A/N: I haven't been over here in this fandom for a really long time, and I'm not quite caught up in the series, so I'm doing an AU this time. I'll try to get caught up soon because I know AU stories bug some people. They're all human here, by the way.

Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Knight and I make no profit from this.

Warnings: Strong language and themes!

17-year-old Rima studied herself in the mirror. She was exhausted from staying up all night trying to calm Senri down, and she had just managed to get him to sleep. The morning light seeped through the window, prickling her sleepless eyes.

It was all that bastard's fault. Senri's Father who had treated Senri like dirt since he was born... no, he probably held dirt in higher regard than his own son. And that man... that evil son of a bitch, had abused Senri, even managing to hurt him after he and Senri's Mother had separated. And now Senri's Mother had died at that man, Rido's, hand. The hand of the man that she had once loved had broken her irreparably.

Rima had begged her parents to adopt Senri, and she had succeeded. But at this point, three weeks into Senri living with her, she was wondering if Senri could ever really heal. He still couldn't sleep at night, still had nightmares when he did. Rima understood how tragic it was, she knew that he was hurt. It hurt her to see him in such emotional agony. But what was done couldn't be changed, no matter how long or how severely Senri grieved for his Mother. At some point he'd have to move on.

Rima smudged some concealer under her eyes to hide her lack of sleep. She didn't need all that much to get through a day, but her eyes still looked haggard from it.

She couldn't help but sigh as she looked at Senri's sleeping form. She didn't know what she could do anymore, but she couldn't do nothing.

She dressed in the bathroom and then came back to Senri, kissing him to wake him. "Morning." She whispered, running her lips across his cheek.

The redheaded boy's eyes opened slowly, and he drank the sight of her in like it was the water he needed to stay alive. He drew in a deep breath, and then pulled her to his chest and just held her.

"I'm here." Rima murmured, stone faced expression never changing. It just seemed simple to keep that expression, to be Senri's rock rather than to cry. She felt like if she broke down, Senri would feel worse than if he had someone who could be there for him. Senri's Mother had been a second Mother to Rima, but Rima just knew that if she let it out, Senri would lose any progress that he had made.

"Rima?" Senri whispered, still holding her to his chest.

Rima blinked, but didn't move. Even though she was at the world's most awkward angle, standing and bent over the bed onto his chest, she was willing to stay that way if it made him feel better.

"Yeah?" She asked after a moment's pause. "What is it?"

"Can you do me a favor?" Senri pulled her all the way onto the bed, having read in her eyes that she didn't enjoy standing like that.

"What?" Rima snuggled close to him, locking eyes with him. Those ice blue eyes that she was looking into had seen almost everything about her. Every time she got yelled at, got hurt, everything. But on rare occasion had they seen her cry. Rima never cried unless she knew Senri wasn't upset. If he was upset, he needed a security blanket, not a blubbering girlfriend to make it worse. At least, that's what she thought.

"Let it out." Senri never broke eye contact. "I know you're upset too. And it isn't good for you to hold it in. I know you're upset somewhere in there, and I don't want to feel alone anymore. I want you to cry."

Rima blinked. This went against everything she had believed. He wanted her to cry?

Rima attempted to stare Senri down, to silently protest, but the more she stared into his eyes, the more she saw how broken he was inside, the more she wanted to cry. Before she knew it, one tear slipped down, then another, then another.

"Thank you." Senri whispered, pulling her to his chest. "Thank you, Rima. I feel better now."

Rima just didn't understand it would be that easy... or that hard.

A/N: I don't really know where this came from... A lot is going on in my family right now I guess, and there are a lot of plotlines that come from that. Anyway, tell me what you think will you? If you're a returning reader, thank you so much for returning after my long break!