A/N: I hope this chapter wasn't too disappointing.. I really enjoyed writing it :D haha. Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and please review! :)
I saw him, coiled on the dirty floor of the alley, near the fire exits to the flats. I ran to him, my hair getting in the way of my face. His silver hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat. The ends of his hair on one side of his neck were red with blood. The Level E had ripped a chunk of his throat out. He no longer had a tattoo.
"Zero," I cried, holding his head against my chest. "Oh my God, Zero! What happened to you?" I murmured, sobbing. He groaned, tears sliding down his face, too. I felt his fangs lengthen against my chest; and also felt him trying to refrain from biting me. "Zero, just do it," I whispered to him, thrusting my neck to his throat.
His fangs pierced my skin instantly, and I gasped, not at the pain, but the pleasure. Considering the circumstances we were in, Zero drinking my blood felt good; good, and familiar. Zero sucked greedily for about ten minutes, then pulled his head away and looked at me, his eyes – that were slowly beginning to descend from crimson to amethyst – wide.
He propped himself up on one elbow, and then, finally, filled the silence. "Yuuki!" he cried, outstretching his hand to touch my face, as if he was checking that I was real. I didn't let him touch my face; instead I wrapped his hand in mine and kissed his fingers. He smiled – that rare, beautiful, one-of-a-kind, Zero smile – and said "I'm so scared I'm going to wake up and feel so disappointed. Yuuki, if this is a dream, I never want to wake up." I felt my bottom lip begin to quiver, and then I collapsed on his chest in tears.
I never realized I went to sleep, but I guess I did. When I woke up, Zero was asleep next to me. I sat up, looking around the room, which I guessed was Zero's bedroom.
Zero's bedroom... I thought to myself, and giggled. It wasn't until then, that I realized what I was wearing. I had on one of Zero's t-shirts, in fact, the one that I made him buy when we went to the market doing chores for the Chairman just before we started Cross Academy. It was grey, with a red stripe going around the bottom. Zero was useless at buying clothes for himself... Even now, the size he brought himself back then, is still too big.
I didn't realize I'd been smiling like a psycho to myself until a familiar voice said, "Thinking happy thoughts?" I looked at Zero, who was gazing sleepily at me.
"As a matter of fact, yes, I am." I said, smiling at him, laying down again to be face to face with him.
"Sorry to spoil it," he started, sadness clouding over his eyes, "But you're going to have to go back to him."
"I don't." I said, not even convincing myself.
"Yes, you do, Yuuki. You know it, and I know it..." He whispered, "And, even though it was a nice little reunion we had, you chose him. You can't go back. You're marks have healed" – he signalled to my neck – "So I guess it's time for you to go."
"I didn't want to choose him! I never wanted to choose him!" I screamed, getting off of the bed and pacing around the room. I didn't even realize I was crying until I felt the tears wet Zero's t-shirt.
"Then why did you?" he shouted back, his voice so loud the door shook.
"Because I had to, Zero! I had to!" I cried, "You just don't get it, do you? I saved your ass. He would have killed us both if I'd gone with you – which, believe me, I really wanted to do!"
"I would have preferred that." he spat. My breath hitched in my throat, and I backed against the wall. "The thought of him – with his hands all over you... It makes me sick!" he said, through clenched teeth; crimson clouding over his eyes.
"He – He's never had his hands all over me, Zero." I choked. "He's never there, so he's never touched me... And whenever he is there, I avoid him. We don't sleep in the same bed, and he's never seen me naked." I waited for a reply from Zero, but I didn't get one. "But you have." I said, my voice clear.
"Wha–" he started, when I interrupted him.
"When you walked in on me when I was in the bath. Well, just getting out of the bath really." It was then that I'd noticed I'd stopped crying.
"Then you tried to throw a glass bottle of bubble bath at me,"
"Raspberry pavlova dream." we said together.
"Then it smashed all over the floor because it slipped out of your hand, and you refused to let me carry you to avoid you getting glass stuck in your foot, because you were being stubborn." he said, reciting it as if it had happened five minutes ago.
"And then I got glass in my foot,"
"Because you weren't looking where you were going." Then we both laughed.
Zero made his way over to me, and put his hands over mine. "Yuuki," he said, quietly – as if making sure no one was listening, even though we were in his apartment – "Answer my question, and then promise me something." he tilted my head up, so I was looking directly into his eyes, that recently changed from looking at me with anger and frustration, to looking at me in adoration. "Do you love me? I mean, are you in love with me?"
"Yes." I said, without hesitation, still gazing steadily into his eyes.
"Will you promise me something?"
"Anything."
"Don't loose it to him." He inhaled deeply, closed his eyes, and continued, "I'm not saying lose it to me... Just, not to him." He opened his eyes. "Okay?"
"I would never lose it to him, Zero. I was planning on staying a virgin for my entire life... But then I found you." I smiled half heartedly, hoping he was picking up on what I was trying to say.
"Yuuki, are you saying–"
"You know exactly what I'm saying, Zero." and I spun us around, and pulled him towards the bed.
I felt so many things that morning. Lust, joy, excitement, but mostly, I felt love – something I hadn't felt for a long time.
"Yuuki, wake up." Zero's deep, velvet voice drew me from my dream – well, a replay, really. "It's time to get dressed, you do have to go now, or else he'll suspect something and come looking for you."
"Okay." I sighed. I never wanted to leave this room, never wanted to leave Zero.
I took my time getting dressed, putting on each item of clothing either inside-out or the wrong way around, desperate to stay here for a little longer, until Zero's arms wrapped around my waist, and he whispered in my ear, "I didn't think that you needed help getting dressed. Let me help you,"
His hands went down my thighs, and slowly pulled up my skirt. "Yuuki, I don't want this to be the last time I see you." Zero said, voice stiff. He sat down on the bed, and bowed his head.
"It won't be. I promise."
"I'm scared you'll run away again." He whispered.
"Zero, look at me." I said, putting my fingers under his chin. He looked up, and I saw the fat tears sliding down his face, and I saw his eyes, that were pink from crying. That was enough to set me off, too. I put my fingers over my mouth. "Oh, Zero," I cried, and buried my head in his chest.
It was half an hour until I'd stopped crying, but Zero still was. "You've gotta go, Yuuki." he choked, then he kissed me on the forehead and pushed me out the door.
I winced at the daylight; it was so bright against my eyes, that had been in near darkness for the past – at least – twelve hours. I walked down the busy street, bumping shoulders with people constantly. But, despite the street being so busy, I had never felt so lonely, never in my entire life.