Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran KouKou, but if anyone feels generous... And I also don't own the song 'Standing Still' by Jewel which partially inspired this chapter.
Title: A Patchy Existence - Chapter Four - Secrets Unkempt
Author: Frigid-chan. For questions, comments, and suggestions please mail rainecloud46 at yahoo. Emails are preferred over comments.
Rating: M, for language and future chapters.
Notes: I appreciate constructive criticism, no flames. To my dedicated readers - Thanks. And to my new readers - thank you as well.

"Thank you, come again!" Luna called in the sweetest voice she could manage. When she was sure that no other customers were going to enter, she laid her head on the desk tiredly. I'm so tired…I still have another ten minutes to go, too… Ren is going to go all crazy because I had to stay here so late… I bet he'll really take it out on me to night since he had a bad day at work. Then he'll sleep it off and be like my best friend in the morning…. She thought sadly as her head began to spin.

"Again?" she moaned, crouching down behind the counter to dig through her bag. Finding her medication, she took her third supplement of the day out of her pill bottles and stood again. She frowned when she was almost positive that she saw blonde hair from the corner of her eye. As she poured herself some coffee, her eyes flicked about the restaurant suspiciously.

"Ne, Kyo-chan, is that candy?" Hunny asked from his position behind a nearby car. He pointed to the pills that Luna was taking.

"No, Hunny-senpai, those are pills," he replied calmly.

"Is Lu-Lu sick?"

"I'm not sure," Kyoya said seriously, glancing up from his writing.

As another pair of customers entered, Luna stretched and left from her position behind the counter to greet them. She bowed and led them to a table, giving the couple a set of menus. She smiled and left them so that they could talk, but stopped when she passed the window. That time she knew that she saw Hunny. She placed her hands on her thighs and leaned forward so that she could get a better look. Blonde and rusty red hair disappeared behind a mailbox. She frowned.

"What on earth…?" she said incredulously. Placing a hand on her hip, she turned her back to the window and walked away. "Now they're stalkers?" she squeaked in confusion.

"Luna, honey, can I speak with you for a moment?" the restaurant manager called from her position at the desk. She was a thin girl, only a few years older than Luna was. Her name was Mina, and her parents owned the restaurant but allowed her to run it.

"Yes? Whatever I did I'm very sorry I'm just…" she trailed off as Mina held up a finger to silence her.

"Dear, listen, that Ren boy was looking for you a few minutes ago. Is everything alright at home?"

"Yes, he's just worried, I guess," she lied through her teeth. Forcing a smiled onto her face she glanced over her shoulder to her customers. "I really need to help them…"

"Your uniform doesn't hide those bruises so well – you're a terrible liar," Mina said, running her fingers through her hair.

"I'm not lying," Luna whined before turning her back to the woman. "Excuse me, I have to work."

"Your shift is over."

"Then I must leave!" she corrected, grabbing her jacket and bag from under the counter and running for the door. She didn't even look back when Mina called her name, she only waved. Unfortunately for her, Ren was waiting outside for her. "R-Ren, why are you here? You're ill remember, you shouldn't be out in this weather."

"Are you forgetting how late it is?" he asked coldly.

"I'm sorry, I had a scheduling conflict here," she said quietly, keeping her eyes on the ground. She could hear shuffling behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the host club moving to another area on the street. She jumped when Ren's hand struck her face. She jerked her head back and her breath caught in her throat.

"You little brat, how dare you look away when I'm speaking to you?!" he grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her violently, and she stared back at him blankly.

"I'm a horrible person, I know," she sighed as he grabbed her wrist and began dragging her down the street. She could hear the host club following after her and apparently Ren did too. He took so many detours that even she didn't know where she was. Before she knew it, she was being shoved into the apartment. Ren stared at her with that stare he always gave her as a warning. "Let me change into something that's okay to be stained..." she muttered.

"Agh! I can't believe you lost her!" Hikaru shouted at Tamaki who cringed and started to draw circles on the ground with gloom.

"Easy, Hikaru," Kaoru said softly as he wrapped his arms around his brother's waist.

"Let's go," Haruhi called from the window of the limousine. She pushed open the door and slid over as Tamaki reluctantly climbed in. Kaoru hung back after his brother entered the limo. He looked around when he thought he heard someone call for help. He shook his head, deciding it was only his imagination.

When they all drove away from the area together, Tamaki crossed one of his legs over the other and crossed his arms. "We have to do something."

The next day at school as Luna was walking down the hallway, someone grabbed her hand. She turned to yell at the person, but her anger faded to surprise when she met familiar amber eyes. "Kaoru?" she clasped her hands together as he released her and awkwardly placed his hands in his pants pockets. She tilted her head to the side worriedly. "Is there something wrong? Where's Hikaru?"

"He's at the club," he finally answered after a moment of hesitation. He chose not to answer the other question, as he was already nervous enough without his twin around. He ran his fingers through his hair decisively. He needed to get it over with quickly… "Um…I'm sorry," he said quickly, looking away as he did so.

"Pardon?" she asked in confusion. "Why are you apologizing to me of all people? If it was about the seven of you stalking me yesterday, I wasn't upset or anything. But, I guess you saw something I didn't want any of you to see…" she trailed off.

"You knew we were there?"

"Yeah, Tamaki's horrible at hiding," a small smile graced her features and she crossed her arms. "You're going back to the club right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I wanted you to tell Tamaki to leave my personal life alone. It isn't any of his business."

"But you need help!" Kaoru raised his voice slightly, moving his hands for emphasis. "Why are you letting him do that? Why not go to the police?" he reasoned. He frowned when she shook her head. "You're that afraid of him?"

"I'm not afraid. I have nowhere else to go," she said simply, turning her back to him. She flinched when he laid a hand on her shoulder. Don't touch me… "Kaoru…What changed your mind? You wouldn't help me before…Why bother now?" she said, her voice cracking. "You drove away then, walk away now!" she nearly shouted, already running down the hallway.

She didn't look back at him either. She ran until she met a doorway, and she entered it without thinking. The room before her was dark and she felt around for a light switch. She bit her lip, trying to hold back the tears. Giving up, she let out a quiet sob as she slid down the wall to sit on the floor. She pulled her knees to her chest slowly. "Mom…Daddy, please come back," she whispered.

"Hey, did you find her?" Tamaki asked hopefully as Kaoru trudged into the club room. He walked over to his twin and flopped down on the couch next to him, resting his head on Hikaru's shoulder.

"She wants us to leave her alone, milord," he said solemnly.

"Then we'll pay her a house visit!" Tamaki said cheerfully, jumping to his feet.

"No, you won't," Kyoya said, sending Tamaki back to his seat immediately.

"We'll go after club activities," the blonde corrected himself with the same amount of enthusiasm as before. Kaoru looked to his twin worriedly.

"Hikaru…I don't think she'll…" he trailed off, not wanting to say the last of it. Live that long, his mind finished for him. He blushed as Hikaru pulled him closer.

"I know, but you worry too much."

"Ren, are you okay?" Luna asked in an uncaring monotone as she entered the kitchen. She was wearing jeans and white long sleeve shirt with a blue t-shirt over it, and her hair was held back by a bandana from where she had been cleaning. The man turned to glare a suspiciously before grabbing her arm and throwing her against the wall. She hit it roughly, causing a picture to fall from the wall. What did I do this time?

"Don't say a word, you bitch!" he yelled.

"She likes strawberries, ne?" Hunny asked sweetly as they stopped the limousine outside of Luna's apartment building. Kyoya had found her address in the school records. The group emerged from the limo to hear muffled crashing and yelling from the building. They looked at each other worriedly. Haruhi rang the doorbell, but it was either unnoticed or ignored.

"All you've done is made my life miserable from the start!" an infuriated voice yelled from inside the home, and it was followed by another loud crash.

"Luna?" Haruhi called in worry. No answer.

"I told you," Kaoru whispered, taking his brother's hand out of habit. He pulled on the door, only for it to swing open easily. Releasing Hikaru, he stepped into the house and looked around. "Luna?" he asked softly. He was about to call her name again, but he was cut off as she knocked into him. Catching her shoulders, he held her steady. She shook in his grasp. She turned her head quickly to glare at him. Blood was running down over her right eye, and her lip was busted.

She stared at him in surprise. Ren grabbed her wrist and jerked her over to him, completely ignoring their company. She lowered her eyelids slightly as the man began shaking her again. She didn't even bother trying to escape him. There wasn't a point in it. Leave… she thought, but couldn't find the words to actually tell her unexpected visitors to go.

By this time, the rest of the host club had joined Kaoru. They stood there in disbelief, not fully believing their eyes.

"Whore, now you have seven boyfriends, too?" Ren yelled, kicking her so that her back banged against the kitchen counter. She attempted to grab the counter to keep from falling but shattered a glass plate and cut her hand in the process. She fell to the ground slowly, pushing herself up onto her knees, she panted. Haruhi started to run forward, but she held a hand up to tell her to say back. Ren disappeared out of the house soon afterwards.

"Lu-Lu is hurting?" Hunny cried, crawling up into Mori's arms as Luna stood unsteadily, but shooed away anyone who tried to help her. When she finally steadied herself, she looked down at her hand that was now cut to pieces. She was shaking, but she never cried a tear. She left the room in silence until she found a first-aid kit. Sitting down at the kitchen table, she began bandaging her hand.

"No, Hunny, I'm fine," she said, wiping a hand across her eye so that she could see a little better. She smiled, finding the serious looks on their faces funny and out of place. "You came at a bad time. I'm a mess," she laughed, but even Tamaki could tell she didn't mean it. She gazed at them tiredly. "Did you need something?"

"We came to check on you," Haruhi said slowly, not offering to leave her friends. She didn't know what to do. What could she do? Say that she was sorry she just had the hell beat out of her? That wasn't even worth it. She looked to Tamaki who was in tears. Real pain, he isn't used to it. When she looked back to Luna, it was in fact the twins that had the courage to approach her first. Yet, Luna remained silent, as if her mind wasn't where her heart was.

"Lunie, why didn't you tell daddy that he was hurting you?" Tamaki finally whined as he found his voice. He sat down in one of the chairs near her and leaned forward. The others joined them at the table shortly after, all of them still confused about what had happened.

"Don't…Don't blame him," she said softly, shaking the twins away as she stood. "It…Really isn't his fault," her voice was distant as she shuffled across the room and began rummaging through the cabinets. "Ren…He's having a difficult time right now. He's caught something, I don't know what. But, it's screwing with his mind. He just throws fit sometimes," she said absently as she placed a teapot onto the stove to boil. She smiled. "That seriousness doesn't suit you, Tamaki-senpai."

"Don't smile like that!" Hikaru griped, tapping his fingers on the table with irritation. "He's going to kill you at this rate." He pushed his chair slightly away from the table so that Kaoru could sit on his lap.

"But I told you that, didn't I?" she asked almost smugly, as she finished making tea for them all. It was true; she had told them about it. They hadn't listened, but that was okay. She wasn't angry. "But that isn't what you wanted to hear, is it?" She asked, removing some teacups from the china cabinet. "So, what do you want me to tell you? That I'll tell the police what's been going on? I can't, I'm sorry."

She began filling the teacups with tea quietly, and she heard someone stand. Shortly after Hunny tugged on her shirt, and she smiled down at him. "Come on," she picked him up and held him with one arm. She let out a soft laugh when he buried his face in her neck and started to cry. "Oh, Hunny, don't cry. I'm not hurt. I'm fine, see?"

"Say that you'll see a doctor," Kyoya spoke for the first time in the conversation. Haruhi nodded in agreement.

"You're pale," Haruhi added seriously.

"I'm always pale," Luna replied, carrying the tray with tea on it with one hand and supporting Hunny with her other arm. "You mean paler? I'm dizzy too." She gave Tamaki the oddest look when he jumped to his feet and took the tray from her, placing it on the table. She sighed, noting the expectant look on Kyoya's face. "Okay, fine, but he's coming here. I'm not leaving this apartment," she said firmly, flopping down in a chair next to the twins and placing Hunny on the ground. She served them all tea and sipped it in silence.

"You want to know something odd?" she smiled faintly. "I'm…Really sleepy," she said as her world began to spin. Soon after, everything went black.