October 10.

It was that woman again… this time, she was chasing after Zero and Ichiru, flying at the speed of light and leaving a trail of dark blood in her path.

Zero ran as if it was the other thing he knew how to do.

It was 3:17am and Noelle was still here, sitting in the rocking chair beside Zero's bedside. She heard yelps and shuffling since midnight, and correctly guessed that Zero was having one of "those nightmares." Whatever that meant. She ached to learn of the cause of his pain, one that had caused him such sleepless nights since they met a few months ago.

Noelle felt so lucky to be loved by Yuuki and the Chairman, the latter who nearly acted like a father figure despite Noelle's simple request to live in the main building instead of the girl's dorms. Zero… was a different story. Although he didn't exactly show any feelings of unfriendliness to Noelle in the first months, he wasn't exactly nice. But he warmed up to her suddenly one day - all Noelle gathered was that he saw her sleepwalking the night before and had guided her back to her room. Noelle knew how much her sleepwalking disturbed other people, so Noelle gave Zero a small gift of a winter scarf in thanks for dealing with her habit.

Later on, Noelle began noticing symbols of Zero's own pains. His dark expression every single day the Night Class passed by, the nightmares that woke Noelle up frequently when they fell asleep in the living room from late night movies, and his unconscious movement of the hand to touch that intricate black tattoo on his neck whenever he felt uneasy.

Zero woke in a startle. His breathing was laboured and his bare skin was sticky with the sensation of dried sweat. He looked out the window, calming down to see the sight of his regular bedroom.

It was one of those nights where that pureblood woman haunted his dreams again. Her voice, stoic expression and sharp fangs were vivid images when they forced themselves into Zero's dreams.

"Zero?" A soft voice brought Zero to turn his head towards the side. He faced a tired and worried looking Noelle, sitting cross-legged in the rocking chair. Her bed-head hair was defying gravity but otherwise she looked quite solemn. "… I brought you some tea."

Zero's mouth was drawn in a firm line and he simply sat still, resting his arms around his knees without hugging them too close to his body. He didn't flinch.

Noelle gingerly nudged the warm tea cup into Zero's hands. He brushed it away at first, before looking into Noelle's furrowed eyebrows. He took the cup slowly, without drawing a sip. Zero seemed to be staring at the steam rising from the cup for the longest time.

"Go away, Noelle." Zero muttered while casting his eyes aside.

Noelle cleared her throat. "I don't mean this in any rude way, but it scares me when you have les chauchmars - the nightmares. So I'm staying put until you go to asleep without having these scary dreams."

Zero narrowed his eyes and stared into his left. "No. Go back to your room."

"… s'il te plaît? Please?"

"… please stare at me falling asleep?"

Noelle chuckled softly. "Monsieur, you know I'm not that type of creep. I'll just stay here, I dunno, recite la dictionairre francais, maybe hum une chanson or something, until you go off to la-la-land."

"… Noelle, go away."

"Humph. Move over. Je reste ici."

Without waiting for Zero to reply, Noelle budged into his bed, donning her thick pajamas and fuzzy socks. Zero's surprise registered and he protested.

"Noelle, seriously… only couples stay in the same bed."

Noelle winked. "Then either you'll have to pretend with me, make an exception, or make this a thesis paper. Up to you."

Zero's expression went from exasperation back to melancholic.

"Look, I just want to keep company, because no matter how many hours you argue, no one wants to be alone when something bad happens. Trust me, I've been through worse."

Zero shot her a look. "Careful making assumptions."

Noelle grinned. "Shut up and close your eyes. Think about chocolate, golden retrievers, fields of poppies, starry skies, Sherlock Holmes… hehe…"

Man, if Zero dreamt about that combination, he'd fear waking up with long hair and a set of boobs. Zero let his guard drop - by a nanometre.

"I'll hum une chanson my brother used when falling asleep was merde."

Noelle had readjusted the comforter so that she shared a bit of it. She stared right into Zero's eyes now, which were slowly closing with tiredness and with instructions from Noelle. Noelle began her quiet melody, and reached out to pat the back of Zero's hand in rhythm with her tune. Zero's facial features slowly began to soften, and Noelle's own eyes stayed closed for the most part as she continued the melody, a song from a land now feeling quite far away.

On me dit que nos vies ne valent pas grand chose,

Qu'elles passent en un instant comme fanent les roses.

On me dit que le temps qui glisse est un salaud que de nos chagrins il s'en fait des manteaux pourtant quelqu'un m'a dit -

que tu m'aimais encore.

C'est quelqu'un qui m'a dit: que tu m'aimais encore -

serais ce possible alors ?

Hmmm hmmmmhmm…

Noelle opened her eyes slightly, pleased to see Zero's face nearly completely relaxed. She moved her hand that was patting the back of Zero's to Zero's forehead. Her hands when slowly from Zero's forehead to the bangs of his hair - a light head massage would put this kid to sleep for a century.

As Noelle sifted her fingers through Zero's hair, she let her eyes soak in the miraculous colour and texture. How was silver genetically possible? How on earth is Zero's hair so soft? That's why it floated to cover his eyes all the time. She smiled. I would love to do this every day. Offer one of my favourite people a head massage each night. Doesn't hurt that he is gorgeous too. Noelle felt that she was cheating by being so close to Zero, inches away from his face, close enough to feel his breathing and rise and fall of the chest.

Zero opened his eyes sharply, and Noelle's hands were fixated mid-air. She had no idea that Zero was awake, or perhaps he just woke up from a small slumber. Hmmm. It might be a little weird explaining how her hand ended up on his forehead.

Her typical excuse for anything weird she did was "it's a French thing."

She chuckled to break the silence. "Desolee! Um… I really like head massages when I'm tired...so… I thought… " Noelle retracted her hand, but did not place it back by her own side before Zero grabbed it with his right hand. He stared intensely at the surprised Noelle, but without any expression of anger, sadness or happiness. His eyes almost looked warm. Zero addressed Noelle's light surprise.

"… thanks, actually… for putting up with me… "

Noelle smiled. "De rien, Zero."

Zero lowered both Noelle's hand that he was clutching but towards him. As he rested their hands an inch from Zero's body, he let his eyes droop for the final time. "I think I'll sleep now. Slap me awake if I scare you again."

Noelle blushed furiously at having Zero clutching her hand. Wow. His hands were as strong and warm as they looked. She smiled like a fool until she fell asleep also.

HORMONES, DO NOT MAKE ME SLEEP-TALK, SLEEP-WALK, SLEEP-KISS, SLEEP-WHATEVER.

Noelle prayed to enjoy the night peacefully.