Hello everybody! I'm here with another chapter for you!
I hope you've all be having a good life and that those of you in school are doing well. Work hard!
Enjoy!
They spend a good part of the day at the rink, all of them loosing track of time. Before they know it, the sun has gone down and they're all starving.
They end up going back to the Ootori house for dinner, where the chef has already prepared a birthday dinner. It was most of Alex's favorite foods, prepared almost perfectly. And of course, there was a cake, which was gone almost as soon as it hit the table.
Alex couldn't remember a better birthday since her parents died. Then again, the Host Club had been the only people in four years to have been attempted to celebrate her birthday, so she hadn't had much to compare it to.
With every year, there was an underlying sadness to the whole day. Without her parents or Adam and Ally, they day didn't just feel real enough. The Host Club made it at least a little bit more bearable, and besides, she'd had some time to get used to not waking up with her mother's freshly made pancakes and Aunt Nancy's special birthday cakes. Still, though, it was a bittersweet day.
"There's one more thing," Tamaki says as they all finish the cake (literally finish the whole thing. With Honey there, no piece of cake would go uneaten).
"Today's already been great enough," Alex protests.
"Oh, shut up," Haurhi says, pulling Alex out of her chair. "Close your eyes."
She sighs but closes them, letting Haruhi pull her to wherever they were going. She could hear the others around them, the twins muttering excitedly behind her and Honey giggling like he was expecting something fun to happy anytime soon. She would guess that Tamaki and Kyoya were right in front of them, leading the way.
"Alright, you can open your eyes," Tamaki says, sounding excited.
Alex did, and it took her a moment to take in what she was seeing.
It was her room, well, what was her room, but completely different. It had been completely redecorated and didn't look like it had yesterday morning.
The lounge area had the same white couches, but there were throw pillows on them with different designs and quotes on them. The glass coffee table was the same, but there was a new blue and white stripped rug underneath it. The stairs leading to her bedroom area had fairy lights twisted around the railing. The lamps were different, the shades a very light blue. The shelves around the TV were filled with her CD's and movies, most of which she'd kept in boxes when she arrived. There was even a corner dedicated to just kitty things for Kashi.
The walls, though, were what got her. They were full of pictures, most of which Alex took herself but there were plenty of Adam's and Ally's there too. She could see recent pictures of her and the Host Club, but also old pictures from when she still lived on the farm with her family. Not only where there pictures, though, but there were paintings, and that's when Alex knew she had gotten her present from Adam.
There were paintings of what looked like random things, but that Alex knew the meaning behind. One was of the view from the roof of their old house, one of the skyline of New York merging to the skyline of Japan. Alex knew because she had taken a picture of it when she'd first flown in. Adam had copied it to the exact detail and made it blend with New York. There was a painting of a bouquet of lilies, and one of just the Milky Way.
One painting, though, really caught her eye. It was of eight people, all of them silhouetted against the horizon, looking up at the fading sun. The people were small, tiny compared to the sky, but they were there nonetheless. Alex could even see what looked to be the shortest person sitting on the shoulders of the tallest. She choked back tears as she noticed what looked to be a small heart made out of the coming stars. No one would see it unless they were looking for it, but Alex knew her brother. He always put little things like that into his paintings, and they usually had a meaning. She didn't have to ask him what this one was though, because she felt that she knew exactly what he was trying to tell her.
"Well?" Tamaki asks, looking hopefully at Alex as she walked around the room in awe.
She turned to look at her friends, who were all staring at her, waiting for her verdict. She couldn't hide the tears in her eyes. "It's….this is incredible," she chokes out.
"You really like it?" Honey asks, and Alex nods. The boy frowns. "So why are you crying?"
Alex smiles through the tears, brushing them away. "Because it's beautiful," she says, looking back at the pictures. Her whole life, at least everything in the past four years, was on these walls. She always kept her photos, even when she ran. She kept them in a nice little box in her backpack that she had guarded with her life. She has no idea how she managed to keep up with all of them, but she had.
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "Is this what y'all were doing yesterday?" she asks.
"Yeah, we didn't want to give anything away," Hikaru says.
"And Adam and Ally knew about it," Alex goes on, looking at the paintings and the detailed layout of the room. She thought about their little smiles whenever she brought up one of the hosts, and now she knew why.
"Yes, and they were happy to be part of the distraction," Kyoya says.
Alex shakes her head. She didn't know what else to say to all of this except…
"Thank you." She looks at each host, wanting them to know that there was so much more behind those two words.
They smiled at her, like they understood, but Alex wasn't sure they did. It would be a while, she felt, before they actually understood exactly what they've done for her, not just today but over the months she's been in the country. She hoped that maybe one day she'd be able to explain it to them.
For now, though, she'd settle with the simple thanks.
That night, when Kyoya looked out the window that led to the garden, he noticed that there was a faint light illuminating the stone. He could see a figure sitting on the ground, their knees pulled up to their chest, their head tilted up to the sky.
Slipping a jacket on and grabbing a blanket, he walks out, Alex showing no indication that she heard him approaching.
"Why are you up so late Arekusandoria?" he asks, kneeling and wrapping a blanket around her bare arms. Alex tugs the blanket closer around her, but that was the only sign he got of her even realizing he was there.
Sighing, Kyoya sits down next to her. At this point, he was used to her strange late night habits.
"You know," she says softly, "Adam's probably celebrating right now. He would have just woken up."
Kyoya follows her gaze to the moon and the few amount of stars that were visible. He shouldn't be too surprised that she was thinking about her brother, especially on today of all days.
Alex shivered, pulling the blanket closer around her. "I lied earlier," she says softly, "there was something else that we used to do on our birthday."
Kyoya sat and waited for her to go on. She would if she wanted to, and he'd learned not to press her at this point. It wouldn't get him anywhere.
"Mom, Dad, Ally, Adam and I would all go to this spot on our land, and we'd camp out there. It'd be far enough away from the house that it didn't feel like we were so close to civilization. Even when it was this cold out we'd go and we'd all huddle by the fire and we'd look up at the stars—they're so bright out there, you know—and we'd just tell stories and draw pictures in the sky." She sighs which turns into a yawn.
"It sounds rather miserable, if you ask me," Kyoya says.
She chuckles at that. "Yeah, it was if I'm being honest," she keeps giggling. "I never liked camping much. Now I'd give just about anything to have it all back." She sighs and lies her head on Kyoya's shoulder. "Isn't it weird, how you dislike something so much one moment but would wish it back in a flash once you'd lost it?"
Kyoya's silent for a moment, still staring up at the moon. "Is that supposed to make sense?"
"I guess it wouldn't to you," she says, her speech slurring and slowing down. "You haven't lost anything worth missing." In a few moments, her breath had slowed too and it was obvious that she had fallen asleep.
Sighing, Kyoya wraps his arms around her and lifts her up, taking her to her bed. He keeps the blanket around her, mostly because it seemed as if she didn't seem at all inclined to give it back. As he turns to go down the stairs to leave, he glances over his shoulder at her sleeping figure.
You haven't lost anything worth missing.
No, a part of him thought, a part that he refused to acknowledge, but I think I may be starting to.
Christmas in the Ootori house, as it turned out, wasn't that big of a deal. Not that it surprised Alex all that much. They didn't really seem like the kind of family to make a big event of it.
The Host Club, however, had other ideas.
They all met at the Suho house (the Suho's family second mansion, Kyoya had explained to her, where Tamaki lives), which was decorated from top to bottom with Christmas decorations. She and Kyoya were greeted by the staff, all of whom were happy and wearing red scarves with their uniforms. A maid gleefully took her coat, scarf, hat, and gloves, and even complimented her on them. Another maid offered hot chocolate or tea as they were being escorted to Tamaki's lounge.
Kyoya acted as if all of this were normal, which made since, but Alex was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with all of the politeness. Not that she wasn't grateful for it, she just wasn't all that used to it. At the Ootori home, Sarrii was really the only staff member she ever really spoke to on a regular basis, and at school, most people ignored her.
The other hosts were already there, their voice loud and clear from the behind the closed door. The maid escorting them opened it and almost immediately they were attacked by a golden retriever.
"Ah!" Alex exclaims, jumping out of the way to prevent the dog from getting to the cat carrier she was holding. She'd brought Kashi on Tamaki's request but now she was wishing she hadn't. She had no idea how her cat would act around a dog, or vice versa.
"Antoiniette! Be gentle," Tamaki says with a laugh, calling the dog back to him.
"Well, jeeze if I knew there was going to be a dog present I wouldn't have brought the cat," Alex says with a small smile, cradling the cat carrier to her. She could feel Kashi getting restless from the way the cat shifted and meowed.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about Antoiniette," Tamaki says, rubbing the dog's head affectionately.
Alex rolls her eyes and goes to sit by Haruhi, setting the carrier in her lap, eyeing Antoinette wearily. Kashi pawed at the door of the carrier impatiently, obviously seeing that they were inside now.
"Okay, okay you impatient little brat," Alex says fondly, opening up the door.
As if sensing this, Antoiniette's head perks up and she bounds over to sniff at the open carrier. Kashi pokes her head out and regards Antoiniette thoughtfully. Then the dog barked and started wagging her tail, panting happily. Kashi emerges from her carrier, looking around at the new room, now completely ignoring the dog. Antoiniette licks her then, making Kashi's head snap over. She drops to the floor and bounds over to Mori, unfazed by the dog.
"See," Tamaki says as Kashi jumps into Mori's lap and curls into a ball, "nothing to worry about."
Alex does relax a bit, even reaches out to pat Antoiniette on the head. The dog puts her front two paws in Alex's lap and licks her face. She can't help the giggle that escapes her as she turns her face away. "Ew, gross," she says as she's laughing.
"I think Antoiniette has taking a liking to the girls," Kaoru says with a laugh as Antoiniette jumps up in between Haruhi and Alex, taking turns licking their faces. The girls laugh and push the dog back onto the floor. Unfazed, she curls into a ball at their feet, still panting happily.
"Alright, down to business," Tamaki says now that his dog had settled down.
"Right," the twins say, producing packages from the bags they'd brought.
What followed was a fury of gifts, boxes and wrapping paper. They listened to music and drink hot chocolate and eat cookies and cake (much to Honey's delight). Alex could almost believe that she was back home if it wasn't for the servants waiting on them or the fine couch she was sitting on, or the fact that no one from her family was even remotely near her. Still, though, she felt so…at home, which she hadn't felt in years.
"Earth to Alex," Karou says, waving a hand in front of her face.
Alex blinks and refocuses on the room, realizing then that everyone was staring at her. "Oh, sorry," she says bashfully.
"Where do you go to in that head of yours," Karou says with a small smile knocking Alex lightly on the head.
Alex, chuckling slightly, swats his hand away. "I was just thinking about something. Nothing to worry about."
No one asked what she'd been thinking about. They could guess.
"Oh, wait, Areku-chan, we've got one more present for you," Honey says as Antoiniette bounds around him, her new collar jingling as she moved her neck (Tamaki had gotten Kashi and Antoiniette matching collars, so now they both had bells attached to their necks).
Alex raises her eyebrows. She'd already gotten some new books, clothes, and music from them, what else could they give her?
"Right," Tamaki says, his eyes glittering. He walks over to a side table and opens the drawer, pulling out a small ox wrapped in silver paper.
"We all chipped in to pay for it," Kaoru says, settling in on Alex's other side.
"Except for Haruhi," Hikaru says, almost teasingly.
Haruhi rolls her eyes. "It was my idea."
Alex shakes her head but takes the box. "You guys really didn't have to—"
"Open it!" nearly all of them shout at once, making Alex jump a little. She relaxed immediately, though, and gives a small smile before looking down at the box. When she opens it, her smile grows into a grin.
It's a charm bracelet, with eight charms on it. Seven of them are roses—pink, navy, light blue, orange, white, red, and violet—and the eighth charm being the Japanese symbol for the letter A. The charms were flat, having silver backs and the roses having a slight hint of sparkles embedded in them.
"Wow," Alex says softly, not really knowing what else to say. She swallowed around the lump in her throat, holding the bracelet like it was the most precious thing in the world and looks up at smiles aimed at her. "Thank you."
"We thought that we should be represented too," Tamaki says. Alex can't help but rest a hand on the bracelets from her siblings, which she wore on her left wrist with their new Christmas charms glittering on them.
Kaoru holds out his hand. "May I?"
Alex nods wordlessly and holds out her bare right wrist. Kaoru fastens the bracelet, his fingers lingering on the inside of her wrist and making her shiver slightly. She takes her hand back, hoping that she wasn't blushing. When she looks up, and can't help but notice Kyoya watching them closely, Hikaru too.
She clears her throat. "This is really too much, guys. First my room and now…"
"It's no problem, really," Honey says sweetly, cuddling Kashi in his arms and making the bell on her collar jingle. "You're one of us now, right?"
Alex had to blink back tears at that. She smiles at him, her fingers resting lightly on her new bracelet.
"Okay, I think we should play a game," Tamaki says, probably seeing how emotional Alex was about to get if there was anything more said about her present.
Being here, with the Host Club, it was easy to forget just exactly who she was and why she was there. Recently, though, it had all been coming back to her. They were acting as if she were going to be here forever, but the truth of the matter is, one day, she'd be gone. She knew it as well as she knew that the Earth was round. The more she hung around them, even, the more she was reminded of why she didn't get close to people. They thought that she was going to stay around, that they'd have forever. But they don't. They never do. Alex would be gone the next day before they could even blink.
The room, the bracelet….they were permanent things, it felt like. Big things that made Alex simultaneously very happy and very sad. It seemed like they'd forgotten that she was just here for a little while. The bad thing is, though, that Alex was starting to forget that too.
"Hey, Alex, wait up," a voice calls behind them.
Kyoya and Alex turn around. They'd been on their way out of the house, about to go back to the Ootori house, when Kaoru came jogging over to them.
"What is it, Kaoru?" Alex asks curiously.
"Um," Kaoru glances at Kyoya, almost nervously. "Can I talk to you alone?"
Uh oh. In Alex's experience, those words never meant anything good.
"Uh, yeah, sure," Alex says, confused. She glances at Kyoya, who nods and walks out the door, leaving the Kaoru and Alex alone in the foyer. "What's up?" she asks when the door closes behind him.
"Um…" Kaoru looks down, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was just wondering…"
"Yeah?" Alex pushes, shifting Kashi's carrier resulting in a small jingle from the bell. She'd already decided that that was going to get very annoying very quickly.
"Uh…" he seems slightly put off by the bell, like it was distracting his thoughts. Finally, though, he sighs and looks up into Alex's eyes. "Will you go on a date with me?"
Just a little cliff hanger for ya. Haha, hope you enjoyed the chapter, anyway.
I've got a majority of the rest of this fic outlined (more or less) but filling in the details is proving to be a bit of a challenge, so I apologize if things are a bit all over the place. I'll find my groove again eventually! I'm also working through my last year of high school (yikes) so I'll get chapters to you guys as soon as I can!
As always, please review! It makes my day. And don't be afraid to give some criticism, knowing what I should work on will help to make my writing better, hopefully. I'm all ears!
Thanks for reading!