The insane musings of the authoress: I'm back with 'Glass Roses' chapter eleven! I hope you enjoy it. This chapter is especially special because it's my two-year anniversary of being a writer at on the 20th October.

I can't believe I've come so far! Thank you so much for supporting me through this fic and these last two years. Especially special thanks to Lily, who is my little sister and rocks so much, and also Jenny, my fellow Harry Potter fanatic. Oh, and Roxie-chan!

I think the last chapter got the most reviews of all the chapters so far (yay!) so I'm very grateful to everyone who reviewed.

Disclaimer: CCS is not mine.

Glass Roses

Chapter Eleven

What Happens When: Matters Complicate Somewhat

"And who the hell are you?" Eriol asked Touya, so politely that Tomoyo had to stifle a laugh.

Tomoyo stood up quickly and stepped between them.

"Eriol-san, this is my cousin, Kinomoto Touya. Touya-kun, this is my…" She paused for a moment. My what? Another best friend? A confidant? Someone who listens to me and picks me up when I fall to pieces? One of the kindest people I know?

"Eriol," she said finally.

"Now, Eriol-san," she said, now addressing the black-haired teen, "would you like some tea?"

Eriol nodded.

"Okay, so you sit down there with Touya-kun," she instructed. Then she frowned.

"Really, you don't have to glare at each other like that," she said, sounding disapproving. Immediately, they both stopped. Because Tomoyo wished it.

"When I come back," she began, "I promise we'll all talk. And you'll know absolutely everything, both of you."

And they nodded in unison, trusting her completely. Because she was Tomoyo.

The two men could hear Tomoyo bustling around in the kitchen. Neither said a word for a while, until finally Eriol spoke.

"She didn't mention you when she told me the story," he said, not looking at Touya. It sounded like an accusation, for some reason. Touya shrugged.

"So, you've some to take her back, have you?" Eriol continued, finally turning to look at the brown-eyed man beside him. Touya shook his head, but the look in his eyes said something different.

"I'd like to tell you you can't have her back," Eriol said, with a soft, impossibly sad smile, "but really, I knew it was too good to be true. I knew I'd lose her, in the end."

"You weren't there. You don't know what it was like," Touya said, staring off into the distance.

"I know you love her," Touya continued, looking searchingly at Eriol, his brown eyes flitting over the younger man's face. Eriol blushed and opened his mouth, probably to protest, but Touya gave a genuine smile and shook his head.

"No, don't try to deny it. I've seen that look in your eyes when you see her. It's the look I know I get in mine when I see the person I love the most. I love Tomoyo-chan too," Touya paused for a moment and his smile widened and he admitted, "although, it's probably not in the same way you do."

Eriol blushed more.

"So I know what I'm talking about when I say this next part," he said, suddenly returning to utmost seriousness.

"Imagine if suddenly Tomoyo-chan wasn't there anymore," he said softly, getting that far-away look in his eyes again as he spoke, "imagine if she just left, without even telling you. As if she didn't care about you. As if you didn't matter. And then imagine how you would feel if you thought you would never see her again."

"I guess," he said, the look in his eyes suddenly becoming re-focused as he grinned at Eriol, "it would be even worse for you, as I can tell she's the person you love the most, even if you don't know it yet."

Eriol gave up and let himself become a human tomato.

"And we all searched for her, because we all love her so very much. And even though there are lots of people who want her to come back to Tomoeda, I think she should stay here. With the person who loves her the most. Because Tomoyo-chan deserves to be somebody's number one," he smiled gently.

"Tomoyo-chan needs to be with the person who loves her the most, and nobody in Tomoeda can love her like that. She needs to be with you, because I think she might -"

Tomoyo returned at that moment carrying a tray laden with replacement tea for both herself and Touya, and a cup for Eriol.

"Sorry it took so long!" she said cheerfully as she sat in the armchair across from them and set the tray on the coffee table.

'Because I think she might feel the same way about you,' Touya completed in his head, annoyed that he hadn't been able to say it in time. Then he looked over at them, Tomoyo-chan smiling as she asked Eriol if the tea was okay. Eriol nodded enthusiastically.

'But perhaps it's better if they work it out for themselves,' he thought, smiling.

…

Half an hour later, Eriol was completely clued-in on what had happened in Tomoyo's hometown after her disappearance and the three were now wondering what she should do.

"I don't think I can face everyone just yet," Tomoyo said as she stared down into the depths of her tea, looking miserable.

'I know I don't want to ever see her sad, but is she the one I love the most?' Eriol wondered as he watched her.

'No,' he decided, 'Kinomoto-san was wrong about that. She's not the one I love the most, because I don't need a 'special person' right now. But I do care about her very, very much.'

"Go back at Christmas," Eriol suggested suddenly, and the others looked surprised that he had spoken - he had been so silent and subdued until then.

"That'll give you a couple more months to recover and gain strength, then you can see them," he continued. Tomoyo's face lit up.

"That's perfect!" she cried.

"But this is only late September," Touya said, frowning, "Christmas is three months away. That may be too late for Sonomi-san."

Everyone at the table lapsed back into deep thought at that, Tomoyo looking distinctly troubled. They sat in silence for a few moments. Then, suddenly Tomoyo let out an exclamation.

"I'll call her! I'll just call her and tell her I'm okay, and that I'll see her at Christmas."

Touya nodded.

"That might work."

He checked his watch and made a face.

"It's getting late. I'll have to go. Listen, Tomoyo-chan, what do you want me to say to everyone? Should I pretend I never found you, or…"

Tomoyo thought hard for a moment, then said, "pretend you never found me. I'll call Mother very soon and tell her what I want her and everyone else to know, and she can inform everyone."

Then her expression softened.

"But tell… Tell Sakura-chan you found me, okay? Tell her I'm okay, and I'll see her at Christmas. Tell her… Tell her I miss her, and I'm sorry."

'Anyway,' Eriol thought to himself, 'Tomoyo-san wouldn't be a very good choice for a special person. She's clearly still in love with Sakura.'

"I will," Touya promised as he stood up. Tomoyo got his coat for him, and after he pulled it on, he hugged her tightly.

"Can I… Can I come visit you, maybe?" he asked. Tomoyo smiled.

"Of course you can!" she said.

"And you," Touya said, releasing Tomoyo and looking over at Eriol, "you look after my little cousin, okay? If I hear you've hurt her, I'll break every bone in your body."

He paused for a moment.

"Twice," he concluded. Eriol smiled as he got up and stood beside Tomoyo.

"I will," he promised.

Touya looked back when he reached the end of the path in front of Tomoyo's house and waved. The couple in the doorway waved back at him, and he walked away, hands in his pockets.

'I believe you when you say you'll look after her,' he thought, 'I just hope you never hurt her unintentionally. But perhaps I'm being overly wary. After all, everybody will be okay when they're with their special person.'

…

Tomoyo walked away from the front door of her home and back into her living room. Eriol watched as she flopped, exhausted, on to her couch.

"How about you call your mother now?" Eriol asked.

"Then you can go to bed," he finished.

Tomoyo sighed.

"I don't know if I can handle that right now," she said wearily. Eriol shrugged.

"Seems to me that you might as well do it now," he said, "probably talking to your mother will exhaust you, but you're so exhausted as it is, it won't affect you. Better to get it over and done with, anyway. And, by the sounds of things, the sooner you do this, the better it will be for your mother. You don't have time to waste."

Tomoyo nodded.

"I was being selfish again," she said, and she grabbed her phone off the coffee table.

Eriol looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"I can leave, if you -" he began, but Tomoyo cut him off with a horrified look.

"Don't you dare!" she hissed.

Eriol sat down obediently beside her as she dialled the number. When Tomoyo-san spoke like that, only the extremely foolish disobeyed her.

…

The weak, weary voice of her mother startled Tomoyo more than anything else she had heard that night. She had never heard her mother, who usually spoke in a confident, determined, don't-mess-with-me tone, sound so defeated.

"Mother?" Tomoyo said, the word somehow coming out as a question, even though Tomoyo knew exactly who it was.

"Tomoyo?!" the voice suddenly became more animated as Sonomi practically shrieked down the phone with delight.

"Yes, Mother, it's me," Tomoyo said softly, and she wondered why she could taste salt. Then she realised she was crying.

"I can't believe it… Is it really you? Am I hallucinating?" Sonomi asked, her voice that of utter wonder.

"I've been so, so worried," she said, her voice so shaky now that Tomoyo was sure she was crying now too, "so you're going to come home, right? You can come home, and see everyone, and you're not dead, oh, Tomoyo!"

Tomoyo felt terrible to crush her mother's hopes so cruelly, but it had to be done.

"No, Mother, I'm not…" Tomoyo took a deep breath to steady herself, "I'm not coming home. I… I live here now. I have my own house, and a job, and I'm fine, really. I have lots of people who are looking out for me. I'm… I'm the luckiest girl in the world. I have two families."

"You're… You're not coming home?" Sonomi asked speaking so slowly it was if she didn't know what the words meant.

"No. But you don't need to worry - I'll see you at Christmas. I'm coming back for a while at Christmas, I promise!" Tomoyo exclaimed, praying that that would take at least a little of the edge off.

"Tomoyo, that is enough! Where are you? Tell me where you are, young lady! I'm coming to get you! You're supposed to be home, with your mother, and I…" Sonomi dissolved into fits of tears on the other end of the phone.

Tomoyo began to weep harder too, and Eriol shifted slightly on the couch, coming right up next to her. He wrapped what he hoped was a comforting arm around her waist.

"I'm seventeen now, Mother. I'm my own person. You can't tell me what I have to do anymore. I'm not coming to Tomoeda yet, because it's not my home anymore. Now, you're not to spend another second thinking about me. I'm home now, Mother, and I'll see you soon," Tomoyo said, sounding more confident and forceful than she felt.

"This is the way things have to be. I'm sorry, Mother. For what I'm about to do, and for that night."

And although it broke her heart to do so, she hung up the phone.

…

Tomoyo was still a sobbing, spluttering mess twenty minutes later. Eriol was dutifully rubbing her back and letting his shirt get soaked.

"I hung up," she wailed, "on my own mother! Who's dying, for Christ's sake! What kind of a person does that?!"

"A person," Eriol replied, "who is ready to finally stand up for herself. A person who knows she's right. And your mother will not die. She'll hang on now, because she knows that you're going to come."

"And now," Eriol said decisively, "you are going to bed, as you should have done hours ago."

And he scooped Tomoyo up in his arms.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Tomoyo cried, able to see the funny side despite the fact she was miserable.

"Carrying you to bed," he replied calmly. "Now I assume your bedroom is upstairs?"

Tomoyo nodded, giggling, as Eriol managed to climb the stairs rather gracefully.

"Aren't I heavy?" she asked, sounding concerned. Eriol shook his head.

"If anything," he said, "you're worryingly light. Do you eat enough?"

Tomoyo laughed.

"You sound like my…" she paused, and her face crumpled in pain, "Mother."

"Now, now," Eriol said scoldingly, "let's not start all that again. There's no use you getting all hot and bothered before bed."

Tomoyo opened her mouth, but Eriol headed her off.

"Please do not make a tasteless joke about getting 'hot and bothered' before bed," Eriol said wearily, but the corners of his mouth were curling upwards.

"You know," he continued, "for such a protected little girl, you have rather a talent for dirty jokes."

"It's this one," Tomoyo said reluctantly as they stood outside her bedroom.

Eriol nudged the ajar door fully open with his foot and gently deposited Tomoyo on her bed.

"Now, I'm going home, okay, Tomoyo-san? You go to sleep, and I'll see you tomorrow," Eriol said, then he did something he had never done before - leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

He drew back slowly, as if he were submerged in water. Tomoyo looked at him, her purple eyes boring into his blue ones. And slowly, ever so slowly, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his.

And for a stupid, senseless moment, he let himself kiss her back.

…

A.N. Oh, that was evil! Sorry, that was quite a cruel place to leave it, I think. Things are really moving forward now - I LOVED writing the ending to that chapter, though! I love doing kiss scenes.

Anyway, I'll see you next time!

Shattered Midnight Dreams…zzz…

Because life's like that sometimes…