It was near the summer months, and so, the days were warm, but the nights were still cool. For this reason, Haruhi and Mori were near a fire as they sat outside in Mori's backyard. Haruhi, as was usual when the two were alone, was in Mori's lap, with his arms fitted around her.

Summer was rapidly approaching, which caused Haruhi's stomach to churn when she thought of it. Usually, she looked forward to the summer, when she didn't have to worry about schoolwork as much. But, summer meant one thing now: Mori would be leaving Ouran High School.

They hadn't spoken of his plans for the next year. Both had been avoiding it; which made Haruhi worry. She knew why she was avoiding the topic; she was afraid of how little she'd get to see him. If Mori was avoiding the topic, it meant he was worried about something; her reaction to his plans. And if he was worried about her reaction to the plans, then it meant one of two things: she wouldn't seem him often at all or he was making a decision she wouldn't be happy with (or possibly it was both).

But, it was late April. Mori was graduating in less than two months. They had to talk about it sooner or later, and, Haruhi decided, that this peaceful moment was as good as it was going to get.

"Takashi?" she said softly. "What are you doing next year?"

The hand that had been holding hers tensed ever so slightly. "….Mitsukuni wants to travel around Europe for a year. I'll be going with him."

A year… For a year, he'd be out of the country, following Honey around. He'd be so far away…. Haruhi mentally shook herself. Her life wasn't over just because Mori would be missing for a while; she'd miss him, is all. She'd miss him a lot.

"But, what about school?"

"There's a university Mitsukuni wants to attend in England…."

Haruhi couldn't help but feel a surge of jealousy course through her. Honey was still the first person in Mori's life. She'd never expected to take his place, but she couldn't help but wish she had.

A moment of silence passed between them, Mori stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Are you mad?" Mori asked.

"No," Haruhi said, burrowing herself closer to him. "I'm just wondering…if that's what you want to do…."

"It is."

Haruhi sighed. She had known he would say that.

"But, I want…you to come."

She looked up at him, surprised to say the least. That was possibly the very last thing she'd expected him to say. He was looking down at her, watching her closely, as he always did.

"Takashi…you know I can't."

Mori looked away, but his arms wrapped even tighter around her. For a brief moment, Haruhi felt as though she could cry; at this point in time, she realized just how much he loved her, and how much he would miss her.

"I know."

They kept their relationship a secret through graduation. Mori and Honey were leaving only a few weeks after graduation, and those last couple of weeks flew by far too fast for Haruhi.

Haruhi decided not to see Mori and Honey off at the airport with the others; she'd be too emotional and end up crying, which was the last thing she wanted to do in front of the remaining Host Club members. And so, she went to Takashi's home before he had to leave to say goodbye.

Honey was there; he was all packed, and was waiting for Mori to be ready.

"Haru-chan!" Honey cried when she was escorted into Mori's room by a butler. He ran over to her. "We're almost ready to go, Haru-chan!"

"I see that," she replied, glancing around the room. There were several large pieces of luggage scattered around. It seemed that Honey and Mori weren't going to be doing the usual backpacking around Europe that Haruhi had pictured, and then she realized it was silly of her to think so. They were rich; why bother roughing it when they could easily book the presidential suite at any hotel? Though, she noticed that Mori was no where to be seen. "Where's Takashi?"

"In the bathroom," Honey said. "Are you going to miss us?"

"Of course I will. When are you coming back?"

"We'll be home for the new year. Don't worry; it won't be so long, Haru-chan!" Honey hugged her tightly around the waist.

A door opened behind them, and Haruhi turned around. Mori was walking in; apparently, there was a bathroom connected to his room.

"Haruhi's here, Takashi!" Honey announced, and Mori nodded in return.

Haruhi found she didn't know what to do or say. This was the last time she was going to see Mori for several months, and she felt frozen.

"Takashi, I can take care of what's left," Honey said, and Haruhi was once again grateful for Honey's sensitivity towards them; he always understood when they wanted to be alone, and gave them excuses to go off by themselves.

Mori's hand slipped into hers, and, after nodding to Honey once more, he led her out of the room and down the hall, to a vacant room. It was a living room, or a sitting room, or something like that; with several love seats and a low coffee table. Haruhi glanced around the room, still unsure of what to do.

"Haruhi."

She looked up at him; he was staring at her, an expression she couldn't read on his face. And then, he swiftly drew her into a tight hug. Haruhi gasped a little, out of surprise.

"Wait for me," Mori said softly, kissing her forehead. He didn't let her go, didn't explain what he meant. He didn't need to.

Haruhi nodded into his chest, not trusting herself to speak. She hated crying, and was that sure, if she spoke, she'd cry. She hugged him around the neck, standing on her tiptoes to do so.

She felt herself being lifted up and carried a few feet; Mori settled down on one of the love seats, cradling her in his arms. "Wait for me," he said again, just holding her as she buried her head in the space between his neck and shoulder. He was gripping her hand, giving away just how much he'd miss her.

Haruhi planted a soft kiss on his neck.

"I'll miss you…Takashi."

The summer months ended, and school started up again. Tamaki and Kyouya were beginning the college search, and so the club only met four days a week (at Kyouya's insistence). Two freshmen were recruited; both equally handsome and charming, but they weren't the same "type" that Honey and Haruhi were. One was an "awkwardly adorable" type, as Tamaki put it (but Haruhi honestly couldn't understand what was so adorable about being awkward) and the other was the stereotypical bad boy type.

Almost half of her debt had been paid off, and hopefully by the end of the year, her debt would be completely gone. Haruhi didn't plan on quitting the Host Club once it was paid off; she just didn't want to have the debt hanging over her head anymore.

Mori wrote her letters every now and then, describing where he and Honey were at that particular point in time. He didn't say much else, though he would always sign each letter, saying that he missed her. She never wrote back; how could she? She never knew exactly where he was, and even if she did, there was no telling how long he'd stay there.

It was an afternoon in late October, and Haruhi was at her usual sofa with her usual guests, chatting away. While most of the other clients enjoyed either watching their hosts (such as the guests who designated the Hitachiin twins) or to be flirted with endlessly (as the clients of Tamaki and the bad-boy freshman), her clients tended to just like to talk with her, which was just fine with her. She didn't have any talents to keep them entertained with, nor was she comfortable with flirting with them.

A door opened behind her, and suddenly, most of the girls in the room started squealing all at once. Sighing, Haruhi didn't even want to turn around to see what was going on. Probably the twins were doing something else with their incestuous act, bringing it to a higher level.

And then, she heard that ever recognizable voice cry, "Haru-chan!"

She stood and turned just in time to see Honey launch himself at her, his arms wrapping around her waist. Haruhi stumbled backwards a bit, nearly tripping over the low coffee table, gasping, "Honey-sempai!"

All the girls that had designated her began to fawn over Honey, squealing his name just as everyone else had, asking him why he was back, and how was Europe? Tamaki had even left his guests (or rather, his guests had left him, and he was following them) to see Honey

"We got homesick," Honey said with a grin on his face, letting go of Haruhi,
"so we decided to come back!"

We. In her shock of seeing Honey, Haruhi had forgotten that he and Mori had left together, and that, if Honey was back, so was Mori. She quickly looked around the room; she didn't have to look far. Mori was only a few feet away, walking towards her. Haruhi felt her face grow red, trying to contain herself. There was nothing that she wanted to do more than to run to him and embrace him. But, she couldn't not with everyone around.

But she didn't have to run to him; Mori walked straight up to her, ignoring all the girls that were calling his name. He stopped inches from her, staring straight into her eyes; reaching a hand up, he stroked her cheek, murmuring her name.

Again, Haruhi felt herself blush, and she quickly looked down to hide it. She hated blushing.

But then, Mori had her finger under her chin, tilting her head up to look at him again. Somewhere in the back of her mind, something was trying to remind her that Tamaki was only a foot or two away, and that everyone could see them, but she was doing her very best to ignore it. She was solely focused on Mori's eyes, and his touch as a hand touched her shoulder, then slid down and around to press on her lower back, bringing her closer to him.

And then, he kissed her once, twice and three times, and she couldn't help but to return those kisses.

She completely forgot that everyone was around them, and that they had switched their focus from Honey to the two of them.

And so, the story goes on! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Please leave constructive criticisms.