better, and more sincere, than some lame, poorly executed, previously practiced pick-up lines.

A shove on his leg startled him out of his thoughts, and the subject of those thoughts herself was the one responsible for that.

Jaune couldn't blame her, it was the third time Pyrrha had nudged him in the last fifteen minutes. So once again, he glanced to her apologetically for shaking the desk while she tried to take notes, and once again, his partner gave him a look telling it was okay, the one with the silent giggle followed by a tiny roll of eyes, shaking her head slightly while directing her attention back to her notebook.

See?! That's what he was talking about! How he could do anything while she did That!

And by That, he meant her being so… So Pyrrha! How could she be so sweet and smug and so adorable and gorgeous at the same time?!

He had cling hard to his own knee, nails poking almost painfully through the uniform to avoid his nervousness acting up again. He got it so, so bad. And it was so unfair - because if she really liked him too, Pyrrha apparently dealt with it just fine.

The signal for the end of the class felt like music to his ears, getting him to finally release a breath that had been begging to be let out for the past minutes, posture slumping as if that air had been the one thing holding his body together.

"Jaune? Are you feeling alright?" The concern on his partner's voice gave him the strength to straighten his back.

"I… Yeah…" He rubbed the curve between his neck and shoulder as if getting rid of a sore spot, something just to give him an excuse to lower his head to conceal his blush. "I'm just a bit tired I guess…"

"Oh. Today was a tiring day indeed." He glanced back to her when he heard an unexpected trail of hesitation on her words, that reinforced by the dull tapping of her nails on the desk. She met his eyes before continuing, edge lips discreetly pushing upwards cheeks that were maybe a bit too rosy. "So… nap?"

The butterflies he had been hoarding inside his stomach took flight immediately and, unlike her, he didn't have the strength to hold back his wide grin. "You read my mind."

The idea struck on the final steps of the stairs leading to their floor.

Maybe it was the confidence talk from his dad still lurking on the back of his thoughts, maybe he was just wondering how she would react. But if there was something Jaune had no doubts about, it was the fact it was going to require a lot of that confidence and courage he was supposed to have inherited from his father.

It would definitely be better than some pick-up line…

The stairs ended, he gripped his Scroll inside his pocket, and took a quick look around - the corridor was empty, their door just a few more steps ahead, silently beckoning to them in the most alluring way.

Noting it was his last chance before it became too late, he stopped, and it slipped out. "Pyrrha?"

"Yes?" Oh dust. No going back now.

His hand clutching the Scroll struggled a bit to leave the pocket, it had been nervously tucked there for a while. "Can you hold this for me for a second please?"

"Of course." She stared at the device now on her hands, brows knitting together questioningly. "Why-"

The question wasn't completed, a gasp taking the place of any subsequent words as Jaune, with a hand under her knees and the other under her shoulders, lifted his partner from the floor.

"Wha- Gods, Jaune!" His exhilaration for being able to pick her up without any accidents faded almost immediately as she exclaimed. Then her arms fiercely clung around his neck, face buried into his shoulder at the same second, and he knew he wasn't going to be able to let go.

"Hm… P-payback?" He stuttered the closest thing to an explanation. Confidence leaving him rapidly like water through a drain, if he had any, to begin with. "S-sorry, I just- I can let you go-"

He didn't even make a motion to lower her down when Pyrrha raised her head, grip around his neck turning firmer. "N-no!" Her arms loosened as he almost choked. "I was just… caught off guard."

"... Pyrrha Nikos caught off guard?" His lips trembled with a smile, not repressing the hint of awe on his words. That feeling only intensifying as he noticed her pinkish cheeks, the color getting brighter with each second.

Pyrrha opened her mouth, just to soon close it with a quiet laugh and a small roll of eyes, lowering her head in a way he could swear it was embarrassed. She looked back to him, a hand tapped his shoulder lightly, tilting her head towards the door. "Weren't you tired?"

"Right." Even with arms full, he never felt lighter through the entire trajectory, smile still plastered on his face, any awkwardness replaced by the giddy sensation brought by the fell of her arms resting more comfortably around his neck, head almost imperceptibly leaning on his shoulder. Maybe when taken with moderation, his dad's advice wasn't so bad after all.

Pyrrha unlocked the door with his Scroll and he closed it behind him without a word, carefully bending his back so she could step safety on the floor.

"Thank you." She said a bit too quietly. Jaune just nodded once in reply, feeling his mouth go dry. Her hands still on his shoulders and his still placed on the curve of her back lingered for a second more than necessary.

He stepped back then, eyes dropping and face burning before his body completely stopped responding to him and just froze there, staring. "So… hm… I-I'll get my stuff in the closet… So you can change inside of you want?"

"Sure, thank you." A smile tugged her reply. He didn't even saw it, just rushing inside the closet to get his clothes and try to normalize the color of his face. He didn't succeed. And at this point, he didn't know if he wanted to scream or laugh. Maybe both.

He switched places with his partner, changing on the room while she did the same on the closet. Anticipation, excitement, embarrassment and disbelief agitated the usual swarm butterflies in his stomach, soaring up to his chest. He couldn't believe he had done that. He couldn't wait for them to do that again. With her! Everything was so overwhelming.

It felt wonderful.

Jaune let himself collapse on his bed with a pleased sigh. Taking the time to check a few messages on his Scroll after he noticed the notifications. Just Ren on his way to Vale asking if they really needed to buy more sugar - Nora was insisting that they did. He had to chuckle, replying that they didn't, they definitely had plenty the last time he checked.

As soon as placed the Scroll on his nightstand, his partner approached. His heart did a flip on his chest as their eyes met, the same expectation from before overflowing him with the way she seemed unsure of stepping closer to his bed or her own. He unconsciously scooted towards the wall. She looked down at the freed space and back to him again, questioningly.

"Hm… Do you want to…?" He trailed off as he realized he had spoken up. He didn't even have the time to be embarrassed about it, because apparently, that was all Pyrrha needed, and in a blink of an eye, his partner was climbing on his bed, head falling on the pillow before his.

"You honestly don't mind…" He felt like it was supposed to be a question, but it sounded more as if she just had a realization.

"O-of course not." His eyes flickered everywhere, unsure where it was a safe place to focus on. He wished they had remembered to close the curtains as they did in their first nap. "I… It's- It's nice…" He found himself admitting, face filling with warmth.

"It is…" She agreed with a quiet breath, he was able to look up to catch her lips curling up.

He decided to act then. His blanket had been squished between his back and the wall, and just like the previous time, he used it as an excuse to get closer. Retrieving one of its tips and passing over his body to offer it to her.

Pyrrha took it, and he was sure the brush against his hand was no accident, since there was plenty of cloth under it for her to grip on. She slid towards him as she pulled the covers over herself. He might have done the same. So now Jaune could only focus on how they were as close as their first nap - legs touching, one small move forward would be enough for their noses to brush together, he could feel her heartbeat against his chest.

He surprised himself when, without hesitation, his arm fell on her waist, naturally feeling it was its place. Her hand also drifted at the same time, coming around his torso as she lowered herself a bit, head leaning on his shoulder, making him shiver under her warm touch.

As soon as everything fell into place, they both let out synched sighs. Her body loosening tension under his hold at the same time as his own and he had to chuckle at their similar reactions, filling his chest with lightness.

The overwhelming sensation from before settled, as if just having her by his side, listening to her breath steadying and feeling her arms around him, brought him nothing but calm. Pyrrha's soothing presence made his eyelids droop, consciousness slowly slipping away as it gave up space to sleep.

Yet before that couldn't happen, he ran his tongue over his lips, adding with a whisper. "Can we… do this again… sometimes?"

He felt her hand curling on his shirt. Words coming out together with a relaxed, lazy breath. "That sounds grand…"

He could only smile at her agreement. Shifting his head a bit so her bangs wouldn't be tickling his chin.

"Goodnight, Jaune." The words reached his ears quietly. Though what caught his attention was the way they brushed against his skin, between his shoulder and collarbone in a familiar questionable touch.

His smile grew - that was definitely intentional. So he didn't spend time fretting if it was supposed to be a kiss or not. Just melting after the touch, with just enough strength to whisper back a "Night, Pyr…"

After the fourth time it happened, it was obvious they had created some kind of routine.

"Nap?" All it took to start was a one-question word. Jaune beamed when he managed it without stuttering and she replied with a smile, already looking around so they could open path through the other students leaving the classroom. When Pyrrha was the first one to ask, he could barely contain himself on his seat out of anticipation, skin flushing as he nodded a bit too eagerly.

It became their thing. Just like it was Ren and Nora's thing to head to Vale once a week - and that's exactly when the other half of the team would find themselves stumbling up the stairs towards their quiet room.

As soon as they were on the right floor, for a few minutes they put all drowsiness to the side - if the corridors were empty that is. He would catch her eyes glimmering mischievously one second too late, and then his feet wouldn't be touching the ground anymore. It took him a few weeks for him to contain successfully his high-pitched gasps when it happened.

"You enjoy this a bit too much, don't you?" He asked once, raising an eyebrow while unlocking the door, promptly nestling back comfortably into her arms during the final steps.

"If you don't like it, I can stop." She didn't exactly reply to his question, yet the way her smile leaked into her words were enough.

"Nah…" His feet touched the floor, and he raised his head with a sheepish grin. "It wouldn't really be fair if you stopped, right?"

After all, Pyrrha wasn't the only carrier. They found themselves taking turns, at the point he would just throw an arm around her neck before she scooped him up one week, the embarrassment of being carried bridal style completely gone, and then on the next, she would just slide her arms over his shoulders before he swiftly took hold of her legs as she hopped on his back, chin resting beside his head. They giggled at any stumbles and yet, had the absolute certain neither would let the other fall.

That wasn't the only thing they alternated. After discarding the uniforms that were definitely not made to be slept with, they settled together in one of their beds, switching between which one every week.

The hesitation they had previously gradually faded, until it reached the point where they just dropped on the mattress and curled up around each other within milliseconds - as if they had been doing this their entire lives. The blanket excuse not being needed anymore.

That riddance of hesitation brought the more than pleasant discovery that his partner was an intense cuddler. Most times, she was the one who threw her arms around him first, snuggling into his shoulder, or chest or back. He responded just as enthusiastically - he was a cuddler himself after all, thought he wasn't exactly sure if he was aware of that characteristic of his before - hugging her back, or simply melting into her embrace when it happened for him to be the little spoon - they were almost the same height, she was warm and gave good hugs, and they just seemed to fit easily no matter the set up, he had no complaints there.

"... You're soft…" She had let it slip between a lengthy yawn one day, the breath tickled his neck, hands lightly gripping his shirt as she scooted closer to his chest.

Jaune hummed an almost inaudible laugh, feeling the need to add something too, words leaving his mouth in a lazy mumble as he drowsily nuzzled the top of her head. "... And your hair smells nice…"

His Goodnight was briefly pressed over her hair that day, silly smile stuck on his face through the whole nap.

Ah, yes. That was his favorite part. The Goodnight's in the middle of the afternoon, how they were always accompanied by a touch that made his heart soar. The fact that the brushes that were maybe or maybe not supposedly kisses were also intercalated between them - the owner of the bed always being the receiver - only made it more obvious they were one hundred percent intentional - and he was sure both of them knew that very well.

That was their script of unspoken rules, and of course, they weren't always able to follow it play by play, so sometimes they were broken, or simply bent.

Once they almost got caught.

He could feel Pyrrha's hands sneaking around his torso as they were about to step on their corridor, a snort escaping as the touch tickled his sides, Jaune could hear her giggling at his reaction.

He was about to turn around so she could pick him up easily, it was her turn after all. Then her arms stiffened against him, the wide eyes on her expression got him on alert too, though before he could even register, she had moved away from him, he whimpered unintentionally, it was cut by a pull on his hand and then they turned the nearest corner, diving into the adjacent corridor.

Only then he heard the voices - Ruby and Yang, the sisters heading to their respective dorm. The pound of his heartbeat inside his ears, accelerated by her sudden actions and the adrenaline of almost being caught, prevented him from picking up the subject of their conversation.

The sound of footsteps halted, followed by the electronic beeps of the unlocking code being typed, and only then, he allowed his lungs to release a breath.

And only then, he was able to take in everything about his current situation.

His back was pressed flat against the wall since his partner had tugged him towards the corridor. The partner in question pressed flat against him. Her hand still firmly clutching his since neither of them fully relaxed yet. He had been hugging her, arms wrapped tightly around her waist, and he didn't know exactly when that happened.

His heartbeat was loud inside his head for another reason now.

Jaune was able to watch the exact second a similar realization dawned into her as well. The expression that usually came before an I'm sorry broken by a hitch of breath, raise of eyebrows, and tremble of hands were the signs he picked up - and doing that wasn't hard, he could feel her every move with their proximity.

It was different from the one they had while napping together. Just the atmosphere of the room made they drowsy and soft, like laying on a patch of grass under the sun, mind slowing to allow them to sleep, so there wasn't a lot of time, nor need, to overthink or second guess. Before falling asleep, they allowed themselves to be just lazy, giggling messes.

However, now he was on alert, his body felt too hot, his skin too sensitive, his eyes too wide and his tongue too dry. He saw her mouth opening yet no words came out - and yes, he was definitely staring at it. He didn't have a lot of options though! Or he stared at her cute and kissable lips, or at her just as cute and kissable cheeks and nose, which were now also adorably pink, and that didn't help at all, or he just got lost in her eyes instead - that was dangerous - he always dived too deep, and because of that, always struggled to get out. Somehow, completely looking away from her was not an option.

"Uh… A-are they gone yet?" He was able to stammer, speaking almost hurt out of how dry his mouth felt.

"Hm- I…" For one agonizing second, he would swear she was getting closer, he could feel the weight of her lowered stare and his lips parted against his will, breathing only through his nose wasn't enough anymore.

But then she blinked, body tensing and the distance between them recovered a few inches. "Ah. L-let me check."

Jaune withdrew his hand from her waist and Pyrrha moved to the side, head poking around the edge of the corner to verify the corridor. He took that moment to finally get rid of the dryness of his lips with a move of tongue.

When she got back in front of him, she avoided his eyes. "It's empty."

He hummed in reply, keeping his hands hovering uncertainty on the air, not having a clue of what to do with them. "S-should we go then?"

She nodded, only then meeting his stare. "Do you… still want me to…?" Pyrrha's hands were only an inch from being placed on his waist, the edge of her lips quivered with a tiny smile.

"Ah." Jaune allowed some of the tension to leave his body. It was promptly replaced by heat, cheeks tingling with embarrassment. Still, he had to contain a tremble of lips too. "If it's empty… then… sure…"

"Hmhm." She hesitated for a second, before seemingly making her mind about something. "Let me try something…" Pyrrha lowered her head, letting out a breath that resembled too much a giggle, the weight of her palms rested on his sides. She glanced up then. "Can you wrap your arms around me?"

"Hm?" Was the only sound he was able to produce. Why was this so hard suddenly? He had been carried before!

"On my neck- yes, that." Her smile grew after he followed her instructions mindlessly.

For a beat of second, he just let the contact overflow every nerve of his, the heat of her hands on his waist, the way their bangs brushed together, how he could hear her exhales, and he could inhale her faint metallic, spicy scent, how that now with his arms rested over her shoulders it would take the smallest of movements for any distance between them to disappear.

He swallowed hard as her smile tilted into a familiar smirk, her eyes locked on his, and Jaune felt like he wasn't in control of his mind anymore, just getting lost in inviting shades of green - and as stated before, that was dangerous.

So that's why when her hands drifted downwards, gripped his legs and lifted him up against the wall, he let out a yelp that would put to shame the ones he had learned to avoid when picked up for the past few weeks.

Pyrrha giggled at the sound and he felt like he was going to die, just burying his face between his arm and her neck as he hugged it tighter. He had no doubts even his ears were completely red.

"I… I can do this another way if you want." The words tinged her smile with hesitation, hands unsurely shifting on his thigh, as if it had just dawned into her the new arrangement came with a kind of proximity neither of them had dealt with before.

"Hm- N-no. It's… It's fine." He mumbled on her neck, not having the strength to raise his head. A positive point he had to give to this position was she wouldn't be able to see how his face was now competing with her hair as the brightest red in sight.

"Are you sure?" He only nodded with an affirmative hum. "I'll start walking then, hold on."

He clung to her. Still, through the small route, he found himself relaxing, normalizing his breathing with slow breaths. It's just Pyrrha! She carries you all the time, this time is just a bit… different. It's only awkward if you make it awkward. Then don't make it awkward!

So he rested his chin comfortably on her shoulder and even closed his eyes, letting out the final puff of heavy air stored in his lungs. It brushed her skin and he felt it then; how the vibration of her pulse with the contact became short and rushed, without a doubt, just like his probably was.

She had all the effect on him, and most of the times that made him forget how he could cause them on her as well.

They stopped way too soon. "Jaune? Do you have your Scroll with you?"

His eyes snapped open. With all the commotion from before, he hadn't the time to get the device. "It's on my coat pocket."

He heard her sigh, grip loosening as if she was about to let him go. So before she could do that, he found himself blurting, raising his head from her shoulder. "I can still get it!"

Pyrrha was probably about to ask him how, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was a silent breath as he leaned his forehead on hers.

It wasn't really his intention! It was a side effect of having to glance down. He leaned his torso back a bit, keeping one hand in a safe grip around her neck, and the other was quick to find the Scroll in his pocket.

"There!" Jaune raised his hand with the phone to show his successful retrieve and lifted his head up.

His smile froze as the movement caused their noses to brush together. Their faces had never been so close, he had never seen her blush that hard, and he could feel his brain frying with that information.

"Yaaang! Are you coming or not?" The prolonged whine was muffled by their neighbor team's door, even so, it was more than enough to make both of them nearly jump out of their skin by the sound of Ruby's voice. They were leaving already!

He exchanged a glance with his partner, there was a jiggle on the opposite doorknob, and as quickly as he could, Jaune slammed the Scroll in the lock, punched the code, Pyrrha kicked the door open, dashed inside, and let her back collapse against the wood to close it - all the while with him safely on her arms as he clung to her for dear life.

There was the sound of the other door opening and closing, and at a normal pace, then a pair of footsteps steadily growing farther.

The grip on his legs was released, he stepped heavily on the floor, his heart still running by pure adrenaline, letting out a huge breath to calm himself, it was copied by his partner at the same second.

Despite being now safe and sound inside their room, neither of them made a motion to part from each other. He still had his face buried in her neck, her hands were back on his waist, Jaune felt the weight of her chin on his own shoulder as her heavy breaths tickled his ears.

Then those breaths tuned shorter, he could feel Pyrrha shake against him, and her giggles filled the room. He wasted no time in tagging along, laughing with her, letting the agitation of his muscles fade with each breath. Until he ran out of it, trying to steady his breathing while chuckles made the process harder than it should have been.

She let out a loud relieved sigh. "That… was close…"

Jaune groaned, words still ragged. "I... definitely need a nap after that."

Pyrrha gave him an exhausted hum of agreement, and soon her hands were leaving his waist. He might have taken an extra second to lift his head, but he eventually did.

Their gazes met, though, this time, he didn't freeze or get himself lost, just letting out a poorly contained snort at the sight of her laughter still hanging on the edge of her lips. Trying to let her go not too reluctantly, after all, it wouldn't take more than a few minutes for them to be that close again.

They both dropped onto her bed with such synchrony that it seriously looked like they had practiced, getting them to chuckle tiredly. Shifting closer, their hands found each other shortly after, even if now they were much more comfortable with the situation, the touches were still timid at first, always attached to a tentative look, a silent request for permission - something he had never denied her.

Her arms came around him with such certainty and purpose; it made a wonderful shiver run down his spine. He usually closed his eyes immediately after, relishing in her soothing aura, yet today, Jaune didn't find the urge to do so, peeking at her through his eyelids.

Just for him to instantly remember the exact reason why he developed the habit of shutting his eyes in the first place. It was not only her embraces that were full of certainty, but her looks also had a shine that transmitted the same energy - an intriguing mix of expectation and resolve - as if she wanted to act but made herself wait.

Jaune knew why. At least, he believed he knew why. If his guesses were correct, if Pyrrha really liked him too, she just didn't go further because he himself had asked her to wait.

"I'm still figuring some things out." He had said after they woke up from their first nap together, she knew what the things were supposed to be, and respected his decision.

The breath of her sigh tickled his lips, her eyes becoming half-lidded like his own, causing his gaze to drop. Now that they were in complete silence, he was able to hear a tiny chant inside his head, that only then he realized it had been playing on a loop since she had pressed his back against the wall earlier.

"Kiss her."

How much he wanted to...

"You still have to say goodnight, say it, and then do it for real!" The internal voice insisted temptingly.

"Goodnight, Jaune." He barely heard the whisper.

"Do it!"

He choked on his own goodnight, only an empty breath leaving his mouth instead. And then he retreated, shutting his eyes, head dropping as he hid his face in the crook of her neck, trying again, and succeeding like a coward as the words brushed safely against her shoulder.

He couldn't do it. Not yet. He didn't possess any of her straightforwardness, just having tangled thoughts inside.

It took two weeks more.

He was exhausted. So, so exhausted. They had combat evaluation the previous day, and his muscles somehow were still sore - curse his Aura for working properly only when it wanted, luckily it was getting better, working during that class so he was able to get a good grade.

And now Jaune felt like his brain had turned into mush after finishing an excruciating long test that, worse of all, didn't have a single multiple-choice question, they were all dissertations that took a whole page of text to reply.

So, so tiring.

He staggered out of the classroom. For exams, the students were always relocated to a room with individual desks to prevent cheating; his partner hadn't been by his side as usual. So as soon as he spotted the lively ribbon of red hair, as she was apparently getting a drink from a nearby water fountain, he immediately rushed to her direction.

Noting there weren't other people around, he wasn't gracious as he let himself lean heavily against her back, dropping his head on her shoulder with a mortified groan.

Pyrrha jumped in surprise, but soon relaxed, letting out an amused giggle. "Tired?"

So, so much. "Yeah…"

She turned around supporting his slumped form fully. "Nap?"

"Please…" It came out as a pained whimper.

They stumbled towards the dorms in silence. He had spent the previous night, and the one before that, and the one before that one and so on for the past week, studying and practicing for their tests, so his partner had a good notion of how much of a wreck he was feeling. After all, she was there with him during those times, even being the one who guaranteed him to not overwork himself, making him call the night while reassuring he was doing great, he would be able to pass easily.

Jaune didn't understand how Pyrrha didn't seem just as exhausted as him. She was probably more used to it or concealed it much better.

As they were arriving at their corridor, he was sure his legs had turned into jelly.

"Come here…" His partner turned to him, if Jaune wasn't so drained, he would have searched for a way to brush off the genuine concern on her voice.

He was picked up from the floor without him even registering. Only lacing his arms around her neck, lazily letting his head bend towards her shoulder. "You're the best y'know?"

She didn't reply, yet watching her smile as color filled her cheeks was enough.

He blinked slowly, and then they were already inside their room. He mumbled a heartfelt, tired "thanks" and quickly fished light clothes from the closet, leaving to give space to his partner as he disposed of his uniform unceremoniously.

Stopping for longer than necessary between their beds, Jaune tried to remember which one he was supposed to go, after a moment of clarity, he was collapsing on hers.

He only noticed he was already drifting off without her when feeling the mattress dipping behind him as she climbed on it. Her warmth approached his back, Pyrrha took the sheets and gently tucked both of them in, and he had to snuggle deeper into the thin fabric, bodies fitting on each other.

Her hand tenderly messed with his hair, clearing his strands out of his face, getting a pleased sigh from him at the light touch, before it drifted down, resting on the curve of his waist as she shifted more comfortably against his back.

Perfect.

Jaune barely heard her goodnight, whispered so quietly probably not to bother him. Yet, as soon as the words were registered by him, he furrowed his brow. He had to say it back. He had to kiss her. It was his turn.

He stirred weakly over the mattress, she was snuggled up against him so comfortably, the covers were over them just the right way and he felt like it would be a crime to mess with their cozy setup.

Even if he was basically half asleep, he came up with a solution. His hand moved until it found her own that was draped over his waist. Curling around her wrist, with a tug just strong enough to make her understand that he wanted her to move, Jaune sloppily guided the limb up, passing it over his arm and shoulder.

Stopping right below his chin, tilting his head down by a fraction, he placed his lips against her knuckles. "G'Night Pyr…"

He heard her faint gasp. It wasn't a questionable brush, it had no reason for her to not think it was definitely supposed to be a kiss, after all, he had moved her all that way to do just that, and the contact lasted for a few solid seconds. It just wasn't exactly where he wanted it to be, still, it was progress.

He moved Pyrrha's hand back to their previous position. His own now resting by her side over his stomach. Then her palm slid over the back of his hand, fingers falling between his and he promptly curled them inwards, lacing their fingers together.

Perfect.

The next week, before saying "Goodnight", Pyrrha intertwined their fingers once again, bringing closer to her, she gently but surely, kissed the back of his hand.

And that's how the questionable kiss unspoken rule was permanently broken.

The new level of proximity they developed over the past weeks wasn't only made clear during their escapades for a nap. After all, after getting a taste of the comfort that being close to her brought, it was nearly impossible to simply revert back to the state before it started.

He knew how gentle Pyrrha's touches could be, knew how warm her hugs were, how sweet her scent was, always carrying the traces of metal and leather of her armor, the sensation of having her close and holding her hand and kissing her-

Okay, not kiss-kiss… yet. But now they weren't superficial touches anymore - it was something!

Even if he was still a mess when it happened; proven by the time when he managed to find a space between her bangs to leave his goodnight kiss one day, and immediately had to bury his face on the pillow as Jaune heard the smile as Pyrrha said it back, feeling skin burn even after he woke up, sappy embarrassed grin still marking his expression.

It started naturally and evolved gradually too. Simple things like how the back of their hands brushed together too many times as they walked side by side, to the point that it was obvious even to him that, if they didn't want it to happen they could've easily put some distance between them. But nope, it would happen again and he would wish seconds too late he possessed the courage to just stop and hold it.

Or how he would automatically seek for ways to touch her as they talked, a hand on her shoulder, or arm or wrist, even if it lasted for a single beat, making him realize those gestures were familiar somehow, eventually dawning into him he got that habit from Pyrrha herself, being something she did to him frequently for as long as Jaune could remember.

Or simply scooting towards each other to sit closer and not minding the way their shoulders touched. In class, at lunch, or during their training session breaks, only realizing the frequency it was happening at after he unconsciously felt comfortable enough to let his head slump on her shoulder, attempting a joke on how training with her that day had completely drained him. Pyrrha had just laughed, playing along, then before he could straighten his posture against the rooftop wall, he felt her cheek press over his hair and, of course, he didn't feel the need to move for the rest of their break.

He felt a little frustrated his guts for holding her hand or giving her kisses were completely nonexistent outside of their room on those particular lazy afternoons. Even if he really wished to do so - while watching her fingertips drumming mutely over the table as she studied, or by seeing her cheeks rise with her smile as she gave him a good morning over breakfast. Though Pyrrha genuinely seemed not to mind they were taking it slow - whatever it actually was.

She also didn't seem to mind the fractions of their closeness leaking to the outside world. So Jaune savored those moments silently when he noticed they were happening, and he wouldn't risk ruining everything by asking for more.

Actually, if he could ask for one thing right now, it would be for Nora to stop staring at them like that.

The customary afternoon of "heading to the library to hypothetically study but instead watch team RWBY cause chaos over some board game and re-read some comics" had started more than great, because he was lucky enough, and quick enough, to guarantee for himself, one of the most coveted places in the whole building - a seat on one of the recently added bean bag chairs.

There were only two on their usual hangout area, Nora had snagged the other one, almost disappearing inside the puffy seat, leaving Ren to read at the table without having trouble to turn the pages because of a sleepyhead.

So when his partner arrived a few minutes late - dodging some unfortunate board game pieces that were already on the floor not even ten minutes into the round -, walking to the quieter JNPR corner, stopping by his side and ruffling his hair for a second - the habit she had developed lately that was, admittedly, his favorite -, while asking which issue he was reading with a curious tilt of head - getting Pyrrha to read his favorite comics was one of the biggest accomplishments of his life - he immediately dove into a speech of how this specific month-old issue was full of foreshadowing and how crazy was that they didn't notice?

He also didn't notice that in the process of proving his point, he had scooted to the side, pointing on the intricate illustrations the details they had missed during previous readings, unconsciously freeing enough space for her to sit because that just felt right.

And Pyrrha was by his side without a second thought, just hums of agreement and a tiny gasp of surprised acknowledgment to his findings.

Her breathy "I can't believe we didn't notice that." was the reason he finally looked directly at her after his ramblings.

He didn't even have to tilt his head for that. Just glancing to the side, Jaune could feel the strands of her bangs tickling his temple, courtesy of the soft, malleable material thy were sitting, causing their sides to be pressed together, arms squished between their bodies as their weight combined in the center of the bean bag.

So he cleared his throat, letting his tongue run over sudden dry lips for a split second, trying to ignore the fact he was close enough to see the curve of her lashes. "A-and that's not all of it!" Jaune continued, voice unconsciously lowering to a whisper, hoping to bring his attention back to the comic in question would ease the surge of warmth on his cheeks. "There are some other little things and- Do you... want to see it?" He asked after a brief pause, they were in the library, after all, maybe she had readings planned and he was just here, filling her ears with theories.

"Of course!" Pyrrha bumped his shoulder while settling more comfortably by his side. "You've got me curious now."

"Okay." He couldn't help but beam, feeling skin prickle with the contact even through the thick fabric of their uniforms. "There's a thing in the beginning- actually, just read this... right here, again, and tell me if it doesn't sound familiar…"

They ended up reading the story in its entirety once again, pages rested between their knees, letting her flip through the parts he had already read through before her arrival, adding a comment here and there about shady lines of dialogue and hidden details, even though his focus had been completely divided now.

The shouts of victory and cries of defeat from the table were nothing more than muffled background noise, the colors on the pages in front of him were starting to blur together, the familiar sensation of comfort gently engulfing him. Barely containing the urge to lean deeper into her shoulder and maybe close his eyes for a moment, he would have probably given in to the temptation if it wasn't for the sudden, strangely intense, sensation of being watched.

Just a discreet crook of neck and Jaune identified where it was coming from. It wasn't the first time he caught Nora giving them weird looks, a mix between pure skepticism and excitement, as if she could throw him in an interrogation room any second now or just start squealing as if pancake night arrived earlier, tinted sometimes by surprise and disbelief.

Or maybe he was overthinking.

Another quick glance up and nope, she was now staring as if they were a puzzle she just couldn't figure out.

Jaune shifted in place, miserably attempting to dodge Nora's line of sight by reclining deeper onto the seat. Those occasional stares always made him feel self-conscious. If she was acting like that just by seeing them be closer than normal, she would probably explode if they were ever caught in the middle of a nap. He silently wished he hadn't noticed the looks it in the first place.

A sudden touch made him jump. Warmth being placed over the hand resting between their bodies, effectively redirecting his attention away from his plan of becoming one with the bean bag. "Is this the part you were mentioning before?"

"Ah- hm… y-yes. Exactly!" The smile resurged immediately after. Seeing her invested enough to ask questions on something he enjoyed was infallible in bringing his mood up. He was about to raise a finger to point out a specific line, but stopped himself just in time by noticing the welcoming weight hadn't moved away from the top of his hand, hers still casually resting over it. Motioning with his free arm instead, he continued. "See what I mean?"

Just when they reached the end of the issue he realized the self-consciousness of being watched had been gradually pushed to the back of his mint until eventually forgotten, not even noticing if it was still happening or not. And that, at some point, Pyrrha's fingers had fallen between the gaps of his, and he was mindlessly playing with her fingertips for gods knew how long.

Being time to leave, Jaune felt her give his hand a squeeze before getting up, pulling him up after her with a tug.

He clumsily got on his feet. If the misstep had been an excuse to hold her for a few seconds longer, nobody needed to know.

Thought if their peering teammate had noticed, he didn't care.

Maybe it wouldn't be that bad if they ever get caught. Maybe then, she would only stare at them like a puzzle that was finally figured out.

Maybe that was his wish too.

Chapter Text

Once he didn't get to sleep.

It was the day the professor had to be absent from class for some reason Jaune didn't have the mind to listen, just being excited for having an entire free day in the middle of the week.

The team was in the recreation area when Nora extended the invitation to her and Ren's weekly visit to Vale to both of them. He exchanged a glance with his partner and they were quick to silently agree on an answer.

"Thank you, Nora. But we… already have plans."

"And isn't this weekly hangout, like, just you guy's thing? We don't want to interfere."

Their teammate looked ready to argue. But then Nora alternated glances between both of them, eyes straightening almost imperceptibly, the analytic, and sort of familiar, staring made his cheeks burn and he had to look away.

"Ok then." She chirped suddenly, a bit too happily, surprising him by the lack of resistance. "We'll leave you guys to your plans."

As soon as the other half of the team left – and waiting until a few minutes passed, just to be sure they could only be inside the airship already -, they rushed up the stairs to their room. On the way, no matter how much Jaune bit the inside of his cheek, he wasn't able to contain his nervous giggles.

"Should we... feel bad about that?"

"Probably not?" Pyrrha's chuckles leaked into the words. Then with a tilt of her head, she added quickly. "Nora is used to going without us. And she didn't seem upset about it."

Upset certainly wasn't how he would classify the suspicious look she kept putting them both under. "Yeah... it would feel a bit like intruding on their thing probably… It is the thing they always do together."

"But not together-together." She idly completed with a quiet laugh, bumping her shoulder on his as they went up to the final stairs.

He just snorted and shook his head at the familiar words - it was quite amusing how both partnerships had their thing that they did not do together-together - while returning the shoulder bump.

That caused her to get back to him with another shove, he wasn't prepared for it and right at the last step, he tripped.

Both of them were quick to react. Jaune reached for the nearest support, that being her arm. Pyrrha's hand was placed on his chest in a swift motion to avoid him to fall flat on his face.

"Great." He cursed his ability to make a fool of himself. Then, straightening his body as his partner pulled him up the final step to the corridor, he looked up to her. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Her smile was this close of turning into a giggle, making him roll his eyes, embarrassed. He felt her hesitate then, hand on his chest and the other on his shoulder, he was still gripping her arm as it dawned to him it was his turn to be the carrier.

Pyrrha checked at the hall in front of them. "Scroll?"

Jaune promptly handed the device to her, and without a word, she laced her arms around his neck. He understood immediately, there was a small jump, and he took hold of her legs, an exact copy of how she had carried him the day they were almost caught. He stumbled in place as she leaped into his arms, not really used to carrying her this way.

"Sorry." She laughed as she hugged him tighter and he had to join her.

"Nah. It's fine." He adjusted her weight more comfortably before starting to walk.

He stopped unsurely in front of the door, carefully turning his back to it. "Can you reach it?"

"Oh- Wait… No." There was a grunt as she leaned further towards the lock. He blew away some strands of her hair that ended up tickling his nose. "Can you bend down a little, please? Yes. But more to the left... there." There was a beep, then a giggle. "Just step forward now."

He did. "No! My forward. I mean, step towards the door so I can type the code."

"Oh right!" Jaune let out an awkward chuckle. "I don't remember this being so complicated."

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha laughed with him. The sound of the accepted code resonated and they were able to slip inside.

He did that a bit too fast, trying to kick the door shut, though it was right at the same time she stretched on his arms, trying to do the same thing with her hand. The combined weight to a single direction nearly caused him to lose his footing. They both gasped. The door was closed with a loud bang. He spun around in an attempt to recover his balance, and to avoid an accident, Jaune rushed towards his bed, dropping her as safely as he could over the soft mattress.

She let out a breath of relief. He did the same right before another laughing fit came over them.

Only when it started to subside and breaths were being recovered, the realization he was still on top of his partner hit; half-stepping on the floor, half with his hands placed on the bed on each side of her body.

Pyrrha glanced up as he went silent. Her lips still bearing the vestiges of a giggle, flushed cheeks raising the corner of her eyes, clear shades of green staring up at him with something he could identify as genuine joy behind a few wild strands of her bangs.

He just stared and then he sighed. Unrestrained, loud and clear and lovesick, as if his feelings could pour out of him with a single exhale.

Her head crooked to the side a bit, looking up to him with expectant curiosity. His felt his face heat up, now self-conscious of the sound that had just escaped his mouth.

Before he could even consider speaking or doing anything else though, the curl of a familiar mischievous smirk was made clear and then it was too late. Hands and an impulse with a leg sent him flying, slamming him down on the mattress with a move he was sure she had used against an opponent in a match before. Jaune shut his eyes tight for the impact and a yelp came out as his head hit the pillow, almost attempting to activate his Aura out of instinct.

He snapped his eyes open. She was the one on top of him now. Being instantly overwhelmed by her proximity, he could only focus on how the curve her eyes gave away the size of her smile.

"Ah- Is this… some kind of payback for almost dropping you?" He opened his palms in surrender above his head.

"Not really…" Pyrrha let out a breathy giggle - somehow it sounded a bit apologetic - and the movement made the tip of their noses to touch before a respectful distance was put between their faces. "It was just meant to be… a little push…"

"I… think a move you can use in a battle is a bit more than a little push."

"I'm sorry?" Her lips trembled with her repressed laugh.

"Yeah, yeah." Jaune rolled his eyes, feeling his cheeks flush, shaking his head to get his bangs out of his eyes. "And I will pretend I believe that."

She replied with a chuckle, still holding herself above his head. He watched her expression soften, smile relaxing into a gentle curve as her eyelids dropped - had he ever noticed the reddish tint of her lashes before? - soon tender fingertips were helping him in moving blond strands back to their place. His skin prickled to the point it felt numb, and only her touch could bring any sensation back. He was absolutely powerless to look away, sappy smile stuck on his face, so when a lock of hair was being tucked behind his ear, he was also powerless to resist fitting his cheek on her palm.

A hitch of breath. Somehow, her gaze became unfocused and only focused on him at the same time. Words slipping out of her mouth in an amused whisper. "You're so cute…"

His eyes widened at the same second, mouth opening in a wordless exclamation. Her own immediately clamped shut and her hands gripped the sheets so tightly it made the cloth move under him. He felt like his chest was about to explode and it would only take on exhale to trigger it. And for once, not thinking about the damage, he let the breath go. "You're so beautiful…"

The splash of red on her face clearly highlighted the startled green of her eyes. His whole body was blushing at this point, with how his mouth and brain were not exactly working at the same wavelength.

At last, the shock faded from her expression and Pyrrha smiled, sheepishly and pure, only making his statement more truthful. His breathing turned sharp simply by catching a swift glance downwards from her part, and for a long, lasting second he could swear she had been inching closer, he could swear Pyrrha was going to kiss him.

And she did.

Soft lips falling over the burning skin of his cheek with such tenderness it made him swallow dry.

Then, in a blink of an eye, she vanished from his line of sight, and Jaune could only let out an ugly wheeze as she let herself heavily collapse straight onto his chest. His partner only sighed blissfully, he could hear her smile, hands lightly gripping his hoodie as she snuggled more comfortably against him, hiding her face on his shoulder; it felt warmer than usual.

He could only whine, because of the impact, because of what he had blurted out, and because he maybe wished she hadn't stopped after just one-

"Goodnight, Jaune." He barely heard.

That finally knocked him out of his daze, after recovering control of his limbs, even through his embarrassment, he couldn't stop himself from beaming, bringing his arms up to hug her. "Goodnight, Pyr."

The room was supposed to be silent but his own thoughts were being outmatched by the frenetic drumming of his heartbeat. His whole body felt restless and warm. That was probably pretty obvious for her as well, since she was laying right above his chest.

He needed a way to dissolve that energy, or he wasn't going to be a comfortable cuddling partner that way - the thought honestly terrified him.

As it happened when he was nervous, his fingers looked for something to distract themselves with. A hand of his didn't take long to stray up, sweeping aside some strands of her bangs that tickled his neck. Brushing them out of her face much like she had done not long ago. Jaune noticed one second too late his fingers hadn't stopped, and that he didn't have the mind to, light touch drifting behind her ear, sliding through the curves of the small ribbon of red that always framed her face.

A soft sigh escaped from Pyrrha's mouth as he mindlessly repeated the movement. His stroke traveled to the back of her head, finding a way to bury his fingertips on the strands pulled by her hair tie, her content hums were motivation for him to try something new.

Trailing upwards, he gently tugged the elastic keeping the red restrained, she nudged his shoulder together with a quiet sound of acknowledgment; he took that as a sign she understood where he was going.

Still, Jaune whispered with another light tug. "Do you mind if…?"

Pyrrha only shook her head, short and quick. "You can take it off."

He had to stretch his arm twice to free her hair without the risk of accidentally pulling any strands - and so he could even reach the end. The lively crimson color covered her form, shape of curls rising and falling like the waves of a calm sea, the scent hit him as if the tie had been keeping that locked as well, the sweet and spicy of cinnamon he always felt when lying on her pillow.

He tentatively ran a superficial touch over a few tips, then after receiving another satisfied hum of encouragement Jaune buried his fingers in the back of her head, massaging her scalp where the hair tie had been tugging restlessly for gods knows how long.

He didn't know it was possible for her body to relax further after the lazy way she had dropped over his chest, but she did, letting out a lengthy exhale, tension he would bet even she didn't realize she had been storing was being swept away with each stroke.

Her breathing steadied within seconds, and just by that, he knew Pyrrha had already fallen asleep. Yet he didn't consider even once stopping his caress, finding himself relaxing too as his fingers carefully slid through shapely curves of red, gently playing with curls and softly scratching her scalp, until the point he was just doing that automatically, completely immersed by the feeling.

So he didn't sleep.

And since his mind wasn't filled by dreams or emptied by deep slumber, he could only be alone with his thoughts.

She had called him cute. Besides his family, when someone had said that to him? And unironically?

Plus, none of their various others goodnight kisses had felt so intimate as that one. His mouth went dry just with the thought of it.

There was no doubt for a while now - there was nothing platonic about their situation. What kind of just friends cuddled together, has a habit of carrying each other, exchanged small kisses, had gone through countless almost real kisses situations and gave those compliments that were too close to flirting?

Their cozy naps were basically the highlight of his week. Easily occupying a space on the list of best things that had ever happened to him, right on the top, together with being accepted into Beacon to follow his dreams and meeting her.

Yet, his anxious mind had already come up with a diverse collection of things that could go wrong. Most of them ending with Pyrrha realizing she had made a terrible decision by liking him. Then he wouldn't be able to hold her close anymore, wouldn't be able to feel her warmth or her comforting scent or watch her eyes lighting up with her smile from up close, he would miss their Goodnight's, her soft sighs as she falls asleep, her lazy smirks as she woke up and even the way her hair ended up on his face on the middle of the naps.

Jaune didn't want that to end, he liked what they had. Gods, he loved it. He loved the fact it had turned into a habit, into their thing, even their stupid unintentionally imposed rules and the way they both followed it without a question, he loved that too, how she played along and seemed just as happy and willing to share those moments with him, and he loved how all those things and her touches and her smiles and her stares made him feel loved.

And he loved her for it.

A single mismatched beat, the same lovesick sigh from earlier escaped from his mouth.

His free hand hovered over her shoulder, tracing the path of the arm draped over his chest until it arrived at her hand, carefully resting his own over it. All the while keeping his eyes on her to see if she would notice, there was no change in her expression.

He listened to her soft breaths as his fingers were lost under Pyrrha's soft hair. She was indeed beautiful. The view before him looked like something straight out of his dreams - but it wasn't one, it was real and she was here.

So Jaune cheated a rule, approaching her forehead, he kissed her that day as well. Slow and tender, in a promise that it would get even better soon.

A lot of things made the moment when they had to part harder than it should be. The most obvious reason was letting go of her warm embraces, but the one that took the cake was what he had to endure after. Because when she sat up, she had the habit of stretching the drowsiness away, long enticing movements complete with cute pleased sighs.

And Jaune did his best to not stare, though the fact that most of the time Pyrrha chose shirts with thin straps for their nap, how she insisted on doing that before getting out of the bed fully, the way she would smirk lazily after, made it very, very difficult. It didn't help that part of him considered she was doing that on purpose.

Well, today avoiding gawking at her was a hundred times easier because the curtain of red was on the way, he didn't even get the urge to get closer and touch it since that was what he had been doing for the past hour.

Though, as she sat up, Pyrrha just looked around confusedly for a second, hand patting the mattress randomly as if searching for something. She let out a last yawn. "Do you have my hair tie?"

"Ah. Yeah." Jaune stretched his hand into her line of vision, shaking the wrist where the elastic band had been around since he took it. "Do you… want me to tie it back for you?" Oh well, guess he still wanted to touch it.

"Oh! Yes, please." She moved over the mattress, turning her back to him fully.

He positioned himself behind her, careful to not accidentally sit over any of the tips that sprawled over the sheets, gently gathering the locks in a grip, running his fingers through it to disperse any tangles. His stroked went to the back of her head, Pyrrha let out a loud relaxed breath, leaning her head back, rolling her shoulders, he could watch the defined muscles of her back dancing with the movement before they dropped, free from tension.

He felt just like when he had been helping her before their first nap together, completely flustered, as if his skin could successfully fry an egg and his lungs needed a reminder on how to breathe properly. She had to be doing that to mess with him.

Miraculously, he managed to tie her hair back without messing up. Her head bent forward while he swirled his hand through the length of her ponytail, her palm slipping to the back of her neck, fingers following the curve once before retreating.

A decision made by his half-functional mind. Still holding her hair out of the way, as soon as her fingers left, Jaune pushed himself forward, dry lips against the smooth skin of her nape in a quick kiss. He recoiled back as he heard her gasp and her back stiffen, letting the red drop back into its rightful place.

"Ah. Pyr! Sorry! I just- I'm-" He attempted stuttering an explanation he didn't have, raising his hands impotently.

Then Jaune choked on his own words as Pyrrha turned around to face him, gripped his hoodie and pulled him close. His mouth hung agape as hers fell on the curve of his neck, soft lips against sensitive skin in a firm kiss that made every hair on his body stand up.

"Now we are even." Without raising her head fully, she whispered, causing the words to brush against him warmly, somehow in a balance between shy and playful.

Letting his hoodie go, she pulled away. He only blinked, let out an "Uh-" and without her hold, his body fell back on the mattress much like a log that had been chopped down.

"Jaune!" Instant regret filled his partner's expression, hand raising in to cover her mouth as Pyrrha stared at his motionless flustered form, the other stretched towards him unsurely as if she wanted to help but didn't know how. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

"I'm-" The sentence was completed with the release of an incomprehensible noisy breath

That didn't lessen her concern. "I just- I'm sorry, I won't do that again!"

"No!" Jaune was quick to react as her last words were processed by his mushy brain. "Don't- do it again. I mean- I don't… I don't mind- You… d-don't- You don't worry. I'm fine.."

"Oh." The single note overflowed with relief. They both avoided each other's eyes. "You… liked it then?"

"Hm- Y-yes." His skin burned so much he believed it would be able for him to melt into the mattress. "You don't… Can do that again. I mean…you can... do it again, yeah."

"Right." She whispered. He tested glancing back to her after hearing the quiet tone. "Only… Only if you do that again too..." The way Pyrrha blushed as she rubbed the back of her neck gave away what that was supposed to be.

He hummed in agreement. Her eyes fell back on him right at the moment he licked his lips. "I… I can do that… easy."

A beat of silence, a hold of an expectant gaze.

"... Now?"

She opened her mouth to reply, a familiar loud cheery voice coming from the corridors intercepted her words. Their teammates were coming back suspiciously early.

His partner got up from his bed, giving him a soft smile. "Next time."

It didn't come.

The whole team was encased inside their room. Windows shut as tightly as possible to prevent any leaks through any cracks, still, it wasn't enough since they had to place a rag underneath it to catch a few persistent raindrops that found a way to sneak in. Pouring rain loud enough to hinder any attempt of conversation between them.

Jaune instinctively flinched at the lightning, bracing his ears for the thunder. Ren didn't even bat an eye as he continued reading as if his semblance was also able to mute sounds. Nora pressed her face deeper into the window's glass as if she wanted to absorb the electricity from outside and use the boost in strength to blast the clouds away. Pyrrha didn't seem to acknowledge nature's turmoil much either, only checking the dripping on the window from time to time with quick glances. He could tell she was uneasy though, but for a completely unrelated reason.

He saw her yawn and had to close his mouth shut not to mimic it. If the weather had been clear, they would probably fast asleep right now.

But it wasn't and they weren't alone. So he just retreated deeper into his sheet, pressing his back against the headboard, trying to find anything interesting to watch or play on his Scroll after finding out that, by himself, he actually didn't feel in the mood for a nap.

The thunder shook the windows. And yeah, sleeping would be a little tricky with all that commotion outside.

It wasn't one minute later when Pyrrha shifted restlessly on her bed, threw her sheets to the side, scooped up her empty mug over her nightstand and left the room without a word, just a tentative look to his direction.

It wasn't one minute later when, with his sheet still around his shoulders, he decided to follow.

Jaune found her at the recreation area, refilling her mug with coffee as she failed to suppress another yawn.

Only being surprised for a moment that the place wasn't full of people, without a second thought he slipped behind her, sheet covered arms wrapping around her waist as he nuzzled her shoulder.

Her body basically melted as she allowed herself to lean heavily against his chest, shifting in place to fit more comfortably inside his embrace. Any stiffness fading together with the air she had let escape after a sip from her drink.

"Thank you… I… I needed that."

He hummed. "Yeah… Me too…"

"Do you want some?" She motioned the mug towards him.

"No, thank you." Considering he would have to move one of his arms away from her waist to do so. So Jaune just nestled deeper into her, he was doing pretty great with what he had. She only replied his affectionate nuzzling with a giggle.

They both stood there, staring at a nearby window, heavy clouds making the end of the afternoon way darker than it should be, the view only being raindrops being violently splattered against the glass, the only movement between the two of them being her occasional sips from her mug.

"Today was…" He broke the silence of the room after a crack of thunder, following the incomplete sentence with a blow of air.

Even so, Pyrrha agreed with a knowing hum.

"... Lame…" He completely a bit too late, she chuckled.

"Indeed…"

He picked a raindrop to accompany its movement down the glass. "I… I know it's silly but… I missed you…"

Jaune could hear her smile on the breath she took before speaking "We are both silly then…" After placing the now empty mug on the table, Pyrrha turned around on his arms. "I missed you too…"

He gave her a flustered smile, feeling his chest jump at her sincere look. Her eyes diverted to the side for a moment, and when they were back, he didn't miss the extra glimmer. "Do you want to go sit on the couch?"

It didn't take long for them to find a comfortable arrangement - weeks of practice -, soon he was settling against the armrest and she followed, dropping on his chest and resting her head on his shoulder with such easygoing naturality that was more than enough to make his heart flutter.

Moving his arms to adjust the sheet around them, Jaune draped the cloth over her back before lowering his touch until it rested around her waist again. He felt her sigh softly as she tested positions on his shoulder, when Pyrrha seemed satisfied he let his cheek rest on top of her head. "Comfy?"

Her pensive hum reached his ears right before he felt movement of arms with the clear intention of circling his body. While dodging the edge of the sheet between them, a hand accidentally - or not, he would never know - slipped under his shirt.

He squeaked, feeling immediate embarrassment at the sound. Then she rushed a flustered I'm sorry, the touch was leaving and he let out a whine. "But they were warm…"

Dust, he was definitely not supposed to blurt that aloud. She stopped right before removing fully, gave him an equally surprised and confused look that made him get even more self-conscious at his inability to keep thoughts to himself. The embarrassing moment passed in a blink of an eye though, right when she swiftly slid her hand back under his shirt.

He shuddered involuntarily with the new warm pressure going through his skin, just to immediately relax with a sigh as the touch skidded along his side.

"Comfy?" It was her turn to ask, quiet laughs tickling his ears. The sound, the gentle patterns being traced by her fingers and her easy proximity caused a lazy affirmative hum to be his only available reply, eyelids drooping without much notice from his part.

A surging thought from the back of his head didn't allow him to even consider falling asleep though. The recreation area was frequented by everyone on their floor - granted, they were probably being smart by staying inside their heated rooms in a time like this - still, that didn't exclude the possibility of someone wandering in, and by extent, catch him all snuggled up with his partner. No doubt, she knew of that outcome too.

She... just doesn't mind. She doesn't mind being seen with me here.

A breath got caught up in his throat. Noticing only after too many blinks that the simple realization made the corner of his eyes moisten up a bit, he just pulled her closer, smile buried on her bangs as a rush of happiness overcame him.

"I wish we could do this every day…" He thought aloud - again. It was murmured so lowly that he thought Pyrrha hadn't heard it.

There was a cut on her inhale, then it came out even quieter. "What did you say…?"

"I just…" A shuddering breath. "... I just wish we didn't have to worry about being alone to do this…"

"I…" She stopped for a moment, the single note carrying too many emotions for him to put a finger on a single one - surprise, expectancy, relief… "Why do we?" Tone as if the question wasn't only directed to him.

Jaune only shrugged. He wouldn't be able to voice his persistent doubts aloud - because he had told her to wait and was too much of a coward to say it wasn't necessary anymore, because he didn't want to mess up what they already had and got comfortable with the situation, because he didn't want to risk.

"I'm sorry…" He offered instead.

"... Why?"

"I… feel like I should have said that sooner…"

Pyrrha soothingly caressed his skin. "Don't be… Because if it's like that… I feel like I might be guilty too…"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… I could have also… because I knew about how…" She paused; he felt her chest move with the long breath that followed. "How with the way you acted… the possibility of you feeling the same didn't sound so absurd anymore…"

The Oh that escaped from his mouth involuntarily had its sound blocked somewhere in his throat. He swallowed hard to recover his voice, heart pumping so fast Jaune could feel it on his fingertips, managing to produce a simple dumbfounded "You knew…". Not as a question or as a statement, but as him finally coming into terms entirely - Pyrrha liked him, and she knew he liked her too.

She let out a shy giggle at his awestruck perception of the obvious. When he wasn't able to get anything else out, she continued. "That's why I could have said something sooner… Because… with each passing day, I only felt more certain…"

"Even so... Everything I did… I was always… afraid that I would eventually take too far, make a mistake… make you uncomfortable… cause it to stop..." The sheet muffled her words. "But at the same time, I wanted… because I wanted to help you figure things out… So while trying to balance that… "

"But I…" His heart clenched inside his chest. "I figured out… And I still didn't say anything… I- I was such-" He interrupted himself with a frustrating mix of a groan and a whimper.

"Don't. Don't insult yourself." She traced circles on his side gently, hugging him tighter. "And I know. I guess… I liked what we had… and didn't want to jeopardize that…"

The familiar argument gave him chills, he swallowed back a weight on his throat. "I know how that is…" Jaune felt an unexplainable need to keep going - talking to her was always so easy.. "It's just… with you... it was so different." The word slipped almost like a dreamy sight. "I realized out of nowhere and you were so close and for the first time in my entire life, I felt like it could work! Like I had a chance! And I just didn't know how to deal with that. I mean, it was you-" He interrupted his own unplanned rambling with a groan that transitioned into a flustered chuckle in the end. Then, it slipped out in a whisper. "Yeah… I… I just- I like you a lot, Pyr… I didn't want to mess that up..."

She stayed silent for a second too long and he immediately thought he had maybe said something wrong. The clear confession at the end was too much, wasn't it? Then he felt her shake, quiet breathy laughs now making themselves audible, her hand raised to her face and he was able to notice through the gaps of her fingers how red her cheeks actually were.

She took a steadying breath, after a final light giggle, Pyrrha removed her hand from her face. "I know I was aware… Yet, it's so good to hear you say it…"

He felt her raise from his shoulder to glance up, Jaune almost held her back because he was hiding his probably also very red face between her hair and the couch backrest. Yet, she was able to catch his eyes effortlessly, so meaningful and pure and happy, it made his heart jump. "I like you a lot too."

"Pyr-" Her name cracked under her soft stare, his head leaned forward as he gathered himself, resting his forehead on hers. Deciding not to bother moving away, he opened his mouth, and words only came out on the second try, after breathy laugh. "It's good to hear you say too…"

"And it's good to finally be able to get it out…" She whispered, filled with sincerity and relief, smile painting her words.

A flash of lightning, he felt her fingers lightly tap his side then, a habit of hers he knew it meant she was pondering over a decision. Jaune didn't have the time to question, only feeling her shift before a gentle touch rested over his cheek, the shape of her smile was easily perceptible within the lingering kiss. He found himself closing his eyes, tightening their embrace before she pulled away. Pyrrha's head comfortably rested back on the curve of his shoulder then. "Even if we both took a while… I wouldn't do anything different…"

Thunder finally cracked outside, yet, it took a second more for the butterflies in his stomach to allow him to relax as well.

"Yeah…" He agreed, silly grin towering over his tone, still feeling giddy from the past minutes. Resting his head back on hers, he dared to press some light kisses on her forehead, before letting burning cheek fall once more on top of her bangs. Before it could go quiet, he continued. "But not even changing the position that day you woke up with an asleep arm?"

Pyrrha giggled freely. "Well… you helped me get rid of that, so I guess… no, I wouldn't."

"Uh- well, it happened because I rolled over it so I guess I had to…" He mumbled, feeling his face heat up at the memory of the massage - if those too tentative pokes could even be called that - he had given her to disperse the numbness.

She hummed knowingly at his flustered reply, a laugh hidden behind the sound. "So no changes either?"

Jaune considered saying that time I almost let you fall, but remembering that after he had the most beautiful view as he dropped her on the bed, he swallowed it back, whispering instead. "No… I guess not."

There was another quick moment of quietness before she spoke up again. "I… liked having that as our thing. The secret of the agreement. It was… unexpectedly fun… So that's another reason why I wouldn't change it..."

"Yeah! It was…" He beamed, then added after a lick of his lips. "Why are we talking about it like we're going to stop?"

"Oh no," Pyrrha shook her head, hugging him tighter for a moment. "As long as you're okay with it… we have no reason to stop…"

His shoulders dropped with relief, he paused to gather his words - and some much needed extra courage - to continue. "Oh, good. I still have to do that thing… we said we were going to do next time…"

"Oh?" When her tone of voice hinted genuine curiosity, he decided to show instead of tell.

The arms circling her waist pushed her body upwards lightly, he leaned deeper into her shoulder with a small move of head, brushing his lips on side of her neck. He felt her heartbeat accelerate under his touch and his almost stopped in response, fingertips burying on his skin, and her head slightly tilted to the side with a hitched breath. Her reaction made him decide to give her one extra kiss before pulling away. "That…"

"Ah. You're right…" Pyrrha straightened her posture to soon to lean her chin on his shoulder. "I believe I promised you too…"

She really wasn't one to waste time, the end of her sentence was already being pressed along his skin, making him shiver. She kissed right above his pulse, once, twice, soft and warm. Thinking she would stop then, Jaune gasped as a third kiss was placed on the opposite side of his neck; if he wasn't holding her he probably would have crumbled on the spot.

He lost count after; the warm puffs of air made him sigh, just for a nibble make him squeak, the laugh after made him shudder and yet he wasn't going to be the one to tell her to stop. Only being able to angle his head to give her better access, reclining deeper against the armrest, hugging her tighter. The shift allowed her to sneak to his collarbone, each touch causing a new jolt of energy spike from his nerves. His lips brushed her forehead with the change and he took the opportunity, nuzzling through her bangs to her temple. Sneaking a peck on the corner of her eyes as she skimmed along his jaw. Lingering on her soft cheek after Pyrrha marked his chin.

He peeked through his half-lidded eyes then, a look as asking for permission. She glanced at him in a similar way, giving the reply by brushing her nose against his, he returned the gesture, able to feel the scent of coffee on the puffs of air eagerly hitting his lips, heart pounding as if he had actually drank a whole pot.

A crack of thunder. He closed his eyes, everything went dark, and sparks flew.

Too dark. And literal sparks. They both jumped apart with the frying sound of the lamps in the room burning themselves out. Shouts traveled through the corridors of the entire dorm as the students exclaimed in surprise - or cheered - as the lights abruptly went off. There was a faint clang as weak emergency lights came to life through the halls, dim glow barely poking into the room. The sound of collective opening of doors and confused questioning followed short.

Lightning cleared the room for a second enough for him to take in his partner's startled face, the light faded, and Jaune could swear she pouted in annoyance. He let out a huff. The feeling was mutual.

Then approaching footsteps were heard, soon they wouldn't be alone anymore.

"I'm pretty sure there are some candles around here." Pyrrha spoke up, voice wavered before she stopped to clear her throat. "Those people are probably coming to get them."

"Uh- Should we… Guarantee some for us then?"

He only saw the shape of her head move as she nodded; her hands left his waist as he also let her go before getting up. After a few seconds of shuffling, the flashlight of her Scroll gave them a better view of the room.

They wasted no time. After opening and closing a few drawers, they found what they were looking for, promptly heading to their room to save the other half of the team from being consumed by the sudden darkness.

On the way, they mindlessly dodged a few students heading to where they had just left, the air hanging heavily around them, but not because of embarrassment or awkwardness - just that mutual frustration to their ruined moment.

In an attempt to lighten up the mood, he lightly bumped his shoulder on hers. "Next time?"

Her eyes glimmered with the meek shine of emergency lights and Scroll flashlights of rushing students. "Next time."

They almost burned their desk down with fire Dust because they had forgotten matches to lighten up their candles. And now Jaune was thinking that maybe that wouldn't have been so bad in the end.

The rain seemed unwilling to settle down, deciding to straight up punish the land beneath the clouds. And it was cold. With no energy and no heating system, the room got chillier with each passing minute. Flickering flames of four candles weren't exactly a big help. Sacrificing the desk for a fireplace seemed more tempting with each passing minute too.

When the time to head to bed arrived, he was sure the dorm had been transported to Atlas, so Jaune was more than happy to flaunt around the room his warm, soft and fluffy fleece onesie. The ones who made fun of it were now nothing but fools.

"Just think as if we were on a mission! On the snowy parts." Nora started as she got her bed ready. "Maybe we were traveling on a train and a bunch of Grimm appeared and we valiantly fought them off but the last attack made the train get off the rails and now we are-" She stopped for breath - and maybe dramatic effect. "Stranded in a frozen forest!"

He grunted. "How is this supposed to help again?"

"Activate your survival instincts! Think of how a Huntsman goes through worse!" She raised a fist, honorably placing it over her chest.

"Hm… That… makes sense?" He had to agree reluctantly.

"Well, she is probably right." Ren added with a yawn, getting under his covers. After a mumble of goodnight, he was already snoring.

Jaune let out a disgruntled gasp. "Can he mask off the temperature around him too?"

Nora let out a laugh, trying to wrap her sheet around her even tighter, and struggling. "I wish they gave us some extra blankets…"

"You read my mind." His partner's voice made him turn towards her direction as she left the closet, now clad in her caramel-colored long-sleeved pajamas, rubbing her hands together to produce warmth. He could only stare at how she had opted to free her hair from its ever-present ponytail. Pyrrha shivered before continuing. "That would be wonderful… I have no idea how we could get some though."

Nora paused. And when their teammate looked like that, the process of an idea forming in her mind was audible - maybe because of the fact she had the habit of loudly humming a continuous note as she did so.

She gasped. "I know how we could get some extra covering!"

"Scouting for leaves like we were stranded in a forest?" He joked; she stuck her tongue out at him.

"No, silly!" She scooped up her pillow, and one of her stuffed animals, jumping out of her bed with blanket trailing behind her. She dumped everything over her partner. "Sharing!"

"Scoot, scoot." She poked him, Ren only raised a hand for a second as if just waving away a fly, but doing as requested all the same as if he was very much used to this - he probably was actually.

Nora climbed on the bed and double covered both of them with a tenderness that contrasted greatly with her attitude seconds before. And collapsed on the mattress after with such strength that made her partner wheeze.

Then she stopped once more, clicking her tongue to the sight of the other half of the team staring with raised eyebrows. Her plan didn't exactly include a we like she had said. "Well… I guess you guys can try to take off your bed covers and use it as regular sheets?"

Jaune exchanged a glance with his partner, finding there the same anticipating look he himself probably was bearing. There was a small nod, and even by weak glow of candlelight, he identified her smirk. He turned back to their other teammate then, sounding offended. "Are you implying we can't share?"

Nora's brow furrowed in confusion. "No, but-"

"Pyr, she thinks we can't share." His partner laugh was contained with a bite of lip.

"I think we will be able to make this sacrifice." Her tone of voice was nothing but solemn. "After all, Huntsman are supposed to overcome and adapt to various situations and learn how to deal with them."

He was already gathering his covers and pillows. "That includes sharing and, y'know, emergency cuddling."

"Oh my gods!" Their teammate whisper-shouted in amazed disbelief as Pyrrha climbed on her bed, leaving an open space for him. Nora swatted Ren with repetitive hand motions. "Ren, are you seeing this too? What is happening?!"

"Yes, yes…" Was the only thing that came from the motionless lump over the mattress.

The reactions from the other duo were the last thing on his mind now. They both dropped over the sheets at the same time, as they had done many times before, face to face, grinning a bit too widely and quietly chuckling. The green of her eyes seemed to absorb the orange light of the small flames around the room, making the shades shift in an almost hypnotic way.

They shuffled with their covers, working together to tug them evenly over both of them. After succeeding, Pyrrha wrapped an arm around his torso like usual, and he responded by hugging her back, pulling her flush against him, not resisting on discreetly nuzzling the top of her head for a moment. Their settling ended with a delighted shiver from his part and synchronized satisfied sighs.

"What the actual Dust!" Their teammate was pure exasperation, her partner only grunted at her shout. "How- Since- I knew there was something going on! When did this happen? Where's the awkwardness? What did you do with my teammates?"

"You were the one to suggest it." Jaune said loud enough for her to catch it.

"Go to sleep Nora." Pyrrha added drowsily.

There was a breath as if she was going to say something else, then a pause. Then she muttered lowly, as if someone had just told her sloths weren't real. "Yeah… I think I will…"

Silence first fell over the room since the lights had gone off.

"We forgot to blow out the candles."

After a quick raise to fix that, they were snuggling back together. Pyrrha let out a relaxed breath as she embraced him, her body lightly shivered under his arms as she nuzzled into his chest, hands going up and down his back, a leg being draped over his as she buried herself into soft fleece. "Jaune… We have to do this more while you're wearing this…"

"Sounds like a plan…" He was able to mutter drowsily, melting into her caress.

Before he could fall asleep though, Jaune lowered his head, placing the customary kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight, Pyr."

"Goodnight, Jaune." She laughed tiredly.

"This... feels off…"

"... Being right for the goodnight for once?"

"Yeah… But I could get used to it…"

Jaune regrettably blinked his eyes open, stirring under the weight of extra covers and hugging arms. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion by being greeted with the darkness of the night, after all, usually when in a situation like this one, it was always around the end of the afternoon.

His sluggish mind soon connected the dots at the sound of steady raindrops, remembering that he was indeed cuddling with his partner through an entire night. Something told him it was probably around one hour since they had fallen asleep, his body, conditioned to waking up after that exact time while being in her presence, hadn't exactly gotten the message

Apparently, he wasn't the only one with that problem. After an attempt to tug the covers back up to his shoulders, since they had slipped down, he felt Pyrrha move against his chest, sighing. Glancing down as his eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, he could only see strands of her hair poking out from the sheets as she stretched and repositioned herself. With all the shuffling, he took the opportunity to do the same, changing the position of his arms and letting their legs tangle as they got comfortable again.

She glanced up then, probably fully registering that he was also awake, gaze equally tired. He saw a hand sliding out from under the covers as Pyrrha raised it to drowsily attempt to sweep to the side some bothering strands in front of her face, and as instinct, Jaune was already raising his own to help her.

He did it carefully - not wanting to stick a finger on her eye or something like that - and she allowed, clearing her own hand out of the way. He traced her cheeks to tuck the locks back behind her ear, fingertips lightly brushing against her forehead as he freed her vision of thin red lines, running a touch through the side of her face to check if it was clear. She softly nuzzled against his palm while shifting her body close to him once again, letting a content hum escape, he felt her smile with the way her cheeks raised under his hand.

Jaune could only smile too, not resisting on tracing the soft curve of her cheek with his thumb, letting his head bend forward, their noses brushed together, she gave in to the touch, and he closed his eyes as she caressed him happily.

He felt her pause then, her sigh warmed his lips and his senses instantly overflowed with expectation, his tongue was running through it without him even registering. Hands gripped the fabric of his onesie tighter and he had the strength to open his eyes. Pyrrha looked up to him at the same second, finding through the darkness a familiar look, a silent request for permission - something he had never denied her.

Cupping her cheek fully and leaning his forehead on hers, he shut his eyes again.

At first, it reminded him of the questionable touches they shared before their first naps together, tentative and shy, and at the same time, eager for more. So he gave her more as Pyrrha pulled him closer, stealing all his breath away as their lips finally fully met, making him warmer than the flame of any candle, heartbeat loud enough to be heard over the sound of the rain.

It was short, yet sweet and satisfying, like receiving a small piece of your favorite dessert, savoring it carefully to engrave the taste. He could feel both of them wanted to go on but didn't have the energy for something grander. So they kept it simple, she went back to him by catching his lips with lazy nibbles, he responded just as softly, parting silently for a second before repeating, exchanging slow, sleepy kisses since neither wanted the moment to end.

Soon it turned into light brushes and superficial pressure once more, drowsiness dawning into them again as their tired bodies begged them for some sleep, touches slowing to subtle caress of noses and thumbs. Pyrrha let out a breath then, content and tired, a light chuckle that tickled his lips. He silently laughed too, pure joy leaking into it. Bravely placing one last sleepy peck on her smile, Jaune settled as she buried herself back under the covers, nestling back against his chest with the most satisfied of exhales.

He hugged her back, resting his chin over her head after a quick nuzzle over her bangs, fitting comfortably inside her embrace.

Before he drifted off, he found the will to whisper, loud enough for her, and only her, to catch it. "Can we… do this again… sometimes?"

The pause almost made him believe Pyrrha was already asleep. Though after a relaxed, happy breath she whispered back just as quiet. "That sounds grand…"

Consciousness slowly replaced senseless dreams. Jaune yawned while stirring over the mattress, stretching an arm as he blinked his eyes open. He squinted in drowsy disorientation as instead of meeting a wall, his arm kept going forward towards emptiness, hand falling over the nightstand usually between his and Pyrrha's bed.

Oh, yeah. Her bed.

Why was he alone on it then?

He swallowed hard as his heart anxiously raced. Maybe she got uncomfortable and went to sleep somewhere else, maybe he had been moving too much and he pushed her from the bed, maybe she had left for class and left him there.

Class! What time is it?

Hastily sitting up, he reached for his Scroll over the nightstand, after his eyes adjusted to the brightness of the screen cutting through the curtained room, a breath of relief escaped. He still had a half-hour before his alarm went off, though it wouldn't be necessary. According to a notification from the Academy, today classes would be canceled while the damages of the blackout caused by the storm yesterday were repaired.

Jaune leaned back into the headboard but didn't relax. Turning to the side, he faced where his partner was supposed to be. Waking up in her bed without her felt… wrong.

Before he could overthink, the sound of the door cracking open got him to pause. He watched Pyrrha slip in and close the door without a noise, placing the little bag she used to keep her toiletries on the nearest desk, then turning to head back to the bed. She caught his gaze and every speck of uneasiness he had been feeling washed away with the smile she gave him.

"Hey..." He whispered as she approached, so quiet that it was actually closer to mouthing the word than speaking.

"Hello…" She replied in the same tone, carefully sitting on the edge of the mattress.

A beat of tentative silence.

"So… no classes today..."

"Ah, yes. The whole dorm is still without power." Pyrrha slipped her legs under the sheets. "I heard some of the classroom's buildings aren't any better."

He hummed understandingly as she adjusted her pillow behind her back. "You're going back to sleep?"

"I… Was just planning to stay here for a bit longer…" She replied quietly, almost shy, gaze lowering as she settled by his side. "... With you… if you're planning to, of course..."

"Oh." His heart skipped a beat, his surprised expression didn't stay long, being replaced by a smile Jaune didn't hold back. "Yeah, that sounds great actually."

He was about to tuck himself back under the covers when he paused, feeling his body complain. "Uh… I just… Need to go to the bathroom first."

She gave him a nod together with a quiet giggle. He jumped out of the covers as fast as he could, just taking a second to get his own toiletries - he definitely wasn't going to let a morning breath stay - the icy air from the night before still lingered on the corridors as rushed in and out of the bathroom.

Careful not to disturb the other half of the team as he entered, Jaune closed the door and took quiet steps towards the bed. She was already all cozy underneath the blankets, bright eyes followed his movements from the edge of covers and between loose curls of hair, making him smile to the adorable scene. As he sat over the mattress, Pyrrha promptly reached her arms towards him, hands moving in a grabbing motion to invite him in.

He didn't waste time. Only beaming while throwing himself on her arms. The bed creaked a bit too loudly and they stopped shuffling, giggles being stifled with bites of lips and held breaths, not wanting to risk waking up their teammates.

The room remained silent, only after Jaune allowed himself to slip under the sheets, and for a second, they simply stared at each other. He felt her let go of a breath then, smile staying. "Good morning."

"Good morning..." He breathed through a grin - this was new, and he could get used to it too.

Then they both stopped. An almost comic unsureness hanging around then like an extra blanket. Something was missing; after all, their greetings while on the bed were never complete without a kiss, though they had never done that after waking up.

"Uh-"

"I-"

"Oh, sorry!"

"No, no, you can say first."

"I just- Should I- I mean… Which… Who? Y'know?"

"Ah. Yes. I… Think we are overthinking this..."

"Yup."

"Why do we have a rule for this?"

"Because we like to complicate stuff?"

"Hm… You know what?"

He felt a hand trail to the back of his neck before he was pulled towards her. Pyrrha's lips fell softly against his burning cheek. "I think we can both do it..."

"Yeah..." He could only smile, breaking through his flustered state and reaching forward, kissing the tip of her nose. "I like that way better."

The look she gave him was so full of affection he felt like he could burst - the fact he was the one causing her to blush like that not failing to intensify the sensation. Still, he shifted closer, settling more comfortably under the sheet. Not being hard to do so as Jaune felt her fingers burying themselves in his hair. He sighed, relaxing under the heavenly touch, silly smile stuck on his face as Pyrrha's fingertips brushed against his nape and scratched his scalp.

He lazily leaned his forehead on hers as she tucked wild strands behind his ear, letting their noses brush together, he caressed it playfully, watching the corner of her eyes crinkle up with her smile.

Her sigh warmed his lips, and a wave of familiarity washed through his nerves as pure energy, making him feel like he was jolting awake for a second time. His eyes widened and then squinted as his brow furrowed, his messy expressions caused her combing to halt.

"What's wrong?"

"Ah… No- It's… It's just..." He struggled, not really knowing how to express his realization as the specific memory got too clear to be a product of his sleeping self. Jaune glanced down, running his tongue over his suddenly dry lips. "... It wasn't a dream…"

The moment of silence was almost too long until she eventually spoke up. "... It wasn't…"

He didn't even get surprised when Pyrrha managed to understand his half explanations anymore. Yet he stayed silent, mouth too dry for words, he didn't know what to say next, though he knew what he wanted to happen next.

He caught her tongue poking out in a fleeting run over her lips and his own parted in a soundless gasp. The hand buried in his hair moved against the back of his head, a light pressure just enough to instigate him to be closer, Pyrrha glanced up, a silent request, and oh gods she wanted the same thing too.

His heartbeats were nothing but deafening thuds. Yet, he had to hold his breath as one was too loud too dull and too out of rhythm in comparison to the rest.

A heavy second of silence. Then a groan came from the other side of the room, enough to startle both of them, their first reaction was to scramble apart.

Pyrrha turned and he raised his head to glance to the direction of the sound, finding Nora, still wrapped inside her blanket like a burrito, face first on the floor after, apparently, trying to slip out from her partner's bed, a leg poking out of her cloth cocoon. Ren seemed just as disoriented as them - though that wasn't unusual to see from the boy after he had just woken up.

"Nora…?" Pyrrha tested, concern and confusion mixing into her tone of voice.

Their teammate suddenly shot up, pushing her body up with her arms, gasping as if she had just gotten rescued from drowning. "I thought it was a dream!"

"Hm- what… exactly?" He dared to ask.

Nora's reply was a bunch of wild gesturing to their direction as she shuffled inside her blanket, properly sitting on the floor. "And I can't believe it worked!"

"Oh." Jaune avoided her eyes. He caught his partner frowning slightly in confusion. "Wait- worked?"

Nora guiltily covered her mouth with the blanket - was she smiling under that? There was a quick staring contest between the two girls, apparently, Pyrrha won.

"Okay, look…" Nora started after a deep breath. "I suspected there was something going on… But Pyrrha wouldn't tell me what!"

"I'm sorry...?"

Nora waved the apology away with a wave. "I connected the dots anyway. You guys were too close and touchy, and sending each other sappy looks when you thought the other wasn't looking," He felt his face heating up under her accusations - was it that obvious? "Always stayed up later than usual on very specific days, and that day you refused to go to Vale with us? We came back earlier, you guys said you had been just chilling in the room, but Pyrrha's bed and the desk were completely untouched." She snapped her fingers.

"And then the blackout happened and, seriously, I just wanted to test the waters and see how you would react to the suggestion of sleeping together." Nora staggered to her feet, continuing rambling without a second to breathe, expression torn between surprise and excitement. "I didn't expect all of that!" She kicked a pillow back into place, muttering to herself. "Okay, yeah, I felt a little betrayed…" An accusatory finger poked out from her sheet wrapping. "Because you guys agreed too fast… If that was all it took, how much gossip I'm missing here?" She headed to the door, walking backward, eyes drilling into them. "Still…" The chilling tone of voice flipped into a high pitched squeal. "About time! I'm really happy for you guys!" She slipped out of the room through a crack of the door a human could barely fit through, the edge of the sheet trailing behind her, the shout was heard then. "I need to scream about this!"

"Hm…" He hummed awkwardly.

"She's just being dramatic." Ren offered, half-asleep, between a yawn - knowing him, he had probably dozed off a bit while Nora presented her allegations - before dropping into his covers once again. Jaune heard him mumble a "No classes… Nice." After a quick peek on his Scroll, with as much enthusiasm as a recently awakened Ren could muster. Yeah, he has no idea of what is actually going on.

He copied him, head falling back into the pillow heavily, his partner also turned around to face him. He only noticed he was pouting slightly out of frustration and frowning at the ceiling when he heard her giggle.

Her fingers run along his forehead, brushing strands to the side and relaxing the lines his expression. "You know Nora… means well…"

"Ah, N-no, it's not- It's not that."

"What is it then?" Her fingers tucked the strands behind his ear, a drop on her voice hinted worry and he was quick to continue to brush it off.

"Ah, y'know…" Jaune felt his face heat up, her caress definitely contributing to that, though the answer to her question was the main cause. He continued staring at the ceiling even after his frown was gone, mumbling away. "It happened again… twice… right when- I just- I just really wanted to-" The sentence became incomprehensible, subsequential words turning into flustered grumbles.

"Oh?" He wasn't looking, but he knew Pyrrha had raised an eyebrow by her amused tone. "Maybe if you actually tell me what you wanted, we can try to work on that."

"Y-you know what it is." Jaune rolled her eyes. And he knew his partner better than anyone else, so he knew that if he kept dancing around his words he would never win. So he took a breath, and continued as naturally as possible in his blushy state. "I… just really wanted to kiss you."

He felt her move by his side, weight lifting from the mattress, he finally looked at her direction, finding her propping her upper body up on her elbows, looking down at him, raising smirk framed by rosy cheeks. "We should definitely work on that…"

The heat on his whole body intensified, just being under her expecting gaze enough to get every nerve of his to sting with energy. Riding on that rush, in a split-second decision, Jaune passed his arms around her waist, hugging her closer and pushing them both up, sitting over the mattress with a swift motion.

Pyrrha gasped with the abrupt change, loud and combined with a laugh, in a way that actually remembered him when he had pulled her towards him at the Beacon Dance. The far off memory, how she looked back at him with that glimmer in her eyes - then and now - filling his stomach with butterflies.

He giggled with her, adjusting better his arms around her waist as she let hers drop around her neck. Before they could advance further though, he stopped. "One second." Turning his head towards the bed with the only other occupant of the room, he managed to say. "Hey, Ren, I'm going to kiss Pyrrha here real quick, if you don't want to see that, just turn around for a bit."

He received a drowsy, barely audible "Okay." as a reply. Yup, he still has no idea of what's going on.

Not wanting to delay any longer, he turned back to his partner, and he had to pause once again. Not because they needed to arrange anything else, but because her look, basically overflowing with blatant affection, and warmth and love - and maybe an "I can't believe I like this idiot" - just made him melt.

Neither of them needed a word more. He held her close as a hand slipped up to his hair, there was a pull, and they barely stopped an inch of waiting lips, warm puffs of air making sensitive skin prickle, a skip of a beat, and then… their eager breathing still the one sound in the room, no interruption. Jaune heard her let out a breathy relieved chuckle, and he finally moved forward, gladly catching the curve of her smile between his.

The first thing he registered was a sense of familiarity, brought by the memory of their lazy midnight kisses, just to immediately contrast with how much energy Pyrrha reciprocated, together with her comforting scent, with how her fingers dug into his strands, how she tasted slightly like toothpaste, how her face seemed to radiate warmth and how her smile didn't give any hint of fading.

He sighed happily into her kiss, lost to the way her touches somehow matched in tenderness and eagerness, letting gentle fingertips roam and curious lips nibble, every contact felt like it burned and it was wonderful. So he pulled her closer, palms sliding against the curve of her back, dodging long curls of silky hair to bring her properly to his lap.

The shift was a little clumsy, the kiss broke between giggles yet she remained close. Aware of his intentions, the hands in his hair relocated themselves to cup his cheeks, the heat of her palms only increased the temperature of his tingling skin, steadying his face as she contented herself with giving him soft short pecks while following his relocation plan, scooting closer with the pull of his arms.

They found stability once again, after a few bumps of noses though, and he felt her contently hum with the same ease he could feel her heartbeat pressed against his. So he forgot everything else, forgot he was in the middle of their shared room, that this was supposed to be real quick, that if Ren was awake, they were putting him through a really awkward situation, that Nora could walk in on them any time now.

That is, until the later happened and the steadily growing screech raised too much in pitch for it to be ignored anymore.

His face burned and chuckles intruded into their kiss, the screech got inhumanely long - or maybe it was a laugh now -, yet neither of them was in a rush to part. He felt Pyrrha smirk against him, catching his bottom lip then, pulling before releasing with such teasingly slow pace that made the sound that escaped from the back of his throat unavoidable.

They parted, Jaune blinked his eyes open, feeling dizzy, breath rushed, his emotions divided between hot embarrassment and silly giddiness. The brightest of reds on the face in front of him hinted she could be going through something similar.

There were no regrets in sight though.

"Oh, are you guys done?" The whine caused both of them to turn their heads. "I was about to take a picture…" Nora closed the door, still dragging her sheet behind her, and he couldn't tell if she was serious or not.

Pyrrha scrunched her shoulders with a flustered giggle and offered a classic "I'm sorry", he would be it was more because of her habit than anything else, if the way her eyes hid a glimmer of mischief meant anything.

"Ha. You're not." Their teammate scoffed.

"Hm, yeah… Weren't you going to scream outside?" He contained the urge to bury his flaming face on his partner's shoulder.

"You guys just keep giving me reasons to scream!" She pointed at their too intimate set up, managing to walk and sit on her bed without tripping on the sheet. "Now, spill, since when you have been dating in secret?" She tried to take a serious posture, it was a bit hard considering she was still wrapped like an elaborated package - the glare was enough though.

The following seconds was dominated by red faces and tumbling words. He practically squeaked. "Wh- We- We weren't-"

"We are not dating in secret." His partner managed to make clear after a series of flustered noises of her own.

Their awkward response was met with a raise of eyebrows. "So… it was not supposed to be a secret?" For a moment, Nora looked genuinely confused.

And it was understandable really, she just had called them out about the comfort they suddenly had around each other, with no denials from their part, and caught them kissing. He wouldn't believe himself either.

"We…" His partner started, he barely caught the quick lick of lips during the pause. "We just weren't dating then…"

He perked up at the past tense and her hopeful tone - when she shot a glance at him carrying the same emotion, Jaune felt his heart jump.

"Oh." It escaped. He continued, copying her look, voice lower than a whisper. "Are we… are we now? D-dating? I- I mean… can we? You want…?" He stammered, feeling excitement bubble up inside his body.

Her expression softened, gaze as warm as actually cuddling with her under their blankets, Pyrrha let out a light chuckle. "Yes." Part of the sound didn't leave her mouth, resembling more a shuddering sigh. She reinforced, smile growing as he felt a thumb caressing his cheek. "I would like that, yes!"

He was almost vibrating together with his heartbeat, which was back to frenetic speed just by seeing how she matched his feelings of pure joy. He wanted to remove all distance between them again, pull her closer again, hug her again, kiss her again.

And he would probably done that - actually, Pyrrha would probably beat him to it, by the way she had let her eyes drop to his mouth - if they weren't still under their teammate's stare.

The sniff was what popped their little bubble, getting them to divert their eyes to her direction. "Good." Nora nodded with a bit too dramatic solemnity. Her stare now not bearing any confusion or suspicion, just her usual liveliness with hints of satisfaction, and for some reason, pride and even relief. Like a puzzle that had finally been figured out after a long time.

"Well, since I'm an understanding friend..." She started, raising from her bed. "I'll let you guys be cute in peace." Her eyes narrowed, but she didn't exactly succeed in concealing her enthusiasm. "For now! I still want some gossip later, okay? Okay."

"I'll think about it." Pyrrha teased as he let out an embarrassed groan.

"You better!" Nora was already settling back on her partner's bed, the sleeping boy didn't even stir. "Ah! And keep your make outs quiet please."

Pyrrha rolled her eyes, and Jaune didn't know where he found the guts to shot back a "No promises!" Seeing the color fill her cheeks at the same second was totally worth it though.

There was a moment where the only sound in the room was Nora shuffling inside her sheets before going quiet over the bed.

"Can we go back to cuddling, please?"

They were once again tucked under their sheets without a second of delay, the morning was still fresh, the air still chilly and their day free - the ambiance couldn't be more perfect.

Scooting closer, Pyrrha let her hands circle his body like usual, touch just a bit more wandering than usual thought. Only when she sighed as she rubbed her cheek on his shoulder it dawned on him he should thank the velvety fabric of his onesie for that. He would definitely keep that in mind for their future naps.

"So…" He helped her get a few strands back into their place, placing long locks behind her shoulders with careful motions. "Does that mean we can do this more often…?" He tried, and probably failed, to not appear too eager - the once a week deal always felt too little in his opinion.

He felt her hum a laugh, head fitting deeper into his neck, the trail made by her nose made him chuckle between a squirm. "We can do this whenever we want…"

"More than once a week?"

She chuckled. "Every day even…"

Jaune beamed, feeling his chest flutter. "Won't you get tired of it like that?"

The warmth left his neck, just for him to soon find truthful green eyes staring back at him. "How could I ever get tired of you?"

His breath escaped as a freeing sigh, cheeks doubtlessly flushing as heart thumped inside his ears. Her hand raised, fingers tracing the side of his face and he gladly nuzzled into her palm, letting his eyelids drop slightly, yet not taking his meaningful gaze off her own.

He closed his eyes fully as she approached; her lips were warm and soft against his, the touch delicate and tender, almost shy. Light pressure just lingering for a few blissful heartbeats, in a promise of many others to come.

Jaune caught the smiling surging right before they parted, a similar one taking over his face. Just taking a quick peek at Pyrrha's serene expression before shutting his eyes again, he leaned his forehead on hers, hugging her closer, hands sliding through red waves as he traced lines on her back.

"Goodnight, Pyr…" He found himself muttering, the habit was stronger than he was.

"Goodnight, Jaune." She didn't even hesitate, it was their thing after all.