The insane musings of the authoress: I'm back with chapter eleven, and I'm happy that I get to clear up the horrible cliffhanger I left last time ((beams))

Special thanks to: Absolutely everyone who reviewed! I was even happy when you complained about the cliffhanger ((laughs)) I can't believe that little old 'Glass Roses' has over 200!! reviews! Thank you all so much!

Disclaimer: CCS is not mine.

Glass Roses

Chapter Twelve

What Happens When: Everything Starts To Fall Apart

Her hands came round his back, drawing him down to her, and he fell down on top of her. It wasn't a soft kiss, anything but - it crackled with passion and desire, want, and desperation.

And even though Eriol knew he shouldn't, he couldn't help himself. Like Adam with the forbidden fruit.

But then he pulled away from her. Because although it was almost too easy, as all he had to do was reach out for her and he could have her, he couldn't silence the little voice in his head that told him it was wrong.

"I'm sorry," she gasped immediately, "I shouldn't have…"

"That's right, you shouldn't have," he said, and although Tomoyo winced, his voice wasn't particularly harsh, "you don't really want this. You're vulnerable, and I'd be taking advantage. Your head's all messed up, what with all the stress of today."

She was lying on the bed, inky-black hair splayed everywhere, her face flushed and eyes bright. Her lips were pink and swollen, and he wanted nothing more than to kiss her again, and lie down beside her, never to leave her side again.

He wanted it so badly it scared him.

She licked her lips unconsciously, and Eriol couldn't help but feel that she was licking him up, trying to savour the taste of him. He stopped himself from leaning forward just in time.

"I mustn't…" he muttered. Tomoyo blinked. Eriol shook his head vigorously.

"Forget it. Go to sleep, okay? In the morning you'll laugh at how stupid an idea it was. Subconsciously, you were just seeking comfort. Don't worry; just forget about it, because I have. I'll see you tomorrow," he said quickly, and he left her room, closing the door behind him.

Halfway down the stairs, he left himself pause and think about what deep shit he was in.

…

'How come everything I do is the wrong thing?' Tomoyo wondered as she clutched her teddy bear to her chest.

'Perhaps I should just go back to Tomoeda. Perhaps things would be better that way.'

…

Much to his surprise, Nakuru was home when he got in. She got up from her seat at the kitchen table when she saw him.

"Gosh," she said, smiling, "you were a long time!"

Eriol walked straight past her towards the stairs. Nakuru frowned.

"Hey, are you okay? Did something happen? Is Tomoyo-chan okay?" she asked, sounding anxious.

"It's all Kinomoto Touya's fault!" he exclaimed dramatically as he continued his ascent of the stairs, not even looking back at Nakuru, "He put ideas in my head!"

Nakuru was well and truly confused.

…

After hours of lying awake, Tomoyo drifted into a light, uneasy sleep. Her teddy bear was soaked.

…

"What happened tonight to make you so weird?!" Nakuru hollered at Eriol through the bathroom door.

"Nothing!" Eriol barked. "And I am not 'weird'!"

"And, just as an afterthought," Nakuru continued, "who the hell is Kinomoto Touya?" (A.N. I actually made myself laugh writing that, as I found the idea of Nakuru not knowing who Touya is deliciously absurd : -) )

"Nobody!" Eriol yelled sharply.

"Nothing and nobody," Nakuru muttered to herself, "well, I can see that this isn't going to get me anywhere…"

Nakuru grinned wickedly.

"You kissed her, didn't you? You just couldn't resist, you naughty boy…" she teased, expecting him to yell at her to stop being silly. Instead she was met by silence, and then a tentative 'not… Not quite…'

…

Ten minutes later, Eriol was spilling his problems to an uncharacteristically serious Nakuru over coffee at the kitchen table. He hadn't bothered to tell her about Tomoyo's past, instead choosing to invent an evening with Tomoyo.

He'd managed to invent a scenario that would leave Tomoyo appropriately confused, exhausted and needing comfort. And Nakuru seemed to have forgotten about the mysterious Kinomoto Touya, much to his relief.

"And how do you feel about her?" Nakuru asked as she sipped at her steaming coffee.

"That's the thing - I used to be so sure about what I felt for her, but now… Now, I don't know!" he wailed. His coffee lay untouched in front of him.

"Wow," Nakuru muttered to herself, "this is almost better than Isabelle and I could have hoped for…"

"Sorry?" Eriol asked, he had been so absorbed in his contemplation of the problem that he hadn't heard her.

"Nothing," she said, imitating Eriol earlier without meaning to.

"I say you just pretend it didn't happen until you're certain of how you feel about it. That way, you don't lose her, but you still confront the problem," she suggested.

"I guess I have no other choice," he said glumly as he stared into his coffee.

"When you stopped the kiss earlier, did you…?" Nakuru asked softly, her voice trailing away. Eriol chuckled bitterly.

"Want to kiss her again? Yeah, I did," he said.

"Please don't tell me I love her," he pleaded.

"Okay," Nakuru said as she smiled and sipped her coffee, "I won't."

…

Touya stepped into the Kinomoto home and immediately went to Sakura's room. Just as he had thought he would, he found his little sister sitting at her desk, sound asleep; her face stuck to a page of the telephone directory. Their were circles around places Tomoyo might have gone to or phoned up. She was making her way through them, dutifully calling each one and trying not to sound disappointed when they couldn't help her.

"Hey," he said softly as he shook her sleeping form gently, "wake up."

"Onii-chan…" she muttered sleepily, as she looked up at him and smiled. Then she sat bolt upright.

"Did you find her?" she demanded sharply, all trace of sleepiness gone. Touya felt he could cry with happiness when he found he could tell his miserable little sister the word he had been praying he would be able to tell her.

"Yes," he said simply, smiling. Sakura burst into tears.

"Oh my God, Onii-chan! I can't believe it! You found her! You found Tomoyo-chan!" she leapt up and threw herself at him in a rib-crushing hug.

"Did she tell you why she left?" she asked, unable to stop weeping, even though she was smiling and laughing too.

"Well…" Touya said, squirming in discomfort at the awkwardness of the question, "Tomoyo-chan was very stressed, and she had to get away for a while."

A look of total and utter comprehension dawned on Sakura's face.

"Oh, I see. So she's staying in a hotel or something for a while, right? Just to take a break. It was rather silly of her not to tell us she was going, but I suppose she was worried that Sonomi-san would try to stop her or something. That's okay. As long as we know she's okay. And she'll come home soon," Sakura babbled.

A part of Touya wanted nothing more than to let her continue thinking that, but he felt he had to tell her the truth.

"Sakura," he said, "Tomoyo-chan… She's not… Coming back here. Not to live, anyway. She lives in another town now, and she has this adorable little house, and a job, and…"

Sakura gave a sad little smile.

"And there's a person there, right?" she asked, but she sounded so sure that Touya wasn't even certain that it was a question.

"I think he might be the person just for Tomoyo-chan," Touya said carefully. Sakura was studying the pages of the phone book without seeing any of the words.

She turned to Touya as she spoke next.

"I'm glad," she said softly, "I hope he can make her happy, in the way I couldn't. If he makes her happy, she should stay with him. Everyone should be with their special person."

She spoke simply in the way only she could. Everything she said was 'just so'. Her words never got bogged down with complications like some peoples' did. She could always communicate exactly what she meant - she was just like a child that way. And every word that came out of her mouth had a spin on it, so that it was touching and gentle.

She could never be harsh or blunt. And she could never see why things couldn't be the way they so obviously should.

"If only," he said as he ruffled her hair fondly, sadness in his eyes, "it were that easy."

…

By the next day, everyone who had been involved in the search knew what Sonomi knew. Everyone was already eagerly anticipating Tomoyo's Christmas return.

…

Eriol decided that morning to go to Tomoyo's house to check on her. He couldn't define it, but he had a strange feeling, just a niggling thought in the back of his mind, that he really had to go check on Tomoyo.

So he left the house after saying goodbye to Nakuru (he didn't bother telling her where he was going as he really didn't have the energy to explain himself).

He walked briskly to Tomoyo's house, the birds sang merrily in the early morning sunshine as he went. When he reached Tomoyo's house, he was very glad of that niggling feeling that wouldn't leave him alone, as it seemed he hadn't come a moment too soon.

Tomoyo was standing on her doorstep with two suitcases. Eriol broke into a run, pausing only to vault neatly over the little gate at the end of her path.

"Hey!" he yelled as he got nearer. "What the hell are you doing?!"

For a second Tomoyo looked surprised, but then she set her mouth into a firm line.

"I'm going back to Tomoeda."

…

A.N. Goodness, I really must stop with all the short chapters and cliffhangers! Hopefully the next chapter will be longer and won't contain a cliffhanger. I just couldn't resist, though, and I absolutely adore the last line - I think it's quite dramatic, but that's just my opinion : -)

I'm actually quite pleased with how 'Glass Roses' is turning out. I think it's a little deeper than what I thought I would originally end up with. I'm actually having fun with putting more of a plot into it (i.e. the whole Tomoyo-running-away thing) whereas 'Butterflies' is just me having a ball and being fantastically silly : -)

Anyway, I'll see you all next chapter!

Shattered Midnight Dreams…zzz…

Because life's like that sometimes…