A/N: FINALLY! LAST CHAPTER! LOL I know last time I said there was like 3 more chapter's left. I have no clue why I said that when I knew there was only one…that's what I get for staying up late to finish that chapter….so anyways I also know my chapter from, like 5-14 took forever to update. Sorry! Thank you everyone for staying with me this long XD But at last I can finally focus on one story. Please Enjoy the very last chapter of Bruised but Not Destroyed ! :D

IMPORTANT! I forgot to mention the story is also supernatural. So it should be hurt/comfort/romance/supernatural. I didn't think about it because there isn't really a lot of supernatural elements in the story but a few but it is very important!

CHAP SUMMARY: What's wrong? Where are they?" Zero asked, extremely worried now. He heard footsteps outside the door, and quickly looked to see who was coming in. A man with a low ponytail poked his head in the door, obviously his doctor. He came in the room with that 'please-sit-down' look on his face. One more man followed him in, and Zero recognized him as being one of the other detectives that had come to the library yesterday.

"Kiryu-kun, we can fill you in on what happened if you'll just sit down please," his doctor asked. The detective looked at Zero with some trepidation, and he almost fainted right then and there. If either of them had died, he didn't know if he would be able to take it.

Oh and Fan-fiction keeps taking off my line breaks so sorry for that.

CHAPTER: Zero say's, I'll love you even in death

/

Staying quiet seemed to be the hardest thing Zero ever had to do in his life. If he couldn't calm down, Rose would feel even more distressed and her crying would be audible from the hallway, and Zero couldn't have that. But though his mind screamed at him to be brave, like Kaname had asked, his body just wouldn't listen. Small whimpers kept escaping Rose despite Zero's best efforts to keep her calm. A draft of cold air hit him from beneath the crack in the linen closet door, and he shivered. Shushing another achy whimper that he could feel shacking Rose's frame, he decided to do something, take action. He was not a damsel in distress damnit!

He tried not to think of what was happening downstairs. He hadn't heard Kaname's voice, and though Zero was certain that at least one person had been shot, he couldn't tell who, and he couldn't tell if Kaname or his father were dead or not.

Though, Kaname is a pureblood. There is no way that someone could kill….

Another sudden gunshot made Zero jerk where he lay, and he couldn't stop the whimper that escaped Rose's throat. A man's harsh cry and some laughter brought sudden panic to Rose as she began to struggle and squirm in Zero's arms. There was a sudden loud shout, and Zero thought he recognized the voice, but he couldn't remember where. Two more pops signaled the blasts of a handgun, but it was another few seconds before something fell down. Another yell, and this time he recognized it as being the sheriff. The sickening feeling in his stomach lifted, and he waited with bated breath to hear Kaname say it was okay to come out.

"Should I go look for Kaname?"Zero asked himself in his head. Just as he was attempting to get up from the cramped closet floor he heard footsteps attempting to race quietly up the stairs, but the house was too quiet for anyone to make it upstairs without raising a squeaky ruckus. Zero wanted to call out to what he was certain was the sheriff, but Kaname had made him promise to stay there and be quiet, so he didn't give in to the urge.

Zero heard the bathroom door open, and the heavy, nervous breathing of someone whose adrenalin was up. He could relate because his heart was pounding anew, and it was gut-wrenching not to tell the sheriff that he was there, after all, he wasn't quite sure it was him.

"Kiryu-kun?" he heard. The voice was so similar to the sheriff's. It sounded a bit warped, though, and he wondered if the scary excitement had changed his voice. "Kiryu-kun, are you in here? It's Sheriff Yagari...you can come out now, but be quiet." he whispered. Zero sighed out of relief. Finally he could come out of the damn closet.

"In here, sheriff!" He softly called. Zero heard fumbling as if Yagari were having trouble finding the knob, and then the door opened. He was decked out in his sheriff uniform and brandishing about his firearm, but Zero couldn't see his face too well. He reached out to grab Yagari's hand with the other that wasn't cradling Rose against his chest. Yagari took hold of Zero wrist firmly and Zero had never been so relieved in his life.

Yagari yanked hard on his wrist, bringing him swiftly out of the closet. Zero was a little taken aback from the amount of force Yagari used on him, but didn't say anything of it. The bathroom was unbelievably cold, though. Zero could guess that several people had simply left the outside doors open, letting in the frigid blizzard air, but the temperature of the bathroom was enough to make him want to huddle into himself. When Zero was almost to his feet, he felt something cold and metal slapped onto his wrist, and heard the telltale clinks of handcuffs being applied. Now sorely confused, he narrowed his eyes at the sheriff.

"What's going on, sheriff?" He had put away his gun, and instead of answering him, Yagari forced him to turn around so that he could try to handcuff his other wrist behind his back but was having obvious complications with Rose still cradled to Zero's chest who was now growling in warning. Now breathless with dread, a horrible suspicion dawned upon him. "Sh-sheriff?"

"Shut up, you slut! If you make another sound, I'll blow your head off!" he snarled. Zero suspicions slammed into place, and a feeling of dread and betrayal lodged itself at the base of his throat.

"Oh, and by the way." Yagari smiled hauntingly. "I'm not Yagari." He breathed next to Zero's ear.

Zero looked into the man's face and with sudden smog of black smoke, a new man suddenly stood in Yagari's place. He smiled down at Zero, fangs fully extended.

Zero's eyes widen in confusion and hurt.

"Oh I know what you're thinking." He laughed without humor. "But I assure you that I'm not your precious Kaname." He practically spate the words in disgust, obvious disdain in his voice. His eyes glowed red as his transformation completed. "Hello, Zero. My name is Kuran Rido, welcome to the family." He laughed, this time louder and with purpose.

There was no mistaking it, though. It was the voice from yesterday. He wasn't sure if it was his true voice or if it was simply his angry voice, but it was the voice of the man who had attacked him at school.

And he was a pureblooded vampire, a relative of Kaname's judging by the last name and the purebloods last statement.

Zero felt like throwing up.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o-0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o—0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"What the hell is wrong with you!" he gritted through his teeth.

Rido made a noise very similar to a growl and firmly pressed the working end of his handgun to Zero's temple.

"I said shut up! He then did something that highly pissed zero off. Rido roughly grabbed Rose by the nape of her neck and threw her towards the tiled wall with amazing strength. Zero could only watch in horror as Rose collided with the wall letting out a heart wrenching yelp as she fell to the floor and stopped moving, head laying in an awkward position, obviously snapped out of place. It all seemed to have happened in slow motion and fast motion at the same time. First Rose was in his arms then the next she was being hurdled into solid stone and now….

Zero hissed in pure rage feeling the tears of anger and anguish well up behind his eyelids, making them sting.

"R…Rose." Zero voice came out in a sob-like whisper, suddenly feeling numb and alone. Rido made a disgusted noise and said something that sounded like "I hate mutes." and finally snapped Zero's other wrist into the hand cuffs.

"Walk in front of me. We're going downstairs," he said, his voice hard but no longer livid. Zero nodded stiffly even though the room was in almost complete darkness and walked forward, seeing the outline of the open bathroom door. He felt the gunpoint removed from his temple, and breathed a silent sigh of momentary relief. Once in the hallway, the light from the security lights in the backyard shown through the window at the top of the stairs, so the hallway was at least visible. Zero turned to walk toward the end of the hall where the stairs doubled back to go down, and the temperature dropped even more. Zero could see his breath in front of himself, and his feet were starting to feel numb. A full body shiver rose Goosebumps on his flesh.

Why the hell was it so cold?

A movement in the corner of the hallway near the top of the stairs caught his eye, and though the corner was empty, it looked like the air shimmered there, about four feet of it. Dismissing it as being a play of light and shadows, Zero looked at the floor and slowed down a bit in order to delay leaving the house. A tear fell down his cheek, feeling the loss of his best companion. He wanted to wipe it away, but his hands were cuffed behind his back. Something jabbed into his spine, and he gritted his teeth in slight pain.

"Move faster," demanded Rido in a very serious voice. Zero nodded again and sped up. Another second and he was rounding the balustrade at the side of the stairs. A yell from behind him made him jump, and he was shoved against the wall that ran parallel with the stairs. Without his hands to balance himself, he began to tip towards the stairs, and to save himself he let his legs collapse. His right knee fell to the first step, but he thankfully didn't fall any farther.

"I-Impossible..." the Rido said loudly but shakily. Zero tried to turn to look to his left and behind, but Rido began to shoot his gun at a small figure. The bullets landed solidly, and the popping sound made every muscle in Zero's body clench with panic.

"N-no! Get away! GET AWAY!" Rido screamed, seemingly unable to kill his target. Zero felt Rido's legs hit his side and jumped in surprise, but Rido tripped over him and landed hard on the stairs, rolling all the way to the bottom. Zero heard several snaps and cracks as bones in Rido's body broke, and finally a resounding thud as he hit the bottom. A man's shout from downstairs caught his attention briefly, but he was too distracted by a faint glowing light just over his left shoulder.

Panting, he didn't want to move, didn't want to see what had scared the Rido so badly, but he forced himself to look-forced himself to see what he knew had been standing in the corner and waiting for them. Lifting his head and looking to his left, he choked on an incoming breath of air.

Standing there, looking as if not a single bone in her body had broken since she was thrown into a wall, Rose yipped at him, wagging her tail in excitement. She looked beautiful but faded. Her eyes was no longer as vibrant, her fur a dark gray instead of black.

"Rose," Zero sighed, his eyes swimming with tears. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision, and his eyes never left the visage of his best friend. To see Rose looking so peaceful and untouched...Zero could not help the tears washing down his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Rose, I couldn't save you." The little ghost in front of him shook its head, still waging its tail, and Zero hoisted himself up so that he was no longer kneeling on two steps.

Suddenly there was a faint glowing from Rose that grew brighter until Rose collapsed and hovering over her stood…..the ghost from the picture they took at the village!

"It was you, wasn't it? All the times we thought there was a draft, all the times we thought the air conditioner was broken...you were here, somewhere in the house." This time the ghost nodded, her smile getting bigger. "You saved me, why?"

The ghost smile faded only a notch, and she reached forward, her little hand curving around Zero's cheek. When Zero didn't feel the touch of skin, he was a little sad to realize that the ghost girl couldn't actually touch him. It felt like ice was touching his face, though; she was that cold.

"Will Rose be okay now? Will you help her?" he asked, hoping that the girl knew what he meant. The ghost took her hand away, giving him a tight-lipped smile and nodding vigorously. Zero blinked anew at the onslaught of more tears and said, "I'll never forget you..." Zero knew how it must feel, to be dead and have no one remember you, to feel like you lived your whole life for nothing.

She took a step away and touched her finger to Rose's temple. Giving Zero a childish wave of farewell, she turned back to Rose, and Zero squinted his eyes at the blindingly bright light that blasted from Rose. When the light faded from behind his eyelids, he opened his eyes again, and wasn't surprised that his pupils hadn't needed to adjust to the darkness. Everything was as it had been before. The security light was shining, snow was falling, and no one stood in front of him but Rose, still lying limp. With effort, Zero crawled over to his beloved Rose, trying to see if she was alive, but as he finally got closer to almost touch her -

he fainted, lying limp with his right arm stretched out just one brush away from Rose...

Thirsty...

That was his first thought. The second was that his head hurt, and the third was that he had to go to the bathroom...now. Opening his eyes was a little difficult, but leaning up was even harder. It took two tries, but he sat up, noticing that he was wearing a hospital gown, and looked around the room sleepily. Clearly, he was in a hospital, but he wondered who else had been brought here...

His next thought was of Kaname, and he was instantly awake. His hasty plan was to rush to use the bathroom and then find a nurse. There weren't any IVs attached to him, so he simply took off the finger pulse monitor from his left index finger and swung his legs off of the bed. An alarm immediately went off, making him wince. Hopping to the bathroom since his right knee was in a bit of pain, he shut the door and quickly went about his business. Just as he was about to flush, someone rushed into the room, and the door banged heavily against the wall.

"Ki- Kiryu-kun?" a worried nurse asked. Ready to come out, Zero flushed the toilet and opened the door. There stood a young, pretty nurse, her face showing her relief. She had very sleek, long black hair, and Zero wondered idly if his own hair looked messy and wrangled.

"Where's my dad?" he asked worriedly. "And where's Kana-, I mean, Kuran sensei?" The nurse walked towards him with hands raised, obviously trying to get him to calm down.

"What's wrong? Where are they?" Zero asked, extremely worried now. He heard footsteps outside the door, and quickly looked to see who was coming in. A man with a low ponytail poked his head in the door, obviously his doctor. He came in the room with that 'please-sit-down' look on his face. One more man followed him in, and Zero recognized him as being one of the other detectives that had come to the library yesterday.

"Kiryu-kun, we can fill you in on what happened if you'll just sit down please," His doctor asked. The detective looked at him with some trepidation, and he almost fainted right then and there. If either of them had died, he didn't know if he would be able to take it.

"Why do I have to sit down? Is it bad news?" he asked even as the nurse steered him towards the hospital bed. Zero suddenly felt a draft on his back, and, reaching around to make sure that his bottom wasn't showing through the gap in the gown, he sat down on the bed, stealing glances at the detective.

The doctor nodded to the detective then, who sat down in a nearby chair, and the nurse left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Both Kuran Kaname and your father are alive, but your father is in fair condition after suffering a heart attack," his doctor began. Zero gasped, hand came up to cover his mouth. "It seems that your father's depression medication interfered with some allergy medicine he was taking, making his blood pressure shoot up, and some stupid pharmicist somewhere didn't catch it. The scare he experienced last night triggered the heart attack, but it was only mild, and once we get him on the right allergy regimen, he should be fine. We'll probably let him go in a couple days."

"And Kaname?" he choked out, not noticing the slight reaction from the detective.

"He was shot in the side, and the bullet nicked his left kidney," he began. Zero bit down on his lower lip. "Mind you this was no ordinary bullet that could easily kill a human." The doctor explained, confirming Zero's suspicion that this was indeed a Vampire/Hunter hospital not visible by ordinary humans. "Hunters have been eligibly working on trying to create a bullet that could kill a higher vampire as if they were just a mere human and apparently they have been successful in bringing down a powerful being."The doctor spoke with some remorse, not happy to have seen Lord Kuran in such a weakened condition.

Zero growled unknowingly at this information. How could that man do this to Kaname? His own family! Zero tightened his grip in the hospital blanket, feeling his palms and fingertips starting to itch and tingle oddly.

"We had to perform surgery a few hours ago to stop his internal bleeding, but if his vital signs come within the normal ranges in the next few hours, then we'll downgrade his condition to fair. I think the surgery was a success, though, so you don't have to worry. He'll be fine," the doctor concluded.

Zero needed to find Kaname.

"Kiryu-kun, I would like to ask you some questions," the detective asked. He turned his head to look at him.

"Okay," he answered. He brought a small pad out of his coat pocket and clicked the top of his ballpoint pen. The doctor left the room at this point, obviously having said all he needed to and wishing to avoid overhearing his story.

"First, if you could recount what happened between you and...Sheriff Yagari...with as much detail as possible, I'll get the last questions out of the way as soon as possible and let you get some rest." Zero nodded in response, taking a few seconds to gather his thoughts. He told him most of the truth...but he left out the ghost girl possessing Rose but told the whole story of -Yagari wasn't really Yagari because the real one must have been killed in order for Rido (a pureblooded vampire) to wear his skin in order to fool the Hunters and humans into letting him become sheriff and having easier access to the unsuspected victims- though Zero didn't think any Hunters of law enforcement officer would believe him but was Happily surprised that the detective nodded his head sharply with a remark saying, "Knew it was that son of a bitch leech." And quickly jotting things down in his little pocked pad.

"Did you catch him?" Zero asked after a minute of silence as the detective looked over his notes. After the question was asked Zero could see the detective's shoulders tense.

"No, the leech got away." The detective informed, not looking up from his notes, obviously feeling like he failed everyone. Zero sighed and began to scratch at his palms and fingertips distractedly.

"So...if he tripped on the upstairs carpet and fell down the stairs...why do you think four bullets from his gun are now lodged in the upstairs wall and floor?"

"I think he was just skittish and saw a shadow that scared him. I really can't say why he shot at the wall and floor. I wasn't about to stand up and look." Zero responded, faking a yawn in the hopes that he would take a hint and leave. The detective scratched the back of his head, and Zero could tell that his brain was having a hard time wrapping itself around his story. He was a good detective then, if he felt Zero's story didn't add up.

"Would it be alright if I visited tomorrow if I have more questions?" he asked, standing up. Zero nodded, reaching out to shake his hand. He came forward, taking Zero's fingers and noticing the marks on his wrists from the handcuffs that had been applied too tightly and the odd green color that could be seen just underneath the skin that stretched from underneath the long sleeve of the gown all the way to his fingertips. The detective's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion but said nothing of it because Zero didn't even seen to notice it or is used to it by now.

"I'm sorry for what Rido did to you and your father, Kiryu-kun...the entire Hunter department is going to be shocked by this whole thing," he said. Zero was a bit taken aback, not expecting him to apologize for Rido. It was his turn to ask a question.

"Where is Rose? My dog?" he asked, still holding the man's hand. His fingers tightened, confusion plying on his face.

" Uh, S-sorry but we didn't see any animals in the house when we searched." Seeing Zero's fallen face the man rushed to add; "But with all the excitement that happened it's pretty likely your dog got skittish and ran off somewhere. Rose will come back to you." he answered with a gentle voice. Zero sighed. What the hell is going on?

"Did you find his accomplice?"

"We think that one of the downstairs officers shot and killed him. The accomplice was actually a fellow student of yours. I don't think you knew him personally, but he was in your Anatomy class. ...Glasses? Pretty tall?" he fished. An expression of shocked realization passed over Zero's face.

The boy sitting at the table yesterday...

"Apparently the pureblood Rido raised him even though he was human. When I looked up some records at the office early this morning, he was the boy who gave an account of the kidnapper during the first incident with Miki Ogai. I don't know how you can raise a child like that...but hopefully we'll find his motives for these crimes once we gain access to his home."

Could it be the ghost girl who save my life?...

Zero felt a full-body, mind-numbing shiver come over her, chilling him to the bone. To think that these two people were around him for so long, just watching him. He was certain that there was nothing creepier. The detective thought Zero was getting cold, so he fetched a hospital robe from the closet and brought it back, draping it around his shoulders.

"Are you alright, Kiyru kun?" he asked. "Do you need me to get the nurse?"

"N-no...would you take me to my dad instead? I want to see him," he requested, suddenly needing to see his face desperately. The detective helped him stand up and then escorted him to a different ward. The detective peeked his head in the door first, but then opened it and waved Zero to go inside.

"I'll be leaving now, but I'll perhaps see you tomorrow, Kiyru kun. Have a good day," he said, zipping up his coat. Zero nodded, sliding his arms into the hospital robe. Turning to the bed, the door closed behind Zero, and he walked towards his father.

His father looked peaceful enough. His hand sported an IV, and he seemed a bit too pale, but he was otherwise healthy-looking. Zero pulled up a chair, sitting close, and took his free hand. He didn't stir in reaction to his son's touch, but that was okay. He needed to sleep. His hand was warm, he was breathing on his own, and he was going to survive.

Looking out the window on the other side of his bed, Zero saw that the blizzard was still in full force, but the people of the Town were going to work like any other day. Not even the snow was stopping many people today. Tonight, though, when they were watching TV over dinner with their families, the news would report the events of last night with as much sensationalism as they could get away with, and he would not be able to live with Kaname anymore without questions being raised by reporters that would undoubtedly follow him.

It was time to move home. But at least Zero was moving back in with the father he remembered from his youth when his mother had still been alive.

"Kiyru kun?" the nurse called.

"The doctor asked me to tell you that Kuran sama's condition was downgraded to fair. He thought you might like to know," she said, folding her hands in front of her. The relief on Zero's face made the nurse smile. "Would you like to come visit him?" she asked, motioning her hand towards the hallway. Zero's heart leapt at that, and he stood quickly, patting his father's hand as he walked towards the nurse.

The nurse closed the door behind her, and they walked down the hall to another room in the same ward. The doctor was still in there, along with another nurse. The doctor turned and gave him an encouraging smile, motioning him towards a chair next to the bed. Zero saw that Kaname was very pale, even for a vampire but sleeping peacefully enough.

"Thank you for fetching Kiryu kun, nurse," The Dr said, picking up a chart from the foot of the bed and walking towards the door past Zero. "By the way, what are you doing after your shift tonight...?" he asked, his voice fading as he and the nurse left the room. Zero sat down, looking at Kaname's sleeping face. Zero had seen it so many times before, but his complexion had been so much healthier before. Looking up at the nurse who just walked in, he gasped in surprise to see that it was Shizuka, whom he had only met once or twice over the past months.

"Zero kun?" she asked, a bit incredulous. Zero really had never asked where Ichiru's mother had worked, but her strange hours made sense now. The nurse looked at him, blinking in surprise, and her mouth fell open.

Shizuka leaned over the bed as if to get a closer look at him. "My Ichiru's Zero?"

Zero nodded, an annoyed and oddly humorous expression catching his face. Zero up to shake Shizuka hand. The nurse shook her head slightly, as if she were regretting something.

"I'm sorry to being seeing you under these circumstances, Zero. I know you and I met a couple of times when you stopped by and you don't really remember me before I took your baby brother away from you, but I really want you to know how sorry I am. I know what's it's like to have something precious being taken away from you by another." She paused then, looking Zero over. "I'm glad to see that you're relatively unharmed. You must be one of the groups of people brought in early this morning then?" she asked.

"Yeah...turns out that a pureblood was after me, and they got into the house last night," Zero explained, leaving out quite a few details. Shizuka nodded, looking a bit agitated all of a sudden.

"Is Kaname sama...uhm...a friend?" she asked, motioning towards Kaname and sounding unsure of their relationship. Zero looked to his softly breathing visage, and nodded.

"The same way that Kaito is Ichiru's friend." Zero said, giving a not-so-subtle hint to the nurse. Shizuka gasped audibly, leaning up quite abruptly.

"But he's a pureblood Zero, and your sensei!" she admonished.

"I love him," Zero whispered, his jaw hardening with a touch of anger. Zero wondered if anyone would ever understand how love really worked. Shizuka heard the angry tone in Zero's voice and backed off a bit, not wanting to upset him.

"I...I just-don't understand," she said. "Ichiru is still upset over that...that-Kaito." She sighed, leaning her hip against the foot of the bed. "I hear him crying sometimes and all I can think is how I don't understand him. I mean, Kaito is a vampire hunter."

"You said you know what it feels like to have someone precious taken away from you, right? Zero said quietly.

"Zero kun"-

"Why was this person taken away from you Shizuka?" Zero asked still holding on to Kaname's non responsive hand. It was silent for only a few more minutes until Shizuka finally let out a shaky sigh.

"He was an ordinary human but I loved him so much and he loved me too!" Shizuka was quick to defend, probable from past experience. "But one day the hunters found out I had a human "pet"." She spat the words in distaste, offended that they would think so lowly of her. "But that wasn't the case and in their attempt to kill me for breaking some law that I did not committee, they shot him, killed my only true lover because he was trying to protect me from them." Shizuka sigh sadly in memory. I just don't want the same to happen to Ichiru or you. No one deserves to go through something like that."

"Then you should understand it would hurt worst to be separated from the one you love the most. We can handle our own choices, Shizuka. You did, didn't you? You dared to love someone different then you and got punished for it but yet your still san, aren't you?

"After my trial they found me not guilty and let me go. It still hurts to think about him."

"But you're a strong person and so are Ichiru and myself. Please allow him to make mistakes because if he doesn't then life would be pointless."

"But I'm scared for him." Shizuka sobbed, hiding her face, looking to the floor.

"You're just scared of letting him go. It's like a band aid, the sooner you pull it off the quicker it will stop stinging."

"That's just like you Zero kun." Shizuka said. But Zero could hear a smile in her voice so he knew she understood.

"I'll come back to check on him in an hour."

Zero nodded, waiting until she closed the door to turn back towards Kaname. Zero knew Kaname probably wouldn't be awake for a while yet, but he sincerely wished for him to wake up. Zero wanted it so badly that his eyes stung. Leaning down, he pressed his cheek to the back of his lover's hand, consoling himself with his warmth.

When Zero woke up again, someone was petting his hair, and he lifted his head. Kaname had opened his eyes, and was smiling at him. The relief that bloomed inside Zero's chest was so powerful that he was instantly in tears, and his eyebrows came together in sympathy. Kaname shushed him, cupping Zero's cheek in his hand. It wasn't enough for him, though. Zero quickly stood, jostling the chair, and gingerly set his hip next to Kaname's right side on the bed. Remembering to be careful, Zero leaned down, laying his upper torso over Kaname and wrapping his arms around his pureblood shoulders.

"It's okay," Kaname said in a scratchy voice. His free arm came around Zero, patting his back comfortingly. Zero sobbed against his neck, feeling stupid and ecstatic at the same time. Zero heard the door open, and the voice of Shizuka came,

"Now, Zero kun you don't want to hurt him even more, hugging him like that." he didn't want to let go of him though, but Shizuka was right. Leaning back up, he wiped at his eyes and sniffed a couple of times. Kaname smiled at his lover, wiping at his cute redden cheeks with his right hand. The other hand had an IV, so it was obvious that he didn't want to move it.

"Do you want to sit up, Kuran sama?" the nurse asked. He nodded, and Zero moved off the bed. The nurse brought out a control pad hanging from the back of the bed and pushed one of the buttons, bringing Kaname up to a sitting position. He winced once, but after a small adjustment, he was comfortable again. After handing him some water with two blood tablets inside, the nurse checked a few of his vitals before leaving again.

"What time is it?" he asked, clearing his throat a couple of times. He set the plastic water cup back on a nearby table.

"About one o'clock, I think..." Zero answered, standing close to the bed. His hands fidgeted restlessly, and he continuously shifted his weight from foot to foot. Kaname took pity on him and held open his right arm, inviting Zero back on the bed. Zero sighed gratefully, sliding down to him and holding Kaname close.

"I'm assuming that you're relatively uninjured then, if you're walking around?" Kaname asked, placing his chin on top of a silver head.

"I just have some bruises, that's all," Zero sighed, snuggling into him. He could hear the pureblood's heartbeat under his ear, and sighed with contentment.

"Don't you want to know what happened? How I got shot?" he asked.

"Not today. I'm just glad that you're alive."

"Then give me a kiss," he asked, nudging him. Zero laughed lightly and sat up, leaning forward to give him a gentle, chaste kiss on the lips.

The door opened then, and the nurse came in, followed by a new doctor who was directing an orderly to roll in a new patient to the neighboring bed in the room. Zero looked at the new patient. He was a young man with a long, black ponytail.

"Hey, that could be a relative of yours," he joked, focusing Kaname's attention on the young man. Another person came in, looking frustrated.

"God, I can't believe this! I ask you to shovel out the driveway so that I can pull out of the garage, and you stab yourself in the foot with the shovel!" the boy standing vented. The older man lying on the bed stiffened, crossing his arms.

"Tch...Shinobu, leave it to you to be more concerned about the driveway than my foot," the man said.

"When did I say that?" Shinobu screeched. "I'm complaining about your clumsiness, Ichigo, not the driveway!"

The argument went on for a while, with Zero and Kaname listening on with a bit of amusement. The nurse eventually pulled a curtain between their beds and asked that they be quiet, but they didn't really listen.

For the rest of the day, Zero alternating between visited with Kaname and his father, who eventually woke up around dinnertime. Zero sat with him for about two hours, explaining his side of the story of what happened last night, including the ghost, but saying that he didn't tell that to the police officer. His father, understandably, agreed to his adjusted story.

When Zero finally told his father of his relationship with Kaname, his hands became fists, and his heart monitor revealed an accelerated heartbeat, but he didn't say anything. Zero tried his best to put their relationship in the best light, saying that he was old enough to make his own decisions, but his father would no longer answer his questions.

After returning to visit him the next morning, his father acted as if nothing was wrong. Zero was tempted to ask about his change of heart, but decided to leave it alone as he rubbed at his tingly hands.

The detective returned that day as well to get his father's story and Kaname's story. It turned out that either the sheriff or his adoptive son had shot the officer patrolling outside, and then the son ran into the house to assault the front officer, who was shot in the chest, collapsing one of his lungs. After the back officer called for backup, he tried to protect Zero's father, who had woken up with a start in the back room. The first assailant had disappeared, though. It was to the rear officer's surprise when the sheriff ran inside, answering the "backup" call. He ran to the rear officer, only to shoot him point blank in the head.

The sight gave Zero's father a heart attack, and the sheriff left him there, thinking he was dying. Kaname had snuck downstairs then, sliding down the railing, and was trying to help the officer in front. He didn't venture far to find some cloth, using a towel left downstairs a couple of days previous. The human officer gave him a gun, though, telling him to protect himself rather than get shot trying to help someone already dying. Kaname had just taken the gun when the sheriff's son shot him in the back. He didn't expect it because he knew it was the sheriff but what he didn't know at the time was that the sheriff was the one doing the killing.

It had taken all of his strength to roll over and shoot the first assailant, the son, hitting him in the chest twice. Then Kaname fell unconscious, not hearing the sheriff's angry shout. After that, Zero's story took over. The second assailant, Sheriff, Rido, fell down the stairs.

When the story broke, no one was aware of the media attention at first since the press wasn't allowed inside the hospital. But they certainly were aware of it when Zero's father was released the day after the detective's second visit. Zero and his father were dogged practically the entire way home, but the press didn't come onto their property, especially since they didn't want to wait out in the snowy weather.

It wasn't very long before the media figured out that Zero and Kaname had been much more than student and teacher.

Surprisingly, though, Zero's father was much more supportive than he could have hoped for, and the police department even thanked Kaname for patching up the wound on the front officer, who had managed to survive a very serious injury. However, Kross High did have to fire him for a serious breach in school policy.

The final relief came for Zero when Kaname called him up a day after his release from the hospital and told him that he found Rose cuddles deep within the bathroom closet and that he would take her to the vet and look after her for a while. Zero finally felt complete again.

The next six months were rough for Kaname, Zero, and his father, but Kaname did find a job as a substitute teacher in a different school that was close to home. Zero, having been admitted to Nippori, agreed to marry him, and they went house-hunting during his spring break. Zero's father came along, of course, wanting to give his approval first to any house they chose. Zero finally understood why his fingers were so tingly as Kaname explained to him that he consumed so much pureblood over the months and through all the recent excitement his powers were coming in to better help protect him in emergencies such as the one previous.

After the scandal died down, Kaname, Zero, and Rose moved into their house that summer, and Ichiru and his fiancé Kaito stopped by a couple of times. Kaname found a more permanent job as a professor with a local college. He taught a couple of normal science classes, plus a class on paranormal history, which the college asked for after reading the research paper that he and his husband had published a few months beforehand.

August rolled around before they knew it.

Kaname's curriculum schedule at the local college was a couple of days behind Nippori, so Zero's classes started up first. Since they didn't have a second car yet, he was supposed to drive Zero to the campus on his first day. Zero's first class was at 10:00am, but they still overslept, waking up at 9:30, and it was a mad rush to get out the door since it was twenty minutes to campus and Rose continued to yip in the background, excited with all the fast activity.

Once in the car and on the highway, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"Do you think we'll make it?" Zero asked, checking his watch. He looked to Kaname and laughed at his messy hair. Kaname had taken time to throw on pants and a shirt, but he hadn't done much else. Shocker.

"Yeah, we'll make it," he said, smiling as he ran his fingers through his hair.

Zero smiled, thinking of how much could change in a year. His perspective on the world had been drastically altered from that of an introverted anti-socialite. Now, he had friends, a loving father, and a wonderful husband. He pitied the boy that he had been a year ago, a boy who thought of himself as being unwanted and unnoticed.

But people had been noticing him, and he had been too blind to see it. Ichiru had wanted to be his friend, and now, they still talked almost every night on the phone. The track coach had wanted him to join the team, and now he was set to try out for Nippori's team, packing several medals under his belt. And lastly, Kaname had wanted to save him, which he did in more ways than one. He had repaired his relationship with his father, had healed his heart with his love, and had protected him from those who would harm him.

"I love you," Zero said suddenly, pressing his lips together in a bit of embarrassment. He looked to his husband, who raised an eyebrow at him.

"I love you, too," Kaname said, falling into an easy smile.

Zero sighed, thinking to himself that he was being silly and sentimental. But it took him a long time to get to this point, really. When an answer is incredibly close, focusing on it can be hard, and putting it into words can be even harder. But what it boiled down to was that Kaname had been there for him-pushing him and supporting him. He had been in a place where Zero could learn to love again...he may be bruised but he was not destroyed.

END

OMG The end. I can't believe I finished this story! I can't believe you-know-who turned out to be the Creeper. What! LOL. Aw poor Rose :( I did cry on that part because I'm such a baby.

In the end people found out about Kaname and Zero's scandalouse relationship. How do you feel about that? And what of the whole ghost thing o_O; LOL yes it was always going to happen since the beginning

Poor Yagari as well. Ha who all thought the creeper was him? Aw come on don't be shy tell me! ….because I thought the killer was going to be him too *_*?

So any confusion? The hospital was for both Hunters and Vampires because I said so and the hunters were working with humans as well but the humans didn't know they were hunters and didn't know about the vampires either.

Wondering why Kaname (A pureblood) had to share rooms rather then have his own? Because it's a hospital and everyone should be treated eqjualy no matter what damnit! Lol.

I just loved Rose thorugh the whole chapter even though she didn't have much screen time but she is just cute! Being found in a closed. So sad!

Okay part of the reason why it took me so long to update is because I have found the TV Show called Supernatural. Where has it been all my life! I'm in love with it. My next project will be on that with Dean/Castiel :D can't wait! I finished season 6 an decided it was time to finish my story o_O I feel bad for having you all wait this long.

Sorry!

I hope I covered everything because seriously I am not good a closing/ending stories so please please please let me know ;)

I want to thank everyone for pushing me to finish and sending my message saying "Finish your f***ing story! Lol kay no one actually said that but you get the idea. It actually halped me get off my butt and write a sectioin of the story almost ALMOST everyday. But I got it done! :P

It's been fun everyone and please read my other stories and leave reviews thank you peeps!

^stallion14^