The question the game show asked was "What kind of suit would not be appropriate for the office?" and the guy thought the host said soup and gave "chicken noodle" as an answer. Of course everyone was laughing like crazy. In the middle of laughing, Jaune felt his scroll vibrate and took it out. He noticed that someone was calling him and his heart sank a little when he remembered about the phone call earlier today. "Please don't let it be them, please don't let it be them, please don't let it be them…"Jaune looked at the caller I.D.

Pyr, with a picture of said red head next to it.

"Dammit."

Jaune stood up and began to walk back to his dorm room. One of the students, whose name was Emilia, asked where he was going. Jaune came up with the excuse that he was getting tired as it was nine right now. A couple of guys teased him asking if he had a bed time or something. Jaune reminded them that classes were tomorrow and a couple of guys changed tunes. Some left to get some rest as well, while others just waved it off saying they would always get up in time no matter how late they stayed up.

With the excuse working, Jaune made his way back to his dorm, his scroll still ringing. When he finally reached his room the scroll stopped and Jaune let out a breath of relief. He was hoping that with this being the third time he ignored them they would get the message, on the other hand these were his old friends. They wouldn't give up that easily and he knew that.

Jaune took a deep breath and walked over to one of his beds. He held his scroll patiently in his shaking hands. He tried to calm down by taking deep steady breaths. He needed to make a decision when they called. Does he answer the phone and talk with them? Does he hang up on them the minute they call? Does he just say his part and then hang up? Does he change his scroll number again?

As these questions rolled through his head, and the minutes ticked by the scroll finally rung again. Jaune looked down at it. It still said "Pyr" and the picture of his old partner next to it. He glanced at the scroll for a second, and then took action.

NPR were in their dorm, with Pyrrha pacing around. Hours have passed since they called Jaune, and it was going on to two in the morning! Ever since then Pyrrha was racking her brain figuring out why Jaune wasn't picking up. Now that it was getting closer into the night, bags started to form under their eyes. She knew Jaune better than anyone and knew that he wouldn't just ignore a call unless he was in danger, or worst! Not to mention he wouldn't just flat out ignore them. She knew that he wanted to talk with them as much as they wanted to talk with him. At least, she thought so.

These thoughts kept running through Pyrrha's mind to the point it was driving Ren insane. "Pyrrha," He called in a sharp voice. "You need to sit down and relax." Pyrrha took a moment to stop and look at Ren. She shook her head and continued to pace.

"I can't Ren," Pyrrha replied. "We know Jaune's scroll number again and now he won't even answer it? He might be in trouble."

Ren could agree that Jaune was not one to let scrolls ring unless he had a very good reason to. Of course, he also had a small idea of why he wasn't picking up that he knew no one wanted to admit. Heck he didn't even want to! Yet they still had to accept it as a reason.

"Pyrrha, maybe there is a reason Jaune changed his scroll to begin with."

"Well duh!" Nora blurted. "He obviously did it so we wouldn't worry about him!" The two of them stare at Nora. Nora shrugged as they stared at her. "What? You told me that could be the main reason. Besides it seemed like something Jauney would do."

"Yeah well it only made me worry more," Pyrrha said as she wrapped her arms around herself. She looked at her scroll which was on the nightstand next to her bed. "I'm going to call him. Do you still remember the number Ren?" Ren nodded. "Can you tell me? I forgot it."

"No Pyrrha," Ren stated calmly. Pyrrha's left eye twitched as she picked up the scroll. She turned to Ren, a determined look in her eye.

"Ren, I am your leader. Now I am ordering you to give me the number!" Ren shook his head. Pyrrha was starting to get mad. "Why not?"

"Not until team RWBY is ready to call him."

"Why? So he can yell at them? So he can tell them that this was their fault? SO he can just rant on and on about them and then completely ignore us?" Ren and Nora looked at each other as Pyrrha continued to rant. They knew she would be like this. After all she liked Jaune. She also still blames RWBY for what happened. Mix those two together and well… you get this. It didn't matter how much team RWBY apologized or felt bad, deep down Pyrrha would never forgive them. At the same time, three fourths of RWBY felt like they shouldn't be forgiven. At the very least, they could understand why Pyrrha would be mad at them.

Blake's cat ears twitched as she heard the arguing going on in NPR's room. She sighed solemnly, which didn't go unnoticed from her partner. "What's going on kitty cat?" Blake slightly frowned at the nickname. She decided to ignore it for now.

"Pyrrha's blaming us again." Blake looked down at her book with a somber expression. "Not that I blame her."

"We're not entirely to blame Blake," Yang said. Blake lookled at the blonde brawler and could tell she meant those words.

"Whether Pyrrha wants to admit it," Weiss started. "Jaune chose what he did. Now, us ignoring them didn't help, but it was his choice to leave the school."

"Still, I don't think Pyrrha wants to accept that," The cat Faunus said. Blake looked to see if Ruby was back. She said she was hungry so she was getting everybody some snacks and drinks to try and stay awake. When she wasn't she continued her thought. "Nor does Ruby." Blake took a deep breath. "Do you guys think we deserve to be forgiven?"

"Blake," Yang started. "If Ice queen can forgive you for being a terrorist, I think Vomit boy can forgive us for ignoring him." Weiss had to disagree with Yang on that. She had no idea what being ignored was like. Okay, maybe the fact that her mother left her gave her a clue, but it was much worst to be ignored by someone who you see almost every day. Weiss knew personally from her family how much that stung.

Weiss gave her two cents about it, yet Yang didn't waiver. "Guys, we can't just give up so easily! Trust me, when Jaune picks up, he'll be happy to talk to us and his team." Yang flashed them a grin, but they could tell right then and there it was a fake grin. Weiss could tell because she often had to put one on for her family, and Blake could tell from her days of reading people in the White Fang. Yang was trying to fake optimisms from this, whether for her sake, for Ruby's or for everyone's, who knows? Maybe that's all they needed.

Speaking of Ruby, the young leader walked in on her team conversing. However she had an awkward look on her face. "So uh… I see Pyrrha's upset again," Ruby said with a sheepish smile. "Maybe we should call Jaune again? I'm sure he's done with whatever it was he was doing." Yang smiled and ruffled her little sister's hair.

"All right Rubes, let's go." Ruby playfully swatted her sisters arms away.

"You know I hate it when you do that!" she said with puffed out cheeks. Yang pulled down on an eyelid and stuck her tongue out. Ruby did the same and the two sisters began to laugh at their antics. Weiss and Blake smiled at the two sisters, and followed them to the door across the hallway.

Pyrrha looked so mad that she would have thrown Ren through a wall if they weren't friends. Ren had been trying to calm Pyrrha down but accidently said that her feelings for Jaune were affecting her judgement. Naturally this made Pyrrha even angrier which led to her almost putting her fist through something.

Thankfully, there was a knock on the door that stopped Pyrrha from doing anything. She let out a low grunt and walked over to the door. As she did she replaced the angry, sour expression on her face with a pleasant one. Ren and Nora always get scared by the fact she can do that so naturally. She could kill somebody and act like she's never seen the person before.

She opens the door to reveal the source of some of her anger. She gives the team a soft smile. "Hello girls," Pyrrha greeted. "How can we help you?"

"We were thinking of calling Jaune again," Ruby said. "Mind if we come in?"

"Of course!" Pyrrha's anger was soon forgotten as Ren and Nora stood up, excited and nervous to see Jaune's response. As Ruby was taking out her scroll however, Pyrrha put her hand on Ruby's wrist. "Um… Ruby, mind if we try my scroll this time?"

"Sure Pyrrha," ruby said. However her curiosity compelled her to ask a question. "Why do you want to use your scroll though?" Nora and Ren looked to Pyrrha, wondering what her response will be.

"I figured he would be more likely to pick up if it was my scroll."

Ruby, being the socially awkward person she is, didn't notice the ice cold undertone in Pyrrha's voice. The rest of team RWBY noticed it, as did Ren and Nora. Ruby was going to ask why but Yang covered Ruby's mouth and gave a forced smile.

"All right P-Money, whatever you say," The blonde said. With everyone content with the plan, Ren types in the number on Pyrrha's scroll. Pyrrha puts the phone on speaker and they all wait for the rings.

However, just like this afternoon, the scroll rang five times again, followed by a voicemail. "Please leave your message for… 'Jaune Arc'"

Pyrrha's heart almost shattered. This was the third time Jaune didn't pick up his scroll. Could it be that Jaune had been so busy that he couldn't even talk with them? Or… could the fact that he was hospitalized from initiation, and then got into another big fight caused something more… permanent to happen?

"Guys…" Pyrrha whispered. Everyone listened closely as it sounded as if she was on the verge of tears. "What if Jaune had gotten a lot more hurt in the video than it looked?" Everyone looked a little confused at what Pyrrha was implying. Once tears started to roll down the champion's face, that was when they got the message. Between the small sobs Pyrrha choked out one more sentence. "What if he…" However she couldn't even finish the sentence.

To see Pyrrha break down was something no one expected. She always carried herself in a way that made her invincible both on and off the battle field. Now here she was, crying because Jaune wasn't answering a scroll. Ruby wanted to go over and comfort her friend, but someone beat her to it.

Nora walked over and cupped her hands over Pyrrha's. Pyrrha sniffed and looked at Nora, who had her normal wide grin. "It's Jaune," she said. "Our leader wouldn't ignore us unless he had a good reason to. Besides, Ren talked to him earlier today remember? He wouldn't kick the bucket that soon."

Nora's jokes made Pyrrha stop sobbing for a second. the red haired champion smiles and giggles lightly at Nora's attempt to cheer her up. She looks at the orange haired girl and smiled warmly. "Thank you Nora."

Everyone in the room stared at the two girls of NPR. Emotions were pouring everywhere from anxiety, sadness, and curiosity. Ruby walked forward and lightly touched Pyrrha's arm. She looked over at the younger red head who had a determined look on her face.

"I know we may not have been the best of friend leading up to Jaune's departure," Ruby said. The sentence made everyone kind of twitch out of nervousness, whether because it was a sensitive topic or because they were the ones they were talking about. "But I still like to think I know Jaune, and I agree with Nora."

Pyrrha looked around to see everyone giving some form of encouragement. Yang had a thumbs up, Blake and Ren gave curt nods, Weiss gave a small smile. Pyrrha smiled to all of her friends. She then looks down at the scroll. She takes a deep breath. "One more time…" She mumbled. She redialed the number and again put it on speaker phone.

One ring…

Two rings…

Three rings...

Four rings...

Five rings...

Again, voicemail.

Pyrrha hung up the phone, and silence began to fill the room. Hope for talking with Jaune again was starting to slink away. Someone needed to say something, anything, to try and make this situation better. Yang opened her mouth and was about to give some kind of speech when Pyrrha's phone buzzed with an incoming message. Her eyes widen when she saw who sent it.

"Guys... Jaune sent a text!"Pyrrha exclaimed. Surprised to hear this, everyone gathered around to see if they could read the text.

"Hey Pyr, sorry I haven't talked with you guys in a while. I can't really answer my phone anymore, at least from you guys. The continent calls are a little too expensive for me right now. So what's up?"

They couldn't believe it, Jaune answered back! "What do I say?' Pyrrha asked everyone.

"Tell him we miss him!" Nora shouted.

"Tell him we're sorry!" Ruby objected.

"How did he get to Shade?" Weiss asked.

"Ask him if he needs help with anything at Shade," Ren stated.

As everyone gave their two bits, Pyrrha tried to thiunk of a way to put that all in a message. As she continued to think she thought she had a way to fit all of that in and began to write.

Jaune looked nervously at his scroll. He saw the three dots that told him that Pyrrha was replying. The blonde knight was hoping she would hate him for sending a text while she and the rest of his old team wanted to talk with him. He just... wasn't ready to talk with them. Not mentally or emotionally. Hopefully this will be a step in the right direction. Besides, it was about time he stopped running away from his problems, just like Dr. Leo said.

After a minute Pyrrha finally sent the message.

"Hi Jaune! Sorry we didn't realize that they were bad times for us to call you. We were just so worried about you when we saw you in the news about your initiation." Jaune grew a tiny smile. he was happy that they were worried for him. As he read though, his happiness would change. "We're glad you recovered from that, but when we saw you in that bar fight, and when you wouldn't answer, we thought you... succumbed to all of your wounds altogether." Jaune felt his eye twitch. Did... did they seriously think that he would survive the initiation he went through only to die to a bar fight? That irked Jaune for many reasons. "Anyway, I'm sure that you've noticed Ruby and her team trying to connect with you as well. Well they really want to talk with you about some things so when you have a chance you wouldn't mind right?"

Jaune just stared at his scroll for a minute thinking of a way to respond. Did RWBY want to reconcile? Part of him was happy to try and get his friend back. Unfortunately, it was overshadowed by his silent rage. They ignore him to the point of him thinking of suicide, and now that he's gone they feel the need to apologize now? Jaune let out an uneasy sigh as he typed his response.

"I... actually do kind of mind. After I get used to Shade maybe I'll try and talk with them but right now i'm just a little too stressed out with the new school. So yeah if I don't talk with you for a while it's just because Shade's giving me a lot of stuff to do. But yeah right now I just... I can't talk with RWBY right now. Listen I'm heading to bed right now so I'll talk to you later. Maybe you should head to bed too, it's only nine over here but I'm pretty sure its like three or something over there. Send my love to Ren and Nora.

As Pyrrha read the text aloud, there were many different reactions throughout the room.

Ren and Nora were happy that Jaune was doing fine and sent his love to them. Ruby however was devastated. Jaune basically said he didn't want to talk with her and that shattered her a little bit.

"Pyrrha can you tell him that we really need to talk with him?" Ruby blurted out. She said that with such sadness that it made the rest of team RWBY's hearts break.

"Ruby," Weiss said as she put a hand on her partners shoulder. "Maybe we should get some rest."

"But I need to talk with Jaune! I need to say how sorry we are!" Ruby began to raise her voice. Yang grabbed Ruby's shoulders and stared her dead in the eyes.

"Ruby, this is something the rest of us feared would happen," She stated bluntly. Ruby looked at her team with a confused look on her face. When she saw that all of her team had forlorn looks on her faces, she realized what Yang meant.

"You mean you guys thought this would happen and didn't even tell me your opinions?!" Ruby was angry and heartbroken at the same time. She expected her team to express their opinions to her. Yet they all smiled and went along with it without even telling her what they truly thought?

At that moment Ruby stormed out of the room. "Ruby wait!" Yang was about to go after her but Blake put a hand on her shoulder. Yang's eyes turned red as she glared at her cat partner. "I need to talk to her!" Blake shook her head and weiss jumped in the conversation.

"Some alone time will give Ruby some time to think," Weiss said. "Lets just get some sleep, okay? It's been a long day for all of us."

Yang wanted to rebel. She wanted to go and comfort her sister, but right now sleep actually sounded kind of nice. Her eyes turn back to lilac and she turns to her team. "All right, but I'm staying awake until Ruby gets back."

"Fair enough," Blake said. The three members of RWBY turn to the three members of NPR to say good night. NPR returned the gesture, and with that the two teams split ways.

Part of Jaune felt a little bad for dodging RWBY, but at least he connected with Pyrrha, even if it was for a little bit. Still though, the fact that she thought that he would have died from the bar fight sat unwell with Jaune. Despite the uneasy feeling, he tried to get some rest to get ready for classes tomorrow. Unfortunately, his dreams will keep him from having a restful night.

To be continued

Betareader: TheShadowOfZama