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Yang wasn't just angry. That would've been far too simple, too familiar. No, she was hurt. Hurt and confused. He'd run away from her yesterday after their kiss and then had the unmitigated gall to ignore her. Her first instinct, after getting through her stunned state, was to hunt him down. Sadly, he was more squirrely than she'd given him credit for and she'd given up after searching for two hours. Her next move was to call him and annoy him into talking to her. That plan failed after three or four attempts when he'd simply turned his Scroll off.

Her final plan was to pound on his door and scream obscenities until he, or really anyone on Team JNPR, opened up. Sadly, either Jaune thought ahead and told them to not open the door for her, or they'd all conveniently stepped out. It didn't matter, all that plan had done was get Professor Goodwitch called and Yang a Saturday detention for disturbing the peace. Dejected and defeated, she returned to her dorm. Naturally, Team RWB_ had heard the commotion and asked what had happened. She ignored them all, choosing to slip on headphones and sulk on her bed.

She took solace in knowing that she could corner him the next day though, and make him explain just what the hell was going on inside his head. So, she bided her time and tried to calm down. Naturally, it didn't really work. Soothing music did absolutely nothing for her, and the meditation stuff that Ren recommended for her a while back only served to aggravate her more. With the training facilities closed for the night, she wasn't able to beat on training robots to relieve herself. She couldn't even go into Vale since Bullheads stopped making trips into the city after sundown on school nights. So, she tried to do the only thing she could do; sleep.

She was up long into the night until the manic energy drifted away and she collapsed into nothingness. As soon as she woke up the next morning, it was back again though. She thought she must've looked positively terrifying, as her team didn't even try to speak to her. Not even Ruby, who'd been dealing with Yang's temper her entire life. Breakfast was eaten in silence with Team RWB_ confused and Team _NPR ignoring her presence. Jaune had the wherewithal to not show up, much to Yang's irritation. Thankfully, Combat Class was next and she knew she could corner Jaune there and work some of her anger out.

As she stepped into the room, she spotted him. He was trying to hide in the corner, attempting to use the shadows as camouflage. His hair had betrayed him though. However,

before she could make her way to him, Professor Goodwitch commanded attention and everyone went to their seats. Not wanting to get in more trouble, she settled for glaring at the blonde boy. The professor was about to call out the first match of the day when Pyrrha raised her hand.

"Excuse me, Professor, I'd like to request a match, please." It wasn't the first time she'd done it. It was how her match against all of Team CRDL was selected after all, but it had been a while since the redhead had done so. Yang hoped against hope that she'd call out her partner and mercilessly beat him into the ground. The Professor nodded and let Pyrrha turn around to call them out face to face.

"Yang." Yang? She was so caught off guard by the challenge that she looked around the room like there was another person with her name, earning a chuckle from some of the students. In any other situation, she'd jump at the chance. Fighting Pyrrha was like fighting a hurricane or an avalanche of sorts. She was a force of nature, easily the best fighter in their grade. But Yang always loved a challenge, and relished the opportunity to fine tune her skills against the best around. Now though, it was strange. Pyrrha wasn't the type to just call out someone randomly and the two had barely spoken as of late. Stranger still was the look in her eye.

Yang was deeply familiar with anger and she could see it in the redhead. It was in everything she did. Her back was stiff and she looked ready to pounce at any moment. Her jaw was locked tight and the familiar smile that she always wore was replaced with a hard, thin line. Frankly, Yang was baffled. She didn't remember doing anything especially egregious to the redhead. They may not have been on friendly terms at the moment but they weren't actively hostile. Still, she couldn't back down from a challenge and being able to work off the anger would be a prize in and of itself.

"Alright, let's go." Yang began to walk to the locker room to change out of her uniform and into her fighting gear when Pyrrha spoke again.

"If it's alright with you Professor, and you as well Yang, I'd like this match to be Barebones." Now that was something Yang hadn't done in a long time. Barebones was simple, it meant there would be no weapons, Dust, or semblances, the only thing you were allowed was your Aura and your extremities. The professor seemed just as caught off guard as Yang was.

"Ms. Nikos, what you ask for is highly… unusual." She nodded.

"I'm aware Professor. However, it's been quite a while since I've had a match like this and I think it would be valuable to maintain such skills." The blonde woman looked to Yang who shrugged. It didn't really matter to her. Sure, not having Ember Celica to use would make things difficult but it would pale in comparison to the advantage of not having to deal with Pyrrha's Semblance. Yang was confident in her combat skills but she had nothing to counter the redhead's Polarity.

"If both parties consent, then I see no reason to stand in the way. A Barebones match this will be." Goodwitch tapped something on her tablet and their faces jumped up onto the big screen. Yang slid into the locker room and changed into her combat gear, leaving her weapons in the locker. She did a quick stretch routine before stepping out. Pyrrha stood in the arena's center, stretching out her shoulder and never taking her eyes off of Yang. In that moment, Yang didn't feel so much like a person, more a piece of meat being dangled in front of a wild animal. She shook the feeling off and slid into her stance. She spared a glance to the crowd and saw that Jaune had moved up from the corner and sat next to Ruby, who was talking his ear off. He didn't seem to be paying her any mind though. Yang bared her teeth at him and he shrunk back before she turned to her opponent. Now wasn't the time for distractions.

It was apparent from the get go that this fight with Pyrrha wasn't going to be like any other. Not just because of the lack of resources at their disposal, but in terms of styles. Yang was a student of fighting as much as she was of her normal classes. She loved the thrill of a good fight and loved to pick up little techniques from those around her. Naturally, since she was the best and the only person she knew that appeared on TV, Yang spent an inordinate amount of time watching Pyrrha's matches. The redhead was always so composed and in control. She never showed anything on her face and every step seemed to be calculated to give her the best chance to land a strike or get out of the way of one. The four-time Mistral Regional Champion never rushed headlong into a fight… until today.

Yang hadn't been expecting the aggression and it cost her dearly. Pyrrha flew at her like a bolt of lightning with such a perfect right hook that the blonde brawler almost wept for its fleeting beauty. She stepped back, absorbing the left cross with her forearm and looking to stabilize herself. Pyrrha continued pushing forward, throwing out two quick jabs at Yang's gut that connected. Then, she was on the receiving end of a brutal kick to the thigh that sent a lance of pain up her leg.

Yang thought this was insane. Technically speaking, she'd been hit harder in her life. Going into a profession where you fight people with weapons bigger than your entire body tended to do that. However, she'd never been struck so hard by someone's limb before and was actively crushing down the urge to channel the damage into her Semblance. She knew that Pyrrha was a once in a generation fighter but she'd always assumed that there was some kind of fall off when she wasn't using her weapons.

A second kick rocketed forward, this time at Yang's head. She slipped underneath it, letting the redhead's leg sit on her shoulder, and rushed forward, trying to take Pyrrha to the floor. The redhead pushed herself off of one foot and drove a knee up under Yang's chin, essentially guillotining her head. Instead of taking advantage of her stunned state, Pyrrha crept forward like a lioness, toying with her prey. Yang was busy trying to count and ensure she still had all her teeth as she took cautious steps backwards. She needed a second to think of a plan of attack.

Pyrrha had her in length, being near six feet tall with legs that went on and on would do that. Her reaction time and hand speed were also nothing short of incredible. Still, Yang was confident in two things; that she was stronger and had more hand to hand experience. She had to, if for any reason that she had been fighting with her fists nearly all her life. She spared a glance up at the Aura reader and it confirmed her suspicions: Pyrrha was kicking her ass.

Deciding that she didn't want to be a human punching bag anymore, she stepped and met her opponent head on. Yang threw out her own combinations of lefts and rights, switching up her targets between brain and body shots. With every blow, she felt her blood sing and the world began to fall away until it was just the two of them. Pyrrha threw out a soft left that Yang ate and countered with another savage round of punches to the midsection. She needed to keep the redhead on the defensive, she needed to be an unending wave.

All in all, she probably threw close to forty punches before Pyrrha made a meaningful counter attack. Some were dodged and others were contained but enough landed that Yang could see the affects in her opponent's stance. She'd begun to cover up her ribs more and kept her chin tucked in tight. Yang was sure she had her on the ropes, and was about to go in for the finale with a big right hand when Pyrrha sidestepped. She'd managed to trap the blonde's arm over her shoulder and slid into Yang's personal space. From there, she wailed on the blonde brawler with relentless, sloppy hooks and quashed the escape attempts before they could even begin. With every strike, Yang could feel the rage building. She wanted so badly to unleash her Semblance and go ballistic, turn the tide of battle and stop getting her face beaten in. She reached down inside herself and tried to think of anything that could get her out of this situation. Then, it hit her.

Or rather, Pyrrha's hair did. In the position Pyrrha had her arm in, the redhead's hair kept brushing against her fingers. Yang took advantage of that, eating a few more clean blows to do so, and eventually snagged a handful. Using all of the strength she could, she wrenched the champion's head back, earning a cry of shock and pain. The redhead's hand went back to free herself and Yang took advantage of the opening. She began pummeling her ribcage with left hands and every time Pyrrha tried to escape, she tugged on the ponytail even harder.

Yang watched as the anger that sat in Pyrrha's eyes boiled over into complete and utter rage. Her hand shot out, knotting up in Yang's own golden curls and very much tried to mirror what was being done to her. From there, it became a contest of who could do more with their nondominant hand. All the while, Yang could feel her Semblance screaming out at her. She longed to call upon it. With how much damage she'd sustained, the resulting onslaught that would follow her Semblance's activation would be a thing ripped right out of a story book.

Closing her eyes, she focused and fought against the urge once again. Yang yanked hard on Pyrrha's hair and she made a move to get them out of this clinch. She drove her head forward, the crown of her skull colliding with the redhead's nose. If she didn't know any better, she'd have sworn she heard the crunch of bone. The hand gripping her hair was gone and she used the opportunity to press the attack, throwing out a series of crosses and jabs at her friend's face.

The champion struggled to recover as Yang rained down blows like a vengeful god. Pyrrha could only dodge and slip punches while Yang closed in for the kill. After a particularly vicious cross to the chin, the redhead ducked a right hand and did something Yang had never seen her, or anyone really, do before; she spat right in the blonde brawler's face. A single thought drifted through her mind. Rules be damned. And she felt her eyes shift from a soft lilac to blood red.

Before she could move forward with the beating of a lifetime, Yang felt a force begin to tug her away from Pyrrha and fought against it with everything she had. She wanted to keep going, wanted to get vengeance. From the look on her face, the redhead wanted to keep going just as badly. She had the look of a woman possessed, her eyes were wild with fury and Yang could swear she could hear growling.

"Ms. Nikos! Ms. Xiao-Long! I don't know what has gotten into you two today, you especially Ms. Nikos! I mean honestly, pulling hair? Spitting in your opponent's face? In a school spar? Absolutely ridiculous!" She shook her head. "Not to mention that the match had been called five strikes ago!" The professor's words helped drag her back to reality and she peered over to see the Aura reader. Both her and Pyrrha were below five percent Aura. There was no way they'd be able to stop themselves in the melee and as soon as someone was hit without the protective barrier, the consequences could be disastrous. She was angry now, sure, but she didn't want to actually hurt her friend. Not in the way that hitting someone without protection would at least.

She wiped the spit from her face with the back of her hand and scowled. She hadn't thought Pyrrha capable of such dirty fighting but then again, she hadn't thought of her as much of a hand to hand fighter either.

"In all my years of instructing, I've never had two students show such blatant disregard for the rules of combat. I'll see that you're punished accordingly as soon as class is finished. Until then, Professor Port with stay with you outside my office." She pulled out her Scroll and made a call. Less than a minute later, a very snotty and surprisingly pale Professor Port showed up.

"Good afternoon chil-" A sneeze ripped through his introduction. It seemed that his flu was still giving him problems. Yang made a mental note to bathe in hand sanitizer when she got the chance.

"Peter." Goodwitch's voice was hard as she explained what had happened. "Take these girls to my office and ensure they stay there until I arrive." The man nodded his head and walked her and Pyrrha to the deputy headmistress's office, making sure to stand in between them. Thankfully, it was a short walk, though it was filled with coughing fits and salvos of sneezes. The two girls took seats on opposite sides of the large double doors that led to Goodwitch's office. Port placed his fists on his hips, his eyes narrowing at them both.

"I expected better from you two, especially you Ms. Nikos." Pyrrha didn't spare him a glance, instead staring at the floor. When it seemed like the rotund professor was about to give them quite a tongue lashing, Yang heard the telltale sign of an upset stomach. "Oh no." Port looked around as the gurgling grew louder. "Stay right there!" Immediately, he ran into a nearby bathroom and, if the noise was anything to go by, he began evacuating his stomach quite forcefully.

Yang hoped that Port would return soon, if for any reason, then to have someone else to focus on other than Pyrrha. She was still angry, not frothing at the mouth and itching to hit someone like she was during their fight, but Yang did reflexively clench and unclench her fists until her hands were tired. After nearly five minutes with the only company being Port's digestive pyrotechnics, Yang gave up hope that he would be coming back and it would be just the two of them until Goodwitch came in to give them the tongue lashing of a lifetime.

She wasn't really worried about the punishment, though she probably should've been. If she was honest, she hadn't even really thought about it. The only thing that did enter her mind though was a question; why did Pyrrha do what she did? You didn't spit in someone's face unless there was a serious problem going on between you and them. It was a gross and underhanded tactic that had no place in a street fight, let alone in a friendly spar. Yang began to wrack her brain and tried to figure out what she could've done.

They hadn't exactly moved forward from their cold shoulder routines, more they'd moved to the side. They weren't actively ignoring each other or making snooty faces at one another, more so they just… existed together. Maybe a nod here or there when their teams were hanging out, but little else other than that. Yang wasn't one to talk about someone behind their back so that wasn't it. She hadn't been making out with Jaune in front of her or doing anything overtly discomforting, unless one considered frequent touching such a thing. When it was clear that she wasn't going to come up with the answer herself, she thought it best to ask the source. It's not like the situation between them could get much worse. She just needed to ask what was happening in a calm, neutral tone of voice like her dad used to use on her.

"What's your problem?" She spat. Internally, she began to kick herself. Never let it be said that Yang Xiao-Long was a master politician. Thankfully, Pyrrha didn't jump out of her seat and rekindle their fight, instead she sighed and turned her head. This only served to put Yang in an even worse mood. "Tell me, damn it. You pulled my hair! You spit in my face during a spar! I think I deserve to know why at least." When she wasn't given an answer, Yang groaned and ran her hand through her hair. Thankfully, Pyrrha hadn't done any significant damage, nothing that couldn't be fixed with some creative layering and a bit of time.

"I believe it was you that started it." Yang leaned forward, resting her forearms on her knees.

"Excuse me?" Was she right? Yeah, but that didn't really matter now, not to Yang at least.

"You pulled my hair first." Yang scoffed.

"So obviously the next thing you do is spit in someone's face. Got it." Silence set in again for nearly a minute as Pyrrha continued to stare at the floor.

"I was… angry." Yang rolled her eyes.

"Oh really? I couldn't tell." Her words positively dripped with sarcasm as she folded her arms over her chest.

"For what it's worth. I am sorry that I spit on you. I… wasn't in my right mind. I was just so angry and I was losing. I…" She trailed off and Yang sighed.

"Did I do something to you?" It was Pyrrha's turn to scoff.

"Do you even have to ask?" Yang ran a hand through her hair as Pyrrha looked up from the floor at her. "Why'd you do it?" Guilt began to gnaw at her, supplanting the anger that she'ed been holding onto. Did she mean the dating thing? That had to be it, it was the only thing that made sense. Before she could reply, Pyrrha continued. "You knew that I liked him, it seems that everyone but Jaune knew, so why? You never showed any interest in him before. You treated him more like a casual acquaintance, I wouldn't even have gone so far as to call you both friends." Her volume was rising and the veneer of control was slipping away.

"I…" Yang stuttered out, the pit of guilt wasn't gnawing any longer, it was beginning to consume her whole.

"And then to rub it in my face, every day, for weeks! Every single time, you two would be all over each other. Constantly cuddling or sneaking glances when you thought nobody was looking! And then there was the kiss yesterday in full view of my dorm! Why!? Have you secretly hated me this whole time and wanted to flaunt Jaune around like a prize? Do you get some satisfaction from taking something someone cares about?"

"We…" Her heart threatened to break through her chest. Her mind just kept screaming to tell her. Shove off this burden and free herself.

"Do you know how hard it is to move on from someone when they're constantly in your life? Do you know how much harder it is when their new relationship is front and center at nearly all hours of the day? It's nearly imp-"

"IT'S FAKE!" The words left Yang's mouth before she could stop them. The cat was out of the bag now. "Me and Jaune aren't really together. Or, we weren't at first. I don't know now. But we weren't really a couple, we did it to help you." It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop on the other side of campus. When Pyrrha next spoke, her voice was softer than Yang had ever heard it before.

"What?" A simple question, one of the simplest and most charged questions in all of language. The dam broke and Yang told her everything. From the nightclub, to the locker room, to the sparring, to the kiss. No detail was left out, even the minute ones about what kind of pizza she enjoys and how she likes to pull her partner's hair when kissing.

Pyrrha was quiet after Yang finished and she feared she'd short-circuited the redhead. Then the yelling started. It was a near apocalyptic event, complete with pacing and finger pointing. It scarier than anything she'd ever experienced, being alone in that forest with Ruby and getting chewed out by her dad after destroying Junior's club included. She was sure she was called every insult that Pyrrha knew and it hit home even harder when the tears began to spill down the redhead's face. Yang wasn't sure how long it lasted, it felt like hours, but eventually, it did stop and the only sound in the hallway was Pyrrha's heavy breathing and Port's continued vomiting coming from the bathroom. Her voice was soft and shaking as she spoke.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say. I'm sorry that we lied to you. I'm sorry that we rubbed it in your face. I'm sorry that we hurt you like we did. It was wrong." Pyrrha nodded and wiped her eyes.

"It was." She sighed, brushing hair out of her face and composing herself. "Why didn't he just talk to me? Does he think I can't handle rejection? That I'm a child?" Yang shook her head.

"That isn't it at all. It may have been a stupid plan." Pyrrha narrowed her eyes. "OK, an impossibly stupid plan, but it was well intentioned. He didn't want to hurt you and ruin the friendship you two had." Pyrrha stared at her for a second before sighing and giving a small nod.

"That does sound like something he would do."

"Still, he should've just gone to you in the first place and nipped this in the bud. Now we're all in trouble."

"Yes, he should have." Yang sat there awkwardly and watched Pyrrha ease herself back into her chair, her head resting back against the wall. "I guess it's to be expected." Yang cocked an eyebrow. "This is the same Jaune Arc that, when Cardin found out his transcripts were fake and decided to blackmail him into being his lackey, didn't go to anyone or even ask his teammates for help. No, he panicked and wanted to deal with it himself and it nearly cost him all of his friends." The word "panic" struck a chord with Yang in that moment and things began to fall into place. When they kissed, she thought she saw something in his eyes, something in the same family as fear, but she wrote it off as a trick of the light. Now though…

"He panicked…" Her voice was low, barely above a whisper, her fingers stroking her chin.

"What was that?"

"I said 'he panicked', That explains everything…" For a second, her heart said maybe he did feel the same way as she did. Maybe they could be a real couple. Then though, it came plummeting back down to the dirt. He still refused to talk about any of this with her. If Yang wanted this fixed, she'd have to confront him herself. In that moment, she completely understood Pyrrha and sympathized even more with her rage. "Pyrrha!" The redhead jumped, raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"Can you get me Jaune's location right now?"

"I can… why?" She replied cautiously.

"Because I need to talk to him about everything that happened and do a proper confession before I lose my nerve!" Pyrrha crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why should I help you after everything you've done?" Yang thought for a second and couldn't come up with anything. It really was quite presumptuous for her to assume Pyrrha help her after everything, wasn't it? What had Yang done to deserve any help in this endeavor? Why shouldn't Pyrrha just leave her to find him on her own and deal with the mess she'd helped to make?

"Because… because…" She sighed; her voice dejected. "You shouldn't. I have no right to ask you for anything. I'm sorry." She stood up and took a breath. Leaving now was going to get her in even more trouble. She'd probably never see a day outside of the confines of Goodwitch's office and most certainly never go a day without a paper to write or extra reading. Still, she needed to find Jaune and make this right, a real shot with someone who made her happy was worth it. And maybe if she explained all that, Goodwitch would be lenient. She scoffed internally, like that would ever happen. Her feet began to carry her down the hall when Pyrrha called out.

"Just a moment." Yang turned to see the redhead standing there, Scroll in hand. "This… this is all real now, right?" She nodded.

"Yeah. It is." Pyrrha opened her Scroll and tapped the screen several times.

"He's on the roof of our dorm." Yang stared at her, a smile finding her face.

"Thanks." She took off in the direction of the building but paused and looked back. "Why?" The redhead brought a hand to her forehead and sighed.

"He's happy when he's with you. Happier than I've ever seen him at Beacon. That's all I ever wanted for him." Yang's chest swelled with pride and she broke off in a dead sprint.

-/-

Jaune Arc knew he was capable of being very stupid. Stupid, and more than a bit panicky. That combination had gotten him in quite a bit of trouble over the years. When he and one of his sisters were rough housing back in the day and broke the TV, he decided it was a great idea to simply take the destroyed electronic and bury it in the backyard. Naturally, it had been found and he'd been summarily punished. Then there was when he'd been forced into being Cardin's lackey because he didn't know what else to do and was too afraid (or prideful) to ask for help from his friends. Now though, the situation he was in really took the cake.

His plan to help Pyrrha move on from him was bad from the beginning. He may not have been aware at the time but now, after going about it for a few weeks, he could see just how poorly thought out it was. He was as impressed at his capacity for bad ideas as he was ashamed. Then, he'd gone and fallen for Yang and kissed her! And now, he was hiding because he'd panicked and run away.

He was at a bit of a loss as to what to do next. He couldn't run forever, Yang slept just across the hall for crying out loud. Still, the thought of facing her and owning up to that mistake was… harrowing. Jaune still had some pride left and he was sure that having to swallow it all and beg for forgiveness would be quite a task. And then there was the chance of her not accepting it! That would crush him. It would truly cement his screwups and ruin the best (and only) relationship he'd ever been in, fake or otherwise.

So, he sat atop the dorms and let the cool afternoon air wash over him. The sky above was dotted with wispy clouds that stared back at him, providing no answers and offering no suggestions. For the tenth time since he'd gone up there, he pulled out his Scroll and thumbed over Yang's contact. He knew he should call her and ask to meetup so he could explain everything. But how do you explain that you're prone to making stupid decisions when things matter?

His finger hovered over the "call" button, trembling with anticipation. After ten seconds, he let out a groan of frustration and closed the tab, slipping the Scroll back into his pocket. He needed more time to come up with something. A proper explanation. Jaune was so focused on his thoughts that he failed to hear the sound of fast-moving footsteps coming up the stairwell. He didn't realize he wasn't alone until he heard someone clear their throat. He turned and saw her. Her hair was out of sorts and he could see beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. She looked like she'd run all the way across campus. Still, his mind was blank save for one word. Wow.

He flinched as she crossed the distance between them in a few strides, getting right up in his space. She was barely a hair's length away, close enough that he could see the small cluster of freckles just above her eyebrow. He opened his mouth to speak but only silence came out. His mind began to scream at him. Say something! Anything at all! You owe her that much at least!

"N- N- Nice day out, huh?" Now, he wished his Semblance was spontaneous combustion so her could leave this mortal plane. Yang's eyes narrowed in confusion. She looked around the area, presumably experiencing the "nice day". She shook her head and opened her mouth to speak. In that moment though, he regained some cognitive abilities and cut her off. "That was stupid. I'm sorry!" His cheeks burned a deep red and he contemplated jumping off the building.

Yang gave him a small smile and Jaune felt his heart flutter. It was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen. For just a moment, he thought about all of the amazing things he'd witnessed over the years. The first time he saw Crocea Mors on the mantle. The look on his parent's faces when he'd told then he'd gotten into Beacon. The majesty of seeing the school come over the horizon. All of them paled in comparison to Yang. The shame of running away set in again and he shifted his gaze to the floor. He wasn't worthy to look at her. As he did though, he felt fingers touch his chin and he was reset back to looking into pools of lilac.

"We need to talk." His stomach dropped into his knees and he began to sputter out half formed words. Thankfully, he managed to stop himself and nod.

"I'm sorry." She patted his cheek and sighed.

"You should be." She took a breath and continued. "I know why you ran." He rubbed his cheek against her hand, letting the calluses glide along his skin.

"I panicked." She hummed in agreement.

"Pyrrha said you have a tendency to do that." She let out a soft chuckle. "I guess I should've seen that coming. It's how we got into this mess after all." He looked up and smiled sadly.

"I guess it is." Her hand slid from his cheek down to her side.

"Can you tell me why?" Jaune ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"That was my first kiss." He let the words hang in the air as he turned from her to the expanse of Beacon's main square. "It was everything I'd ever wanted but I was so overwhelmed by all of it that I guess I panicked and ran away." He looked down to the rooftop and began to ramble. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, but I really like you and still don't know how to process everything. Until we started this thing I'd never been in a relationship and didn't know it could be this scary! But that kiss was unlike anything I'd ever experienced and I know I messed up and I have no right to ask for forgiveness so I won't even try. Even when it was fake, I dreamt that we were really a couple and it was… it was like lightning. I wanted to bottle that feeling up and hold onto it forever and I probably could've. I may not be that smart but even I know a kiss like that means something… but I screwed it all up and now I'll nev-" She spun him around and kissed him.

Bubblegum. Yang used bubblegum flavored toothpaste. Normally, he was pretty ambivalent to the flavor, never having been a big gum chewer. Now however, he couldn't think about it the same way. It would forever be associated with the most incredible girl he'd ever met. He became eerily aware that he hadn't brushed his teeth since the night before and hoped that she wouldn't judge him too harshly for it.

Not entirely sure what to do with his hands, he opted to follow Yang's lead and place them on his partner's hips. Her skin was smooth and hard, monuments to the insanely high work ethic. He wanted nothing more than to trace the curvature of her abs and kiss her all night but all good things must end. When she pulled away, Jaune heard himself almost whimper.

"No more running." He nodded along with her words. He agreed with her words but honestly, he would've agreed with anything she said at this point. His lips curled into a smile and when hers did the same, he nearly squealed in delight. He pried a hand from her core and sought out her fingers. His closed over hers and he rested his forehead against hers.

"Thank you." Her lips found his again, albeit for a much shorter amount of time than previously.

"You're out of chances now. If you run away like that again…" He nodded and made an X over his heart.

"I won't leave again, Arc's Word. An Arc never goes back on his word." She smiled bright enough blot out the stars in the sky.

"Glad to hear it." He did his best to return the favor and the two of them enjoyed the whipping wind and the dull roar of campus life from below. It wasn't peaceful in the traditional sense but Jaune always found it comforting. Coming from a house with eight children and two parents meant that silence wasn't in abundance. He let out a low hum and spoke.

"So, now what?" She pinched his palm hard enough to make him yelp.

"Now, you go apologize to your partner." He nodded. That seemed fair.

"It'll be nice to tell her the truth about all of this." Yang ran a hand through her hair and chuckled awkwardly.

"Funny story about that. I… may have already told her when we were waiting for Goodwitch." He sighed, his eyebrows creasing in confusion.

"Uh, Ok. But, why?" She shrugged.

"I was feeling guilty and she was yelling." A smirk appeared on her lips. "I guess you could say I panicked." His cheeks darkened a bit. She kissed his cheek and he smiled again.

"I guess that makes my job a bit easier than." She giggled and he brushed a hand against her cheek before stopping as a ding echoed from Yang's Scroll. She sighed as she read the message and he cocked his head to the side. "Something wrong?" She shrugged.

"Obviously you saw that fight with me and Pyrrha earlier and all the stuff Goodwitch said afterwards" He nodded. "Well, I may or may not have left to find you before she showed up to give us our punishments." Jaune groaned and felt his chest swell with a mix of pride and shame. She'd risked the wrath of Glynda Goodwitch for him. On the same token, she was going to feel the true wrath of Goodwitch because of him. Oops. "Pyrrha managed to talk her down from suspending me but I have detention for the next three months." Jaune whistled. That was a rough one and he didn't envy her position. "All things considered, that isn't that bad."

"Yeah. I'm kind of surprised. Pyrrha must've been really persuasive." For a moment, everything was peaceful until her Scroll started ringing again. She picked up the call and Jaune caught the words "Daddy-O" on the caller ID.

"THREE MONTHS!? WHAT DID YOU DO?" Against his better judgement, Jaune began to laugh. A second later, Yang joined in, all the while the person on the other end of the call screamed and screamed.

Been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that. Writer's block set in and then I redid my outline and had to actually write the story to fit the outline. Then I rewrote a bunch of it multiple times and finally, spent the last week or so editing this thing so I could actually be satisfied with it. None of that is the important part though. This is.

This is the last chapter of Faking It.

In the original set up, this was two chapters but after looking it over I thought it better to turn them into 1 so it didn't feel so split. Also, in my outline changes, I realized that the chapter after this was useless and messed up my pacing. On top of that, it ends on a weaker note than this did and I wasn't married to the idea enough to deal with it. So yeah, this is the finale. I hope you all enjoyed it. I'll be back sometime in October with the one shots thing so follow me on here to get that when it comes out. More on that when they start coming out.

I want to thank each and every one of you though. This is easily the most popular thing I've ever written and its really nice to have something you're passionate about also be the thing that gets the most attention. Let me know how you felt about all of this in a review and I'll see you guys in the next story. Until then, may Fortune favor you all.