Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY, nor the idea that created this story. All credit for the idea goes to my friend Cardshark92, (who you can find on my favorite authors list) who came up with the idea, more info after the chapter.

Note: This is not an OC x Harem fanfic. A harem is when the male protagonist has a plethora of women, all romantically involved with him. That is not the case here. None of the following chapters and situations happen due to romantic interest, everything here is strictly platonic friendship (or him just being used).

Beacon Academy. Vale's most prestigious academy for those wishing to become Huntsmen and Huntresses. A good a school as any to spend four years living in. Or, at least that's what's supposed to happen.

See, students at Beacon are put into teams of four. Additionally, the first person they make eye contact with during the school's initiation will be their partner for the next four years. Four teenagers living together for four years, in the same dorm room. Many times there's at least one or two girls in a team with two boys, sometimes even one boy on a team of girls. Sounds like a dream come true for most guys, right?

Unfortunately, that's not the case for me. See, as it sometimes happens, there's an odd number of students that will attend Beacon. And sometimes teams will be uneven, or there'll even be students who don't get a team, or a partner.

As it just so happens, I'm that unlucky guy this year. No team, no partner. With no other available teams open, I was unfortunately forced to go it alone. For the next four years. Now, I'm an average student. I'm nothing special, I don't stand out in a crowd, I don't even LOOK the slightest bit special. You'd never notice me in a group.

Why is all this information seemingly important? Well, it's because of my current situation. See, sometimes teams and partners become MORE than just friends. OK, make that a lot of the time. As such, a single, lone, male student, with no team or partner ends up becoming the attention of every girl who's THAT desperate.

Or in my case, desperate for someone to cuddle up to when they're scared, lonely, cold, etc. Unfortunately, this makes ME their prime target, due to lack of partner who'd disapprove of a girl dragging me off to cuddle with. Normally any sane, healthy teenage boy would love this attention. Just one problem; the girls in Beacon fit into three categories:

Strong.

Scary.

Crazy.

Yeah, when it's like that, the thrill tends to die out real fast. It's not entirely all bad though, sometimes the situation is nice, and some good comes out of it, for the other party involved. But enough explaining, let me just show you.

While I wasn't on a team, I still wound up interacting with other students and teams over the first semester at Beacon. In particular were two teams, RWBY and JNPR. I don't know why, but they really stood out for some reason. Could it have something to do with the fact that RWBY is led by a fifteen year old little girl, who was admitted into Beacon two years early? Was it due to the fact that Pyrrha Nikos herself was in Team JNPR?

I have no idea, but I felt drawn to both teams nonetheless. I got to know them a little, and they were kind enough to accept a teamless average joe such as myself into their little community circle. They're an interesting bunch, and I find myself enjoying the times I spend with them. However, I end up learning something new every time I see them.

This was one such time. It was a cold day. Really cold. A storm had just hit out of nowhere, complete with huge flashes of lightning, and loud crashes of thunder. I was walking in the halls, when the three older girls that made up Team RWBY came around the corner, sans Ruby, which was a little odd.

"Hey girls, what's up?" I greeted them cheerfully. When they returned my greeting, they did it halfheartedly, as though distracted.

"Where's Ruby?" I asked, and that got their full attention, as well as answered my question about where the little mini-reaper was.

"She's hiding," Yang said simply. I raised an eyebrow, and motioned for her to elaborate, which she thankfully did, "Ruby doesn't like storms. The thunder and lightning scare her, and she always takes off at full speed at some random place to hide, until the storm's over."

Ah, that explained it. While she IS the leader of their team, and a gifted fighter, I keep forgetting that she's only fifteen.

"Want me to help look for her?"

Yang smiled, and readily accepted my offer. When I inquired about where Ruby would most likely be hiding, Yang only shrugged, saying that it'd be somewhere she'd probably feel safe. Well, Beacon's a big school, so that could be anywhere. This wasn't going to be easy.

I wandered the school for maybe an hour or two, calling Ruby's name and asking everyone I came across if they had seen her. No such luck. It's not easy, looking for someone who's scared and in hiding, especially in a huge academy.

I checked the kitchens, the library, the infirmary, several classrooms, and briefly met up with her teammates at their dorm to see if they had any luck. None whatsoever. I went back to my search, determined to find her. It was because of Ruby's kind nature and ready acceptance of people that I was able to make friends with teams RWBY and JNPR, and I wasn't going to leave her huddled somewhere scared if I could help it.

I decided to check one last place before giving up on searching inside the building. If she wasn't there, she wasn't anywhere inside; The school's smithy.

It wasn't used much, as most students forged their weapons at one of the many smaller academies instead. But the higher ups had decided that a smithy was needed for students to upgrade, repair, or forge new weapons. Being a weapons nut, Ruby had to be there.

I opened the door, and flipped the light on. The room was empty, but I went in anyway, closing the door behind me.

"Ruby?" I called out softly, hoping not to startle the girl. The last thing I needed was scaring her and making her run off somewhere. Or worse, attack me!

I was greeted with silence, and sighed. Looks like she wasn't in here after all. As I turned to leave, a loud crash of thunder shook the windows, and I heard a muffled "Eeep!" from somewhere within the room. Turning, I looked around cautiously, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound.

"Ruby, is that you?" I called out softly again, and this time, a very faint whimpering answered me. I looked around the room, confused. Where was she? I checked the cupboards that held the materials and tools needed for forging weapons, I even checked the forge itself, just in case she had crawled into it.

And there she was, huddled up in her cloak, shaking like a flame buffeted by a fierce wind, Crescent Rose in its gun form, clutched close to her.

"Ruby." I said softly, standing just the smallest bit away from her. I didn't dare reach out and touch her, not in her state. I didn't want her accidentally attacking me, and the presence of her scythe made that possibility all the more real.

After calling her name a few more times, she finally glanced over her shoulder at me, and I smiled warmly, and slowly reached a hand out.

"Hey, it's OK now. Why don't you come out, and I'll help you get back to your dorm. Your sister's been looking for you for hours now."

What happened next I did not expect. Ruby stared at me for a few seconds, before launching herself at me full speed, easily knocking me off my feet. I lay on my back, winded, and looked down. Ruby was firmly attached to me, one arm wrapped around my body, the other around her scythe like it was a teddybear.

"Uh, Ruby?" I asked tentatively, and her grip on me tightened.

"C-can we stay like this for a while?"

Well, that made my brain stop working properly for a minute. Don't judge me. An, admittedly, adorable girl only two years younger than you tackles you to the ground, and holds herself close to you with an iron grip? And WANTS to stay in that position for a while? Your brain would shutdown too.

Before I could think of anything to say, Ruby continued speaking;

"W-when I was little, and a storm would come along...m-my mother would hold me close and comfort me."

Oh. Oh. Well, that explained this situation then. I thought about my own mother, off doing something in a different kingdom entirely, and I felt a pang in my heart.

"Of course." I said, smiling at the top of her head, and drawing her close to me. Her shaking slowly stopped, and her breathing slowed. She still tensed up whenever a rumble of thunder happened, but she was slowly calming down.

Aaand falling asleep. I carefully tilted my head at an angle to see her face, and yep, she was asleep. To be honest, with all the walking I did, I was feeling tired too. With my free arm, I took out my scroll and sent Yang a message.

Found Ruby. She's currently passed out, clutching me like a vice. We're in the school's smithy if you want to come get her. Please don't hurt me.

Closing my scroll, I reluctantly let my eyes close. I had enough time to hope that Yang wouldn't outright kill me when she arrived before I passed out, Ruby nestled at my side.

Author's Notes: So, this is the result of a friend of mine making a post in a RWBY group on Facebook, talking about how it was cold and windy where he lives, perfect cuddling weather. He then went on to make a list of the girls in the show, and how they'd cuddle up with you. I was given permission by him to write out a story from the prompts, so here it is!

This is Ruby's chapter from the list. As usual with all my works, things escalated quickly from the original idea, which was "Ruby uses Crescent Rose as a teddy bear, keeping one arm wrapped around her weapon and one wrapped around your body". For some reason, I wanted to make her scared and wanting comfort like she used to get from her mother. Probably a bad idea, but we'll see.

Until I can no longer get away with it, the main character will not have a name. Also, this is one of the few times he's willing to cuddle. Most of the time, he is unwilling. VERY unwilling. I'm sure many of you will be wondering, why make an unnamed OC for this story? Well, it's because it works better that way with what I have in mind.

It'd be easy to make it Jaune, or Ren, or any of the other boys from the show, but that's overdone, doesn't fit, and more difficult to write. As for the guy being unnamed for as long as I can keep it, it just feels more natural to me.