Author's Note: Hi everyone! I'm Red-chan! And this is Part 1 of Everything Has Changed, a Leorio X OC series. There are 4 parts in total, and they are going to be posted as 4 different one-shots. Now, all of the parts (and the title) were inspired by songs from Taylor Swift's Red album. I love making a story based on the feelings from songs, so I challenged myself to make a series of stories using the songs from the album. And these for are the ones that told the story of Leorio and Keira. To begin with, I'll state the obvious and tell you that this first part is based off of 'Everything Has Changed'. I suggest you listen to it, but it's not manditory. It's just to get a better understanding of how Keira feels. Oh, and please note that there are some sexual references here. Don't worry, it's nothing past PG - 13. Anyway, it shouldn't be a problem, I'd just figured I'd let you know. Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I do not own Hunter X Hunter or Leorio. I do own Keira.


Everything Has Changed

Part 1

All I Know


"You could at least be pretending to read the textbook," I said, flicking my fellow classmate's temple.

He jolted up from his sleeping position, holding his hands to his face where I had flicked him. His green eyes were alert but filled with sleep as they moved around the room, narrowing once they rested on me. I gave him my biggest grin which was slightly compromised by my hand that rested against my cheek. Folding my arm down so that it was resting on the table, I gave my gum a few smacks before blowing a fist sized bubble, letting its 'pop' startle the brown haired man beside me before bringing it back into my mouth, the grin returning. Even if he was expecting it, popping gum always made him jump.

"Problem, Le-or-i-o?" I asked, making sure to pronounce every syllable of his name slowly.

"Yes, problem," he said, raising his fist in anger. "Why in the hell did you do that?!"

I shrugged my shoulders but let my grin drop and my eyes glare toward him. "We have a project to do Oreo. I'd like for you to actually do some research on the subject."

His anger seemed to dwindle down as he blinked it away, opening his mouth to speak for a moment but closed it. A thoughtful expression overtook his face, and I leaned my cheek back into my palm, letting the gum rest between my teeth.

"Um . . . what subject are we studying again?" he asked slowly.

Even though the question angered me slightly, I couldn't help but smile at the nervous, dumbstruck look he had on his face. I felt a few little butterflies twirl around in my stomach, but I shook my head and pushed them back.

"Human behavior, Oreo. Why people react the way they do. Why fear makes them sweat and their heart pounds. Why being angry makes their faces red and makes their body heat up. We're studying which parts of the brain controls a person's reaction to stimuli," I said, watching as his faced changed from intent listening to understanding.

"Right," he said, sending me a grin of his own. "Like how you grin like an idiot every time I screw up."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, still smiling. "Or why you jump every time I pop my gum."

His face turned three different shades of red then, and the butterflies started to play in my stomach again. I took this as a sign that it was time to stop goofing around, so I smacked my hand down on the table, all traces of humor drained from my face.

"Now, instead of your face being on the book, how about you put it in the book and actually try to learn something?" I asked, tapping his book.

Leorio loved arguing with me; that was all we did; so I was confused when he nodded and turned his attention to the book.

We had been assigned this project a week ago, and we were entering the end of the research phase. The project was supposed to span over a four week period, and we had yet to gather all of our basic information, let alone decide on a how we were going to present our findings to our class.

Leorio hadn't been psyched when we were assigned to each other, and honestly, neither was I. He was the one who slept through nearly every seminar yet still managed to pass everything, even if only barely. I was the 'goody-goody smart girl' that was 'too annoying to be cool' in his book. But after a day or two of us working together, we realized that neither was as the other seemed.

I learned that he wasn't as lazy as he seemed. The reason he slept through class was because he stayed up so late studying, even though what he studied had nothing to do with the lessons at hand. And he learned that the term 'goody-goody' wasn't quite accurate for me. He saw that I liked to go out after classes ended and play pranks on people. Yes, I was a bit of a bookworm, and I hated when people didn't take their studies seriously, but that's only because of how passionate I am about being a Psychiatrist. But all of the stress from studying so much takes its toll; so I liked to cool down by laughing at people. Was that so wrong?

He still wouldn't admit that I was kind of cool . . . but I'd get him to say it at some point.

And that was when I got the idea.

"Hey Leorio," I said, leaning forward a little. "Since you're obviously not concentrating well . . . how about we call it a night?"

That seemed to shock him out of whatever trance he was in, looking over at me with a raised brow.

"But . . . it's only nine o'clock," he replied, eyeing me cautiously.

"So?" I asked. "That means we have two hours before curfew. Which means . . ." I grinned up at him. "We can hang out in your room for a bit."

He wasn't expecting that because he eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped to the floor, and I had to fight back the laughter bubbling in my throat. This would be a fun experiment.

After he had collected himself, he cleared his throat, still looking at me curiously, almost as if he was scared of my intentions.

"Are you . . . um . . . serious?" he asked, and I nodded, which made the confusion on his face become even more evident. "And . . . what exactly do you plan to do in my room?"

Not laughing was a really hard feat right now. Even though Leorio was twenty years old, he was about as innocent as they came. I was fairly certain that he'd never seriously been with a woman before, so teasing him this way kind of made me giddy. It was time for me to do my own research, conduct my own kind of test. And Leorio was the perfect specimen.

I stood up from my seat and took a step towards him, which only left about two feet between us, and put my hand on the table, leaning down so I was right by his ear.

"You're a twenty year old man, and I'm an eighteen year old girl. We're going to be alone in your room for two hours. Do the math sweetie," I whispered, not even attempting to hide my grin as the redness in his face returned. "But if you want me to be specific . . ." My grin widened. "Then close that book and let's get going."


When we entered Leorio's room on campus, it was obvious that he was nervous. He hung up our coats on the back of his door, and I had to hide my smile underneath my hand as his shaking hands dropped the jackets, taking him several attempts to get them hung.

"You know, if you don't want to go through with this . . . I can just head back to my dorm," I said, throwing in a hint of uncertainty underneath the saddened words.

Leorio turned to me and shook his head, scratching it nervously, his cheeks flushed. He wasn't even looking at me.

"No, it's not that . . . " he said. "I've never . . . you know . . . done . . . it . . before."

My laughter became even harder to contain, so I let a little out in a chuckle, casting adoring eyes up at the soon-to-be doctor.

"Neither have I," I said, stepping towards him. "But we're both doctors in training, right? Shouldn't we have the human body memorized? I mean, sure we've studied it in books, but . . . wouldn't a live, willing example be better?"

I put my hand on Leorio's cheek, feeling the heat resonating from his face. His eyes met with my brown ones for only a second before he forced himself to look away again. It was then that I pouted.

"Leorio . . . do you not want me?" Teasing him proved to be a lot of fun, and it got my pulse racing, but when his eyes locked on mine again, I almost wanted to forget that teasing was all this really was. That this was only an experiment.

"No . . . I do . . . but . . " He didn't look away, but his lids did fall to cover his eyes a little as he sighed. "This might be purely sexual on my part. I mean, who wouldn't be attracted to you," he said, eyeing me as if to prove his point. "But isn't it wrong if you do this with someone you don't love?"

His innocent made me feel a stab in my chest. Leorio wasn't an idiot, far from it. He was a pervert who had no qualms about flirting around and making suggestive comments to the females on campus, but the fact that he did have qualms with having sex without love suggested that he really was just as new to all of this as I was. Or he was raised with that belief and just liked playing around with people that way. Maybe it was just harmless flirting that he'd never go through with.

"Like I said, Oreo, you don't have to do this if you don't want. Whether there's love or just sexual drive, I'm fine with it. I just . . . wanna do this with you." I thought that saying such a thing would make my stomach turn over, but it didn't. All it did was open another cage of butterflies, making my own face brighten up to match the shade of Leorio's.

"Do you . . . like me, Keira?" he asked, knitting his brows together.

At that moment I knew that I had to set him straight. I had to stop acting for just a second to let him know that this was purely sexual on my behalf as well, and that there was no emotional attachment in it.

"Well . . . yeah. I guess I do."

I wasn't acting anymore, so I don't know why I said that. But my cheeks grew warmer, the butterflies flew faster, and I began to tremble a little. This wasn't supposed to be happening. This was my experiment. I had to be able to control it . . . to an extent anyway. I needed to control at least one variable, and I was even losing control of that one.

Before I could rebuild the wall so that I could continue acting in the place of my experiment, Leorio had put his hands firmly on my shoulders, leaning down and pressing his lips tightly to mine. In that exact moment, I was glad I had discarded my gum along the way to his room.

Any thoughts I had of the experiment washed away at that instant. I didn't care about my plan, my test, our project, the butterflies, or even the crazy words I had spewn. All I cared about was Leorio and the way his lips melted into mine, and how my arms flew to around his neck, and how his hands slid down my shoulders until they were gripping my hips. It was hard to focus on anything but this.

His lips parted, and his tongue rubbed against my bottom lip. I may have been new to sex, but I wasn't new to kissing. I opened my mouth and waited as his tongue explored. My knees felt weak, but my arms and his kept me upright. His tongue pressed against mine, and I responded by pushing myself onto my tiptoes, pushing closer to him, and forcing our tongues into his mouth.

I began to feel lightheaded, so I pulled back a little, panting lightly before kissing him again. This one was short because Leorio pulled me away from him, much to my surprise. I opened my mouth to ask him what the problem was, but he gently pushed me back until we were standing at the foot of his bed. He gave me a weak smile before he dipped his head down, capturing my lips with his again, and the battle of tongues commenced.

I realized after a moment why he had moved us to this position. I soon found myself lying on my back on Leorio's bed with him leaning over me. Our lips still held each other's, but when I opened my eyes for a moment to check our position, I found Leorio with his knees pressed against the mattress along with his left hand. His right hand, however, was snaking its way up from my stomach to my chest, making me shiver.

When his hand touched my breast, squeezing, I froze and pulled my lips away from his, my breathing hitched. I'd never intended to go this far with him. The experiment was supposed to end before things got serious. But that wasn't what stopped me. What stopped me was the fear that crawled up inside me at that moment.

What if I became emotionally invested in Leorio? What if this turned into something more for me than just an experiment for our project? And what if it wasn't either for Leorio? What if this was just a way for him to get a release?

"Keira?" Leorio asked in a whisper, his own breathing quick and shallow. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, pulling my shaking bottom lip in between my teeth. "I can't do this, Leorio," I said softly, giving him an apologetic look. "Sorry."

I initially figured he'd be angry. Most guys I'd ever known got angry anytime they were denied sex, especially when it was the other party who had initiated it to begin with. But Leorio surprised me.

"Thank god, Keira," he said, smiling. "I told you, I don't want to do this unless it's with someone that I love."

I decided not to tell him how much that statement hurt. Mostly because I couldn't pinpoint exactly why it hurt. Or . . . maybe I could. I'd said it earlier.

"You don't seem like that kind of person to me," I joked, giving him a light hearted smile as he stood up and I pushed myself onto my elbows.

He snorted and crossed his arms. "And you don't seem like the kind of person to jump into having sex with someone just because you like them."

I frowned because he was right. I wouldn't do that. I had just gotten so caught up in the kiss, in the feeling, in him that I lost my mind temporarily. I leaned my head down, staring intently at the pattern on his comforter; anything was better than looking at him right now, because I just realized that what I said was true. I did like him. And even though I didn't particularly want to have sex with him right now, I did want to continue kissing him and being close to him. But he didn't want the same thing.

I felt a warmth against my cheek and glanced up, regretting it immediately. My eyes met Leorio's as he brushed a few strands of blond hair away from my face, and I almost wanted to stop breathing because I couldn't look away from him.

"I'm a Hunter, Keira. I don't have time for relationships. When I'm not here studying, I'm out doing a job to make some money," he said quietly, rubbing a thumb against my cheek.

I wanted to pull away from him, but I couldn't.

"Then why, Leorio? Why didn't you turn me down to begin with?" I asked, tears forming in my eyes.

"Because I'm a guy," he said, causing my to laugh at little. That was the reply he knew I was expecting. "No. Because I wasn't thinking about it at first. I thought you were joking, and then when it seemed like you weren't . . . I got caught up. But the moment you spoke up, I knew that this definitely had to stop. It means more to you than it does to me."

And that pulled right at my newly developed heart string. The tears that I'd held in my eyes began to spill over, and I saw hurt and guilt flash in his eyes.

"Keira, I'm sorry-"

"Dammit," I choked out. "How in the hell do you do this to me? Twenty minutes ago I was just your partner, discovering new sides to the mystery that is Leorio. And now? Now I'm an eighteen year old mess who is freaking out because the guy that I didn't even know I wanted doesn't want me back."

The guilt in his eyes grew, and I wanted to scream. I wanted to scream that he had nothing to feel guilty for. That no one, not even I, could have anticipated these outbursts or these feelings.

"Gee, Oreo," I said, wiping at my eyes, "stop looking at me like that."

"Sorry," he said, and then he was on his knees in front of me with his arms wrapped around my shoulders, his face buried in my neck. "There, now I can't look at you."

Despite the tension in the room, I couldn't hold back the small laugh that fought its way out of my throat. In response to what I could only consider was a hug, I wrapped my arms around Leorio's torso, still laughing a bit.

"You know," Leorio said. "I could try. To like you, I mean."

"It's not something you should have to try to do, Oreo," I said, trying to laugh, but when Leorio pulled back to look at me, I knew he heard the hurt that seeped through. "Don't worry. This is stupid. Until you asked me . . . I didn't even know that I liked you. I mean, I guess I might have. It's not the type of thing I usually acknowledge."

"But I already do kind of like you," Leorio replied, smiling. "I just don't know how yet. But I'll tell you . . . that kiss was pretty awesome."

At his words my cheeks heated up, and it felt like my ears were burning. I scooted myself up the bed, slightly away from him and buried my face into my hands, letting out only a soft giggle.

"Romances aren't my forte, Keira," he said, not even phased by my moving.

"Says the pervert!" I replied, laughing and tossing one of his pillows at him.

He laughed and threw it back at me. "I'm the pervert? Who was the one that led me up here and seduced me?"

"I didn't seduce you!" I said, laughing harder. "I was just messing around there!"

Leorio stopped laughing and cocked his head, placing himself on the end of the bed, a smile plastered on his face.

"And you were testing the effect it would have on me?" he asked.

Bullseye.

"Maybe," I said ducking my red face back under my arms.

Leorio laughed again. "Look. Let's get back to working on our project tomorrow. And then . . . we'll see what happens from there."

In all honesty, that sounded like a brilliant plan.

"Alright," I said, getting off his bed and standing. "I'll head back to my room now."

"You can stay here tonight, you know," Leorio said. "I have a couch."

I laughed again. "I don't think that's a good idea," I said and walked over to him, giving him a light kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight, Oreo."

"Goodnight, Keira."


It was so weird to think that one tiny experiment started all of this. One little test sent my night flying in all directions. One little game turned into such a huge bundle of hope and pain.

I didn't know how it would turn out. I didn't know if my feelings for Leorio would grow, or if he would develop any for me. I didn't know if anything would become of us, or if after this project we would just drift apart, back to being passing faces on the street.

What I did know was that I would spend the rest of the night feeling that kiss. I knew that the feeling of Leorio's hands on my waist would linger throughout the night. I knew that I'd try to make Leorio open up and that I wasn't going to treat him any different in light of recent events. I knew that he was still Leorio and that I was still Keira. I knew that we were still partners in this project.

I knew that I would continue to see the guilty look in his eyes until one of our feelings changed.

I knew that in this one night . . . that one moment . . . that one kiss . . . everything had changed.

And that was all I knew.


Author's Note: That's all for Part 1: All I Know. I hope you guys liked it! I'll be honest, I can picture Leorio like this. I mean, I've always considered him a pervert, but he's a pretty nice and decent guy, so he doesn't seem like the type of person who would just sleep with people for no reason. From what I've seen, it doesn't take Leorio too awfully long to make friends with people, so him and Keira going from strangers to friends in a week doesn't seem too farfetched to me. Anyway, I like their interactions. For me, everything they did or said was natural, I didn't have to push it to get it where I wanted to go. Honestly, I wasn't exactly sure how the chapter would go to begin with. I had a vague idea, and that connected it to the other parts, but for the most part, this just kind of happened as I went along. And that's part of why it feels so natural. I wrote this in 4 hours, then slept on it, and I think it's ready to go. Give me your opinions. What do you think of Keira? What do you think of her and Leorio? Is Leorio too OOC for you? Anything you want to say (as long as you aren't just being mean) is welcome in the review section. Toodles! ~Red-chan.