Gods, I'm busy, sigh… need to have White Sheep – or as much as possible – written tonight as well. This chapter also proved to be a real challenge, mostly because of how much I wanted to alter and not regurgitate canon.

Chapter 18

Yang's feet hammered on the pavement as she sprinted through Vale. Weiss was close behind, with Ruby goodness knew where, but the smoke that coiled through the air in the direction of the docks offered a good indication. Blake, that stupid, stubborn girl...

If she'd gotten herself hurt… no, she refused to believe that.

And how had Jaune of all people found her? Was he in trouble too? Bile rose up within her but she forced it down and pushed her body just that little bit harder.

Everyone would be okay. Everyone would be safe. This wouldn't be another case of Ruby in the woods – she wouldn't let it be.

"You're sure he said the docks?" Weiss gasped.

"For the tenth time, yes!"

"How would he even know!? Why would Arc be there?"

"I don't know, Weiss." Yang shook her head, whipping sweat from her hair. "Just keep running. Jaune sounded panicked and I'm not leaving anything to chance."

"Blake better have a good explanation for this," Weiss growled.

Yang agreed, but they'd need to rescue them so that she could share it. Hang on you guys, we're coming as fast as we can!

/-/

Blake was an idiot.

It was perhaps an unfair assessment, but given the situation, he felt he'd be forgiven for thinking it. His fingers gripped the edge of a metal container, watching as she challenged the White Fang – her blade to Torchwick's throat. She turned the criminal to the left, to place him between her and any terrorists who might open fire. They didn't, of course, and the hostage looked remarkably unconcerned about the whole `hostage` thing.

With good reason, Jaune couldn't help but feel. He didn't know the girl well, but he was fairly sure she wouldn't bring herself to kill Torchwick, and the man in question no doubt knew that as well. Not that he would have been much better, but then he wouldn't have threatened to do something he wasn't capable of.

That was a sure fire way for the situation to blow up in your face.

His thoughts proved prophetic, as Blake was launched back by an explosion. Shit, where's Sun? The monkey faunus didn't appear, and he was forced to grit his teeth and watch as Torchwick lifted his cane and fired a shot towards his best friend's partner.

Blake flipped back away from it, but she was out in the middle of an open area.

Yang would be devastated if anything happened to her.

Blake was definitely an idiot, but apparently he was even more so. With a loud yell, he leapt out into the open, swinging Crocea Mors towards the criminal's head.

He felt a cane slam into his jaw and propel him back. His shoulder struck hard tarmac, which dug into his skin as he bounced across it. Something wet and warm ran down his chin, but when he felt his jaw, it was with relief that he realised the blood was only from having bitten his tongue.

"Move!" Blake hissed. She dragged him aside before the dust explosion from the criminal's cane could take him, but the force of it still sent them flying. Fortunately, Sun intervened to distract Torchwick – but that fight seemed as one-sided as his own had been. "Why did you rush in?" Blake demanded.

He could only stare at her. She was asking him that? When she was the very person to leap into the middle of a hoard of White Fang and question why they were working with Torchwick? "You have to be joking," he gasped. "You don't get to tell me off for that!"

"We don't have time for this." Blake said, cheeks a little red. She peeked out from behind the container they hid behind, in time to see Sun engaging several White Fang grunts who'd leapt from a Bullhead. "Can you still fight?"

"I can fight, but I'm not sure that's going to mean anything against someone like him."

"We have numbers on our side."

Jaune pointed at the various White Fang around Sun, which proved that no, they really didn't.

"We have skilled numbers," Blake sighed. "Look, can you distract them while Sun and I engage Torchwick? We should be able to overpower him with the two of us."

She wanted him to fight alone against so many people? He felt a sick feeling in his stomach but forced it down and nodded. He was a huntsman, even if it was in training. He was still a part of Beacon, and they were just normal people without training or good weapons. Jaune looked down to the sword in his hand. It glinted still, a promise of lasting through whatever ordeal he put it.

"I can do it," he said. "I will do it."

Blake looked into his eyes for a good few seconds, but smiled and nodded.

I have no idea if I can do this, he whined in his head. Still, what else was there? He wasn't going to run, not and leave them to their death, and if two of them were going to face Torchwick, he damn well knew it shouldn't be him.

Blake broke cover first, dashing across the battlefield to engage her for with a vicious lunge. The crash of steel on steel drew the attention of those surrounding Sun, giving Jaune a chance to push through their tanks and press his back to the other boy's.

"You left Blake to face him alone?" Sun hissed.

"It's her plan."

"Dude, you've seen her plans!"

Heh… at least Sun seemed capable of common sense, even when he was smitten with the girl. "Not that," Jaune explained. "Look, I'm going to face these guys. Can you break through and support Blake?"

"Yeah, if you can take all these guys on your own…"

"Have a little faith," Jaune said. He wasn't sure if he said it to Sun or himself, but he could feel the other blonde nod. He took a deep breath, shifted his foot forward, and then they both split apart, charging in different directions.

Behind him, he could just make out the form of Sun rushing the faunus in front of him. They prepared themselves, falling into defensive stances, but he leapt above their heads, catching them off-guard as he kicked two feet against their backs and broke out of their ranks to help Blake. Anything more was lost, Jaune's attention drawn back to the masked terrorist with a sword before him.

It whistled past his face as he swayed to the side, putting his training – and his dancing – to the test. Crocea Mors was unfamiliar, and yet somehow felt comfortable in his hand. He twisted it under the opposing man's arm, using the flat to lock the enemy's arm against Jaune's arm. He twisted and flipped the faunus, wincing at the loud crack the man's bone made.

It would have been easier to kill him, but he didn't think himself capable. They might not have aura at all. It's alright with Sun – he's got a staff, but one wrong swing could end a life here.

The other faunus weren't slow, nor were they cowards. As one, they rushed in, using numbers to their advantage as they struck at him from all sides. They refrained from shooting, for fear of hitting their own, but the sheer number of weapons still proved a problem.

He caught a thin blade on his own, winced as the butt of a rifle struck the back of his head, ducked under a swing from another sword – and then lashed out with a foot into the crotch of the first. Like any man, he went down and didn't get back up, but that only freed his sword with enough time to block another attack.

It was unrelenting. He needed space to take them on, to draw the fight out so they couldn't keep hitting him six on one.

"Choose your battlefield appropriately, dear apprentice. Grimm will follow wherever you run – use that to your advantage." Nina meant it as a way to fight the Grimm, but these guys weren't exactly going to let him escape, either.

Jaune grinned and charged at one on his left, but when the faunus lifted his sword to block, he instead ducked under and around him – running away.

"After him!" one shouted.

He ducked behind a cargo container, breaking line of sight. Another left, and then a right – before he doubled back around and waited.

"He went into here. Fan out and find him!"

Yeah, fan out… that'll be handy. He heard their footsteps moving, some coming closer while others moved further away. The containers were stacked close to one another, some reaching high into the air, but others on their own. Thin alleyways split between each, where forklifts would need to travel. Jaune looks up at the one he was against, and reached up to place his sword atop it.

Work as a dancer hadn't exactly resulted in a form like Cardin, but no one could accuse him of being unfit. He was able to clamber up with ease and picking up his family's sword once more, crouched low and crept back to where the first voice had come from.

The grunt in question was perched by a red crate, one hand on the side of it as he leant his head around the corner. He let out a startled cry as Jaune fell atop him, but soon went silent as he gripped the man's head in both hands and smacked it against the tarmac.

"Over there!" someone yelled, "I heard noi-"

The White Fang member appeared around the corner, but seemed unprepared for the butt of the rifle Jaune slammed into his jaw. He fell with a gurgle, and Jaune tossed the first person's weapon on the ground.

"Fools," a woman called, "Don't go in alone. He's picking us off!"

That makes me sound way more badass than I actually am, Jaune thought with a silent chuckle. Sun could have just thrashed the lot of them, and Yang could have sent them running with a grin. He'd take what compliments were on hand, though. I took one down before, and two now. That only leaves three. Honestly, he could probably leave them there and they'd be too worried to come out - but if they did, and then attacked Blake or Sun from behind…? It wasn't worth the risk. He didn't need to be quite so cautious any more, however.

"There!"

The faunus pointed in his direction, but it was far too late. By the time the other two turned, he was already upon them. The first fell when the hilt of Crocea Mors slammed into his mask, cracking it in two. The second cursed and tried to swing his sword around, but Jaune caught his wrist before it was halfway and dragged him around to throw him into the third. They both fell to the floor in a heap, and while one was able to scramble away, the second refused a boot to the side of the head and went still.

"What kind of monster are you?" The last one swung in with her sword. Behind the mask, amber eyes grew wide as the ancestral blade deflected it.

Jaune's arms wrapped around the faunus' neck and shoulders, twisting the woman to the side and wrenching the blade from her hand. He pushed her up against a container, prepared to bang her head against it, but smirked and whispered, "The kind that takes its clothes off for money."

She paused and looked confused. "What?"

Jaune slammed her head against the cargo container and let her slide down. It didn't do much to hide his embarrassment, but at least it removed any witnesses. That definitely hadn't sounded as badass as he'd imagined it would. Nina would have probably had something to say about that too, once she finished laughing at him.

A loud explosion came from the centre of the docks, followed by the noise of a whirring chain as he saw a container fall from the air to slam down out of view.

"Blake, Sun!" He cursed and dashed in the direction of it, pushing out from behind the containers in time to see the settling cloud of dust. Blake was on hands and knees some distance away, coughing. But it was Sun that Jaune saw, on his back, with an unharmed Roman Torchwick stood over him.

"Nice try, kiddos, but it'd be a little rich if you were able to take me down. Time to say goodnight."

Jaune dashed forward. "Sun!" he cried.

Roman looked his way and sighed. "Tch, can those animals not handle anything?" The crook rolled his eyes, but spun elegantly to point the cane at him and squeeze the trigger.

He vaguely heard someone shout his name in panic. It almost sounded like Ruby.

The dust shell rocketed towards him, and his eyes widened as his forward momentum drew him straight into it. At the last possible millisecond he gripped his scabbard and twisted, holding it up as best he could to try and survive the blast.

His body slammed into a cargo container. He slumped to the ground, unmoving.

/-/

Yang arrived to a scene of absolute chaos. How the authorities hadn't already noticed, she had no idea. A Bullhead strafed through the sky, firing down on people below – only for it to stutter and freeze as something seemed to grip it in the middle of the sky. White Fang leapt off it, crashing to the ground, but drawing weapons.

She didn't care about any of that.

She saw her partner, on her knees in a cloud of smoke, but more than that, she saw Roman Torchwick, laughing as he lowered his weapon.

And Jaune, slumped against a container, smoke around him and his head down against his chest.

Something snapped.

Rage like white-hot fire rushed through her. Her hair didn't so much simmer as ignite, and her eyes turned red the moment she propelled herself forward. An inarticulate scream left her mouth as she flashed across the docks and slammed a fist into the bastard's jaw.

He flew back, indenting against the wall of a warehouse with enough force to make the brickwork crack. It wasn't enough.

"Don't you dare," she seethed, standing before her downed friend. "You won't hurt him!"

"Ugh," Torchwick picked himself up and wiped some blood away from his lip. "You kids just keep getting weirder and weirder."

Yang growled but refrained from moving. She wanted nothing more than to rush over there and destroy him, destroy the person who'd dare take not only Blake away, but Jaune too. She didn't, however.

If she moved, he'd be open.

Instead, she could only simmer angrily as she watched him turn tail and flee, boarding a Bullhead on the other end of the dock. Behind her, another crashed into the ground and erupted into flames. Weiss could have maybe stopped him, but she could see the heiress rounding up some White Fang from the corner of her eye.

With a sigh, she let her Semblance go, the rage dwindling away.

Blake limped up to her, an exhausted guy by her side. "Yang," she whispered.

"Not now," she shot back. Blake was okay and that was great, but he was still and silent behind her. She knelt down and reached out, hesitating a moment as she feared the worst. Her eyes caught his chest rise and fall, however, and she breathed a long sigh of relief.

"He got his shield up in time," Blake said. "I wasn't even aware he had a shield."

Nor was she, but the thing was almost pristinely white, even after the explosion it must have tanked. It probably saved him. She pushed it aside and pressed her palm against his cheek. His skin was warm, his breathing even.

"Thank god…"

"He saved Sun's life," Blake said. It didn't take a genius to figure out who `Sun` was, but that wasn't something she cared too much about at that moment.

"What was he even doing here?" Yang asked. "How did he know you'd be at the docks?"

Blake tried to look away, but Yang's hand latched onto her wrist to stop her. "He was here because of me," her partner admitted. "He agreed to help me find out the truth."

"Why?"

"So I could have an answer and come back to you all…"

"Not that," Yang said, "Why would he help you? I didn't think you even spoke to one another."

"We don't," Blake sighed. "He did it for you."

"What!?"

"He helped me because of you," Blake said. "He did it because he thought everything would go back to normal if I came back, because he knew that was what you wanted."

Yang swallowed and looked down on him. Her friend was alive, but so very hurt. Soot cloaked his form, and there was blood smeared on his chin. He was an absolute mess.

And he'd gotten that way because he wanted to help her.

That was… that was insane. How stupid could he be? Of course she wanted Blake back, but she didn't want to sacrifice anyone else for it. If he'd just called her, she would have come down in person and done this so he didn't have to.

"Jaune!" Ruby cried and rushed over, taking a place beside her. Almost unconsciously, her younger sister pushed her away, fussing and checking her first friend at Beacon.

Yang had to force herself not to interfere. He was alive. She'd gotten there in time.

"You'll come back, right?" she whispered to her partner. "You'll stay?"

"After everything that happened here, I suppose I'll have to." Blake sighed. "That is if Weiss will accept my apology."

"I don't think that'll be necessary," Yang smiled, watching as the white-haired girl stormed up to give Blake a piece of her mind. They'd done it. They were going to be a team once more. Yang looked up in time to see the Bullheads from Beacon approach. She heard Weiss forgive Blake, but simply stepped past them to kneel down by her sister.

"He's okay," Ruby breathed, "That's a relief."

"Sure is, sis. Heh… he's a tough one." Her hand paused, almost unwilling to touch him. He wasn't tough, at least not in the typical sense. It was more a sense of resilience, a stubbornness that rivalled hers except that, unlike her, he didn't have the sheer power to back it up. Jaune didn't have a Semblance which let him turn the damage he took back on his opponents.

And he'd suffered the price for it – for her.

The thought made her head spin. How, why? She wanted to deny it, but it was just so very him, and she couldn't help but remember him pointing out how their friendship was unbalanced, how she kept doing things for him and he never did in return.

"I told you that's not how friendship works," she whispered. He was such an idiot.

"Huh, Yang? Did you say something?"

"Nothing Rubes, I'm just talking to myself."

"That's the first sign of insanity, you know."

"I'll ask Jaune when he wakes up," she said, "He'd know, being insane himself."

A small hand touched her arm. "Go easy on him," Ruby smiled. "I know you're worried but he's okay, right?"

Yang sighed. Yet again, it seemed her sister saw right through her. She placed her arms beneath him, one under his legs and the other under his shoulders. Gently, with as much care as she could muster, she lifted him up. He was pretty light, actually.

"You know," she said out loud, "You're the one who's meant to carry a girl like this. Not the other way around."

Ruby laughed and gathered his sword and shield, leaving her to carry the wounded warrior back to Miss Goodwitch and the Bullhead that awaited them.

/-/

Jaune remained unconscious through the night but woke up sometime the following morning. They'd all been worried when they got back to Beacon, but the doctor assured them it was just that he'd hit his head against something solid and been knocked out. His aura was still in place and no serious injuries had gotten through. Inducing him to consciousness, however, wasn't something the woman was willing to do.

Waiting… had been hard.

It was probably worse on his team, Pyrrha especially, and at least Yang had the benefit of the distraction Blake's explanation caused, but even that wasn't much. She'd already decided to forgive Blake… never really thought bad of her in the first place, and so the explanation was just something she listened to out of curiosity. Ruby was probably the same.

Weiss took it well, though… if anything, the heiress seemed impressed with Blake's conviction, and her morals.

Personally, Yang was less impressed with her common sense, but she'd heard no end of apologies from Blake, and eventually had to cave in and forgive her partner. That proved to be a mistake, however, since it brought her focus firmly back on the other idiot.

She knew he'd awoken when his team were called out of Oobleck's class. The returned an hour later, expressions clearly relieved and with Pyrrha smiling once more. Would that she'd been allowed to leave and talk to him too, but that courtesy hadn't been extended.

Come lunch, Ruby wanted to go see him – which meant that again, she had to wait.

Ruby was his first friend, after all, and she didn't want to cause a scene with her sister around. It was a pain, though. Patience had never been one of her strongest points. No, that was a lie, it wasn't just `not her strongest`, it was probably her biggest weakness. At least Blake and Weiss had gone along with Ruby, which meant she had free reign for the afternoon.

Or so she'd thought.

Pyrrha, Nora and Ren occupied his room after dinner too, bringing him a meal. Yang's frustration grew, but she forced herself to remain calm and out of sight in the hallway. They stayed there for two hours – two whole hours – during which Yang's mind continued to whirr, the words she planned to say getting progressively angrier and angrier.

By the time they finally left him, it was practically a miracle she didn't punch the infirmary door off its hinges.

He looked up from his bed, hair a little tussled but otherwise looking none the worse for wear. "Yang?" he asked, a small smile forming on his face. "Hey, I haven't seen you all day. I was starting to wonder if-"

"You absolute idiot!"

"-I'd done something wrong," Jaune finished. "I have, haven't I?"

Her eyes flashed red as she slammed both hands down on his bed, next to his body. Her fingers curled into the thin blanket, crushing it in her grip. "What did you think you were doing?" she hissed. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"Well, I mean, I didn't have much time. Torchwick just shot at me and I-"

"Not that," she snapped. "You… ugh… why did you go there without calling me? Did you honestly think you'd be able to take on someone like him? He's a trained huntsman, Jaune."

"I didn't expect we'd have to. Blake said we were just going to have a look. We were meant to see the White Fang and back out." Jaune sighed and looked down at himself. "You can see how that went."

"But why?" she asked. "Why would you do this at all? You knew it would be dangerous. I don't see why you didn't just tell someone; if not me, then your team at least."

"Blake would have run. I managed to find her, put her up in the Oyster, but it's not like I could have kept her there if she wanted to leave. I thought she'd make a break for it if she saw me calling someone."

Reasonable, understandable… it made sense, but still didn't address the real problem. She didn't want to address it either, since it still rolled around inside her mind.

She had to, though.

"Did you do all that because you thought I'd be happy?"

"Aren't you? I thought you wanted Blake back."

"I did," she said, "and I am happy, yes – but only because you're safe as well, you idiot. Did you think I'd be okay with trading your life for hers? You're both important to me."

"I didn't mean to try and trade my life," he argued. "It wasn't meant to go like that. Yang, please," he paused to look into her eyes, and she felt her fury melt under his gaze. "I honestly thought this would be safe, and the moment I realised it wasn't, I got in touch to ask for your help. I didn't mean to do anything stupid, Yang. I promise."

She stared at him. Her shoulders rose and fell as she took deep breaths of air, but the tentative control she had on her emotions was shot. Luckily for him, it was her control of a different one. She sighed and sat on edge of his bed, turning her body to face him.

"You're not out of trouble, mister," she sighed. "You might have talked yourself out of the beating I planned to give you, but you still owe me so many Strawberry Sunrises."

"You don't pay for those anyway, and what beating? You'd beat an injured man?"

"Eh, just some training I'd planned to help you get back on your feet."

"You definitely said beating."

She grinned viciously. Damn him for his logic, not to mention the easy way he diffused her anger. She'd had so much vengeance planned, but now it was all gone. Maybe I'll use it on Blake, instead. Running off and making us worry like that… and then getting Jaune involved.

"Am I free from your wrath, then?" Jaune asked. "We're still friends?"

Yang held his gaze, adopting an almost considering expression – but her face softened when she noticed an honest tint of fear in his eyes. Did he really think she was going to stop being his friend? Ha, what an idiot. "I've told you before," she said, leaning over to ruffle his hair, "You can't get rid of me that easily. Yeah, we're still friends, you doofus."

He sighed and leaned back. He didn't say anything, but the relief on his face belied his thoughts.

Was he honestly that worried? She recognised the look in his eyes easily, for it was the same one Ruby had carried so many times before, back in Signal. It was a look that said she wasn't confident in the friendships she had, that she thought they might turn her away if she didn't make herself funny or useful in some way. Ruby had tried so hard, too hard, with some people. Fixing their weapons, laughing at their jokes, helping them with homework… it was easy to think she was lazy about that, but she was two years younger than everyone here and still on the same academic level.

Hard not to be when their dad was a teacher. Still, she hadn't realised Jaune looked at her in the same way. That hurt a little, but she was able to ignore it. Now wasn't a time for self-pity.

"You know," she began, "Back at Forever Fall you said how you hadn't done as much for me as I had for you. Remember?"

"Yeah… why?"

"Ah, ah, ah." She held a finger against his lips. "Do you remember what I said in return?" He shook his head. "I said that friendship doesn't work that way. I said it's not a case of paying one another back, or who helps the other more." She sighed and removed her hand. "You didn't have to go and help Blake because of me. You didn't have to put yourself in danger because of me."

"I didn't," he protested.

She stared at him.

"I… well, I…" His words cut off and he looked away, ashamed.

"Don't get me wrong," she said, patting his cheek. "I appreciate it. No, that's too tame, I'd hug you to death right now if I didn't think Miss Tsune would be on my ass about killing her patient. You are literally my favourite person in the world right now, no exceptions."

He flushed and scratched his cheek. From anyone else, she'd have thought it a sign of being embarrassed at the suggestion for sexual reasons, but from him – he was genuinely embarrassed to be called so good a friend. It was ironic, almost abusively so. If he's like Ruby, then people could take advantage of him so easily. Just a few kind words and he'd do anything to keep them.

"Just, don't think like that in the future, okay? I'm not going to stop being your friend just because you've not evened out some scoreboard between us."

"What about the times you've helped me?" he asked. "I feel like I owe you so much."

"Oh, you can reward me," she teased. "I accept drinks, nights out and massage. Don't get me wrong, buster, I get stuff out of this too. I'm not a saint; you're fun to talk to and you make the best drinks I've ever tasted." She poked his cheek once more. "But that's just extras. You pay back things in a business agreement. Our friendship isn't some kind of transaction."

"Sorry," he sighed. He still looked nervous, however, almost unusually so. Had there been something wrong with her words?

She sighed and shook her head. "It's fine. I guess you're pretty new to having friends, huh?"

"Ruby was probably my first real one. I could be friendly with the other employees, but it was never quite the same. That's work. You, Ruby and my team… you're the only friends I've really had."

"You've got Blake, as well now. Heaven help you, Jaune, I can tell you right now that she's a handful." She leaned close to whisper theatrically. "Don't let her out of your sight. She gets into way too much trouble."

He laughed, so much that it seemed to actually pain him for a moment, but she was loathe to stop him since his smile was honest. "I guess I'm screwed, then," he said once he'd gotten himself under control. "I had a good run."

What an idiot, making jokes about death at a time like this. She flicked his forehead gently, just the tiniest of warnings. He seemed to catch it and smiled sheepishly. Damn it… she'd had such plans for their meeting. She'd been prepared to shout and scream, to bludgeon his idiocy into his skull and to give him the cold shoulder until he apologised for everything he'd done. Now here she was, joking and playing along with him. She'd gone soft.

"Well, I'd best get off," she said, standing up. "Ruby's planned some kind of movie night to try and calm the team down after the Blake drama." Kind of a weird choice since Blake hated movies, Weiss did too – and Ruby found them too slow and boring, but eh, it was the thought that counted. Inevitably, they'd stop halfway through and do something more fun. In the end, it would still accomplish its goal.

She paused beside his bedside.

"You know, compared to the stuff I did to help you, fighting against a dangerous criminal was a little above and beyond. I fought against Cardin, helped against some random girls and offered you a little training. If anything, it's me who owes you, now."

He seemed shocked by the realisation, the silly twit. "W-Well, it doesn't matter, right? You said friends don't owe one another – so you don't need to do anything in return."

"Hmm, looks like someone was listening after all. I'd give you a treat, but you might follow me home like some stray dog."

Jaune's happy grin turned into a faintly-amused glower.

"I meant what I said earlier, though," she said. "You don't owe friends back, but you can still do something for them in return."

"Do wha-?"

He didn't get any further, because she leaned in, covered his eyes with one hand, then smashed her lips against his. She imagined his surprise, heard his squeak, but then also his lips and tongue moving against hers.

She pulled back before it could go any further – even if it had gone far enough already. He'd been open-mouthed, and the rest had been instinct from there.

"W-What?" he stammered.

"Consider it your reward for helping Blake," she grinned and winked, turning away. "Friends don't owe one another, but you can still pay them back. See ya later, Jaune."

The infirmary door closed behind her, cutting him off before he could say any more – before he could see anymore. That was for the best since she slumped against the wall, cheeks red and eyes wide. Her heart hammered in her chest and it took two attempts before she could swallow. Her fingers rose, to faintly touch her lips. They tingled, and not in a bad way.

She swallowed heavily.

I... shouldn't have done that.

She shouldn't have kissed her best friend, even to prove a point.

Nor should she have enjoyed it nearly as much as she had.

Aaand straight onto White Sheep. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred minutes of rest or free-time.

Next Chapter: 28th March

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur