Chapter Text

Jaune had never seen Pyrrha so tired before. She could fight a whole team in combat class by herself without even breaking a sweat, she could tear countless Grimm to pieces in mere seconds, and she was one of the few people who was able to deal with Nora when she was in the middle of one of her sugar rushes after a maple syrup overdose.

So, seeing his partner struggling to even keep her eyes open and her head from falling straight into her notebook that was, for the first time, without any notes from their class, was quite worrying.

Pyrrha had spent the whole weekend in Mistral. Her mother had suddenly called her at a Thursday night, and the only thing Jaune was able to pick up from their rushed conversation was something about contracts and problems with one of her sponsors, as well as understanding that the girl's presence was unquestionably required.

Then, when Friday came, knowing best than to question her strict mother, Pyrrha was on a plane to her hometown as soon as classes ended for the day. It all happened just as suddenly as it sounds.

His partner only got back to Vale Monday at dawn - when she arrived at Beacon. Pyrrha only had time to throw her luggage in their dorm, grab a little something to eat and put on her uniform, because it was almost time for class. But even if his partner did all of that with incredible speed - all the while muttering how she firmly believed that all that stuff could have been solved without her having to leave Vale - he still could tell she was a wreck.

Jaune was supposed to look out for his teammate's well-being, as it goes since he was their team leader; and as such, he insisted she skipped class for the day to have some much-needed rest. Still, Pyrrha was having none of it. They had an assignment from Professor Peach due that day - which she had, apparently, completed during this mess of a weekend too - and it was also required the student’s presence as its final evaluation.

"And besides...” She started, but a yawn interrupted the sentence. "…It's Monday, we only have classes during the morning. I can handle a few more hours…"

"But-"

"Jaune, I'm fine. Stop worrying." She gave him the tiniest smile he has ever seen, and he could tell that even that required a big effort from her.

Realizing that trying to reason with a sleep-deprived Pyrrha was going nowhere - and arguing with her was just a waste of her already scarce energy, really - he decided to just give up. "Ok, fine. But don’t expect me to wake you up when you fall asleep in the middle of the class."

Pyrrha just answered with an indistinct mumble, and continued to walk in the direction of their classroom.

Except that, that was definitely not the direction of their classroom.

He just sighed and gently tugged her by her arm.

"Pyrrha, no… This way."

Her response was to blink, following him blindly.

This was going to be a long morning.

Luckily, for them, the class was very short. Professor Peach just asked them to turn in their assignments, spoke briefly about them right after; requested the reading of a new chapter of the textbook for next week and then she was gone. The class that was supposed to go for the next few hours only lasted around one hour and a half. Really, what was up with that woman? If Jaune hadn’t had this subject with her, he would swear that the Professor didn't even exist.

However, this one hour was enough to drain completely the remaining energy from Pyrrha. She was supporting her head with her hand, with her eyes barely open. When the students started to gather their stuff to leave, she just gave in and let her head fall on the table.

"C'mon Pyrrha, now you can finally get some rest." He tried to cheer her up and touched her shoulder, but she didn't even move. But she did mumble something between a yawn that vaguely resembled “I think I'll just take a nap here.”

"Wouldn't you rather sleep on your bed?" He invitingly asked in return, presuming she did say what he thought she had said.

"…Yes?"

"Then let's go."

"Just ten more minutes…” She adjusted her arms on the table so she could lay on them.

"You're always telling me that sleeping on the desk is not good for my posture."

Pyrrha opened one eye, and for a second he thought that he had won the discussion.

"You sound like my mother."

He sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I think I just sound like you." She made a face and he laughed. "Let's go. Team leader orders."

"Can't." She closed her eyes again and turned her head right, facing his opposed direction.

"And why is that?"

"Mmr… Headache." That only made him more worried.

"You have a headache?" Realizing that the volume of his voice could be bothering her, he lowered his tone to a whisper. "That's just one more reason to why you should go to bed."

"Mhmh." Pyrrha agreed with him, but still didn't make a single effort to get up. And Jaune? He could only softly roll his eyes at the scene.

After more than one year living and studying together, Jaune knew Pyrrha could be stubborn sometimes. Yet it was that good kind of stubbornness, like when she refused to give up teaching some new combat technique to him even after he thought he was helpless. Despite that, now she was reminding him of his little sisters - too tired from watching TV past their bedtime, but at the same time, refusing to go to their comfy bed.

Usually, with his sisters, he would bribe them so they could go to their room, but he knew this tactic would not work on his partner; for he had nothing to offer her and he didn't want to talk much because of her headache.

Besides, there was another solution. It didn't involve a lot of talking, and that was good; however, it was a little bit more… complicated.

Still, he couldn't just leave her there… Falling asleep in an uncomfortable classroom desk with a headache hammering on her temple. So, Jaune looked around; the room was empty, and all the other students were long gone. Ugh, fine. He would offer her this option, and if she didn't accept, then she would just have to deal with it.

Jaune circled around the stand to get her from the other side, since she was, fortunately, at the right end of it, and that would make his job way easier.

Her head was buried in the crook of her arm, so he poked her on her shoulder.

"Pyrrha, as your partner, I refuse to leave you here." Jaune began, and the other half of his partnership didn't even stir. "So, if you help me a little bit, I-I'll… I'll carry you to the dorms, ok?"

For a moment Jaune thought that she had already fallen asleep and didn't hear a single word he just said; but then her head moved by an inch, and he heard an almost inaudible “What?”

Pyrrha’s reaction nearly got him to backtrack and just pretend that he didn't say anything, but he took a deep breath and insisted.

"I'll carry you. You're not doing fine and you need to get some proper rest in a real bed." He tried, this time with a more assertive air.

Jaune couldn't believe he was doing this. There was no way she was going to accep-

"Hmmr. Fine..." Pyrrha groaned, sitting as straight as she could in the chair. "How…?" She waved her hand lazily in his direction.

"Oh." Carrying her bridal style was out of the question, that would be really embarrassing. So, Jaune resigned himself to the same way he did with his little sisters, he guessed it would have to do.

Turning around, he then crouched and requested, "Just… hop on?"

Jaune looked over his shoulder when she didn't respond, his eyes meeting her tired ones; she just blinked slowly, this was a bad idea.

Then she got up, wrapped her arms around his neck - one of her hands gripping her notebook and pen tightly - and jumped on his back. He wasn't expecting her to jump in so fast, however, years of his sisters hopping on his back demanding piggyback rides without warning kept him from falling. His hands moved instinctively to get a grip on her legs, adjusting her weight on his back. She was, obviously, heavier than his little sisters were, and definitely way taller.

"Are you all set?" He asked her. Pyrrha then wiggled a little and hugged him tighter, muttering an affirmative sound on his shoulder.

"O-ok, let's go", he started walking, finally leaving the classroom.

Thank the Gods the hallways were empty, another advantage of being dismissed earlier. He really did not want many people seeing them like this.

But if someone saw them… it's not like it was a big deal, right? He was just helping his partner. There was nothing weird about carrying your sleepy teammate on your back, right? Yeah! Right! Jaune was just trying to help. Absolutely nothing weird with a girl clinging on your neck. He could feel her every breath on his skin, the strong muscles of her legs on his palms, her chest against his back, plus something lightly tickling behind his left ear…

Wait…

That wasn't right.

"P-Pyrrha?" He was definitely feeling something going through his hair now. "What are you doing?"

"Hmmm? Nothing..." She answered slowly. Except it was the exact opposite of nothing because he could feel a finger tracing circles on his head. "Your hair is just really nice..."

"W-what?" He stuttered, feeling his face heat up. Why was she doing this now?

"Hmhm." She agreed and let out a short weak giggle, even though this was not the answer he was looking for. Pyrrha then proceeded to press all her fingertips in a spot behind his ear, sliding them outward until all her fingers were buried in the messy strands afterward. "Soft…"

Jaune could feel his blush spreading to his neck and ears. "S-stop that!"

She giggled again, and ignored his plea completely, continuing to play with a lock of his hair. He took a deep breath. After all, it was just her lack of sleep acting.

But, he hated to admit, this was really nice.

Yep, he really hoped no one saw them like this.

Finally, they got to their dorms without incidents. Jaune could feel his back aching for carrying Pyrrha all this way, even though the building they were having their class was the one closer to the dorms.

She had settled down with his hair halfway through the route and was probably asleep again, which was good, because he didn't feel like he was going to combust in embarrassment anymore; even though a small fraction of his brain kept telling him that he didn't want her to stop because he was enjoying it. Naturally, Jaune just shushed these thoughts away; this was not the time for this. Now was time to figure out how to grab his Scroll and unlock the door without dropping his partner on the floor.

"Pyrrha?" He whispered. No response. "Hey, Pyrrha?" He tried again, a little bit louder this time, and he felt her stir. "I need to unlock the door. I'll have to let you go for a moment."

Her only response was to groan. Jaune could swear she was complaining.

"C'mon is just for a second, your bed is waiting on the other side." That seemed to be what she wanted to hear, because her legs started to move. He slowly loosened his grip on them, expecting her to place her feet on the floor. Instead, she crossed them over his torso - very much like a baby koala would - and tightened her hold on his shoulders.

He yelped, self-conscious of the high pitch, not expecting this shift of balance; he quickly managed to get back to a solid stance all the same while placing his hands on the door and keeping his feet apart.

"Hm… I guess this works too..." She hummed an agreement on his neck; he could feel his face hit up all over again. Pyrrha was just really close now.

He withdrew his Scroll and punched the code to unlock the door as quickly as he could. Fortunately, the device was in his coat pocket, and not somewhere like the back pockets on his pants. That would have made things way more complicated.

Jaune let out a breath of relief when the satisfying beep of the code being accepted sounded through the hall, anticipating the moment where he would be able to stretch his back again. The room per se was empty, Ren and Nora having agreed to spend the day out in order to not disturb Pyrrha while she rested. So, as soon as they were dismissed from class, they headed to Vale to check out this new arcade, and maybe try not to be banned from this one for a change.

He didn't even take one single step forward before he noticed the problem. Or, should he say, problems.

Pyrrha's luggage was still all over her bed, her pillow was probably stored in the closet; besides, her mattress was bare, since they usually take out the sheets to wash every Sunday, and this time was no exception.

Jaune sighed. He decided that putting her on his bed for a while was the best option - knowing from experience not to trust Nora's, as it had a serious chance of exploding; Ren's was always so perfectly and neatly made that he could never bring himself to disturb it. He took ahold of her legs again, finally stepping into the room and closing the door with his foot. Turning his back to his bed when he completed the trajectory, he lowered himself so he could sit Pyrrha safely on the mattress. "There. Here we are. Unfortunately, your bed is a mess, but you just sit here in mine for a bit while I sort yours out. Ok?"

"Hmmm." Was her answer. He decided to take that as an 'alright' of some sort. "So... can you let me go now?”, even though she was already sitting on his bed, her arms were still wrapped around his neck and her legs crossed over his torso. Pyrrha didn't let go; in fact, it seemed her grip on him only got stronger. He could feel the flush rise on his cheeks… again. "Fine, you can just take a nap in my bed while I get your bed ready then."

His knees were starting to hurt from his crouching position when she finally decided to move. He could swear it was like she was lagging - he would ask her to do something, and she would only answer seconds later. Jaune could not blame her though; she was pretty tired after all.

Slowly, but surely, they made progress. He placed her feet on the floor, while her arms uncrossed from his neck; though her hands stopped before she parted completely, and clung to the collar of his coat.

"Mh... need to take these off…" She muttered in his ear.

WAIT, WHAT?!

He must have heard wrong, her words were totally mumbled anyway; there was absolutely no way she just said he needed to take off his shirt or something like that. Nope.

His face was on fire, plus he was too shocked to let out even an "Excuse me? " so what came out instead was just a weird choking sound. However, before he could do something about it, Pyrrha let him go, and then pushed him away with all the force a sleep-deprived person could muster. Even so, he barely stopped himself from falling face down on the floor, and when he turned around to see what she was doing, he just found her taking off her heels.

Oh! That's what she meant.

Jaune let out a breath he didn't notice he was holding and shook his head. “Focus on your task!” He mumbled under his breath. Getting up from the floor, he went to work on her bed. He started placing her luggage on the floor - a backpack and a bag that was heavier than he expected, probably because it contained the metal parts of her combat gear. From time to time, he glanced at his partner to see how she was doing; it looked like she was moving in slow motion. She had just tossed one of her shoes to the side and was now fighting with the straps of the other as he went to the closet to retrieve some clean sheets and a pillow. When he got back, she was finally free from her heels, tilting her head back lazily and letting out a pleased sigh.

Although, apparently, she was not done yet. She bent down slightly again and began to take off her long socks, the dark fabric slowly being replaced by her pale skin. Jaune had already lost count of how many times this happened this morning - this thought running quickly through his mind as he felt himself blush again - and he should definitely stop staring like an idiot because the pillow was not fitting in the pillowcase, probably because he was trying to fit it sideways.

Finally, he was able to shove the stupid pillow in its place. He started unfolding the bedsheets to place them on the mattress then, but a frustrated groan came from his partner, interrupting him in the middle of his task.

It appeared she had given up taking her socks off when it passed her knee, probably too tired to fully bend to pull out the rest, and was now just repeatedly picking the elastic border, which was all tied up in the middle of the crumpled fabric she had already pushed down her thighs. With her eyes closed and an annoyed expression on her face, she kept muttering something that was, probably, really insulting to the socks; as if doing that would just magically remove the rest of it.

Jaune’s first thought was that he should probably help her, then not even a second passed and he slapped himself mentally, that would be just… wrong.

Yet she was struggling because of some dumb socks, and Pyrrha and struggle didn't even belong in the same sentence.

He sighed; he was too kind for his own good. "Hmm… Do y-you… need some help with that?"

Her eyes cracked open by a small fraction. She tilted her head to the side, processing his question; then Pyrrha closed her eyes again and just barely stretched her legs forward.

So that was a "yes".

He couldn't believe he was doing this. It seemed like this phrase was his mantra for the day.

Turning to her direction, he sat on the floor in front of her and shot a quick glance to her face to see if she was really okay with this, after all, he didn't want her to freak out suddenly and kick him in the chin or something like that. Then he noticed the bags under her eyes, broadcasting how obvious it was how utterly exhausted she actually was; Pyrrha just needed someone’s help at this moment.

So, no big deal, right? When his mother was busy, Jaune helped his little sisters get ready for their ballet performances and school dances all the time; he knew how to handle some socks. He just needn’t think too hard about it.

First, he started with the one that was already halfway off. Jaune gripped the fabric that was bundled under her knee with both of his hands and pushed down, blushing and looking away from that enticing movement. The sock slid down slowly so as not to alarm her, following the curve of her calf easily. In the end, he didn't even need to look directly to see what he was doing, and with less than five seconds he was already tossing it with her shoes.

Now, the other one was a bit more of a problem. It was still all the way up her thigh, the border hidden under her skirt; and by the gods, he was definitely not going to put his hands there, Jaune wasn't this low. He wondered for a second then if someone could die from embarrassment, because that was all he felt at the moment.

Then, before he could start regretting his decision to help her, he cleared his throat and asked, "C-can you… p-pull down the other one a little bit f-first?"

After a few seconds of delay, Pyrrha let out a tired sigh; without even opening her eyes, her hand moved down to do what was just requested of her. He averted his gaze quickly at the same time, not risking the chance of seeing things he was not supposed to see. Jaune was pretty sure his face was stuck in a very deep shade of red by now.

She let out a grunt; he was almost mastering her sleep-deprived language, so it probably meant she was done. He hesitantly looked back to her to find her other sock pushed a few inches down her skirt. Well, it was totally better than before, though he would have preferred if it was a little bit lower, like maybe on the floor. He scoffed. Who was he kidding? Jaune was enjoying this much more than he was trying - and probably failing - to let on. But he decided to end this as soon as possible, and asking her to move it again would only make this saga last even longer than it already had.

He took hold of the elastic border that was on her thigh and slid down, repeating the previous process once more. Now that he hadn't a bundle of fabric ready for him to hold, his fingertips brushed over her skin, which was really smooth by the way; he felt like his whole body was blushing. Her legs seemed to go on forever... why did she have to be so tall? Pyrrha let out a tiny satisfying hum at his touch, and his face invented a brand new shade of red.

Why was this happening to him?

Perhaps if he took it out without looking like he did with the other one, it would be better for his mental health. So he closed his eyes, and, nope, bad idea, that only made his brain focus on the sensation of his fingers sliding on her skin and the sound of almost inaudible sighs escaping from her throat.

Hence, the snapping of his eyes wide open, and, as fast as he could, trying to find something else to focus on, only to find Pyrrha fidgeting with the golden button of her uniform jacket. It unclasped easily, giving way for her to start removing the intruding cloth. Taking off a jacket was such a trivial action, he’s already seen her doing this every day after class for the last year; yet something about her slow movements, the way the fabric slid down her shoulders and arms, revealing the white shirt underneath it, was almost hypnotizing.

She threw the piece of clothing on the floor next to him without even thinking, or caring; Jaune looked up at her face then, only to find her half-open eyes staring back. Pyrrha blinked slowly at him and looked down; following her gaze only to find out that he got distracted from his main objective. His hands were still on her legs, the sock yet to be completely removed. So Jaune muttered a sorry!, and Pyrrha’s only answer was a sound that could maybe be interpreted as a giggle or a tiny snore.

Finally, after a small eternity, he threw the sock in the general direction he had with her other stuff. He exhaled. This simple task made him feel out of breath for some reason and lasted longer than he expected.

A realization came to him at that moment; if someone happened to open the doors a few seconds ago, and finding him helping to undress his partner while she was sitting on his bed, they would most likely get a really wrong idea. Jaune felt his already dark blush spreading to his ears and neck. “It wasn’t like they were doing something wrong! Plus, he was just trying to help! She was tired from a stressful weekend, barely having the energy to speak, and with a headache to top it off!”, he reasoned with himself.

“Oh! The headache! Oh, yeah, that’s right.”

He had almost forgotten about it. "Hey, do you need some medicine or something like that?"

Pyrrha shook her head negatively. "Already took one…" She sighed. "Just need to… hm…" His partner didn't finish her sentence, preferring instead to show what she meant by moving her hands up to her head to remove the circlet lying there, and then placing the golden piece on the nightstand next to his bed. Next, she raised her hands again and started tugging her hair tie out to undo her ponytail. When she wasn't getting the tie to come out, she let out a frustrated groan; then looking at him with a tiny pout on her lips, he already knew what she wanted without her even needing to ask.

Jaune just changed his position from sitting to kneeling in front of her instead. His partner closed her eyes at the same time as he put his hands on her hair tie, pulling it out gently; he did not want to accidentally tug a strand and end up hurting her accidentally. The little elastic band slid off smoothly; and when it was almost halfway down her long hair, she lowered her head until she was laying her forehead on his shoulder, causing his breath to hitch.

He finally got rid of the hair tie, her red hair cascaded down her back, and, for a moment, he felt a sudden urge to run his fingers through it. Jaune just shook his head lightly instead. What was he thinking?

His hands were being attracted to her shoulders in order to push her away from him; but as he started doing just that, she groaned in protest, not wanting to be moved.

"C'mon Pyrrha." He pushed her a little bit stronger. It made her stir a bit, so he kept insisting. "I still have to finish getting your bed r-" She raised her head with his last push, his words getting caught up on his throat suddenly; he had to bite his tongue to prevent a gasp from escaping. Jaune had forgotten how rare it was for him to see Pyrrha with her hair down; she always had them tied in a ponytail, or, sometimes, a messy bun, so he could probably count on his hands the exceptions to the standard way in which he found her hair.

She tilted her head to the side, and kept looking at him through her half-lidded eyes, probably wondering what had caused him to stop so abruptly. His heart skipped a beat. She does look really cute like that.

Wait. What. Nope. What?

"Hmm, Er… Do y-you need something else?" He took his hands off her shoulder; she just looked around slowly.

Then in a blink of an eye, she let herself fall on his bed like a ragdoll. Turning around to lay on her stomach, she moved her legs around the mattress until she found a comfortable position, her hands curled around the sheets as she let out an involuntary moan of relief. He just pretended he didn't hear that; it's not like he could blush even harder anyway.

Putting into consideration that his partner was going to be probably out cold for at least the next few hours, Jaune closed the curtains to make the room darker for her to sleep; then he went back to her bed, happy to be able to focus on something else.

When he was almost done with the sheets, however, he surprised himself when he wasn't able to hold back a yawn from escaping; it looked like Pyrrha's drowsiness was contagious and had just caught up to him. After carrying her all the way to the dorms, his back begged for rest; a nap wouldn't be a bad idea right now. In fact, it was a top priority in his must-do things at the moment.

Yet his bed was occupied and he didn't want to sleep in Pyrrha's bed without asking for permission; she probably wouldn't mind, but still.

So he decided to try something. He walked to her side, crouched down and whispered, "Hey Pyrrha, are you awake?"

Surprisingly, she answered with a small grunt, so he continued. "Do you want to move to your bed?"

She made a face as if she thought his question was the most stupid thing she ever heard and buried her face in his pillow, muttering a tired but firm "No."

He sighed; guess he wouldn't be taking a nap here after all. But Pyrrha was the one who really needed rest, not him.

"Fine. I'm leaving then if you don't need anything else." She didn't move, so he straightened his back and turned around to leave.

However, before he could even take a step, a hand on his wrist stopped him in his tracks. He looked back at Pyrrha, wondering what else she could ever need right now. She stared at him with her eyes cracked open just enough for him to notice a speck of green; her mouth was mostly still buried in his pillow, but he still could distinct her request loud and clear. "Stay."

"Hmm… w-what?" Why in Remnant would she need him to stay?

Like she had been doing for the most part of the morning, she didn't answer him with words; instead, she just yanked him down towards the bed with incredible strength.

He let out an ugly yelp.

The upper half of his body fell onto the mattress, his head face-down on her hair, which was spread around the pillow. He ended up crushing the arm she pulled under the weight of his body. As for his knee, well, it collided painfully with the wood on the side of the bed; the opposing leg dangling out of the bed, looking for a safe place to step on.

Jaune hissed in pain, biting his tongue to prevent a loud curse to escape while removing his face from the pillow. He spat a few strands of hair that had caught on his mouth, and whisper-yelled:

"Pyrrha! What are you doing?!" He wanted to scream, but that would be just rude considering her situation, and the pain in his knee didn't allow for his tone of voice to raise.

She just smiled at him and pulled his wrist once again, as if silently asking him to get closer.

Right at this moment, he found out that his previous statement about him not being able to blush even harder was completely wrong. "Y-you want… me? To stay? H-here?" He almost forgot how to form words.

The only response he got was her scooting back closer to the wall, offering the space for him to climb on the bed and its companion, the pillow.

This could not be real.

When he hesitated for too long, she seemed to get impatient. So Pyrrha tugged him again, with a strength that made him wonder where it had been hiding when she needed to take out her dumb socks. He rolled on the bed towards her, and she let go of his wrist to hug his arm. Her grip was tight, and when he tried to move away, her face would turn into a frown and her hold on his arm would get stronger.

Jaune gave up when it was clear she wasn't going to let him leave, letting out a defeated sigh. So he shifted around looking for a more comfortable position, feeling her squeeze his arm one more time.

"It's ok, I'm not leaving." He said soothingly. This seemed to reassure her, if the loosening grip on his arm and the soften expression on her face was any indication.

He managed to kick his shoes off and fully climb on the bed. Then he just laid there, staring at the ceiling, motionless and stiff as a wooden plank.

Pyrrha was way more comfortable with all of this. She slowly scooted closer to him and placed one of her legs, her very bare leg, over his. He let out a chocked gasp, feeling as if his brain was short-circuiting; she just let out a weak giggle at the sound. He couldn't believe she was finding this funny.

She touched her chin on his shoulder. Then he noticed the straying arm, but only registered her actions fully when he suddenly felt her finger tracing a line on his neck. He gasped again; her touch sent goosebumps all over his body, his blush spreading again to his collarbone and ears. He could feel his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

What is she doing?

"You have a little mole right… here...", she touched the black dot again, letting out a tiny chuckle.

Jaune couldn't take this anymore.

"P-Pyrrha? What are you doing?! Please… go to sleep." His words came out rushed and mumbled; it was hard to remember how to speak when she was tracing random patterns on his skin.

She laughed weakly again, humming an agreement while moving her hand away, and snuggled into his neck.

"Goodnight, Jaune."

He froze.

He could swear he felt for a second a light and quick pressure on his neck, in the same spot where she was touching before, something soft…

Had Pyrrha just kissed him?!

No way! What?! She probably just accidentally brushed her lips on his skin when she formed her words…

Was that still a kiss?

It was just an accident…

But what if it was intentional?

His mind rapidly fired the arguments, trying to reason with what had just transpired.

Jaune managed to stutter a goodnight back, but it wasn't even close to being night, and there's absolutely no way he was going to fall asleep now. The soft touch felt like she had flipped a switch that sent a wave of electricity through his body, causing him to be more awake than ever.

This could only be some kind of torture; if he knew that sleepy Pyrrha would get this touchy, then maybe he should have let her take a nap on the desk… He would just sit there with her and wait until she was feeling well enough to walk on her own. Perhaps he could have even begun to read the new chapter of Professor's Peach book…

Again, who was he trying to fool? He always procrastinated his readings until the day before the deadline. And, of course, there was no way he could have left Pyrrha in the classroom; she was always helping him, and today he finally had the rare opportunity to return the favor.

Maybe he was overreacting, this wasn't so bad after all…

Taking a nap sounded like a good idea... If he could just close his eyes and fall asleep…

But he couldn't. His heart was still beating faster than normal and he wasn't even able to regulate his breathing. He was, in fact, hypersensitive; every inch where her body touched his was burning - he could feel her steady breathing on his neck; his skin tingled in a weird way where she touched him seconds before, almost like an itch, making him want to scratch the spot…

No... that was not it…

He wanted her to kiss him again.

Jaune shook his last thought away before he could fully process it. Burying his itching neck into the pillow to see if it would make the strange sensation to go away, he turned his head to the side.

However, he didn't consider that turning his head also meant being face to face with his partner.

She was sleeping soundly, an expression that could only be described as relief in her face; lips parted while she exhaled through her mouth. Her bangs and a few loose strands of her hair had fallen around her face, giving her a messy look.

By pure instinct, he moved his hand to put the wild strands behind her ear, causing her to let out a small sigh at his touch, lips curling upward in a soft smile.

His heart did a weird double beat. She was beautiful.

Oh, shit.

The realization stroke him like he was being hit by a bus.

He had a crush. On Pyrrha. Of all people, really?

His eyes wandered through her face, her messy bangs, her perfect eyebrows; her eyes, that even if they were closed at the moment, he could still picture the shade of green on his mind with a surprising precision; her cute nose, her lips… Gods, he wanted to kiss her.

Yep, he had a really huge crush.

Then another realization hit him, this one not nearly as nice as the previous one.

He had fallen for another girl that was out of his league.

Jaune felt defeated; he was used to this sensation, but that didn't make it easier to deal with.

Then he felt Pyrrha's arm suddenly come around his waist as if she knew he needed a hug, and this made a spark of hope arise on his chest. Maybe she felt the same way…

Well, they were snuggling on his bed and she was the one who initiated it…

"It's just because she is super tired after a whole weekend dealing with stressful paperwork and without a decent night of sleep”, a little annoying voice whispered in his head. "She's borderline unconscious."

Oh, no! Did that make him some kind of perv?

Stop being ridiculous, she wasn't unconscious. She just needed someone to help her because she was too tired even to walk.

So that meant she was just using him or something?!

No way, she was way too kind to do something like this… It could only possibly mean that she trusted him. Right?

Yeah, he didn't really know that. If she was too tired even to walk, she could also be too tired to think straight.

That doesn't even make sense!

Maybe he should leave… Just in case. Would she notice? She seemed fast asleep. But she looked so happy, and comfortable, and cute, and he did not want to disturb her…

Cute, huh?

Oh, gods.

The ridiculous back and forth discussion inside his mind kept him awake for a long time. Why did he have to overthink this?

Then, finally, after… minutes? Hours? He couldn't tell, but it felt like an eternity; his eyelids got heavy, the argument inside his head turned too messy for him to keep up, and he was able to fall asleep.

Pyrrha stirred in the bed, feeling herself crossing the line from dreams to consciousness. She groaned mentally, still not wanting to wake up at the moment, sensing that her body was still tired; after all, a one hour nap was not going to recover all the energy she lost during the whole weekend.

So she kept her eyes closed, trying to get back to the dreams that she had already forgotten, clinging only to the sensation that they had been very pleasing; and clinging to the pillow she was hugging - it was soft and comforting, and smelled nice, which made her smile while letting escape a sigh of contentment.

Pyrrha’s mind was still too slow to process that she didn't sleep with any extra pillows, noticing vaguely that something was off only when said pillow moved on its own.

Her brow furrowed, that wasn't right…

And she knew the smell, but her thoughts were still too hazy for her to recognize it.

Sliding her legs up and down a bit to get a better notion of her surroundings, she could feel that they were over something that wasn't exactly soft. At least, not as soft as the thing her arms were circling.

Her hands took even more liberty and wandered around; she felt that the texture of the fabric felt the same against her palms and against her legs.

It felt like their uniforms… It felt... Like a person?

Wait…

Suddenly her mind cleared and her heartbeat accelerated, she could tell for sure from where she recognized the scent.

Jaune.

Her eyes snapped open and she got her confirmation. His sleeping face was only centimeters away from hers, making her back off abruptly, surprised with the proximity.

Pyrrha swallowed down a gasp, feeling her face heating up. She was, for some reason, in a bed cuddling her partner.

When and how did this even happen?!

Rubbing her eyes to get rid of the residual drowsiness, she tried to remember how she got herself into this situation. She recorded arriving at Beacon just in time for class, the class itself being nothing more than a blur… did they have any new assignments? The clearest memory being the sensation of being tired and the pain in her head; well, she also remembered Jaune being with her during class, and him offering to help her get to the dorms… on a piggyback ride?

After that, things were blurry… she couldn't tell if they were dreams or not. He helped her get ready for bed - was there something about socks? And for some reason ended up sleeping with her.

A sudden memory caused her blush to intensify; the reason was her pulling him towards the bed when he tried to leave.

She covered her mouth in disbelief.

"Ok, calm down."

Pyrrha raised herself a little to look around the room, strands of her loose hair fell in front of her face. She was only wearing the shirt and skirt of her uniform, her other clothes scattered around the foot of the bed. A bed that she knew wasn't hers, because hers was in front of them, neatly made and just waiting for someone to lay down.

What had she done?!

Gathering the information from her messy memories, she could tell they didn't do anything serious; he just helped her go to bed… Then they took a nap... And winded up cuddling. That’s it.

She bit her lip, preventing her from laughing and screaming at the same time; she just could not believe the situation - that he had done all of this for her; from carrying her all the way from the classrooms and even making the bed.

But now she felt a little guilty, he had all this trouble just for her to steal his bed at the end. As she looked down at him, she saw her partner as tired as ever, even when sleeping; his brow was slightly furrowed, his mouth was curled downward slightly as if his own dreams were bothering him. Pyrrha wanted to comfort him somehow, but she contained the urge to run her fingers through his messy blonde hair.

And… Oh, no… What if he was like that because he didn't want to be here with her? What if he just felt obligated to help her because she was his partner? What if he had something else to do this morning and she ruined his plans?

Sighing, she let herself fall in the pillow again; part of her felt embarrassed for what she did, but the other had to admit - just laying down with him made her heart grow warm and butterflies to dance in her stomach. If she could, Pyrrha would just lay there, enjoying this moment for as long as possible.

She cringed, thoughts of her being selfish coming to the front of her mind. Maybe she should leave and go to her own bed… after all, he had all that trouble to get it ready for her in the first place…

However, leaving wouldn't be easy; especially because she didn't want to wake him up since she was stuck between Jaune and the wall. She couldn't jump over him, it would never work. But, maybe, sliding down to the edge would…?

Pyrrha took a glance at his face again and sighed. Truthfully, she didn't want to leave; however, she believed it was for the best. When he awakens, she would do everything she could to apologize to him. So she experimented moving away, doing her best to not wake him up. Though before she could completely take her head off the pillow, Jaune started stirring, bothered by her movements.

She froze.

In just one second, his face turned into a slight frown, mumbling something intelligible. He even turned on his side so he was facing her, using the opportunity to wrap one arm around her waist, totally frustrating her plans of leaving.

Oh.

This couldn't be real. She had to be dreaming; it's not like it would be the first time anyway.

Her face burned; her heart was beating so loud that she briefly wondered if the sound could be enough to wake him up. She thought it couldn’t get any worse - or better, really -, but then she felt like she was going to explode when, suddenly, he pulled her back to his front, pressing their bodies together. This time she wasn't able to hold back a loud gasp from escaping.

Pyrrha could feel his muscles stiffing at the sound, his expression turning into one of confusion. Her eyes widened like dinner plates.

Oh, no.

Jaune’s eyes cracked open slowly; the moment he looked at her, the confusion was immediately replaced by realization, and then… acceptance? He blinked once; then closed his eyes again, as if there was nothing unusual in this situation.

A breath of relief escaped from her mouth. That was close.

Then, his eyes abruptly snapped wide open, and his body jumped as if he had just been pinched. Well, guess her relief only lasted one second there. She could swear they both looked like deer caught in headlights right then.

His partner, for instance, looked like he was about to scream; however, before he could even react, she blurted out, "I'm sorry!"

She backed off to the wall. He yelped and removed his arm from her so fast that she heard his joints crack. Then he did the same as her; but he did it too fast, and without noticing where he was exactly, he started falling, since he was the one laying on the edge of the bed, a chocked scream escaping his throat.

Pyrrha instinctively took hold of him and yanked his body in her direction. He also held her, trying to recover his balance and a solid place over the mattress. So now they were hugging again, breathing heavily because of the startle the avoided accident caused, yet now they were more awake than ever.

"Gah!" Jaune moved away from her again, but not as fast at the same time, careful not to repeat what had just happened seconds ago. "Sorry!"

"No, no! You're not the one who needs to apologize! I'm sorry!" Pyrrha sat up quickly, pressing her back against the wall.

'No!" He sat up too, as he waved his hands in front of himself in an attempt of an apologetic gesture. "It's f-fine! D-don't worry."

"No, I'm serious." She placed a hand on her forehead under her bangs, which were messy from the nap. This discussion was ridiculous. "I'm sorry. I should never have done… this." She vaguely gesticulated towards the bed.

His stunned expression morphed into something that she could swear was hurt.

"O-oh…" Jaune looked like a puppy that had just been kicked. "Don't worry, really… You were just really tired and… needed someone at the moment…" He looked down, avoiding her eyes. "I understand..."

Wait, what? He had interpreted her words all wrong. He thinks I regret it.

"N-no! That's not it at all!" She extended a hand in his direction. "That's not what I meant!"

He looked back at her; their eyes locked onto each other as she continued. "I just… Caused you all this trouble..." He opened his mouth to speak, but she placed her hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "I guess what I'm trying to say is… thank you. You did many things for me today when you didn't really need to… That… That was very sweet of you, Jaune." She felt the blush rising again; Pyrrha diverted her gaze, but focused on him again just as quickly. For his part, he didn't look upset anymore, just a little surprised. "I'm sorry." She said, this time with a laugh, not being able to contain herself from apologizing yet again. "I kind of made you waste the rest of your morning."

"O-oh!" He straightened his back. "Don't worry, really. I didn't have any plans… and I kinda wanted to take a nap, too?" He chuckled, shrugging his shoulders awkwardly next. "And no need to thank me. I-I… I would do everything all over again if it meant helping you…" Her heart skipped a beat. "I don't really have a… hm… a lot of opportunities to do that..." He then rubbed the back of his neck, as he usually did when he was embarrassed. Pyrrha always thought it was a cute gesture, but this time there was something different to it that she couldn’t quite put a finger on.

The room was mostly dark because of the closed curtains, so she was only able to notice that he was blushing - a lot, actually - because the deep shade of red had spread to his neck and ears too.

His words made her flush just like him, though what prompted the warmth to spread all over her body was the way he was looking at her. It was a soft look she had already seen on his face, yet never directed at her. In fact, the last time she recorded seeing this expression was months ago, before the Beacon Dance, when she overhead Jaune talking to Ren about Weiss.

Oh! Could it be…?

Pyrrha dared to hope.

She beamed. "Stop being so stubborn and let me thank you" She lightly punched him in the shoulder, to which he pretended to hurt - like he always did after being able to take the punches without falling on the floor, that is. They shared a chuckle, and their eyes met again, her breath instantly quickening. The look was still there, filling her with immense joy; and at that moment, she wondered if she could ever get used to it.

That, combined with the warmth his gaze provoked, made a rush of courage rush through her.

"Perhaps… we could get something to eat sometime? I'll pay! As a way to thank you." She blurted out before she lost the guts to do it.

Jaune once again seemed genuinely surprised. However, before she could even reconsider, he began, "Ah! Hmm… Y-yes! That's… that sounds really nice. Yes!" He was blushing even harder now. "B-but you don't need to pay for me…"

She rolled her eyes. "Sure…"

He sighed. "You're going to pay even if I insist you not to." It wasn't even a question.

"Maybe…" She shrugged, biting her tongue to hold back her laugh.

He pointed a finger at her. "We'll see about that."

Then Pyrrha released the laughter she was holding just now, Jaune joining right after her. Their exchange was so natural, the former present tension now gone; after all, he was her best friend, and if she was reading his signs correctly, maybe they could be something more soon.

Part of her couldn't believe what was happening; maybe she was still asleep and having one of those dreams where she had the courage to ask him on a date, and he accepted. But no. This was happening, for real. She felt her body relax, and a yawn escaped from her mouth almost without her noticing. She had forgotten how tired she still was.

"Would you… would you like to go back to sleep?" He asked, concern clear in his voice. "How's your headache?"

Pyrrha always thought his worried face - the one with his brows furrowed lightly and a tiny pout on his lips - was so cute. But now, combined with that look of his that made her go weak, it made her heart melt.

"I'm feeling better… But I'm still pretty tired." Another involuntary yawn escaped her mouth while she finished her sentence. "Going back to sleep does sound wonderful..."

"Yeah…" Also letting out a yawn as if to say he agreed with her, his probably influenced by her own.

Without even thinking, she allowed herself to collapse on the mattress again, a hum of contentment finding a way out of her lips. She saw that Jaune was startled by her fall, a blush darkening his face once again, by the corner of her eyes.

Oh, right! This is his bed.

"I-I'll let you rest." He made a motion to get up, but she noticed the obvious hesitation and his own slow movements; he was tired too.

"Wait!" She grabbed his wrist before he could get up from the mattress, a sense of dejavú rushing through her. Pyrrha wanted to say that she would move to her own bed, but as he turned around her heart screamed for her to change her mind. Maybe, just maybe, she could allow herself to be a little selfish from time to time.

"You can stay if you want…" She surprised herself with how small she sounded, so she quickly cleared her throat. "I noticed that it doesn't look like you slept well…"

He avoided her gaze, maybe this was a bad idea after all. "I was just thinking… about… stuff…" He chuckled. "And took me a while to fall asleep."

"I-I don't mind if you stay…" She tugged his sleeve lightly. "…If you still want to take a nap, that is."

Jaune just sat there on the edge of the bed, looking at her like she grew an extra head.

Pyrrha rolled her eyes, and, feeling the remnants of the courage she felt when asking him out, scooted closer to the wall. She patted the place on the mattress in front of her, inviting him to join his partner.

"Hmm… Are you sure about that? I don't want to bother you or anything…" His genuinely concerned voice, along with the detected spark of hope engraved on it, made her sure of her decision; especially when the sentence ended with a repressed yawn.

"Yes, Jaune, I'm sure." She smiled as bright as she could muster.

He looked around, a hand running through his hair and face. "Fine..." He groaned, but a trace of a smile could be seen under his hand. "But… hmm… can you let me go for a bit? I need to do something…"

"Oh! Of course! I'm sorry!" She let him go quickly, feeling her face heating up.

He shook his head at her apology. "I just want to take his off so it doesn't get crumpled…" He began undoing the buttons of his jacket. "And I don't want to have to wake up earlier tomorrow looking for the iron…" She hungrily followed each of his movements to remove the cloth with her eyes, her face exploding with heat. Was this some kind of payback? "And it's kinda hot in here…" He rolled the sleeves of his shirt up, and now she just felt like she was about to combust. What had he just said? She wondered if he noticed the implication on his words; and confirmed that, yes, he probably did after a few seconds, when she saw the tip of his ears turn red. This boy was going to be the end of her if she felt like this only by just watching him remove his jacket… While she was laying on his bed… With half of her own clothes scattered around the floor, and with him about to join her in the mattress. She wondered if he had noticed all the little things on their whole situation that made it look anything but platonic.

Because she did now. And she couldn't un-see them.

Pyrrha almost didn't notice when he laid down beside her, putting a respectable distance between them until she saw his eyes staring back at her own.

She avoided his eyes, feeling too self-conscious, all the while looking for something else to focus on; and, nope, that was his mouth and staring at was not a good idea right now. Then her eyes trailed lower to his neck, where she noticed a black dot - a little birthmark - and for some strange reason, she had to contain her hand from moving on its own accord to touch it.

All of this only lasted a few seconds; so before it could get awkward, she decided to say something, "What were you thinking about?" She looked back to his eyes, deciding it was a mostly safe place to focus on. The worst thing that could happen was for her to drown in those blue oceans of his.

"What do you mean?" He whispered, sounding a little hoarse.

"You said… you said you weren't able to sleep before because you were thinking about some… stuff. What was it about?"

Jaune averted his gaze and licked his lips. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears while she followed the movement. "I… I-it was nothing."

"Right", she knew that when he acted like this – his voice cracking the way it just did -, he was lying. Her voice softened, "You know you can tell me, right?"

"I know..." He signed; his determined expression surprised her when he raised his gaze to meet hers. "And I will. One day... Just… not now, I'm still figuring some things out…"

Something about his answer filled her with hope and anticipation, making butterflies flutter in her stomach. So she just responded with a smile, which made his face flush and him to look down embarrassed. It was adorable, and she found out that she quite liked making him blush.

"W-well! G-goodnight!" He stuttered, his eyes quickly shutting.

Pyrrha let out a chuckle before doing the same.

It wasn't even night.

The next time she woke up, she could only focus on how their legs ended up tangled again, and that his arm was around her once more.

Her whole body was vibrating in sync with her heartbeat. Jaune was so close that if she moved an inch forward their noses would touch. She shifted in place a bit, enjoying their proximity, his warmth, his scent of homemade soap, letting out a pleased sigh to the sensation of pure comfort that being held by him provoked. Unfortunately, her movements caused him to stir too. He was waking up. Pyrrha blushed, backing off a bit; she did not want to overwhelm him with her closeness.

He opened his eyes slowly and moved the hand that was over her waist to rub it over them. When he noticed that she was awake too, he only seemed to be a little embarrassed - in contrast with the shock from the previous time. "Hmm… hey.” Jaune whispered.

"Hello." She answered in the same tone.

"How are you feeling?" Her heart did a double-jump then at how the first thing he did as he woke up was to check up on her.

She stretched her limbs as much as she could in the small space. "I'm feeling great." Her body wasn't feeling like it was crushed in a blender and her head didn't feel like it was going to explode anymore, so, great. Then she felt her stomach rumble. "Just a little hungry." She looked around. "What time is it?"

"I actually have no idea." He laughed. "But I think it's already past lunchtime…"

"Already?!" Her stomach grumbled again with the mention of lunch. She placed a hand over it. "I think I really need to eat something now."

"Oh, right! You just nibbled on a piece of toast when you got here and didn't eat anything else!" He sat on the bed, and she was forced to repress a complaint from escaping at the distance that suddenly existed between them. "C'mon. Let's find something for you to eat or your headache might come back."

The need to eat spoke stronger than her desire to stay in his bed, though. So she got up too, but a little too quickly; so when she raised herself up, her body complained about the sudden shift of balance, making the world spin. "Wha-"

She felt hands on her shoulders. "Are you ok?" His tone dropped with worry.

"I'm fine" She chuckled. "I just got up too fast. But thank you, Jaune."

"Right." Jaune didn't sound convinced, so he offered a hand for her to get up. "I think it's best if we look for something to eat at the cafeteria. Going to Vale could take a while."

"You're right.” She blushed as she took his outstretched hand, noticing that, when he said going to Vale, he was probably referring to the agreement they made between naps.

He pulled her up gently, but the residual feeling of dizziness from before still made her stumbled forward. He was there to catch her by the arms. "Wow there!"

She groaned in frustration; even after sleeping, her body still felt a little slow.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine." Her answer came out sharper than she intended. She realized he probably would think her change in tone had to do with him; so before he could react, she hasted to apologize first thing. "I'm sorry" The embarrassment washed over her. She couldn't help but think how she faced worse things on a battlefield, and how she had learned hunters were supposed to endure a lot more stress. But a few days without sleep could pretty much cause her downfall. Her mother would be disappointed.

She sighed. "It just feels like, even after all of this and the fact that I'm feeling better, my body is still not awake yet." She let out a huff. "It's a little frustrating, actually."

"Hey. Don't apologize." His tone was soft; she looked up at him at that, his gentle gaze making the blood rush to her cheeks. "You just spent two whole days without time to rest. And I bet you haven't eaten a decent meal in… I don't even know how long. I would be surprised if you just got up like a little nap solved everything." He blushed. "N-not that I'm doubting your potential or anything! It's not even possible for me to do that! Y-you're the strongest person I know!" He took a deep breath in the middle of the rambling. "But even you need to take a break from time to time."

A small gasp escaped her lips, her heart filled with warmth. "Thank you, Jaune." She beamed at him. He never placed her on a pedestal anyway, so she knew that if there was one person she didn't mind seeing her in this state, it was Jaune. Pyrrha probably would have hugged him if he wasn't still holding her by her upper arms.

"D-don't mention it.” His blush darkened when he realized that he was still supporting her, so he let go quickly only to scratch the back of his neck. "Should… Ahn… Should we go?" He pointed at the door.

"Ah! Yes! But just let me get ready first." She looked down at herself, still wearing half of her uniform, and the rest of it laying on the floor.

"Oh. Right. Go ahead, I'll wait." He placed his hands in his pockets and stood there while she tied her hair back into the usual ponytail and put on her jacket and shoes, deciding not to deal with socks right now.

"Let's go?" She asked once she was done.

"Let's."

He grabbed the doorknob to open the door; not even considering that the difference in the luminosity might be screeching - since they had the curtains closed on the room. So when the outside light filled the space, they both squinted their eyes, blinded by the afternoon brightness; groaning in comic synchrony.

"Okay, I can understand why Pyrrha might still be tired…"

It was the next morning. They were waiting for class to begin, already seated at their usual desk, when Nora suddenly started the interrogation, "…But what about you, Jaune?"

"Hm?" He just blinked slowly at her in response. Pyrrha didn't even show a sign that she had acknowledged the question.

"I'm saying that you both look like a wreck!"

"Nora, let them be."

"But Ren, look at them!" She waved her hands to the pair.

Jaune was with his head placed over his crossed arms, fighting to keep his eyes open. Pyrrha was just staring off into space, dark spots under her eyes.

Ren just shook his head and went back to reading a book.

"So, what happened?!" Nora asked again, not letting go of the matter as easily as her partner did.

Jaune flinched at her tone of voice; however, after a small groan, he started. "I… we… just took a nap…" He yawned.

"A nap…" Pyrrha agreed, her tone of voice indicating that she was daydreaming about doing just that.

"A really long nap yesterday…" He blinked, taking such a long time to open his eyes again that Nora thought he had fallen asleep. But her suspicion was proved wrong when he continued. "So when it was time to sleep last night… I just couldn't even shut my eyes."

"Hmhm..." Was Pyrrha's addition to his explanation.

Nora opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by their Professor arriving and calling for the students' attention and silence. So she just narrowed her eyes, pointed two fingers at them, and then right after to the duo, before turning her head forward, still suspicious of their tale.

It was halfway through the class and the teacher's speech sounded like gibberish to the sleepy partners. The only coherent thought Jaune could think of was how yesterday at this same of the day he was sound asleep on his bed. He chanced a glance at Pyrrha, who was staring intensely at the blackboard ahead of them, where the teacher was writing topics about the subject; but her eyes were totally glazed and without any focus whatsoever.

An idea formed in the boy's mind then.

"Hey, Pyrrha." He whispered. Scooting closer to her on the bench, he poked her in the arm. She jumped on her seat, startled by his touch.

It took a few seconds, but, eventually, she turned her head lazily in his direction. "What?"

"Do you… want to head to the dorms after class?" He yawned. "To take a nap?"

She let out a breath and copied his position, letting her arms fall on the table and placing her head on them. "Oh, yes… That's…" Now it was her turn to yawn. "That sounds grand."

He closed his eyes and nodded. "Hmhm…"

"But let's make it shorter this time." She added.

He let out a weak chuckle. "Totally…"

"And maybe we could head to Vale to eat after." Pyrrha stretched her arms in the table. "After all, I still have to thank you."

"You could thank me by carrying me to the dorms this time." Jaune said without even thinking.

"Ha. Ha. Sure." He could practically hear her eye roll.

"I'm serious." He laughed.

"And I didn't say no." His partner let out a small giggle.

Pyrrha changed her position as she raised her head from the table and placed her chin over her palms. "But first…" She let out a sigh. "…We have to go through this." She made a floppy gesture towards the front of the classroom.

He hummed in agreement and turned his gaze forward.

The lecture of their teacher and the voice of their classmates turned once again into no more than a fuzzy background noise just a few seconds later. They both were too tired too fully comprehend what just happened in their brief exchange; there was no second guesses, the sleepiness towered over any embarrassment.

But if there was one thing that they both knew for sure, it was that they couldn't wait for class to end.