Anon stood in front of his team's dorm, unable to muster the courage to walk in. It was stupid he knew, but with everything that happened, he had become far less interested in socializing with others. Still, he had to rest somewhere, and it was his team...he sighed and walked in. Hazel and Ulysses looked up. Hazel was once again lying on her bed tucked into yet another book, Ulysses seemed to be reading something for a change, an event that would normally be cause for comment, but he couldn't bother himself to say anything. Hazel immediately sensed something was wrong, but her good manners managed to quash her burning curiosity, and couldn't bring herself to ask. Anon walked past them without a word, heading to his dresser to remove his nightclothes and head to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Turning off the water he turned to leave when a voice drifted in from the sleeping area.

"So….how did it go man?" Ulysses asked eagerly awaiting the details of the date.

Anon ignored him and started getting ready for bed.

"Anon? Is everything ok?" Hazel said, her curiosity finally winning out in her internal struggle.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just don't really feel talking about it tonight." Anon answered curtly.

"Damn struck out huh? Happens to the best of 'em man, don't sweat it." Ulysses quipped before returning back to his book.

Hazel glared at Ulysses and was about to open her mouth but then decided to hold back. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she had a feeling that the reason for Anon's sour mood had something to do with him. Still, it was obvious Anon was in no mood to talk and it was late. She patted him gently on the back and they all tucked in for the night.

The next morning Anon woke up and eagerly grabbed his scroll. A small part of him hoped it was all a bad dream and there would be a message from Coco saying how much she loved last night and couldn't wait to do it again. Sadly no such message was there. He sat up slowly, trying to wake up and noticed that he was the only one left in the dorm room. It looked like his team must have all gone to breakfast ahead of him. He frowned at the thought of being left behind like that, but he didn't think on it too much further. He got out of bed and got ready for the day then decided to head to the cafeteria.

Anon found his team at their usual table and sat down with them. Efforts at small talk petered out quickly as he mainly responded to their questions and comments about the day with one word answers or simple grunts or nods. An awkward silence fell over the table, one that Anon was in no hurry to break as he picked his way through his eggs. Ulysses on the other hand, had other plans for him.

"So Anon, I gotta ask again. What exactly happened last night man? I mean I got that it was bad and all but...like what went down?" Hazel shot daggers in his direction before she turned to look towards Anon, wondering how he'd respond.

Anon set down his fork and replied flatly. "It was great. Perfect evening…at least until I took her back to her dorm. I had given her my jacket to wear since it had gotten cold. When she gave it back to me in front of her dorm, the condom fell out of the side pocket and the night went to shit. I tried explaining things and while she was kind of cold in her initial reaction I felt like she might be willing to listen to me...that is until I mentioned your name Ulysses." He looked over at his teammate who blinked in surprise. "That seemed to set her off something fierce. She blew up man. She didn't let me get another word in and ended up slamming the door in my face."

"Wait...she got pissed when my name came up? Why?" Ulysses paused as his gaze shifted upward as if he was trying to recall a distant memory.

"What are you getting at Ulysses?" Hazel asked. "Have you met her before Beacon?"

Ulysses scrunched his face as he made an effort at reaching back through his memory. " 'Said her name was Coco right? Likes wearing brown clothes and Berets?" He cocked an eyebrow towards Anon who nodded glumly.

Ulysses cocked his head again. The look was almost comical, similar to what he looked like when trying to do homework for Professor Oobleck. "Dust's sake man, she still remembers that? I had no idea that was a big deal!"

"What exactly was a big deal Ulysses?!" Hazel asked sharply.

Ulysses blushed slightly before answering. "Sorry if I didn't recall right away, like I said, I have no idea I even pissed her off that much. I met her at the same club a long time ago. She was flying solo and I figured I'd try my moves on her and uh...it didn't pan out. Learned my lesson, took my painkillers and moved on." He shook his head sadly. "Damn I'm sorry man. If you want I can maybe help take your mind off her, maybe talk to her or something?"

"I think you've already done enough Ulysses!" Hazel snapped. Ulysses merely raised his hands in surrender.

"Hey ease off, it was just a suggestion, I'm just trying to help out here!" He shot back.

As his teammates bickered back and forth, Anon's gaze wandered around the cafeteria. He was content to let their argument run its course until his vision came upon Coco sitting at the very same table he had sat at the beginning of the week with her planning their first date. He thought of waving to her, trying to test the waters and patch things up, it certainly couldn't hurt right?

His hand was halfway up when the sight of Coco glaring at him stopped it cold. Realizing he was looking back she quickly went back to her plate. She never looked back towards him for the rest of breakfast. Anon sighed. "I think I'm gonna head out guys I'll catch you later." He slowly made his way out of the cafeteria before anyone could object.

Over at CFVY's table, things weren't much better. Coco was merely playing with her food, her appetite diminished since she had seen Anon's attempt to wave at her. Her teammates sat around her in a tense silence, wondering what to do with their glowering team captain.

"Is everything alright Coco? You've been awfully quiet today." Fox surprised the others by being the first to broach the question.

Coco said nothing but shot a glare back that sent Fox's eyebrows up.

"Oh, right… that..." Fox responded quietly and turned back to his food, his curiosity satisfied. Coco took a few more bites of her breakfast, downed her milk and slammed the glass on the table then stormed off.

Velvet quickly tried to wolf down the remainder of her breakfast. She had just finished standing when Yatsu's hand gently touched down on her shoulder.

"I know you want to help her out Velvet, but I think she just needs to be left alone for a while. When Coco's in this mood she's not exactly the most reasonable person to deal with."

"But Yatsu she's always been there for me. I need to return the favor. She's obviously hurting right now and refuses to admit it!" Velvet pleaded while she fidgeted with her hands.

Yatsu nodded slightly before continuing. "I understand. Just be careful alright? Even as her best friend, Coco can be quite unpredictable when she's this upset. The numerous bullet holes in the trees in the school gardens will attest to that." He added with a worried smile.

Velvet nodded in acknowledgement "Thanks for the concern Yatsu. I'm sure I'll be ok." She smiled as she hugged him and ran off to catch up.

Coco had made it halfway across the courtyard when she heard Velvet yelling her name. In truth she still wanted to be alone, but she forced herself to stop to allow Velvet to catch up.

Upon reaching Coco, Velvet bent over trying to catch her breath and speak at the same time. "I know...you probably don't want to hear this but...I don't think you are really upset with Anon." She took another deep breath. "What's going on Coco?" She finally managed up stand fully back up. Her face flushed with the recent sprint.

Coco pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. "Dammit Velv, I'm not in the mood for a heart to heart. I just needed a walk to clear my head."

"Alright no problem." She raised her hands in surrender. "So where are we headed?" Velvet asked innocently.

The question caught Coco short. "I don't really have a destination in mind. Just needed some time to think...about myself and I guess Anon." His name was punctuated by an angry scowl and launched her into a vicious tirade about Anon and boys in general.

Their path took them on a meandering route through the campus. The longer they walked, the more Coco seemed to open up venting her frustration about Anon and how the date had gone south so badly. Velvet listened patiently to Coco's rant as they walked, nodding and offering sounds of agreement at the appropriate times to show that she was listening. By the time Coco had finished, they had looped nearly around the entirety of the campus, finding themselves back at their dorm. Making their way inside, they found that Yatsu and Fox hadn't come back yet for which Velvet was privately thankful. Coco plopped down on her bed, laying on top of the covers and staring blankly at the ceiling. The rant it seemed had taken most of the fight out of her.

"Alright Velv, spit it out, I can tell by your ears twitching you've got something you urgently need to say." Coco closed her eyes tiredly.

"Uhm…" Velvet began. She had been caught off guard by Coco's sudden submission. Coco's arguments usually needed a lot more back and forth to get to this point. "W-well Coco, forgive me for being so bold…" Coco grunted at the irony of the statement but said nothing else. "...but it seems you're being too hard on Anon in this situation. I think you still have unresolved issues with your ex; and it seems with Ulysses. You don't really believe Anon is like them do you?"

Coco sighed and rolled her eyes. "I appreciate the pep talk Velv, but you can't tell me that condom doesn't prove he's just like the rest of them. They don't give a shit about me as a person. I'm just another slab of meat on the rack to get their rocks off."

"Surely you don't really believe that!" Velvet exclaimed. "He's been a proper gentleman the whole time he's been with you! Has he ever done anything that would suggest he'd step out of line like that to you before?"

"Up until last night I would have said no." Coco replied coldly. "But that was before he started taking dating advice from Beacon's number one serial philanderer. I'm not some goddam trophy to be paraded around and tossed aside on a shelf Velvet! I'm not letting that happen again!" Coco nearly shouted, surprising herself at the ferocity in her voice.

Velvet's ears drooped slightly as she looked towards her team captain. "Listen Coco, I obviously can't tell you what to do here. I just want you to be happy and safe. We already have enough to deal with hunting Grimm and taking our classes. If you want to end things as they are here, I won't stop you. But please give it some thought ok? I don't think Anon is like Ulysses or the ex before him. Once you realize that, I think you'll give him another chance." She stood off the bed, face blushing nervously as she just realized she had lectured her team captain on dating boys. "I uh...I need to take a shower ok? Just call me if you need anything!" She hurried from the room.

Coco sighed and laid back down in her bed, her mind full of conflicting emotions and ideas. What Velvet said made a lot of sense, but when it came up against the backdrop of her ex, or that night with Ulysses, it all felt hollow, patronizing even. In spite of that, even as bitter as she felt right now, she couldn't deny that she had enjoyed Anon's company. The meals together, that first night at the club...hell even the date leading up to the condom incident had been a textbook example of a perfect night out.

So why did the whole thing just make her so angry? The sight of that square foil wrapper had set off alarm klaxons in her mind, sending her into a fit and slamming the door in Anon's face before he could say anything else. Had she really overreacted with all this? Turning her head towards her closet she saw a clump of fabric on the floor near the door. The material caught her eye and before she had walked over to pick it up, she knew immediately what it was.

The shirt she had worn from the date. Crushing the silken threads between her hands she scowled down at the garment. What had she been hoping for? A bit of luck? A new beginning perhaps? Coco scrunched the fabric through her fingers, wondering what this all meant. Maybe Velvet was right. Maybe she hadn't yet moved on...the fact that this shirt still existed was proof of that. She'd have to do something about that, but first she needed to talk to someone.

Coco pulled out her scroll and brought up Anon in her contacts list. She hesitated for a brief moment, wondering if this was the right thing to do before jamming her finger down on the messenger app.

"We need to talk."

Remembering the advice Velvet said about those four words, she quickly added "…about last night." to the end of it and hit send. She continued to stare at the message window for a few minutes waiting for a reply. After none came, she was about to slam it back down on her dresser when the electronic chime made her look back to the screen.

"When and where?" Was the short response.

She chuckled silently and typed back. "Rear courtyard in 15? Promise I won't bring the gun with me."

"That's a comforting thought, I'll see you there."

Coco rolled her eyes at the exchange. He was being far too chipper about all this. Still, it was worth it to at least hear what he had to say, and it would get Velvet off her back about resolving this matter. One less thing to worry about. She hopped off of her bed and made her way to the mirror to check her appearance before letting out a long sigh and heading out of the room.

Over in Anon's dorm, he quickly flicked off his scroll and grabbed his jacket as he quickly headed out of the dorm. Giving nothing more than a terse statement he'd be back, he slammed the door behind him and headed down the hall.

"Where's he headed in all of a hurry?" Ulysses turned to Hazel who hadn't looked up from her book.

"Oh I'm sure it's nothing major…" Hazel smiled to herself as she recalled the change in demeanor of their team leader seconds after receiving that last text. "...and you need to finish that assignment or we're going to get extra from Oobleck tomorrow!" She finished sharply.

Anon arrived in the courtyard and saw Coco leaning against the large red maple that marked the center of campus. His eagerness to finally get to talk with Coco again after what felt like a week of cold silence faltered for a moment. Coco said she wasn't armed...she wouldn't lie about that...would she? He shook his head.

"Ok well here goes nothing... or everything." He said to himself and made his way over to her.

"H-hey Coco." He greeted shakily, trying and failing to prevent his sense of unease from getting into his voice.

"Hey." Coco replied, standing off the tree trunk.

They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence, neither willing to make the first move in this rather tense dance. Then both tried to speak at the same time, resulting in small chuckles from both of them. "You first." Anon gestured to her politely.

"No, you go first Anon. I want to make sure you actually get to speak this time." She said with a hint of remorse in her voice as she clasped her arms together.

"Ok well um…jeez where to start." Anon said as he scratched his head contemplatively, then looked up.

"Well...I won't beat around the bush then. I really like you Coco. Pretty much since that first night at the club I think there's something between us." He paused, then looked down, his face slightly reddening at the same time.

"As for the...uh...the condom, the only reason I even took it from Ulysses was because he just wouldn't quit bugging me about it, he felt like he was doing me a favor or something."

"I know how that feels..." She muttered before motioning for Anon to continue.

"He went on saying about how he heard you invited me into your room on the night of our first kiss and tried to explain how that was a sure sign that you…" He hesitated again, his blush deepening further.

"...erm that you wanted to have sex with me. After hearing that I just blew up at him. Told him you weren't like that, and that wasn't my intention anyway. He starts giving me the hurt-friend routine and all, so I basically took it so it looked like I appreciated his advice or something." Anon continued.

He rubbed the back of his head nervously "So I took it, it got him out of my hair and I pretty much forgot about it completely." He grinned. "Our uhhh… date made it kinda easy to forget about it anyway…" He finished sheepishly.

"Well it's good to know Velvet was right about why you had it with you." Coco smiled.

Anon blinked. "Velvet? Wait what did Velvet say about-?"

Coco cut across him before he could continue. "Look Anon, I should probably explain a bit more about me and where I'm coming from in all of this. Before I met you I admit I've been a bit of a cold fish in the Beacon dating scene. Ever since my first year here, serious relationships were never really my strong suit."

She took a deep breath to steady herself, then stared hard at Anon.

"Only people I've told this to is my team. During my first year here, I was dating a fashion student I met at this show in downtown Vale. Very glitzy and glammy affair, total ambrosia for someone like me…"

She looked down and started fiddling with her hands. "He was pretty much my first real boyfriend. The honeymoon period was great. It was like I was living a dream. Here I was going to a premier hunting school and on top of that I got asked to model his designs and even worked a few shows while we were together. I got insider access to the newest designs. Even inspired a few of them…like that shirt I wore on our date…"

She finally looked up and for the first time since Anon had met her he saw genuine pain peeking out from behind those designer sunglasses she always seemed to wear. The sight was surprising enough that he almost moved to comfort her before she started speaking again.

"...that shirt...it was really special to me. My first "muse" as he put it. It was pretty successful too from what I heard later, managed to get some boutiques to carry it even…" She trailed off again as her face scrunched into an ugly scowl, her voice suddenly drifting off into a dreamy tone as she dredged up an old memory.

"I wore it on what was going to be our three month anniversary dinner. That day...I was out shopping...taking care of some last minute stuff before our dinner that evening..." Coco paused again, the pain spread past her eyes, merging with the anger crossing her face as the memory played back.

"I was just exiting a gift shop...and then...I saw him across the street. I was about to run over to him and surprise him with the cufflinks I had picked out, but…" Her eyes closed. "I guess he surprised me instead. There was another...he was with another girl. She was kissing him, holding hands like we did, not just as a friend. I felt so betrayed, I wanted to just run over there and...yell at him? Hit him? Introduce myself to his new girlfriend or something, but I was too weak to do anything. I just ran back to my dorm and stayed there the whole night and most of the next day. Bastard even had the gall to call me that night and the morning after, wondering if I was ok and all that."

She chuckled darkly. "I'm still amazed to this day how he kept the sincerity act up like that. Did he really think that I'd never find out something like that? Did he really think I was that dumb that I'd never cotton on he had someone on the side?" She spat on the ground. "Asshole kept denying it all the way to the end too, he never admitted to me that he was cheating on me too you know?"

"I'm so sorry that happened to you Coco." Anon couldn't come up with anything else to say. There just weren't the words to offer for something like that.

"Yeah, so was I if I'm being honest with myself. That first week after the breakup wasn't pretty. Hardly left my room at all. If it hadn't been for my team taking care of me…" She shook her head at the dark possibility.

"By the time the weekend rolled around, the rest of the team had the bright idea to take me out to the club to cheer me up. It actually started out well enough. I was throwing my cares away on the dance floor and the rest were off doing their own thing when this guy comes up to me and starts talking to me out of the blue. Nearly pushed him away right then and there. But he was nice enough and I was having a good time talking to him…until he started trying to get me to go back to his place. I tried to tell him to bugger off multiple times, but he wouldn't give up. Told me he had a reputation for making girls forget bad breaks."

Anon winced at the thought. "Fucking hell Ulysses." Anon sighed "Speaking as his team leader, I'm really sorry you had to deal with him like that, especially right after the breakup."

Coco waved at him dismissively. "No big deal really. He wasn't your teammate back then anyway, and I made sure to get the point across in the end." Coco said with a sly smile

"He uh..did mention painkillers..." Anon offered uneasily.

The two of them shared a look, then promptly burst out laughing. It felt like Anon hadn't laughed in years and laughing with Coco made it all the better for it. After getting their breath back, Coco continued on. "Anyway, after those two incidents I pretty much just shut myself in emotionally and really only communicated through sassing people to death." She looked over with an apologetic grin. "You kinda got the full treatment at the beginning as I'm sure you're now aware, sorry about that."

Anon shook his head. "N-no it's fine! I mean, it makes sense now that you've told me all this…"

Coco merely shrugged. "I figured If people just wanted to use me I would do the same to them and that was fine with me...until you came along and made me feel like I could open up again."

She walked around him. "You gave me a perspective I didn't think I'd ever see again. I liked it, it was scary at first, but honestly it feels a lot better than pushing people away all the time. You can only keep people at arm's length for so long before the arm gets tired after all. Then last night happened and I was basically in a fuck everyone and everything mood until Velvet helped talk some sense into me today. So you can thank her for this little heart to heart we're having right now." She playfully jabbed him in the arm.

"I'll be sure to do that. She's one smart huntress." He smiled warmly back at her. "So...are we...what happens now?"

There was a few minutes of awkward silence before Coco finally chimed in "Well, I plan to head to bed given the time of night." She tapped her watch. "As for you, well…what do you think?" She asked pointedly.

Anon blinked then realized what she was saying. "Maybe we could pick up where we left off?" He smiled back at her.

"Maybe. If you play your cards right." She said with a wink and a sly smile then motioned for him to walk with her.

They walked back to the dorms in a comfortable silence. Nothing more really needed to be said. Going their separate ways at team CFVY's door, Coco gently pushed the door inwards only to see a pair of fuzzy ears bouncing up and down.

"So, it went well I take it?" Velvet piped up eagerly, her tiny frame practically vibrating on her bed as she awaited Coco's return.

Coco laughed in surprise. "Bloody hell Velvet, were you waiting this whole time for me to come back?" She wanted to laugh more then saw the intense look on Velvet's face. Cripes she was serious wasn't she?

Coco finally relented with a tired smile. "Yeah Velvet, it went well. We're going to see how things play out." Coco responded to a small cheer from Velvet. Yatsu and Fox merely nodded politely then went back to their respective books, each privately happy Coco seemed to be feeling better.

Coco walked over to the closet and grabbed something off of the floor. With a questioning look from Velvet, Coco walked out of the dorm and out to the hallway, tossing the brown shirt down the chute before coming back into the room. Velvet stared back in wide-eyed amazement at what her friend just did, barely managing to eke out a muffled "Coco…" before hopping over and hugging her tight.

"Yeah, I think I'm ready to move on Velv, for real this time." Returning the hug back.

A/N: I want to thank you all for reading, following, and reviewing this. I started this story to challenge myself and see if I could do a multi chapter story. Thanks to my friends who helped me review, edit, and proof this I was able to not only do it. I was able to make one that a lot of you really enjoyed. So again thank you all so much.