A/N: I had a lot of fun writing the last chapter and I am so happy you laughed with me on it. I can just picture Tamaki deciding he needs to take Satoshi and Chika under his wing like he did Haruhi and make them into the perfect hosts and Chika wanting to gag or something. LOL. Ok, so Tamaki really got it in the last chapter and Mori had a really good convo with his father. I really think this year is going to be just as hard on him as it is on Haruhi. One of my readers requested I give her a flashback of epi 8 when they are at the beach… here it is. Hope you like it. Let me know what you think.

PS... I was hoping to post my Nekozawa/Haruhi story today, but I need to tweak it a bit first, so look for the first chapter tomorrow.

Chapter 7 – Beach Memories

It hadn't been her first time to the beach, but she hadn't felt the sand under her feet or heard the waves of the ocean since her mother had passed away. It was nice to experience it once again with her friends. Haruhi looked up from her blanket and noticed her new boyfriend and his cousin working out with some of the customers and smiled. They had only been going out for about four weeks, but it felt like they had been together so much longer than that.

As the afternoon had progressed, girls had tried to get her to go into the water with them, but she was able to smile her best host smile and convince them to go without her. It would be too easy to expose her secret if she went into the water to play, although part of her was itching to walk along the shore and let the waves tickle her feet. Sighing, she stayed on her blanket knowing that if she got too close almost anything could happen around her group of friends like Tamaki attacking her and pushing her accidentally into the water. No, it was best to stay as far away from him and the water as possible.

Mori heard a sigh coming from behind him and when he looked, he could see his girlfriend staring into the clear blue waters of the sea. Shaking his head and smiling, he silently promised her that she would be able to step into the ocean before they left to go home, and he would make sure Tamaki stayed away from her while she did it. They may have to keep their relationship a secret, but he could protect her and everyone would think that he was just keeping an overenthusiastic hormonal teenage boy with a daddy complex away from her. Turning back around to concentrate on the customers, he inwardly smiled, "Don't worry Haruhi; you will get your time in the ocean."

"What was the Mori-senpai?" One of the girls inquired when she heard her favorite host say something under his breath.

"Nothing," the tall host responded.

Deciding to help his best friend out, Hunny giggled, "Takashi was just thinking about his katas. Sometimes he counts under his breath."

The girls clapped their hands together and gazed upon the stoic man with affection and desire squealing, "MOE!"

As soon as the girls started to scream for Mori, Haruhi started to snicker. She couldn't help it. It was a little amusing how easily the girls would get stars or hearts in their eyes and then scream their favorite word "MOE", or in the case of Hunny it was "kawaii". Did the girls even really know them? She would bet her grocery money for a month that they didn't. All of the hosts held their true selves back and would not show the girls who they really were; and that was ok because they were just a club that catered to the girls and were not looking for wives or girlfriends. They had an image to uphold after all.

It wasn't long before Haruhi was walking along the beach believing she could get in a moment or two of quiet time and found Hunny digging up shellfish. He was waiving to her and calling out, "Want to go hellfish shunting?"

Shaking her head, she tried to tell him that it wasn't that kind of beach, but noticed he had a bucket full of items and she looked around. One minute there was nothing there and the next minute she was surrounded, "AHHH!" Startled by the number of items up for grabs, she agreed to help Hunny collect everything they could.

Tamaki tried to joke with her and picked up a crab with a centipede on it which she just threw on the rocks. Haruhi knew that little bug was not going to be hurt, and that made the hosts wonder… does she have a fear or weakness? They didn't know, not even Mori knew what she was truly afraid of. They were still learning each other. So with a prize on the line, six hosts set out to find her greatest fear; and one by one they started to fail.

The only female host knew something was going on, but she wasn't sure what it was. When Mori pointed the harpoon at her, she told him knowing no one else was around, "You are my senpai and boyfriend, not a sentai. What is going on here?"

Rubbing the back of his neck, he answered, "Nothing."

"Takashi, I know something is going on. The twins took me to a damp cave, Hunny locked me in a dark truck and then freaked out, and now you are pointing a harpoon at me. What is going on?" Before Mori could answer, the twins and Tamaki burst forth with the blonde chasing the two redheads. She knew she wasn't getting her answers right then. Walking away from him, she grabbed an empty bucket and retuned to gathering dinner for the club.

As Haruhi was picking up yet another crab, she heard her name being called and looked up. Standing on top of a cliff were three of her regular customers. She could see they were enjoying themselves, but still warned them to be careful. She should have warned them to get back to the beach and off of the cliff because she heard male voices floating down to her moments later and knew they didn't belong to any of the girls. Looking around quickly, she didn't see anyone in shouting distance and decided to help the girls herself. Someone had to save them.

Running up the path that would lead to the top of the cliff, Haruhi arrived to see the two men mauling the girls. "They told you to leave them alone!" She threw her bucket of shellfish and sea urchins at one of them hitting his back and watched as one of the girls escaped. That was one free to get help while she helped the other two, but plans don't always work the way she intends them too and soon she was screaming as she was thrown off the cliff and into the ocean.

The next thing Haruhi knew, she was being pulled out of the ocean and carried in the arms of Tamaki. She was grateful to him for saving her, but those where not the arms wrapped around her right now. She wanted Mori to comfort her because if she was honest, she was a little freaked out.

"Where are they?" Tamaki asked in the most serious tone of voice Haruhi's ever heard come from the blonde.

"We took their wallets and asked them to leave. The girls have returned to the hotel and I have called a doctor. He should be here any moment now," Kyoya replied placing his shirt over Haruhi's wet body.

"I'm fine. I don't need a doctor," Haruhi wiggled indicating that she wanted to be let down. Glancing at her boyfriend as her feet hit the sand once again, she really couldn't tell what he was thinking, but she could see the fear in his eyes and she knew it was fear for her and her safety.

When Mori had seen Haruhi fly off the cliff, his heart stopped and it took all he had not to panic. He was grateful to Tamaki for jumping in to save her, but he wanted it to be him. He wanted to be her knight and to pull her out of the water, to hold her and comfort her, to know she was alright. He needed her in his arms right now, but all of that would have to wait.

Tamaki put his hands on Haruhi's shoulders and interrogated her, "What were you thinking? Why did you do that? You aren't some sort of martial arts master like Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai. You are just a girl and you shouldn't have tried to take on two guys!"

Shrugging his hands off, she felt like she had to defend herself, "It doesn't matter that I am a girl and they are boys. I was the only one around and I had to do something. They were in trouble!"

"That's no excuse you idiot! You are just a girl!" Tamaki yelled at her.

Mori wanted to rip Tamaki's hands away from Haruhi and pull her into his arms. He understood why she did it and if she had not acted it could have been worse for the customers, but that didn't mean he wasn't scared or freaked out; and the host club president was not helping matters any. Tamaki had no right to chastise Haruhi, but Mori understood that Tamaki had been worried too. Still Haruhi was independent and had learned long ago that she had to stand up for what she believed was right and that was all she was doing today. She didn't need to be yelled at for that, but she did need to learn how to better take care of herself.

"Look, I'm sorry that you had to come rescue me and everything, but I am not sorry for doing what I did. I don't understand why you are so mad at me right now because I don't think I did anything wrong!" Haruhi yelled back.

Tamaki was shocked that Haruhi would bellow back at him, and believed she just didn't get it, "You don't think so. Fine, I am not talking to you until you come to your senses and admit that you were wrong," he spoke in a calm manner, but his glare told everyone around him that he was still upset with her.

Glancing over her shoulder to the retreating figure of her friend, Haruhi felt hurt and angry at him. She didn't want to go over the cliff, but she had to help the girls. They couldn't take care of themselves, and although she had no formal training, she did know that she could at least distract the two drunks so that the girls could make their escape. Feeling two arms wrap around her, she looked up at the twins, "What?"

"Nothing. Come on, we will take you back to your room," they said together and proceeded to drag her away.

Haruhi wanted to call out to Mori and have him take her back to her room, but she knew she couldn't. With one last look at her boyfriend, she allowed the twins to drag her back to the house with the other three hosts following behind them.

After Haruhi had taken a shower to wash the seawater off of her, she got ready for dinner and then just stood by the window looking out into the ocean. She didn't think she was wrong about what she did when it happened, and she felt the same about it now. She just couldn't figure out why she was the criminal in this. Then her thoughts wandered to Mori… did he think ill of her also? She hoped not because she really loved him and would hope that he understood why she did what she did. A knock at her door pulled her from her thoughts and she called out, "Come in." When she glanced up, there was the man that had been occupying her mind since she had been pulled out of the ocean.

Mori gently closed the door and approached his girlfriend surveying her as he got closer. It didn't appear that she had any wounds or that she was hurt, but sometimes wounds on the inside cut just as deep as the outside. He knew she was mad and upset about what Tamaki had said earlier, but that didn't matter right now. Right now, he needed to know for himself that she was alright and that she understood that although he was scared for her and he had been terrified of losing her, he knew why she did it and was alright with that. Opening his arms to her, she immediately stepped in them and wrapped her arms around his waist. He encircled his arms around her body and kissed the top of her head, "Are you alright?"

"I didn't get injured or anything. I'm sorry if I scared you Takashi, but I had to do it," Haruhi stated.

"I know you did."

"So you aren't mad at me too?"

"I was horrified when I say you fall off of the cliff, but I know why you did it."

Rubbing her face on his chest, Haruhi smiled, "Thank you Takashi."

They stayed like that for a few minutes before Mori finally spoke up, "Mitsukuni asked me to get you for dinner. Are you hungry?"

"Yah," Haruhi pulled back and gazed into her boyfriend's eyes before standing on her toes and pulling him down for a real kiss. She had needed the contact like she needed breathing. She felt so much better and sure of herself now that they had talked and it was time to face the others now. They may not like what she did, but if it didn't affect them and Mori was ok with it, then it didn't matter, "I'm glad you are ok with what happened."

"I wouldn't say that I am ok with it, but I understand why you did it."

Nodding, Haruhi didn't say anything else and together they walked to the dining room in order to partake in the feast Mori and Hunny prepared for everyone. When they arrived, Mori opened the door for her and allowed her to walk in first. Everyone stopped and looked up with shock written all over their faces. The tall host knew this was coming since they had never really seen her in something so feminine and girly before.

"Where did you get that dress?" The twins asked together.

"My dad. He must have repacked by things when I wasn't looking. He is always trying to get me to wear this frilly stuff," Haruhi grumbled.

Looking at each other and then back at Haruhi, the twins gave her two thumbs up each, "Way to go dad!"

Mori and Hunny wanted to roll their eyes at them, but kept their faces from belying the secret they were privy to. The taller of the two cousins wanted to slap the wolfish looks off of the twins and make sure they never looked at her like that again, but he restrained himself knowing that was not acceptable behavior… yet.

"You look so kawaii Haru-Chan!" Hunny exclaimed. He had seen her dress up before and he always thought she looked so pretty when she did.

"Um, thanks guys... I guess," Haruhi said with uncertainty in her voice and picked at the skirt of her dress. She felt a hand grab her wrist and pull her to the table. When she looked to see who it was, Hunny was taking her to her seat at the table.

Haruhi took her seat and Hunny sat down on one side of her, but before Mori could take the other chair, Tamaki sat down on the other side of Haruhi. Seeing this, the wild host sat down next to his cousin knowing he would be able to see his girlfriend later.

The tension was thick in the room and could probably be cut with nothing more than a butter knife. The twins made comments about it, but it was Hunny that finally broke the tension a little and allowed everyone to eat, "Let's dig in Haru-Chan!"

As the meal wore on, Haruhi started to make jokes, which Mori and Hunny were said in order to annoy Tamaki since she was still upset with the blonde. The president started to make comments to Haruhi and she would retort. Each believed they were in the right and not the wrong. Finally Tamaki stood up and declared, "I see you refuse to admit you were wrong. See if I care, I am going to bed. Kyoya please show me to my room."

Kyoya wiped his mouth and stood up. He had shown his best friend which room he was staying in earlier, but apparently the blonde either wanted to talk or had already forgotten. He wouldn't put either one past him, "Well if you will excuse me." Walking down the hall next to his friend, Kyoya finally asked, "What is it? I showed you your room earlier."

"Do you think I am being too hard on her?" Tamaki probed.

"Haruhi grew up differently than us, but what she did was rash," Kyoya responded, "If that is all, I will see you later."

"Wait Kyoya!"

"What?"

Tamaki was blushing and tapping his two index fingers together, "Can you show me to my room? I forgot where it is."

Rolling his eyes, Kyoya sighed, "Come on then you moron."

After Kyoya and Tamaki had left the room, Haruhi started to wonder if maybe Tamaki wasn't right. She started to think about what she had done more and what Mori had said to her about understanding but not actually being ok with it, "Maybe he is right. Maybe I need to learn how to defend myself."

"So he finally got to you," Hikaru and Kaoru said at the same time.

"Well it wouldn't hurt for you to learn martial arts or something," Hikaru muttered.

Kaoru stated, "But it isn't like we are going to force you to learn it."

The twins went on to explain that it wasn't the fact that she needed to learn how to defend herself, but the fact that they were all worried about her. They believed she did act recklessly. She appeared to still not understand that people besides Mori worried about her and Hunny put in his opinion and tried to explain the situation better.

She finally realized that people cared and worried about her. They were her friends and wanted her to be safe, "You were worried? I am really sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry." She was sorry for that because it was true. She never wanted to make them worry about her, but she still believed she did what was right. Suddenly, she was pulled into three pairs of arms and they were holding her tight in an embrace accepting her apology and she started to feel sick. They rushed her to the closest bedroom and threw her in the bathroom.

Mori wanted to stay near, but knew now was not the time for it. He would check on her later and pulled the twins and Hunny away from the bedroom door to give her some privacy. If he knew anything about his girlfriend, she would not want a crowd to bear witness to her getting sick.

When Haruhi was done, she walked into the bedroom and saw someone sitting on the other side of the room in nothing but jeans and a towel covering his head, "I'm sorry for the intrusion."

"Don't worry, it is just me," Kyoya muttered as he dropped the towel.

"Kyoya-senpai! I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to make everyone worry," Haruhi bowed surprised about which door she walked in.

Taking a drink of his water, Kyoya prepared himself to show her that there really was a different between genders, and at times those differences were crucial, "I wasn't particularly worried, but I did have a hard time getting the twins off of those interlopers. They almost killed them." Standing up he started to walk over to her, "And I had to send flowers to all of the girls. They were all looking forward to this trip and we don't want to disappointment, do we?"

"I'll pay you back for the flowers."

"Each bouquet cost me 50,000 yen; that is a grand total of 600,000 yen Haruhi," he stated as he turned the lights off. It was time to enact his plan.

"Why did you turn the lights of senpai?"

"If you want, you can pay me back with your body," he smirked as he grabbed her wrist and threw her on the bed with him hovering over her. "Surely you don't really believe a person's sex doesn't matter. Are you really that naïve? You've left yourself completely defenseless against me and I can take complete advantage of you right now."

Haruhi's eyes widened minutely and she stared into the older boy's eyes and knew immediately what was going on. Deciding to call him out, she challenged him, "You won't do it Kyoya-senpai. It wouldn't do you any good and you will gain no merits from it."

Smiling at her audacity, Kyoya sat up. She saw through him yet again, "You're right. You are a fascinating young woman Haruhi."

"I did learn something from this though. I guess I never really knew what a nice guy you are. You are just trying to teach me a lesson and reiterate what Tamaki-senpai was saying. I know that you are trying to prove his point and pose as the bad guy."

Kyoya wasn't given the chance to respond to her accusations because Tamaki knocked and instead of waiting for an answer, entered the room, "Kyoya, do you have any lotion. This sunburn is starting to sting." Seeing his best friend standing next to the bed in nothing but a pair of pants and Haruhi kneeling on the bed facing the Shadow King, the half Frenchman jumped to conclusions, "YOU BASTARD!" Before he could take another step forward though, Kyoya was shoving the lotion in his face and walking out the door.

"Here use as much as you want you big goof," Kyoya growled and walked out the door leaving his best friend with the female host, and thinking that Haruhi was wrong about something. She did have some merit.

"What were you doing with him?" Tamaki advanced on Haruhi once the door was closed.

Haruhi pulled her attention away from the window and looked at her friend, "Nothing."

"YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT NOTHING WAS GOING ON WHEN HE IS HALF NAKED AND YOU ARE LYING ON THE BED? YOU ARE ALONE IN HERE WITH THE LIGHTS OFF! DON'T YOU LIE TO ME!" Tamaki paused and took a small step back, "Never mind, you have had a long day and I am sure you are tired."

The rumble of thunder could be heard and Haruhi's fear was starting to build up. She watched Tamaki starting to walk away and wanted Mori. Did she dare ask Tamaki to get him, "Senpai wait!"

Turning around to face her, he noticed that she seemed to be on edge. When she screamed as soon as the thunder roared and the lightning struck, he inquired, "What's wrong Haruhi?"

She didn't have time to find Mori, "It's nothing. I just remembered that I have some business to take care of." She climbed into the wardrobe and was able to turn the latch on the inside so that it locked the storm away from her. Pulling her knees to her chest, she buried her face into them and prayed the storm would pass quickly.

"What business could you have in a wardrobe?!" Tamaki bellowed when another bout of thunder and lightning made itself known, "Are you afraid of thunder and lightning? Why did you lock yourself in there? It would seem that would make it scarier."

"I'm alright. I am used to getting through things by myself."

It suddenly hit Tamaki. She has always been alone and had no one else to really depend on and that is why she felt she had to act today, "By yourself? You're always by yourself and never call us even when we are so near to you. I get it now and I'm sorry for acting like I did. You don't have to worry though because you have people that are there for you now. You can come out now." He was able to get the door open and looked at her, "You don't have to be alone any longer or afraid. I will make sure nothing happens to you. I will never leave you alone." Another round of the noise and bright light, and Haruhi flew into his arms, "It's ok." He could feel her trembling and felt so sorry for her, but now he understood her just a little bit more, "Come on, let's see what we can do to help you through this."

Mori was starting to get concerned because he hadn't seen Haruhi since he dropped her off at the bathroom to get sick. He and Hunny found Kyoya wandering the halls and asked him if he had seen her and that is when the twins appeared out of seemingly nowhere. He led them back to his room and was questioned by the twins about leaving Tamaki and Haruhi alone together. Mori had the same questions, but did not voice them, "Of course. She is with our prince. What could possibly happen?"

When they opened the door, it was to see Haruhi kneeling on the floor in front of Tamaki blindfolded. They heard him tell her that the earplugs muffled sound and she wouldn't see anything with the blindfold on, and the twins immediately attacked, "You nasty pervert. What kind of foreplay is that?"

Fighting the feelings of wanting to pummel the blonde president, Mori stepped forward. He was pissed and just wanted to get his girlfriend away from Tamaki. Walking in on that made him wonder if Haruhi was having second thoughts or if Tamaki was manipulating her in some way. He scooped her up in his arms causing her to squeak, but when she lifted her blindfold and saw who it was, she gave a small smile. The tall host carried her out of the room and as he was passing by Tamaki, he slapped him on the back of the head. He would let everyone else deal with him; he needed to get Haruhi out of there. Carrying her back to her room, Mori opened the door and set her down after he closed and locked the door behind him, "Are you alright?"

"Yah, he was just helping me Takashi."

This made Mori pause because it didn't look like Tamaki was innocently helping her at all, "Helping you? Haruhi are you sure that you want this? Maybe there is someone else who you have feelings for?"

Cocking her head to the side, Haruhi shot him a confused look, "Someone else?"

"Tamaki maybe?" Mori wasn't sure why he was asking because if it was true then his heart was broken, but after what he witnessed he had to wonder if maybe she had settled for him because he was the one that asked her first.

"What are you talking about?"

Mori sighed and tried to be clearer, "Do you have feelings for Tamaki or someone else in the club? I know that I asked you on a date, but maybe you have feelings for the others too?"

Haruhi furrowed her brow, "I don't know what you are talking about, but I only have feelings for you, not Tamaki and not the others. He really was just helping me."

"Helping you with what?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the sky was lit up and it sounded like an explosion went off. The next thing he knew was that Haruhi screamed and jumped on him. He finally understood. Tamaki was comforting her from the storm and the earplugs and blindfold were innocent. "Shhh it's ok Haruhi. I have you." He picked her up and moved to the bed, setting her down and watching as she climbed under the covers. Mori quickly shut the curtains so that the lightning could not be seen and crawled into bed with her pulling her back into his arms, "I am here for you and won't let you go. You are more important than almost anything to me Haruhi."

She was unable to speak, but she nodded her head knowing she felt the same way. Listening to his heart beat and focusing on the hand that rubbed her back, she was soon lulled into sleep and had dreams of Mori and what a future with him may be like. Haruhi fell asleep with a smile on her face surrounded by her boyfriend's arms and knowing he would protect her from everything.

End of flashback…

Haruhi woke up in the morning for school in a good mood. She wasn't sure what made her think of their first trip to the beach together, but that night had been special for her. They hadn't said "I love you" to each other yet, but it was at that moment, she knew Mori did.