A/N: A/N: Ok, first of all I needed to let you know that starting after this chapter, I will be updating very sporadically for the remainder of the month. I will be travelling to see my older sis in Virginia and then I have family coming in to see me the day after I get back. I will write and update as much as possible (not going on hiatus like I did in February), but I will not be updating regularly like I usually do. Sorry about that. Also, if you noticed a change in my profile pic and the fact that Usa-Chan is missing, well this month is Myasthenia Gravis awareness month. It is a rare neuro-muscular disease and is represented by a teal ribbon.

Ok, so it seems as if I have been writing a lot of fluff this week for almost all of my stories, not that I mind writing fluff because I do love writing fluffiness, so somehow I managed to put in a tad bit in this chapter too. I am not done giving you Haruhi and Kyoya's background, so expect more of that in the future. Enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 4 – Pretending

Haruhi's head throbbed and it felt as if someone was driving an iron stake through it with a sledgehammer. She did not want to open her eyes, but the soft whispered sounds of someone, no more than one person, in her room was annoying her and she needed to tell them to shut up in order to rescue her precious head and sanity. Lifting one eye lid ever so slightly, she closed it immediately. It was dark, but still too bright for her. Instead of seeing who would dare trespass into the sanctuary of her room, and at this point she didn't care if her wonderful roommate invited this other person, she decided to yell at them, but the moment she opened her mouth, she wanted to vomit. This wasn't good.

Kyoya noticed the patient starting to rouse and could see her struggling to function. His eyes cut to the others in the room in a silent directive to shut up and stop talking. It took a couple of minutes, but eventually silence filled the room. Walking over to the bed, he started to run his fingers through her hair, "Haruhi?" He had only momentarily left her in order to stretch.

Was she dying? Haruhi believed that was the only reason she was hearing Kyoya's voice at that moment in time, but if she was, why did she hurt so much and why did she feel so sick. She really needed to throw up. "Bowl," she moaned quietly in pain. Thankfully whoever was by her bed, and at this point she thought it was Ruth, grabbed something so that she could get sick, and then nothing came out. Her stomach was spasming, but nothing was coming out. Leaning back, she groaned and tried to curl herself into a ball.

"Is she going to be alright Kyo-Chan?" Hunny asked, trying to keep his voice down.

"The doctor said it was only mild alcohol poisoning. She should be fine," Kyoya stated from the patient's bedside, where he had been camping for most of the day since they had brought her in. When she had walked into the dorm building, he had not been expecting to see a staggering brunette who was drunk, still smelled of alcohol, and whose clothes were askew. He could have been over reacting in bringing her to the hospital, but when it came to his precious Haruhi, he had not wanted to take the chance. It turns out it was mild alcohol poisoning and she still had enough alcohol in her system to be over the legal limit, but she would be fine and she was alive. They were giving her IV fluids and monitoring her, but she should be out of the hospital the next morning. Where had she walked from? What happened to her? He had no answers, and he had to wait to get answers from her… and he was not the most adept at being patient in situations like this. Still, he had no other choice at the moment.

"We just don't get it. This isn't like her," Hikaru stated plainly.

Kaoru nodded in agreement, "Yah. She hates drinking, is a lightweight, and would never get drunk. Where was she last night that she was coming in this morning with her t-shirt on backwards and inside out?"

It was like a light bulb suddenly went off in Tamaki's head and he gasped, unfortunately he squealed at the same time and the sound was loud and unpleasant. Everyone could see he was trying to fight for control, but the blond was never really one to be able to hold anything inside and it finally burst forth, "What do you mean? Are you trying to say my daughter did something with someone she shouldn't have?"

A pillow was thrown across the room and hit the desired target. "Shut up Tamaki-senpai!" Haruhi snapped, her eyes still closed. She fell back on her bed and held her head. Then it dawned on her what she had said… Tamaki? No, it couldn't be. She vaguely remembered dreaming of the Host Club waiting for her at her dorm and trying to pushing Mori out of the way, but that was all a dream… wasn't it? She needed to know for sure. Slowly opening her eyes, she carefully moved them up and found Kyoya sitting next to her. Twisting her head to survey the room, she found her other friends staring at her expectantly; although she wasn't sure what exactly they were expecting from her. She grabbed her other pillow and put it over her head in an attempt to shut out the world, "Please tell me I'm still dreaming."

"Sorry," Kaoru said.

"But we can't do that," Hikaru added.

They looked at each other and then the lump in the bed, "We are very much real."

"Then kill me now," the brunette mumbled.

"Why would you request us to do that? Are you depressed? Is that why you went out drinking? Do you really want to…?" Tamaki cried out and was soon lying on the floor in a heap with Mori standing over him.

Adjusting his glasses, Kyoya spoke to the taller man, "Thank you Mori-senpai. I think if he kept going, I would have felt like shooting him to put us all out of our misery."

"He was losing control," Mori said plainly and then returned to his seat.

She wanted to know what her friends and her ex were doing there, she wanted to know what the incessant beeping she kept hearing was, and she wanted to know why she was not in her own room, having realized this was not her dorm when she surveyed the room. So many questions and yet she was too tired and in too much pain to ask any of them.

Lifting his hand to place on her head, Kyoya stopped midway and placed it back at his side. The doctor had just entered the room and needed to check on his patient asking everyone to leave. Everything within the Shadow King told him to stay at Haruhi's side, but he couldn't. He no longer had that right, and at the moment he was grateful for the fact that this hospital did not have set visiting hours, allowing him to stay the night if he wanted to… and he definitely planned on staying. Just like he was positive the others did as well, and honestly it was probably better they not leave him alone with her because Haruhi may not approve. Was he scared? For one of the first times in his life he was terrified. Terrified she would not listen to him, terrified she had found someone else, terrified that he had lost her forever, and terrified that she hated him.

The moment the doctor walked out of the room, Kyoya stopped him and asked, "How is she?"

"She'll be fine. I gave her something for the pain and nausea. It will probably knock her out for the rest of the night, but I don't see why she can't go home tomorrow," the physician responded. Eyeing the tallest man in the group with an odd expression seeing as he was carrying a passed out blond, and then his eyes roamed to the three men in suits standing close by.

The former vice president waved off the unusual sight and muttered, "Tamaki was tired and we didn't want to wake him for your exam. Thank you for your help with Haruhi." He completely ignored the fact the doctor was staring at the three-man security team. Opening the door to the room, he entered with the others in tow. Admittedly part of him wished they would leave so that he could be alone with her, and yet part of him was grateful for their support and presence, and knew his chances of conversing with Haruhi were greater with them there. It was a mutually beneficial relationship once again (always really had been because he would be nothing without them, not that he would tell them that since he believed he would take that secret to his grave); and maybe he wasn't so upset about the fact Tamaki had gathered the others and rushed to California before him. When he had gotten off of the plane, the last thing Kyoya expected to see were five guys that looked exactly like his closest friends waiting for him, and Tamaki's behavior made him look more like an excitable child than a gentleman.

Flashback…

Stepping off of the plane, Kyoya quickly strode up the long hallway that would take him to the terminal. He was ready to get out of the airport and continue the journey that would bring him back to Haruhi. "Haruhi", that one name invoked a multitude of feelings within his very being: happy, loss, love, sadness, anger at himself, etc. She had been the best thing to ever happen to him and he had carelessly thrown her away. He wanted her to experience everything that she could during her time abroad and believed still being tied to him would hold her back, but in reality there was another reason: fear that she would find a reason to stay in California. She was a bright woman with a good head on her shoulders, and he knew she would make a brilliant lawyer when she finally finished her studies. He didn't want her to feel obligated to return, to hold back, and he was afraid that something better waited for her in California. These fears and uncertainties, he never spoke of them, never expressed them, and would never tell anyone how he felt. Instead he buried them deep inside him and pretended that they were not there… much like he did in high school when he sought his father's approval.

Kyoya made his way through customs, he and his bodyguards emerged through the door that took them towards the airports exit and stopped in their tracks. Standing in front of them (well one individual was bouncing like he had springs on his feet and another was smiling wide as he munched on a candy bar while waving wildly), were the five remaining members of the Host Club. The blond individual that was jumping up and down, was holding a sign with Kyoya's name and kept yelling (read screaming), "Kyoya! Mommy! Over here!" Shaking his head, Kyoya pretended to be irritated and marched up to his friends, grabbed the sign out of Tamaki's hands, and promptly hit the half-Frenchman with it, "What the hell are you five doing here?"

"Daddy here decided that we needed to come to your aid," Hikaru snickered.

"Because apparently the Shadow King can't win the girl by himself," Kaoru teased.

Sputtering, Tamaki finally whined, "I only said we needed to come and support him!"

"No, you said daughter was mad at mommy, so we needed to help him," the twins argued.

"I… I…" Tamaki stammered and then looked at his best friend, "Mommy, the doppelgangers are being mean to me!"

The Shadow King felt like shaking his head, face palming, sweat dropping, and numerous other things, but outwardly he remained calm. Adjusting his glasses, he glanced over his shoulder at his security team and then turned back to his friends, "Let's just get in the car and go to the hotel. From there I will go to her dorm and talk to her." That isn't exactly what happened since his friends were waiting for him in the lobby when he got off the elevator at the hotel. He knew in that moment, he would not be able to shake his entourage and sighed as he led the way back to the car. They arrived at Stanford only to find that Haruhi wasn't in and they waited… and waited… and waited until she had arrived.

End flashback…

Looking at the huddled form of Haruhi in the bed, Kyoya rubbed his hand over his face. She was hurting and he could do nothing by sit by her bedside and try to comfort her… at least until she was fully cognizant of what he was doing. When that happened, he was sure she would try to push him away… and this time he was not going to let her go. Granted he was the one that did the pushing last time, but no more.

Haruhi heard her friends return to the room and had her eyes opened into slits, so she was fully aware that Kyoya was sitting next to her and stroking her hair. She wanted to put a stop to the torture and pull away, but she allowed herself to bask in his presence just a little longer. She had missed him so and had dreamt of this time and time again. Now he was here, no longer a dream or memory, and she wanted to relish in it. Pretending for just a little longer might make it more torturous later, but she could not find the strength to do otherwise. Tomorrow would come soon enough and reality would find her again, but for now, she would allow herself to give into her selfish side, her selfish wants and desires, and allow him to be there; and when the sun rose on a new day, she would say goodbye to him yet again.

As she lay there feeling his hand run through her hair, Haruhi wondered why the six of them were in town. Was there some sort of family business? Did something happen back in Japan? Was it bad news? Was her father alright? No, if it had been her father, they would have told her already. Hearing the heart monitor increase in tempo, she forced herself to calm down.

"Are you alright Haruhi? Do you need something?" Kyoya asked gently.

The clouds and fog were moving quickly into her consciousness and she groggily demanded, "What are you doing here Kyoya… -senpai?" She added the honorific after a brief pause.

The honorific was a knife to the heart. Kyoya caught a glimpse of the shocked expression on his friend's faces out of his peripheral vision and he shook his head. Adjusting his glasses yet again, as he typically did as a nervous habit, he gazed down at her to answer with his trademark smirk upon his face and found her sleeping. Her breathing was even, her eyes were closed, and she was asleep. Leaning closely to her ear, he whispered, "I'm here to win you back because I got this intriguing notion that a life without you wasn't as good as having you by my side. There seems to be more merit in being with you than being apart."

Observing their friend speaking in hushed tones to Haruhi, the five other men in the room wondered what it would take to rebuild the bridge that at one point in time connected Haruhi and Kyoya together. Now it lay in ashes at the bottom of a gigantic ravine. Could it be rebuilt? They weren't sure, but they believed it could be. The fact that she wasn't pushing Kyoya away right now was proof that she didn't completely hate him. Wasn't it? They only knew that no matter what the cost, they had to bring their friends back together.