"You're unbelievable," Noelle muttered. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, and stormed down the hallway to the safety of her room just seven doors away.
Zero blinked a few times before he registered what went through Noelle's mind seconds prior. Shit. She saw the plane tickets. He leapt up, causing his shirt and Noelle's cardigan on the bed to fall off, and ran out the door to chase Noelle. He knew he was too late when he caught the long brown hair whip behind a shutting door.
"Noelle, let me explain," Zero whispered hoarsely from the other side of the locked door. Zero called out a few times but knew kicking down the door was pretty damn immature for a 19 year old and he feared waking the entire floor with a loud knock. A few minutes and more pleading passed before Zero spun around to give his other route a shot - up Noelle's balcony. As he sped down the stairs and exited the building, he growled at himself giving allowing Noelle to lose trust in him so easily …
She was the girl who arrived three years ago, unannounced, as just a child of expats from France in Japan and sent to room in the main building as there was a shortage of rooms in the girl's dorm. 'Bonjour, monsie- desolee, je m'excuse. Kon'nichiwa sensei!' She was the girl who spent the first months struggling to communicate with her classmates with her basic Japanese, then a month of shock after a secret-spilling friend named Yuuki explained vampires at Cross Academy, then through subsequent months in content as she made good friends on campus and shined in all her classes as a top student. She was the girl whose sing-song voice often trailed into the gardens as she did chores, reaching a peaceful Zero as he frequently rested under a maple tree; the same girl who gave up learning how to cook because she'd rather spend her days "productively": reading or jogging. She was the girl who hated birthdays almost as much as Zero, for the reason that her birthday landed on a holiday where she'd rather everyone surrounded by families and fireplaces and open presents instead of at her birthday dinner.
She was the young lady who rebutted Zero's insults and sarcastic remarks with wittier torts. 'You'll go as far as a three-toed sloth with that attitude of yours', Noelle once snarled after Zero's sarcasm worked Yuuki to tears. She had called over her shoulder while escorting Yuuki to her room; '… they travel at 0.15 miles per hour. Quite progressive.' She was the young lady who shared soft laughs with Zero past midnight in the living room when both their insomniac habits kept them awake. She was the young lady whose blood hinted of honey and coffee lacquer, Zero discovered after an accidental papercut led to a disastrous blood feast. She was the young lady who remained quiet the entire ordeal, never flinching a centimetre as Zero drained blood selfishly from her thumb, and only offering a curious tilt of the head when Zero sheepishly cleaned her hand after the feast. 'Does it make you feel better?' She was the young lady with the pair of emerald-hazel eyes that pierced at Zero's embarrassed lavender ones curiously after the incident, and the same one who scribbled a "contract" after Zero made a slow nod in response to her question and after he had muttered "thank you, Noelle" and many, many "I'm so sorry" 's.
She was the young lady whose handwriting authored I, Ms. Noelle Charlotte Granot, permit Mr. Zero Kiryuu Cross, to take the bodily fluid known as blood from my own body with my verbal consent. The Contract calls for the recipient to minimize apologies offered after each incident. This contract is made under handwritten seal to account for the lack of tangible consideration. Undersigned: N.C. G. Z.K.C. 12 August 2010
Zero had laughed at first, then argued and furiously rejected signing it second, and reluctantly signed the contract third after lots of convincing that the contract was "a joke." 'If this ever lands in court, I advise you not to use duress or undue influence as your argument. I'll have defenses prepared for both.' Noelle was a professional, a nerd, a tease. And a breath of fresh air in a sea of annoying teenage girls who whined about not seeing the Night Class enough or about the lack of good food. She was the young lady who would rather spend time whining about the lack of good documentaries on BBC or the recent foot blister from jogging.
She was the woman whose body changed over the three years from a rather athletic, lanky frame to a soft and slender contour. Whose bushy hazel hair tamed with the help of John Frieda, or some similar crap, into shimmery golden brown waves. Whose green eyes outlined by thick lashes stood out against her exotically tan skin and sharp features. She was the woman who surprised Zero with a 'shut up' when Zero was bidding a last apology and good night at her bedroom door after drinking blood. 'I'm not a martyr, just a friend helping a friend. I know you'd do the same," Noelle muttered without meeting Zero's eyes.
She was the woman whose peaceful breathing and rise and fall of the chest kept Zero awake as she drifted off into slumber on those nights they wanted to be in the same room; whose simple but beautiful symmetry of the face and body was chastely observed by Zero's eyes as she remained asleep. Whose cupid's bow and soft lips was first met by any man when a frustratingly bashful Zero slipped an 'I care about you, more than you would know'.
Who asked Zero to never keep secrets from her because she did not handle secrets and deceit well. Who was the first ever to drowsily whisper the magical three words in Zero's ear in the middle of her sleep, who was completely oblivious to Zero's flustered behaviour the subsequent morning. 'What drugs are you tripping on, Zero? Why are you so jittery?' she laughed. She was the beautiful, beautiful woman who held Zero's hands firmly and faced Zero as she carefully said the three words again but this time consciously, under the midnight sky as Zero presented her a high-tech telescope for stargazing as gift for no particular occasion. Noelle was the woman who said it with so much conviction that it almost stopped Zero from bending down to softly kiss her, fearful at the possibility it was a joke. Whose tugging at his silver hair and gentle strokes along his muscled body and they tangled themselves in the grass under the stars showed that it wasn't a joke. Whose kisses did not have to wait for his own to claim territory. Whose heavy breathing and groans were carefully absorbed by the vampire hunter as he explored her lips, neck, torso and legs. Who nodded solemnly when Zero forced every cell in his body away from hers, as he murmured huskily that 'this needs to wait.'
She was the woman who completed Zero and both of them knew.
