Here's another chapter ready to go. Maybe break out a nice snack or drink while you read it. Hopefully it's another good read.

Jaune was taken aback by the situation. The young woman he thought he has getting to know, who he had been talking to for what felt like hours, seemed to revert to the state of worry she was in when she first arrived. Many thoughts raced through his mind.

"The news broadcast mentioned her. Her name is Pyrrha? She's in the tournament? Why is she upset?".

They two of them stared at each other in utter silence. Jaune was so frazzled his next words just fell out of his mouth.

"Your name isn't Penny?"

Pyrrha huffed. "No, it isn't! It should have stayed my name though! Why did they have to be talking about the tournament..." Her sentence trailed off as she looked downward.
Jaune wasn't sure what to do or say. Before his mind kicked in, he took a step towards Pyrrha. Unfortunately, the redhead saw this and started walking away from him.

"I need to go. I'm sorry for all the trouble."

Pyrrha was already at the door when Jaune was finally able to speak again.

"Wait a minute!" he called out.

His plea was ignored as Pyrrha went to open the door to leave. She pulled on the door, but it did not budge. Pyrrha quietly made a sound of confusion before trying again. When the door didn't open a second time, she became frustrated.

"I need to leave, open!" she exclaimed to the door. She continued pulling on the door, each thrust harder then the last, trying desperately to make her escape. Jaune, seeing that the door looked like it was going to splinter, ran over to her and placed both his hands on the door.

"Hey, stop! It's locked! You're going to break it!" the young man exclaimed.

"Open the door so I can leave!" Pyrrha shouted back, now banging her fists on the door.

"Open it, open it, open it!" she kept repeating until her voice cracked.

Jaune looked at her and saw tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Please…I just want to leave." exasperated, Pyrrha leaned her head onto the door; her arms fell to her side as a few tears rolled down her face.

Jaune did not like the scene he was witnessing.

"Hey." he spoke softly, "It's okay. It'll be okay." He was unsure on how to act but was hoping his words could be comforting.

Pyrrha turned her back towards the door and began to slide down until she was sitting on the floor. She pulled her legs up to tuck her head in, obscuring her face. Jaune frowned at the sight. He looked around the bar until he noticed a napkin dispenser that was sitting atop a table. He walked over to grab it and returned to Pyrrha's side, setting it down next to her in case she needed it. Jaune kept quiet as Pyrrha sat there. She didn't make a lot of noise, save the occasional sniffle. Though he was worried his presence might bother her he opted to sit next to her; silently letting her know that he was there. Leaning his back against the door he made himself comfortable. The young man didn't say anything to her and nor she to him. Once or twice, Jaune saw Pyrrha reach for a napkin to clean herself up. Those were the only sounds made between the two for a while. During this time Jaune unknowingly closed his eyes and began to drift off. He heard some movement next to him which made him immediately aware of his surroundings. His eyes shot open and looked to his side. Pyrrha was looking at him with a small smile on her face. Her face was flushed and eyes a bit red.

"Enjoy your nap?" she asked him.

"Huh? Oh, uh, not really. I don't sleep well on hard floors." He said nervously while patting the ground. Pyrrha looked away and gave a small chuckle at that. She looked back at him before speaking again.

"I'm sure you have some questions. Wondering why some stranger rushed into your business only to break down and waste your time." She spoke with sadness and embarrassment in her voice.

"I just want to know if you're okay." Jaune stated matter-of-factly.

Pyrrha's eye grew a bit in surprise. "Are you always this concerned about other people?" her questioned mixed with a tinge of amusement and confusion.

"Sure am. Pretty much built into my DNA." Jaune replied easily.

The young girl gave a short hum and smile in response. She was silent for a moment before speaking again.

"Are you curious about that?" she asked as she pointed towards the T.V.

Jaune followed where she pointed then looked back to her. "I won't lie, I am curious. Curious about you. If you don't want to talk about it though, you don't have to."

"No. I think I will. I feel better now anyway. Besides, you deserve it after all the trouble I caused you."

"There was no trouble." Jaune said, genuine in his response.

Pyrrha laughed. She sat up straight, moving to face Jaune completely. Jaune, in turn, did the same.

"I am from Mistral and do live in Argus. I do also want to move to Vale. Those were all true statements I gave you tonight. My name is not Penny, it is Pyrrha Nikos. I will be participating in the Vytal Tournament in the Javelin Throw, Shooting, and Track events. I have been participating in sports from a young age. I played the usual ones as a child but later grew to really love sports. I trained for years, making a name for myself in Argus. For so long my dream was to participate in a Vytal Tournament. I finally found my chance and in my first competition I earned first place. It was a wonderful feeling. All my hard work payed off; I achieved my dream. I brought home money and recognition to my hometown. I continued to train hard. I have competed in several tournaments by this point. After a while, however, it became bitter-sweet. I appreciated the fans I had gained and that I was able to help my family live more comfortably. The downside however is that I started to lose some of my freedom. It became more difficult to go to the store or even go for a walk without people wanting pictures or autographs or to talk to me. I didn't want to not display kindness nor disappoint anyone, so I made sure to always be kind to anyone who approached me. Not everyone was favorably though. People started to treat me differently. They assumed I thought I was better than them. People began wanting to get close to me for my name so they could bolster themselves up. It became hard to judge who was being genuine and who was not."

Pyrrha paused her story and sighed. Jaune said nothing as he did not want to interrupt her. He was quite enraptured by the story. Pyrrha continued.

"That leads me to tonight. I came into Vale earlier today. It was a busy day; a lot of preparation for tomorrow. I was able to finish what I needed to do early so I decided to take some time to explore. I figured with everyone rushing around for tomorrow I would be able to enjoy myself. My coach, who messaged me earlier, was against the idea yet I still went out. All was well at first. Once it started to get late I thought I would be safe from anyone noticing me. I should have known better. I ran into a group of paparazzi. They began bombarding me with questions. I was having so much fun that when I ran into them, I just panicked. I must have been more stressed than I realized from training and preparing to come here that I just ran away from them. I didn't think they would follow me, yet they did; I heard them running after me. I ran as fast as I could. I have no idea how far I ran. Eventually I rounded the corner here and that's when I saw the lights on to your bar. You know the rest from there."

Pyrrha took a breath in and released a heavy sigh. During her story she had started looking anywhere besides Jaune. He could still see her face enough to notice the mask of melancholy that attached to her. At the conclusion of her story, her eyes found their way back to Jaune, sullen and a less vibrant. His face was scrunched in thought. He looked down slightly, eyes moving back and forth until he looked back to her with a smile adorning his face.

"I'm glad you came in today! Sounded like you really needed to relax. I'm sure it wasn't fully relaxing here but I hope it was helpful in some way." Jaune scratched the back of his head as he released a laugh.

Color spread across Pyrrha's face as she looked at him with bewilderment.

"You don't think I was being selfish for running away? Am I not rude for complaining about what most people would dream of? Am I not rude for interrupting your night!?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow at her statement.

"Why would I? You shouldn't be ashamed that you want some time to yourself. To me, it sounds like you are very accommodating and kind to everyone who wants to meet you. That doesn't sound rude to me. Screw anyone who wants to use you. Just because you're someone whose famous doesn't mean you deserve to be treated badly. You're a person like everyone else."

Pyrrha looked quite taken aback with what Jaune just said to her. Wide-eyed she studied his face for a moment before rubbing her hands on her face. A relieved sigh passed through her lips as she gave one last rub before putting her hands into her lap. Finding his eyes again Jaune could see Pyrrha's expression finally relaxed with the vibrancy returning to her eyes as well. A small but strong smile was displayed on her face. That smile made the blondes heart skip a beat.

"I see. Thank you, Jaune." Pyrrha said.

"H-hey, of c-course. No problem!" Jaune stammered out.

The two of them looked at each other, both happy with themselves and each other. It didn't last long when a beep broke the silence. Pyrrha investigated her bag to see her scroll had a message.

"It's my coach again. Goodness! It is late. I should be heading out."

"What time is it?"

Pyrrha showed Jaune her scroll with it displaying a time of 1:00 a.m.

"Oh geez. Yeah we should go." Jaune said as he started standing up.

Pyrrha messaged her coach back and returned her scroll to her bag. Jaune extended his hand to help her up which she gladly accepted.

"I forgot, I actually need to grab my things from the back and then we can go." Jaune said as he started walking away.

Pyrrha threw out the used napkins and waited for Jaune at the door. The owner jogged back up front with keys in hand. With a quick flick of the lights the bar was engulfed in darkness. Unlocking the door, they were met with darkness from the outside world accompanied with scatted light sources from the streetlights. Jaune closed the door behind them and secured the place for the night.

"Where are you staying tonight anyway?" Jaune asked as he double checked that the door was secure.

"At Beacon Hotel. Do you know where that is from here?"

Jaune pointed to his side. "It's a straight shot westward for a good number of blocks." Jaune answered. He knew exactly where the hotel was. He also knew it was the complete opposite direction of his apartment. Knowing this he still posed his question.

"If you don't know where it is, would you mind if I walked with you?"

Pyrrha gave an amused smirk at his question.

"Oh? Don't think I can make it back all by myself in this harsh city?"

"N-no! Not at all! You could easily handle yourself. I-I just asked because I want to see people get home safe. I'm used to asking with having sisters and working here for so long and…" Jaune replied in a flustered manner.

Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh at this rambling. She tried to repress the laughter by covering her mouth but also used this tactic to hide the blush on her face.

"I'm just kidding Jaune. Yes, I would love if you walked with me."

Jaune stiffened. "Oh! Great, cool."

Coughing to redeem his composure, Jaune gestured for her to lead the way. She took his gesture in stride and began the walk. Jaune followed along beside her. They walked in amiable silence for most of their journey. After a while, Pyrrha spoke up.

"Jaune, are you going to the tournament tomorrow?"

"Mhm? Oh no. It's too much of a hassle to set up a booth; too much competition."

"You aren't going to watch the tournament either?"

"Nope! Sports aren't really my thing if you can believe it."

"I see." Pyrrha stated simply. A beat of silence occurred before Pyrrha spoke again.

"Makes sense why you didn't recognize me."

Jaune grinned. "Lucky that you ran into the one person who couldn't pick out an athlete to save his life huh?"

Pyrrha let out a light laugh. "Yes, truly."

The conversation returned to silence. Nearing a 20-minute walk, the pair came to a stop as they saw Beacon Hotel come into view a few short blocks away. They took in the sight of the hotel before turning to face one another.

"So…" Jaune began.

"Looks like this is where we part ways." Pyrrha said, finishing Jaunes sentence.

"I guess so."

A beat of silence passed before Jaune continued.

"Thanks for coming into the bar tonight. I know it wasn't for the best reasons, but I had a good time talking with you."

Pyrrha smiled a wide, bright smile.

"I'm glad I choose your bar to run into tonight. I also had a good time with you. A great time even."

"Good luck tomorrow by the way, you'll do great."

"Thank you, I appreciate the support."

Though he wished he could stay longer the young man was satisfied that he was able to make her happy. With a wave Jaune started to turn around to head home.

"Good night, Pyrrha."

As he turned the young woman shouted out.

"Wait!"

Jaune turned back to her. Pyrrha steadied herself before speaking.

"May I borrow your scroll?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"I need to call my coach telling them I'm here. My scroll died on the walk over."

Jaune nodded. Fishing his scroll out of his pocket he handed it to Pyrrha.

"Sure, here you go."

Pyrrha took the scroll and began to type on it. It took her a minute before she handed the scroll back to Jaune.

"You didn't call your coach?"

"Look at your scroll."

Jaune looked at his scroll to see his contact list open. Sitting on his contact list was a new entry: Pyrrha Nikos. His eyes widened in surprise as he looked back at Pyrrha only to see her with her scroll out. His scrolled buzzed with the receival of a message. He opened the message reading it to himself.

"I hope to see you again soon. Let's talk later shall we?"

Jaune smiled. "Absolutely."

Pyrrha smiled back and took a step towards Jaune. Before he knew it, Jaune was enveloped in a hug. Pyrrha placed her chin on his shoulder.

"Good night, Jaune."

The blonde hugged her back. "Good night, Pyrrha."

It was past 2:00 a.m. when Jaune finally arrived back at his apartment. While exhausted he still made sure to change his clothes and wash up. Once those tasks were taken care of Jaune happily jumped into bed. Although it was a long day it had been one of the best days he ever had. Jaune nestled himself under the covers. Though spent, he reached for his scroll. He read the message from Pyrrha once more. Putting the phone onto his night table Jaune turned over in his bed. That night he ran the sweet memories of his encounter with Pyrrha in this mind before he drifted off to sleep.