Christmas break

-Chapter one-

Tamaki stared out of the air plane window and tried his best not to fidget too much. He was very nervous about this trip.

Kyouya's family was celebrating Christmas in Europe, and as his brothers and sister were all bringing their lovers along, Kyouya's father had decided that Kyouya could invite a friend so he wouldn't feel too lonely; are rare display of concern towards his youngest son.

Kyouya hadn't hesitated to ask Tamaki to come and Tamaki had accepted his invitation, but he was starting to doubt that decision now. Kyouya's family was so quiet and reserved; he was afraid he would never really fit in with these people. And then there was the point of him and Kyouya.

Quite recently, Tamaki had broken down and cried in front of Kyouya. When the latter asked what was wrong, Tamaki confessed his feelings to his best friend. Kyouya was silent for a minute while Tamaki tried to control himself. When Kyouya finally told Tamaki that he accepted his feelings, Tamaki was overjoyed.

Their relationship hadn't really changed much yet; they had school and host club business to think about, after all. But after school and club duties were done, when all the others had left, the two would stay behind in the club room, sit down on the sofa together and talk for hours on end.

Tamaki smiled to himself. After his confession, Kyouya had slowly started opening up to him. He was still very uptight about his life, but Tamaki was patient with him and Kyouya said he was grateful for that.

Tamaki glanced at his boyfriend who was sitting next to him, head tilted to the side, fast asleep. Kyouya hadn't had an easy life and had some difficulty dealing with this. Tamaki's youth hadn't exactly been the best, so he understood Kyouya's sentiments and he vowed that he would try to make his boyfriend happy, if nothing else.

He looked past Kyouya at his father and brothers, who were also fast asleep, and sighed. They, of course, were the problem. Kyouya's family was blissfully unaware of the fact that Kyouya was gay and Kyouya wanted to keep it that way. Tamaki had agreed to this and promised to be discreet, but he was very afraid that he might do something stupid and give them away. As a result, he was even more on edge than he would usually have been around Kyouya's family.

He and Kyouya were close, but they didn't really know each other that well. Tamaki hoped that they would get to know each other better during these two weeks together.

He closed his eyes and sighed. He would try to sleep for a while; the time in Europa was different from the time in Japan, so he would have enough of a jet-lag when they arrived without losing a night's sleep.

Tamaki woke up to find that they were preparing to land. Kyouya was up and reading a book next to him. "Kyouya, why didn't you wake me up?" He said and yawned.

"You looked so peaceful that I thought it best not to disturb you." Kyouya replied without looking up from his book. "We will land in half an hour."

Tamaki yawned again and sat up straight in his seat. "Will you finally tell me where we're headed?" He asked. "I mean, 'Europe' isn't exactly an accurate description of a location..."

"No." Kyouya said curtly. "I want it to be a surprise. Now buckle up, we're descending."

Tamaki groaned and buckled his seatbelt. "You could look at me, you know." he said. "Since I'm here for you and all..."

Kyouya glanced over his shoulder at his family, then looked at Tamaki and gave him one of his rare smiles. "Sorry." he said. "I will try to be a better host from now on."

The descent took longer than they anticipated, so that they landed an hour later than planned. Tamaki's whole body felt stiff and his back ached; he longed get up and walk around for a bit. When they were given permission to leave the plane, Tamaki shot up from his seat and stretched himself as far as he could. In doing so, he discovered his second discomfort of the day; his bladder was too full for his liking.

"I hate flying." He muttered, earning him a chuckle from Kyouya.

The two boys took down their hand luggage and followed the others out of the plane. Outside, they were met with a horrible cold and an awful lot of snow. Neither of the boys showed any emotion; when outside their private communities, nobles were to show no emotion whatsoever. Therefore, a very composed looking group of Japanese people entered the military airport where they had landed.

They were greeted by security officers who immediately checked their passports and other papers. When everything proved to be in order, they were allowed to walk on, straight to the cars that were waiting for them outside. Tamaki winced; he hoped the ride to the Ootori family's resort wouldn't take too long.

Kyouya's family boarded the first car, leaving the two boys to ride the second car. The chauffeur wasn't very talkative and neither was Kyouya, so that Tamaki was soon bored out of his mind again.

He squirmed in his seat a little. Kyouya looked up from the book he still hadn't really put away. "Tamaki, can't you sit still for five minutes?" He asked. "It's not a long ride."

Tamaki squirmed again. "Sorry, Kyouya." he said. "I can't help it, I just..." he cut himself off and glanced at the chauffeur.

Kyouya followed Tamaki's eyes and nodded to himself. "Chauffeur, would you mind to put the screen up?" He said.

Without a reply, the chauffeur pushed a button and a black screen came up between him and the two boys. When it had fully closed, Kyouya turned to Tamaki. "Now, what were you going to say?"

Tamaki blushed lightly and looked away. "I was going to say that I can't sit still because... because I really have to go to the bathroom." He muttered.

Kyouya raised an eyebrow, then began laughing really hard. "Seriously?" He asked. "That's what's bothering you? Why didn't you go at the airbase?"

Tamaki shot him an indignant look. "Well, you and your family didn't look like it troubled you." He said. "I didn't want to inconvenience any of you..."

Kyouya sighed and took off his glasses to clean them. "You wouldn't inconvenience any of us, Tamaki." He said. "All of us found the time to go on the plane, so no one realised it might be bothering you. I am sorry." He looked at Tamaki with concern. "Can you manage until we get to our resort?"

Tamaki reddened some more. "I... probably." he mumbled softly, staring at his feet. "I'm sorry, Kyouya."

Kyouya put an arm around Tamaki's shoulders and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not mad at you. We'll be there soon, so just relax, okay?"

Tamaki leaned into Kyouya's embrace and smiled contently. "I'll try." he sighed and closed his eyes. If it would always earn him a hug, he should try being shy more often.

Half an hour later, he was back to squirming in his seat. "I thought you said it wouldn't take long." He muttered to Kyouya.

Kyouya frowned. "It wasn't supposed to." He said. "But I suspect this heavy snowfall might have something to do with- wait a moment."

Kyouya's phone had rang and he fished it out of his pocket. "It's dad." he said. "Hold on." He picked up the phone. "Hello, Ootori Kyouya speaking?"

"..."

"Hello father."

"..."

"I suspected as much. So we are taking the long route past the hills?"

"..."

"Very well. Goodbye, father."

He hung up and looked at his boyfriend. "My father just informed me that due to the heavy snowfall we are taking the long route. The route through the hills is simply too dangerous in this kind of weather. The chauffeur already knows about it; he was contacted via his navigation system. It'll be two hours before we arrive."

Tamaki looked horrified. "I hate my life." He groaned.

Kyouya looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry, Tamaki." He said. "But there's nothing we can do about that. I could ask the chauffeur to pull over for a moment, if you'd like."

Tamaki blushed. "But then we'd have to tell your father, or he'll get worried..." He muttered.

Kyouya sighed. "You're so difficult." he said.

Tamaki sighed. "Sorry." he mumbled. "I'll try to be less troublesome from now on." He squirmed again. "Though pulling over is starting to sound very tempting."

"Then I'll just ask the chauffeur to do so. We will think of something to tell my dad, if you are really that embarrassed about it." Kyouya said reassuringly.

Tamaki blushed and looked away, but nodded. Kyouya tapped the glass of the screen. It slid back down into its hidden position. "Chauffeur, can we pull over for a moment?" He asked. "My friend is feeling slightly car-sick and could do with a bit of fresh air."

"Certainly, sir." The chauffeur replied. "I shall stop the car when it is possible."

"Thank you." Kyouya said, and the screen went back up. He turned to Tamaki. "See? That's how easy it is just to ask for something." he scolded.

Tamaki scowled. "You're just laughing at me." He said. "It's not funny to me, okay?"

Kyouya sighed and pulled the blonde towards him. "I know." he muttered against the fabric of Tamaki's jacket. "Sorry."

Tamaki huffed, but didn't break away from Kyouya. He wasn't really angry, just slightly annoyed at Kyouya's breezy attitude towards the issue. Then again, he was only trying to make things better, so he supposed that he could forgive him.

Twenty minutes later the car slowed down and they pulled into an abandoned parking lot in the middle of the woods. It was absolutely quiet; even the animals had hidden themselves away from the cold.

The chauffeur made to get out, but Kyouya took one look at Tamaki's face and waved the man back down, saying that he'd rather have him ready to leave in a moment. Kyouya got out of the car first, Tamaki followed him slowly. The two boys casually walked to the edge of the woods. Kyouya turned to Tamaki.

Tamaki looked away from his boyfriend. "I'll walk a bit further, if you don't mind." he said. "I could really use some privacy."

Kyouya's face flushed pink and he nodded. "I will just walk out of the lot with you... I shouldn't have had that last cup of tea either." He muttered the last part, looking away from Tamaki as he did.

Tamaki snickered. "Serves you right for laughing at me." He said. "I'll be right back."

Five minutes later they were back on the road again. Kyouya had asked the driver to put the screen back up, so Tamaki had opted to use Kyouya as a pillow. He was leaned against his boyfriend's chest, eyes closed, completely relaxed.

Kyouya looked down at his boyfriend and smiled. Tamaki could be a nuisance sometimes, but he was mostly very sweet. He poked the blonde in the ribs. "Tamaki?" He whispered. "Are you still awake?"

"I am now." Tamaki grunted as he sat up. "I was dozing off. Why?"

Kyouya shrugged. "I just wanted to talk to you." He said. "About this week."

Tamaki nodded. "Ah yes." He said. "What exactly is the plan?"

Kyouya shoved his glasses higher up his nose. "I am not entirely sure." He confessed. "I think we will spend some days together with my family and some days apart from them."

Tamaki shot him a perceptive look. "But that is not what you really wanted to talk about." He said. "You really wanted to talk about hiding things from your father."

Kyouya sighed, nodded. "Yes, that is true." He replied.

Tamaki sighed. "To be honest, I don't think we can do much more than we're doing now." He said. "We're already behaving like we used to when we were just friends; we are not too touchy, we speak only about standard subjects... I fail to see where we can be suspicious right now."

Kyouya sighed. "It is not the way we are behaving right now that is worrying me." He confessed. "It is more the way we are going to hold this up every day. My father hates homosexuals; we will be facing his taunts and discrimination all day, yet we can not speak up to him without being suspicious. We will be forced to stay away from each other while we are with my family. We will hardly have any chances to be together, to be alone, and even then we will have to be very careful."

Sad onyx eyes looked up into worried violet ones. "I'm not sure if I like that." Kyouya admitted quietly.

Tamaki wrapped an arm around Kyouya's shoulders and pulled his boyfriend close. "I don't like it either." He said. "But if we are together, Kyouya, we can pull this off." He smiled brilliantly. "We make a good team, remember?"

Kyouya smiled back. "I suppose we do." He said. "You are an incomparable optimist, Tamaki."

Tamaki leaned in and kissed Kyouya on the lips softly. "I know." He said quietly. "Isn't that why you fell for me?"

Kyouya was about to reply, but soft lips descended on his and his eyes slid closed. "We should not being doing this, you know..." He said softly.

Tamaki shrugged. "I can't say I care much." He said. "The chauffeur can't see us, the windows are tinted, your family is not around. This might be the last bit of time we have together for a while. Let's make sure to enjoy it."

Kyouya had wanted to protest. He really did. But the feeling of Tamaki's lips on his, of the other's tongue gently asking for permission to pass by his lips... he found that he couldn't say no after all.

They arrived an hour or so later. The chauffeur got out of the car first, giving the two boys ample time to move back to opposite sides of the car before the chauffeur came to open the door.

They had done nothing but kiss for a few minutes, then sat down together in a loose embrace. No need for anything that might prove bothersome, they had decided.

The door was opened on Kyouya's side, so he got out first; Tamaki followed after him mere moments later. It was dark outside, so dark that Tamaki could only see the outlines of the resort they were entering. Despite this he was impressed; the resort looked enormous. The chauffeur hurriedly guided them inside, carrying their suitcases after them. The huge, double doors swung open to admit them, and suddenly Tamaki felt like he was entering a castle. Then they were inside, together with their suitcases, as the doors swung shut behind them.

Tamaki and Kyouya stood there for a moment in complete silence as the slam of the massive doors echoed through the immense halls. Then a servant came their way, bowed respectfully and then addressed the two of them. "Ootori-san and Suoh-san." He said politely. "Would you follow me please? I will escort you to your room."

Kyouya and Tamaki nodded and followed the servant up the stairs, where he brought them to a large room. "Your father requested a double room with single beds for you, sirs, so that Kyouya-sama would not feel too lonely."

Kyouya and Tamaki shot each other a surprised look behind the servant's back. Talk about luck. The servant opened the door for them, put their suitcases inside the door and handed them both one key. "Here you go, sirs." He said. "Enjoy your stay."

When the servant left, Tamaki and Kyouya entered the room together and inspected it. It consisted of a large area which contained two beds, a smaller area with a couch, television and mini-bar, a table and two chairs by the window and a large adjoined bathroom.

Tamaki dropped his suitcase by the bed that was the farthest away from the door and whistled. "That's quite a luxurious room, Kyouya." He said. "Nothing but the best for the Ootori Family and their guests..."

Kyouya sighed. "Shut it, Tamaki." He sighed. "As if your family's holidays are any less luxurious."

Tamaki shrugged. "I wouldn't know." He said. "It's not like I usually go with my family... Most of the times, my grandmother won't have it." He sat down onto his bed. "And the servant called this a single bed?" He asked in wonder. "It's huge!"

Kyouya sighed deeply, but before he could reply, there was a knock at the door. At Kyouya's permission, the door opened and a maid entered, bowing respectfully. "Ootori-san, Suoh-san..." She said quietly. "Ootori-sama is expecting you in his room..."

-To be continued-