Heey everybody!

Huge apologies to all my followers for the delay! I got asked to prom (yay!) and my dad decided it would be appropriate to give me "the talk." Every. Night. I cringe when I think of what he'd do if he read JLM. His protectiveness is almost equatable to Tamaki's O.O I don't even want to think about what's going to happen when I go to university in the fall...

Anywho~

Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran. Nope. No, I do not.

Light filtered in through the massive window that spanned an entire wall of Melody's studio, bathing the entire room in a warm afternoon glow. Around the room lay various sketches, all of them runway ready, with the Stevens-Seal-of-Approval displayed proudly on each one.

Melody put down her pencil with a sigh and gazed at her latest design with critical eyes. She had never worked harder in her life. It was amazing the things she could accomplish without a heart.

The Stevens summer line was performing far better than expected, and she had various dresses lined up to premier on the red carpet within the season. She had been invited to Fashion Week, in both Paris and London. She had even gotten a call from the editor of Vogue for an interview.

Melody Stevens had gotten everything she wanted from her career.

But she was miserable.

Not that anyone knew, of course. Not even Haruhi. Mostly because Melody had gone out of her way to avoid her caring cousin. Actually, she'd gone out of her way to avoid the entire Host Club. She'd begged out of movie nights with Hunny and Mori, claiming to be temporarily out of cake and popcorn.

For two weeks, Melody had managed to lock herself up in her studio, her only human interaction being with her assistants and secretaries. For two weeks, she had the luxury of forgetting anything and everything outside her office.

Tonight, however, she'd been unable to come up with a good enough excuse to miss one of Tamaki's monthly Host Club Reunions.

"He isn't coming, Mel," Haruhi had assured her on the phone that morning.

"It's fine if he does."

It wasn't, of course. Even Melody could hear the blatant lie in her voice. But really, even though it wasn't okay now, it was going to have to get okay.

Because at some point she was going to have to learn to deal with him.

At some point she was going to have to learn how to be in the same room with Kaoru and still be in love with him.

At some point she was going to have to figure out a way to watch Kaoru talk or drink or walk around and not replay, in excruciating, painstaking detail, how it had felt when she was being touched by his hands, kissed by his mouth.

And at some point, her brain was going to learn how to stop replaying his parting words.

I think I'm falling in love with you.

Obviously though, he'd been wrong. Because she hadn't heard a word from him in the two weeks since she'd left the resort.

After making a pit stop at the local convenience store for some ice cream, she headed over to the Suoh mansion. As the door opened, Melody automatically opened her arms, expecting Karin and Ichirou to come barreling into her arms. Instead, she was knocked over by a rampaging blonde.

"MELLIE. DADDY'S MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" Tamaki's voice echoed around the spacious foyer as both blondes toppled unceremoniously to the ground.

"Yes. You've been unusually absent," Kyoya's voice cut in, as he calmly pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah, Mel-chan! We missed you~" chimed Hunny, from atop Mori's shoulders, as they descended the long staircase. "And we have cake!"

"Mmm," the latter grunted in affirmation.

"Ice cream."

She held the plastic carton in front of her in an attempt to stop Tamaki's coddling.

It almost seemed like a barrier. A wall of sugar that would keep Haruhi from trying to get her to spill everything she was barely holding back. But when Haruhi stepped forward to take the ice cream from her, judging by the way her cousin as looking at her, Melody had a bad feeling about the reunion.

"He's coming," she whispered in a flat voice.

Melody nodded. "I'm sorry. When Hikaru told me, I nearly killed him."

"There's nothing to be sorry about. I told you before. I'll deal."

Not well, probably. But that was beside the point.

Karin teetered over to reach a hand into Melody's bad. Pulling out a spool of pretty pink ribbon, a wide grin split her face as she asked, "is this for me?"

"You betcha," Melody said, picking up the bag and following the others to the ridiculously oversized gardens. "We're going to make you a special reunion dress!"

Haruhi spoke in the soothing tone she remembered so well from when they were kids. "He's going to come to his sense, Mel. I know he is."

But Melody was already measuring the ribbon.

Fourteen sunrises.

Fourteen sunsets.

Three meals a day.

And a few hours of sleep each night.

Every minute. Every second. He'd missed her.

On the phone with Hikaru this morning, his brother had mentioned a reunion. Evidently, Haruhi hadn't said a word to her husband about finding Kaoru and Melody up at Karuizawa together. If she had, Kaoru knew he would have never heard the end of it from his twin.

Why, he'd wondered, had she kept something so big from her husband?

But it hadn't taken a Kyoya to figure out why.

Haruhi was waiting for Kaoru to tell his brother – to tell the entire world – how he felt about Melody.

Hell, they were all waiting for that.

When he'd asked Hikaru if Melody was going to be there, his twin had said, "I heard something about ice cream. And that usually means Melody's attached to them. I swear, she a total sugar addict."

A flash of kissing her sweet lips, sticky from s'mores, assaulted him.

The sound of Melody's laughter floated all the way out to the driveway and he stumbled, nearly dropping the bottle of wine he was holding. Making his way along the side of the house to the gardens, Kaoru found Melody dancing with the kids to a pop song he'd heard playing at one of his shows. Karin and Ichirou were dressed in ribbons and fabric, and Melody was holding their hands and spinning in a circle.

He swore to God that he'd never seen anything or anyone so beautiful in his entire life.

He loved her.

Nothing had ever been so perfectly, blatantly obvious.

All these years, he'd tried to tell himself she was all about taking. But he'd been blindly, stupidly wrong about her.

She'd given and given to him, never once asking for anything in return. And looking at her with her niece and nephew, seeing, knowing, how completely open and joyous she was with them, the truth hit him like a ton of bricks.

He'd lied to himself all those years – wasting each and every one of them – to try and keep himself safe. Safe from losing someone he loved again.

When it turned out that the only true safety he'd known since high school was with Melody.

It didn't make any sense. He wasn't at all sure how – or if – she would fit into his world, but none of that seemed to matter anymore. If the two of them had to give up fancy tuna and live like commoners for the rest of their lives, that's what they'd do.

Hikaru loped over just then, swinging his arm around his shoulder. "Hey. You're just in time for lunch."

That was when Melody looked up and finally saw him, her eyes going wide, her face flushing an even deeper shade of red.

He didn't answer his brother. Instead, he walked straight over to the woman who meant everything to him. The woman who had given him her heart again and again.

"I – "

The part of him that still couldn't believe he was going to say it – to Melody of all people! – made him pause.

Damn it. What was wrong with him?

She needs to know how you feel. And then maybe, if you're the luckiest guy in the world, she'll take you back. Just spit it out already. You might not have picked her, but that doesn't matter anymore. It wasn't your choice to love her, but that doesn't change the fact that you do.

It isn't going to kill you to say it. Just admit it already.

"I love you."

The kids continued to dance around her as the song played on, but Melody just stood there and stared at him.

Why wasn't she throwing herself in his arms? Why wasn't she saying the words back to him?

"I love you," he said again. "I can't help myself. I've tried so hard, for so long, to stop feeling what I feel for you. But the truth is, I've never been able to help myself, Mel. It shouldn't have taken me this long to figure out that I love you. So much, sweetheart."

The tension between them grew so palpable that even the kids stopped dancing. The entire Host Club stood in silence, mouths open agape, save Kyoya, who merely smirked.

Finally, Melody dropped the children's hands and moved toward him. His heart had just started to beat again when she said, "Thank you for letting me know."

And then, instead of walking into his arms, she walked past them.

Out of the gardens.

And out of his life.

He heard Hikaru say, "Take the kids, Haruhi," and then his brother was right there in his face.

"What the hell was that?" his twin screeched in his face.

"I love her."

And he'd lost her.

Hunny shook his head, looking more confused than he ever had. "I don't get it, Kao-chan. You and Melody? When did that happen?"

"A few weeks ago. I went to her apartment."

He'd been in pain and she'd been the person he'd turned to. The only person who could give him what he must have known he desperately needed.

Not just her body.

But her heart too.

"HER APARTMENT? YOU DIRTY PERVERT. YOU DON'T DESERVE MY DARLING LITTLE GIRL" roared Tamaki, flames in his eyes.

"You're right, you know. I don't deserve her."

For once, even Tamaki stared back in startled silence.

Hikaru scoffed. "Look, Kaoru. I don't know what the hell is going on with the two of you, but you've got to see that it could never have worked between the two of you. I mean, Melody is – "

He was in his brother's face before either of them could blink. "Melody is what?"

After all those years of Hikaru playing the tough guy, and Kaoru playing the nice guy, everything switched in a second.

"Say it," Kaoru dared his twin, wanting nothing more than to pound the living daylights out of his brother.

Quickly stepping in before the situation got out of hand, Kyoya pulled Hikaru away by the back of his shirt. "We apologize for the outburst. We were all simply surprised."

Kaoru, still fuming, took a steadying breath before looking up at the startled faces of all the other hosts.

"I'm sorry I can't stay."

Mika: shhh! Spoilers! Kidding, kidding. Don't kill me. I actually hadn't thought about taking the story in that direction (seems very rom com, doesn't it?) but I'll keep that in mind! We'll have to wait and see ;) Thanks for reviewing!

Zashiku: you'll have to wait and see~ I'm actually enjoying tormenting Melody. I'm such a horrible person. Thanks for bearing with me :D

Alice: hang in there~ it only gets a little angstier. I think. Maybe. I haven't decided yet. We'll see ;) Thanks for the review :)

Glassy: aww :') your comment actually made me grin like an idiot. I was thinking of adding in a bit of back story for both the characters. To further the plot, or just to fill space, I haven't decided yet though. But I'll see what I can do!

Panda: LOL I apologize for the minor heart attacks I may have given you. But thanks for leaving a review!

Harley: Thanks for the review, Harley! I left it with another cliffie, just for you ;)

Aaand that's it for this chapter! Did you like how I brought in the other hosts? (That's actually a question. I wasn't sure if you guys would love me or hate me for that :P)

Either way, please remember to leave a review! I actually love hearing (reading?) what you guys think!

'till next time!