A/N: Hi, guys! I missed you. It's good to be home. Now, I'm just going to jump right into this chapter, if that's alright, k?

"Lana," a soft, gentle voice stirred me from my slumber. One long finger traced along my forehead and down my jawline, "Lana...Wake up, princess. I know you still want to sleep, but I miss you so much. You need to wake up."

"Kyoya," I groaned into my boyfriend's shoulder, enjoying the moment while I still could, "How many times do I have to tell you that your host charms don't work on me?"

"There you are, Lana," Kyoya brushed my hair out of my face, "Good morning."

"Good morning," I curled into his chest. Kyoya was always so warm and comforting when I got to lay with him. To think, I was the lucky girl who got to call him mine, "They still don't work."

"They work a little," he kissed my forehead, "Enough to wake you up."

"Against my will," I nuzzled my face in his ribs, "I don't want to wake up yet. Give me another ten minutes."

"No, koibito," Kyoya gave me a nudge, "Gomen. I made reservations for dinner. Is that ok?"

"How am I supposed to eat reservations?" I wondered in my delirious lethargy. But then, I realized what came out of dumbass me's mouth, "I'm such an idiot."

"No, you're not," he assured, bouncing me in his arms, "You're just waking up, Lana. I understand."

"So," I came to some more, "How nice is the restaurant?"

"Very," Kyoya held me a little longer, not wanting to let me go, "It's been a while since I've taken you anywhere and after the day you've had, you deserve this. Is that alright?"

"I guess," I rubbed my eyes, glaring at the black smudge on my fist. Dammit. Long lasting, my ass. Thanks, Rhiannon. Your eyeliner lied to me.

"Go on," he sat me up, "You go get ready. You know where I'll be if you need any help."

"Thank you, Kyoya," I gave him a quick kiss, "You really don't need to do this."

"But here we are," Kyoya teased, "And by the way, we won't be alone."

"Oh?" I wondered, "What do you mean?"

"While you were sleeping and I made the reservation," he explained, "I called Rhiannon to check on her and invited her and Elliot to dinner. I hope you don't mind."

"It's my sister and my brother-in-law," I allowed, letting out a little yawn, "Why wouldn't I be ok with that?"

"Just wondering." My eyes started getting heavy again as I drifted off in Kyoya's shoulder again. He jostled me a bit more, "No, no, no, Lana. You can't go back to sleep."

"Yes, I can..."

"No," Kyoya got me on my feet, "You can't. Our reservation's for seven."

"Oh, hell..." I grumbled, looking over at the clock. Five-thirty. Boo, "Fine. I'm up."

"That's my girl," he wrapped his arms around me, "Go on. Go make yourself more beautiful than you already are."

"Kyoya," I stared at him blankly, "I look like death warmed over. How in the hell do you find that beautiful?"

"Because I can see past the outside."

"Alright," I smiled, "I'll take it."

Kyoya's face contorted into an evil smirk. The very same one that made me fall for him in the first place, "And you say my host charms don't work on you."

"I hate you."

"No, you don't."

I walked away from him with my middle finger in the air and started looking through my closet. Let's see. Somewhere nice. Should probably wear something nice. But not overly nice. I'm not in that kind of mood. It's times like these where I'm glad that my wardrobe has gone a little more monochromatic. It's easier to match things. Like my bright white virgin killer sweater and my black leather jacket. And some black leggings. I'm already pretty exposed with the sweater. I can't wear that without some sort of bottoms. Do I really want to go all the way with it and throw on some boots? No. Heels. Definitely heels.

Honestly, I just wanted to go back to sleep. Rush took a lot out of me and I wanted another nap. But if I didn't wake up now, I wouldn't sleep tonight and I had things to do tomorrow. Probably. I wouldn't mind spending time with my boyfriend. Considering he's going to bury himself in his design project for Yuzuha. On second thought, he did say he was going to need me to help him out for that. But then again, I'm only his model. But at the same time, he wanted to do some body painting for his portfolio, too. He needed to learn not to burn multiple candles at multiple ends. But that's just the way Kyoya is. And I don't think he intends on changing that any time soon.

"Lana?" Speak of the devil. Kyoya stuck his head in the bathroom, "Can I come in?"

"Sure, baby," I allowed, "What's up?"

"I brought you a present," he gave me a bottle from the fridge, "I know you'd rather your green tea hot, but for the sake of time..."

"Thank you," I cracked the bottle open and kissed his cheek, "I don't deserve you."

"Of course you do," Kyoya shut me up, "Now, how long until you're ready?"

"Not too much longer," I did a quick assessment of my face. A couple of Q-tips, some contact solution and my eyes are cleaned up. Aside from that, there's nothing really much more I need to do. My messy, fading hair was as good as it was going to get. Although, I was kind of exposed, "Could you hook a sister up?"

"What do you need?" he asked, looking me over.

"Could you tie me up?"

"Lana," Kyoya blushed, "You're not even a married woman yet and you're already wanting to get adventurous."

"Not that kind of tie me up, you freak," I giggled, giving him the strings to the top of my sweater, "This kind of tie me up. Please?"

"Sure." Quick and delicate, Kyoya laced up the eyelets of the neck on my sweater and tied an intricate bow at the top, "There. Is that tight enough?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he wrapped his arms around my waste and nuzzled his face in my neck, "You know, I almost regret asking Rhiannon and Elliot to come with us. I wouldn't mind having you all to myself for a while."

"Sweetheart, we live together," I reminded him, "You can have me all to yourself any time you want."

"I suppose you're right," Kyoya let out a heavy sigh. What's with him all of a sudden being so needy? Not that I'm complaining. Maybe we could stand some time alone together. Labor day was coming up, though. A little trip to Niagara Falls wouldn't be too terribly far fetched, would it?

After I finished making myself relatively presentable (enough to get me into places anyway. Some of them were kind of stingy on appearance.), Kyoya and I headed to a painfully nice restaurant with a velvet rope in front of the door. Damn, Kyoya. What kind of mafia hideout are you taking me to? I could smell the basil from the door, so it's definitely Italian. Maybe that whole joke about the mob wasn't completely off. I have mob connections, though, so I should be ok. Even though it's technically yakuza...and I'd hate to use Ritsu like that. He hates his own mob connections most of the time.

"Where the hell is Rhiannon and Elliot?" Kyoya wondered as the first ten minutes flew by, "I did tell her seven."

Crash!

"Sorry..." I noticed my sister wobbling past a metal tray that had fallen to the floor along with a few empty glasses. Luckily nothing broke. My god, Rhiannon. My nephew seems to have put on an addition in his uteruan home. Elliot helped her over to the table.

"Hey," I took her hand and helped her down to her seat, "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Rhiannon sighed, "Sorry we're late, guys. Nothing fits. Everything hurts. I never seem to get enough sleep anymore."

"It took an act of God to wake her up from her nap," Elliot joked, "But I only had to get one tetanus shot today, so I have that going for me."

"I know the feeling," Kyoya took my hand under the table, "You didn't have to come out tonight, Rhiannon. We would've understood if you wanted to stay in tonight."

"No," she shook her head, "It's fine. Besides, Lana, I needed to tell you something."

"You're already pregnant, Rhiannon," I pointed out, "What other forms of straight up tomfoolery could you have gotten yourself into now?"

"Nothing too bad," Rhiannon assured, "But I love you."

"I love you, too," I gave her a look, "What's that all about?"

"Yuzuha," she reminded me, "Yuzuha is a wonderful human being and I love her. I'm pretty sure we became best friends last night."

"Oh?" I smiled, "What happened?"

"She came in at two o'clock this morning," Elliot sneered. Someone wasn't happy. Looks like I'm going to have to do some house cleaning.

"I'm glad you're making friends, Rhiannon," I praised, "I'm happy for you. But maybe given your condition, you probably shouldn't be coming home so late."

"That was me coming home early," Rhiannon defended, "Yuzuha yelled at me and brought me home."

"Yuzuha Hitachiin, always the mother," Kyoya agreed, "No matter how old the child."

"Yuzuha isn't much older than me," she thought, "There's no way."

"You'd be amazed," he chuckled, "And not a single stitch of plastic surgery."

"Asian women, man," Rhiannon laid back in her chair, "The actual Fountain of Youth. But you know what? Last night was sorely needed. You missed out, my dear sister. You really should've gone last night."

"Kyoya," I asked, "How long is Yuzuha in town?"

"A few months," Kyoya figured, "Why?"

"I'm sure that won't be the last Yuzuha party while she's here," I shrugged, "I can always catch the next one."

"I'm telling you," Rhiannon insisted, playing the bad influence, "Yuzuha can party her ass off. That's for sure. It's not going to kill you to get out once in a while, Lana. Next time, there will be no other option. You have to come with me."

"Rhiannon," Elliot reminded her, "You're having a baby in a couple weeks. I think you'll have your hands full."

"In that case," she decided, "I'll have to live vicariously through her. Do this for me, Lana. Please? I'll love you forever."

"Fine," I rolled my eyes, "If I'm caught on a good day."

"Yay!" Rhiannon lit up, her eyes falling on the breadsticks, "Yes, please!"

"I swear," Elliot giggled, shaking his head, "Your heart's always been through your stomach, hasn't it?"

"Hell yeah, it is!" she murmured through her mouthful of seasoned bread. I don't think I've seen Rhiannon this happy since I told her she's partying with Yuzuha.

"It must be hereditary," Kyoya teased, giving me a little nudge.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I squeaked.

"Lana, I love you," he prefaced, "But half the reason we're still in this relationship is because of my cooking. Tell me that braised lamb I gave you in Karuizawa isn't what pushed you over the edge and made you fall in love with me."

"I do love your braised lamb," I let out a heavy, dreamy sigh, "And I did tell you I loved you in the same night."

"Aww..." Rhiannon gushed, laying her head on her boyfriend's shoulder, "Look at them, Elliot. Our little girl is growing up so fast. It feels like just yesterday I was bathing her and changing her and taking care of her. And now, look at her. Falling in love, going to college...Where has the time gone?"

Uh-oh...Rhiannon's eyes started to swell with heavy, ugly tears. Abort mission. This is not a drill. Things are about to be not so pretty and we were only half way through dinner. Not good. Not good. We'll be alright. Come on, Elliot. Get my mental telepathy. Someone. Anyone. Anyone at all. I didn't have the current fortitude to deal with Rhiannon in inconsolable, hormonal tears.

"Hey there, cutie pie!" a familiar voice chimed, "I thought I heard you over here, Rhiannon!"

"Dasha!" Rhiannon's face radiated sunshine. Wait...I knew who that was...Rhiannon got up from the table and hugged the ridiculously well dressed man in front of her. Oh, god...I knew exactly who that was.

"Dasha?" I gave him a look, "I thought you said your name was Dash."

"It is," he nodded, "Dasha's what I use for drag, though. By the way, hi, Lana!"

"How the hell do you know Lana?" Rhiannon wondered, thoroughly confused.

"How do you know Lana?" Dash retaliated.

"She's my sister," Rhiannon fought, "Your turn. Lana, I swear to God, if you went to a drag show without me, I'm going to be super pissed and I'll kick your ass in the alley, pregnant or not."

"No," I promised, "I haven't gone to a drag show since I've lived here."

"She's one of my students," Dash fought for me. God bless him.

"When did you start teaching?" Rhiannon gave him a look.

"How out of the loop are you, girlfriend?" Dash chuckled, "I've been teaching for three years."

"I've been busy, ok?" she pouted, "I've been working on the shop and taking care of Lana and getting the occasional poke from this really hot British dude."

"Thank you, Rhiannon," Elliot kissed her cheek, "I'm so glad I'm your casual."

"He's not my casual anymore," Rhiannon smiled, "A little late to tell him to stop now."

"I see that!" Dash put his hands directly on her belly, "How much longer do you have left?"

"Couple weeks," she whined, "I need him out pronto."

"Soon enough, Rhiannon," Kyoya settled her, "It's only a couple more weeks."

"Wait," I stopped them, "Rhiannon, how do you know Dash?"

"It was about six years ago," Rhiannon began, "I started making friends in the bars and one of them suggested that I haven't seen the coolest parts of New York until I've seen a drag show. So, I'm thinking, hell yeah. I'm down. And that's when I met Dasha. It was kind of like how I met Ranka. Oh my God, Dasha. You and Ranka would get along famously!"

"Who's Ranka?" Dash asked, getting caught up in Rhiannon's excitement.

"A friend of mine," I explained, "We're friends with his daughter. He's cool as hell, too."

"Lana," Dash pointed out, "Do you remember me talking about my friend in class with the labradoodle?"

"Yeah."

"That's Rhiannon," he chirped, "Rhi, tell her. How much is Maka my best big buddy?"

"He is," Rhiannon awed, "I've never seen Maka so cuddly with someone before. It's precious."

"I need to come and see my big boy again soon," Dash decided, "Soon."

"By the way," she asked, "When's your next show? I haven't seen you on the circuit in a while."

"And it's going to be a while longer," Dash winced, "Sorry, sweetie. I've got a thing going on. I'm doing an off-Broadway off Chicago! And if this one plays her cards right, she could be my Roxie..."

"Easy, tiger," I stopped him, knowing damn well he was using my sister to get to me.

"It could happen," he assured, "You don't know that I'll find someone better suited than you. I could see you going nuts and killing a man you were cheating on your husband with."

"Excuse me," Kyoya stepped in, "As her future husband, I'd rather she didn't do that."

"I'm not killing you, Kyoya," I swore, "I'll put that right in my vows if I have to."

"Thank you, Lana. That's very reassuring."

"Oh!" Dash squeaked, "I didn't know you were engaged, Lana."

"Yeah," I nodded, "Stupidly right after high school."

"Hey," he hushed me, "If you two are in love, then you're in love. There's no time limit on anything. Hell, my boyfriend and I have been together for thirteen years and still haven't gotten married. We don't want to. We're just happy being us the way we are."

"Is Max here, too?" Rhiannon asked.

"He's waiting for me," Dash bit his lip, "I told him I wouldn't be long, but here I am, going on and on and on and on. He understands, though. I told him I was going to see you and getting to see you, Lana, was a happy accident."

"Go on," she insisted, "You shouldn't keep him waiting."

"It was so good seeing you," he kissed my sister's cheek, "Lana, I'll see you Monday."

"Bye, Dash," I waved him off and just like that, he sashayed away.

"That's your drama teacher?" Kyoya wondered.

"Yep."

"He reminds me of someone," he thought, "But I can't put my finger on it."

"Regardless," Rhiannon took control, "How am I just now finding out about you and Dasha?"

"It never came up," I shrugged, "And Kyoya, you're thinking of Ranka and Tamaki in one body."

"That's hitting the nail on the head," Kyoya shivered, "I never thought I'd see the day."

"I thought the same thing," I agreed.

"Speaking of things that never come up," Rhiannon grabbed Elliot's hand under the table, a bit of a wince in her voice, "Do you have plans for Labor Day?"

"We were thinking about seeing if we could manage a trip to Japan," Kyoya told her, "It's been too long."

"Well," she cringed, "How much do you love me?"

"Why?" I've always learned to question when Rhiannon asked me something like that. It's never followed by something good.

"Because we have to go home," Rhiannon braced herself, "The family reunion's coming up and it's the only time we can do it."

"Eww," I groaned, "Why? I don't want to go to that."

"I don't either," she gagged, "But Mom and Dad say we have to. I need some solidarity."

"Oi," Elliot chimed in, "And what about me?"

"We'll need all the support we can get," Rhiannon begged, "Please, Lana? Please, please, please, please..."

"Alright!" I shut her up, "We'll go."

"We can do it," Kyoya assured, running his hand on my thigh, "I know we can. We've made it through worse."

I really did underestimate how much of a beacon of hope that boy can be. Especially in such bleak situations like this. Ugh. Family reunion. Fantastic. Just what I wanted to deal with. No. I'm going to attempt a little positivity here. Kyoya's right. The two of us have been through hell together. If we could make it through dinner with his family, we can kill an afternoon with mine. It'll be fine. We'll be fine. Just keep our engagement and the fact that Kyoya's loaded under wraps and we'll be perfectly fine.

The four of us finished dinner and parted ways. I'm tired. Rhiannon was complaining about her back. I wanted nothing more than to go home, get in my big ass bed, curl up with my boyfriend, and call it a night. That sounded pleasant. And we did just that. Although, just before I fell asleep, I jolted up in bed, damn near giving Kyoya a heart attack.

"What the hell, Lana?" he worried, "What is it?"

"I have a short story to write yet," I panicked, grabbing at the sheets, "It's due Monday. I haven't even started on it."

"Lana," Kyoya wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me back down, "You're alright. You have all of Sunday to work on it. Sleep first, then you can work on it. You don't want to leave me, do you?"

That was dirty. That was a dirty, underhanded tactic to use. Kyoya knew how much guilt trips piss me off. But in this case, it was necessary. My neurosis would have to hold off a little longer. I'll be more focused in the morning anyway. Dammit, Kyoya. I hate when you have a point…

A/N: You guys have no idea how long I've been keeping Dash and Rhiannon's relationship a secret from you. Since Dash's introduction, I toyed with that idea for a few days before deciding it's canon. Now, please be patient with me. I'm still getting back into the swing of things. And as an added treat, next week's chapter is going to be Lana's short story. Oh…My trip? You'll find out about that in its own chapter shortly. I promise you that. See you next chapter! xx