Yay fast update! For me anyway lol. I really wanted to get another one out before it gets too hectic. So i hope you enjoy and Happy Reading! and I will work on Happy writing lol.

If I Remember You, Will You Remember Me?

"Yori."

That was all he could manage to say, still staring at the girl in front of him. She only stared back, her small eyebrows scrunched up as she considered the situation. Kyoya, standing in the middle of the dark room, wearing a very nice tuxedo. Herself, wearing a beautiful ballet inspired dress, hair and make up done serenely and pushed out into the gala.

Just then, the lights Aido and Kain had been painstakingly putting up, came on. They were around the ledge of the entire gala, creating a warm and romantic glow through out the room. Then came the piano music, soft and smooth like a lullaby.

Yori looked around the room at all the lights. Perhaps "gala" had been an inappropriate word, it was more like she had been pushed out onto the "stage." When she turned back to Kyoya, he was turned the other way, looking over in the corner where Tamaki was playing the piano. She could just barely make out his wide grin under the muted lights.

Yuuki braved the wind as she pushed along the path toward Kaname. It was clear that he had seen her because he had pretty much stopped walking now. When she came up to stand in front of him, she gave a weak smile.

"Yuuki. What are you doing out here?" the boy asked curiously, his long dark locks floating around his face by the wind.

"Oh. I was… I was checking on the gala?"

A soft smile appeared on his face, "Why?"

"Because, well- Because I am on patrol. Yeah. Just cause the Night class isn't in session doesn't mean we don't need to keep a close watch." She tried awkwardly.

The smile widened as he continued to look at her. "Oh."

He glanced back in the direction of the gala. He hadn't even really noticed he'd been walking towards it. He had just been walking to alleviate some of the tension he felt after the meeting with Takuma's grandfather, Asato Ichijo. Shiki's mother had sent for him a week ago, but Kaname had explained that he needed the boy's presence at the academy. Just as he anticipated, Asato sent for Takuma, Kaname and Shiki, and when he asked that Kaname allow Shiki to return home, the pureblood politely denied him.

Kaname knew exactly why they wanted Shiki and he had decided that that was not how he wanted this battle to go down. If Rido Kuran wanted a fight, he would have to find a way that didn't involve taking advantage of his poor son. He expected Asato, Rido's little lap dog, to be angry but he hadn't expected him to so visibly show it as he escorted the boys back to their car and cut the visit short. Shiki had been completely stunned and had only uttered a soft thank you the whole drive back.

Nevertheless, even with that heavy distraction, he had seen one of the Hitachiin twins and Kyoya walking towards the building, dressed as if they were going to a ball. He knew Yuuki was obviously the cover for whatever it was going on down there. And though he probably should be concerned and at least check it out, the soft and hopeful look on Yuuki's face was just too sweet. He could see how much she wanted to do this right, to do this well for her friends. Even though he was slightly hurt from having her exclude him from the circle, he wanted to help her succeed. Maybe even more he welcomed her sweet presence and distraction for his own peace of mind.

"Umm…" Yuuki thought aloud, trying to come up with a reason to turn him around, "Do you… want some tea? The chairman went to a tea house yesterday and got bunch of different kinds."

Gentle, elegant fingers reached out and tucked a tuft of hair that had been blowing in Yuuki's face behind her ear as Kaname leaned forward a bit. "Tea sounds really nice, Yuuki."

She clapped triumphantly and turned them in the direction of the Chairman's, "Ok, well how about dandelion tea. I wanted to try that one first but Zero made a big fuss and then the Chairman said that…" She continued to ramble as they walked. Kaname stayed quiet beside her, listening to her intently and smiling even wider as she went on. His attention was only distracted for a second when the wind picked up suddenly and the faint scent of thick clouds came wafting in. He spared one last glance in the direction of the gala before turning his attention back to the girl.

"Well, tell me Kyoya-senpai. Was this your idea, or theirs?" Yori asked smoothly, gesturing to Tamaki playing the piano in the corner.

Kyoya smirked coolly, trying to ignore how fast his heart was beating. Seriously, he was Kyoya Ootori; he had to get over the silliness this girl caused him. "Trust me my dear, if it were my doing, you would know." He spoke with all the suave and debonair of a seasoned host.

Yori giggled as she picked up her teacup, eyes on the way the boy's left hand quivered ever so slightly. She was happy to see it, at least now she was certain that she was not so stupid for feeling quite anxious by the whole thing. Yori was not a girl to daydream about fantastical schemes of romance and serendipity, but that didn't mean she could be unfazed when they actually happened. Even a practical girl like herself could be moved by big, telling gestures.

"You can calm down, Senpai. I promise I am not weighing why you just called me dear," she teased.

Kyoya's face distorted as he clenched his hands into fists. Of course, he knew that, he was completely calm, he thought irritated. But he was even more upset at the fact that that little, childish jibe had actually fazed him. Now he couldn't even think of something to say that didn't sound like he was playing right into it.

Instead, he smiled, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Good evening," Haruhi greeted cheerfully, setting the menus down in front of the pair. "Tonight's menu is quite a treat as we have our very own, critically acclaimed Chef Zero Kiryuu with us today. As you can see we will start you off with a hand cut spinach salad which consists of baby spinach imported from America, fresh picked cherry tomatoes, roasted garlic, Italian black olives, and flavored with a beautiful Italian vinaigrette." As she spoke, the twins flanked out on each side of her, placing the salads and bread on the table. Kaoru was Kyoya's server and he smirked as he set the plate down, enjoying the death glare the other boy gave him.

"My my Haruhi-chan," Kyoya interrupted, "Always the hostess never the guest." He teased her to relieve his frustration and reveled in the soft blush on her face as she fought to control her emotions. She obviously would have liked to snap back at him, but like a well-trained host club artisan, she would keep her role. That's why he would continue to poke. "And Chef Kiryuu is it? Well what does such a renowned chef have on his menu? I expect it to be quite spectacular."

"Well, actually…" Haruhi trailed off, looking away from the table.

"He won't do it, will he?" Yori was quick to realize, laughing softly. Typical Zero.

Kyoya scoffed, "Plan falling through already?"

"Yuuki was supposed to talk him into helping, but Kaname showed up…" The girl explained lamely, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"You know Haruhi; I bet if you asked him yourself, he would do it." Yori smiled up at her friend, doing everything short of winking to send a message.

Kyoya laughed this time, "I'm sorry, it seems you are mistaken. Haruhi may be a member of the host club, but it's not because of her, feminine charms." This time Haruhi did glare at him.

She sighed as she looked back at Yori, "Kyoya-senpai is right, besides I don't want to annoy him. We can figure it out, we did the appetizers and the salads," she shrugged.

"Good job," Kyoya said sarcastically, dropping an olive off his fork. "Look Haruhi, if you want this scheme to go off, just ask the boy to help. I was only kidding about before, you appeal to everyone you meet." His grin was genuine as he spoke. "Just go and ask him to help."

"Alright fine, I'll ask."

When Haruhi disappeared into the hidden hallway, Yori turned her attention back to her spontaneous date.

"That was very nice of you to say."

"I only said what is true."

"But you didn't have to."

"Have you tried your salad yet?"

He watched her as she look down at the salad with unease. She was pretty sure Yuuki had made the toasted bricks, uh bread that is. She was a little worried with Haruhi's generic 'we did the appetizers and the salads.'

"You know, I don't really care for salad," she smiled coyly.

"Zero wait," Ichiru called, grabbing onto his arm.

His brother shrugged out of the halfhearted grip, "We aren't even supposed to be in here right now. And it's nearly dusk outside, if any of the other students find out that we were down here-"

"Zero," Ichiru interrupted, "No one is gonna come looking over here for the Night class, and Yuuki's is taking care of Kaname, remember?"

Just then, Haruhi came back in and sighed to see Zero still adamant on leaving. "Zero?" she called sheepishly, her hands fidgeting in front of her, "I know this seems crazy and silly but… well that's kind of the point. I know you guys don't really like the host club but one thing about being apart of it means you are willing to do stupid and crazy things, to make others happy." she shrugged knowing how unappealing this all still sounded, "Please, just this one time. Will ya help us out?"

Zero looked back at her, eyebrows furrowed slightly. Her brown eyes were pleading, specks of gold winking at him, trying ever so slightly to persuade him even more. And for some reason, he just couldn't disappoint them.

He groaned inwardly as he spoke, "Fine."

"Yay!" Haruhi cheered gesturing to Ichiru to give her a high five; he gave her a condescending grin but slapped her hand all the same.

"Thank you for the tea, Yuuki." The boy said softly, touching her hand where it rested on the table. Yuuki smiled. She was glad; he had seemed very tense when she first spoke to him.

They were sitting in the Chairman's kitchen. Kaname had been fairly quiet as she had moved around the kitchen preparing the tea, even now that was really the only thing he had said. It had made her even more awkward, unable to say anything unless it pertained to the tea. They sat quietly, sipping on the tea. Yuuki was staring out the window, watching the sky turn gray when the boy spoke again.

"What if I took you away?"

Her head whipped back to look at him with concern. But Kaname wasn't looking at her; he seemed to be mesmerized by the spiraling steam of his tea.

"I could make it so you never have to change. You could always be happy, always be my Yuuki. We could just leave everything and everyone to deal with it themselves."

"Kaname-senpai, I don't understand." She finally said, fiddling with the tablecloth.

"Would you come away with me, Yuuki?" This time his eyes lifted and found hers. They were serious and almost pleading.

"But… Kaname-senpai, what about the Chairman, and school, and… and Zero. He needs us, well you. And I couldn't leave him. I made a promise."

Kaname smiled weakly, taking her hand again and rubbing the pad of his thumb over it. "Of course," he sighed, "we couldn't possibly leave Zero." The boy's name was like a lime peel in his mouth.

"And," she added with a bit of a stutter, feeling the need to look somewhere else, "I will always be you Yuuki, even if I do change a little."

The boy smiled again, although his face still looked incredibly sad. He knew the hardship, the sadness and confusion, the pain that was in Yuuki's future, and it killed him to know there was nothing he could do to stop it. She wouldn't let him even if he could. The Chairman once told him that everyone must walk along their own path, and no matter how much you distract them, they will always find their way back.

All he could do was hold onto that small hand of hers and hope that after everything, she would still hold onto his.

"The dandelion tea is actually very good." he finally said, making her giggle softly.

"Tamaki told me that Kaname had some sort of business meeting with Takuma's grandfather, so they left early this morning and took Shiki with them." Haruhi was explaining to Zero as the boys moved around the kitchen. Hikaru and Kaoru had been in there for a little while but had gotten bored and wondered off to where Tamaki was.

"So both the Night class President and Vice President aren't here? How com Cross didn't tell me that?" Zero asked mostly to himself. He became frustrated knowing that the Kaname had left the vampires there with no one in charge and no one thought the Guardians needed to know about it. He was pretty sure Yuuki didn't know, she would have told him, right. He grimaced to himself as he poured some cream into the bubbling sauce he was making.

"Yep." the girl confirmed, setting some of the garnishes on the plates for them, "Apparently Aido and Kain are presiding over any incident that might come up."

Zero snorted and looked up at her, "You mean like this?" He gestured to the whole event and then continued to pour cream into the sauce. The Hitachiins reappeared and took the two little soup bowls Haruhi directed them to.

Haruhi shrugged with an exasperated sigh. "I'm just supposed to come in here and see how far along you are." And with that, she turned and followed the boys out.

The silver haired hunter's brows furrowed even more at the sound of his twin laughing.

"Geez Zero, I told you to be her friend, not her husband. And a complaining one at that." He snickered.

Zero turned to glare at him, "I wasn't complaining," he said flatly.

Ichiru came over and pat him on the shoulder, "Just enjoy it Zero. Worry about all that if we get caught, ok."

"Don't you mean when?"

Ichiru laughed again, "Yeah probably."

"You know, even if you could sweeten me up with this whole show, my father is not a man to pay attention to the way I bat my eyes." Yori said simply, sipping at her water.

Kyoya chuckled softly, "Believe me Yori-chan; I have already given up on that. And I wouldn't expect the father to be any different than the daughter."

"Besides," he continued, "I told you, I didn't arrange any of this. I am just as surprised as you are. I'm a financing man, everything else is Tamaki's doing." He smiled as his friend's elegant piano playing continued to fill the room.

"So Tamaki did all this?" She said with awe in her voice.

Kyoya nodded honestly.

"Why?" She asked, puzzled even more.

He grinned widely, that was his favorite face she made. It meant he might manage to be superior in this conversation. "The host club is about making others happy. That's what Tamaki had always meant for it to be. It is designed to do everything within its power to make girls smile." He shrugged, remembering how hard Tamaki had pushed for it, "Life is hard enough without being sad all the time."

"So you guys help others to be happy? What do you get in all this?" She asked skeptically.

Kyoya shrugged again, leaning back as the twins appeared to take the salad plates and replace them with the soup. He grinned when Haruhi took a breath to deliver the small introduction for the soup; she caught him and glared.

"It's ok Haruhi, just tell us what it is called and that will be enough." he offered, still looking at her mockingly.

Haruhi sighed and smiled at Yori, "This is a very nice butternut squash soup, seasoned with a bit of hot pepper."

Yori smiled encouragingly and nodded as the trio walked back toward the kitchen.

"It actually a quite profitable being in the business of making people happy," Kyoya continued the conversation as he stirred his soup slightly.

Yori's eyes narrowed as she considered what he said. She was beginning to pick up on key words in Kyoya's vocabulary. Profit was one of them; she was beginning to realize that it didn't always mean economical profit.

"Would you still do it if it wasn't?"

"Would anyone?" he shot back, "Happiness is always profitable though."

A simple smile appeared on her lips as she regarded the boy, "It is, isn't it?"

"Wait," Kaoru paused before he and Hikaru went back into the kitchen with the salads. "Did Yuuki say Yori was allergic to pine nuts?"

Hikaru peered into the salad he was holding, perusing through the vegetation, his had pine nuts. Then he leaned over Kaoru's salad. "I didn't know anyone was. Tamaki said Kyoya loves pine nuts."

Kaoru gave a soft grunt as he pushed into the kitchen, "Huh, I guess it was someone else then."

"Haruhi?" Hikaru offered, stealing an olive off the plate and popping it into his mouth.

They gave each other shrugs as they continued into the kitchen. Once inside, Hikaru spit the olive back into the plate discreetly.

"They didn't like the salads," both twins explained in unison. Kaoru found a fork and stabbed a few pieces to shove in his mouth. Hikaru watched him with a wide grin.

Haruhi bit her lips as she thought, "Hmm, I wonder why?"

Zero was working carefully in the kitchen but chuckled at that, turning to regard her for a moment, "You did say Yuuki worked on them."

"Yeah but-" from the corner of her eyes she saw Kaoru open his mouth and let the half chewed food fall back into the plate. "Never mind. I'll go see how they like the soup."

Zero looked up from the scallops he was sautéing to see the flash of light shoot across the kitchen window. His brows furrowed as a loud clap followed it.

"Is that hail?" Yori asked her surprise date as the both looked at the heavy curtains covering the huge windows of the gala. The bright light of the lightening lighting up the edges, outlining the heavy draping, and showing off the deep maroon shade.

"It would seem so," the boy answered, listening to the clatter as it hit the windows. The wind was whistling loudly now.

"I didn't know there was supposed to be a storm today?" Haruhi said as she pushed through the kitchen doors to where Zero and Ichiru were.

Zero went to shrug when a huge chunk of ice came crashing through the window with concussive force, sending freezing ice and broken glass, rushing into the little space.

The wind howled loudly as it came whipping into the room. Haruhi barely heard herself yelp before Zero smacked into her. He pulled her in against him and ducked his head into hers, trying to protect them both from the glass and ice. She could only clutch onto his shirt as he half drug, half carried the girl through the doors and down the corridor.

Zero moved forward on instinct, sensing Ichiru was hot on his trail. He could see the hand that had her head tucked into his chest and wished he and Ichiru hadn't taken their suit jackets off while cooking. They were both only wearing their white shirts and black school vests and Zero had rolled his sleeves up. He could already tell either a chunk of glass or ice had lodged itself into his forearm. He barely heard Haruhi's yelp against him and he could only hope he had gotten to her quick enough to shield her from the mess.

He couldn't worry about that now though, something was happening to him, something was changing in his mind and it started right before they made it out of the room. Right when he had grabbed the girl. It was as if the ice had crashed into an invisible window in his own mind, and just like the way the wind and ice came flooding into the room; images and memories came flooding back to him, all in a random and confusing order. And even more surprising and confusing, they were all about Haruhi. One phrase kept swirling around his thoughts, "She is afraid and she needs you, hold on to her." Nothing else mattered, nothing but the need to smother her and get her out of that room.

He could see her in his mind, sitting on his bed and curled up into his side. Her eyes wide with fear as she looked at the storm through the window, covered in his blanket. Her, comfort her. She is afraid and she needs you.

Haruhi doesn't like thunderstorms, the thunder makes her jump. Don't let her fool you, she is terrified so don't let her go until it's over. Her hair is soft and short and she is small and determined not to be scared. She can't help it. "It's okay, Chibi-tan. I've got you." She thinks he is funny when he isn't trying to be serious and stern. She might like Kaname and she knows that he might like Yuuki. Then everything snapped taut and was as clear.

Haruhi.

"Haruhi!" Tamaki was the first to reach them.

They had all jumped up at the sound of the glass shattering and met Zero at the end of the hallway. Aido and Kain came from the back from where they were taking care of the lights and the twins, Mori, and Honey came from the front where they were supposed to be keeping look out but had actually been watching the storm come in.

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking at all three of the kitchen refugees now. They could here the swinging kitchen door bang open and close from the wind blowing through the broken window.

Zero finally let go of her, taking the time to access his brother, now standing beside him as Haruhi spoke to the others.

He was breathing hard and the right side of the white shirt under his school vest was fairly soaked. And then there were the glimmering pieces of either ice or glass in his wet and wind blown hair, but other than that he looked alright, didn't seem to be bleeding anywhere either. Zero surprised himself when he reached up to shake what ever it was out of his twin's hair pausing only for a second.

"You alright?" He asked awkwardly.

The other boy's eyebrows furrowed but he grinned, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Zero your arm," Haruhi suddenly exclaimed, taking his wrist and pulling his arm up. The piece of glass (definitely glass) was still there. Lodged deep into his flesh, any attempt of his body to create new skin, was being re-cut by its sharp edges. He was glad his healing wasn't incredibly fast; otherwise, the constant re-slicing would have already driven him crazy. Yori was beside them, obviously having run off to get a first aid kit because she immediately produced band-aids and a pair of tweezers, handing them to Haruhi. Haruhi took them slowly, looking back at the girl questioningly.

"You do it, I can't," Yori explained with a quick shake of her head.

"Isn't your dad a doctor?" Hikaru's voice came from somewhere in the circle.

Haruhi sighed, looking up at into those pale violet eyes. They were soft and curious as he obediently held his arm out for her. She squinted slightly, something was different, something about the way he was looking at her seemed more familiar more comfortable. Like they did in his room or the day he had almost kissed her.

The two seemed to be in some sort of trance. However, that magic didn't translate to the rest of the room and Aido's loud groan broke the connection.

"Here, I will do it." he huffed, snatching the tweezers from Haruhi's hands.

Zero placating demeanor dissolved immediately, pulling his arm back and outstretching his good one to take the tweezers away from the blonde haired vampire.

"No I can do it myself," he assured.

"No just let Aido do it," Tamaki stepped up, "It'sin your arm, you could accidentally make it worse."

"Yeah Zero just let Aido-senpai do it," Kyoya added.

"Zero-chan if you are scared you can hold my hand. Haruhi will let you hold hers too." Honey tried to comfort.

Ichiru laughed behind Zero. "I bet I can even find you a lollipop in that first aid kit."

Zero's face was an eternal scowl as he was suddenly bombarded with requests to let Aido do it. Only Kain and Aido were quiet, both obviously holding in a laugh. Aido had only wanted to get it over with, annoyed with the gooey sop of a look Zero had been wearing. Now he was whole-heartedly enjoying the look on his face, and continued to press forward until Zero finally put his arm out.

"Alright fine, just hurry up already."

It took Aido less than a minute to pick the glass out of Zero's arm but it had felt like the longest minute of his life as he stood there with Aido leaning over his arm and everyone else trying to be comforting. Quite a few of them out of mockery he might add.

After Aido was finished, Haruhi stepped forward again, wrapping up his arm with the bandage. "Sorry," she whispered softly as she finished.

The room was starting to get cold now, with the air constantly blowing into through kitchen door. Both girls jumped as the lighting hit close to window followed by a thunderous clap. Haruhi grabbed onto Zero's arm in fear, forgetting that it was injured. He could feel her heart rate increasing wildly from her tight grip. She was freaking out and everyone was noticing it. Tamaki was making his way to her when Honey suddenly appeared beside the pair.

"It's ok Haru-chan, tell her Zero-chan." The boy asked, pulling on the hunter's sleeve. Haruhi seamed to realize what she was doing and quickly dropped her hand.

"He is right," Zero spoke softly. He took a hold of her arm, pulling her away from the windows. "We should move into the room, away from all the windows, just in case another one gets broken." He explained to the others.

Tamaki stopped and looked at Haruhi, his eyes sliding to where Zero's hand held onto her arm, just above her elbow, then back up to her face. She looked both scared and embarrassed at the same time, a slight flush to her cheeks. He stood still even as everyone around him began to move. It was only when Kyoya put an arm over his shoulder and pulled on him that his feet seemed to work, his eyes shifting to look down at them sadly.

"Are we stuck here?" Kaoru asked as the group moved to the circle of couches and chairs furthest away from any windows.

"It looks like it," Aido answered, trying to guess the nature of the storm. He had felt the moisture in the air earlier, but it had only seemed like there would be a light rain shower, not this monstrous hailstorm that had seemed to blow in from nowhere. As he went to look over at Kain he caught Yori rubbing on her arm, in the dim light he could see the rosy color of her nose. When those blue eyes finally did land on his cousin, he nodded his head in Yori's direction. Kain could see what his cousin meant and nodded back as he silently and unassumingly came to sit next to Yori on the couch.

Yori was actually incredibly cold, her dress was layered but the material was actually quite thin, she held in a shiver where she sat next to Kyoya. She hadn't even noticed Kain's presence until a subtle warmth registered within her. For some strange reason she felt like it was coming from the side the quiet redhead was sitting on and she turned to look at him. He only smiled back at her, looking innocently confused by the questioningly look on her face.

Aido grinned as he took a seat on a smaller sofa beside Tamaki. Those looks never got old.

"What could you possibly be smiling about?" Hikaru asked him suddenly, he and his twin were sitting in two chairs directly in front of him.

Aido smirked instead, "Nothing, I just can't believe we actually got stuck in here."

Hikaru smirked back as he moved his chair over to let Mori put the chair he had scavenged into the circle. "At least it's not dark in here." Kaoru offered from his other side.

Rather than bringing in another chair, Ichiru sat on the edge of the coffee table facing Zero who had been led to the other couch by Honey. Haruhi was seated in between Zero and the little boy, trying unsuccessfully to look calm and unafraid. Zero could hear the deep slow breaths she was taking.

"The one time I try to do something nice for someone else," Ichiru said in exasperation, trying to get the girl's mind off of the storm.

She only gave him a weak scowl and sad chuckle before a deep rumble made her jump slightly. Honey climbed into her lap and she clutched onto the boy as if he were a teddy bear. Ichiru blew out a breath of air as his planned failed. He got up and took the seat Honey had been occupying. It was a smaller couch and Ichiru was a lot bigger than the plushy toy-sized boy so both Zero and Haruhi had to scoot over some. Now with the girl sitting close enough to be slightly pressed into Zero's side, he could feel the tremor ghosting through her.

"We will be fine right here," he tried to soothe. Haruhi glanced up at him; her dark eyes sparkling slightly, wide with distress; and attempted to nod. Zero pursed his lips and nodded back.

He wanted to do more, he wanted to make her feel better. Like he had done the last time there was a storm, when she had been hauled up in his room. He remembered now, how it felt to hold onto her, feel the way she had stopped shaking and calmed down. He had helped her then, made her feel better. He remembered the day of the memorial when he had held her again, thinking it had been the first time, but now he understood that weird sense of familiarity. And afterward she had talked so comfortably and openly with him, obviously, because she actually remembered having done it before. He wanted to make her feel better but he couldn't do that now, in here with everyone else. At least at the memorial they had been alone, and though in his blood drunken state it probably wouldn't have mattered, they had been alone in his room too. His heart burned with frustration as he felt useless again. He had been useless to defend her from the rest of the school; instead, he had blown up at her for trying to defend him against Kaname. And now, knowing all that he told her that night, it burned even worse. He felt angry, and confused and ashamed. Even worse than he had when he kissed her at her mother's memorial. And that was a whole other thing to add into the mix. He had told her that he might be in love with Yuuki and then he had made a move on her. Who does that?

Another loud clap of thunder and the small hand that grabbed onto his wrist broke him out of his thoughts. The lights flickered and surged, threatening to go out. She let go almost immediately.

Everyone else was conversing over what they should do, but the Ouran kids would pause to look at Haruhi at every bout of thunder to make sure she was ok. Haruhi locked eyes on Hikaru for a moment, "I'm ok," she said in a trembling voice. The boy nodded and glanced sideways at Zero before turning his attention back to what Aido was saying.

"I know there are some candles in the side room," the boy was saying, "We really need to turn off everything else to keep it from being blown out. I can get the candles if someone will go with Kain to turn off the lights." It was Tamaki who got up to go with fiery redhead.

"I'm sorry," Haruhi whispered to Zero. He had been watching the others leave and turned to her questioningly, "I keep grabbing onto you, sorry." The girl explained.

"Zero-chan doesn't mind," Honey said looking between the two, "right?"

Zero gave his best smile, "No, it's ok." Haruhi only nodded, looking back down.

As those pale violet eyes watched her, a resolve came over Zero. He took the hand Haruhi had grabbed him with and placed it in his, his longs fingers wrapping around it and squeezing it gently. "But since you startle me every time, just hold onto my hand, ok?"

Even Ichiru looked at him with unbridled surprise. But Zero kept his resolve and smiled assuredly at the girl. He was going to make up for everything he had done to this girl. He was done making her feel bad for being herself, for being afraid, for trying to help a friend; starting with being there for her when she needed him. And this time he would not forget or try to pretend as if it didn't happen.

The lights went out and the room was flood with darkness. Zero felt Haruhi squeeze his hand and he squeezed hers back in a supporting gesture. He was right here.

Soon Aido appeared with the soft glow of candles and they all sat together again in the flickering light.

As they sat their, soaking up their situation Zero suddenly turned to Ichiru with a grim look on his face.

"What?"

When the other boy spoke, his voice was very solemn. "The stove is still on."

***ANON Reviews***

Darkkami: I hoped you liked the date, even the party crasher... lol. Thank you for the review and the support!

Chey721: Awe thank you! I'm glad you love it. And thank you so much for the review!