Blecchhh, that last chapter was CRAP. Sorry guys. Hopefully this one will be a LOT better. XP I still don't own Ouran High School Host Club, Hatori Bisco does. Anyhoo, STORY TIME! 8D

Thalia discovered that, if anything, the second day of heartbreak was much more painful than the first. It felt like yesterday was just the shock of the break-up, and today was the day that everything really sunk in. As Thalia laid in bed early Thursday morning, she went over the facts in her head, each one carving a new hole in her gut, which was where all the pain seemed to be centered, not her heart: Kaoru had badmouthed her. He'd lied to her. He probably never even loved her. The pain just grew and grew, and there was nothing she could do except try to breathe in and out.

The more she laid there, the more painful her thoughts became: She wouldn't laugh with him anymore. He'd never call her beautiful or even compliment her ever again. He probably hadn't meant what he said, anyways. She hadn't found the one. She'd be alone all her life, because she was unlovable. Somehow that simple fact had managed to elude her. Funny how just a week ago, she tried to push him away. She should've tried harder.

Thalia heard Haruhi get up, but didn't make any sort of effort to get herself ready for school. "You're not gonna go today, are you?" Thalia couldn't muster up the will to make any sort of sound or movement, so she replied by just laying there. "Alright. I don't blame you. You deserve a day to just stay home, you shouldn't have to see him so soon after this. And don't worry, I'll try to make his life miserable today." Haruhi could've sworn she saw the corner of Thalia's mouth twitch up into the faintest of smiles, but she couldn't be sure. Either way, she was going to. Kaoru was a whole new level of insensitive bastard for giving up what he and Thalia had. She'd seen them on Saturday; they looked so happy together. And from what she'd heard, they were completely obsessed with each other. Haruhi had no clue what went wrong, but she knew that Kaoru was going to pay for it.

Kaoru had no clue how he'd managed to get up in the morning and get himself ready for school, but he did. If anything, the second day was much more painful than the first. He couldn't shove out of his mind the memory of Thalia glaring up at him, her sharp green eyes swimming with tears. But what hurt him the most were the emotions in them: Anger, pain, hatred. She hated him. For what, he didn't know, but he knew that she wouldn't just up and leave him for no reason, not when she was so scared of him leaving in the first place. So he knew whatever had happened was his fault. He felt so lonely. Hikaru was uncharacteristically quiet, considering the fact that he wasn't a fan of Kaoru and Thalia being together. Surely he would've seemed at least a bit happy, but he never even looked at Kaoru once. He barely noticed, though. He was too busy trying to breathe, to stay alive just another second.

If school was hard to survive through, then Host Club activities were close to impossible. He could tell that he just wasn't delivering today, but who could blame him? He'd just lost the love of his life, after all. That, and Haruhi seemed to be making every snide remark possible. What was her deal? Finally, he snapped after the last girl had left the room.

"Haruhi, are you on your period today or something?" He asked her loudly.

She glared back. "No, I just don't like ungrateful assholes who treat amazing girls like trash!"

"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you leaving Thalia. She's staying at my place. You should've seen how bad she was when I left for school today. How could you do that to her?"

"She was the one who left me! I was just waiting at home, when she pulls up in Tamaki's limo, a crying mess. She kept screaming at me, calling me a lying bastard. I tried to tell her that I never lied to her, but she just wouldn't listen." It was then that he realized how absurd this whole mess was. Why would she think he was lying? And more importantly, what did she think he was lying about? It was time to figure out what the hell was going on.

He turned to the Host Club president, who all of a sudden was intently studying a vase on the table in front of him. "Hey, why was Thalia in your limo anyways, Tamaki? And why was she crying?" Tamaki turned to look at him miserably. And not his exaggerating, dramatic type of miserable. Kaoru could see just how unhappy he was about the situation, too. But clearly, he had something to do with this, and Kaoru wouldn't be able to forgive him if he was the one who had caused Kaoru and Thalia so much pain. "Well? I want an answer, dammit! What did you say to her?" While he was yelling, he strode over to the president and grabbed fistfuls of his jacket. Tamaki still said nothing, looking away from Kaoru. Kaoru pulled back his right arm, his hand balled in a fist, when Hikaru yelled, "KAORU! STOP!"

"What?" He asked. He turned to look at his brother, but he was still poised to punch Tamaki.

Hikaru sighed. "He told Thalia that you'd been badmouthing her, calling her annoying, and stuff like that. But he did that because I told him to. We were afraid that you would leave the Host Club for her, so I came up with the plan to break you two up." He looked down at the floor, too guilty to look Kaoru in the eyes.

"I regretted what I said the moment it came out of my mouth." Tamaki murmured softly. Kaoru turned back at him in wonder, slowly releasing his clothes. "If I could take it back, I would in a heartbeat. I should've realized that your happiness should always come above my selfish desires. You're my friend, after all, and if you wanted to leave the Host Club to be with Thalia, I should've been happy for you. I'll understand if you'll never forgive me, I definitely don't deserve it."

Kaoru thought for a moment before replying. "I forgive you, I understand why you did what you did. And besides, Hikaru admitted that he came up with the idea, and you were the one who carried it out. I don't blame you at all, Tamaki." He turned over to where his brother was standing. "But you, Hikaru, I don't know if I'll ever forgive you for what you did to Thalia, to me, your twin. You had more than just the Host Club in mind when you came up with the idea to split us up. You never liked her, and you thought that things would just go back to normal if Thalia was out of the picture, right? Well, trust me, you were wrong." Kaoru paced towards the door of the Music Room, throwing it open. "Well, I refuse to work with you any more." He said, turning back towards the group. "I quit." And with that, he walked out and let the door slam shut behind him. The rest of the Host Club all stared at the door, frozen in place for what felt like forever. The silence that had filled the room after Kaoru had walked out said more than Kaoru himself ever could.

Haruhi walked home in silence, feeling very morose. She felt bad for the things she'd said to Kaoru before he exploded. It turns out that he'd had nothing to do with his and Thalia's breaking up; it was all Hikaru's fault. Kaoru had probably been in just as much pain as Thalia was, and all she'd done all day was rub salt in his wounds. Well, she'd resolved that she'd explain to Thalia what had really happened. Hopefully it wasn't too late to save their relationship. And after, she'd definitely apologize to Kaoru.

The apartment was quiet when she walked in, but considering how Thalia had been earlier that morning, Haruhi wasn't surprised. "Hey, Thalia? I'm home. We've got to talk; it's about Kaoru." She said, walking into the bedroom that the two had shared. But Thalia wasn't in bed like she had been earlier. So, maybe she hadn't been in bed all day, maybe she'd finally found the motivation to get up. But Haruhi quickly learned that Thalia wasn't anywhere. She was gone. As Haruhi passed the bedroom again, something caught her eye. Folded up on the mat that Thalia had slept in was a note, addressed to Haruhi. Dropping her bag, she practically tore it open in her rush to read what it said.

Haruhi,

I'm sorry, but I can't do this anymore. I'm sick of the pain, sick of being rejected and unwanted. I don't mean anything to anybody, so what's the point in living? None of you will miss me when I'm gone, especially not Kaoru.

By the time you read this, I'll probably already be gone. Thanks for listening and being a great friend, I'm sorry we couldn't get to know each other better.

Yours truly,

Thalia Gillespie

Haruhi didn't even hesitate. The moment she had finished the last word of the note, she dove for the phone, furiously dialing Kyouya's number.

Kyouya felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket, and was surprised to see Haruhi's number pop up. She never called him. "Yes?" He answered, not bothering to hide his shock. "It's Thalia. I don't know where she's gone, and she left me a note. Kyouya, she's gone to off herself. I don't know if she already has." Haruhi's voice was quivering and cracking all over the place; she was clearly fighting the urge to cry. "Say no more. Haruhi, go out and start looking for her immediately. I'll call up the rest of the club.

He started with Hunny and Mori, then Tamaki, then Hikaru, saving Kaoru for last. But he'd only hesitated for a few seconds before dialing the number, remembering that a few seconds could mean life or death for Thalia. "Kaoru, I don't know if Hikaru has already told you, but we need you now."

"What do you want, Kyouya? And no, I haven't even talked to that bastard."

"Thalia left a suicide note at Haruhi's. Since you're clearly the one that knows her the best, you're the one we need the most. We need you to find her."

Silence. In fact, Kyouya had to check his phone several times to make sure that Kaoru hadn't hung up on him. Then, he heard Kaoru's voice. "Don't worry. I'll find her." Then Kyouya heard the click of the line being disconnected. He snapped his phone shut and dashed outside, his eyes searching the streets.

Kaoru couldn't believe what was happening. In fact, when Kyouya had first said that Thalia had run off to go kill herself, he had to resist the urge to call him a liar and hang up. But Kyouya wouldn't lie, not about something like this. But as soon as he said that he'd find her, he dashed right out the door, still in his school uniform. Now he sprinted through the streets, running faster than he ever had before. It was because he knew that if he was just a second too late, he'd lose her forever. Of course, if she died, he'd be right after her. A world without Thalia to light it up just wasn't a world worth living in.

Though his legs were screaming for a break, and his throat was raw from his shallow breathing, Kaoru refused to stop. He'd run himself straight into the ground trying to find her. Every now and then, he would stop, to ask a passerby if they'd seen her, but apparently, it seems like she had just decided to stop existing. But finally, a man working an ice cream stand said he'd seen a girl matching Thalia's description walking into the woods on the outskirts of the city not too long ago. Kaoru had barely given the man a thank you before he was off again, racing towards the woods. The sun beat down overhead, and sweat was practically dripping off him, but he didn't care. All that mattered was Thalia.

It seemed like he'd been running in the forest forever before he came to a small wooden bridge. There, standing on the railing, was Thalia. Kaoru tried to yell out to her, tell her to stop, tell her that she was wrong, tell her that he loved her more than he'd ever love any girl, but he had no breath to get anything out. His panting caught her attention. She turned towards him. She saw him, hunched over, gasping for air. And then, she jumped. She still hadn't hit the water before Kaoru dashed for the railing and launched himself over.

The sensation of falling was exhilarating. Thalia loved the feel of her hair billowing out behind her. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine that she was flying. But her serenity lasted only a moment before she hit the water of the river below. The bridge wasn't far enough above the water for the impact to actually kill her, she knew that. Thalia had never been a good swimmer, so she planned to let herself drown. Sure, she could've done it in a tub, but she wasn't sure if she'd have the self-control to keep her head under, to force herself to inhale the water. This way, she knew she wouldn't stand a chance. In the middle, the bottom was too far down for her to reach. As long as she stayed here, it wouldn't be too hard to drown.

She floated along, forcing herself to stay upright and in the middle. Within a minute, she was submerged underwater. Thalia opened her mouth, let the water rush in. But before she could get a good lungful, she felt herself being pulled up to the surface. As soon as her head was brought up, she started coughing, her lungs instinctually forcing out the water that Thalia had hoped would kill her. She was too weak to fight the force that was dragging her to one of the banks of the river. Once she'd been laid down on dry land, Kaoru's face appeared above her. Since he was blocking the sun, she couldn't make out his expression, but his voice let her know just how he felt.

"Thalia Gillespie! What is wrong with you? Why the hell would you do that?" He asked her.

Her throat was raw, so her voice came out all scratchy, but somehow he was able to understand her. "I'm...sick of it. I'm done...done with being...unwanted. I'm unlovable...Nothing left for me." She got out in between deep, raspy breaths.

Kaoru shook his head angrily. He was crying, but he was so soaked that the only thing giving it away was the fact that his eyes were red. He was upset that she'd tried to do this to herself, sad that she thought that way, but mostly relieved. Thalia was alive. She was right here, where he could see that she was going to live. "Thalia, you've got it all wrong. I love you, so much more than you can apparently comprehend. What Tamaki said...It was all stuff made up by Hikaru. You could ask any of them, I've only ever said good things about you. You've brought me so much happiness. For the first time in my life, I feel like I truly have something worth living for. No other girl had ever caught my eye before I'd met you way back in middle school, and after you left, not a single one ever crossed my mind. You were the first and only girl to love me for me. You're one of the few that realizes that even though Hikaru and I are identical twins, we're still completely different people. I don't ever want to live without you, Tally." He was holding her hands in his, begging for her to understand.

"You...really mean it?" She asked. Kaoru could see the conflict inside of her: She wanted to believe him, but she'd been hurt. Her trust in him had been broken, and she wasn't sure if she could get it back. But she had to. The hope of being with Thalia again was the only thing keeping Kaoru going at this point.

He took her into his arms and kissed her passionately. "Of course I mean it. You're the one that I want, Thalia Gillespie. Do you...do you still love me?" At this, she smiled weakly; almost drowning had taken a lot out of her. "How could I not?" That was when the ambulance and the paramedics showed up, putting Thalia onto a stretcher. Of course, Kaoru rode with her. Later on, they'd learned that Kyouya showed up right after Kaoru did, saw him jump, and called an ambulance and the rest of the Host Club.

On the way to the hospital, Thalia explained what had happened with her ex-boyfriend, why she was so scared and insecure. She told Kaoru how she'd been sure she was going to marry him, how they'd been together for half a year, how he'd been her first. She remembered how confused and hurt she'd been when he magically stopped loving her days after she'd given him her virginity. Kaoru held her hand and told her that he understood, that he'd never at any point felt impatient or upset that she couldn't return his feelings at first. She smiled and said, "I knew you were different from all the rest the first day I saw you." Then she finally fell asleep, exhausted from the day's events.