A/N: Seriously, Nora's such a good wingwoman. Let me know what you think!

Thrown to the Wind

History

The fear for Jaune's safety haunted her the rest of the week. The girl woke up every early morning more weary than when she had gone to bed. She eventually poured all her anxiety into practices and assignments, and soon even her strictest professors were praising her for her contributions in class and insightful discussion responses. Everything should have been fine.

It wasn't.

Even Nora began to notice, constantly nagging her to go double-check the store to see if he had returned. "I'm sure he's just fine, Pyrrha," the girl soothed each time she caught Pyrrha sighing wistfully. "He's the type that always makes it out okay, somehow."

Still, the doubts lingered. It was all she could do to keep pushing herself harder and harder on the field, in the gym, in the pool.

And yet, everything was solved in an instant when she finally drew up the courage to wander back to the convenience store. The first Friday of October, Jaune was back, face healed completely and smile just as brilliant, if a bit more ragged, as before. "I had midterms, and all my drafts were due this week," he explained when she inquired about his… questionable coworker the week before. "I almost died. Why do profs always think their classes are the only ones we have? I have five to worry about!"

Pyrrha chuckled, keeping her mouth shut since she only had three classes- due to the amount of time she had to dedicate to practice, she was only allowed to take three classes at a time. It evened out though- she took classes year-round, never stopping even in the summer months. But she could definitely relate to his pain, especially after seeing Ren's awful class schedules and never-ending tutorials.

Oh, how she wanted to ask about the bruise. She didn't, though.

The blond was more than happy to continue filling the silence. "Who was here, anyways?"

The redhead sighed, shuddering lightly when she thought back to the strange man's sneer. "Some older man- black braid, oddly pale eyes?"

Immediately, Jaune shivered, face betrayed his discomfort. "Oh god, they brought Tyrian in? He's such a creep."

"I… don't doubt it," she murmured. As she spoke, she wandered away from the counter- Nora hadn't sent her without a purpose, after all. Finding her friend's favourite pancake mix and coconut chocolates, she loaded up her basket slowly, calling over the aisles, "Has he… done anything?"

"Other than creep me out and just exist? Not really." She heard the blond's irritating tongue-click even from the back of the store as she pondered grabbing Ruby some of her favourite chocolate chip cookies. "He did freak out one of my friends once. Made the biggest deal about her eyes- they're really light, and he lost his mind. She hasn't been back to hang out here since, though."

Pyrrha hummed, deciding to grab the cookies just in case. Bringing everything up, she placed everything on the counter as neatly as she could, letting the barcodes face him so his job would be easier. He flashed her an appreciative grin as she asked, "So, is this your only part-time job?"

The boy shook his head. "Nah. I work in the library behind the genetics labs- it's pretty empty there, so mostly I just shelve journals, sort files. I'm usually there during the afternoons."

"What about class?" she inquired, confused.

"Well, I mean, that's what mornings are for, right?"

She raised a brow, impressed. "So you're telling me that you have classes all morning, then you work for the rest of the day?"

He shook his head, laughing a little. "No, during the week I work only at the library. At night I gotta go help with the little ones and make dinner."

Her heart melted as his easygoing smile shone, lighting up the whole room far better than the flickering lights overhead ever could. "So," she leaned on the counter as he scanned another Pumpkin Pete's box (Nora was forcing her to go buy every box with her face on it that she could find, just to keep reminding the blond 'how rad she was') and bagged it, "do you ever get to do anything for fun?"

"Shouldn't I be asking that to you, Miss Pyrrha Nikos?" he said grandly, giving her a little bow and flourish. She blushed, hearing her full name fall so comfortably from his lips. "Don't you have too much practice to be lurking here each weekend?"

She shrugged, chuckling embarrassedly. "Well, my roommate is pretty demanding," she giggled, "and there's something nice about this place, I suppose."

"Nice?! Ha!" the boy snorted.

You can do it. "Well…" she began quietly, "I don't get to see you otherwise, right?"

The boy stopped short, blinking owlishly at her for a moment.

Instantly, a voice rang through her head (oddly enough, sounding like Nora), screaming Abort mission! Abort mission!

But then he smiled, blushing lightly back. "Well, I mean… we do go to the same school. And I live around here, but I'm on campus till pretty late, so… if you wanted to study…?" His tone was hopeful, eyes concentrated on setting up the card reader for her. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "Oh, wait! Do you like board games?"

She was skeptical but entertained the notion anyways. "Some of my floormates love them, but I don't have a preference," she replied.

The blond gave her a thumbs-up. "Come to the engineering department tomorrow! There's a bunch of us who play board games on Saturdays. It's at 11, so not super early." His eyes shone expectantly. Pyrrha felt herself crumble under his excited gaze. "Whaddya say?"

She smiled.

So, Pyrrha walked out of the store with groceries in hand, a new contact on her phone, and a flood of excited texts from Nora. It was only when she was two blocks down the road that she allowed herself to crouch and curl up in a ball by the roadside, squealing excitedly into her knees.