A/N: I don't know if I've made this clear enough yet, but Pyrrha and Nora are my #1 and #2 girls in RWBY respectively. Get ready for some much-needed heartfelt girl talk. Also, fair warning- Nora is ultimate fangirl best wing-woman and I want her to be my friend because same girl, I feel you. Time to be aggressively cute.

Laws of Attraction

"Alright, bub, time to talk," Nora announced, planting herself in front of the door with hands on her hips.

Pyrrha looked up at the girl, brow wrinkling in confusion, pausing with her toothbrush in her mouth. What was Nora saying?

The orange-haired girl pointed accusingly at the other, who stood innocently in front of the row of sinks. Her voice echoed in the otherwise-empty bathroom as she insisted, "Look, I left it for like, a week so you two could figure out your own issues, but darn it you two are still fighting! So what happened between you and Jaune?"

The redhead sighed, washing out her mouth and packing up her toiletries. Pulling her headband off her head, she said quietly, "It's nothing, Nora."

"Nothing?!" the girl scoffed, rolling her eyes. "As if. I know something happened, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha leaned against the sink heavily. "If you really want to know, ask Jaune. It's not my business."

"But it is your business, Pyrrha!" she stamped her foot, annoyed. "Why else were you so upset Monday night?" Pyrrha bristled, and Nora leapt onto that reaction. "See! Even mentioning it stresses you out." Eyes softening, she walked up to the other and placed her hands on the taller girl's shoulders. "Pyrrha, I want you to know that I'm here for you."

Pyrrha's eyes searched Nora's wide, trusting gaze dubiously for any hint of a lie- but there was nothing but openness in the smaller girl. She truly, truly meant it.

Jaune's confession, her grief and confusion- everything wanted to spill out, but Pyrrha just couldn't say it. If she told Nora that Jaune hadn't even made his way into Beacon legitimately, then how would that affect their team? What would happen to JNPR? How would they continue to work together for the next four years?

Four years. Pyrrha snorted internally. There had been a time- less than two months earlier- when the prospect had filled her with so much hope.

Finally, the redhead murmured, "Jaune told me something. It's a secret- I shouldn't say. But when I offered to help him work through it, or- or help him out in any way at all- he got angry with me." The memory washed over her, Jaune's pained expression painted on the inside of her eyelids. "He told me to leave him alone, and he really meant it. So… I did. I don't know why he started hanging out with Cardin after- he'd rather spend time with a bully than me, I guess."

"Oh, Pyrrha," Nora said gently, brushing Pyrrha's bangs out of her eyes as she peered up into the other girl's face. "Was Jaune really that much of an idiot?"

She laughed half-heartedly. "Isn't that what you always say, Nora?" she said softly. "He's 'our idiot', right?"

Nora sighed, shaking her head in disapproval. "Why I oughta teach that kid a lesson for hurting you like that, especially when all you wanted was to help the guy you like. Ugh, boys are so stupid!"

Pyrrha froze, eyes back on Nora, completely perplexed. "I-I'm sorry, what?"

Nora blinked back at her blankly. "Wait, what- don't tell me you haven't realized it yet," she whispered, covering her mouth with her hands in shock. Suddenly, an excited squeal erupted from her lips, and she began bouncing on the spot, brimming with energy.

Pyrrha took a step back, utterly lost. "Nora, what are you even saying?"

The orange-haired girl didn't respond, instead running through the large, echoing room and checking all of the stalls to make sure they were empty. After that, she bolted to the door, flipped the lock so no one would be able to get in, and whispered, "Now no one can disturb us."

"With what?" Pyrrha cried, unease settling into her core. What in the world was Nora trying to say?

The shorter girl grinned manically, grabbed Pyrrha's toiletry bag out of her hand, and set it down onto the counter. Then, she slung her arm around Pyrrha's neck, and with a yelp from the redhead, dragged her down to sit on the floor with her.

"What are you doing?" Pyrrha spluttered as Nora finally released her.

Nora's grin was impossibly wide, her eyes brighter than Pyrrha had ever seen them. "Boys!" she yelped gleefully. "We're going to talk about boys, Pyrrha. And why they're dumb and don't deserve our affection."

Pyrrha just blinked at her, the unease returning. "I don't get it-"

And then, Nora's words hit her.

"Especially when all you wanted was to help the guy you like."

She jumped, any semblance of calm completely lost to the wind. "Nora, I don't have feelings for Jaune!" she stumbled out. "I care about him as a friend, just like all of you!"

"Nuh-uh," Nora wagged her finger playfully. "No you don't, Pyrrha. You liiiiike him." She paused, sitting back thoughtfully. "I can see why. He's like, your opposite, but you still work well together and balance each other out. If he wasn't such a crybaby- 'cause let's face it, he's kind of a crybaby- then you'd be perfect together!"

Pyrrha could feel her entire face pulsing with heat, flushed all the way to her ears. Even her neck felt red-hot. "Nora, please stop, you're wrong!" she moaned, covering her face with her hands. No one had ever accused her of something like this before, and she had no idea how to react. She had never thought about Jaune that way, after all- why was Nora being like this?

But the other girl simply smiled, eyes melting tenderly as she watched the redhead. "Y'know, boys can be reaaaaaally silly," she murmured. "I know what you're going through. It's like talking to a brick wall sometimes!"

Pyrrha peeked at the other girl through her fingers. She paused, her normally stoic or pleasant expressions nowhere to be seen. Shamefully, she could feel what she could only describe as a pout formed upon her lips. "Are you talking about you and Ren?" she asked, voice muffled pitifully behind her hands, the heat in her cheeks almost burning her skin.

Nora nodded easily. "Yup! Well, like," her voice dropped to a stage-whisper, "he hasn't actually realized it yet, but yeah."

The redhead scoffed. "What do you mean, he hasn't actually realized it? How could he not? You're always together, I mean- Jaune and I always sort of wondered whether you two were… you know… together together."

Now it was Nora's turn to blush a little, rosy cheeks cute and pink under the fluorescent lights in the large, empty bathroom. "Nah," she explained. "We've just always been by each others' side, y'know? It just became a natural thing, eventually." She sighed, leaning back against the tiled wall. "I really want him to figure it out, but I also know that his brain would probably explode if I tried to tell him that we're basically already dating, so I'm just going to wait for him to figure it out."

"But you're so cute together!" Pyrrha spluttered before she could stop herself. "I always love watching you two interact… it's so sweet."

Nora's blush grew fiercer, but it wasn't out of embarrassment. "Yeah," she giggled happily. "We've always acted like that. I only figured out that I liked him a few years ago, to be honest. But unfortunately, boys are slow, and he hasn't realized it yet." She pursed her lips, thinking. "I'm pretty sure he's realized he's at least special to me. I boop him enough for him to figure that much out."

"'Boop' him?" Pyrrha asked, confused. She knew what Nora was talking about- she had seen the playful girl tap Ren on the nose many a time with that little sound effect.

"Yup!" she giggled. "Because Ren doesn't like hugs, right? Or like, any kind of contact?" Her eyes softened, misting over as she pictured the reserved, dark-haired boy. "He's more of a… 'quality time at arm's length' kind of person. But I love hugs! I love hugging people when they make me happy!" Pyrrha chuckled at this, because wow it was true. The girl concluded, "So, booping him is a good compromise- I get to show him I care, and he doesn't get overwhelmed!"

The redhead watched the other girl speak with wide eyes. I never knew she was thinking of him that much, Pyrrha realized in awe. I always assumed there was some story behind it. I didn't think that she did it for Ren's sake.

"And that's why, Pyrrha," Nora leaned forward, speaking in hushed tones, "that's why I know you like Jaune."

And the flush was back. "Nora, I really don't-"

"Then why do you look at him like I look at Ren?"

Pyrrha froze again, eyes fixed on Nora's waiting expression- but her mind was flashing back to the hundreds upon thousands of times she had seen Nora gazing adoringly at Ren as they walked, ate, studied, played together. It was always so soft, so warm, so adoring.

I look at Jaune that way?

And the flush was even worse as the understanding of what that truly meant dawn upon her. "There's no way," she whispered. "He's just a friend."

"You may say that," Nora sang lightly, "but it's true. I don't think everyone else has really picked up on it, but… it's true, Pyrrha. Haven't you ever thought about it?"

"No, I haven't-" The words died on her tongue, as suddenly, the dreams she had had numerous times over of Jaune, standing proud like his ancestors on the battlefield, older and stronger and handsome-

Oh no.

Nora's grin became wicked. "I told you!" she exclaimed. "I knew it! I knew it! Ooh, I really want to see you two together! You'd be so good together, you're already mostly there, I mean-"

Pyrrha buried her face in her hands once more. "There's no way, Nora," she whispered, heart sinking down to her stomach. "I could never be with Jaune."

"Nonsense," Nora brushed off sternly. "You two would be cute, and that's final. I approve."

No! Pyrrha yelled internally. I can't! I can't have feelings for someone who- who lied their way into Beacon! He's done nothing but push me away and tell me that he didn't need me there, or get mad at me when I did nothing wrong! He's even gone so far as to hang out with scum like Cardin, so why would I have feelings for him?

And yet, Pyrrha still couldn't shake the image of Jaune from before everything had fallen apart. Jaune smiling wide upon his bed, eyes twinkling and crinkled up happily at the corners as he laughed with the rest of their team. Jaune's face as it lit up while she and Ren tutored him, whenever he finally understood a concept or got a question right. Jaune every time people laughed at his terrible jokes, or played along with his running gags, or-

Jaune, whenever he saw Pyrrha, face breaking out into a wide smile, making her realize that she was home.

"Oh no," she breathed, heart pounding in her chest at the mere image of it. Combining that sweetness with the fairy tale she painted in her mind of Jaune's imposing self in the future, the warrior that left her feeling breathless and in awe and embarrassed every time she awoke…

Nora watched her expectantly. "Have you figured it out yet?"

Pyrrha groaned, leaning her head forward onto Nora's shoulder. "Yeah," she murmured, voice muffled now by Nora's t-shirt. "Why would you make me think about this."

"Good," Nora replied, ignoring Pyrrha's second comment. "Glad to hear it."

"But I can't do anything about it."

Now, it was Nora's turn to be confused. "Wait, what? Why would there be any confusion? Let's just get Jaune back from Cardin- because why the hecky is he even hanging out with that jerkwad anyways- then we'll slap some sense into him, and-"

"No, Nora," Pyrrha argued. Realizing her feelings was one thing- in hindsight, it made sense. She was good at thinking logically- she could accept those feelings for what they were, especially in Nora was the one telling her. Unfortunately, knowing that those feelings existed in the first place made Jaune's continued rejections, even as a friend, hurt even more. And it begged the question- did Jaune even deserve those feelings? The confusion twisted and knotted up in her stomach, its presence a heavy weight in her gut. She didn't know the answer. "Look, it's- it's complicated. That secret that Jaune told me?"

"Yeah?" she affirmed, still waiting for an explanation.

Pyrrha sighed, closing her eyes. How she wanted to tell Nora the truth, just so she wouldn't have to bear it alone. After a few moments, she finally said, "Well… it's enough to break my trust in him."

"Oh." Pyrrha opened her eyes, witnessing the exact moment that Nora crumpled in on herself, guilt creeping up into the girl's face as she realized just how much she didn't know.

"No, don't feel bad!" the redhead cried. "It's… I don't know why he went to Cardin, and I'm just as angry about it as you, but I think he just doesn't want to talk to me now that I know the truth."

The orange-haired girl pouted, "But that's not fair to you!"

She shrugged. "Well… that's life, isn't it?" It's never fair.

Nora crossed her arms, brow furrowed deep in thought. At last, she nodded resolutely. "Okay. I won't push it. But remember, Pyrrha," she explained, leaning forward earnestly, "I'm here for you. And Jaune may be our leader, but I've always wanted a sister- and if he hurts you, I'll hurt him back. Not enough to maim," she added hurriedly, "but y'know… it'll teach him to mess with your feelings, whether he gets it or not. I'll even make Ren help! Team effort, haha."

And with that, Pyrrha truly melted, mask slipping off completely, the first true, genuine smile she had worn in days pulling her lips. "Thanks, Nora," she whispered wholeheartedly.

"Of course!" Nora giggled, hopping to her feet and helping the other girl up.

Suddenly, a bang resounded through the room, and Weiss' annoyed voice called from outside, "Whoever locked this door, open it at once! I need to wash this facemask off!"

The two JNPR girls traded looks, sharing a small giggle between them. After grabbing their things, Nora linked her arm with the taller girl and dragged her out of the room, waving innocently at a fuming, green-faced Weiss as they finally unlocked the door and headed to their own bedroom.

The entire walk back, Pyrrha's face felt flushed, warm. Nora had referred to Pyrrha as a sister. As family.

Another thing Nora had said flashed back into her mind. "So, booping him is a good compromise- I get to show him I care, and he doesn't get overwhelmed!"

When Team JNPR had found Pyrrha in the library after her call with her mother, Nora had booped Pyrrha in the same way. She hadn't thought much of it before, thinking it was just a continuation of whatever inside joke Nora had with Ren. She had thought it was simply something silly to lighten the mood.

The redhead squeezed onto Nora's arm a little tighter. In that moment, despite the fact that her mind was still completely fazed by the discovery of her own feelings towards Jaune and the ensuing pain from his actions… Pyrrha felt so, so loved. Even without Jaune, maybe there still was a place for her at Beacon after all.