Okay, I have an excellent idea of how I can wrap up this story, please don't be mad that I made everyone think Haruhi is nuts, we know she isn't. I might be though.

Enjoy

Disclaimer: I don't know anything.

It was hours later that Haruhi's golden brown eyes finally opened.

The first thing she felt was pain. Her head throbbed as well as her arm, but everywhere else she was numb and warm. It was sort of nice in its own strange way, but very disorienting. That's when the memories finally flooded back to her.

The party, the dance, that stupid dress, Akito and Tohru and then the world going black.

"Haruhi?" The timid and quiet voice was now as familiar as her own, Tohru. The bed under her body vibrated and moved up so that Haruhi was able to see her cousin better. She was still wearing the white dress, though it had defiantly seen better days, was tattered and dirty. Her face was wet with tears, looking like she'd just seen a ghost or something even more unpleasant. Maybe both. "You're awake."

"What happened?" Haruhi asked quickly, gasping in pain as she tried to move. She looked down at her left arm and saw that there was an IV stuck into it pumping who knew what into her body. "Where is-"

"Your father is doing some paper work," Tohru's voice was barely above a whisper. "And the host club is waiting down in the lobby. Haruhi, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Haruhi didn't want her cousin to be sorry; she wanted her to be safe. And that meant getting Tohru as far away as possible. "Where's Akito?"

"He's not here," Tohru wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. "We have to get you out of here, Haruhi."

"What?" She exclaimed, sitting up straighter. "You can't-you just-No, Tohru. Tell me what happened."

"At the party, you attacked him." Tohru told her, playing with the dirty hem of her dress. "Akito. Kyoya's police force was there to protect us, but you didn't know. And when you started to talk about the zodiac curse and I couldn't stop you, Akito got more and more furious. When he grabbed my hair and you attacked him he told everyone that you were hallucinating and when you started to fight the police they…sedated you."

'He grabbed you," Haruhi barked furiously. "I couldn't-"

"Haruhi," Tohru's voice was eerily calm, but tears had started to fall again. "He told them that you were mentally unstable. And with the way you were talking….I'm so sorry."

That's when she knew. Haruhi wasn't just in the hospital for her concussion and for the doctors to make sure she wasn't severely hurt. She was there because they thought she was insane.

"I'm not crazy." Haruhi swore, wanting nothing more than to just close her eyes and go back to sleep. "You know I'm not."

"Your father doesn't think you are either," Tohru told her, almost pleasantly. "He's been fighting with the doctors. Haruhi, I'm so sorry."

"That's why you want to take me away." She realized. "But, we could we go? Akito could find us-"

"We have to run away." Tohru blurted out.

Haruhi couldn't speak for a moment, as she let the words sink in. "We can't."

"But it's the only way!" Tohru interjected loudly jumping to her feet. Haruhi looked at her with new eyes. Her soft spoken cousin who was always so sincere and nice was gone, Tohru was now filled with determination and a purpose that she would fulfill no matter what. "I've talked about it with Yuki and Kyo and everyone. We're going to run away."

"Run away?" She couldn't be serious, could she?

"He's right, Haruhi." Continued her cousin softly, sitting back down. "I broke the rule. Mom always said to keep your promises but I didn't. I deserve to be punished. But you don't. So, we're going to run away. We have to go somewhere that Akito will never find us, and we'll say goodbye to the Sohma's and-"

"Say goodbye to the Sohma's?" Haruhi practically yelled, making Tohru wince. "You can't do that. They're your home, where are you going to go?"

Tohru shrugged delicately. "We don't know yet, but wherever it is you and I will be going together. The host club was thinking about staging a fake contest and we could go to America, or travel the world, or maybe-"

With every word, Haruhi could see how much this was hurting her cousin. Even though she hadn't known them very long, the Sohma's were her family. Leaving them would be like leaving the host club, Haruhi thought. Even though they could make her so mad she wanted to push them off a cliff, she loved them and couldn't imagine suddenly leaving them, even if it was for their own good.

But Tohru was willing to do all of this just for her cousin. Leaving her friends that she loved, leaving her home, it was the kindest thing anyone could ever do. And that was why Haruhi couldn't let her do it.

"No," Haruhi whispered.

Tohru's eyes grew wide. "What?"

"I won't let you do that," She explained, her eyes growing more determined with every second. "The Sohma's are just as much of your family as I am, and I won't let you leave them, not for me."

"But, I-" Tohru started.

"No, I won't let it happen." Haruhi promised. She hadn't been there to help her cousin when Kyoko had died, but she'd always known that she would protect and help Tohru whenever she could, just like now. "There has to be another way."

"There isn't," She looked almost as defeated as Haruhi felt, and Harhui wondered if she touched her cousin would she shatter into a million pieces? She wouldn't be surprised if she actually would.

Haruhi was the last person to admit defeat. She stood up for what she believed in and if there was a chance to do something, she would take it every time. But yet, here she was in, defeated in every meaning of the word, knowing there wasn't anything she could do to stop the inevitable. Except-

"There is another way." Haruhi realized.

Tohru looked up at her cousin with eyes the size of dining plates, brimming with curiosity. "What do you mean?"

"He's angry because you told other people about the Sohma family secret." Her voice was much calmer then Haruhi actually was, and for that she was glad. "But, if no one knew, things would be alright. "But if no one knew about it…"

"No," Tohru had caught on to Haruhi's thinking. "No, you wouldn't."

"It's what I have to do, Tohru." Haruhi whispered. "I'll let Akito erase my memory, only if he will let you keep yours."

Well? Don't be too mad at me, just tell me what you think.