Author Notes: OK, time for our favourite couple to get out of Cross Academy again. This is Part 1 of a new multi part chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Knight but I do own Hold Me...

-- Start --

There was going to be a four day school break soon, courtesy of a public holiday that coincided with a weekend. Most of the students would be heading back to their families for the break. Even Kaname Kuran the charismatic Moon Dorm leader, would be following Assistant Dorm Leader Takuma Ichijo back to his family home, the Ichijo mansion.

It was a warm afternoon two days before the holiday started, and the two School Prefects were enjoying their lunch break under the shade of the big tree overlooking the lake - Zero's favourite spot. Although Yuuki had asked Yori to join them, the petite blond had politely declined, deciding that the heavy frown Zero was directing at her at that moment actually meant something more than his usual sullen disposition. However, Yori had to admit that she was seeing less and less of that as well, as the days went by.

Zero rolled his eyes as he crammed the last of his sandwich into his mouth. "Another family vacation" he said. The sarcastic tone was quite lost on Yuuki, seeing as the words themselves were quite unintelligible and she continued to grin happily. "A beach trip, won't it be grand?" she said excitedly, shaking back auburn strands of hair tossed by the warm breeze. She sighed happily before flopping down on the grass beside Zero. Inwardly, Zero didn't mind where they went, having come to the point where anywhere was fine with him as long as Yuuki came along and as long as Kuran, or anyone else, didn't. He supposed the Chairman's presence couldn't be helped, seeing as he was their adopted Father and the one paying for the vacation.

All the same, the silver haired vampire grimaced, thinking of the (un)memorable vacation a few years back when he had suffered a panic attack and a bad case of heatstroke while looking for the Chairman and Yuuki, both seemingly disappeared in the wild tropical jungle.

Yuuki saw Zero's look and laughed. "Oh, you're not still thinking of that trip, Zero... just relax, it'll be fun this time, you'll see!"

Zero shrugged, his grimace smoothing out as he watched Yuuki shake the hair out of her eyes again and the breeze carried her enticingly sweet scent to his nose. "Father's booking an apartment this time instead of a single hotel room…" Yuuki paused to peep at Zero as she said this and got a meaningful look from amethyst eyes that made her blink before she continued "And uh, it has two bedrooms, a living room, and a kitchenette."

Zero shrugged – it just meant that he and the Chairman would be sleeping in the same room for a couple of nights – and Yuuki huffed a little at his lack of interest. "I'm also inviting Yori along" she added, not noticing how Zero's expression became guarded all of a sudden.

"Yori? Sayori? Why is she coming along?" Zero couldn't stop the slightly resentful tone that had crept into his voice. He was actually looking forward to having Yuuki all to – well, almost all himself for this trip. Yuuki eyed him suspiciously. "Why can't she?" she asked instead. Zero shrugged carelessly but his frown remained.

Yuuki was silent for a moment before she said more gently "Well, it would be nice to have Yori along, otherwise I'll be the only girl there, you know. At least I'll have someone to gossip and giggle with..."

There was still no response from the boy beside her and Yuuki huffed. "Oh, you're a guy, Zero, you wouldn't understand!" She tossed her head slightly for emphasis. It wasn't that Zero didn't understand, it was just something he never actually realised. "Oh…" he said now, his tone slightly chagrined. Yuuki was more sensitive of his tone now and she paused. She knew Zero and Yori didn't really get along but still… "It really would be nice if Yori came with us" she said.

Zero nodded silently. He hesitated for a moment before looking at her. "We'd have to be careful in front of her" he said quietly. Yuuki caught his meaning instantly – they could let their guard down in front of their adopted father – well, a little at least - since the Chairman already knew about Zero being a vampire and what he and Yuuki did, not that they ever intended to let him actually see Zero drinking her blood, but Yori didn't know about either one. "All right" she said and smiled a little.

Casting around for a change of subject, she remembered something else. "Oh, and Father is expecting us to cook dinner tomorrow night, Yori will be joining us too…"

Zero just lifted an eyebrow in response before shrugging again. He still wasn't really reconciled to the fact that that Yori would be joining them for this year's trip. He didn't really have anything against her per se, but her steady green eyed gaze had a way of making him feel that she knew everything about him… and unlike the soft and compassionate understanding in Yuuki's soft brown eyes, Yori's didn't necessarily show the same emotion.

"Zero?"

"Hmm?"

"You'll teach me how to make spaghetti with meatballs for dinner, won't you?" asked Yuuki with a winsome smile, not above using her feminine wiles to get her own way.

Zero gave a mock sigh which didn't fool her one bit. "All right" he agreed. Just him and Yuuki in the kitchen - it could be a lot worse.

- o -

The following evening, after class changeover, Zero prepared the spaghetti before going off to take a shower. Yuuki already had her shower and in view of the warm evening, and in anticipation of the upcoming trip, was wearing a sleeveless flower print sun dress in a warm shade of yellow, humming under her breath as she fixed a green salad.

She had actually started on the Bolognese sauce without Zero and was rather proud of how it had turned out, considering it was her first attempt. Of course, the fact that most of it had come out of a bottle probably helped as well.

Zero entered the kitchen, his eyes warm with admiration at the slender figure standing by the stove. "Hey…" he said, coming to stand beside her to take in the enticingly sweet smell that was Yuuki's alone. Unfortunately, it was masked by the pungent and fragrant aroma arising from the pot that was bubbling on the stove so Zero bent to bury his face at the back of Yuuki's neck and inhale deeply.

Yuuki was stirring the sauce and she giggled, reaching up behind her to push slender fingers into still damp silvery hair and pull Zero's head away. "Silly, the sauce is in the pot, not on my hair!"

"That's why…"

Yuuki ignored him as she lifted the wooden spoon from the bubbling sauce and blew on it before swiping her index finger in the sauce that coated the spoon. "Mmm… I think it needs more salt. What do you think, Zero?" she asked, holding out the dripping spoon, her other hand cupped underneath it to catch any spills. Instead of swiping the sauce with his own finger, Zero caught hold of Yuuki's cupped hand and dipped her middle finger in the sauce. Yuuki gasped in surprise, staring at him as he lifted her hand to his mouth and licked the sauce off her finger.

"Mmm… I think you're right" he said casually, dropping her hand and reaching for the salt. Yuuki stared at her tingling finger for a moment but didn't say anything. She suddenly started stirring the sauce as though her life depended on it. Zero caught the slight bloom of colour in her cheeks and hid a smile.

"Let's see…" he murmured, sprinkling some salt into the pot. He waited until Yuuki had stirred the sauce and tasted it again, holding the spoon in her left hand and using her right index finger this time.

"Do you – do you want to taste it again, Zero?" Yuuki asked, still looking at the spoon. The slight note of breathlessness in her voice made him smile again. "Sure" he said, reaching for her right hand. Yuuki folded it in front of her, out of his reach. "Hey, use your own hand, Zero!" she reprimanded.

Zero moved fast. Stepping behind her, he reached in front and deftly caught her right wrist. At the same time, his left hand closed over her left hand that was holding onto the spoon.

Two seconds later, Yuuki shrieked softly "Zero!" She stared in disbelief at her right hand, now smeared front and back with warm Bolognese sauce from the spoon. It had cooled somewhat so it didn't burn her skin but Yuuki dropped the spoon back into the pot in surprise, still staring at her hand.

A soft chuckle sounded in her ear as Zero's left hand reached for the burner switch, flicking it off before snaking around her slender waist. Yuuki half turned to the right, damp auburn hair swinging, looking up to see her right hand brought up to the level of Zero's lips.

He paused to raise an eyebrow at Yuuki and her breath caught suddenly, arrested by the wicked twinkle in his eyes. "Oops, clumsy me…" Zero said softly.

"Zero…" Yuuki breathed, torn between shaking her head at him and laughing.

"Looks like I have to clean up, huh?"

Yuuki smiled and nodded, shivering a little with delicious anticipation. She settled back against Zero's chest, turned a little more to her right as she watched Zero's lips touched her hand.

The entire cleaning process took almost eight whole minutes to complete, by which time Yuuki was depending on Zero's arm around her waist to keep her upright as her legs had pretty much turned to jelly. She didn't bother to quibble about the fact that while only three of her fingers actually had sauce on them, Zero still thought it necessary to clean the other two with equal thoroughness, sucking each finger into his mouth with tantalising slowness, before sliding his tongue and lips over the entire length, fully aware of Yuuki's speeded up pulse and her rather shallow breathing.

When Zero had finally finished with her trembling fingers, he turned his attention to her palm, lapping up the sauce with his tongue, paying special attention to the sensitive skin between her fingers that he knew would make Yuuki's breath hitch softly in her throat. Her left hand had closed over his left arm at her waist, slender fingers absent-mindedly caressing the smooth skin of his forearm.

Zero enjoyed himself thoroughly – each of Yuuki's soft gasps and breathy moans fell on his ears like sweet music and he had learnt from past experience which spots made her breath hitch the most. She smelled and tasted of Bolognese but it was heavenly all the same. His left arm pulled her even closer against his chest, loving the feel of Yuuki's body against his own, loving the feel of her light caresses on his bare arm.

"Delicious…" he murmured wickedly, smiling into Yuuki's wide eyes and making her blush again. She closed them resolutely, which just made him smile a little more.

After he had finally licked off all the sauce from Yuuki's hand to his satisfaction, he turned his attention to the underside of her wrist. His fangs had lengthened just a little and Yuuki's eyes snapped open as he grazed them very, very lightly on the almost translucent skin, not drawing blood although he was very tempted to.

"Zero? Do you want…?" Yuuki's voice was a soft breathless murmur.

"No, just… playing a little" he told her softly. "Besides Yori will be here at any minute…" he added, not without a little regret.

Yuuki had forgotten. She pulled away slightly, a distracted frown appearing between her delicate eyebrows. "Yes, and so will Father if we don't stop this right now"

Someone coughed delicately by the kitchen door and both silver and auburn heads swung towards that sound, Zero still holding Yuuki against him. Yori was standing there, a surprised smile on her face at the unexpectedly tender scene she'd just witnessed.

"Yori-chan! Oh, you're here already!" breathed Yuuki as she blushed and quickly twisted free from Zero's embrace. He quickly let go of Yuuki's waist, as well as the small hand he'd been ravishing. "Um… Yori" he acknowledged, running a distracted hand through his hair.

Yori's wide green eyes swung from Zero to Yuuki and back again. "I hope I was not interrupting the… um, cooking…" she murmured.

"It's done" said Zero briefly, stepping away from Yuuki. He went over to the other counter and started taking down plates from the cupboard, scowling at each one in turn. He didn't see the sly wink that Yori directed at a red faced Yuuki but her softly spoken comment of "Delicious, hmm?" made his ears burn all the same.

- o -

"Well, Yori, are you coming with us tomorrow?" asked the Chairman as he beamed at Yori. She smiled back at him. "Of course, Chairman… and thank you for inviting me" she said.

"Great! We'll have such fun!" said Yuuki happily. Yori smiled at her and nodded, then glanced over at Zero. He didn't look very happy, though.

"Delicious spaghetti, Yuuki!" beamed the Chairman, helping himself to more sauce. Yuuki thanked him then glanced at Zero. He was looking studiously at his plate.

"All food made with love will taste good" added Yori, with an innocent smile at Yuuki beside her, and was duly rewarded with a slap on her arm. Yuuki then shot another glance at Zero and this time, he was looking directly at her, his meaningful glance and raised eyebrow reminding her of what had happened earlier. Yuuki blushed as she bit her lip and frowned at him.

Both Yori and Chairman Cross witnessed the silent exchange with raised eyebrows but offered no comment.

After dinner, the older man asked Zero to escort Yori back to the Sun Dorm. "I'll come with you" added Yuuki quickly, knowing that Zero would not look forward to the short walk with Yori – they hardly spoke to each other in any case. But the blond girl only smiled at Yuuki and shook her head. "It's OK, Yuuki-chan, you should start packing for the trip tomorrow…"

"Oh! Well then…" Yuuki glanced at Zero who shrugged back at her.

Yori thanked them for dinner and wished the Chairman and Yuuki good night, before following Zero out the door. They walked in silence, finally slowing down as they reached the gates of the Sun Dorm.

"So - you coming with us tomorrow?" Zero's tone was abrupt and although he tried to make his voice expressionless, it came out sounding rather terse… rude even.

"Yes, I am" answered Yori, her tone and manner unruffled as she turned to face Zero. "I know you don't want me to come, Zero-kun…"

Yori watched, as Zero's lips tightened in annoyance, both at her direct words as well as how she persisted in calling him 'Zero-kun'. Well, the Chairman had invited her, hadn't he, so how dare he show her that sour face? It wasn't as if she'd be monopolising Yuuki's attention all the time… Or perhaps he was worried that he wouldn't be able to do certain - activities - with Yuuki in front of her?

An imp of mischief surfaced and Yori smiled a little. "Don't worry, Zero-kun" she said with studied sweetness. "I already know about your… secret"

Zero froze for a moment, his jaw clenched. Then he pushed his hands in his pockets in a deliberately casual manner. "What secret?" he asked in a bored voice. If you mean that I'm in love with Yuuki - well, that's not much of a secret…

"That you're a vampire… a made one"

Yori's voice was soft but Zero stopped breathing, his heartbeat suddenly pounding in his ears. His jaw actually dropped as he stared at her. Yori knew! But how? Yuuki can't have told her! So how could she know?

"How – how did you know? And how long have you known?" Zero asked in a shocked whisper, his eyes wide. It was the second time he'd had his secret discovered – during Kaname's recent surprise birthday party, courtesy of a certain tousle-haired impulsive blond, and now.

Yori ignored his questions. "I also know that the Night Class are all vampire nobles… born ones" Her tone was as casual as if Zero had just asked her if she thought it might rain tonight.

Zero blinked, astounded.

Yori's eyes were calm as they looked back at him fearlessly. "To answer your first question, since the time you and Yuuki hid in the garden storeroom after you made Mariko-chan fall and scrape her knee by dragging her away from the Moon Dorm" she admitted.

Zero exhaled in surprise. "That long ago?" he asked, still stunned.

Yori nodded silently. "I've been suspicious of the Night Class students for some time actually… then I figured it out, it was the only explanation that made sense, really…" She shrugged. "Surprising that no one else has picked up on it. And then, when you hurried away instead of helping Yuuki-chan take Mariko-chan to the infirmary, well I suspected something was off. I was standing nearby, you know…"

"Does Yuuki know that you know…?"

Yori shook her head solemnly. "It was obviously a secret, so I never told her my suspicions."

Zero stared at her, a part of his mind wondering why she had seen fit to let him know when she hadn't let Yuuki know, then returned to his earlier questioning. "And then?"

Yori shrugged again. "So I followed you and saw you kneeling behind the garden storeroom, then later Yuuki found you and pulled you inside…"

"You peeped at us?" asked Zero next, feeling equal amounts of embarrassment and anger. Because that was the time when he'd tried his best to scare off Yuuki and it had backfired, of course. Because Yuuki was never afraid of him…

Yori shook her head solemnly. "The door was locked but there's a slight gap between the door and wall, and I could hear both your voices quite clearly, soft as they were..."

Zero looked away, then glanced back at her soberly. "I – I was only trying to – to scare her…" he explained a little haltingly. "I had no intention of hurting Yuuki" He didn't even know why he bothered to explain the situation to Yori. But she was Yuuki's friend too. And he wanted her to know at least this much, that he was only trying to push Yuuki away for her own good…

Yori nodded just as soberly. "I know, Zero-kun. I heard the whole conversation, remember?"

Zero was still staring intently at her although his shoulders relaxed a little.

Yori sighed. "Actually, I was also keeping a lookout for you two in case anyone else wandered by" Yori looked like she didn't know why she was saying this, but she decided that it probably wasn't a good idea to have Zero Kiriyu as your enemy. Besides, she didn't really have anything personal against him.

"Besides, how can you hurt her when you love her?"

Zero's body jerked tense again and he closed his eyes tightly for a moment before chancing a look at Yori. "You and the entire school, no doubt" he said tonelessly.

A small smile touched Yori's lips. "Not all… but a good portion, I'm sure" she said calmly. Her smile grew wider as she saw Zero's increasingly uncomfortable expression. "Remember the school dance? And how distracted you appeared the next morning when you went around looking for her? And how you seem to be staring at her all the time, even in class? And recently, of course, when you were so miserable the time she didn't talk to you?"

Zero had been looking more and more discomfited but at her last few words, his gaze turned slightly haunted as well. Yori sighed and held up a hand. "I don't even want to know what happened between the two of you to cause that" she said.

Zero realised that Yuuki had not told anyone at all about that happened between them that fateful night, and he relaxed slightly. But now that Yori knew his secret…

To Zero, it could only mean one thing, Yori confronting him like this. There had to be a reason why she hadn't wanted Yuuki to join them just now. So he looked at her grimly, his hands deep in his pockets. "All right, Sayori, so what do you want from me?" he asked tightly.

For once, Yori looked startled. "What do I want?" she repeated. Then she realised what Zero meant and her mouth fell open. "Oh… Zero-kun! Now I know why Yuuki punches you from time to time, you are a jerk! What makes you think I want anything from you?" she said indignantly.

Zero was still staring at her suspiciously so Yori tossed her head in a gesture that reminded him strongly of Yuuki. "Do you think I'd be so low as to stoop to blackmail?"

He continued staring at her in silence.

"And what do you have that I would want, anyway?" Yori asked scornfully.

Ouch - that made Zero start before he glanced away. Yori was right, he had nothing that she could ever want. He had nothing that anybody could ever want. And he didn't care as long as Yuuki didn't think that way too. But it made him realise that there was something that Yori could threaten him with – to no longer be a part of Yuuki's life.

"You won't… you won't ask me to stay away from Yuuki?" he asked quietly, feeling his heart tighten in his chest, unable to hide what he was feeling now.

Yori stared at him in surprise. She'd seen a couple of expressions on Zero's face by now, but this was different from all the rest. Zero looked… uncertain... almost fearful. Yori felt a sudden pang in her heart for this sullen boy standing in front of her. She'd never thought of him as being any other than Zero Kiriyu, grumpy and sullen school prefect, Yuuki's adopted brother… and yes, a made vampire. But seeing him like this now, and knowing what he was… but most of all, knowing how he felt about Yuuki…

Yori's gaze softened a little. "No, why would I? When it's obvious that you love Yuuki-chan? When it's just as obvious that she thinks the world of you?" she asked softly.

Zero swallowed again as he stared into Yori's eyes. Eyes that were fearless, open and sincere. He was starting to think he was in a dream.

Yori smiled a little at Zero's stunned expression, conscious of a fleeting sense of envy at Yuuki, what with both the charismatic Moon Dorm leader and Zero Kiriyu vying for her affections. It would be nice if she had someone as well… someone who loved her that much. Someone who would do anything for her. Well – there was someone, only he would never know… and Yori would never tell him how she felt.

"Well, good night, Zero" she said now as she turned away.

Zero watched her for a moment. Then he called out "So - you coming with us tomorrow?"

Yori paused for a moment then nodded to herself. Yes – it was the tone of the voice that made the question, and not so much the words themselves. She turned and smiled at Zero. "Yes, I am"

He stared at her a moment longer before his lips quirked in a crooked sort of half smile. "Good" he said. Without waiting to see her reaction, he turned and started walking back to the main building.

Well, well… Yori's eyebrows lifted then she smiled as she went through the Sun Dorm gates. She had some packing to do herself…

-- End --