Zero was especially thirsty tonight. He wasn't sure what it was exactly; perhaps it was the moon's ominous orange glow, or the fact that he'd slept most of the day and hadn't eaten even human food. He just knew that his throat was as a dry as a bone, that his limbs felt heavy, and his reflection displayed a beast with striking red eyes.

Chairman Cross had planned for a Halloween ball tonight; he'd remarked with insane enthusiasm that his students never had any fun, and that tonight they should enjoy dressing up and romancing each other. Yuuki had had a strange, distant look in her eyes at the suggestion, which Zero frowned at.

This is just more work for us. Stupid girls can't control themselves.

Well, now, he couldn't control himself. He smirked at the irony before dropping to the floor in a moment of weakness. The ball started in a couple hours. Yuuki was out decorating with some of her friends. He'd made it a point not to go, knowing that his thirst could easily get the better of him in front of everyone.

Sitting here in the gloom of his room, he imagined all the things he could've done if he'd been there. He closed his eyes against his fantasies, trying to rid himself of them, but failed miserably. As he reminded himself time and time again of the intense pleasure of drinking Yuuki's blood, his thirst increased. Plunging his fangs into the sweet flesh of her neck, consuming her life force till his own veins tingled…

He felt sick, weary, as if he could fall asleep now and never wake again. Perhaps it'd be better for her then…

A knock at his door woke him promptly. He sat up in bed, peering through the darkness of the room, before lazily rising and swinging the door wide open.

The sight of her nearly broke him.

Even as she smiled and asked him how he was, as she questioned him about an assortment of things, as she went on about random thoughts, trying to fill the silence with something, anything, he could only stare at her neck. Her blood pumped in his ears, tempting him till he thought he would fall to pieces right there.

She was in mid-sentence when he grabbed her arm, pulled her inside, and locked the door in one movement. Her startled gasp was deaf to his ears as he pressed his body against hers, her back flat against the door. She was quiet, expecting what was to come. When he made no move, she said softly,

"It's okay, Zero. Drink."

He groaned out loud, torn between his desire and his love. And even more so now, with the whole of her body so tightly pressed to his, he felt even deeper, more instinctive desires rise up in him, desires e feared just as much as the bloodlust. He waited, testing himself, testing his thirst, testing his body. When he swallowed, feeling the raw skin of his throat, he sighed in defeat.

He could face death and the Hounds of Hell for her, why couldn't he deal with a day's thirst?

Yuuki reached up and tangled her fingers in his hair. This was a habit of hers when he drank from her. He took her hands from his hair and positioned them above her head, resting against the door as he bent his head low to her skin. She shivered as he breathed in the scent of her first, his nose dragging against her neck, then his tongue gently flecking out and making deliberate licks across the front of her throat. She gasped, arching against him as he did so.

Zero, what are you doing? She panicked. This was not what he usually did.

She tried to resist, murmuring, "Go ahead, just take your fill. Drink." But Zero wanted a bit more this time.

He pressed her more firmly back, trapping her body so she could not escape. Zero continued to smell her, then finally he kissed her sweet spot, just below her earlobe. She clenched her teeth, unsure of what was happening inside her as he did so. He led sweet little kisses up and down her neck, and then, she felt him rest his fangs against her neck, and she closed her eyes, waiting. But he only nipped her skin gently, drawing nothing but another gasp from her mouth.

Encouraged by this, he nipped her all over her neck, not drawing blood, leaving no marks. He went lower and lower, resting his face against her collarbone, waiting a moment, gathering his strength. Then he kissed the hollow at the base of her throat, gently, chastely at first, then grew to be a sucking motion.

"Zero, what are you doing?" Yuuki asked weakly. Her body responded to him without the permission of her brain, arching and pulling him closer.

He didn't answer, hungrily beginning to lick the column of her throat again. Finally his bloodlust overcame that of his physical lust, and he broke through the skin of the only girl he loved. Her blood filled his mouth, running down his face. He was whole again, home again, where she sustained his life. Ecstasy flooded every nerve in his body, lightning crashing in his veins. Yuuki, everything she was, right here inside him. Every time he drank.

Oh, it felt so wrong. So wrong to be taking from the girl he loved. So wrong to be consuming her very being into him. It was an invasion of privacy, a possible homicide, and morally disgusting.

He lifted his lips from her neck, looking down as he did so. He couldn't look at her after he drank; his guilt plunged into his soul every time. He let go of her hands, and to his surprise, she slid to the ground with a thump. He kneeled, confused, wondering if he took too much.

She was conscious, but her face was flushed, her eyes were glassy.

With a quivering voice, he whispered, "Yuuki?"

"What were you doing, Zero?" she asked, not looking at him.

He couldn't reply. I don't know, Yuuki. But I'm sorry. This is what you do to me. Every time I see you. This is what I want to do to you. I want to drain you to within an inch of your life, but I want to protect you, see you smile and carefree. I want to take you, to mark you and claim you thoroughly as my own, but I want to let you be with the man that you love. I'm sorry. Eternally, sorry.

"You scared me. For the first time." She said it barely above a whisper, but it was an explosion to his ears.

He looked her in the eyes, his heart aching till he thought he was shaking. Yuuki, perfect, wonderful Yuuki, afraid of me?

Zero reached out and took her face in his hands. Her brown orbs flicked to his. "I'm sorry, Yuuki…there's," he gulped, "there's just no excuse…"

She put a finger to his lips. Slowly she pulled his head closer, till he was resting his ear to her heart. His hands dropped from her face, and he let his body go limp. She held him close, as a mother would to her child, letting his tear slip silently from his eyes. Yuuki didn't understand everything completely, but she gave Zero everything he needed- a home to return to, a heart to love, a place where he can just be with her, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.