Cherry Bomb

I don't understand.

You never understand.

Why does she do this to me? She builds me up, only to tear me down. How did I think so highly of her even after all that she'd done to me? Kyoya said it was masochistic to return to one that hurts me in such a way, but considering she was never mine to return to it didn't much apply. She didn't mean to. There was solace in that. The innate pain that she put me through was just her way of dealing with my overbearing love.

I knew that Haruhi was a diamond in the rough. The problem was that so did the entire host club. I was the last to know of her true gender and the last to realize my love for her. By rights, I really should just be her Daddy. It pained me to say, but maybe Hikaru or Kyoya would make a better match for her. Each of them brought out a new side of her, and then there is me. I constantly pester her. I make her loathe me. Somehow though, she continues to talk to me. Well, continued. There was nothing saying that she would keep it up after what had happened.

It had been kindhearted. I didn't mean anything malicious by it. The doppelgangers played tricks on her all the time; how was it that mine earned me the worst punishment she could manage? Silence. She'd been hiding out at the Hitachiin mansion for the past couple days. Kaoru said that she was too distressed to even go to school. He'd been staying at home with her, while Hikaru went to school and kept the rumors at bay.

"Is she doing alright?" my voice trembled as I spoke. My finger aimlessly swirled the straw around in my glass. Kaoru took a moment before speaking.

"She won't sleep," he began. "I don't know what to do for her." He sounded tired over the phone. He was probably the one staying up with her. If she would just forgive me I could bring her home with me and stay at her side for as long as she needed.

"Is she ill?" I murmured, afraid of the answer. I held my breath until he replied.

"No," he said; I exhaled. "She's not herself though."

"I don't understand."

"You never understand."

"Kao, who are you talking to?" I heard faintly on his line. Kaoru chuckled.

"Just Hikaru, don't worry," he called. "I should go now. I need to get her to eat," Kaoru explained. I bit my lip and nodded, even knowing he could not see it.

"Okay, call me tomorrow," I said.

"Sure Boss," he replied, before the phone clicked and the dial tone hummed in my ear.

I could see it now, Haruhi lying in bed, an inviolate due to her own sorrow. She'd be wearing a silky pink nightgown, I shivered at the thought, and her hair would be lovingly clipped back by Kaoru. No doubt she'd be thinking. She would think about what I'd said to her, the things I'd promised. She knew now that my quips about being her daddy were merely ploys to get closer to her. I wondered if she would ever forgive me for stepping out of bounds and telling her the forbidden words. Still thinking of her helplessly being cared for by the twins made me eat myself up for sayings such things.

I was too old to release my sorrows through cultivating mushrooms in the corner. Now such things were done through the means of walking to the closest bar and nursing myself back to health through a glass of dark rum. The cherry floated around in the glass, slowly becoming saturated with the alcohol. I picked up the cherry and put it in my mouth. The sweet bitterness cleared my head a little as I ordered another with the wave of my hand. I stacked the empty glass into the other two beside me. It was a good thing that I had a private driver.

As I twirled the cherry stem between my teeth my inner mind theatre began to play.

"We're too young to be here," she worried beside me. I looked to my right. Haruhi, cuter than ever, sat next to me. Her dress swept the floor as she dangled her feet nervously.

"Touché," I replied. "You're too young to be here. Don't worry though, I'll let you have a sip of my drink," I reassured, tickling her chin for good measure. She giggled.

"You know," she began, picking up the cherry from my glass. "My cousin used to be able to do a cool trick with these." I raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Oh? What was that?" I encouraged, my curiosity of commoner life exploding from within.

"Well," she replied, plucking off the cherry and popping it in her mouth. "He would take the stem and tie it into a knot in his mouth," she laughed. I smiled. "He said it made for a good kisser," she concluded, reaching forward and placing the stem between my lips.

"I don't understand," I replied, hoping she meant what I thought she meant.

"You never understand," she replied, leaning in and kissing me the way I had dreamt of it happening so many times before. When I told her of how I felt I never expected it to go quite this well. There was a reason I hadn't thought it would go over so well. The reason was because it hadn't. The sound of shifting ice in my glass awoke me from my reverie.

That was when I realized. I loved her. There wasn't a thing in the world that could stop us from being together. I loved her with all of my heart and I needed to cure her indecision and confusion. I paid in cash and left the bar. My movement was quite altered by the alcohol in the drink, but somehow with a bit of determination I made it to the edge of the street where my limousine came to get me. After I collapsed into the plush cabin of the car the driver looked over his shoulder.

"Master Suou," he began, worry clear in his voice. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," I ensured, "take me to the Hitachiin mansion," I demanded, my voice sounding nearly insane to my own ears. He nodded and pulled the car into drive. We made it there in no time and when the limo came to a stop I realized that I had no idea what I would say to her.

I had a daydream about you and it made me realize that I'm in love with you. I know you don't love me yet, but I'll do whatever it takes to make you love me the way you did in that dream.

Yes, that would go over quite well. I sighed, dropping my head into my hands. If I managed to keep my foot out of my mouth this time than maybe my true feelings would just find their way out of my lips. I put a shaky hand on the door and stepped out. My feet felt heavy as I walked the pathway of shame up to the Hitachiin's door. I hoped Kaoru opened the door; Hikaru had been merciless these past few days. When I reached the grand double doors there was a small figure sitting on the ground. Her eyes were closed and her hair was pinned back into a beautiful braid. Her nightgown pooled around her ankles into a satiny pond and her lips were drawn into a restful smile. I quietly stepped up to the entrance.

"Don't worry Hika," she began, without opening her eyes, "I'm just getting some fresh air." I caught a silent sob.

"Haruhi?" I breathed. She snapped her eyelids open and her eyebrows knit together. She looked at my curiously, her big brown eyes watering.

"Senpai."

"Haruhi," I exhaled. "I'm so sorry for what I said. I didn't mean to hurt you the way I did. Our friendship means more to me, please find it in you to forgive me," I explained, hoping that none of that came over with false intentions.

"I've been thinking," she stated, still sitting on the ground in just about the most innocent pose she could manage.

"About what?"

"What you said, what I feel, you know, all sorts of things," she replied, mussing with the lace on her nightgown.

"And?"

"Yes."

I choked on my own breath. I felt my eyebrows shoot up into my hairline and a smile stretch across my cheeks. She stood up on two wobbly legs and walked closer to me. I stuttered to myself, still not entirely sure that what I heard was true.

"Yes, I feel the same," she whispered into my chest as she wrapped her lanky arms around my waist. I leaned down and kissed the top of her head. I never wanted to let her go.

My first Tamaki and Haruhi story! I hope you liked it! Please remember to favorite, review and check out my other work! Thanks for reading!