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.

Chapter 3

Zero knew that Isabel would be waiting for him; there was no way that she'd be oblivious to her best friend running into the Moon Dorm crying her eyes out. That was a conversation Zero didn't mind being late for. However he didn't mean to avoid it all night, he'd just lost track of time. After all, he'd had a lot to think about: Lea's drawings, always upsetting Lea, why Lea wouldn't let him explain; Basically, Lea. Zero couldn't get her sad expression out of his head. Lea, who was normally so playful and sweet, his personified definition of 'friendly fire' (kind and playful but passionate and not unable to fight when necessary). What had she been thinking when she promised to leave him alone? Did she think that he thought that she was irritating? Why? Couldn't she tell that he was hopelessly in love with the small redhead?

Yes, 'd finally admitted it. He really couldn't deny it anymore. Sure, he could easily confess to being interested in her but this? This was a whole new level.

"Took you long enough!" snapped Isabel when Zero finally returned to the dorm.

Zero checked the clock on the wall in the lobby. It was well past time for the Night Class's second hour class to start. "Skipping?"

"That's hardlythe problem here." Her voice was hard and her eyes glared poison daggers at him. As Zero walked warily closer to Isabel he could feel the air becoming charged with energy.

Great.Zero thought sourly. Looks like 'Stormy' is ready to turn me into an electric eel.He stepped forward a bit more, hands raised in the universal sign for 'I come in peace, no need to fight.' or, in this instance the evermore appropriate, 'Dammit Isabel, I'm not gonna shoot you so calm the fuck down!'

"What happened?!" Isabel all but snarled at Zero, her teeth bared and fingers crackling with electricity.

Zero stopped moving and kept his hands raised as he tried to explain. "Well, I may have, probably, upset Lea again."

"No shit, Sherlock." Isabel's glower didn't lessen. But then it didn't increase either. Possible good sign? A small spark his Zero's gun-chain and shocked his stomach. No, he didn't think so.

"What happened?" Isabel repeated. Another shock hit Zero's shoulder. Better hurry up.

"She grabbed me from behind, probably trying to get her sketchbook back." Zero started to explain.

"You took her sketchbook?!"

Zero glared slightly. "You're the one who said I should take a look."

"Well yeah, but not steal it!"

"Borrowed. Besides she wouldn't let me see. Now do you want me to explain or not?" Since Isabel had gotten him started, Zero really wanted to get this over with; he had a few questions of his own.

"Continue." Isabel kept her face as neutral as possible but almost anyone could see how curious she was. "Lea was trying to get her sketchbook back."

"Yes. Well, I'd been busy thinking and wasn't really paying attention, so I was sorta on autopilot. So... well... my instincts reacted before I could think and acted as if I were under attack..." By now Zero was staring at the floor, ashamed -perhaps for the first time- that he was raised by vampire hunters. If he'd been normal, lived as a normal human boy, perhaps then he wouldn't have hurt Lea.

Isabel's eyes were wide. "You attacked her." Her breath was soft, as if saying it aloud could make the situation even worse.

Zero spoke quickly, trying to explain. "I didn't mean it! I told you, I hadn't been paying attention. You know I'd never intentionally hurt Lea!" He took a deep breath to try to calm down. "And it shouldn't have been so bad; shouldn't have hurt her so much. I twisted out of her grip and then..." Another breath. When he spoke again Zero's voice was low and almost hoarse. "I threw her off. Pushed her into a wall. I... I saw a bruise already forming on her arm where I grabbed her too tight..." He squeezed his eyes shut to avoid Isabel's shocked and aghast expression, only to see Lea's sad and accusatory eyes behind his. Zero's voice was agonized as he continued further. "And to make matters worse, when I chased after her when she ran, held her to stop her from running so I could explain..." His voice broke and Zero had to clear his throat before he could speak again. "I all but threw her down the stairs, Isabel. I lost my hold on her and she fell; I couldn't move fast enough to catch her; could only watch as she got hurt even more, all because of me!"

"This is even worse than I'd thought." murmured Isabel, thinking. "I almost wish you'd only said something wrong." She looked at Zero. "She promised to leave you alone, didn't she?"

"Yeah." He shook his head sadly. "I've been trying to make sense of that. I've never not wanted her around so what makes her think that I'd push her away now?" Zero's eyes hardened and he spoke sharply to Isabel. "This has something to do with what you won't tell me, doesn't it?"

Isabel worried her lip with her teeth, contemplating. "It really isn't something I should tell you, but considering the circumstances I may have to." She shook her head. "We'll see if you can't figure it out first. You asked why she thinks you'd push her away, right?" Zero nodded. "Remember what I said earlier about the English project?"

"I upset her because apparently I barely spoke to her."

"Yes. And, to branch off, that, because you didn't talk to her, she thought you were pushing her away."

Zero's jaw dropped slightly.

Isabel continued, hoping that Zero was starting to piece it all together. "Basically, every time you upset her was a time that she thought you were pushing her away, to some degree." Isabel hesitated, lip between her teeth again.

Zero's eyes were dead from shock and his voice was almost as lifeless. "Is there more?"

"She... Lea once told me that it was her pure selfishness and greediness for you-'re company that made her keep trying. She said that she was certain that she was always an... irritation to you." A sad look came into Isabel's eyes. "Lea..."

"Yes?" Even Zero's voice was dead. He felt so numb, trying to keep himself from the realization that he was slowly working towards.

"Lea said you'd have to physically push her away before she stopped."

Zero sank on to a chair across from Isabel, still staring in disbelief at the floor. "And so now," he said slowly. "Lea truly believes that I don't want her around." He looked up at Isabel, yes tortured and pleading. "What am I supposed to do?!"

Isabel was a little more than surprised; Zero was normally so guarded and difficult to get to. Now it seemed that all the barriers were down.

She spoke carefully, unsure of how to continue. "Just be careful and try to give Lea some space. Don't force yourself on her, okay? I need some time to think this through."

Zero nodded, stood, and headed for the door.

"Where're you going?" asked Isabel, curious.

"I'm going to start my rounds early. Lea dropped a beaker and cut her hand in Chemistry today and if I can't keep her close and safe then God dammit if I'm not going to keep her as safe as possible from a distance."

Isabel smiled and lightly skipped upstairs, sing-songing "Doomed." as she left.

Isabel didn't know what to do. She was sure that this wasn't a unique hole that Zero and Lea were stuck in but it was a rare and deep one with a lot of loose stones and bad footholds. There was a way out but Isabel wasn't seeing it. She needed help, but Takuma had some business thing to go to with Kaname for the weekend and so she couldn't help. Kain didn't know Lea enough to help, but he did wish them luck; fat lot of good that was. Isabel needed a charming romantic, someone who could understand -to some degree- how a girl could react to certain circumstances.

She groaned aloud. Of all people, why him?She sighed and decided to wait to talk to him during English: they were reviewing Pride and Prejudiceand since Isabel had already memorized that story by the 9th grade, she didn't have to worry about slacking off a bit during class.

Once Isabel sat down in English class she immediately started drumming her fingers, impatiently waiting for Hanabusa. Impatiently and nervously, even though Isabel wasn't quite sure why she was nervous.

After two, hour-long minutes he finally walked in and Isabel's face warmed, her brain reminding her of his towel parade from earlier.

Positive that her cheeks were pink, Isabel watched Aido take his seat next to her. Before he had the chance to read the notes on the board Isabel tossed a note on his desk: 'I need some help.'

A wry smile flickered on Aido's face as he wrote his reply. 'Boy trouble? :P''

Isabel smiled. 'Not in the way you think. How do you feel about playing Matchmaker?''

'For Zero and his conditioner-contaminating girlfriend?'

Isabel frowned now; she'd forgotten that Aido was still mad about the whole hair-dye prank.

'2 things,' She wrote. 'firstly, if she was his girlfriend we wouldn't have to play Matchmaker. Second, Lea said that it would come out in a few days. Zero's still going to have black hair next week, though.'

'True, but that doesn't mean that I want to help.'

'Please?! *puppy-dog eyes*' She turned said wide, pleading eyes on Aido with full force, mouth pouting slightly.

'Oh no! Not The Eyes!!' Aido discreetly held up a hand, pretending to shield his face. This made Isabel giggle.

"Hanabusa! Isabella!" The teacher called out, getting Isabel's name wrong for the 50th time that year. "Could you explain what Elizabeth was talking about in paragraph three?"

Aido started flipping through his book. "What page, Mrs. Morgan?"

She stern-faced. "If you were paying attention then you would know." she turned to another student. "Ruka?"

Ruka eagerly answered, slightly smug at one-upping Aido for once.

Isabel waited a few minutes before sliding the paper back to Aido. 'So you'll help? Or do I need to use The Eyes again?'

Aido rolled his eyes. 'Fine, I'll help. What's the situation?'

Isabel frowned slightly as she responded. 'Zero accidentally threw Lea into a wall - instinctual defensive response to her grabbing him from behind - and then they argued and then Lea fell down the stairs trying to get away from him. Now she's certain that Zero's nothing but irritated at her. She's pretty much all but barricaded herself into our room so that she doesn't have to "deal with humans" as she puts it.'

Aido slowly read the note, eyes widening in surprise. 'So first we have to get her out of her room?'

Isabel flipped the paper over, forehead creased with the intensity of her thoughts. Aido snickered and reached over to write 'don't set yourself on fire!'making Isabel smile.

'I'll do my best =P And Lea promised that she'd help me make a sweets basket to send to my mother for her birthday so it shouldn't be toodifficult to get Lea out of her/our room.'

'Sweets basket?'

'That's beside the point.'

'Alright, so she's out of her room. Now what?'

'That's where Zero comes in.'

'Duh.' Aido rolled his eyes. 'But what's he supposed to do?'

'Well if I knew that then I wouldn't be talking to you, would I?' Isabel paused. and then added. 'You're the one that knows how guys think.'

'Do I?'

'Well, unless you're lying to everyone about your gender...'

'Point taken.'

At that point the bell rang to dismiss that class. As Isabel gathered her things she spoke to Aido. "So what should Zero do?"

Aido thought, lips slightly puckered. He spoke slowly. "Perhaps he could walk in while you and Lea are working in the kitchen and offer to help? Then... well he'd have to tread carefully so Lea can adjust to him being there and then gradually work himself into any conversations. Then you" he turned to look at Isabel who had her books clutched to her chest, eyes wide while she intensely listened as she followed him to Chem class. "You'll have to find an excuse to leave, repeatedly if necessary, so that they can have some alone time."

Isabel looked a bit skeptical. "Are you sure it's a good idea for them to be alone?"

Aido raised a suggestive eyebrow. "You think they'll... start something?" He smirked.

Isabel smacked his arm. "No! I mean shouldn't someone be a sort of... mediator or something?"

Aido's head tilted as he reconsidered. "Maybe. It sounds like, from what you'd described earlier, all Lea really needs is to stop and listen." He shook his head, smiling slightly. "I'm surprised she can confuse signals so thoroughly. It's almost painfully obvious that Zero's obsessed with the girl, yet she thinks that he's pushing her away."

"Well, he kind of is." Isabel said unexpectedly.

"That doesn't make sense; I thought he liked her. That's why we're doing this, isn't it?!"

"Yes." Isabel said carefully. "And Lea is definitely crazy about Zero, but the thing is that Zero... well, he doesn't think that he's good enough for her."

"You've lost me."

By this point they had stopped at Isabel's locker and she was hurriedly digging around inside of it while she thought over how she wanted to explain. She remembered Lea once made an unexpected comparison and tried to reiterate it. Minus the overly-tired giggles.

"It's all rather Twilight during the early chapters; Lea is the already-curious, obsessed and balance-challenged human and Zero is the angsty vampire." She paused, surprised. "That analogy is a bit too spot-on." She noted uneasily and then continued. "Anyway, Lea's all caught up in Zero's personality and overall "Zero-ness" to see why Zero thinks and-slash-or knows he's dangerous. Meanwhile Zero's agonizing over how he's no good for someone as 'pure' and 'good' as Lea."

"'Pure and good'?" Aido interrupted.

"As in childish-slash-young-spirited and kind."

"Young spirited indeed." Aido smiled, picking fun.

"Do you want me to explain or not?" Aido shut up. "Anyway, Zero doesn't want her to 'waste her life' with him." Isabel loudly shut her locker. "And that's that." Aido raised his hand. "Yes?"

"Was all that a book plot or a comparison?"

"Both."

Aido shook his head. "They're both so doomed."

Isabel smiled. "That's what I've been telling them."

They entered the Chem lab just as the bell rang to begin class. The sub gave them an irritated glare but didn't mark them late.

As Aido and Isabel took their seats the sub stood and announces "Alright, your teacher is on sick leave and I've been here since the beginning of the Day Class so keep silent and work alone on your lab." And with that he sat back down and everyone started their labs as silently as possible.

Isabel quickly finished - science was her thing - and scribbled a note to pass to Aido once he finished.

'I've got a feeling that Zero's going to end up asking either one or both of us what to do for his first date with Lea.'

Aido snickered quietly. 'Should we suggest something cheesy or original for their first? Are you sure that Lea won't be in charge of the dates?'

'She probably will after a while but isn't it sort of an unspoken rule that the guy is in charge of the first date?'

'I would have thought that the asker was in charge.'

'In this case, isn't that the same thing?'

'Touche. But back to the matter at hand: Cheesy or original?'

Isabel swapped out the scribbled-over paper for a fresh sheet. 'What about dinner+movie?'

'Possibility. What about just dinner?'

'Large chance for~'

Before Isabel could finish writing the sub snuck up and snatched the note from under the pen.

"I love a good joke so I thought that I'd come take a look at what's so funny." He said flippantly as he read the note. After he finished he smirked and placed the note back on Isabel's desk. "As much as I'd love to write you both up for class disruptions..."

Even though we weren't really doing anything. Thought Isabel sourly. The most sound either of them had made was a quiet chuckle.

The sub kept talking. "... I hope you two have a good time on your date." He clapped a hand on Aido's shoulder. "A new revision of When in Rome just came out; my wife said it was good." And with that he almost-sauntered back to his desk.

Isabel's face turned bright red. She wanted to refuse, to stand up and cry out "It's not what you think! You've got it wrong!" But she didn't. The small part of her brain that was denying all claims was quickly overrun by the larger part that contained her imagination. This part of her mind had her sliding down low in her chair and her face continually red by showing her quick images of Aido: Aido in a suit, Aido taking her out to dinner, Aido leading her in a ballroom dance. And then an image from the other day: Aido running down the stairs, dripping wet and only wearing a towel.

Blood started to slowly drip down from Isabel's nose as she quickly got up and ran out to the bathroom before anyone could comment. She threw herself at the sink and tried to take a few deep breaths to calm the almost-hysteria/panic attack that had crept up on carefully moved so she was sitting on the floor, back against the wall and tissue up her nose. Still breathing deeply, she leaned her head back and tried to clear her mind. One thought wouldn't go away: Doomed. You're so doomed.

Aido smiled slightly as he watched Isabel bolt out the door. He calmly flipped to a new page in his notebook and wrote one sentence: 'Note to self; Ask Izzy out.'