Hopeless Fool

Avalon twirled in her sea green, halter-top dress; watching the ends flare out and imitate her movements. It had taken her a whole week to find the dress and another few days to have it modified but it was worth it. The dress hugged her almost existent curves, the side of the dress had a slender cut, exposing her left leg when she walked; her creamy smooth back was expose for all those who turned her way when she wasn't looking.

Avalon let out a sigh of content; she was very picky about what she wore since she didn't have much self-confidence but right now, she felt that nothing could bring her down.

Brrriiinnngg.

Avalon tensed, her eyes widening. She could hear her mother talking to someone downstairs. She gulped down the lump in her throat; closing her eyes, Avalon made her way down the stairs. When she was halfway down she was met with Kai's slightly bandage, yet handsome smirking face, his crimson orbs glittering in an unusual way. Avalon flashed him a smile as she placed her small hand in his much larger one.

Kai leaned down and whispered, "You look stunning" which caused Avalon to redden a bit. "Thank you. You don't look bad yourself." She muttered. The couple turned to Mr. and Mrs. Valise; Avalon's father gave Kai the fatherly look—eyes a bit hardened, jaw shut tightly in a firm manner, arms crossed over his chest and his feet apart; the look clearly read: 'if you hurt her, I'll hunt you down'. Mrs. Valise on the other hand was wiping the tears from her eyes mumbling something along the lines of: 'my baby's all grown up! And going to fancy parties with handsome boys!'

Avalon turned away from Kai who smirked lightly at Mrs. Valise.

"Alright. Well, have fun sweetheart, don't stay up too late." Commanded Mr. Valise; Avalon rolled her pink eyes at his antics.

"Don't worry Mr. Valise; I'll have her home at an appropriate time." Replied Kai, gently pulling Avalon towards the door. On their way out, they could hear Mrs. Valise wishing them luck, hoping that they would have a safe trip and not to do anything that she wouldn't do.

Avalon covered her face with her free hand at the last comment. Kai merely chuckled and opened the door for Avalon before going around and getting into the driver's seat. Once inside, Avalon let out a sigh of relief.

"Now I know where you get it from."

Avalon turned to Kai and raised a questioning brow at him. Kai smirked but didn't care to elaborate on what the 'it' was. The ride was silent, but not to the point that it was awkward; it was more calm and peaceful for the both of them.

"Kai?"

"Hmm…"

"You won't let them eat me right?"

Kai took his eyes of the road momentarily to look at Avalon. Avalon had a look of worry over her face, her eyes illuminating a bit, as she stared at him. Kai grunted. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Tala and the others are there."

"Oh…so, did you guys make up yet?"

Kai grunted. "You make it sound like we were dating."

"Sorry, I'm just saying you know…" There was a short pause. "…so did you?"

"Kind of."

"Oh…"

After that, the couple didn't bother to speak.

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"How's my dress Brooklyn?" Ellie spun around in her short, fitting red dress that hugged her slender curves and complimented her chest. Brooklyn glanced at his cousin and rolled his eyes.

"Don't you have anything longer?"

"Brooklyn!" Whined Ellie. She looked at her dress in her full image mirror. It wasn't that short in her opinion. It stopped halfway up her thighs, and it gave her body an extra bonus image. "It's fine Brooklyn! It's not like I'm showing off my underwear!"

"You might as well with that outfit."

Ellie turned to Brooklyn, who ignored her, and gave him a haughty look. "Humph. You're such a protective jerk!"

"I'm your cousin, I have to be." Came the calm reply as Brooklyn straightened out his tie and gave his white tuxedo a brush over. "Alright, I'm ready. Are you Ellie?"

"I have been for the last five minutes!" Came the annoyed response. Brooklyn rolled his eyes and grabbed his keys. "Then shall we?"

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Tala swung his arms at his sides as he exhaled a breath of air that he was holding. He was nervous. That wasn't a good sign, Tala Volkov never gets nervous! He ran a hand through his red hair and pushed the doorbell. He waited for a bit before the door was opened; he was greeted by Renée's mother.

"Why hello Tala! Renée should be coming down soon. Come in! Come in!"

Tala did just that and felt his knees grow weaker by the second. He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't realize his date approach until she spoke.

"I see you're on time. I wasn't expecting that."

Tala looked up and had to stop himself from drooling. Renée was wearing a strapless navy blue silky dress that went above her knees with matching high heels. Her hair was tied up in a French braid bun, and her silver dangling earrings complimented her snow white colored neck.

Tala shook his head to snap out of the trance. He extended his hand towards hers and turned to her parents.

"We'll see you at the party then?"

"Of course! Go one dears!" Tala gave Mrs. Roskonova a feint smile and led Renée towards his car. This was going to be one Hell of a night.

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At the party, Avalon felt like the appetizer. The way that everyone was looking at her, she was sure if she let go of Kai's hand they would prance onto her. Kai was currently speaking to some important person who flew down, literally, to attend his grandfather's party. She would have never thought that Kai could be so social.

Avalon felt a tug on her arm, she turned to Kai who indicated to the punch table; Avalon quickly followed his lead. She stared at the punch bowl, which was red, and back at Kai who raised a brow as he took a sip.

"What?" He asked as he too looked down at the punch bowl. "It's not blood if that's what you're wondering."

Avalon let out a nervous chuckle. "What?! Of course not!" She quickly filled her cup with the punch and took a quick sip. Kai rolled his eyes and scanned the room. It was filled with old farts that needed to get a life, the others were about his age but they were snot-nosed brats or frigid vampires that needed a good lay. Kai let out a breath; he hadn't caught sight of any of the others.

"Hello Voltaire, it's been awhile."

Kai tensed when he recognized the voice, he inclined his head to the right and growled when he spotted Brooklyn who too had a few bandages here and there, just small ones for the cuts. Kai turned back to Avalon who hadn't noticed the new arrival and dragged her to the other side of the room.

"Hey!" She squeaked as she was dragged, quite roughly, to the opposite side of the large room. "Where are we going?!"

"Hn."

Avalon rolled her eyes and allowed herself to be dragged away from Kai. When Kai felt that they were far enough from Brooklyn's vision he eased up on his hold of Avalon.

"What was that about?!"

"None of your concern."

Avalon stuck her tongue out at him and turned away only to squeal in excitement. Kai turned towards her direction and regarded Tala with a nod.

"Tala! Ren! You're here!"

Tala smirked at Avalon and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Hey pinky! have you tripped yet?"

"Tala!" Avalon slapped Tala away and glared at him. "You're so mean! And no, I haven't…yet."

Tala released a light chuckle and wrapped his arms around his date's waist. "Any sign of Bryan and Spencer?"

Avalon shook her head. Tala let out a sigh and glanced around; he narrowed his eyes when she spotted Ellie glancing their way. He glanced at Kai and rolled his eyes; he too had spotted her.

"Hey Avalon, you wanna go get some fresh air?"

Avalon raised a brow but wasn't able to retort because Tala had already begun to drag her outside. Renée shook her head and went to stand next to Kai.

"You know…if you were going to dump her ass at the party, you might as well have told her that you didn't want to go with her."

Kai turned to Renée and raised a brow. "Who said that I didn't want to go with her?"

"Oh I don't know…maybe the fact that you have your sights on someone else."

Kai grunted. "You haven't even started to date the guy and already he's rubbing off on you."

Renée chuckled. "I guess…but really, you might want to think with your head—" She pushed Kai's head to the side, "—rather than with your head." She patted Kai's shoulder before walking in the direction that Tala and Avalon disappeared to. Kai glared at her retreating form. He had no intention of just dumping Avalon on the spot, especially in a room full of vampires; he wasn't stupid! Kai grunted and leaned back on the wall. What was up with everyone ganging up on him? They acted like he was cheating on Avalon, which wasn't possible because they weren't dating and they weren't ever going to. He let out a sigh and looked towards the ceiling, when did his life get so complicated?

-----------

Ellie let out a desperate sigh as she again lost sight of her 'man'. She looked towards Brooklyn, who was having a dull conversation with some Count from England, and let out another sigh. She needed to escape from him, but how? She glanced around, the room was pretty full of people; maybe if she slipped in she wouldn't be noticed until it was too late. Yeah, that had to work.

Ellie glanced at Brooklyn and began to slowly make her way towards the center of the room and then slyly slipped in with the crowd.

Brooklyn held his tongue as he watched Ellie just slipped amongst the crowd. He should have been paying more attention. He turned to the Count and gave him a calm smile.

"That's wonderful Count, but it seems I've lost my cousin. She's new around here, and since this place is quite large, she might get lost."

"Why of course Brooklyn! We don't want that now! Have you heard? Voltaire's grandson brought a human to the party!"

Brooklyn droned out the rest of the conversation and furrowed his brows, human? The only human that he knew was…Avalon. He glanced around the room, she was here? Now he really wanted to leave.

"Excuse me Count."

"Of course! Hope you find your cousin!"

Brooklyn nodded and began to search the crowd for Kai; if he found Kai he would find his cousin as well as Avalon.

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"Oh no…I can't believe I lost him…" Avalon avoided eye contact with anyone she passed hoping that if she didn't look at them they wouldn't spring at her and bite her neck.

One minute she was walking next to Kai, the next, she was walking alone. Where could he have gone?

Avalon let out a sigh, she was doomed!

-----------

"I can't believe this! She can't even walk by me right! She still goes and gets herself lost!" Growled Kai as he scanned the room for a pink haired klutz. If the room wasn't so massive maybe he would be able to find her, not to mention if there were less people.

Kai felt someone tug on his arm.

"Avalon where the—Ellie?"

Ellie smiled at Kai and leaned up to peck his lips. "Most definitely. Now who's Avalon?"

Kai grunted and removed his arm from her grasp. "Not now Ellie, I'm looking for someone."

"Maybe I can help?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Hn. Aren't you supposed to be with Brooklyn?"

Ellie rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Yeah, but I ditched him so I could be with you!"

Kai glanced at her and back to the crowd, weaving pass people as he looked for Avalon. "Look Ellie, not right now alright?"

"Why?! What could be more important than me?!"

Kai stopped and turned towards her. "Ellie…" He started but was silenced when she held her palms up towards him. "No! You listen! I don't know what's up with you, but whatever it is, it's got to stop!"

Kai raised a brow. "What? There's nothing 'up' with me."

"Yes there is! You've been so distant ever since your stupid fight with Brooklyn! What's wrong?! What were you and Brooklyn fighting about?!"

Kai ran a hand through his hair and stared at his girlfriend. "It doesn't concern you Ellie."

Ellie shook her head and began to walk away. Kai rolled his eyes and called after her, momentarily forgetting that he was looking for someone.

-----------

Brooklyn continued looking through the crowd of vampires, nodding and smiling respectively to those whom he passed by. He spotted Kai and Ellie talking, but no sign of Avalon. He was about to approach but thought it otherwise and decided to watch for a bit.

He watched Ellie turn away and Kai following after her; he smirked; his cousin was good for something after all.

Brooklyn did a once over again at the crowd and smirked. He found her. He weaved his way towards her, thanking Ellie for the distraction that she caused.

When he reached her he placed a hand on Avalon's shoulder causing her to jump and turn around.

When she realized who it was, she gave him a bright smile.

"Hey Brooklyn! I didn't know you were here."

Brooklyn chuckled. "Well I can't say the same for you. You're the talk of the crowd."

"Really?" Avalon asked; a hint of worry laced in her sweet voice. Brooklyn smiled and nodded. He leant down until his lips brushed her ear. "Don't worry; I won't let anything happen to you."

Avalon blushed and turned away. "Thank you…" She mumbled. Brooklyn smirked and took hold of her hand.

"Would you care to dance?" He asked in his gentleman tone. Avalon smiled and nodded her head. Brooklyn led her to the dance floor where a slow melody came on; Brooklyn silently thanked whoever was watching for his luck. He pulled Avalon close to him, his eyes never leaving hers.

-----------

"Ellie!" Yelled Kai once she had stopped a few feet away from him. "What's your problem?!"

Ellie turned around and glared at him. "You're my problem! You don't tell me anything! You leave me in the dark! I just want to help Kai!"

Kai let out a low growl. Why did she have to be so nosy sometimes? Avalon was never nosy! He stopped his train of thought and shook his head; Avalon. He completely forgot about her. Kai turned back and began to head back towards the ballroom.

"Where are you going?! We're not finished yet!"

Kai turned to Ellie and let out a frustrated growl. "We'll talk about this later." With that, Kai turned and left Ellie in the middle of the rose bushes to watch his retreating form.

"Argh!" She yelled at nothing in particular.

-----------

Once inside, Kai quickly scanned the room once more, his heart pounding against his chest. Ellie had distracted him and that distraction could have caused Avalon's life. He knew that none of the old geezers wanted anything to do with her, but that didn't mean that none of the vampires of his generation didn't either.

Kai let out a threatening growl at the sight before him; he clenched his fist by his side and made quick, aggravated strides towards the couple on the dancer floor, who were dancing too close for his liking.

The couple was so absorbed with staring at one another that they didn't notice Kai approach them until Avalon felt someone tapped her bare shoulder. She turned to the intruder and gave him a bright smile.

"Kai! You found me!"

Kai snorted and turned to Brooklyn who had let his arms drop to his side. "I think I'll be taking my date back."

Brooklyn smirked. "Go right ahead, the song has ended anyway." Brooklyn walked passed Kai and paused shortly to whisper something only he and himself could hear. "You better make your choice Hiwatari; you can't just continue to bounce back and forth."

Kai glared at Brooklyn's retreating form. His jaw tightened and his fist was clenched even tighter; the only moment he relaxed was when he felt Avalon's arm on his shoulder. He turned towards her and his gaze softened. He took hold of her hand and brought her close to his body.

Avalon turned away, trying to maintain control of her blush.

"I thought I told you to stay away from him Avalon."

Avalon turned back to Kai, confused. She had never heard him speak so softly to her. "I-I-you-you did…I just…well, I…you—um…Sorry." She mumbled out. Kai pulled her closer to him and leant his head close to her ear. "Just don't do it again…"

Avalon relaxed her head on his chest, not bothering to respond. She didn't want to promise him something that she wouldn't be able to keep. Avalon looked up at Kai, "Where'd you go?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

Avalon gave him a sheepish grin. "Sorry!"

Kai rolled his eyes. They danced for a while, neither looking at each other; instead they took quick, sly glances.

The first song came to an end, but Kai wasn't ready just yet. "How about another one?"

Avalon smiled and nodded her head.

-----------

From the sidelines, Bryan, who had his left arm bandaged, Spencer, who had a wrap around his head, and Spencer's cousin Monet watched the couple.

"So let me get this straight. Avalon likes Kai but won't tell him, and Kai likes Avalon but won't admit it, plus he has a girlfriend?" Asked Monet. Spencer nodded while Bryan grunted. Monet turned back to the couple on the dance floor. "Man! They sure do have a confusing relationship!"

"Tell me about it." Grumbled Bryan who stared at his empty cup. Man, was he dying for something with alcohol in it.

-----------

Kai and Avalon continued to dance the night away, neither tearing their gaze away from each other. When the music stopped, so did the teens, both still holding each other's gaze. Avalon smiled up at Kai; Kai smirked back.

"Want to go outside?"

"Sure."

Kai led Avalon toward the mansion garden. There, they stopped by the fountain, content with the silence.

"Kai?"

"Hmm…"

"Thank you."

Kai looked down into her pink orbs; his brows furrowed. What was she talking about? Avalon, seeing the confused look elaborated.

"For everything."

Still seeing Kai's confused look, she tried again. "What I'm trying to say is—" She took a step closer to the fountain. "thank you for everything you've done. Not only have you saved my life twice, you've made me realized that—Whoa!" Her heel got stuck on the groove of the walkway, causing her to loose her balance, Kai extended his hand to catch her, but instead of pulling her up, they both landed into the fountain. Kai, soaking wet, glared at Avalon who gave him a sheepish smile.

"Oops…"

"Oops?" Growled Kai. Avalon nodded her head.

"Hey! Oh man…hahaha"

The couple turned to find Tala pointing and laughing at them while Renée held an amused look.

"It's not funny Tala." Sneered Kai.

Tala nodded his head, continuing to laugh. "Actually, yes it is! Hahaha"

The couple got out of the pond, wet to the bone. Avalon shivered visibly and turned to Kai to give him an apologetic look. Kai grunted and led her inside to get warm.

Upon reaching the room, Voltaire was making his speech, which Kai ignored and led Avalon to the back room that led to hidden staircase, which led to the Hiwatari mansion. When they were about to go up the stairs, Kai stopped abruptly and listened, for once, to his grandfather.

Kai heard a sound of gasps and his grandfather's booming voice.

"Kai?"

"Shh…" He silenced Avalon and continued to listen.

"Yes! You heard me right! They are on the move! If we do not watch our backs and take caution, they will find us! I suggest that all of us should stop feeding on the humans for a while until things quiet down a bit…"

Avalon looked at Kai and grabbed his arm. Kai glanced at her. "I'll tell you later." He whispered before going back to listen to the rest of Voltaire's speech.

"Organization EAA is dangerous! There goal is to eliminate all abominations! This means us!"

Avalon wrinkled her nose. Couldn't they think of a better name? Wait…She looked at Kai again; this time panic taking over. They wanted to kill him?!

Feeling Avalon's gaze on him Kai turned towards her, gave her a soft smirk, and led her up the staircase.

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"Did you hear that?" Asked Bryan as they continued to listen. "They're here…after all this time…they're here."

"Humph. They won't find us." Commented Tala in an over-confident tone.

"And you know this because…?" Asked Renée. Tala turned towards her. "Hn. Because we're smarter than they are. We won't let them catch us…never."

Renée rolled her eyes. "You're not superman Tala, and they aren't that stupid. If we don't watch our step, we could fall into their trap. Especially since we're friends with a regular."

Tala turned his gaze towards Renée, "Avalon would never betray us. She seems like a complete idiot at times, even a bit ditzy, but she's not a traitor."

Renée let out a sigh. "I never said she was, but what happens if they find out she's friends with us? Then what? They'll threaten to kill her family and friends; she's not going to stay loyal to us when her family's and friend's lives are in danger."

Tala grunted and turned back to Voltaire. That wasn't going to happen at all…right?

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Back at the Hiwatari Mansion, Avalon sat on Kai's bed wearing one of his oversized shirts as she waited for her dress to dry. "Kai?"

"Hn."

"Those people…what Voltaire said…they…he…he was just joking around right?"

Kai approached Avalon, wearing nothing but his boxer and a white wife beater, and took a seat next to her. "No. He was serious. Our kind has been hiding from that stupid organization for awhile now…"

Avalon pulled her knees towards her chest, "That means that it's a low chance that they'll find you right? Since you've already dealt with them."

Kai lay on his bed and stared at his ceiling. "Hn. Maybe…"

Avalon crawled towards him. "Kai! This is a serious matter! You and everyone could get hurt! We have to do something!"

Kai raised a brow. "What do you think we should do? Attack them? That's too risky."

"But Kai…" Avalon wanted to tell him that she didn't want him to get hurt and that she wouldn't know what to do if he did; but instead she said, "…we have to do something…we can't let people like them go around like that…it's not right."

Kai sighed and turned his gaze towards the ceiling. Why did his life have to be so complicated?

TK: Yo! I hope you readers haven't given up on me yet!!! Sorry for the delay!!! Hmmm...I always say that...but it's true!!!

Well, the readers have voted and it seems a few of you want me to focus on this fic more and I shall grant that request!

I'll try and update a bit sooner, but how soon? No clue...I'm not going to be here next week...so eh...it'll be a while and it's close to the final exams at my school...so I'm pretty much booked! But don't worry, this will be my top priority!

Now! I have some questions for you!!!!

1) How's the fic so far?

2) Do I need to elaborate on anything? (Organization EAA will be elaborated soon, so that doesn't count!)

3) What about the pairings? Who do you think Avalon should end up with? (I know it's a bit early, and I kind of have an idea on how I want the pairing to be...but...eh...I wanna know what you readers suggest)

4) Do you have any suggestions? Questions? Anything?

I'd really appreciate it if you took the time to answer these questions, it'll give me good over all picture, you know? Later!

♥TK♥