Author's note: Well, here it is. I hope you like it. By the way, in case it wasn't completely obvious, I do not own Vampire Knight. Unfortunately…

I was standing at the sink, washing the dishes from lunch. A slippery plate fell through my fingers, splashing water on me. The hot soapy water clung to my arms, like I clung to Zero whenever I was scared.

Zero. He should be coming home about now. I leaned back to look at the clock. It read 5:30. He should be home any minute…

As if on cue, Zero walked in the door, hair mussed, clothes frayed, and Bloody Rose still in his hand. He looks rough, but happy.

"I take it your hunt went well?"

He smirks. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." He was acting suspicious. I decided to make an inquiry.

"And why do you guess?"

"Well…" He smiled. Just a little bit, don't get too excited. "I found some cash on the guy, according to the rules I get to keep it, so…"

I raised my eyebrows. "How much money?"

He shrugged. "A little more than 600 American dollars."

My jaw hit the ground. That was a butt load of money. "Wow."

"Yeah… so let's go out to dinner!" He knew my weakness: Food.

"Well… Ok." I couldn't help it- the first thing that came to my mind was a date. Was this what I wanted? Was this what that was? I was confused. But I knew better than to show it, or –God forbid- say something.

A few hours later, I was sitting at my vanity. I wore a strapless lime green dress that had blue flowers on it. It wasn't my favorite, but I knew Zero liked it on me. But now I was concerned with my hair: curly or straight? Right now it was straight, but…

Zero opened the door I'd left unlocked.

Looks like I was going with straight hair.

"Hey, Yuki. You look good. Ready to go?" You look good… He'd said the words so casually, but they made my breath catch in my throat. Wow. He was some kind of amazing.

It took me a minute to realize he was still waiting for an answer. "Oh! Yeah, I'm ready. You look nice, too."

"I never said you looked nice. I said you looked good."

Wait, what? "What's that supposed to mean?"

He just sighed. "Nothing." Then he took my hand and walked me out to the car and on my first date… If that's what it was, I mean.

We went to a nice little restaurant down town. It was so cute, and very cozy.

After we ate and were seated in the car when Zero said, "Close your eyes."

I complied, but asked "Why?"

I didn't need to see his face to know he was smirking. "You'll see."

We sat in silence as he drove. It was a good twenty minutes later when he said, "Alright. Open." (No, I hadn't peeked. If Zero'd told you to close your eyes, you'd keep them closed, too.)

As I lifted my lids, an amazing sight greeted me. "Oh, Zero…"

It was the ocean, but not like I'd ever seen it before. The tide was high, waves breaking on the beach. The setting sun reflected reds and pinks onto the water. It was a most beautiful sight.

I turned to Zero. "Can we go walk on the beach?"

He shrugged. "If you want."

We walked along the edge of the water, the waves lapping around our ankles.

I stopped for a moment to admire the view, but I was distracted as I felt Zero's arms wrap around my waist from behind. I leaned back against him, and he rested his chin on my hair. It was a comfortable closeness, but not the hair ruffles and half hugs I was used to from him.

"Zero, what time is it?"

He moved his arm to check his watch. "About eight. We should probably be getting back."

No…I don't want to go… "Yeah, we've been gone too long."

We walked back to the car…. But Zero kept one arm around me.

When we reached the Academy, I realized I was actually quite tired.

Stifling a yawn, I turned to Zero and gave him a hug. I felt him stiffen and then relax. "Thank you, Zero. I had fun."

"Yeah, whatever."

I pull away so he can see me pout. "You mean you didn't have a good time."

He swept me off my feet- literally. "You're too tired, you can barely stand. I'll take you to your old room."

"Don't change the subject on me."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. I won't. I had a good time."

"Just a good time?"

"It was the most marvelous outing I've ever participated in."

"If that's a lie, you have a pathetic excuse for a lie."

Zero stopped walking and looked down at me. Our faces were close together, his silver hair falling into my eyes. "Don't make me drop you."

All too soon, we were at my room. Zero somehow managed to keep me in his arms as he opened the door and then he laid my down on the bed.

I yawned and snuggled into my covers. "Thank you, Zero."

"Anytime."

He opened the door as if to leave. No- I didn't want that, did I?

"Zero?"

He turned to look at me. "Yeah?"

"Why-why don't you just stay here?"

He raised an eyebrow.

Excuse, I needed an excuse. "Umm, uh… Nightmares. I'll get nightmares."

That seemed to satisfy him. He walked back over to my bed, and slipped under my lilac comforter.

It was silent for a few minutes. "So, does this mean I'm nightmare repellent?" leave it to Zero to be so unintentionally cute.

I snuggled into his side and wrapped my arms around him. "That's exactly what this means."

"Oh." His arms pulled me closer, making my heart beat speed up. "I guess that that's supposed to be a compliment?"