Chapter Thirty-six;
When the sun bore down upon her the next morning, Haruhi groaned in protest. She had beaten the odds and weathered all the storm had brought down before her. She had chased down her dreams with a hopeless abandon and had gotten everything out of life that she had ever wanted; the friends, the diploma and the boy.
Her eyes fluttered open, blinking back the sunlight that had ripped her from her pleasant dreams and began to take in her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was that her pillow was not a pillow at all, but the warm flesh of Tamaki's chest. His features looked childishly peaceful, oblivious still to the intruding rays of the sun. She watched him in fascination, her fingertips dancing lightly over his soft flesh.
He stirred slightly beneath her touch, breathing deeply before he opened his violet eyes to meet her gaze. "Good morning," he mumbled sleepily, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and holding her gently to him.
"Good morning," she smiled as he pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.
"I really don't want to get up," he pouted, snuggling closer to her. "Can't we just say in bed all day?"
Haruhi huffed, fighting to remove the smile from her lips. "I'm pretty sure if we stay here too much longer the twins will burst through the door and rip us out of bed. They wanted to have lunch with me today, remember?"
"The meeting." He groaned, pulling the covers up and over their heads, hiding them from the blinding sun.
"So you know what it's about?" Haruhi asked, her interest piqued. Hikaru and Kaoru had made a point of telling her to dress in business professional attire for their lunch date and that alone had tipped her off to the fact that something was off. Normally the twins wanted her in pretty and whimsical clothing.
"I can neither confirm nor deny my involvement in anything," he stated defensively, a light smirk crossing his lips.
"As long as they're not kidnapping me, I guess." She frowned. "I need to get dressed… and shower." She wrinkled her nose in mock disgust.
"I could take one with you," Tamaki practically purred, his eyes darkening.
"I think no." She chuckled, wiggling out of his grasp and wrapping the sheet around her body as the boy she left behind let out a woeful moan.
Xxx Later xxX
"You're late." Hikaru huffed as Haruhi took a seat at the table next to Honey.
"I didn't realize I was meeting with all of you." She sighed, already annoyed. She had expected lunch with the twins, she had not been expecting Tamaki to dress and accompany her and she had definitely not been expecting to see Kyoya, Honey and Mori.
"It's a business meeting. What were you expecting?" Kyoya asked, sounding flippant.
"Lunch? What business could I possibly have with all of you?" Haruhi asked, her voice deadpan and an expressionless look covering her face.
"We want you to run our law firm!" Honey cried out in excitement.
"I wanted to tell her," Tamaki pouted.
Honey offered him a sheepishly apologetic look.
"Run?" Haruhi asked, blinking back her surprise. "What?"
Taking advantage of her shock, Kyoya steepled his fingers in front of him as he leaned closer to the table. "Not immediately, of course. But it's come to our attention that we employ lawyers, but we don't actually profit from that particular source of revenue. It's about time we change that and so we'd like to offer you a better job than the Zuka club has offered you."
"No."
"But Haru-chan! You haven't even listened to the whole offer." Honey pouted.
"No." Haruhi repeated again.
"It's a really good offer, Haruhi. You'd have complete freedom to take whatever type of cases you want." Kaoru explained, trying to reason with her.
"No." She leaned back against her chair, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Won't you at least think about it?" Tamaki asked, his own brow furrowing in confusion.
"No." She sighed, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "It's not that I don't appreciate what you're all trying to do here, but no. I don't want to work for you all. Don't you understand that by now? I've worked so hard to prove myself, working for one of you or all of you would completely undermine all of that hard work."
"But Haru-chan."
Haruhi held up her hand to silence the small man. "I'm more than happy to help you all out when and if you need it, and maybe someday when I've accomplished more of my goals I would consider working beside you. But for you? Not going to happen. I paid my debt a long time ago."
A light smile tugged at the corners of Kyoya's lips.
"You should offer the job to Kosaka-san. She's got a lot more experience and she'd definitely make you proud." Haruhi shrugged.
"Okay." Kyoya smirked, sipping his cup of tea nonchalantly.
"Okay?" Tamaki and Honey cried in unison. "But-"
"No." Haruhi chuckled. "I'm not going to work for my boyfriend."
Tamaki blinked, his surprise slowly morphing into a huge and childish grin. "Say it again."
She rolled her eyes. "No."
"Please?" He begged.
"No."
"But you're my girlfriend." He purred. "You're supposed to love me."
"I do love you," she sighed.
"So call me your boyfriend." He grinned.
"I already did."
"Again!"
Rolling her eyes, she angled her body away from their overly energetic King and towards Hikaru and Kaoru. "So when do I get to meet these twins you keep talking about?"
Tamaki whined in the background, obnoxiously trying to get her attention as the rest of the group began to babble away.
Xxx Later xxX
"You're uncharacteristically quiet." Haruhi spoke from her spot nestled gently against Tamaki's side. They had spent the rest of the day with their friends before retiring to Tamaki's room to watch a movie together. Tomorrow it was back to Japan and back to the life they had known before.
"I'm thinking." He replied, his fingertips trailing gentle patterns up and down her arm.
"That's dangerous," she teased.
He scoffed lightly. "I was thinking about making a stop in France on my way home tomorrow…. And I was hoping you'd come with me." He paused and Haruhi waited silently for him to continue. "To visit my mother."
"Your mom?"
"You don't have to if it's too much." If she could see his face she would have noticed the uncharacteristic fear that covered his normally childish expression. "She would really love to meet you though."
Haruhi paled. Over the years Tamaki had put his mother so high on a pedestal that Haruhi had always been nervous about finally meeting the saintly woman. Part of her thought his mother would never approve of her and another part worried that she would. "What if she hates me?" She whispered, her voice more timid than normal.
"She won't." He sounded so sure.
"But I broke your heart… twice. She can't still like me after that." She knew dating Tamaki would mean she would have to meet his mother eventually… she just hadn't been expecting it too be so soon.
"She's been trying to convince me to fix things with you from the very beginning." He chuckled. "She already loves you."
"Why? She hasn't even met me?"
"You make me happy," he shrugged. "That's enough for her.
Haruhi's eyes widened, her heart thundering away in her chest at his words.
"She knows I love you so she loves you, too. That's how parenting works, I guess." He chuckled, putting his hand beneath her chin and tilting her head slightly. "You don't have to do this. You can fly home with Hikaru and Kaoru and I'll meet you in a few days."
She gazed into his violet eyes, all of his unconditional love pouring through her. "I want to go." She breathed, nibbling on her bottom lip gently. "I want to meet your mother." And though she was afraid, she was amazed at how honest those words were.
"You'll love her," he grinned, his features lightening up immediately.
"I love you so I'll love her, too. That's how dating works, I guess." She teased as he closed the distance between them and silenced her with a kiss.
Xxx Kyoya xxX
The tall and lanky boy sat motionless in a chair near the pool, nursing a full cup of coffee with his cell phone pressed between his shoulder and his ear. It rang and rang and rang.
"Hello?"
Kyoya repositioned himself, putting his coffee down upon a little table and grasping the phone gently. "It's done."
"And the outcome?"
"Exactly as you expected. Your son made it in time for the graduation ceremony and they seem to have worked out their issues." Kyoya explained, glancing towards the house to make sure no one would interrupt his call.
"And you offered her the job, I assume? How did that go?" Yuzuru asked. Kyoya could practically hear the anticipation in his voice.
"Again exactly as you expected. She turned it down. She's adamant about being his equal and not his underling."
Yuzuru chuckled and Kyoya could hear the sound of shuffling in the background. The line became somewhat static, a sign Kyoya knew to mean he had been moved from a private conversation to speakerphone. "Could you repeat that, Mr. Ootori?"
"Haruhi Fujioka turned down our offer to provide her with employment. She's quite adamant about being Tamaki's equal and not someone he needs to support and care for." Kyoya spoke, careful with his choice of words. He was well aware of who was listening on the other end of his conversation.
"Interesting."
Kyoya felt his heart still in his chest at the sound of the Suoh matriarch's voice. Yuzuru had made it very clear that it was their job to prove that Haruhi was worthy of Tamaki, but Kyoya had not been sure it would be an easy job.
"And I assume, Mr. Ootori," Shizue continued. "That you believe she can rise above her humble beginnings and properly aid my grandson in running his business? Is it your professional opinion that Miss Fujioka is a wise investment?"
Kyoya did not miss a beat. "Yes ma'am. Over the years I've seen the way Miss Fujioka has forced herself to rise to every challenge presented to her and how she has forced her way through the glass ceiling. I think her intelligence will help further level out your grandson's exuberance and bring the Suoh Empire further than it's ever been before."
"Hmm."
"You see, mother? His choice is a sound one." Yuzuru spoke, trying to rationalize with the elder woman.
"We'll see if she even says yes." Shizue scoffed as the line went dead.
Author's / Note:
I'm finally all moved and I have the internets again! Which means my posts should become more regular once again. Thank you all for being patient with me. This chapter was just a little bit of filler, as will be a decent number of the coming chapters. I'm leading up to the big finale which most of you have already guessed :P
I hope you're all still enjoying this story! :]
I'd also like to thank you all for helping me reach 500 reviews. I'm incredibly humbled and incredibly grateful! :]
NavyNijaHo: Good guess on the grandmother thing :P We will see more of her than just this phone call.
Malias Rainbows: Welcome to the OHSHC obsession! I mean… fandom :] I'm glad you chose this one as one of your first fanfictions and I really hope this inspires you as much as Ouran fanfics have inspired me :]
HeartCheshire: Ah! School _ I'm so glad I still have about two weeks before I have to go back. I'm not looking forward to it. But thankfully I think this story will be completed before things get too crazy for me again.
Izzyboopers: Thanks :D And I promise there is more adorableness to come! :]
Cardfighter by Maple: There may be some more Alexa and Mori. I'm debating writing one more chapter for them, or one for the twins. I'm not sure yet.
Starsofcrystal: I'm interested to know what you think is coming :P
RazzleEWoods: They're my favorite power couple, too! :] And I promise it's all rainbows and sunshine from this point forward.
Alice Kitten: Thank you :D
Purple peace sign dolphin: Thanks :] There will be a lot more of them going forward.
CeceCandyXOX: I'm so glad you're enjoying it :]
QueenBluestar10: I just love how Tamaki can be all serious romantic one moment and then back to his adorable annoyingness the next. "Say it again! Please!"
ImaDoinWat: I'm glad you're enjoying it :] I thought about making the next fifteen chapters a sequel instead but I don't want to risk running into writers block so I'm determined to just get it finished.
Guest: I have one more thing I want to happen from all of this. That's why there's more chapters :]
Shadow-X-Girl: No more heartbreak :] It's all happiness from here on out :]
Kaori-Anna: That he proposes? Whatttt? :X
Em: I hope you'll enjoy the ending and Im pretty sure I'll be writing another Ouran fanfiction after this :]
Awesomeness: I'm not sure yet if I'm going to make the relationship between the E's and the twins that significant. We'll see where it goes :]
As always, I love you all!
Kaasuten