A/N; Give me a U, give me an N, give me a U-N-Beta'd! I'm starting to realise that all of my chapters start with an apology and that's probably not a good thing, but now that my life's settled down I'm hoping to be able to get chapters out more regularly because I'm not willing to let this die out yet – there's still too many people in the community to convert to ChikaHaru shippers! Happy reading, leave a review if you enjoy it!

Haruhi pressed fingers to her tender eyes. They were swollen and she didn't have to see herself to know her face was red a blotchy. She sniffled and wiped her nose on her blazer sleeve. She'd been sat on the floor for a good ten minutes waiting for her sobs to ease, and luckily none of the other hosts had tried to leave the club room yet.

She knew it was partially her fault – she couldn't be mad at Hikaru for this. It's not his fault that he developed feelings for her, the same as it's not his fault that he confessed so suddenly – she did indirectly force it out of him after all.

But in retrospect, Haruhi thought, she really didn't need this right now, and she couldn't help but feel a little bit bitter towards Hikaru for creating more problems. Haruhi had her own problems, the last thing she needed was something else to add to her list.

"How…dare you!"

Haruhi jumped out of her skin. The loud shriek had echoed from down the hall. Looking down the corridor she soon located the source of the shrill noise.

"Do you have any respect?" Renge said, scolding, to the two young girls in front of her. Haruhi recognised them as freshman guests she had served earlier.

Renge was furious, emanating an aura of pure rage. She was brandishing a mobile phone, waving it threateningly at the two scared teens. "When you see someone crying, you don't take pictures of it! You ask them what's wrong, or is that just what people with common decency do?!"

Haruhi considered stepping in, but with Renge it's hard to get a word in edgeways. The French heiress' rampage continued. "I mean, I know that a man's tears are genuine and rare, and that the chance to see such a handsome man as my Haruhi shed tears is a longed-for moment, but you do not. Have the right. To take pictures. Of my precious Haruhi!" She screeched finally, tossing the phone back at one girl who caught it clumsily. "Now get!"

They didn't have to be told twice, they quickly scrambled away.

"Um, Renge?" Haruhi called out.

Renge's mood quickly turned sunny. She was at Haruhi's side in a second. "Yes, my darling?" she sang.

"I appreciate what you did," Haruhi said, standing up, "but if we're honest, can you really judge them? When it comes to secret pictures you aren't exactly a rookie." She said delicately.

Renge's smile was gone in a flash. Her eyes began to water, and Haruhi knew a tidal wave was about to hit unless she said something fast. She placed a reassuring hand on Renge's shoulder.

"But, uh, it's okay. I take the stalking as a compliment." Haruhi said, trying to sound convincing. "It's really quite… sweet?"

Renge immediately blushed. "Oh, Haruhi-kun, you are just so kawaii! I could eat ten bowls of rice!" she proclaimed, throwing both hands in the air as she went twirling off down the hallway.

Haruhi sighed, and pressed a hand to her forehead trying to relieve some of the tension that was building there.

Just when she thought she might have some quiet again the club room doors cracked open, and Kaoru's head popped out. He grinned at her, slinked out of the room and shut the doors behind him.

"I thought I heard screaming so I thought I'd better check on you." Kaoru said, wrapping an arm around her. "You look like you're in pain...are you okay?"

"Renge." Haruhi said by way of explanation.

"Ah. She is the human version of a headache."

Haruhi giggled and smacked his arm playfully. "Don't be mean."

Kaoru laughed quietly under his breath. He stopped and stared at her for a moment. "Seriously though, are you okay? You've been out here for a while."

Haruhi averted her gaze. "I don't know if I can say that."

Kaoru shrugged. "Yeah, I figured that when Hikaru eventually confessed that it'd leave you a little shaken up. I didn't expect him to do it so suddenly though." He said thoughtfully.

"I know." Haruhi said emphatically. "It was just so out of the blue and- wait, how did you know he was going to confess?" she asked cautiously.

"I'm his twin, Haru." Kaoru rolled his eyes. "I knew Hikaru liked you before he did himself, and besides, he's not exactly been subtle about it. And now everyone else knows too." He added nonchalantly.

Haruhi's eyes widened. "Wait, what?"

Kaoru snickered under his breath. "He wasn't quiet and we weren't deaf – all the guys heard. Chika's not impressed to say the least."

Haruhi frowned at her friend, digging an elbow into his ribs. "Don't laugh, it's not funny." She pouted.

Kaoru rubbed his offended side. "I know, but the way Chika tackled him kinda was." He stopped, looked thoughtful for a second, and then looked away. "So you turned him down, huh?" he asked, trying not to sound interested but clearly curious.

"Yeah…" Haruhi said softly, scuffing her shoe. "I don't wanna talk about it."

Kaoru gave her a half-smile, softly punching her arm. "I understand. Do me a favour, though?" Haruhi nodded. "Don't be too hard on him okay? He's going to be kicking himself enough for this as it is."

"Yeah, okay." Haruhi smiled gently.

Kaoru nodded, clearly relieved. "Good! I wouldn't want to have to choose sides in a fight between the two most important people in my life." He said, half-joking. "Now, turn that frown upside down and let's head back in. The others will worry otherwise."

Knock. Knock.

Haruhi opened her eyes, blinking to clear her blurry vision. A noise had just woken her up, at just past midnight as her clock revealed. Thinking it was just the wind she tried to settle again, when she heard it again.

Knock. Knock.

"Is that the door?" she mumbled to herself, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Dad, maybe…" It wasn't unusual for her dad to leave his keys at home; he probably had just got home from work or something.

Stumbling out of her room in the dark, glasses skewed and her hair a mess, she eventually reached the front door. Haruhi unlocked the door (not easy to achieve in the dark, she thought proudly) and opened it slightly so as not to let the cold in. "Dad, how many times are you gonna forget your-"

"Haruhi." She was cut off. Her sleep-riddled mind cleared abruptly. It wasn't her dad.

Squinting to see better in the darkness her thoughts were confirmed. There was Tamaki, standing at her door, in the middle of the night.

"You have twenty seconds to explain why you're here before I'm going back to bed." She said grumpily, clearly not impressed.

Tamaki cleared his throat. "I'm so sorry, Haruhi. But I need to talk to you." He said quietly.

Haruhi folded her arms. "Couldn't this have waited for the morning, senpai? It's the middle of the night."

Tamaki shifted uncomfortably, and that's when Haruhi noticed the suitcase behind him and the bag on his shoulder. "I didn't really have a choice in the situation. You have my apologies for waking you."

Haruhi was confused, but when someone turns up on your doorstep with a suitcase in tow it's normally not a good thing. "Right, okay, come on in." she said cautiously, flicking on the nearby light switch. "We can't talk out here in case my dad come's home, so let's talk in my room."

Tamaki looked a little embarrassed but did as he was told, following the petite brunette into her tiny bedroom. He tucked his luggage away in the corner and sat cross-legged on the floor. "Thank you for inviting me in, Haruhi."

"No problem, can't exactly leave you out in the cold now can I?" she said jokingly, but she couldn't hide the concern in her voice. Now Haruhi could get a good look at him in the light, she could see that Tamaki looked physically drained. He had tear track marks running down his cheeks and his clothes were scruffy and rumpled as if he'd dressed in a hurry.

Tamaki didn't laugh at her joke, or say anything else for that matter. He chewed on the back of his thumb silently, clearly lost in thought.

"So… are you going to tell me what happened?" Haruhi asked gently, taking a seat next to her senpai.

Tamaki snapped out of his reverie, eyes widening as if he'd just realised where he was. "Oh, right. Well, Éclair and I had a… little disagreement and I'm just giving her some space. I had nowhere else to go, and this was just the first place I thought of."

Haruhi chose to ignore the implications of the second half of his story and chose to focus on the first. "You had a fight?" she asked concernedly.

He sighed, rubbing at his eyes with the palm of his hand. "Of sorts." He said hoarsely. "I may have informed her that I want a divorce."

Haruhi's jaw dropped – a vague thought in the back of her mind told her that she probably wasn't being very polite in this sensitive situation but she was shocked! Struggling for words, Haruhi must've looked like a fish gasping for water as Tamaki let out a little chuckle.

"Let's just say I had a change of heart." He said with a wane smile that quickly vanished. His demeanour turned sombre. "During the argument my grandmother entered the room. I tried to convey my feelings to her but I guess the familial ties brought on by my marriage are more important to her than her grandson, as she threw me out of the mansion."

Haruhi's blood began to boil under the surface of her skin. "But you're family, how can she do that to you? Not to mention you're a minor, she has a duty of care!" she proclaimed, banging her fist against the floor in anger.

Tamaki looked stunned at his kouhai's outburst, before a gentle smile settled on his features. "She's the Matriarch, Haruhi. By dissolving my marriage I'm going against her orders, she has every right to…" he paused, sucked in his breath, "…to disown me."

The pain in his voice and the brave face he was masquerading with made Haruhi's heart ache. "Oh, senpai…" Not knowing what else to say, she settled for wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a comforting embrace.

He was tense at first, but he soon relaxed, one hand gripping into her nightshirt as his shoulders began to shake. Haruhi flinched at the wet patch she felt grow on her shoulder. "Come on, Tamaki, I thought a gentleman was never supposed to cry in front of a lady?" she said somewhat jokingly, hoping to lift the tension. Tamaki let out a breathy laugh, and pulled away.

Meeting her gaze, the blond boy gave her a wry smile. "Did you just call me Tamaki?"

Haruhi cringed, a warm blush spreading across her cheeks. "Whoops, sorry senpai."

He laughed again, a fuller, more joyful sound this time. "No, I like it. You don't have to be so formal with me all the time. We are friends after all." He said, gripping her shoulder reassuringly.

Haruhi studied Tamaki carefully, before beaming up at him. He was taken aback. "What is it?" he asked, cautiously.

"Nothing, nothing. It's just for a minute there I saw my old senpai."