This was based off a prompt: normal life AU where Yang is a new tenant to Blake's apartment complex and the fire alarms go off one night and well... you'll see...

A/N: Decided to make it multi-chapters so I changed the title to a more fitting one that will become relevant later on in the story!

Dedicated to Moongarm! Thank you again!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Moving Forward

Chapter 1. An Unusual Meeting

You've got to be kidding me...

That was the first and possibly only thought that ran through Blake's head when the fire alarms in her apartment complex suddenly went off at 4AM.

She wasn't concerned for her life because she was on the fifth floor – she was just pissed off because she had been sleeping when the damn things had started blaring, jolting her awake from the peaceful slumber she'd finally drifted into after a long night of toiling in research.

Part of her just said to keep lying there and wait for the flames to consume her; she didn't even care at this point. If it'd let her sleep forever, maybe that would be better...

But thankfully, the other part of herself wasn't fond of the idea of committing unintentional suicide, and that part won out in the end.

She forced herself awake with a loud, exasperated groan, pushing her pillow away from her face with force. Her frazzled hair bounced at her shoulders as she slipped her legs off the bed and found her slippers.

It was easy enough to see with the flashing lights spiraling around the room, and she managed to grab her bathrobe and slip it on over her shoulders, scrambling to tie it around her stomach; she knew it'd be cold as the tundra outside being it was the middle of autumn.

And also 4 in the goddamn morning.

The thought of hurrying down ten flights of stairs amongst a crowd of bustling, shoving people to reach safety was sounding less and less appealing, and the thought of staying in her bed and being met with a warm death more enticing.

But the ruckus in the hallways and outside made her remember the fire escape that was intended for this kind of situation.

She grabbed her most valuable notebook which contained the majority of her important notes and theories before heading to the window. She shivered as she opened the sill and a biting cold blasted past her.

"If the building's on fire, you think it'd be a little warmer..." she muttered.

But despite her dubious thoughts, when she inhaled past the chill of the night, she could make out a slightly charred scent, unpleasant and sharp. That fueled her to move a little faster, scrambling out the window and onto the cold, frosted metal of the fire escape. There were other tenants using them as well, and many people already down on the ground in their sleepwear, turned to look back at the apartment building.

As Blake hurried down the steps, she could hear the distant wailing of sirens, and the sense of urgency only increased, her heart pounding harder as it finally hit her that she was in somewhat of a perilous situation.

At that point, she was probably appropriately unsettled as the insistent alarms kept screeching in her ears, and the added layers of the fire truck's sirens overlapped the initial ones.

There was a discombobulating assortment of sounds – some beeping, some looping, some fluctuating – and Blake all but jumped down the last few steps onto the ground, huffing as she clutched her notebook to her chest. The landlord was standing with the other few dozen residents in the parking lot, and Blake scurried to the gathering of her fellows who had also all been roused from sleep because of this mess.

The firefighters started slipping into the apartment building to handle whatever was inside.

Blake finally came to a halt, panting slightly as she hunched over a bit. People all around her were muttering and talking, voices high and panicked and fast with excitement. The wind was blowing, but the bodies surrounding hers helped break up the chill a little.

Blake was lucky, but she found the person to her right wasn't as fortunate.

She knew most of the other tenants in the complex, but this girl must have been new. Blake didn't recognize her tangled mane of yellow hair at all, but it was certainly noticeable, even in this limited lighting.

But there were a few things even more noticeable about this girl.

Like the fact that she was in nothing but her underwear.

Thankfully there was something covering her top half as well, and she clutched a damp towel around her shoulders, but it hardly reached her hips. She was barefoot, her skin glistening with residual water, and her overall appearance begged too many questions for Blake to keep quiet.

"Um... pretty crazy night, huh?" she began simply, directing her gaze toward the other girl.

The blonde flashed her a glance, teeth chattering.

"You're tellin' me, sister." She shivered jumping from one foot to the other on the hard pavement. "It's only my third freaking night livin' here and this shit happens? If this is a common occurrence, just tell me now and I'll gladly move someplace else."

"Believe me," Blake sighed bitterly. "If this was a common occurrence, I would have moved out months ago. I'm fairly certain this is all just a fluke. Probably a kitchen fire."

"Well who the hell is using the kitchen at four in the goddamn morning anyway?!"

Blake snorted.

"That leads me to wonder... why were you in the shower at four in the morning, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Ah, y'know. Just got home from a wild party, haha."

"I see..."

"Yeah, I'd probably just end up sleeping till 2pm tomorrow but ugh, now all this shit's happening..." The blonde cut off with another shudder.

Blake sympathized terribly with her, having nothing but a measly towel and some underwear to protect her from the cold winds and the straying eyes of every other person in the complex. Blake hatched an idea and quickly untied her bathrobe, shedding it before offering it to the other girl.

"Take it. My pajamas are warm enough."

The blonde girl looked at her with watering eyes, and for a second Blake thought she was going to be crushed into a hug. But the other girl simply accepted the robe and stuffed her arms into the sleeves before securing it around her stomach.

"Oh, man. Thank you so much. I owe y-you big time, um..."

"Blake."

"Blake, right," she murmured, as though testing it out. Then, she broke out into a wide, toothy grin. "I'm Yang! Nice ta meet'cha, though I have to admit it might've been nicer under different circumstances."

"I'll say..."

Blake stuck close to the new girl, glad to see she wasn't shivering so much anymore.

After about ten more minutes, the firefighters emerged from the building, announcing it was safe to reenter. It turned out that one of the flames in a kitchen oven had been left on by accident, but there had been no dangerous flames.

There was a collective sigh of relief from the crowd as they all started to head back inside, thanking the firemen for their services. After that, it was a lot of grumbling and muttering as the people limped exhaustedly back to their respective floors.

Blake was preparing for her trek up those ten flights before she realized the girl beside her had suddenly stopped.

"Aw no!" Yang wailed.

Blake paused and turned back to her.

"What is it?"

"Agh, I was so freaked about getting out that I left my keys in the room! I think I'm locked out..."

Blake bit her bottom lip.

"Oh. That's unfortunate." She was about to suggest Yang use the fire escape back to her room, but the blonde was already shivering uncontrollably, even with Blake's robe to cover her. The dark-haired girl looked around, but the landlord was nowhere to be seen.

A clock on the wall informed her it was nearly 5AM, and Blake was too goddamn tired to do anything more than go back to sleep. She sighed again and got the dismayed blonde's attention.

"Then just crash in my room for the night. I can put some pillows and a blanket on the floor for you."

Yang's hands went to her mouth and a small gasp left her lips.

"Ohhh my god, do you really mean that?"

"Just for tonight. We can get you another key in the morning. I'll lend you a shirt and some pants, too."

This time, Yang really did hug her. Hard.

"Thank you, thank you, Blake!"

"Um-!" Blake's notebook fell from her grasp as she was squished into the girl's ample chest, finding out firsthand just how strong Yang's arms were. Blake felt her spine crack a few times – in an oddly pleasant kind of way – before the blonde let her back down onto her feet. "Yeah... don't mention it," she shrugged. "Just a favor for a new neighbor."

"I'll pay you back for all of this," Yang vowed, scooping down to pick up Blake's notebook and hand it back to her.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." She started up the stairs, and Yang kept pace beside her.

"Hey, um... so maybe tomorrow you could show me around the place a bit? I don't really have any friends around here. I'm kinda on my own. Whaddaya say?"

Blake paused for a moment to yawn, but when her lips came together again, it was in a smile. She glanced sideways to her new companion and nodded.

"I think I'd like that."

Yang grinned at her again, and Blake felt her heart throb a little bit.

"Come on," she mumbled, turning away. "We should try to get as much sleep as possible."

"Right!"

And as Blake continued up the stairs to her room with Yang at her side, she couldn't shake the feeling that this mishap had been the start of something much better.

A/N: Aha so the full prompt was that the fire alarm went off and the two characters met up outside, but one was just in their underwear pff. Hope you enjoyed!

Please review!