Disclaimer: I do not own VK. If I did, it would be yaoi, and Kaname would always top Zero xP Sadly, it belongs to the great Matsuri Hino-sama.

I hate to think about it. The you of now, and the you of tomorrow, will never be the same as the you from years ago. The you who I loved...

"Zero-kun!", Shizuka called out to the silver-haired boy who was about to pass by her shop.

"Ah, hello granny Shizuka!", Zero walked over to the old lady and was met with a smack to the back of his head.

"Boy, you must be stupid", Kaien laughed from inside the house, "you know how psycho that woman gets when she's reminded that she's old." Zero laughed as he watched Shizuka give her husband a whack on the back of his head.

"Oh! By the way", Zero asked, "why did you call me over here?"

Shizuka tilted her head to the side. Though her age was above fifty, tilting her head so innocently made her look even younger than she already looked, "I just wanted to say hi."

"Really auntie, you're so weird sometimes", Zero was about to laugh, but quickly stopped when he noticed some women from the village looking at him and whispering.

"Hey, isn't that the Kiryuu boy who was supposed to marry a lord?

"Yeah, but then I heard he was jilted at the altar."

"No, I heard he wanted a man with a better position, like a duke!"

"Idiots, the truth is that his partner was sleeping around, and that poor boy was crushed and ran away from the wedding."

"Really? Oh! Was that partner of his the lord who recently got married to a rich duchess?"

"Can you foolish women just shut up?", Shizuka yelled angrily, causing the gossipers to scamper to different directions.

"Thanks auntie", Zero smiled sadly, "I think I should go now." Zero walked away, down the cobblestoned street and turned round a corner to his house.

"I feel sorry for him", Kaien sighed sadly as he hugged his wife from behind, "he's still not ready to move on from him."

"That's nonsense", Shizuka muttered angrily, "the sooner he gets over him the better, and the only possible reason why he can't get over that man is not because he still loves him, but because of the stupid gossips in this town who like to remind Zero about him!" Shizuka glared at some of the women walking past her store, she recognized them as the ones who were talking about Zero.

How much do you love me? More than you'll ever know.I don't believe you.

"Zero-sama, you have a letter", Maria informed him as he came through the door.

"Not again, doesn't he understand the meaning of no?", Zero sighed and ran a hand through his hair as his maid gave his shoulder a soothing pat.

"Don't worry Zero-sama, sooner or later, he'll realize he's straight and give up on you!", she said encouragingly, Zero however, just groaned and opened the letter.

"You are invited to Kuran Rido's annual garden party", Zero read out, "formal wear necessary, p.s. Zero I love you", Zero's eye twitched in annoyance, "that stupid bastard!"

Maria giggled and snatched the letter from Zero's grip before he could rip it.

"Ichiru-nii we have a new letter to add to the collection!", she shouted as she ran to the kitchen where her brother was. Zero heard Maria gasp and ran to the kitchen.

"Hey what's wro-", Zero stopped in mid-sentence as he saw Ichiru and Sayori on the kitchen table, "um, I'll back away slowly now, and take Maria with me", Zero mumbled uncomfortably while his maid and butler blushed and tried to straighten themselves up.

Zero sighed as he closed the door to the kitchen and then looked at Maria who was smirking at him, "how much do I owe you?", he asked her with a sigh.

"Nah, I don't want your money Zero-sama", Maria grinned devilishly, "instead, why don't I make you do something more interesting...like making you attend Rido-sama's party!"

Zero glared at her, already knowing that he wouldn't be able to escape, 'but he might be there', Zero's fists clenched at the thought.

Maria's face fell when she realized what Zero was thinking about, "ah, but Kaname-sama might be there, so if Zero-sama really doesn't want to g-"

"I'll go", Zero cut her off, "everyone needs to stop trying to protect me, I'm fine now!"

Maria's grin returned, "yay! I'll call Aido-sama now and ask him if he'd like to come with you, hmm, he'll probably want to bring his cousin along too."

"Who's his cousin?", Zero asked curiously.

"Really now Zero-sama!", Maria exclaimed, "Aido-sama is your best friend and you don't know his cousin's name?"

Zero just looked at her impatiently, waiting for an answer.

"It's Kain-sama, he's...well he's-"

"a friend of Kaname's", Zero finished for her.

'When will my life and the people in it, stop revolving around you?',Zero wondered sadly.

A/N: This sort of just, wrote itself in my head. I'm pretty sure when I made this up though, the heroine was female, but then I just kinda...switched the characters with VK characters XD

I chose an olden day sort of setting, I have no idea why since I'm bad at writing that kind of setting, and the title for this was actually supposed to be Sometime's it's too late because I was going to make sure that Zero ended up with someone else, but...lols, you never know.

By the way, Zero and Ichiru are not twins, or even brothers in this fic. Ichiru is Maria's brother and Zero's butler. To help settle any confusion, there will be a character list and description at the end of each chapter.

Sorry for the OOCness!

Character List: (in order of appearance/mention)

Cross Shizuka: Wife of Cross Kaien, owns a medicinal herb store, acts like a mother to Zero.

Kiryuu Zero: Ex-fiancee of Kuran Kaname, parents died when he was young, has the title of Earl.

Cross Kaien: Husband of Cross Shizuka, helps his wife with her store, acts like a father to Zero.

Kurenai Maria: Younger sister of Kurenai Ichiru, was picked up of the street by Zero, maid of the Kiryuu house.

Kuran Rido: An agressive suitor of Kiryuu Zero, is in love with Zero and always tries to pursue him, has the title of Duke.

Kurenai Ichiru: Older brother of Kurenai Maria, was picked up from the streets along with his sister, butler of the Kiryuu house.

Wakaba Sayori: Love interest of Kurenai Ichiru, parents were servants to Zero's parents, childhood friend of Zero's and a maid of the Kiryuu house.

Kuran Kaname: Ex-fiancee of Kiryuu Zero, cheated on his partner for reasons unknown, has the title of Duke.

Hanabusa Aido: A friend of Kaname and Zero's best friend, has the title of Baron.

Akatsuki Kain: A friend of Kaname, cousin of Hanabusa Aido, has the title of Baron.