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Tuesday mornings were barely better than Mondays.  They were one day closer to the weekend, which was nice, but the weekend was still basically four days away.  Four days of rolling out of bed way too early, trudging to school with a backpack stuffed with bricks, forcing pointless knowledge into their brains, and carrying more homework home.  So yeah, Tuesday mornings sucked just as much as Mondays.

On this particular Tuesday, however, it would be impossible to tell from the way Yang woke up as soon as her alarm went off, got ready for school in record time, and dragged Ruby out the front door without a single school-related complaint to be found.

Complaints about school were hard to find these days.  Ruby hardly complained in general, and Yang found it harder and harder to gripe when she liked going to school.  Talk about a complete about-face from the end of last year, when Ruby had to literally pull Yang by the hand so they’d make it to class on time.  Not anymore.

As soon as they’d walked into the building, Ruby flew away like she normally did - off to practice or whatever she did in the mornings.  That left Yang humming a tune to herself while practically skipping to homeroom.

“Good morning, Blake!” she said as soon as she entered the classroom and caught sight of her new favorite person - who was reading, as usual.

Pulling the spare chair over like she’d done the previous few days, Yang was grateful that Blake didn’t seem to mind the early morning interruption.  If Blake did seem annoyed, Yang would stop doing it immediately.  

Instead, Blake smiled, used a bookmark to mark her place, and closed her book.  The action felt like a subtle cue that Yang now had Blake’s full attention, which made her feel extraordinarily special.  She’d noticed how Blake sometimes tuned out what happened around her while she read, but she stopped reading for Yang.

It was probably nothing.  Yang shouldn’t read into it too much. 

“Good morning,” Blake replied with that same all-knowing smile Yang loved.  “How are you?”

“You know, actually pretty great!” Yang answered before leaning across Blake’s desk to whisper.  “Last night I was thinking about…” Glancing around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, she lowered her voice even further and said, “You know…”

“Who might like you?” Blake responded, her eyes twinkling in humor.

Leaning back in the chair, Yang laughed and ran a hand through her hair.  

“Naw, I already know the answer to that one,” she replied before gesturing towards Neptune’s desk.  “But you know what I mean! And I think that...that it could work out. It really could.”

Did she want to risk Ruby’s heart with someone notoriously cold and unforgiving?  Hell no! But was it really her place to decide who Ruby liked? Again, hell no.  A much smaller hell no, but still...no.  

And, as much as Yang hated to admit it, Weiss was different with Ruby.  The biting sarcasm...subtle or overt insults...general haughtiness...all of those disappeared when Weiss spoke to Ruby.  She could still be a bit bossy and demanding sometimes, but the tone was different. It was almost like she cared for Ruby as an actual human being, whereas the rest of them were constantly in her way or annoying her.

“I’m glad you’re ok with it.  Although I don’t know how long it will be before they consider taking that step.”

“Hopefully forever,” Yang responded with a chuckle that Blake matched with amused eyes.  “Let’s hope that Weiss has even less courage than Pyrrha!”

Ducking when a bag swung awfully close to her head, Yang swiveled in her seat and grinned after her friend.

“Woah there, Pyrrha - you almost got me.”

“That was for yesterday.  And for whatever you just said,” Pyrrha teased in return, shooting Yang a cheerful smile while walking towards their seats.

“All that and my punishment is to nearly get hit in the head?” Yang asked before chuckling to herself and turning back to Blake.  “I mean...I already signed up for getting hit in the head every day after school!”

When Blake laughed at the joke, Yang beamed in success.  Maybe she was getting better at this whole flirting thing!  Not that she was trying to flirt or anything. She was just being friendly and welcoming and…

Ok, maybe she was trying to flirt a little bit.

“What did you do to her yesterday?” Blake asked.

“Oh, I accidentally made a reference to Jaune when he was right behind me,” Yang answered with a nonchalant wave.  “But I totally played it off - it worked out fine!”

When Blake laughed again, Yang only managed to tear her eyes away from the cheerful sight when Penny walked through the door carrying a giant cardboard house.  And by giant, she meant giant.  Nearly as wide as the doorway and so tall that it almost entirely blocked Penny’s head from view.

It looked like a floating house with a small bit of orange bob visible behind the chimney.

“Wow,” Yang heard Blake mutter while Penny carried the cardboard creation past them.

“You finished it already?” Yang asked, turning around and watching Penny set it proudly on top of her desk.

“I did!  We’re presenting them today after lunch!”

“I gotta check this out,” Yang directed towards Blake, who smiled while Yang stood and walked over to take a closer look at what Penny had created.  

It was awesome - and probably way more than the teacher asked for, but Penny was an overachiever in the strangest ways.  Ask for a five-page paper - she’d turn in exactly five pages, down to the very last line.  Ask her to build a house out of cardboard and...well, they were lucky it fit through the doors.

“Is that a tiny gym?” Yang asked while pointing to a small room with tiny cardboard gym equipment glued inside.

“Yes!” Penny answered, happy that Yang identified the room correctly.  “There’s a gym, a library, two dining rooms, and five bedrooms.”

“Wow.”  Turning around, Yang shared an impressed nod with Blake as Mr. Oobleck raced through the door.  As usual, their homeroom teacher looked like he was being chased by something, and dropped a stack of papers on top of his desk like they were on fire.

“Good morning, students!” he called out to them before scrounging around in his drawers for something.  Sensing that class was about to start, Yang walked back to Blake’s desk and returned the spare chair to its proper place.  

“I’ll talk to you after class?” she asked hopefully, her spirits lifting when Blake nodded.

“Absolutely.”

Satisfied with that answer, Yang grinned and headed down the aisle to her seat beside Pyrrha.

“Do you remember when we used to talk in the morning?” Pyrrha asked before adding a whimsical sigh.  “Those were the days, right?”

“You know if Jaune was in this class, you’d do the same thing to me!” Yang replied, to which Pyrrha gave her a very smug expression.

“Are you saying you have the same feelings for Blake as I do for Jaune?” 

“Are you saying that you have the same feelings for Jaune that I do for Blake?” Yang immediately retorted, successfully flipping Pyrrha’s words back on her.  

And then the two of them stared at each other for a few moments, neither wanting to blink first and admit anything to the other.

“Students!” Mr. Oobleck said, forcing an end to their stalemate.  “I know I normally say there’s important news, but this is actually very important -”

With a smirk, Yang turned towards the front of the class - well, slightly towards the front of the class, but a little off to the right where Blake’s desk was.  If she could redo picking her seat, she’d definitely pick the one next to Blake even though it was in the front row. Maybe she’d get called on more by the teacher, but the opportunities to glance over and catch Blake’s eyes…

Suddenly stretching her back, Blake turned in her chair and meaningfully caught Yang’s gaze.  After the two of them shared a quick smile, she swiveled back around and listened to Mr. Oobleck.  And maybe Yang didn’t need to sit in the front in order for Blake to set her cheeks on fire.  

One of these days, Blake might come right out and ask Yang why she stared all the time.  How could she answer that question? ‘You’re just that beautiful, you know?’ Sure. That’d be good enough for a year’s worth of embarrassment…

When the bell finally rang - cutting Mr. Oobleck off mid-sentence - Yang flipped her notebook shut and accidentally flung her pen onto the floor in the process.  Ignoring Pyrrha’s laughter at the snafu, she scrambled to grab the runaway object before tossing it on top of her notebook and shoving both into her bag.

“In a hurry?” Pyrrha asked, her small grin threatening to turn into an all-out smile at Yang’s plight.  “Because she’s not.”

When Pyrrha nodded towards the front of the room, Yang found that her haste was unnecessary.  Because, instead of immediately leaving the classroom like she had the previous few days, Blake now waited by the door for Yang.

She could read into that, right?

“See ya, Pyrrha!” she said before racing over to meet Blake so they could walk out of class together.

“Goodbye, you two,” Pyrrha responded to both of them before heading off towards her own class, trailed by a few happy notes of laughter the surely lifted the moods of everyone who heard it.

“She’s very sweet,” Blake commented while she and Yang headed in the other direction.

“She is.  If you’re looking for someone who deserves to be well-liked and popular, it’s Pyrrha.”

“You deserve those things, too.”

Laughing lightly, Yang shook her head at the compliment.

“Pyrrha and I are different.  There’s not a mean bone in that girl’s body, but me…” Pausing, Yang looked down and curled her fingers into a tight fist.  “I have some mean bones.”

When a soft hand wrapped around hers, she looked up and found comforting amber eyes staring back at her.

“Standing up for what you believe in isn’t mean.”

“Punching people in the face isn’t usually considered ‘nice,’” Yang replied with a half smile while dropping her hand - pleasantly surprised when Blake’s hand remained around hers on the way down before finally breaking apart.

“It’s all a matter of perspective,” Blake answered calmly while leading them to stop by her locker.  

“Just like the book you showed me yesterday?” Yang asked, earning a pleased smile in response.

“Exactly.  There are multiple ways to look at any scenario even when the facts seem set in stone.”

“Maybe next time I get in trouble, you can talk to the principal for me,” Yang suggested with a soft chuckle.  “I’m sure you’ll have more luck with him than I do.”

Shutting her locker door, Blake smiled before gesturing for them to continue on their way.

“If I’m going to do that, maybe you can explain what goes through your mind when you’re walking through school?” Blake asked, casually looping her arm through Yang’s and leading them down the hall.  “It will be helpful in building your defense.”

Luckily, Blake seemed oblivious to the fact that Yang’s heart had just tripled in speed from their suddenly-close proximity.

“Lots of things,” Yang managed to say while trying not to obviously stare.  “Classes, homework, friends…”  

Left off that list was the subject that had dominated most of Yang’s thoughts since the beginning of the school year - the very girl who’d asked the question.

“I mean when you decide to stop and speak to someone you don’t know,” Blake clarified as they walked amongst the students rushing to their lockers to pick up books they needed for their next classes.  “How do you pick who to talk to?”

“Oh, that!  I just try to find someone who looks like they could use a little extra cheer in their day.”

“What do you look for?”

“Um…”  Trying to find an example, Yang scanned the halls before unfortunately finding someone who precisely fit the bill.  “Like him - he looks a little down, don’t you think?”  

She nodded towards a young boy with a disheveled mop of brown hair and a slight frown, who currently looked like he wanted to disappear in the middle of the hallway.  With a heavy sigh, he struggled to get his locker door open, before succeeding and nearly falling backwards in the process.  

Yup, he was having a rough day.

“I try to get them to smile,” Yang added.  “If I can get them to smile even once, I’ll consider my job done.”

“So you’ll just...walk over and start talking?”

Grinning at Blake, Yang nodded and gestured his way.

“Come on, I’ll show you.”

Leading them on a slight detour across the hall, Yang reluctantly dropped Blake’s arm and leaned against the row of stubborn lockers so the boy noticed her.  He was probably a freshman from his younger facial features and shorter, scrawnier stature - and he’d apparently been assigned one of the most jammed lockers in the building.

“Hey there!” she said with a warm smile, her sudden appearance making him jump in surprise.

“Um...hello…” he replied, his eyes shifting around the hall like he was trying to find the person playing a joke on him.  

“I’m Yang.  This is my friend, Blake,” she continued undeterred while pointing to Blake - who smiled and gave him a quick wave.  “We were hoping you’d walk us to class today!”

Looking back and forth between Yang and Blake, the boy’s disbelief only grew.  Which, honestly, Yang would also be pretty darn disbelieving if someone as beautiful as Blake wanted Yang to walk her to class.

“Are you serious?” he finally asked, his incredulity making Yang chuckle.

“Absolutely!  We’re going this way - you too?”

Although he was still vaguely suspicious - probably thinking someone was pulling a prank on him - he nodded and shoved his locker closed.  The door stuck with the bottom still open, so he frowned and kicked it in with his toe before nodding again.

“Stubborn things, aren’t they?” Yang asked while they walked down the hall - catching the small smile Blake directed her way from the other side of the boy.  This wasn’t exactly how Yang had planned for their walk to go, but at least Blake was willing to go along with it.

“So what’s your name?” Yang asked in an attempt to dispel his worry that this was all just an elaborate joke.

“Trevor...”

“Trevor...Trevor…” she repeated several times, narrowing her eyes at the vaguely familiar name.  Suddenly remembering where she heard it before, her eyes widened in recognition. “Oh! You wouldn’t happen to have a pal named Freddy, would you?”

Bingo.  His eyes lit up at the question.

“I do!”

Yang laughed at the response, knowing that the tide had turned in her favor.  

“Then you know my sister, Ruby!” she said, grinning when Trevor smiled widely and nodded.

“I met her on the first day of school!  She’s really nice!”  

The answer made Yang beam while silently thanking Ruby for making such a good first impression. 

“You bet she is.  She thought you were awesome too!”

“Really?” Trevor asked while stopping by a classroom door.  He briefly scratched his temple - looking unsure if he fully believed her - but then he grinned.  He was a pretty cute kid when smiling...much better than the frown from earlier.  

“This is my class,” he added, gesturing through the doorway.  

As Yang suspected - it was a first-year science class, complete with a group of rowdy boys playing around on one of the lab tables inside.

“Before you go -”  Looking in both directions down the hall, Yang leaned closer and whispered, “Can I meet Freddy?”

His smile growing even larger, Trevor carefully set his bag on the floor and unzipped it.  Then he reached inside and pulled out an honest-to-goodness frog.  Blake laughed at the unexpected sight, while Trevor gently set Freddy in the palm of Yang’s hand.  

Not entirely sure what to do with a frog, Yang touched the top of the creature’s head and was extra careful not to let it jump away.  The last thing they needed was a loose frog in the hallway.

“Can Blake hold him too?” she asked after she felt she’d appropriately tapped the little frog’s head.  When Trevor eagerly nodded - looking thrilled that someone else was interested in his pet - Yang delicately dropped the creature into Blake’s hands.  

For a split second, their hands touched again, and butterflies fluttered through Yang’s chest as she pulled her hands away.  When Blake gently touched Freddy’s head and the frog immediately let out a quiet croaking sound, Yang laughed.

“He likes you!” she said, earning an entertained grin from Blake before she carefully handed the frog back to his owner.

“He’s very cool,” Blake told Trevor, who beamed at the compliment.

“Thanks for showing us,” Yang added.  “And for walking us to class!”

Taking a step away, she left Trevor with a wave before turning with Blake to head to their own classes.

“That’s basically it,” Yang concluded while they headed to Blake’s classroom several doors down.  “It’s nothing special, see? Everyone has a few minutes to talk to someone who might be a little lonely.”

“Hmm…” was Blake’s only response until they reached the classroom door.  That’s where she stepped off to the side and reached out to prevent Yang from leaving.

“Not everyone is willing to do that, Yang,” Blake added with a serious expression.  “What you do is special.  You’re special.”

The praise was so unexpected, Yang had no idea how to respond.  Especially when Blake looked at her so earnestly - so honestly - that Yang wanted to believe the words were true.

Suddenly noticing that they were the only ones in the hallway, Yang glanced at the clock and saw that she only had a few seconds before the bell would ring.

“I - should probably run,” she replied.  When Blake nodded, Yang turned and bolted for her class.  Which she made it to right on time, although her heart continued its rapid beating far beyond when it should have slowed down.

She’d never really felt special before, but when Blake said it…it made her feel like she could fly to the sun with happiness.

Her next few classes were only special in that they gave her time to dwell on what Blake said and how it made her feel.  Trying to cheer people up didn’t seem like a huge deal, but maybe that was because it had been part of her routine for a long time.  

What was it like when she first started looking out for others?  It was so long ago now, she could hardly remember. It was probably a little uncomfortable at first, maybe even a little difficult, but she’d always found it easy to talk to new people.  The biggest issue was learning how to find the ones who needed help the most.

Honestly, it only took a few minutes of her time each day - that wasn’t a big deal at all.  Walking to class, she could stop and say ‘hi’ to a new student and ask them how their day was going.  Or she could strike up a conversation with someone waiting on their ride after school. Those were all small things - tiny bits of effort that could brighten someone’s day.  

Sure, sometimes she got into fights, and sometimes she taught a bully a good lesson, but those were extreme cases.  She wouldn’t recommend that anyone else try to do that, but speaking up? Reaching out? It didn’t take years of boxing lessons to do either of those things.

Counting down the minutes until lunch arrived, Yang subtly gathered up her class materials so she could slip them into her bag as soon as the bell rang.  While she did so, a brilliant thought popped into her head.

Yesterday, she ran into Blake near the library, which meant that Blake’s class must be in the A-wing somewhere.  Soooo...if Yang was fast enough, and took a completely different route, she might be able to catch up with Blake on the way to the cafeteria again.

Taking her newest theory for a test run, Yang bolted out of class the instant the bell rang and hurried in the opposite direction of what she normally did.

“‘Scuse me,” she muttered while dodging between several students and taking a shortcut to save herself time.  Everyone else probably thought she was in a big rush to get to lunch, but...her theory was totally right.  

Spotting Blake leaving a classroom up ahead, Yang doubled her pace to catch up.

“Hey!” she called out, earning a surprised look for her unexpected appearance.  “Fancy seeing you here!”

“You go to lunch this way?” Blake asked, her confusion evident in her expression.

“Uh, yeah, sometimes!  You don’t mind walking with me, do you?”

When Blake shook her head, Yang decided that she was racing this way from now on.  A short sprint was definitely worth a few extra minutes of conversation - plus, she could use the extra cardio.  

Shoulder-to-shoulder, they joined the throngs of students heading towards the cafeteria at a more leisurely pace.

“You know,” Blake began.  “I’m still amazed at how easily you can change someone’s day.”

“It’s really not that special,” Yang replied with a laugh.

“You realize you probably made his year, don’t you?”

“Doubtful, but at least his walk to class was a little brighter!”

“Aren’t you aware of how popular you are?”

Yang shrugged off the question.  People always told her that she was popular, but she only thought of it as being friendly.

“People pay attention to me, for whatever reason,” she replied easily.

“Then you understand that just by walking with him, you made him a little more popular?”

The idea made Yang laugh and shake her head.

“I don’t think it works like that.  I wish though! Then I could make everyone popular, and we could all be nice to each other.”

“When I left class, there was a whole group of boys asking if they could see Freddy.”

“That’s great!”

Turning to the side, Blake looked like she was trying to figure Yang out before giving up with a relaxed smile.

“People like you because you’re kind-hearted, Yang,” she finally said.  “It’s always been that way.”

“Always?”

“People at Menagerie talk about you, you know.”

“They really do?  You weren't just teasing me about that?” Yang asked, making Blake laugh at the memory of their first meeting.  

“No, that part was true.”

“What do they say?”

“You’re beautiful,” Blake replied, briefly locking eyes with Yang while saying the word.  And her heart immediately lodged in her throat - staying there even after Blake’s gaze drifted back to the hall.  “And you’re kind to everyone. Outgoing, funny...everyone wants to be you.”

“Including you?” Yang asked, watching the corners of Blake’s mouth twitch upward.  

“No...I just wanted to know you.”

“And now that you do?”

“They’re wrong.  You’re even more amazing than they know.  But...I always knew that.”

Pausing at the end of the hallway - where classrooms gave way to the large atrium connecting most of the school - Yang looked at Blake with a mixture of curiosity and appreciation.  She’d never known someone who made her feel so...special. And while she didn’t believe she deserved the compliments, she appreciated receiving them.

When she opened her mouth to respond, however, she suddenly heard something out of place.

“Hold up,” she said, turning away from Blake while trying to figure out what she was hearing.  It was the sound of laughter - harsh, unpleasant laughter.  

Looking down one of the connecting hallways, Yang caught sight of the back of Cardin’s stupid gelled hair amongst a crowd of people.  The boy was laughing at something, and she instantly knew it wasn’t anything she would find humorous.

“Be right back,” she muttered before stalking down the hall.  “I’m gonna go knock some sense into him...” 

A small crowd was forming in the middle of the hall - an even worse sign.  Sliding between a few students so she could figure out what was going on, Yang found Penny kneeling the middle of the hallway collecting pieces of cardboard while Cardin snickered at her.  

The sight instantly made her heart pound with anger.

“Cardin!” she shouted at the boy, who immediately stopped laughing at the sound of his name.

When he saw the look on her face, he bolted.  She immediately broke into a run after him, dodging around other students while trying to catch up.  Reaching out, her fingers barely grasped the collar of his shirt - just enough for her to get a handhold and slam him into the lockers on the side of the hallway.

“Cardin!” she yelled again.

“I’m sorry!” he shouted back, covering his face with his hands.  

She was seething, but she knew better than to hit him first.  She wished that he would take a swing at her though - just one.  Even half of one. Anything to give her the excuse to knock the grin permanently off his face.  

But he was too much of a coward to ever try to hit her, so she needed to keep her emotions in check - even as fury burned through her chest.

“You’re going to apologize,” she growled through gritted teeth.  “Right. Now.”

Grabbing him by the upper arm, she marched him back through the hallway to Penny.  Blake was helping her pick up the pieces now, but when Yang stopped Cardin in front of them, Penny looked up with timid eyes.

“You better mean it,” Yang whispered to him, her fingers squeezing his arm tight enough to make him squirm.  “Or you’re going to regret this.”

“I’m sorry Penny,” he sputtered.  “That wasn’t nice of me to bump into you like that.  Can I like...replace the boxes or something?”

Shaking her head, Penny managed a small smile that he in no way deserved.

“No, it’s ok.  But thank you for the apology.”

Even though Penny’s spirits seemed to have lifted, Yang wasn’t done with Cardin yet.  Dragging him just out of earshot, she dropped his arm and jabbed a finger into his chest a little more forcefully than necessary.

“You listen to me, Cardin,” she began, her voice a low snarl still simmering with rage.  “I’ve given you a lot of passes, but I’ve had it with you.  If you so much as look at someone wrong again, I’m going level you in front of everyone.  So if you want to be humiliated for the last year of school, be my guest.  I don’t care if I get suspended. Got it?”

His eyes wide, Cardin nodded and, for the first time, actually seemed to be rethinking his decisions.  When Yang took a step back and jerked her head to the side, he scurried away with his tail between his legs - not looking back or uttering another word.  Once he was gone, she took a deep breath and hurried back to Penny and Blake.

The bell rang then, dispersing the rest of the crowd and leaving only Blake, Penny, and a stack of cardboard that had once been a really wonderful house.

“I’m so sorry, Penny,” Yang said, looking at the ruined project and feeling a wave of sorrow wash over her.  “Is there anything I can do to help? Maybe we can put it back together?”

After inspecting the damage for a few seconds, Penny smiled and nodded.

“I bet with the two of us, we can fix it in no time!” she remarked.

“And with three of us?”

Yang and Penny both turned to Blake at the question.  

“It will be even faster!” Penny said happily.  

Yang mouthed a quick ‘thank you’ to Blake, who waved off the gratitude.

“We can probably use the physics classroom,” she suggested.  “The lab tables should be big enough.”

“Alright,” Yang said before collecting a pile of cardboard pieces, thankful to have a plan of action.  “You lead the way.”

Following Blake through the halls and into the empty physics classroom, they set Penny’s project on one of the lab tables and Penny immediately assessed the damage.  When she pulled up on the chimney and the house regained much of its original form, Yang sighed in relief. Because Penny was a genius cardboard-house builder, she’d created a folding structure that had just collapsed in on itself.  A lot of pieces inside the house had broken off, but the structure was still mostly intact.

“We need some glue!” Penny deduced.

“Glue…” Yang repeated, looking around and then glancing up at Blake in surprise when three bottles were placed on the table in front of them.  “Well, Blake’s on top of things,” she added with an impressed grin aimed Blake’s way.

“If you hold it up, I’ll start gluing!” Penny remarked while grabbing one of the bottles.  

Doing as told and carefully holding the top of the house by two of the sides, Yang waited patiently while Penny quickly and methodically dabbed glue on the broken joints.

“Now don’t move!” Penny ordered before flitting away.

Holding the pieces of cardboard had felt easy right up until Penny said that.  Now Yang was very much aware of how her arms were in an awkward and uncomfortable position.  One held the top left corner of the house while the other held the middle of the rightmost wall...but she could do this!  With concentration.  

Furrowing her brow and trying not to let her arms shake, she noticed that one of the middle supports was about to slide out of place.  If it did, it would drag the little cardboard staircase down with it - and that would suck to fix.

“Uh, hey -” was all she got out before an arm reached through and caught the beam right before it fell.  Glancing up in gratitude, she suddenly found herself face-to-face with Blake - who stood practically on top of her with one arm reaching between both of hers.  And, due to the awkward angle, Blake’s arm was kind of, slightly resting against Yang’s chest.

“Um, thank you,” Yang mumbled, blushing a deep shade of red when she noticed the rosy tinge on Blake’s cheeks.  “H-how long do you think this will take to dry?”

“A few minutes,” Blake whispered back.  

Accepting the answer, Yang cleared her throat and tried to look away - only to turn right back.  From this close, she could see the tiny streaks of deep brown in Blake’s eyes. And the way her lashes curled so perfectly, fluttering up and down whenever she blinked.  Her lips were slightly parted, and a quick tongue flicked out to wet them before disappearing again.

Humming to herself, Penny was completely oblivious to their current predicament while re-adding some of the home fixtures - a sofa here, a bed there.  Her constant motion was fine until she squeezed behind Blake - forcing Blake to scoot forward and press closer to Yang in the process.  

And Yang would probably spontaneously combust at any second from how hot her flush grew.  Now she could feel Blake’s breaths on her cheek and knew that if she turned her head to the right, they might accidentally kiss.

When Penny finally passed, Blake gave Yang a half inch of space so she could breathe again.

“I think it’s dry now!” Penny chirped from the other side of the house after tapping at one of the sides.  “Try letting it go and see if it stands!”

Hesitantly releasing the inner support beam, Blake lingered for a second before withdrawing her hand when the piece didn’t budge.  Taking a step away, she gave Yang her personal space back, although she suddenly found herself wishing that the glue had taken longer to set.

Slowly loosening her grasp of the house, Yang kept a watchful eye to make sure the entire thing wasn’t going to collapse again before finally releasing the roof entirely.  Holding her breath for a few seconds, she beamed when there was no movement.

“Look at that!  We have a house again!” she exclaimed, making Penny clap before dividing a stack of cardboard between the three of them.

“Now we can put everything back inside!” 

Looking at the random assortment of pieces in her hands - furniture and picture frames and tiny little teapots - Yang picked one out and held it up.

“Uh...Penny?” she asked.  “What’s this?”

It was some sort of creature - black with white and red splotches, and huge claws.  Definitely not a real animal.  At least, Yang hoped it wasn’t a real animal, because it looked like something straight out of a nightmare.

“That’s my Baby Grimm!” Penny exclaimed while gently taking it from Yang’s fingertips.  “Isn’t he cute?”

“Uh, yeah.  But what’s a Baby Grimm?”

“I don’t know...I just made it up.”

“That’s...very creative,” Yang replied, unsure of what else to say.

“You think so?” Penny immediately asked, her eyes sparkling with unconcealed hope.  “People never think I’m creative! They only think I’m weird and robotic.”

“Well, they’re wrong,” Yang replied with a smile.  “You’re an amazing person - and super creative.”

When Penny made a happy sound, Yang watched with a small smile while a drop of glue was put on the back of the Baby Grimm before he was stuck on top of a small bed in one of the rooms.  With the creature safe and sound, Yang picked up the last bottle of glue and went to work putting the rest of the house back in order.

Fortunately, it was pretty easy to tell where more of the pieces were supposed to go.  The teapot went on top of the miniature stove. The sofa went in one of the living rooms and was identical to the second sofa Blake had already glued down.  And the tiny pictures had labels written on the back in pencil that specified the room they’d come from.

All-in-all, it was a very organized house.

“Oh here!” Penny suddenly exclaimed while Yang stuck another picture to the wall of the third bedroom.  “You can be my last house guests!”  

When Penny held out two cardboard people that looked like the outlines drawn at crime scenes, Yang and Blake accepted them with curious looks.

“And you can pick a room!” Penny instructed before pointing back to the house.

“You mean we don’t get our own rooms?” Yang joked, but Penny pondered the question long and hard before answering.

“Well...you could...but then where would Baby Grimm sleep?”

Chuckling at the response, Yang let the tease drop.  Sometimes, she forgot that Penny would take every word literally.

“Right.  We can absolutely share,” she agreed before looking at the house.  “Um...which one do you want, Blake?”

“The one next to the library, obviously.”

“Great!  We’ll take that one,” Yang agreed, peering into the small bedroom next to the well-stocked library.  “Wait, Penny - there’s only one bed in here!”

“Can’t you share?”

The idea of sharing a bed with Blake caused Yang’s cheeks to heat up again.

“Uh, yeah, of course we can.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t bite,” Blake teased, only making Yang blush further.

“I wasn’t...thinking about that…”

But now she was.

“Write your names on them!” Penny said, handing over a pen before whizzing away with little white shutters to be glued outside each of the windows.

After labeling their cardboard pieces, Yang and Blake carefully stuck them into the bed together.  The arms and legs hung over the edges and kind of overlapped on top of each other, but it would have to work.

“Look at it!!” Penny exclaimed, holding her arms out towards the masterpiece.  “It’s just like new!”

Standing back, Yang shared a grin with Blake as they admired their success.

“You’re totally getting an A on this project, Penny,” Yang remarked while Penny carefully lifted the house from the table.  “Do you need help carrying it to class?”

“Thank you, Yang, but I can carry it.  Thank you for your help!”

“Absolutely,” Yang said before Penny raced out the door with her newly-rebuilt house.  

Left in the nearly empty classroom, Yang lingered behind - in no rush to leave.

“Thank you,” she said, turning back to the person who didn’t have to help but had volunteered anyway.

“Don’t mention it,” Blake replied with a smile.  “I’m glad I could help.”

Looking at the door again, Yang sighed in relief.

“I’m so glad her project wasn’t ruined...”

“If anything, it’s better now because it has a cardboard copy of you in it,” Blake joked, succeeding in making Yang laugh.

“Hey, I’m not the only cardboard person in there!” she said before her eyes widened with realization.  “Oh god, what will her classmates think when they see us in bed together?”

“They’ll think we’re having a sleepover,” Blake replied with such a straight face that Yang snorted with laughter.

“Right.  Because a class full of high school students is totally gonna think it’s an innocent little sleepover.”

“Isn’t it?” Blake asked, her eyes sparkling with humor while Yang’s tongue tied itself in knots.

“I - uh, I mean, yeah?”  

Thank god the bell rang and saved her from that one.  

“Guess we should head out,” Yang muttered, the look on Blake’s face saying that she’d hadn’t been ‘saved’ so much as Blake was letting the topic drop.  When the two of them walked into the hall, they found students pouring in from the cafeteria for their next classes.

“You always apologize for them,” Blake commented while they joined the crowd.

“What?”

“You apologize.  For the bullies. Like it’s somehow your fault that they’re mean.”

“Oh, I’m not apologizing for them.  I’m apologizing because -” Yang trailed off when she realized what she was going to say, but Blake was already waiting for an answer.  “Because...I feel like I should’ve stopped it from happening in the first place.”

Reaching out, Blake touched Yang’s shoulder - making her heart beat faster the instant Blake’s fingers landed and squeezed reassuringly.

“We’re lucky to have someone like you around...when we need you.”

Blake’s eyes were so filled with gratitude that Yang was almost confused, but Blake’s hand was still resting on her shoulder - the light touch sending electric tendrils through her veins.  Unfortunately, the moment vanished when Blake’s eyes flitted away.

“We should get to class...”

“Yeah...gonna be a long day without food.”

On cue, Yang’s stomach rumbled.  Hearing the sound, Blake looked back and forth in the rapidly-emptying hall before leaning forward and lowering her voice.

“Do you want to get something to eat?”

“Like right now?” Yang asked in surprise.

“Yes.”

“You mean...skip class?”

“Yes.”

Watching Blake’s eyes dance as if the question was an unintended challenge, Yang looked around the hall and then grinned.

“I will if you will.”

Hiding a smirk, Blake grabbed Yang’s hand and dragged her down the hall - away from class and towards the exit of school instead.

Comments

🌸Mina🌸

I loved it I still hope to see Weiss and Ruby one of these chapter but seeing Penny was fun and Pyrrha too

Anni Banani

Waiting for the lightbulb to go on in Yang's head is painful but it creates such a good dynamic for the two of them

Kevin Shea

okay. -Loving aggressively-playful ‘I remember you’ Blake -Yang are you kidding me you fool -this story is wonderful -Miko ily