A/N: Thank you so much for reading and keeping up with the story for all of you that made it this far! This is a really fun story to write. If anyone has any suggestions, reviews and/or critique please feel free to review. This is always a challenging story but I love writing each chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 9: Trust
Later that night, everything was oddly quiet. Amelia tried not to think too much about the day's events. She was lucky she could still eat at all due to her nerves being rattled that day.
Amelia sat on her couch, eating dinner quietly next to Isao watching a sitcom in the living room. Thank God it was Friday. She wouldn't have to see anyone for the next few days. Isao looked over at her, noticing her fiddling with her food with her chopsticks.
"Food not taste okay? I thought you liked my specialty lo mien?" Isao questioned with a small smile on his face. Amelia stared at her food.
"It's fine," she said quietly. Isao sighed looking at her with concern.
"Rough day?" he asked, keeping his eyes on her. She sighed nodding.
"Fought with a few friends of mine," she replied plainly.
"You want to talk about it?" Isao asked lightly.
"All I know is that they lied to me," she sighed.
"Did they apologize?" Isao asked. Amelia shook her head. Isao sighed, leaning his forehead on her head, patting her affectionately before putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's all right, Imai. I'm sure they will."
Ding dong!
The doorbell rang making Amelia look up from her food. Isao looked towards the door. He patted her shoulder before getting up.
"I got it," he said as he got up heading to the door. The doorbell rang again. "Yes, yes! I'm coming!"
He opened the door as Amelia continued to eat her food, watching the TV.
"Hello, how may I help you?" Isao questioned as he opened the door. Tamaki and Kyoya appear behind the door.
"Sorry to bother you but is Amelia home?" Kyoya greeted. Isao glanced back at Amelia who couldn't hear them in the other room.
"Yes, Imai's here, but who you are?" Isao questioned looking between the two of them.
"We've spoken over the phone before," Kyoya mentions. "I'm Kyoya Ohtori. I keep an eye on Imai while she's at the club."
"Oh yes, Kyoya!" Isao laughed a bit under his breath. "It's been a few months hasn't it?"
"Indeed it has. Things are picking up rather quickly. I apologize for not giving as many updates lately," Kyoya smiled politely.
"No, no, I haven't been here. I've been running errands for Imai and the other servants. Please come in. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you," Isao beckoned, opening the door wider, allowing them in.
"Thank you kindly," Tamaki replied gratefully. They stepped inside behind Isao.
"Imai! Your friends are here!" Isao called out, leading Tamaki and Kyoya to the living room.
Amelia looked up in surprise as they came in. She put her bowl down, turning off the TV and standing up immediately.
"Tamaki, Kyoya, what are you doing here?" she questioned.
"You left your bag in the music room today before you stormed off," Tamaki replied lifting up her bag.
"Imai, let me take that for you," Isao suggested, picking up her bowl and cleaning it up with his. "I'll let you three chat. I have to run to the store so you'll be on your own for a little while okay?"
Amelia nodded as Isao departed to the kitchen, grabbing his keys and heading out the door.
"Feel free to whatever you like!" Isao called out shutting the door behind him.
"Well he seems friendly," Tamaki commented, putting the bag down on the floor next to the couch.
"Do you two want some tea? We have some in the kitchen. The water's already hot," Amelia offered. Tamaki smiled.
"If it's not too much trouble of course," Tamaki replied sweetly. Kyoya smiled politely.
"Yes please," Kyoya agreed. Amelia nodded, making her way to the kitchen. She grabbed a few teacups, putting the tea bags in them and pouring the hot water into a ceramic teapot next to the cups.
"Make yourself comfortable," Amelia offered as she got things ready in the kitchen. Kyoya sat down in a black leather chair as Tamaki sat down on the leather couch beside him. Amelia came back out with a tray of three teacups and the teapot setting it down on the coffee table in front of the couch.
"Nice place you got here. I'm surprised of how quiet it is," Tamaki commented. Amelia poured the hot water into the teacups.
"It's always like that here, especially on the weekends. Everyone goes home to their families and takes a break from here. Isao stays sometimes to keep me company," Amelia explained.
"So you're by yourself?" Tamaki questioned in astonishment. Amelia handed him a teacup and handed another to Kyoya.
"Doesn't matter," Amelia waved away the question grabbing her teacup, taking a sip. "Why are you really here?"
"Oh we were here to drop off your bag of course!" Tamaki spat nervously.
"Actually…Tamaki insisted on coming to visit after the situation with the Hikaru and Kaoru," Kyoya explained. Tamaki cleared his throat, regaining his composure. Amelia looked between them with uncertainty.
"I'm fine, trust me. I've been through worse," Amelia commented, taking a sip of her tea.
"Amelia you were obviously hurt by the whole charade, more than the rest of us. Even the twins were surprised by how you reacted," Tamaki informed.
"Did they ask you to come and talk me?" Amelia questioned.
"No, but Tamaki and I both agree that they should apologize to you in person," Kyoya replied.
"Doubt that's going to happen anytime soon," Amelia scoffed taking another sip of her tea.
"They hurt you, didn't they? You want them to apologize?" Tamaki questioned. Amelia looked away from him, her eyes staring at the ground.
"Not unless they mean it. They lied to me once. I can't trust that they're not going to trick me again," Amelia replied bluntly. She felt a lump in her throat. "I'm not going to be their toy anymore."
Tamaki looked at her thoughtfully, eyes widening in realization.
"It's understandable," Kyoya agreed. "Well I'll see it that we talk to them tonight. I have to give them their penalty rates anyway."
"Wait, why?" Amelia asked almost panicked.
"Amelia they hurt you. We're going to have a few words about their behavior anyway. We didn't get a chance to earlier as we planned," Tamaki replied. "Kyoya, you mind if we leave now? They should be home by the time we get there."
"Sure, I'll get the car ready," Kyoya agreed, getting up and heading to the door. Amelia got up quickly, following them to the door, grabbing Tamaki's arm as they headed out.
"Wait!" she breathed. Tamaki stopped moving, looking at her in concern.
"Don't worry. We'll get this taken care of," Tamaki reassured. "We can't have our members at each other's throats."
"Look I don't need your help. What if they think I asked you to talk to them and get mad at you for it?" Amelia questioned almost panicked. Tamaki looked directly at her before bending to her level.
"Amelia, it's okay to need help. And don't worry. I wasn't going to tell them anything about you asking for help. I was going to tell them what I saw from you," Tamaki explained reassuringly. He put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.
"Trust us. We know them better than you do. We'll get them to come around," Tamaki smiled. Amelia felt another lump in her throat. How could Tamaki do so little and still make her believe him? He lifted her hand from his arm, gently tucking it in between both of his.
"Call us if you get lonely my dear," Tamaki finished, kissing her hand. "I'll be here as soon as you ask."
Amelia swallowed hard, blushing slightly, smiling gently.
"Thank you," she said quietly. Tamaki smiled as he walked backwards, meeting Kyoya back at the limo.
"Thanks again Amelia," Kyoya called out as they hopped into the limo, driving out from the driveway.
…
"No way! Why should we apologize? We didn't do anything but pull off a fake fight," Hikaru stated bluntly. He was playing a video game while Kaoru sat on the couch next to him in the living room out. They were out of their uniforms, wearing jeans and their sweatshirts. Tamaki and Kyoya were standing not too far from them.
"Did you not pay attention to her reaction?" Tamaki questioned. "She was angry with you. And for good reason!"
"Pfft, she's overreacting," Hikaru replied plainly. Kaoru looked at his brother with uncertainty until he looked at Tamaki.
"We weren't trying to make her mad at us. Have you spoken to her since earlier today?" Kaoru questioned.
"She honestly thinks you're not going to apologize for your behavior. She's expecting you to lie to her all over again. Which in this case I don't blame her," Tamaki replied. "Not only that, she's tired of being your toy."
"It's just a game. No need to get all serious about it," Hikaru commented.
"Hikaru! Be more considerate. We really did hurt Imai's feelings…" Kaoru objected.
"I want you two to visit her this weekend, here's her address," Tamaki demanded, handing them a folded piece of paper.
"What? But what if she doesn't talk to us?" Hikaru questioned. "You heard her she never wants to speak to us again!"
Tamaki points at them.
"If you don't your penalty will be no customers for a full month! Now go down there and apologize to her this weekend or we'll be canceling your customers and putting you down to labor duty!" Tamaki demanded.
"What?!" the twins yelped. "You're insane!"
"Don't forget the damage you've done for that stunt of yours with the club," Kyoya added coldly. "That's going to be a separate charge."
Hikaru growled in frustration.
"All right! We'll do it tomorrow," the twins gave in. Tamaki grinned.
"Good! Be sure to tell her to let us know of your meeting," Tamaki informed.
"Yeah, yeah just get out already," Hikaru growled, shoving Tamaki out the door with Kyoya following him out.
"See you two on Monday," Kyoya said with a grin. Hikaru slammed the door on them as they headed out. Kaoru leaned on his arms.
"Guess we should've saw this coming," Kaoru commented.
"You think she asked for their help to fight her battles for her?" Hikaru questioned annoyed as he sat back down on the couch.
"Doubtful. You saw how she was fighting us off today. I don't think she's a person to ask anyone for help, even if it hurts," Kaoru replied. "Especially from those two."
"You think she's really that beaten up about it?" Hikaru asked looking at his brother rather confused.
"We won't know until we talk to her now will we?" Kaoru asked. Hikaru groaned.
"Why did this happen? Can't she take a joke?" Hikaru questioned aloud. Kaoru smiled sadly at him, leans his forehead against his brother's.
"Hey. We'll talk to her tomorrow okay?" Kaoru smiled. "I'm sure she'll loosen up after we apologize.
Hikaru smiled sadly. "Yeah…maybe…"
…
Amelia was stuck in the house alone the next day. She got changed into her dark blue and black stripped long shirt that tightly fit her figure along with her tight black jeans. She curled her hair slightly instead of straightening it and grabbed her mp3 player from her bed. The servants were out as expected and Isao went to visit his family, taking them out to one of the local parks. He offered for Amelia to come but she wanted some alone time. Putting on her headphones, she played music from her mp3 as she wandered around empty estate. She left her phone in her room on top of her bed. It rang but she didn't hear it. The ID had Hikaru's picture pop up on her flip phone.
Hikaru growled in frustration as they stood outside the estate, their limo already driven off.
"She's not picking up. Is she even home?" Hikaru looked around.
"Well there's no cars around," Kaoru mentioned, stepping up to the window. He immediately saw Amelia down the hall, headphones on, her back to them.
"Of course not, her servants probably live there like ours," Hikaru remarked.
"Hey Hikaru!" Kaoru called out. Hikaru hung up his cell phone, looking in as Kaoru pointed to where Amelia was. "See she's home."
"You would think one of the servants would've come right?" Hikaru questioned looking around.
"Knock on the door," Kaoru suggested. They knocked on the door but it was hopeless. Amelia didn't hear them with her sound cancelling headphones on. They even rang the doorbell but she didn't hear it. Hikaru wiggled the knob and it was locked.
"Damn it," he cursed under his breath. "It's locked."
"Here let me try," Kaoru insisted.
"Be my guest, that door's locked tight," Hikaru commented. Kaoru grabbed a credit card from his pocket, lining it along the lock, but it still wouldn't budge.
"You're right," Kaoru groaned looking around. There has to be another way.
"Hey look! That balcony door is open," Hikaru mentioned pointing towards the back of the house. There was a second story balcony leading to one of the rooms of the house. Kaoru furrowed his brows noticing a plastic fencelike lining with growing ivy next to it.
"I got an idea," Kaoru commented as he ran up to the plastic fencing next to the roof. He started climbing carefully until he could get to the balcony in front of the open sliding door. He pulled himself up and waved Hikaru over.
"Come on, the door's open. Just climb up," Kaoru beckoned. Hikaru hastily made his way over, climbing as best he could as Kaoru reached out pulling him up the rest of the way. The boys caught their breath on the balcony before looking in. Looked like someone's bedroom. They walked in cautiously. They noticed various charcoal and pencil drawings, paintings and photographs of nature and people all along the walls of the bedroom.
"Whoa," the twins chimed in unison. Hikaru stepped in further noticing the high pile of CDs and books on a few shelves in the corner. Kaoru split in the other direction examining all the artwork on the walls.
"Huh never figured she liked classical music," Hikaru commented, picking up and examining all the CDs. Kaoru examined one of the paintings closely, noticing something about it. The signature was "A. Wolfe". This was her artwork.
"Check it out Hikaru. This is all Amelia's artwork," Kaoru whispered. Hikaru went over to him examining the charcoal drawing. Hikaru blinked.
"No kidding," he commented. Suddenly, they heard footsteps come up the stairs along with Amelia's humming. "Crap! What do we do?"
"Quick hide!" Kaoru whispered. Kaoru looked over, shoving Hikaru into a closet, jumping in after him. Amelia walked in, taking off her headphones and putting her mp3 into a speaker system. Music turned on and she started picking up in her room, putting dirty clothes in the hamper. She hummed along with the music, closing the balcony door.
Hikaru and Kaoru tried to stay as quiet as they could in the closet. But it wasn't long until someone moved. Amelia looked up from the noise. She furrowed her brows in confusion/ She shrugged it off thinking it was her own foot creaking against the carpeted floor. She sat down on the edge of her bed grabbing her phone and checking it.
"Two missed calls?" she questioned allowed. She flipped up her phone seeing Hikaru's ID pop up on missed calls list fifteen minutes ago. She furrowed her brows. Odd…
Suddenly, she heard someone sneeze in the closet. She looked up towards the noise.
"Ow, Hikaru," Kaoru whispered. "You're stepping on my foot!"
"Shh!" Hikaru shushed.
Amelia furrowed her brows, reaching under her bed, taking out a large wooden bat. She tightened her grip as she steadily walked over to her closet, bat at the ready. She opened the sliding doors forcefully about to swing but stopped immediately. The twins fall out onto the floor as the door opened with much force.
"Ow!" they yelled falling onto the floor. Hikaru landed on Kaoru and groaned.
"Nice going Kaoru," he growled as he got up.
"It wasn't my fault. You're the one who sneezed!" Kaoru spat. Amelia cleared her throat at them.
The twins looked up, rubbing the back of their necks nervously.
"Oh hello Amelia. We didn't see you there," Kaoru laughed nervously.
"Give me one good reason of why you're in my house and why I shouldn't just knock you out of the park?" Amelia growled, bat still in hand.
"Whoa easy Imai! We couldn't find a way in since the front door was locked. So we just came in through the balcony!" Hikaru explained.
"Why didn't you ring the doorbell?" Amelia asked annoyed.
"Would you have answered if you knew it was us?" the twins asked. Amelia froze looking away guilty. She probably wouldn't have after the day before. She rolled her eyes as she put the bat back under the bed.
"I trusted you two! How could you be so selfish into pulling me into your stupid fight as if I'm just some doll to be tossed around?! So are you here to try to trick me again? You found a way to come in without me knowing," Amelia remarked turning off her mp3 player.
"We came to apologize," the twins replied. Amelia looked at them in disbelief.
"Apologize?"
"We didn't think it through on how you would react to the fight," Kaoru explained.
"We didn't think the fight was that big of a deal because it was a fluke you know?" Hikaru continued.
"What about being your toy? Is that the only reason you hang out with me? Is that all I am to you two?" Amelia asked, sitting herself down on the floor leaning her back on the edge of the bed. The twins looked at each other not knowing what to say. She looked up at them and that's when they saw it. Her eyes were tearing up.
"I thought we were friends…" she said, her voice choking a bit. She looked away from them not wanting them to see her cry. She got up heading for her door out of her room.
"Amelia!" Kaoru exclaimed, but Hikaru shut the door, grabbing Amelia and pulling her to him holding her tight. She didn't know what to think.
"Don't run away again," Hikaru requested lightly. Kaoru came up behind her and hugged her with Hikaru. "We've only known you for a few months, but…"
"We really like you. And we're sorry," Kaoru finished hugging her tight. Amelia sat herself down with the others following her, allowing her back to lean against the wall. The twins took a seat on either side of her, Hikaru putting an arm around her shoulders and Kaoru putting a hand on her leg.
"You're not a toy. You're interesting," Kaoru remarked.
"But you're fun. And we're still curious about you," Hikaru commented. Amelia smiled slightly. "And we do want to know you better. As Amelia of course."
"So what do you say? Can you forgive us?" the twins asked. Amelia looked between them, smiled, putting her arms around their shoulders.
"Always…" she agrees quietly.
"Does that still mean we can still play the game in seeing what type of guy you're into?" Hikaru grinned. Amelia pointed at him.
"Only if you play fair," she smirked. "But I already warned you I'm not easy."
"We have 4 years. All the time in the world," the twins grinned.
Amelia laughed hugging them and they hugged back.
"So what can we do for fun around here?" Hikaru asked.
"Well I was going to cook something for lunch. You guys like Italian food?"
"Yeah!" the twins exclaimed in excitement. Amelia got up and they all ran to the kitchen.
And since that day, something seemed to change within Amelia's mind about the Hitachiin brothers. They wanted to know her, they wanted to be forgiven and…they were going to surprise her in the future…