A/N: 3 times Clover hugged Qrow, and one time Qrow hugged Clover. Just to clarify, in this fic, they're not dating quite yet.

1.)

Qrow was sitting in the cafeteria, having breakfast with his nieces, and Weiss and Blake.

"Hey, guys, mind if I join you?" Clover asked, approaching the table they were sitting at.

"Not at all!" Yang replied.

"Go ahead and take a seat." Ruby said, pointing to the chair next to Qrow.

Before Qrow even had the chance to say anything, Clover gladly takes the seat next to him.

"Good morning, Qrow." Clover said smiling brightly.

"G-good morning." Qrow stammered, blushing.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his nieces fist bump. They clearly did this on purpose knowing about his crush on the younger man. During breakfast, Clover chatted while Qrow stared at his lips, listening to only half of what he was saying.

"Clover, come on, we have to patrol the wall." Elm said.

"Okay, I'm coming." Clover replied.

"See you later, Qrow." he said, giving Qrow a one-armed side hug.

He gives Qrow's bicep a light squeeze and a pat before getting up to leave. The whole time, Qrow was blushing and when Clover was gone, the girls were giving him goofy grins and smirks.

"Aww, aren't the two of you just adorable." Ruby giggled.

"W-what are you talking about!?" Qrow stuttered, his face growing redder.

"We're talking about your obviously massive crush on Clover." Yang snickered.

"You gotta ask him out. It's about time you put yourself out there." Ruby told her uncle.

"You're all being ridiculous, he's not even into me like that." Qrow argued.

"Pffft, HA! You're kidding, right!?" Blake snorted.

"The man looks at you like you hung the sun, the moon, and all the stars in the sky." Weiss added.

"He is definitely one smitten kitten." Blake agreed.

"I...I-I....Arg, whatever, ya little nosy brats." Qrow muttered leaving the table.

As he left, he heard the four teenaged girls giggling and chuckling.

2.)

Qrow was not in a good mood at the moment. His nerves were shot and his hands wouldn't stop trembling. He was having an anxiety attack due to withdrawal.

"I know it sucks now, but it'll all be worth it in the end when you're no longer a burden to your family." Qrow quietly told himself, pressing his palms to his eyes.

"Qrow? Hey, are you okay?" Clover asked, touching Qrow's shoulder.

The sudden touch makes Qrow flinch.

"S-sorry." Qrow breathed.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." Clover replied.

"Is something wrong? You don't look so well." he asked concerned.

"Oh, it's nothing, it's just an alcohol withdrawal induced anxiety attack...nothing for you to worry about." Qrow said brushing off Clover's concern.

Clover frowns uncomfortably and for a minute, Qrow was worried he had said or done something wrong.

"You know you don't have to downplay your feelings for other people's convenience. It's okay of you're not okay." Clover told him.

"...umm...th-thanks..." Qrow replied nervously.

His hands were still shaking and he was now starting to scratch at the underside of his forearms.

"Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?" Clover asked shyly.

"Well, my nieces would sometimes hug me to make me feel better." Qrow answered.

"Then can I hug you? Only if you're comfortable with it." Clover requested.

Qrow wasn't sure what to say, so he just nodded. Then, Clover pulls Qrow into his arms and hugs him gently. Being in the soldier's warm embrace made Qrow's anxiety melt away.

3.)

The mission started off simple, but soon became not so simple. Qrow and Clover were surrounded by Grimm.

"Should we call for backup?" Clover asked.

"Nahh, we got it covered." Qrow replied.

They did not have it covered, not at all. There was just too much for the two of them to handle. Qrow gets his aura shattered then gets backhanded by the large paw of a Grimm, knocking him over the edge of a cliff.

"Qrow!" Clover shouted, watching as his friend fell, unable to reach him due to the Grimm in his way.

He takes out the rest of the Grimm then runs over to where Qrow had fallen, dropping to his knees at the edge of the cliff. Clover peers over the edge to see if Qrow had used his scythe to catch himself on the side of the cliff...but there was no sign of him or his weapon.

"Oh gods, no." Clover gasped, covering his mouth with his hand.

An overwhelming feeling of grief and loss settles in Clover's chest, causing it to ache.

"No, Qrow can't be gone, he....oh gods." Clover cried, tears running down his cheeks.

As he wept into his hands, Clover barely paid any attention to the black bird that came up from the abyss that the man he loved fell to his death in. All he was aware of was that the bird had flown off somewhere behind him.

"You alright there, lucky charm?" Qrow's voice came from behind.

Clover whips his head around at almost break-neck speed and sees Qrow standing a few feet behind him, alive and in one piece. He had no idea how Qrow was standing there, but he didn't really care, his friend (hopefully more one day) was alive.

"I guess I probably should've told ya I could turn into a bir--" Qrow was saying before being interrupted by Clover suddenly crashing into him, hugging him tightly.

Qrow stood there frozen as Clover clung desperately to him, burying his face into his shoulder.

"Please don't scare me like that again. I don't think I can take losing you for real." Clover sniffled pulling out of the hug.

The Ace Op collects himself, wiping his eyes with the back of his wrist, smoothing out his vest, and picking up his weapon from where he had discarded it.

"Let's get back to base." Clover said, hooking Kingfisher to his belt.

On their way back, Qrow could still faintly feel the tightness of Clover's hug in his chest....or was that feeling something else?

+1)

Other than patrolling and missions, Qrow hasn't really seen much of Clover lately. Before his social absence, Clover had told Qrow that he had a lot of meetings and paperwork coming up.

"I just hope he's not spreading himself too thin." Qrow mumbled, entering Clover's office.

Upon entering, Qrow saw Clover slumped over his desk asleep, drooling onto one of the stacks of paperwork he was working on. He walks over to his friend and shakes his shoulder gently.

"Huh? Wha....?" Clover grunted, sitting up abruptly.

Qrow could barely hold back a laugh as a single piece of paper was stuck to Clover's cheek by the drool.

"Oh, hey Qrow." Clover said once he realized who was standing next to him, smiling.

"Hey, Cloves." Qrow chuckled, peeling the piece of paper off of the younger man's cheek.

Clover yawns, stretching his back.

"I think you should take a break, at least for an hour or two." Qrow suggested.

"I'm almost done actually." Clover replied, trying to force himself to stay awake.

"Dude, come on. It can wait just long enough for you to catch some Z's." Qrow insisted.

"No! I have to do my part, or else what use am I?" Clover said yawning.

"Woah, there." Qrow said turning Clover's desk chair towards him and crouching to his level.

"You, Clover Ebi, do more than enough things around here." he told Clover firmly.

Qrow huffs out a sigh, placing his hands on Clover's shoulders.

"You, my friend, are the type of guy that is always willing to help anyone and everyone at the drop of a hat. But sometimes people will take advantage of that and work you like a mule. You can't let 'em do that." Qrow said more gently.

Clover sighs and sags in his chair like a deflated balloon, although his shoulders still held a little bit of visible tension.

"You're right." Clover agreed, resting his elbows on his knees and places his head in his hands.

That was when Qrow finally took the initiative to hug Clover first. After wrapping his arms around him, one of Qrow's hands slide up to cup the back of Clover's head, fingers threaded through his short brown hair.

"What's this?" Clover asked.

"A hug...thought you could use one." Qrow shrugged, smiling a bit.

"Mmm, right again." Clover hummed, leaning into Qrow's embrace.

A few seconds later, Clover goes heavy in Qrow's arms, having fallen asleep. Qrow didn't have the heart to wake him so he just pushes the rolly-chair over to the couch Clover has in his office and lays him there. Then he takes off his cape and covers Clover with it like a blanket. He makes a promise to himself, as he gives Clover's forehead a light kiss, to ask the man out once he's had enough rest.