Hello, dear readers! Guess what day it is! No, it's not Hump Day (woot wooooot!)...It's Writer-chan's birthday! I'm officially nineteen! So this is my birthday present to you all...another chapter! Thank you all for your fantastic reviews lately, and thank you all who favorited/followed this story! I really appreciate all of you.

It's a bit shorter than the previous chapter, but I hope you still like it. I worked hard on this chapter, because Haruhi is starting to realize that things need to change...but don't let me give it away! Please read!

Previously...

"What's happened?! Who's died?!" Hiromi Ootori, clad in full nightware and a head full of curlers, came bursting into the room swinging wildly.

"Mother, she just had a bad dream…sorry to wake you." Haruhi heard Kyoya reply quietly.

The bed shifted on Haruhi's other side as another set of arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"Haruhi, dear, we are all here for you. Calm down, dear child." Hiromi cooed.

Haruhi sniffled into Kyoya's nightshirt, trying to calm herself down. This was embarrassing.

A short while later, Hiromi had left after reassurance from Kyoya, and Haruhi was still trying to calm her sobs. She felt herself start to drift off in Kyoya's arms and welcomed the dreamless sleep accompanying the blackness this time.

And now...

Kyoya

Kyoya gazed down at Haruhi's sleeping face, vaguely wondering how much longer this would last. He feared that Haruhi's sanity would not remain in tact if the nightmares lasted much longer...then again, his own sanity was at risk of being lost as well. Haruhi would wake up screaming; Kyoya would rush into the room and hold her; Haruhi would fall asleep again; Kyoya remained awake just in case. His sleep schedule was suffering, and when Kyoya Ootori was tired, others would pay.

Sometime around five in the morning, Kyoya's eyelids became far too heavy for him to hold up. They started sliding closed, despite his best attempts. Kyoya rested his chin on his fist, fixing his tired eyes on Haruhi's peacefully sleeping form. As consciousness left him, Kyoya slumped forward, resting his head on Haruhi's stomach.

He woke up a short while later to see Haruhi awake and poking him. She motioned for him to lay beside her, and he gladly complied, knowing it would be much more comfortable than the position he was in currently. Kyoya slid beside Haruhi and wrapped his arm around her, kissing her on the forehead before allowing his eyes to close once again.

Hours later, Kyoya woke up feeling more drained than he had when he had fallen asleep. Haruhi was already awake, reading her father's final letter for the millionth time. The pages were yellowing, and some of the ink was smudged from the countless tears shed over the words. Kyoya sighed heavily and pulled himself up, despite his body's attempts to force him to crawl back beneath the comforter.

"Good morning, Haruhi. How are you today?" He asked groggily.

Haruhi shrugged in response, shooting him an apologetic look, possibly in regards to the night's events.

"Don't worry about it, Koi. Anything for you." Kyoya shot her a genuine smile, tired as it may have been. "You've already given up eating and talking, so I figured the least I can do is make sure you sleep enough."

Again, Haruhi shrugged.

Kyoya sat back in the bed, taking a deep breath and counting to ten as he did so. Haruhi's refusal to talk was beginning to frustrate him, but he had to be understanding towards her and her situation. Still, she was not talking and was not eating. Did she not understand that there were other people who were hurting from the loss? Then again, she had had that awful nightmare last night that had ended in her screaming her lungs out. That might have had something to do with Haruhi's attitude change.

"Haruhi, please...let us help you..." He pleaded, hating how weak he sounded. An Ootori never pleads. Ever.

Haruhi looked at him, her eyes dull, and shrugged again. Kyoya sighed heavily, getting out of bed to check on Isamu.

"Papa! Are we going to do something today?" Isamu asked as soon as he saw Kyoya.

"Good morning to you too, Isamu." Kyoya chuckled as the pair walked down to the kitchen.

"Sorry..." The boy blushed. "How is Mama today?"

"She had a very bad dream last night, so she is not doing so hot today. It made her very upset."

"Oh...so I guess she doesn't want to do anything today..." He gazed down at his cereal.

"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean that we can't do something." Kyoya suggested.

"We should get her a present!"

"Like what?"

"Well...she had that picture of her mommy...so what if we got her a picture frame for her daddy's picture and put them together...or something..." He suggested shyly.

Kyoya raised an eyebrow. It was not a bad idea.

"We'll have to see what we can do."

When they had finally finished breakfast, Isamu and Kyoya got ready to go out.

"What about Mama?" Isamu asked as he got his shoes on.

"Let's go ask her." Kyoya suggested, though he already had a feeling what Haruhi's answer would be.

The two went up to Haruhi's room, and Isamu cracked the door just a bit.

"It looks like she's asleep again..." Isamu told him, tilting his head to the side.

"Well then, let's not wake her. You go downstairs and finish getting ready. I'll just leave her a little note so that she knows where we've gone."

Isamu nodded and thundered noisily down the stairs. Kyoya chuckled at his antics before turning back to Haruhi's sleeping form. He entered the room quietly, so as not to wake her, in case she really was asleep.

"Haruhi..." He sighed as he gazed at her. Her eyes were closed, but she did not look at peace. Dark bags decorated the undersides of her eyes. Her cheeks were sunken in slightly, and she was pale.

Kyoya sat down on the bed and brushed a strand of dull brown hair out of Haruhi's face. She stirred slightly and opened her eyes, moaning a bit as the sunlight hit them.

"Haruhi, Isamu and I are going out for a bit. Do you want to join us?"

She shot him a look that clearly registered as a 'does-it-look-like-I-want-to-go-anywhere' look, and Kyoya held up his hands defensively.

"I just thought I would ask. We are not sure when we'll be back, but I didn't want you to be worried about our whereabouts."

Haruhi nodded.

"We'll be back in a bit, Haruhi. I've got my cell phone with me in case you need anything or think of anything while we're out."

Again, she nodded.

Kyoya leaned forward and placed a kiss to Haruhi's lips, noting that they were no longer smooth and soft. Because of her inability to keep food down, her lips had become cracked and dry. Even still, he kissed her again and caressed her cheek before turning and heading down the stairs.

Haruhi

Haruhi felt as though her life was one big, monotonous blur. She would fall asleep, have a horrible nightmare, and be woken up by Kyoya. Kyoya would watch her, eventually passing out from exhaustion in the early morning. Everyone in the spacious mansion would try to feed her something, hoping that they could get something to stay down. Then Kyoya, or whoever happened to be around, would comfort her as she turned her stomach inside out. This would be followed by a couple of hours of mostly-dreamless sleep, often induced by fever and exhaustion. Kyoya and Isamu would go out, probably in an attempt to distract the young boy, only returning at dinner time. The two would eat dinner in her room, and they would chat until Haruhi was, once again, lulled into sleep. Thus, the process started all over again.

And Haruhi hated it.

For the next two days, Haruhi tried to figure out how to change things. She tried to think of ways to break the news to Kyoya that she did not like to be doted on and she felt like more of a burden than anything else.

So, on the seventh day that Haruhi was at the Ootori mansion, she was alone for the day. Kyoya and Isamu had gone somewhere again; Kyoya's parents were at work; the maids had long since learned to just leave Haruhi alone. While she was alone, Haruhi had a lot of time to think.

She loved Kyoya and his family, but she felt as though she was a burden and could not seem to make anyone happy. Haruhi hated seeing the looks of pity she received from anyone who entered the room. She knew that it would not be much different if she had been able to go on with her life, so she made no effort to change.

One thing that had really been making her upset was Kyoya's constant attention to her every need. The previous night, she had woken up sobbing. Seconds later, Kyoya had come bursting into the room.

Haruhi had shot Kyoya a curious look, as she thought she had been decently quiet, but he had quickly explained that he was a light sleeper and his room was right next door. It bothered her to look into his eyes and see the sleep deprivation lingering there. She had been keeping him up, making it difficult for him to get a full night sleep.

Now, Haruhi had a plan. Tonight, if the same thing happened, she would speak up for herself and let him know that she did not wish to be babied. It was a sound plan, in her mind. All that remained was Kyoya actually listening to her wishes.

Predictably, around midnight that night, another nightmare plagued poor Haruhi. She woke up shaking and sobbing, and after a minute, Kyoya came racing into the room. Any second thoughts Haruhi was having vanished as soon as she took in his appearance. This plan needed to happen. Now.

Kyoya's eyes were blood shot, and dark black bags hung beneath them. His hair was tangled and messy, and Haruhi noticed that he had not bothered to put his glasses on. His breathing came in short pants; his nightshirt hung lopsidedly on his figure. The pajama pants he had tried to pull on in his rush to get to her were tangled around his ankles as he tried to yank them up. Had Haruhi not been so worried, she would have laughed at the fact that the Shadow King had successfully put both legs into one pant leg...and the pants were backwards.

Kyoya huffed and flung the pants across the room as he strode over to Haruhi.

"Another one?" He asked as he tiredly clamored into the bed and wrapped his arms around her.

She nodded and gulped as she prepared to tell him.

"K-Kyo-ya..." Haruhi whispered hoarsely.

She felt him jump beside her, and she looked up at him to see him looking at her with wide eyes.

"You...you just..."

Haruhi coughed once. "You don't...need...to come here..."

"But I want to, Haruhi...I love you, and I want to make sure that you're okay."

"Losing sleep..." She stated, glaring at him.

"If it meant you'd be okay, I would gladly stay awake the rest of my life."

"Don't..."

"Don't what? Haruhi, you're worrying me."

"Don't come...to me anymore..." Her throat was starting to hurt from the sudden usage.

"But Haruhi, I care about you, and I want you to be okay. It's summer, after all. I can sleep as long as I need to." His eyes bore into hers.

"Just don't...please..." Haruhi reached over to her nightstand.

When her...father had been alive, he had snored so loudly that Haruhi had needed to invest in some heavy-duty ear plugs. Thankfully, Haruhi had been able to find an unused pair, which she now handed to Kyoya.

"Ignore it…"

Haruhi saw Kyoya's eyes widen at the request.

"I can't just ignore you, Haruhi..."

She felt herself tear up yet again. Of course she did not want him to ignore her, but there was no other way when it came to his health.

"For me?" She pleaded pathetically.

Kyoya's eyes begged her not to ask such a thing of him, but he slowly nodded and took the earplugs.

"I don't suppose you're going to continue talking tomorrow?" Kyoya asked.

Haruhi shook her head. It was a major blow to her pride that she could not speak without wanting to cry.

"And I don't suppose you want me to stay with you?"

Again, she shook her head. Kyoya needed sleep. This was for his own good.

"Alright...please, if you need anything, let me know?" She could tell it was hurting him to have to leave her.

She nodded, and Kyoya tucked her back in.

"Goodnight, Haruhi..." He placed a feather-light kiss on her forehead and another on her lips. "I love you. Please remember that."

With that, he was gone, leaving Haruhi utterly alone once more. Sobs made their way to her throat, and she let one escape. It was a pitiful, malnourished kitten-esque, coughing sound. Another one threatened to escape, and Haruhi pressed her face into the pillow behind her in an attempt to muffle it. The sounds echoed through her empty room, suffocating her. Fat, hot tears rolled down her face, quickly drenching the pillow.

Not wanting Kyoya to rush into the room again, Haruhi glanced around the room and quickly decided that the wardrobe against the wall was her best bet. The walls were thick, and that combined with the pillow would surely muffle her sobs. She climbed out of bed, her feet unsteady on the hard wood floor, and shuffled over to the wardrobe. Opening the door, she peeked inside, half expecting a secret passageway to Hogwarts or Narnia...but only her clothing greeted her. Shoving the garments aside, Haruhi piled into the wardrobe and shut the doors quietly.

More sobs wanted to work their way out, so she smashed her face into the pillow and let them come. Kami, she hated this.

Okay, so I tried to write "smooshed" rather than "smashed" but apparently smooshed is not a word. But see...smashed seems to violent. You don't smash your face into a pillow...you smash your face into a brick wall. On the other hand, you smoosh your face into a pillow...or a dude's tummy if you're sumo wrestling...myeh...

Let me know if you liked it! See you all in the next chapter!

~Rose