A/N: Once again, thank you all for The support I've gotten for this story. It means so much to me that over a hundred people eagerly await each installment I put out.

If you're curious about the opening conversation, it's based on one I had in real life. Spoilers for Zootopia.

Happy Easter, Velvet.

"You did not just say that to me."

xXxXx

The movie they went to see, Zootopia, wound up being a considerably more mature experience than they had expected; not because of any inappropriate material, but rather for how it handled difficult topics like stereotyping and interracial tension. Jaune originally chose it so that he and Velvet would have a cute little film to 'squee' over, but as they were exiting the theater they couldn't help but be wrapped up in a serious discussion.

"Do you think that Bellweather's 'I'm just a cute little thing' strategy would work in real life, Velvet?"

"Not with those exact words, but her plan relied on two things that do have real world potential for danger: Deflection of suspicion, and fear mongering. The deflection happened when she pinned the crimes on the mayor, who was a 'predator' in the eyes of the citizens; then, after he was put away, her henchmen used the toxins to terrify civilians into thinking that the predators were all going rogue, so to speak."

"Only to have it all brought down by an intelligent rabbit and her clever fox friend." Jaune had a bemused expression. "If you ever decide to be a detective, I could be the Wilde to your Hopps."

She gave a friendly scoff in return. "Please. I liked Judy and how she developed as a character, but I doubt she could face Grimm with a camera weapon. Huntsmen and huntresses are just so much cooler."

"Granted. Before this conversation goes into a deeper analysis of a kid's film, I have to ask: It's 4:15. Do you want to stay out longer, or go ahead and return to Beacon?"

Velvet took a look at her scroll to confirm the time, letting her body lean into his as casually as she could manage. "I would love to spend more time with you, but we probably should go back. Oum knows what trouble they've gotten into with us gone."

"It's so difficult being the only sane people on our teams." They met each other's eyes at that line and shared a private chuckle. They walked all the way to the bullhead in relative silence, speaking only to quote lines from the movie. It was an uneventful return trip, but neither of them minded; all the better for them to enjoy the presence of other.

Jaune messaged Ren and discovered that teams RWBY, JNPR, and CFVY were all having an early dinner together in the cafeteria, so they decided to join their teammates there

What Jaune did not expect was that he would be heading back out into Vale so soon.

"Hey, it's the couple of the day!" Yang called out to them as soon as they entered. They approached the table and saw the collective teams all munching on their varied meals of choice, with the sole exception of an absent Coco. "Jaune, could you go get the food for you and Velv? We all need to talk with her for a sec."

He rolled his eyes in spite of himself. "Probing for date details already? I'm not afraid to talk about it, you know."

"It's nothing like that; well, at least not yet. This is something else." The grin on her face promised only embarrassment for him.

"Fine, fine. I can see I'm not wanted. What do you want to eat, Velvet?"

"Hmm... It's Saturday, so they should have the chargrilled chicken salad. Please get me that and some apple juice."

He gave an intentionally sloppy salute. "Roger that. Don't have too much fun without me." Jaune disappeared into the food line, and Velvet sat between Nora and Phyrra.

"So what did you all want to talk about?" She didn't want to be discourteous, but the eyes of nearly everyone present were flicking back and forth between Yang and herself. It was quite unsettling.

Yang, for her part, seemed to largely ignore them. "I hate to bother you, but we need to borrow Jaune for the evening. Pyrrha and I are going to go drinking tonight and it'd be best if we had a sober guy come with us to act as a creep deterrent."

Her bunny ears perked up with suspicion. "You're going drinking... Some questions, Yang: First, why the weekend before the Vytal tournament? Second, why is it only you two that will be there? And last, but not least, why Jaune specifically?"

Yang didn't hesitate. "One: It's to help Pyrrha get over a heartbreak. Two: nobody else wanted to drinking with us." She paused to glare at her teammates, who all returned unrepentant gazes. "Third: Pyrrha's kind of been fighting with Jaune for the past twenty four hours, and wants to apologize."

Velvet settled back into her seat, only slightly eased of her worry. "Okay, I can understand wanting to apologize. I also get wanting to leave a sad relationship in the past, but..." She turned towards Pyrrha before continuing with, "that raises another question: why do you feel the need to ask me for permission? He's your partner, of course you can rely on him to get past a bad time."

All present turned their eyes towards the red-head while she met Velvet's questioning gaze. "I'm asking you permission... because of who it is I'm getting over."

"I'm not sure I unders-" She stopped speaking and looked around the table as the pieces clicked into place. Weiss, Blake, Fox, Nora, and Blake were eying the food line where her boyfriend was; Ruby looked to be in the 'flight' section of 'fight-or-flight'; Ren and Yatsuhashi were now staring down at their trays, and Yang was whistling some unknown tune. "It's Jaune...? That's who you're getting over?"

Pyrrha audibly gulped, and it struck Velvet that this was the first time she had ever seen the champion look scared. "Yes. Yes it is." Pyrrha Nikos, the invincible girl, was frightened of the retribution from an angry girlfriend. It would've been hilarious if she didn't feel so numb about the whole situation.

'How should I respond to this? How am I supposed to respond to this?' Her lack of dating experience was leaving her baffled about where the boundaries should be drawn in regards to Jaune's partner, but as she searched for an answer she remembered what was said just earlier in the day.

"I'm grateful that Pyrrha was there, because I wouldn't have gotten to meet you otherwise."

"I'll agree with that one. She's a great partner."

"Alright, I've got your food and- why is it so tense here? What happened?" Velvet nearly jumped out of her skin as present-moment Jaune burst her thought bubble. The group was now focused on her as Jaune looked around for an answer. "Hello? Guys?"

What she said now would decide the future for not one, but two relationships going forward: Hers with Jaune, as well as Jaune and his partner.

No pressure, right?

"Everything's okay, Jaune. They were just asking me to loan you out for an evening. Thanks for getting the food, by the way."

"No problem." He set their trays down, Nora sliding down to make room. His own tray had nothing but a large turkey sub, which he took a bite out of. "What do I need to be borrowed for?"

Velvet peered over at Yang and nodded. The latter smiled and spoke with a faux regal tone. "Pyrrha and I will going to a drinking establishment. You, Jaune, shall have the pleasure of escorting us, as well as protecting us from any unsavory men. Completely sober, I'm afraid."

Jaune snuck a look at his girlfriend, who gave him a consolatory pat on the back. He adopted Yang's accent and answered, "Oh, if it must be so. Very well, when shall we depart?"

The air around the table seemed to deflate as the onlookers released the breaths they'd been holding in. Fox reached into his wallet and slipped 5 lien into Ren's hand under the table, who gave a sly smile as he put it away.

"In thirty minutes time, good sir!" Yang was positively beaming, and Pyrrha couldn't help but giggle at the scene. "I recommend returning to your room and dressing yourself in a more casual manner; were we to be seen with you as you are, it would surely be a blemish on our appearance for the evening."

The teams separated after ten more minutes of posturing, Jaune taking bites of his food as he put on an intentionally funny display of missing Velvet for the evening, who could only rock back and forth with laughter. After the laughs faded, Jaune and Phyrra returned to their dorm room, reminding both of them that they hadn't talked since the day prior. They changed in silence, facing away from each other as the sounds of clothes rustling filled the void. After both of them slipped into their outfits, Pyrrha spun around to finally address her partner. "Jaune!"

"Yes!?"

Pyrrha was confused about Jaune's panic until she realized she'd more or less shouted at him. Closing her eyes and bringing her voice under control, she continued with, "I just wanted to say that..." Why was this so hard? "I'm sorry that I've been avoiding you. I got overwhelmed with everything, and...and-"

"Pyrrha." It was spoken so softly that she almost believed she had imagined it, but when she reopened her eyes Jaune was standing right in front of her. He put his hand on her left shoulder and brought her into a hug. "It's okay. I'm just glad you're talking to me now."

After a stunned moment, Pyrrha let herself fall into the hug as she wrapped her arms around his chest. His warmth permeated through his t-shirt, inviting her to stay as long as she needed. "Thank you. I'm sorry."

A chuckle rippled through his body. "I said It's okay, so don't apologize. If you want to talk about what overwhelmed you, just let me know, okay?"

"Of course. In the meantime, can I ask that you take care of me tonight?" She giggled, the sound muffled by his shirt. "I can't say that I know how I'll act after drinking a little."

"To be honest, I'm more worried about how Yang will be rather than you. Speaking of, we probably need to get going."

They made their way across the hall and knocked on RWBY's door, making a voice call out "Hold on!" Jaune took a moment to examine his partner's outfit: She was wearing a sheer white top with a pink undershirt, slight frills on the seams serving to hide what Jaune knew to be her crazily athletic form. You don't get to win four tournaments in a row without having strong, supporting muscles.

'Speaking of being fit, Velvet fights mostly with her legs when she isn't using her camera. I wonder how lean her leg muscles are?'

Yang popped her head out of the door. "Sorry to keep you two waiting. Jaune? You might want to wipe that blush off your face; or do I just look that good?"

"Huh?" To his belated horror, he had a dopey grin and flushed cheeks from imagining Velvet's uncovered legs. He covered his face with his hands and turned away to hide his embarrassment. "Y-you do look good, Yang, I was just, uh, thinking of something else."

"Uh-huh, sure." Yang was wearing the same outfit she wore when her team faced Roman in the paladin. "Anyways, we ready to go?"

"Yes," answers Pyrrha. "I even managed to apologize already."

"Awesome, I was worried about things being awkward the whole time." Yang turned her head in towards her room. "I'm headed out girls. It's not too late to join us."

Ruby was the only one to dignify giving a response. "Just don't do anything we wouldn't do, Yang."

"But that's no fun!"

xXxXx

The bullhead dropped them off in central Vale, the sun just starting to dip below the horizon. As the trio stepped off Jaune asked, "Do you two mind if we make a stop first? I want to buy some stuff before the stores close."

Pyrrha and Yang looked at each other and shrugged, with the former responding, "What do you need to get, Jaune?"

"Just some stuff for a hobby I'm relearning. Nothing big."

The teaser in Yang flared up. "Oh? 'Nothing big', but you don't want to share it with us? If I had to bet, I'd say it must be a pervy hobby."

If Jaune had been drinking, he would've done a spit take. "P-pervy!? It's nothing like that, I-" He stopped as Yang began to double over with stifled laughter. "You know what? Just for that I really won't share it with you. Pyrrha, would you follow me for a sec? The store is right over there."

"Aw, don't be like that, Jaune." He walked away with red-head in tow, disappearing into the shop he pointed out. 'He actually left me behind!' Yang might've been offended, if she weren't proud of him having the guts to actually walk away from her. The pair remained inside for only a few minutes, and when they returned Jaune was carrying a loaded, black plastic bag and stuffing the receipt into his pocket. Sensing that Jaune wasn't going to tell her the truth, Yang slid into step next to Pyrrha and whispered, "So, P-money, what's in the bag?"

"Confidential, I'm afraid." She put a finger to Yang's lips so as to say 'Don't bother asking.' "You'll just have to find out when everyone else does."

"Come on, seriously?" She gave an indignant huff. "Fine. Let's just go to the bar now." Said bar was revealed to be 'The Oyster', a nondescript locale that featured eleven booths and ten bar stools. Despite being small (or maybe because of it) it was rather clean, so they had no issue picking out a booth that had a good view of the whole interior. Yang took one side, leaving the other side for them to share.

Yang looked perfectly in her element while explaining the following to her companions, "I know the owner from Patch, so we won't have any age limit questions here. Pyrrha, make sure to order some food to go with your drink, because you do not want to drink on an empty stomach." Pyrrha opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off as she continued. "Yes, I saw you eat plenty of food back at Beacon. Eat more. Jaune, order whatever you want besides alcohol. I'll cover you since I kinda took you by force today."

Jaune shrugged as he tied his plastic bag up. "Any recommendations?"

"I always get strawberry sunrises since they won't make them alcoholic unless you explicitly ask them to.'

"Sounds good to me."

Pyrrha turned the menu over in her hands. "I'm going to get the wings for food, but I don't know if I want beer or whiskey. Which would go better with the wings?"

Yang mulled the question over for a moment. "Get beer since this is your first time. The bartender here is a little heavy-handed on the whiskey here, we don't need you passing out in record time. Also, don't order the PBR."

"PBR?" The champion reexamined the beer section. "Pabst Blue Ribbon? Why not?"

"Because it's cheap and tastes awful! That's the stuff for when you're buying in bulk for frat parties."

An hour later, they were all having a great time laughing and sharing stories. Yang and Pyrrha were both two-and-a-half beers deep, while Jaune was content with his strawberry delight.

Pyrrha lazily eyed Yang over the rim of her glass. Her speech wasn't slurred but it did have some hesitation to it, as if she were piecing the sentence together as she said it. "Yang, you're telling us that out of all the guys in Beacon, not one of them has managed to catch your eye?"

The Dragon puffed her chest out proudly and answered, "Nope! My standards are high, and all have fallen short." She took a sip of her beer. "One guy came close, he was cute, but I don't want to go after the same guy as Ruby, you know?"

Jaune and Pyrrha both snapped to attention, the former asking, "Wait, Ruby has a guy she likes? Who is he?"

Yang paused.

A beat passed.

"Oh shit, did I say that out loud? Guys, please forget I said that. She'll kill me."

"Yang?" Pyrrha reached over the table and covered Yang's empty hand with her own, offering a gentle smile filled with compassion and understanding. "Spill it."

Or not.

"Guys-" She sighed and decided to down the rest of her beer in one go. After finishing it she said, "Please don't tell anyone what I'm about to say, not even Ruby herself." They both made zipping gestures over their mouths. "She started crushing on a friend of hers a while back, but, being young and all, wasn't sure how to handle it at first."

Yang's hands worked the air as if she was trying to form the words with them. "It was a messy situation, too; some other girl liked him too, he liked a different girl, that girl liked some other guy. Chaos, I tell you, but baby sis made me proud." She couldn't keep the smile on her face from appearing. "We were talking about it one day and she said to me 'Sis, it hurts to say it, but I don't have a chance here. There are other guys out there, so I'll just have to remember him as my friend and first crush.' We hugged it out and ate cookies together, and it made me realize that even if she is younger than us, she is mature beyond her years."

"What happened with the guy," asked Jaune. "What's he up to now?"

"Oh, he's... around. Anyways, I'm going to go to the restroom. Be back." Yang practically sprinted away from the table, leaving a bemused Pyrrha and a thoughtful Jaune behind.

Jaune turned to her and asked, "Do you have any clues about who the guy might be?"

She gave a small laugh. "I do, but it isn't my information to share." Pyrrha downed a gulp of her own drink before she continued talking, sounding more sober than before.

"Jaune, the reason I was upset was... Have I ever told you what life was like for me before Beacon?"

"Funny, I said something similar just earlier today. Anyways, no, you haven't."

"I didn't have any real friends. I was lonely." She let the shock of the sentence set into him before she resumed. "I have been blessed with many things in life, such as great physical prowess; but I was on the top of people's minds for so long that they eventually put me on a pedestal. No longer was I Pyrrha the Girl, I was Pyrrha Nikos the Invincible. Someone to be held above others, unapproachable beyond my reputation; but then you came along."

"Me?"

"Yes, you." She laid her head on her left arm and looked up at him with a smile. "You didn't know me or my reputation. It was through you that I became friends with so many people. I have teammates that see me for me, and I can safely say that I'm happier than I've ever been. So when Velvet came and became the object of your affections... I felt like she was going to take you away from me. Like I was going to lose my partner."

Jaune didn't speak for a moment, letting her words wash over him. 'I matter this much to her...' It was overwhelming to think of, but at the same time...

...she was just like him.

"Pyrrha, you're the first person to ever, and I mean ever, have genuine faith in my abilities. You've pushed me to be better in all of the ways that matter in life, so I don't want to hear you say that I'm going away or leaving you. We're partners, through the best and the worst this world has to offer. As long as you'll have me, I'll be there to make up for the things you lack, and I know you'll do the same." He wrapped his arm around her body in a one-arm hug, her head still sitting on her arm. "Thank you everything you've done for me."

"Hmm." He reached his hand upwards and began rubbing the back of her head, causing her to release a contented sigh. They spent a moment in relative silence, which was broken by a now-sleepy Pyrrha. "Hey, Jaune...?"

"Yes?"

"...I love you, partner."

He chuckled and continued rubbing her head. "I love you too, Pyr."

xXxXx

Say it with me: daaaaawww.

This is our closure to Pyrrha's feelings. She doesn't get the guy, but she understands that he will always be a part of life in the best way possible.

Poll for the reviews: Should Yang spilling the beans on Ruby come back to bite her?