The insane musings of the authoress: "Glass Roses" is coming so easily to me that it's actually quite scary. I'm sorry for the long wait- I was very busy for a while but I'm ready to come back to ficcing now, so enjoy chapter five!

Special thanks to: All reviewers!

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS. Now, if I had a penny for every time I said that, I could… Buy CCS! *laughs*

Glass Roses

Chapter five ~ What Happens When: Lunch is Served

"Nakuru, we're home!" Eriol called as he and Tomoyo stepped into the hall, Tomoyo catching the hair that had struggled free in the wind and tucking it securely behind her ears.

"We're?" Nakuru yelled in reply from the kitchen where she was tending to her casserole, "Does that mean you were successful in getting Tomoyo to come?"

"Yes!" Eriol shouted back as he took Tomoyo's coat off her and hung it up next to his own.

"Good! That means I can get a fellow woman's opinion on my cooking. Hello, Tomoyo!" Nakuru shouted from the kitchen. Tomoyo though that this was perhaps the strangest conversation she had had in a long time, but called experimentally,

"Um, hello, Nakuru?"

"Hello, Tomoyo! Why don't the two of you come into the kitchen and sample my delicious cooking?" The chocolate-haired woman replied.

"That's what she says, but she'll regret it later when we all leave this house in body bags," Eriol muttered to Tomoyo, making her giggle.

"I heard that!" Nakuru said with a small smile as she suddenly appeared in front of them, having walked up from the kitchen. She was wiping her hands on a small dishcloth and was wearing a white apron, also sporting a dash of white flour on her cheek. She looked flushed from the heat of the oven and her eyes were sparkling in anticipation of their opinion. She brushed a strand of hair from her face where it had fallen out of the loose braid that contained the rest of her red hair, staining it white in the process. Nakuru looked nothing short of radiant, Tomoyo thought.

"Ready to tempt death?" Eriol asked Tomoyo in a semi-serious tone, but his expression of one eyebrow raised convinced her he was just joking.

"Hiiragizawa-san! Anyone would think that you didn't like Nakuru's cooking!" Tomoyo said in false horror, and Eriol smiled at her.

"Contrary to what Mr Hiiragizawa would have you believe, I cook okay, Tomoyo-chan," Nakuru said, immediately grabbing the younger girl's hand and tugging her to the kitchen where a tempting smell was wafting towards them.

Eriol sighed as he watched them, Nakuru chattering excitedly, Tomoyo looking surprised. Nakuru was doing it again, he thought. Yet another one had become '-chan'. Nakuru took person after person under her wing, letting them get close to her. She genuinely fell in love with every person she met. That was just the way she was.

"But what if this one leaves us too, Nakuru?" Eriol quietly asked the silence.

"Nakuru-chan, I must say that this smells delicious!" Tomoyo exclaimed as Nakuru set a large glass dish on the wooden kitchen table and began heaping the contents on to three plates.

"Don't you think so, Hiiragizawa-san?" She asked the blue-eyed man sitting across from her. He didn't answer, instead looking thoughtful. Nakuru looked saddened by his lack of reply, so Tomoyo quickly said reassuringly,

"He just doesn't want to admit it."

Nakuru looked cheered up by this and her bright smile was soon fixed on her face again.

"Yeah, you're right, Tomoyo-chan. Just wait until he tastes it!"

But then her confidence evaporated and she looked worried.

"Well, I hope it'll taste okay. It's the first time I've made this dish."

"I'm sure it'll taste perfect, Nakuru," Tomoyo said confidently, before lifting a forkful to her mouth, Nakuru watching nervously all the while.

"Wow, Nakuru, this is really good!" she said as she chewed her mouthful, a sudden smile sprouting on her porcelain face.

"Really? You think so?" Nakuru asked anxiously.

"Uh huh," Tomoyo answered as she promptly took another piece.

"Just try it, Hiiragizawa-san!" Tomoyo said to the man who still hadn't touched his portion. Obediently he ate a forkful, despite looking doubtful and reluctant and smiled when he did so.

"Hey, Nakuru, this is actually good! You didn't put any sugar in it!" He cried in surprise.

"Well, of course she didn't put any sugar in it!" Tomoyo said, sounding surprised herself as she wore a look of utter confusion.

"It's a beef casserole, right?" she asked, and then looked horrified, as if she were afraid she was about to be told that she had actually just eaten something disgusting like horse meat.

"Well, you see, that's the thing- Nakuru has a tendency to add sugar to everything…" Eriol said.

"Eh heh heh heh," Nakuru said nervously, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand.

"So you put sugar in the chicken?!" Tomoyo asked incredulously, unsure as to whether she had heard Nakuru quite right. Nakuru blushed.

"Yes, well, the recipe was 'chicken marinated in sugar'! But I put too much sugar in, and they most of it didn't dissolve… But I was so disappointed that it was a failure, so I still served it and just hoped that nobody would notice. It was VERY embarrassing, because when everyone immediately choked and looked revolted when they took a bite, I realised that it must have tasted awful! But the worst thing was that they didn't tell me! They said it was delicious but they suddenly felt sick or they were on diets. Needless to say I never did it again, and I took a cookery course."

"Actually, Nakuru, you took several. It didn't all sink in the first time," Eriol pointed out with a sly grin. Nakuru rolled her eyes.

"All those poor people you must have almost poisoned…." Tomoyo said.

Then she caught sight of her watch and gave a start, yelling,

"Oh no, I'm running late! I have to go!"

"I'll go and get your coat," Nakuru said quickly, jumping up from her chair.

"I'll walk you back to the bakery," said Eriol when Nakuru returned and helped Tomoyo on with her coat for speed, but it actually ended up taking longer in the end because Nakuru tried to get Tomoyo to put her left arm in the hole for her right arm, and then her long hair got tangled on one of the buttons…

"I'll come too!" Nakuru chimed in when Tomoyo's coat was finally and safely on her.

"You really don't have to, but it would be lovely if you did," Tomoyo said with a small smile.

~

"There you are!" Ms Chase exclaimed delightedly when she saw Nakuru, Eriol and Tomoyo arrive at her store.

"Yes, I'm sorry I'm late," Tomoyo apologised as she hung her coat up on one of the hooks just inside the door. Ms Chase made an impatient gesture with her hands.

"That doesn't matter," she said, as if Tomoyo were silly to even think such a thing, "how was your lunch?"

"Delicious. Nakuru is quite the chef," Tomoyo said.

"Well, of course…. Nakuru-san, is that your name? Would you please come back here with me?" Ms Chase asked Nakuru.

"Sure," the brunette replied, following Ms Chase into the back of the store.

"We'll only be a few moments," Ms Chase called back to Tomoyo and Eriol.

"I daresay they won't mind us leaving them," Nakuru said to Ms Chase when they were safely out of earshot of the two teens.

"Yes, and Isabelle, you are positively the worst actress I have ever seen!" Nakuru laughed, and Ms Chase looked apologetic.

"I never said I was good at it, Nakuru. But they mustn't know that we are friends," Ms Chase, or rather 'Isabelle', replied.

"Of course not!" Nakuru exclaimed in a horrified voice.

"How on earth would we carry out our matchmaking then? Oh, and I have a bone to pick with you, Isabelle. Why didn't you tell me about Tomoyo the minute she walked through your door?" Nakuru asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Well, after our last disaster of a matchmaking attempt, I wasn't so sure…. Besides, Hiiragizawa-san took care of that all by himself! He came here the very day she started work!"

Nakuru shuddered.

"That reminds me, do you remember Yukino? She was…."

"Absolutely awful? I know," Isabelle said with a grin at Nakuru's horror.

"But…." Nakuru began.

"Tomoyo's not like that," Isabelle continued.

"Tomoyo's like him," Nakuru said.

"Yes. And I do believe, Nakuru, that we have struck gold."

"Perhaps, but before we start celebrating, we have to watch them carefully. I have a feeling that they are determined to keep this a 'just friends' thing," Nakuru said thoughtfully.

"We will just have to convince them otherwise then, won't we?" Isabelle said cheerfully.

"I don't think it will be that simple…." Nakuru said doubtfully.

"Hey, don't get all pessimistic on me already! We are only at the beginning of our project!" Isabelle reminded her.

"I suppose so," Nakuru said, cheering up.

~

"I feel sick just looking at cake," Eriol said as he looked at the display in front of him. Tomoyo giggled.

"You say that like you didn't bring it all upon yourself!" Tomoyo said.

"Is everything okay, Ms Chase, Nakuru-chan?" Tomoyo asked concernedly as her employer and her friend re-entered the main body of the store.

"Absolutely fine, Tomoyo-chan dear," Nakuru answered, giving a small smile in return for the younger girl's concern.

"Listen," Nakuru began, "Eriol and I had better go, but I suppose we'll probably see you tomorrow?"

"Hopefully," Tomoyo said with a cheerful smile as the black-haired man and his cousin exited the store. She watched them leave with a dreamy half-smile on her face. Ms Chase smiled to herself when she saw Tomoyo who hadn't moved in minutes.

"So," the employer said teasingly as she passed the raven-haired girl, "flirting, lunch dates, walks in the dark… Whatever next?"

Tomoyo rolled her eyes and tried to convince herself that she wasn't blushing.

"You're so funny, Ms Chase," she began sarcastically before the penny dropped.

"But wait, how do you know about the walk in the dark?" Tomoyo asked, looking confused.

"Let's just say that I have my ways," Ms Chase said mysteriously. Nakuru, had, of course, informed her when Eriol came home that night and was provoked into telling where he had been.

~

"Tomoyo-chan!" Nakuru called delightedly when they entered Chase Bakery the next morning.

"Yes, I'm here, Nakuru-chan!" Tomoyo called as she stumbled out of the back of the store, covered in flour.

"I wanted to ask you something. Well, actually, Eriol here wanted to ask you something but he was too much of a wuss so I said I would do it for him!" Nakuru exclaimed cheerfully.

"Nakuru!" Eriol said in warning tones as he blushed.

"Eriol wants you to model for him so he can paint you! He's an artist, you know!" Nakuru said happily, her hands clasped in front of her face as hearts appeared in her eyes at the mental picture of Eriol painting Tomoyo.

"If you wouldn't mind, Daidouji-san," Eriol said quietly, his blush getting worse.

"I know that you can't do it right now, but perhaps on Saturday?" he continued, looking hopefully at her.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, a blush of her own appearing.

"I don't think I would make a very nice subject for a painting…" she said hesitantly.

"Of course you would! You're patient, so you could sit without complaining and you're so very beautiful…" His fierce objection trailed off as his face colour became even worse. How could he have let himself say that?

"Oh…" Tomoyo said again, for her burning face appeared to have shrunk her vocabulary. The two teens now looked a picture of awkwardness, Tomoyo looking surprised, Eriol looking nervous, both not daring to look away from the other… Rather adorable, really, in Nakuru's opinion.

"But, if you don't want to then that's okay," Eriol said softly.

"No! A favour for a friend. Of course I-" Tomoyo began, fiercely proving him wrong.

"What's going on out here?" Ms Chase asked as she, too, emerged from the back of the store.

Tomoyo and Eriol froze, Tomoyo's frantic arm movements halted as they sweatdropped.

"Well," Nakuru began, taking over the role of chief explainer, "Eriol here wants Tomoyo-chan to model so he can paint her, and she's just agreed."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Ms Chase crowed.

"But since Tomoyo-chan is working, they'll just have to wait for a Saturday," Nakuru said with a sorrowful sigh, her eyebrow raised at Ms Chase, indicating a secret, different meaning entirely.

"Well, I'm sure I could let her take the day off!" Ms Chase said cheerfully. Tomoyo couldn't quite believe her ears.

"Oh, but I couldn't let you-" Tomoyo began in protest.

"I'll help out!" Nakuru insisted suddenly, swiftly executing Tomoyo's floundering, pathetic excuse for a protest.

"I'm sure it's not that hard, and I'll be happy to learn!" Nakuru continued, now speaking to Isabelle.

"Well, then, that will work out beautifully! You two go have fun, and Akizuki-san and I will hold up shop here," Ms Chase said, grinning in such a fashion that it was actually rather frightening, before she and her redheaded companion practically psychically bundled the reluctant couple out of the door.

"And that," Ms Chase said to Nakuru once Eriol and Tomoyo were a safe distance away, "is definitely how it's done."

The two of them nodded at each other before collapsing into undignified giggles.

A.N. This chapter, I think, gets a little strange in the middle because I got lost. Also, I lost interest in 'Glass Roses' for ages then got a sudden urge to pick it up again and really, seriously do some work on it, and so I got my ass in gear and sorted out the terrible mess that chapter five had become.

Well, when I say 'sorted out', I just tried my best ^_~

^Shattered Midnight Dreams^

Because life's like that sometimes…