So you guys all did an awesome job getting votes in for my next story. After adding up the answers via poll, PM, and review, these are the current "next story" standings:

Dream Weaver: 11

That's Amore: 16

Living in a Fantasy: 5

Against All Odds: 10

But that doesn't mean it's closed! Keep reviewing or private messaging me your choices and voting in the poll!

Now, here's to the next chapter! Enjoy!

Mori could hear soft crying as he approached Shizuko. He placed his hand on hers as she lay in the grass, worried she might have injured herself when she collapsed. Unfortunately, he realized too late what this might have felt like from her perspective, as she grabbed a hold of his hand and pulled. Mori stumbled forward and fell, not having grounded himself properly as he knelt next to her. He smiled quickly, proud of her quick thinking and reaction to a possible attacker. I should work on some self defense moves with her later, Mori thought to himself as she turned to face him, a fire in her eyes. When she saw it was just him, however, she visibly calmed. He returned her look with one of concern.

"Shizuko?" Mori quietly asked.

She tried to wrench her hand free of his, but he was still stronger than her and held fast. "Please, don't go," he pleaded.

Mori could see her mind processing. Eventually she must have decided he meant her no harm, since she stopped trying to break away from his grasp. He took this time to stand up and help her to her feet. Then, still holding her hand, he led her to a nearby bench. As they sat in silence, she dropped her head in defeat. She was embarrassed, most likely beating herself up for knocking him over, he thought. But she has nothing to be ashamed of.

"Are you alright?" Mori asked naïvely. Quite obviously, she was not all right. She continued to stare at him.

"Please, speak to me…" he prodded her to open up.

She paused for a moment, opened her mouth, and then the same thin voice from before came out.

"Wh…why du…dii…did you…fah…foll…me?"

Why did you...oh why did you follow me? She wants to know why I chased after her. He decided then and there it was time she knew.

"I was worried," Mori said.

"Why wor…ry bou…me?" she responded.

Now it was his turn to pause, but her continued soon. "I like you Shizuko," He waited for her to say she did not feel the same way.

"Yyes...wee'ruh…frends," she answered, a confused look on her face. There it is, he thought dejectedly, she thinks of me as no more than a friend.

More confusion crossed her face. "Wer…naw…not friends?"

Mori let a small laugh out. Her inexperience with having a suitor was becoming apparent. "We are friends."

"Good," she responded decisively.

He chuckled a little more, a deep, but light and playful sound. She raised an eyebrow in confusion. His heart started to pound in his chest. "What…isso…fun…funny?"

Mori took a deep breath. "I like you, a lot," he disclosed, "more than friends…I think."

He watched as her eyes opened wide when she realized the meaning of his words. Taking another deep breath, Mori continued, his heart taking over. "Will you say my name?"

For a moment, Mori thought he might have whispered it so quietly she did not hear. But then she started to say, "Mor…". He cut her off.

"No, my real name."

She continued to stare. Mori gazed back, taking all of her in. Shizuko's skin was milky white in the moonlight, her cheeks flushed from the events of the afternoon. Her hair, which had been pulled back by a simple black headband, was disheveled, adorned here and there with a leaf from her time in the grass. Her uniform, which while unflattering on most, managed to make her just look young and innocent. She was barefoot, having favored running away without her shoes on. Her striking blue eyes captured Mori's and held his gaze. In that moment, with nothing happening around them except the whistling of the chilly night wind and the chirping of a few crickets, Mori thought she had never looked more beautiful.

Then she licked her lips, shifting his focus. His eyes were trained on her thin pink lips as she opened them and the one word he had been hoping to hear again all evening escaped.

'Takashi."

He could not hold back any longer. Mori leaned in and captured her lips in a kiss.

My eyes widened in disbelief as Mori's lips unexpectedly collided with mine. My mind could not comprehend what was happening. Mori had just divulged his feelings for me, which in and of itself was shocking. But now he was kissing me as well? Mori…Takashi…is kissing me. He's kissing me. He's kissing ME? My mind suddenly resurfaced. I had never been properly kissed before – I shuddered as the memory of Kuro pressed against me resurfaced, but I quickly repressed the memory. I didn't want to ruin the moment, but with that thought…what was I supposed to do? I closed my eyes, thinking that was the first proper response to being kissed. Now what? My mind questioned.

His lips were moving against mine. They were unbelievably soft, as soft as I had expected them to be after the preposterous amount of time I had spent scrutinizing them. My heart was racing as I began to move my lips back against his. Am I doing this right? I hope my lips aren't too chapped. When was the last time I reapplied Chap Stick? Oh I do hope my breath is all right! I was just lying in the grass; I must smell like dirt…why is he still kissing me? I must have repulsed him by now, have I not? My mind was sprinting a mile a minute.

But as soon as I was thinking maybe I was doing something right, he pulled away.

"I'm sorry," he looked away from me. I must have done something wrong; he cannot even look at me anymore. But then he said, "I should have asked you first. Can you forgive me?"

I was stunned. He was asking my forgiveness for kissing me? I was unsure how to react to his request. My head was still reeling from the kiss itself. So I did the only thing I could think of at the moment; I placed my hand on his cheek, turned his face back to mine, and this time I kissed him. Our lips struck, moving together in a frantic rhythm in time to the beating of our hearts. My hand was still on his cheek, but I moved it to run through his hair. I did not know where my sudden confidence was coming from, but I let it take over me and I did not look back.

I felt him place his hand on the small of my back, pulling me in closer. I leaned in to the kiss, getting caught up in the moment. I heard a barely inaudible sigh escape his mouth, and I smiled. He must have taken my small movement as a good sign as his tongue darted out and ran across my lower lip. His hand moved up from my back to tangle in my hair, his fingers playing with my long tresses. His other hand relocated itself to my lower back as I swung my other arm around his neck, grabbing on to my other hand, which up until that point had been in his hair. My arms encircled his neck as our lips continued to dance against each other. Unfortunately, we had to part eventually for air.

As we drew apart, our breaths coming fast, he laid his forehead against mine. My hands were still around his neck; his left hand was still on my back, his right against the back of my head. Our eyes slowly opened, ending the passionate moment, but as we gazed into each other's eyes another moment started. A moment of pure bliss, of just being in each other's arms, and I never wanted to leave that moment. I knew I wanted to be in his arms forever.

He leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on my nose, which I wrinkled at the cute gesture. I was seeing a completely different side of Mori. A side of him that was not worrying about Hunny, or the host club, or even me. He was allowing himself to be free and have a little pleasure. I longed for the chance to see this part of him more often, for I knew he did not let many people see him in this relaxed state. I felt honored that he could feel so tranquil around me after such a short amount of time. I thought for a moment though, and I realized this went both ways.

I had not thought about school, or the host club, or my scar, or most importantly my voice, for a while now. He had pulled me into his world and we had become carefree. All of our apprehensions had melted away and together we had found peace. Together I felt like we could conquer anything. I let out a small laugh, thinking just how right this all felt.

He looked curiously at me as my laugh faded away.

"I think…I…li..like…you...mo..re… …friends…too," I finally said.

He smiled with what I could only describe as pure elation, picking me up off the bench and swinging me around once before setting me lightly back down on my feet. My bangs had fallen free from my headband during this time and he let his fingers gently brush them out of my face, slowly running his hand across my cheek and the scar. His face fell a little.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there," he sighed.

I rose gracefully on my toes to place a light kiss on his cheek. "We can..not change… …past. Pl..please do..not…dw…dwell on…it," I reassured him.

He nodded softly, but I was unconvinced.

"Please, f..for me?" I asked.

He pulled me in to a hug, leaning down to whisper in my ear, "Anything for you."

We stayed holding one another for who knows how long. The lights in the park had flickered on ages ago and the blowing wind was turning chilly. Mori broke the hug, taking my hand in his.

"Wha..t do we…do..n.. ?" I asked.

"How about dinner?" he replied with his own question.

I smiled and nodded, suddenly realizing just how hungry I had become when my stomach decided to loudly protest. He chuckled, a sound I hoped to hear a lot more frequently in the coming days. Squeezing my hand he led me to where my shoes were, I pulled them back on, and together we walked hand in hand down the street. I shivered momentarily, so Mori stopped to take off his blazer and help me put it on. Sufficiently warm wrapped in his jacket, he took my hand in his once more and we started our long walk back to Ouran.

"I hope their ok Tama-chan," Hunny whimpered, hugging Usa-chan to his chest.

Tamaki, despite his speech, had taken to pacing after an hour had passed and Shizuko and Mori were not yet back. Roísín had stayed with the club so as to make sure her pupil was all right when she returned. Kyouya had done damage control, calling Chizu to inform her Shizuko would be home later due to her "having dinner with the hosts". Hikaru and Kaoru had started following Haruhi endlessly around the room while she tidied, trying to force her into wearing some of their mothers' more…risqué designs.

Two and a half hours had passed before the doors to Music Room #3 slowly creaked open. Mori held them open for Shizuko to walk in. It did not take long for the hosts to notice their change in attitude…as well as the quite obvious fact that Shizuko and Mori were holding hands. The pair stopped as all eyes focused in on them, before Tamaki rushed up, flinging himself at them.

"Where have you been? Daddy was so worried about his daughter being all alone with the neighbor! He didn't hurt you at all did he my dear daughter?" Tamaki cried.

Shizuko rolled her eyes at his antics as Mori simply said, "Tamaki." That put Tamaki right into his place, which at the moment was cowering in the corner as far away from Mori as possible. Mori led Shizuko, still wearing his blazer, over to her bag where he let her hand go to put away her belongings. Roísín hopped up and pulled Shizuko in to a hug with her one good arm.

"I'm so sorry darling, I should never have pressured you into this!" Roísín exclaimed. Shizuko whispered something into her ear, but only Mori was close enough to hear that she had said "Thank you." He smiled.

Once all her possessions were stowed once more in her bag. Her hand immediately found his and they headed towards the door together.

"Wait, you're just leaving? You can't leave with him! The neighbor is scary Shizuko my daughter!" Tamaki shouted, stopping them in their tracks.

Shizuko looked at Tamaki, thinking for a moment, then a smirk graced her lips. She turned around and placed a small kiss on Mori's lips, then hooked her arm through his. She turned around to face Tamaki, the smirk still in place, and she inclined her head to say don't worry; I think I know what I'm doing.

Then they walked out together, leaving six stunned hosts and one delighted speech therapist to watch their retreating forms.

That should shut him up for a while I thought smiling up at Mori. He returned my smile as we walked out of the Music Room, out the front doors of Ouran, and to Mori's waiting limo which was about to take us for nice evening coffee.

A fluffy ending, but now their officially together! Yay!

Just a reminder to keep casting your votes for what my next story should be. If you haven't yet, here are the options again. Review with your choice, Private Message me with your choice, or go to my profile and vote in the poll. Any votes will help!

1. Dream Weaver: Recently, Mori has been having a recurring dream about a girl, whom he has never met, dying in his arms. So what happens when he meets the girl from his dream during a trip with the hosts to a commoner's supermarket? In his dream, Mori cannot do anything to save the girl. Now that she's real, and in his life, he swears to protect her at all costs. MorixYume(OC)

2. That's Amore: A new student enrolls at Ouran. She's Velia Vita, an athletic beauty who just moved from Italy. She's brash, she's outspoken, she's not too fond of the host club, and...she has seemingly no background, frustrating Kyouya to no end. As Kyouya begins to dig, he uncovers a past life hidden for a reason. But is his snooping putting her into danger? KyouyaxVelia(OC)

3. Living in a Fantasy: Nise has lived a comfortable life as the daughter of two wealthy business moguls. She attends Ouran Academy, gets good grades, is popular, and most recently, she's had her eyes set on one of those handsome hosts. But one day, when working on an assignment, she sees a photo in a missing persons database...a photo of herself as a baby! Is her entire life a lie? And what happens when the hosts get involved with her search for the truth? ?xNise(OC)

4. Against All Odds: Tsuneko grew up going to school at Ouran. She is quiet, shy, very smart, but also not very well known. That is, until she is diagnosed with a very rare - and life threatening - form of cancer. Despite the treatments she undergoes, Tsuneko is given no more than two or three years to live. The hosts take it upon themselves to grant her every wish during this time. But what happens when one of the hosts starts to fall for the terminally ill girl? ?xTsuneko(OC)

A/N: I've gotten some reviews asking if this is the last chapter of the story. It is NOT. There will be a lot more drama and fluff coming up in the near future! Thanks for sticking with me!