Author's Note: It's the penultimate chapter, folks! I still can't believe it's progressed this far. Don't forget to vote for your favorite character! Results of the poll to be posted at the end of the story.
Thanks for reading. ~ jinxauthor
Section 84: All the Wrong Places
After a few morning panels and several last-minute photo sessions with fangirls, it was time to leave the con. The Michael had finished his packing early and was still running around with Riko. Thomas and Kyle lingered in the hotel room, slowly going over the whole area to make sure they weren't forgetting anything.
Or at least Kyle was. Thomas seemed to have other things on his mind.
After heaving what must have been the fiftieth sigh that morning, Thomas was finally acknowledged by his friend.
"Either tell me what it is that's bothering you, or kindly shut up. I've had enough of that sad sigh."
Thomas nearly sighed again, but caught himself just in time. Better to form these feelings into words than risk Kyle's wrath. "Kyle," he began with considerable hesitation, "I… I think I'm in love with Freya."
That got Kyle's attention. He looked up from his work and said, "Woah, seriously?"
"Yes… I mean, I think so."
"With Freya? Are you sure?"
"I don't know. She just makes me feel… It's hard to explain."
"It's okay, I know the feeling," Kyle said, his mind on Regina. "Does she make you incredibly frustrated, so much that you feel it would be better to just stay away from her, but then the thought of never seeing her again feels like someone just ripped out your heart and stomped on it with a pair of very heavy shoes?"
"What? No! I've never felt like that with Freya! It's different… It's like when I'm with her… I just feel very happy. Not, like, happy happy joy joy but… content. Peaceful, even. And I think… I just want to protect her or something."
Kyle watched Thomas's expression carefully, then finally let out a sigh of his own. "Sounds like she got you pretty bad. Are you going to tell her how you feel?"
Thomas's head snapped up from where he had been staring at his feet listlessly. "Do you think I should?"
"Are you going to keep sighing like a girl if you don't?"
As if in answer, Thomas sighed again. Kyle threw his hands in the air. "Tell her! Just do it, you'll feel better once you do!"
Thomas thought about it for only a second, then he nodded, "Okay, can you take care of the rest of this?"
"Are you going to tell her now?"
"Of course. We go to different schools. If I don't tell her now, I don't know when I'll have another opportunity. Can you tell me which room is Regina's?"
He automatically assumed that Kyle would have this information, without stopping to wonder how he had attained it. Naturally, Kyle knew exactly what he wanted to know, and soon Thomas was on his way to the room Freya shared with Regina and her friends.
"Oh, hey Tom." Freya said casually once she'd opened the door. "Something I can help you with?"
Thomas could clearly see over her shoulder into the room beyond. Her bag was lying out on one of the beds and there were signs that she'd already begun packing. Finding that he was blushing slightly under her direct stare, Thomas turned to this topic to deflect some of the tension.
"I… Just wanted to make sure packing was going okay for you."
"Oh yeah. I'm just about done I think."
"Really?" Thomas laughed nervously. "I've barely even started."
"That so? You should probably get started then. I think we have to check out soon."
"Oh I'm sure Kyle will take care of it." Thomas said, not bothering to specify if this meant Kyle would pack for him or handle the hotel staff. Freya didn't ask. "Do you… need any help?"
"No, I think I've got it."
An uncomfortable silence ensued while the pair looked at each other. Thomas was at a loss for words. He was beginning to regret whatever stupid impulse had brought him there in the first place. Freya's expression was as inscrutable as always. He had no way of knowing what she was thinking. Could she guess what had brought him there?
Abruptly, Freya turned toward the bed. Thomas watched as she carefully lifted her blue Ouran blazer and held it out to him. "Did you want this back?"
"Oh no! That's yours. I made it for you."
Freya smiled at him. She smiled so rarely that Thomas had grown to treasure such moments, and she was smiling now with real warmth to her expression. He felt a blush rising to his cheeks again.
"Thanks. Did you need something else?"
Somewhat encouraged by the smile, Thomas was emboldened enough to blurt, "The thing is… I feel… What I mean to say, Freya, is that I think I've always…" He faltered again. He may have felt braver than before but even he was unsure of what he really wanted to say to her.
"Since I first met you," he tried again, "I think I've always lo…"
"I'll stop you there, Tom," Freya interrupted suddenly, "I think I know what you're going to say and I think you have the wrong person."
Thomas was flabbergasted, "W-What? No, Freya what I want to say is…"
"I know. But you're wrong." Freya's tone was calm, even conversational. She was looking at Thomas with her usual steady gaze, exuding an air of downright reasonableness. "You don't feel that way about me. You only think you do because you think of me as Haruhi. But I'm not. And you're not Tamaki, you're Tom. And I think if you really consider it, you'll find that you actually like someone else."
"Someone… else?" Thomas asked. He was too blindsided to understand what Freya was trying to tell him. Her words had seemed ridiculous to him at first. Of course he knew who he really was! But was it possible that he had gotten too caught up in his role? And if that were the case, then who…?
"Who are you talking about?"
Freya smiled at him again. He thought suddenly that she did look a lot like Haruhi. Maybe he was just confused.
"I don't think I need to tell you, Tom," she said enigmatically, "Just think about the person closest to you."
Thomas felt his embarrassment subside. He felt calmer all of a sudden, and he realized that he was looking at Freya for the first time as the girl she was, not the host he wanted her to be. He smiled back at her, confident in the knowledge that she was a good friend after all, but that was as far as it went. There would never be any romantic feeling between them.
"Now what is it that you wanted to tell me?"
"Just that…. I'm happy you came along with us Freya."
"Thanks, Tom. It was a lot of fun."
"I need to go talk to someone else now."
"So what are you standing around for?"
He left. Distantly he heard Freya close the door behind him, but he couldn't attend to it. His feet were moving on their own, he hadn't a care as to where they might take him. He was deep in thought, thankful that Freya had treated him so kindly but still confused by her words. He knew she was right, that he was really fond of someone else, but he couldn't think of who it might be."
"Someone close to me…" Thomas thought aloud. Someone who was always by his side, who would always be there for him. Someone who knew all of his strengths and weaknesses and cared about him in spite of it all. Thomas had a lot of friends, but there were few who fit that description. Then suddenly he knew.
He hadn't realized that he'd started running. Instinct must have given him the answer, or perhaps it was love's wings speeding him on. All he knew was that he was racing through the hotel, speeding past the few convention goers who had yet to check out. He probably would have run into the door if it hadn't been left open. Instead, he rushed right past it and into the arms of the person who knew him better than anyone.
"Kyle!" he gasped, "I… I love you!"
Kyle shoved him to the ground in a decidedly un-romantic way. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He demanded in a cold voice.
Tears sprang to Thomas's eyes, "Kyle… I love you."
"I heard you the first time, idiot! So what new insanity is this? If it has anything to do with that yaoi paddle, then I regret ever hitting you with it!"
"That's not it, Kyle… I just realized that I lo…"
"If you say it one more time, I'm punching you in the face."
"But why?!"
"Because you don't love me, you imbecile! Weren't you just going to confess to Freya?"
"Well… yes! But then I talked to her and she said I was just confused by our Host Club roles."
Kyle hummed thoughtfully. "Smart girl," he said.
"Well, she also said that there was someone I love…"
"And you seriously thought she was talking about me? You really are confused."
"Um, well…" Thomas hesitated. It did seem a little ridiculous now. "You were the first person I thought of."
Kyle sighed and sat down on the bed near Thomas, who was still sprawled out on the floor. He reached out and ruffled Thomas's blond hair in the same familiar way Thomas usually ruffled his. "Will you use the brain you have in that thick skull of yours? I may be your best friend, but Freya wasn't talking about me. She must have been talking about Hilary."
"Hilary…" Thomas repeated. Just the sound of her name seemed to make his heart beat faster. He felt both happy and sad at the same time. In his mind's eye he could see her smile. His sweet, kind, lovely…
"Hilary!" he said again and scrambled to his feet.
This time he didn't even linger long enough to apologize to Kyle, which was just as well because Kyle would rather just forget about the whole incident. For his part, Thomas had already forgotten everything but Hilary. He ran through the halls once again, back in the direction he had just come from moments before. This time he really did run right into the door and after catching his breath he was able to knock with some composure.
But it was not Hilary who opened the door. Henry took one look at Thomas and smirked.
"Too late milord."
Section 85: Unmasking
After stumbling once or twice, Thomas finally gave up on walking. He slid down to the floor and rested his back against the wall, allowing his head to fall down to his chest. Once he was fairly certain he had achieved a suitable melancholy pose, he sighed heavily.
"She loves Henry."
This was absurd, of course. Hilary had merely agreed to date Henry in place of Thomas, that was all. But the circumstances did amount to her choosing Henry over himself, and that was as good as losing her forever, as far as Thomas was concerned.
"I'm sorry, Tom," Hilary had said. There had been genuine empathy in her eyes, perhaps even a little regret… No, if it were regret, it was only for the fact he hadn't realized his feelings sooner.
"It's not that I don't like you, but I wasn't going to wait forever for you to notice me. And Henry has been so nice… I just hope we can always be friends."
"So that's it then," Thomas muttered to himself as he recollected the conversation, "I've been friend-zoned."
"Hello, Mr. Suoh."
Thomas flinched at the sound of the deep voice. Shaking slightly from fear and surprise, Thomas looked up in to the face of Bereznoff.
"Hello Nekozawa," Thomas said sadly, speaking not to the puppet but to the person holding it. "But it's not Suoh anymore. I'm just Tom Smith again."
There was a pause in which Thomas's head lolled back to his chest and the Nekozawa cosplayer merely stood before him in silence. Thomas sort of hoped he would just leave him be, but then again, misery loves company.
The pause was abruptly broken by a high, clear voice. "So that's your real name, huh?"
It took Thomas a few seconds to realize this voice belonged to the same Nekozawa character as before, and during that time she – for it was unmistakably the voice of a girl – plopped to the floor next to him.
"I don't want the con to be over," she was saying to Thomas. She pulled the hood of her cloak away from her face and tugged the black wig from her head. White-blond hair tumbled down around her cheeks as she shook it out. For the first time Thomas could see her clear blue eyes as she turned to face him with a shy smile. "But I guess since it is," she continued, "Then you can just call me Nicole."
"You were a girl this whole time!?" Thomas exclaimed, scuttling back from her in surprise.
She just laughed. "Uh, well yeah! Was my disguise really that good?"
"Well, you certainly had me fooled."
Nicole grinned at him. "So why are you sitting in the hallway looking depressed anyway, Tom Smith?"
"Oh well… It's a long story that involves me confessing my love to a girl a barely know, then to my best friend, and finally to the girl who may be my soul mate, all in quick succession. And in the end I was rejected by all three."
"Wow, that's rough buddy."
"Tell me about it."
"I don't know what to tell you," said Nicole. She smirked and waved the Bereznoff puppet under Thomas's nose. Her voice dropped into the low gravelly tone she used when cosplaying as Nekozawa, "Want me to curse them for you?"
Thomas laughed despite himself and pushed the doll out of his face, "No thanks. I don't think cursing them is going to help my situation."
Nicole smiled and looked at her puppet. She was toying with it absently as she continued to talk. "I've basically been stalking your group over the past few days. It was a lot of fun to watch you guys interact with the other cosplayers, but you were especially entertaining. All I can say for certain is that you're certainly a charmer, and I'm sure winning hearts is not going to be a problem for you."
"You think so?" Thomas asked, his tone slightly more hopeful. Her flattery had easily pierced through his moroseness, and like Tamaki, he was quick to recover.
Nicole hummed to herself and lifted a hand to her chin. She was the picture of deep thought as she said, "But maybe that's exactly your problem. If you act like a prince to every girl you meet, then how is one to know if she's special to you?"
This jab sent Thomas back into his despair. Hopeless again, he laughed bitterly, "Maybe you're right. Maybe the truth is that I've never really been in love!"
"Nah, I think you've just been reading too much shojo manga." Nicole said lightly as she jumped to her feet. She held her hand out toward Thomas and smiled, "It's given you a twisted sense of how relationships are supposed to be."
Thomas smiled back. He couldn't help it. Nicole's carefree attitude was both surprising and infectious. He accepted her hand.
"So what will you do now?" Nicole asked as they walked down the hall of the hotel together.
"I'm going to go home with my friends and start planning for the next convention! Will you be attending Kana-Con next year?"
"Absolutely! Though you might not recognize me. I may be in disguise again."
"I'll find you." Thomas remarked with the same easy manner Nicole used in her speech, "Or you'll find me. Whichever comes first."
"I'm looking forward to it, Tom Smith."
