Disclaimer: I don't know Ouran High School Host Club or its characters, but will continue to use them for my enjoyment and for yours.

A/N: Haruhi's Rose asked me to write a Tamaki/Haruhi pairing. Not my fave pairing and one I don't typically write unless it is to break them up. I see her more with someone else, but I'm all for trying to push myself as a writer and rise to the challenge. Honestly, I wasn't going to write it for a while since I have several Ouran stories in the works along with other genres; however, while I was driving home this morning, I heard Phil Collin's song, Against the Odds and a story idea popped into my head. It will only be a one or two shot, but here is my first Tamaki/Haruhi story. I hope you like it.

Chapter 1 – Love and Respect

He stood there in the foyer staring at the now closed doors, hearing the servants whispering around him. He could already imagine what they were thinking, what they were saying, "Atrocious behavior." And they would be right. He had acted deplorable to his fiancée and after the fight they just had, anyone currently on the premises of the second Suoh estate knew it; of course, given the fact the majority of them, they might be siding with him instead of her. And for that, they would be wrong. It was his fault, everything was his fault.

Five years ago, Haruhi accidentally entered the sanctity of Music Room Three and forever turned the world upside down for six men. She was brash, brutally honest, had zero fashion sense, no riches, and had an intelligence on par with Kyoya Ootori…and within months, all six hosts of the Ouran High School Host Club had been won over, and by the end of the school year all six of them had fallen for her to some degree.

Some believed he was an idiot because he called himself her daddy. They also believed that he didn't realize his real feelings for her at first, but he always knew. Granted he was a little slow because he didn't realize right away that the male student that strode through the double doors was actually female, however, after that he picked up on more than what they gave him credit for. Tamaki knew exactly how he felt about Haruhi, and he could see how his friends, the people closest to him felt for her as well. Kyoya, who hardly ever gave people the time of day, seemed to take an avid interest in her. Mori seemed to open up and started to protect more than just Hunny. Hunny's mature side came out more. And the twins…they started to bloom. Yes, he knew how he felt about the petite brunette, but he also knew how his friends – his second family really – felt about her too, and the last thing he wanted to do was to cause animosity amongst the ranks, to break up the family.

As time marched on, new suiters seemed to pop up out of nowhere; as well as new hurdles to jump through. The name Éclair still caused involuntary shudders. He had come so close to throwing away his family and what he had with Haruhi…. Sometimes Tamaki thought he really was an idiot.

Somewhere along the lines though, his friends stopped being his rivals and tried to help him win the girl. And somewhere along the way, she had fallen for him just as he had fallen for her. Some would have called it a Cinderella story, and they may have been right, however, Haruhi was the one that did the rescuing, not the other way around. His family had money and power, but in his grandmother's eyes he was nothing more than a means to an end because he was his father's only child. To the Suoh family, he was their puppet.

And then Haruhi entered his life and changed everything. He now had a family, people who cared about him and his future, his feelings. He was no longer just a mere puppet. With her at his side, he found strength, love, hope, and a future. Even if he did not remain with the Suoh family, if his grandmother decided to kick him out, he knew he would be all right because Haruhi was there. In truth, since the moment he left his own mother in France, he had not felt like he completely belonged anywhere or to anyone, not 100%. Kyoya was his friend, but he kind of forced himself on the bespectacled teen. The twins were conned into joining his club, and Hunny and Mori…well, Hunny had been bribed. If he had not foisted himself onto them, would they have been his friends? Even knowing he was nothing more than the bastard son of an illicit affair between the school's chairman and some French woman? The answer was probably not.

With Haruhi around, class and family no longer mattered. In her eyes, it was about the person inside; and they all strived to better themselves. They wanted to be something in her eyes, they wanted to be esteemed and respected…by her. Their families would make decisions about their future and they would probably not care two cents if their sons wanted it or not – that was the life of the elite class. However, with Haruhi in the mix, they all wanted to be the men she could respect and admire, regardless if she fell for them or not. They wanted to be more than just a pawn for their families because to her, it didn't matter what class you were born in, everyone was human.

That was just one of the many things Tamaki loved about Haruhi; and now he had blown it. After their argument, she had stormed out the door and yelled, "If that's the way it's going to be, I'm through! Goodbye!" The door opened flooding the foyer with light, and then slammed closed darkening the home and the mood. He had truly messed up, and he didn't know how to fix it. It was the same argument they had been having for the past six months. An argument which was stupid to begin with, had now ended his relationship with Haruhi.

Was it really over? He didn't know for sure and she hadn't returned the ring, but had a feeling he had truly lost her this time. He stood there and watched her leave, and she never looked his way. And now all he wanted was for her to come back through that door so he could pull her into his arms, kiss her, and tell her she only need to command him and he would do anything for her…and that included having the rehearsal dinner or after party at her father's bar. It seemed trivial and idiotic now. Tamaki had refused, and she argued that her father wanted to do this for them. He still refused. Her comment then was, if you can't accept my father and his lifestyle, you can't really accept me. Maybe she was right. In all honesty, he had rejected the idea because he was afraid of what his family would say. Would his grandmother balk? Yes, she probably would. Would his family's business partners be afraid? Probably. However, his fiancée was only asking for one dinner or one party, and the after party would probably only consist of the couple's closest friends. So what did it matter? Nothing. He knew that now.

Since they had been together, Tamaki had won over Ranka…kind of. They had come to a tacit understanding that Haruhi's happiness meant more than the father's dislike of who his daughter was dating. What would happen now?

Haruhi had bent over backwards to please his grandmother, and had given up a lot of her wants and desires for their own wedding in order to please the Suoh family; and her one request, the one thing she refused to give up on, he refused to allow her to have. Why? He actually wasn't sure any longer.

"You know Master Tamaki," Shima, the chief of staff at the second estate began, "She loves you a lot, and I know you love her as well, but relationships are about give and take. If a person only gives, soon they have nothing left to give any longer."

Shoulders slumping, Tamaki nodded, "I know, Shima."

"So what are you going to do? I didn't raise you to be so wishy washy. What happened to the man you wanted to be for her?"

"What can I do? She left."

"When has that ever stopped you? I seem to recall when you were in high school and you tried to leave, she raced after you. All of your friends helped her to retrieve you."

His head snapped up, eyes focused on the door, and he ordered, "Bring me the car. I need to find Haruhi!"

Smiling, Shima turned around and left her charge, "Good boy."

Tamaki didn't wait to see if his order was fulfilled. Instead, he ran out of the front door so that he could jump in the vehicle as soon as it arrived, and he immediately stopped. Sitting on the bottom step of the staircase leading to the front door, Haruhi sat holding her knees, hunched over, her body shaking as if she were crying. Slowly, he approached her and whispered, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Haruhi. Please give me another chance."

The shaking stopped, but she did not lift her head as she muttered, "You baka! I didn't break up with you, I just got mad at you." Her head whipped around so she could look at him, "Did you really think I would break up with you just because you're an idiot?"

There were tear tracks on her face, and she was as red as a tomato, and he thought she looked utterly beautiful. "I just…yeah. I did think that."

"I was mad and frustrated. I just needed time to think, but when I left, I couldn't bring myself to actually leave, so I sat here."

Sitting next to her, he wrapped his arm around her back and pulled her close, "We'll have the after party at your father's bar. I think a smaller party would be better there anyway. Would that be acceptable?"

"Yes. That's all I wanted." She leaned up and gave him a small kiss.

"When you walked out that door, I really thought it was over this time. I thought the odds were stacked against me."

"So why did you come out?"

"I was coming after you. I may have had all the odds against me, but I had to try and win you back. I love you too much to let you go."

"I love you too, you baka," she smiled.

Leaning down, he captured her lips in a sweet kiss. Life was not perfect and they would probably have tons of arguments, however, even if the world was against them, they would stand together forever because that is what they were meant to do. They loved each other, received strength from each other, and needed each other in their lives. Against the odds and what anyone said, they were going to make it work.