I do not own Skip Beat!

It seemed they had both relaxed a little by the time they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant Ren had chosen. Kyouko's joke had nearly given him a heart attack, but in the end, it had taken some of the tension out of the atmosphere. Her attempt at humor had shown him that she was aware of her past obliviousness and, at least to some degree, accepted the idea that he was serious about her.

"This is it," Ren said, turning off the engine.

"It looks nice," Kyouko said.

It was too dark to really tell anything from the outside, but Ren hoped she would like it. He got out and moved around to her side of the car to open the door for her.

"Ah, thank you," she said, blushing, as Ren offered her his arm.

He smiled when she took the proffered limb, and they walked toward the restaurant. Kyouko looked up at him, confused when he started to head to the side of the building.

"We're pretty recognizable," he explained. "They're expecting us."

"Oh," she said.

Ren smiled at her acceptance. She probably wasn't thinking about the dual inclusion of his sentence. She seemed to always find it natural for him to have to wear a disguise or use a side entrance to avoid being mobbed by fans, but when it came to herself, she was always surprised when she was recognized. That was all going to change very soon. It had already begun to.

He knocked on the side entrance of the restaurant, and they were immediately greeted by a waiter, who did not faint, scream or request an autograph. All good signs.

"Ah, Tsuruga-sama, thank you for choosing us today," the waiter said. "If you'll follow me, your room is ready."

Kyouko looked at Ren with a question in her eyes.

"We have a private dining room reserved," he whispered as they followed the waiter. "I didn't think you'd be happy if I reserved the entire restaurant."

"Tsuruga-san!" Kyouko scolded in a harsh whisper.

Ren only grinned. This time, he didn't want staring customers or intrusive waiters horning in on their time together. He had been sorely tempted to reserve the entire restaurant for the night, but he knew Kyouko's frugal heart would revolt at the thought. He would have to get her used to being spoiled before he could attempt such a thing. Maybe for their anniversary…

The waiter led them down the hall, opened a door to their private room, showed them to their seats, furnished them with menus, and promised to return after giving them time to decide on their orders.

Ren watched Kyouko's face as she took in the room. Her eyes lit up and a dreamy smile appeared on her face as looked around her. The room looked like the dining room of a palace. The walls, tapestries and linens were a rich red, the furniture mahogany, the flatware and chandelier gold. The low light from the chandelier cast a warm glow over the entire room, making it feel surprisingly intimate, despite its spaciousness.

"What do you think?" Ren asked.

"It's beautiful! It looks like somewhere a princess and all her courtiers would dine," she said, still absorbed in the décor.

"Good," he said, smiling. It seemed he couldn't keep the smile off his face tonight. This was just the reaction he'd been hoping for. "I thought you might like it."

Kyouko sobered. "But, Tsuruga-san, this must have been really expensive! Surely there's something you could spend your money on for yourself."

Ren pouted. "Am I not allowed to spend my money on the things I like?"

"Eh? But, you're spending it on m—" Kyouko froze as she realized the import of her own words.

"Exactly," he said, with a wicked smile.

"Tsuruga-san," she said, glancing around and whispering low, "I think Cain wore off on you."

"Why would you say that?" he asked, matching her conspiratorial tone and leaning closer to her.

"Because he tried to spend all his money on Setsu instead of himself too," she said with a pout.

"Mogami-san, when you create your roles, don't you use some of your own experiences or your own feelings in the role to make it more believable?" he asked.

"Um, yes," she answered, half question, half answer.

Ren just smiled and Kyouko's eyes shot open wide.

"Then— then what about—" she floundered, face rivaling the color of the room.

The waiter knocked and peered into the room, only to immediately withdraw. Judging by the girl's face, they had not been discussing appetizers.

Ren barely registered the waiter's entrance and departure. He was more concerned about Kyouko. He shouldn't have mentioned his own feelings overlapping with Cain's, not when he had pulled her into bed with him. He could have just majorly blown it…again.

"Mogami-san," Ren tried.

Kyouko wouldn't look at him. The little he saw of her expression was hard and hurt.

"Mogami-san, I'm truly sorry, I never meant to—"

"Was it real?" Kyouko asked, finally looking up at him.

"I'm sorry?" he asked.

"Was it real?" she repeated. "Were you really fighting something?"

Ren swallowed.

"At that time, I was seriously worried about you, Tsuruga-san. I thought something was really wrong. I felt like— like you needed me, but I didn't know what to do. I even tried calling The President," she said.

Ren tensed up.

"I—I really wanted to help you, so if you were just—" her voice broke and she harshly dashed a tear from her eyes.

Ren let out a sigh of relief. It was a misunderstanding. He could clear this up.

"It was real," he said firmly. "I did need you."

She looked at him hard, studied his face, and her expression softened. She believed him.

"I would never use you like that," he said. "Never."

He stared into her eyes, trying to infuse his gaze with sincerity. He couldn't tell her everything just yet, but he had to make her understand somehow.

Kyouko wiped the few remaining tears from her eyes before letting out a breath and giving him a glare.

"You scared me!" she scolded. "I didn't think you would be like— but I—"

Ren took a deep breath. He was taking a serious chance, but so was Kyouko. She had evidently put more of her heart on the line than even she was aware of. He would not let it break again.

"Mogami-san, there are things that I can't tell you yet, that I can't tell anyone," he said, taking another deep breath before going on, "so I can't really promise not to lie to you, and I know it's unfair to ask you to trust me, but when it comes to you and me—"

"I know," Kyouko said.

Ren was shaking. He desperately needed her to understand, but didn't know how to explain.

"I know it's a lot to ask, but if you give me a chance—"

"Tsuruga-san, I know," she said, taking his hand.

He looked at her with shocked eyes, and she began to pull her hand away, as if she'd done something wrong by making contact, but he chased after it, and held it in place with both of his.

"You know?" he asked.

She blushed.

"Well, I don't really know, but I've thought for a while now that there was something troubling you."

Ren smiled. This girl really could read him like a book.

"I wanted to help you, but I didn't know if there was anything I could do and you didn't seem to want to talk about it, so I tried asking the president, but he said not to do anything at all, so I don't really know if I ended up being helpful or not," she said, with a little pout.

"You were," he said, squeezing her hand. "You have no idea how much."

Kyouko blushed again.

Ren reveled in the feeling of her hand within his, the view of her sitting across the table, the sense of peace brought to his heart just by having her near. He took in as much as he could before taking a chance at losing it all.

"Mogami-san, I wish I could tell you everything, but I can't yet," he said. "So, if you can't trust me, if you don't want to see me again outside of work, tell me now and I'll un—"

"Stop!" Kyouko nearly shouted. Her face looked panic-stricken. When he looked up, she blushed at her outburst. "I'm sorry, I mean…"

"Mogami-san?" he asked.

"You shouldn't talk like that," she said, her eyes again brimming with tears.

"Like what?" he asked.

"I would never say that," Kyouko said, "that I don't want to see you outside of work."

Ren gave a glowing smile. The weight that had been sitting heavily on his heart for nearly seven years seemed to get a little bit lighter.

"Does that mean you'll give me a chance?" he asked.

Kyouko nodded.

"I know you're not like him," she said. "I trust you, Tsuruga-san."

Ren had to resist the urge to pull her into his arms and never let go. Luckily, the reappearance of the waiter gave Ren the opportunity to reign in his desires, though they did have to send that man away for a third time. They had been much too busy to spare a glance for the menus.

AN: Look, look! I'm not being horribly evil anymore! ;) Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and Happy Thanksgiving! :D I'm thankful for all of you reading, reviewing, subscribing etc. Feel free to leave me a review if you'd like to let me know what you think :D