"Lori!" I heard Tamaki calling that afternoon. Once the Zuka Club ladies finally left and club activities ended with the boys back in their uniforms, we headed home — and no, I could not stop laughing at how ridiculous my friend looked in my makeup and a suit. I pointed him in the direction of my heavy-duty makeup remover and found my way to his piano. Sitting atop it was a photo of him and his mother, a small vase with freshly cut flowers, and a small stone from my family's garden. I'd given it to him one year for Valentine's Day when we were young. I remember telling him that our friendship was stronger than chocolate — chocolate could melt, but our friendship was rock solid.

I couldn't believe he still had it.

"In here!" I called back as I dragged my eyes away from the rock and tapped on the piano keys until I could find the notes that played on repeat in my head. I couldn't read or write music well yet, but that didn't stop the melodies from flowing out of me when inspiration hit.

"Do you think we should all cosplay as you for Halloween at the Host Club?" He asked, unironically, as he entered the room. I nearly doubled over in laughter at the thought of it.

"Absolutely not! Please don't!" I begged, wiping tears from the corners of my eyes before turning my attention back to the piano. He smiled down at me before taking a seat next to me on the bench with his back to the keys to give me the leg room to play around with the pedals.

"What are you working on?"

"Oh, I'm sorry! I should have asked before using your piano… I'm sure it's extremely valuable! I promise I'm being gentle."

"No, it's fine! I was only curious as to what you were doing." He smiled again, nudging my shoulder with his, and I became hyper-aware of how close his body was to mine. I kept my eyes trained downward hoping to hide the blush that washed over my face.

"I–I just have this tune stuck in my head and wanted to hear it out loud." I could have cursed at myself for stuttering like that.

"For a new song?" He asked excitedly. I looked up at him, stupidly surprised that he would know I wrote my own music. Of course he did. He was always the first person I'd want to show new material to when we were little and I only dreamed of performing in front of people. Despite all of that, I suddenly felt shy in front of him.

"Sure, b–but I don't know if it sounds right."

"Can I hear it?"

I took a deep breath, hitting each key one at a time to make sure I had the right ones, before starting to play the song that was taking form in my head.

I played several measures of the repeating melody. Tamaki sat motionless next to me, taking in the music without distracting me. He wanted nothing from me but to hear what was happening in my head. It was sweet, really. If I told him he couldn't hear it he would have been content with my answer and we would have moved on about our day. As I continued to play it was as though the words presented themselves to me.

"I spy with my tired eye, tiny as a firefly, a pebble that we picked up one July. Down deep inside your pocket, we almost forgot it, does it ever miss its home sometimes?

They said the end is coming. Everyone's up to something. I found myself running home to your sweet nothings. Outside they're pushing, shoving. You're in the kitchen humming. All that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing…

Or something like that." I cut myself off from playing more.

"That sounded amazing." He told me with so much sincerity I felt like it might knock me over.

"I might need to call Camille soon to see if she can book a trip here and help me get into a recording studio. I have so many lyrics and melodies I think it's time to start putting them together…" I told him, still staring at the black and white keys.

"I would love to meet her when she comes." He replied, but I could hear in his voice there was more he wanted to say. I finally looked up at him and could see him staring down at his lap, his cheekbones a light shade of red.

"Tamaki? What's wrong?"

"Y–You…" He paused for a second, trying to find the right way to words. "You wouldn't really leave me – I mean – leave Ouran for Lobelia Academy, would you? When those girls first came you said you'd consider it and I just… I just don't know what I'd do if I didn't get to see you every day. When you spent the night with Haruhi and I was here all alone… I kept wanting to talk to you and you were just gone."

I was speechless for a moment. His words from the night we kissed played through my mind: You're my family. He's my family but I treated him like I could disappear tomorrow without any sense of remorse.

I gently wrapped my arms around his torso, burying my head into him and holding him tightly.

"I will never leave you, Tamaki." I promised. "For starters, those girls are insane. But more than that, you're the most important person in my life and I couldn't bare to be away from you. I was just so annoyed. But that's no excuse for how I acted. I am so sorry I made you feel so lonely. I promise I'll do my best to never make you feel that way again."

He turned to face me, allowing me to keep my face pressed to his strong chest, and wrapped his arms around me. He held me gently at first, but after a moment he tightened his grip on me. Every place that his body touched mine felt like it was on fire. We hadn't touched like this since the beach… since we kissed.

I slowly moved my hands up and down his back once, feeling every muscle there, before moving my hands around to his chest and pushing away from him to look up into his eyes. He held my gaze, moving his hands up my sides to gently hold my face. I closed my eyes, pressing my right cheek into his palm. His warmth spread through my skin like tiny fireworks firing from nerve to nerve.

When I opened my eyes, I found Tamaki had leaned closer to me, shrinking the distance between us. He pressed his forehead to mine while staring deep into my eyes.

"I'm so relieved." He whispered, his breath hitting my lips and making my head spin. "Seeing you each day, getting to be by your side all day, just being part of your life again… It's not something I ever want to give up."

"Me–Me neither." I stuttered, my heart raced so loudly in my chest that I was sure he could hear it. I found myself wanting to kiss him again. To feel his soft lips against mine without the haze of alcohol dimming the experience.

Maybe… Maybe just one more kiss would put an end to my raging insanity over him. We could kiss and get it out of our system and go back to just being friends. All I'd have to do is lean forward, just a little and our lips would touch. I tilted my head slightly, my nose brushing against his.

I want to, too.

I heard his words from the beach echo in my mind before he moved forward and closed the gap between us. My breath hitched as his lips pressed deeper into mine. I gripped his uniform shirt between my fists and pulled him closer, kissing him back as if I'd never be able to touch him again.

He moved one hand down my neck, skimming it over my shoulder and further down my arm until it rested on my hip, while his other hand tangled in my hair and pulled me deeper into the kiss. I swung my leg over the piano bench and moved as close to him as possible.

I felt his hand move from my hip down my leg until it came into contact with my bare thigh passed the hem of my skirt. I shivered at the feeling of his skin on mine and pressed my tongue to his lips. He parted his lips and coaxed my tongue into his mouth. His tongue met mine, leaving me feeling lightheaded and exhilarated all at once.

He tasted divine.

My hands began to move on their own up his chest to loosen his tie. His uniform felt like the enemy in this moment. If I could just get him out of it, I was sure I could get him out of my system. We could just go back to being best friends.

He removed his mouth from mine once I got his tie undone. We were both panting from lack of oxygen and staring into each other's eyes. His hands remained on my face and thigh while mine held either end of his tie. He looked like a scruffy mess and oh so hot. I couldn't imagine what I must have looked like to him — probably a lustful deviant as I was still straddling the piano bench with one of my legs entangled with his.

I let go of his tie and pushed away from him — instantly regretting the feeling of his skin no longer on mine — just enough to move my other leg over the bench and sit facing the same way as him and to be a bit more ladylike. I stared at my hands in my lap as we sat side-by-side, breathing heavily but not speaking.

After a long moment, I finally braved to venture a look at his beautiful face. Tamaki had been looking down at me the entire time. And as soon as our eyes locked, he moved forward and captured my lips with his once more.

My body acted faster than my brain the second his mouth was on mine again. I pushed off the piano bench, keeping our lips connected, and swung a leg over his hips to where I was straddling his lap. His arms wrapped around my frame, holding me in place, as his hands moved up and down my back. My hands tangled themselves in his soft hair as his tongue pressed into my mouth. A soft moan escaped me as one of his hands brushed my hip and ran down my leg. Heat spread through me from between my legs where our bodies touched. I gasped into our kiss as I felt him growing hard beneath me.

This time, I broke our kiss. I pulled away from him and sat fully in his lap. I let my head fall forward into his shoulder, feeling too embarrassed to look him in the eye.

"Lorraine?" Tamaki asked softly.

"Head spinning." I replied into his shirt, my hands still lost in his hair. He chuckled, resting his head atop mine while moving his hands to hips and slowly standing us up off the piano bench. We stood together, arms wrapped around one another until our breaths finally slowed.

"Better?" He asked after a minute. I looked up at him to find him staring down at me with a smile on his face. The look in his eyes made me feel lightheaded once more.

"Only a little." I whispered, smiling up at him. He started to lean down to kiss me once more, but we were interrupted when suddenly my phone started ringing from atop the piano. We broke apart as if paparazzi had burst into the room. I answered the phone and tried to sound as normal as possible.

"Were you doing something naughty?" I heard Camille ask through the phone.

"NO!" I shouted too quickly, startling Tamaki.

"Lori?" he asked, concerned. I smiled at him in a way to tell him everything was fine.

"Oh, with the childhood friend?" Camille laughed.

"Sh–shut up! Did you call for a reason or just to make fun of me!?" I demanded, covering my face with my free hand.

"Of course, of course! I was just calling to let you know I'm planning a trip to Tokyo to check in on my favorite superstar the first week in November! Does that sound alright to you? Your emails have made it sound like you might be ready to start recording some singles, so I thought I'd plan a trip for a week to help you manage your time and get some work done. The demand from your fans has been astronomical since your last interview!" She told me.

"Oh, yah. That sounds good. The school will be grading exams all of Halloween Day, so the following week should be pretty slow with introducing new material. That should be perfect timing!" I told her, feeling excited to get back to work on my career.

"And perfect timing to meet your new muse and see where you've been living! You know I worry about you. I need to make sure you're somewhere safe!" Camille added.

"My new… muse?" I asked, my eyes inadvertently looking toward Tamaki. "Wait! And seeing where I live!? You're acting more like a mom than a manager again, Camille!"

"You wouldn't let me help you find an apartment! I just want to be sure you're somewhere with a solid roof and running water!" she argued. I looked around the large room we were in — that we had just been making out in — and swallowed my words.

"Um… sure… I just – uh – have to check with my landlord first." I finally stumbled out.

"Of course, of course! See you soon!" She said before hanging up.

"So…" I started, turning toward Tamaki. I had to fight the blush as it raced to my cheeks at the sight of him. His hair was a mess from my hands running through it, his tie was missing and the top button of his shirt had come undone, and his lips looked swollen from pressing against mine.

"So." He repeated with a smile.

"Camille says hi." I grinned. He waited for me to continue. "And… she's coming to visit in November. And um… wants to meet you and see where I've been living." I scratched nervously at the back of my head.

"To meet… me?" He asked. I nodded in response as his smile grew. "Your new muse?"

"Not you too!" I whined at the teasing, burying my face in my hands.

"It's alright, Lori! I know that my beauty will inspire many talented artists throughout my lifetime! You're the first of many!" He laughed, getting wrapped up in his own fantasy world. I watched him and waited patiently for his mental theater to finish playing out whatever he was babbling about.

"Are you done?" I asked after a few minutes. He nodded happily. "I don't think you understand. I haven't exactly told Camille that I've been staying with you. I don't really know how she'll react when she finds out… If she'll try to make me move out…"

He stared at me, suddenly frozen and afraid.

"But… but you can't." Tamaki said, finally realizing why I was so concerned.

"Then you'll just have to be your usual charming self and help me convince her this is the right place for me to be!" I smiled at him, trying to reassure him. He wordlessly approached me and wrapped his arms around me tightly.

"Of course, this is the right place for you to be." He said softly. "This is where your family is." I felt my heart rate increase at his words. I slowly snaked my arms around his middle, holding him just as tight.

"Exactly." I replied before smiling up at him. "But for now, let's not worry! We need to plan for Halloween at the Host Club!"