Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight. What? I can't say something cutsey every ding damn time!

Gone

The heavy wooden door to the girls' lavatories squealed on its hinges. Yuuki wished she could lock the door to the stall she was in, but was still dry-heaving her nonexistent breakfast into the giant porcelain bowl. The door hit the side of the cubicle and Wakaba Sayori knelt beside her, laying a supportive hand on her back.

"What's going on, Yuuki? This is the third time this week. And you're only sick in the mornings—?"

"It's nothing, Yori, I—"

"Please don't lie to me, Yuuki."

Yuuki wiped a threatening tear from her eye and leaned her head against the bowl. The large porcelain sucked some of the heat from her cheeks and forehead, and she sighed and closed her eyes against the truth. She didn't mention to Yori that she sometimes got sick at night, too.

"Yori, I think…I think…"

"What?"

"I think I…"

"What? You think you what?"

A tear fell from Yuuki's eye, splashing onto the dirtied green tile at her feet. An isolated sob forced itself over her chest. "I think I might…be pregnant."

"Pregnant? I thought you were a virgin!"

Yuuki shook her head against the bowl. Her huge brown eyes continued to hide behind her graceful eyelids. "No."

"But…but…who was it with? You never told me you had a boyfriend or—dear God, Yuuki, were you raped?"

Yuuki tittered through her tears. "Hardly."

"Then who?"

"Z-Z-Z…" Why did it embarrass her so much to just tell Yori the truth? Yori knew she liked him.

"Zero? You slept with Zero?" Yuuki didn't need to open her eyes to see Yori's bulge halfway from her skull.

Yuuki laughed sadly. "It really shouldn't be that big of a surprise."

"Oh my gosh, Yuuki—are you…together, then?"

"I—I really don't know. We did it the night he came home. He was supposed to stay with us for three weeks, but when I woke up in the morning…when I woke up, he was…g-gone…"

"Gone?"

"Gone."

"But…but why? Did he call you?"

Yuuki nodded. "He said he had to go back to the university as an emergency. Couldn't be avoided. The Chairman didn't ask for any more information, but…but I know better." She began to weep. "I th-tho-thought he loved me…"

"Yuuki," Yori said. "Yuuki…" She lifted Yuuki's hand from the bowl and gently pulled her by her wrist into a comforting hug. "Of course he loves you. Of course he loves you! I've seen the way he is around you. He loves you more than anything, Yuuki."

"He never…actually…said it…"

"Did you say it to him?"

Yuuki forced herself to think through her sorrow, and, unable to remember really saying anything during the twenty minutes she and Zero were making love, shook her head.

"But you do love him, right?"

Yuuki smiled a little. "Y-yeah."

"Did you ever think maybe he's just scared? I mean, this is his first time too, right? He's never even dated before! Don't you think sex is a bit of a shaky introduction to romance?"

"I guess so…"

Yori rubbed Yuuki's side gently. "Let's get our coats. I'll go into town with you and we can get you a pregnancy test." She pulled Yuuki to her feet and led her toward the door.

"You mean…wait—are we skipping?"

"I think this is good enough reason to skip a class or two, don't you?" Yori asked. She pulled Yuuki out of the bathroom and the heavy wooden door swung shut behind them.

--

When Zero called that night, Yuuki was in no mood to beat around the bush. She knew what was happening, and there was something else she needed to know if she were ever to survive this newly-announced hell.

"Zero?" she asked timidly towards the end of their conversation.

"What is it, Yuuki?"

"Do you…love me?"

Zero's end was silent so long Yuuki wondered if she'd lost the connection. She was just opening her mouth to call his name when he answered with a simple,

"Why?"

Yuuki squeezed her eyes shut and wiped away a tear that leaked between her lashes. Just say it, Yuuki. Zero, I'm pregnant. You can do it. She opened her mouth. Held the words in her throat. Tried to make her lips form the syllables, and found herself paralyzed.

Somehow it just wasn't that easy.

"I've told you you're the only reason I can keep living," he supplied.

"But do you love me?"

"Come on, Yuuki…" Zero said, almost pleading. "You know you mean the world to me…"

Why was it so hard for him to say those three simple words?

"Because I love you," she whispered timidly.

"I…I have to go, Yuuki."

"O-okay. Will you call me again tomorrow?"

A sliver of Zero's light chuckle drifted over the phone line. "A nuclear war couldn't keep me away."

"Okay. Bye."

"Good-bye, darling."

Yuuki returned the receiver to the hold and collapsed to her bed, hugging herself gently. This wasn't an issue he could just avoid. Their relationship was vital to their lives—he'd said so himself.

But he'd called her ''darling." And he'd said he wouldn't miss calling her for anything. That counted for something, right?

She wiped a tear from her eye and rubbed her belly for the first time. It was difficult to grasp that there was a baby in there. It was so small, so normal-looking, How could anything possibly be different?

But…

Three kits. Three home pregnancy tests, two different brands. Same results every time. Little pink plus sign, little pink plus sign. Little pink word that read PREGNANT.

She closed her eyes and curled into a ball on her bed. Why the hell hadn't they used birth control? She knew there were condoms in the bathroom. The Chairman had kept a fresh box up there for the last three years for that very reason. How stupid to completely disregard it in the heat of the moment!

Yori had suggested abortion, at which Yuuki had nearly exploded out of her skin. Aside from the fact that there was likely no way she could get around the law, this was her child. Hers and Zero's. Their baby, born of their hidden love for each other. How could she ever destroy something so beautiful?

Yuuki clutched at her stomach and shut her eyes tightly. She wished it would all go away—that when she opened her eyes, everything would be back to normal. No more morning sickness, no more food cravings. Zero would still be at Cross Academy, and they would be more careful about their love. Everything would be all right.

She opened her eyes, but she was still curled up on her quilt, bathing in the yellow from the overhead light. She sat up slowly, fighting off a threatening dizzy spell. God, this sucked. It seemed like the worst thing to happen to her since her parents' deaths.

It would be another three months before she really came to love the baby.

--

Zero closed his eyes, remembering the despair that had leaked from Yuuki's voice during that phone conversation from early February. He understood now why she'd been so desperate all of the sudden. When she'd asked, he'd tried to run around the question, giving her a direct answer without having to actually say the words. Why? Because that first kiss with Yuuki the night they did what they did had been his very first. Because, even after two years, he was still dealing some with the fact that his Yuuki was a pureblood, the very creature he had always sworn to hate. Because, as strong as his feelings for her were, he was terrified to let her into his heart, lest he hurt her the way he had after she'd become a vampire.

And, much as he'd hated to admit it, he'd been terrified simply because the whole love thing was just so new.

He glanced to his side, where his lover was breathing peacefully in her deep slumber, her delicate hand resting on her pillow next to her face. He gazed at her eyelids, wondering where she was at that moment. What she was seeing. What she was doing. What she was imagining.

He sighed and pulled her hand up to his mouth. Placed a small kiss on each of her bottom knuckles and hugged their hands under his chin. Her lips spread into a gentle smile and she snuggled a little closer to him.

"Zero…" she mumbled through her half-sleep. His lips parted to whisper into her ear his answer to her age-old question.

"Of course I love you, Yuuki. I love you more than anything in the world. I always have, and I always will."

Yuuki was mostly gone again, but acknowledged his words with a comforting hand squeeze.

--

Omigahd, I sooo loved it when Yuuki gave that chocolate to Zero. She made them for Kaname, but only one came out right, and did she give it to Kaname? Noooo, she gave it to ZERO! SQUEEEE

Okay, Imma need another two weeks to get the next chapter up. I really need to get organized here, and I have a government test on Tuesday. But we're almost through the first grading period, so maybe I'll get some heavy-duty time towards the end of the week.

I ran all over school today waving the fifth book in everyone's face.