I still do not own Vampire Knight or any of it's characters, I only claim Lea and the plot. Isabel is my BFF's OC and she has given me permission to control her character for this story for all of your enjoyment.
Lea hated History class. Hated, hated, hated it. She's heard the 'those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it' lecture but if everyone got along then what did it matter? Anyway, the only reason that Lea put that class in her top 3 was because she sat rather close to Zero and today the one person who sat between them was out sick.
The only bad thing about this was that Lea kept getting distracted. Class was little more than ¾ over and she had caught herself staring 3 times, spaced out 5 times, and fallen asleep 4; although that last figure wasn't because of Zero.
But it did seem that Zero had taken a leaf out of her book and fallen asleep.
He's so adorable!Lea squealed mentally, focusing on Zero completely for the 4th time.
Meanwhile the teacher was still talking. "All right, that's all for today. Stay quiet until the bell rings."
Lea chewed on her lip for a moment then nodded to herself. After a bit of digging through her bag she pulled out a sketchbook. Lea always loved drawing but if anyone ever asked what she was working on all they would get would be a blush and a stammered excuse to leave. It wasn't anything bad exactly, but the answer would reveal a few things she wasn't quite ready to have answered.
Lea studied Zero's face as she searched for her page. It's a shame his eyes aren't open. She thought. Better than nothing, I suppose.And with that, Lea began sketching.
It didn't take long for Lea to become totally engrossed with both the drawing and the daydream that went with it. For once Lea wasn't completely focused on Zero -at least, not the real, flesh and blood Zero- and didn't notice that his eyes had opened and focused on her.
Moving quietly, Zero scooted closer and took a peek over Lea's shoulder to see what she was so focused on. What he didn't expect was to see a half-colored picture of... himself?... and Lea. Lea seemed to be leaning out of some sort of old phone booth and was wearing a leather jacked and a deep green tee-shirt that barely covered her stomach. The Zero in the picture was wearing a dark blue suit that almost matched the seemingly weather-worn phone booth. He stood next to Lea outside the door and had an almost cheeky grin on his face. Zero, the real one, could see that his drawing version held what looked like a silver and blue version of his Bloody Rose gun in his left hand.
"Wow." Zero said quietly.
Lea squeaked, surprised, in response to his low voice in her ear. She quickly slammed shut her sketchbook, face red with embarrassment.
Zero was also surprised, he hadn't thought that Lea would be so jumpy. It was almost as if she was nervous around him. Why is that?He wondered.
"No need to hide it, it looked cool." Zero spoke gently, trying not to startle her again. "I didn't know you are an art student."
"I'm not." Lea's voice was fluttery and a little higher pitched than usual. Normally she and Zero only ever spoke when she initiated the conversation, albeit after roughly seven minutes of nerve gathering and three of planning of what to say.
Zero looked confused so Lea, in a slightly more normal voice, explained. "I don't take the art classes here. I just doodle in my spare time."
Comprehension relaxed Zero's features and he slightly extended a hand towards her sketchbook. "May I see?"
Lea unconsciously held the book tighter. If he saw then she'd have to explain why he was on pretty much every page. If she explained then she may as well confess that she's had a crush on him for months. No way in Hell, Heaven or in between was she ready for that heart attack. She silently shook her head 'no.'
Zero pouted -Pouted!- and gave Lea such a sad puppy dog look that almost had her handing over the sketchbook. Almost, but not quite.
Lea held on tighter. "Nuh-uh. No way." She shook her head again for emphasis.
The pout increased. Damn!Thought Lea. That look should be a certified weapon! ...I am so doomed.
"What's so bad that I can't see?" asked Zero, replacing the pout with a playful grin. "You're not drawing anything M rated, are you?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Lea laughed and smacked his shoulder. "Only a few bloody cartoons of Kaname beaten to a pulp."
Zero's eyebrows raised, grin still in place. "What happened to him?"
"Fangirl stampede. He was in the way of one of Aido's 'model moments' and couldn't get out of the way fast enough."
Zero laughed aloud. "That would be a sight to see."
"And entirely likely to happen too, provided Yuki doesn't try to protect him." said Lea, mentally rejoicing. I made him laugh! I made Zero laugh!So completely doomed.
"True, true." Zero said thoughtfully, then smiled.
Lea's heart felt like it was going to stop, she was so mesmerized by that smile. To be completely truthful that was probably the first time Zero had truly smiled at her. Lea probably smiled back at him but she wasn't too sure, she was too busy memorizing Zero's face, probably for the 20th time but for the first time up close and with a smile on his face.
Zero, being the cunning bastard he sometimes was, decided to take advantage of Lea's distraction and quickly snatch the sketchbook from the grasp of her loosened fingers.
"Wha-? Hey!" The theft of her sketchbook slowly awoke Lea from her stupor. She lurched towards Zero as he went to gather his things; he'd already packed away the book before she even reached him.
The bell rang and Zero swung his bag over his shoulder, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. "You can have this back later." And with that he left for his advanced Chemistry class.
Lea growled but didn't pursue him. She knew that it was useless; Zero's Chem class was on the opposite end of the school from her German lesson. So, with a snarl that wouldn't sound out-of-place in a zoo, Lea stalked to her next class, already planning on how to get her book back. She knew that Zero's Chem teacher was very strict on the whole 'No Distractions' hoorah so Zero shouldn't have a chance to take a look then. After that, Lea has a study hall and normally passes Zero in the halls, provided he takes his usual route, so she should be able to get him before bell.
Lea took a deep breath and began to plan.
Zero smiled as he quickly worked on the day's lab so he could get a start on Lea's sketchbook. So far he'd been lucky: Mr. Okazaki was taking a sick day so they had a substitute who's only instruction was to give them an easy review lab on acids and bases so they had the leftover time for themselves. Another stroke of luck was when they were told to work individually; Zero didn't have anyone to slow him down.
He stood and went to place the worksheet on the teacher's desk, checking the clock as he did. 10 minutes into class, leaving over half an hour for Zero to go through the stolen sketchbook.
Zero sat back down and started slowly flipping through the book. The first page was an almost lifelike drawing of a tree with 'Leanna Morrisan-Wilson' carved into it.
Morrisan-Wilson? thought Zero, slightly confused. Morrisan?Her mother's maiden name, perhaps?He'd have to ask about that later.
After that was a fold-out page with photo collages of Isabel, Aido, Ichijo, and Zero. He smiled slightly at this, not remembering Lea ever taking these pictures. My sly little fox. He thought fondly, not noticing the accidental/unintentional possessive in the sentence.
It continued in this fashion until Zero was roughly 20 pages in and suddenly he found himself to be the main theme of all the drawings.
One page was full of sketches of Zero's tattoo on his neck. Observant.Zero thought as he traced a finger along the pencil lines.
A painting, collage and several sketches later Zero was surprised to see an additional face.
Lea, grinning in her sugar-hyped way, was clinging to Zero arm. She was obviously laughing at something and apparently so was Zero: he had a small smile and was looking at Lea with a surprisingly unguarded expression.
Zero, the real one still in Chemistry class, leaned in close to the picture trying to remember when this could have been taken. None of them were in their uniform and, as he looked over Lea's skinny jeans and long sweater, was surprised to realize that this was from this past Winter break when Isabel had snuck up behind Kain and managed to shove a fistful of snow and ice down his shirt, causing him to start jumping about and squealing like some toddler who just realized what 'cold' was.
Zero smiled at the memory, eyes still lingering on the picture-Lea, enjoying the change from the black school uniform that the Day Class students were required to wear. Lea's jeans and combat boots were snug on her legs and the long scarf - her 'Four Scarf', she'd once called it - was wrapped around her neck. Inviting. Thought Zero.
He'd never really been able to explain to Isabel why he always described Lea as 'inviting.' Ever since Lea had started wearing small necklaces, mostly chokers, Zero found that it had become harder and harder to look away from her neck. Now, for a normal person that wouldn't be such a big deal, but since Zero was also a vampire it made things slightly more dangerous. What normally starts out as an appreciation oftentimes ended up becoming a hungry stare when his vampire instincts force him to zero in on Lea's gentle pulse therefore making it a helluva lot harder to hold a normal and casual conversation with her when she starts bouncing around all happy about everything.
So yeah, Zero thinks Lea's inviting. Her happy attitude invites you to want to talk to her; her personality is inviting to want to stay with her and staying with her tends to make you notice some of the more subtle things about her: how long she is even though she barely reaches 5'2", how her wine-red hair often ends up falling over her shoulders no matter how she styles it, and how she smells. Isabel was the one who was able to pin down what exactly it was she smelled like: caramel and leather, Lea's favorite shampoo and her favorite half-jacket that she wears at every chance she gets.
The bell rang, yanking Zero out of his daze. Looking down he saw that while he'd been thinking Zero had taken the page out of the sketchbook and had been in the process of putting it in his folder.
Zero growled and stuffed the paper away, quickly packed everything up and stalked out to his English class, all the while growling at himself in his thoughts:
I'm turning into that damned Cullen character that Isabel had made fun of. He snorted. Obsessive about the new girl, only ever interacting with her. Freaking out over holding her and how she smells... Technically Isabel had only made fun of the main girl and her boyfriend but Zero had also seen Lea reading it and so he decided to give it a try. Not overly horrible, but not really deserving of all the attention it got; Zero had had to force himself to finish it so he at least had a conversation topic for if he ever really spoke to Lea.
The sudden feeling of someone's arms wrapping tightly around Zero's waist startled him out of his thoughts and, before he had the chance to think, Zero's hunter's instincts kicked in and he wrestled his way out of whoever's arms and and forcefully thrown them away and against the opposite wall. By the time Zero's mind caught up with his actions he found himself to be staring into the absolute last pair of eyes that he ever wanted to see in this situation.
Lea Wilson's dark chocolate eyes stared at Zero; waves of hurt, confusion, and sadness were obvious and all-consuming leaving no trace of the happy light that had always been there.
There was a tense silence that filled the hallway and the few straggling students' eyes were wide as well. Sure Zero was tough and angry and physical with the Night Class students, but he'd never done anything really harmful to the Day Class and seeing him just throw the new girl out of nowhere... well, it was pretty alarming.
As the accusations and whispers began filling the hallway Zero stayed focused on Lea, fearful of her reaction.
"Lea..." His voice was low and careful as he took a slow step closer to her. Zero looked her over and was surprised to see a bruise already forming on her arm where he'd grabbed her too hard.
Lea shied away from him, her own instincts yelling at her to get away from him, as silent tears slowly crawled their way down her cheeks. "N-no.." she stammered.
Another careful step forward and Zero was almost in front of her. "Lea, I'm sorry."
She gasped a sob and quickly pulled away. "No!" Now she was 5 feet away and wiping at the tears that still insisted on falling. Her voice was low broken. "I get it. I'm sorry." Her eyes flicked to his bag. "Just burn it okay? It doesn't matter..."
And with that she turned and ran.
Barely a second passed and Zero was running after her.
Tears stung in Lea's eyes, blurring her vision as she ran. Her arm throbbed and her hip and side stung from when she hit the wall. Her breath came in short gasps as she pushed herself faster, trying to get as far from Zero as possible.
Lea turned a corner, nearly losing her footing, and had just started descending the stairs when Zero caught up with her. His arm was strong as it wrapped around her waist and she could feel his muscles strain to be gentle with her as he held her back.
"Lea, please! Just listen-" There was something in his voice that Lea couldn't quite understand. There was anger and she thought she heard sadness but Lea couldn't be sure.
She managed to twist herself around to face him, her face set in an angry/defiant pout. "Don't waste your breath, Zero!" She snapped. Perhaps if she was mean it would hurt less; Perhaps then it would be easier to stay away; stay whole. "I get it. Don't worry, I'll stop bothering you." However her voice went from angry to miserable. How can she? She cared too much to stay mad at him.
"I don't-"
She shook her head, cutting him off silently. Tears were in her eyes again and Lea knew that if she stayed there, locked in his arms, that her knees would give out. She couldn't let him see her so weak and defeated.
With a surge of the last of her energy Lea shoved Zero away as hard as she possibly could and turned to keep running.
Zero wasn't having that. He'd rather be damned -if he wasn't already- than let her go now. Zero took a step back to absorb the force of Lea's shove and then quickly surged forward, grabbing Lea's hips to try and pull her back; unfortunately Zero didn't take into account Lea's clumsiness and rotten luck.
It was easy for Zero to forget that Leas wasn't the most balanced person, having seen her do gymnastic-style morning stretches. Zero had watched her bend almost completely backwards and do a series of slow flips just to work out the kinks in her joints. She'd nearly broken Aido's nose when he's walked too close. In reality, Lea had a tendency to trip over her own two feet and walk straight into doors. Not exactly as graceful as Zero thought. As to the rotten luck, well, something had to be working against her to cause her to end up living amongst a bunch of fecking vampires, right?
When Zero had grabbed Lea she had jerked away from him, taking a step into the air. She fell backwards, landing on her back, the air gone from her lungs, and ended up rolling and bumping her way downstairs like a stray tumbleweed.
More tears, from the pain more than anything else, slipped from her eyes as Lea lay gasping for breath at the bottom of the stairs. Before the room finished spinning Lea had forced herself to her feet and continued her mad dash from Zero.
He wasn't sure how long he stood there, but to Zero it felt like eternity. How had this happened? Was it really only just last night when Lea had dyed his hair? Only this morning when he'd playfully taken her sketchbook? The sketchbook he was now supposed to burn. Zero's head hung. What am I supposed to do now?
Lea was still crying silently as she burst into the Moon Dorm. Too exhausted to climb the stairs to get to her room she flopped lifelessly and face first onto the couch.
I'm an idiot. She thought morosely. I should have known Zero'd get tired of me always hanging around him. Should've known he'd finally give into his irritation and just toss me aside. She winced as her ribs throbbed painfully, bruised from their battering. Although I didn't think that he'd actually physicallythrowme!
She lay there for who-knows-how-long, soaked in her tears and wallowing in depression. She probably would have never moved again if Isabel hadn't come downstairs. "Who's bleeding?"
Apparently Lea was even more worse for wear than she'd thought. She looked over her arms and muttered to herself. "Must've been cracks in the stairs or something..." There were small cuts and scrapes all over her arms.
Isabel rolled her eyes and started to clean Lea up. "So you fell down the stairs again?"
Lea nodded. "Yeah."
"Skipped a few classes?"
Another nod.
"What happened?"
Lea lowered her eyes. "I... I just fell and I didn't feel too good so I came back here."
Isabel was suspicious. "And cried for thirty minutes?"
Lea sighed. "I'd really rather not talk about it."
Isabel's face hardened. "Did Zero do something?"
Lea closed her eyes and and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Iz, I mean it. Nothing that I didn't expect happened and it's no big deal. I'll be fine, I just really don't want to talk about it."
Isabel know that something had happened but she could also see that Lea was moments away from crying yet again so she dropped it. For now.
"Fine."
"Thanks, Iz." Lea gave her a watery smile and slowly got off the couch. "Goodnight Iz."
"Night." Isabel watched as Lea as she made her slow way upstairs. Lea was obviously in a lot of some kind of pain; Isabel could tell by the small winces that Lea probably thought that nobody could notice. Isabel shifted in her chair, making sure that she was comfortable for however long she had to wait for Zero to come back- Even if he didn't, Isabel would still hunt him down. There was no way he was getting out of this interrogation.