"Quit being a creep, Tamaki!" Alex shoved away an oversized hoodie he was trying to wrap her in. "I'm not putting that on!"

"Alex you can't show off so much skin! Especially not in front of other boys!"

"Just stop it, Tamaki! I thought we've been over this! And you're not so holy yourself!" She grabbed at his chest. "Look at your exposed skin!"

He shivered and jumped away. "Fine! Only here with your family, young lady!" He grumbled and walked away, guarding his chest with his arms all the while. Alex grumpily turned on her heel and sat under an umbrella next to Kyoya.

"You got him to back off? Not bad."

"Just barely, I don't exactly feel good about what I just did. I'm trying to predict what kind of Freudian slip he'll do next. Do you think he has mommy issues too, mommy?"

"I try not to think about it too hard."

Alex sighs and leans back. "What are we doing here anyways?"

"I thought the club could use the time to de-stress after all that's been going on lately."

"Aww, Kyoya. You're so sweet when you pretend to be human." Alex ruffled his hair. She grabbed his tropical drink for a sip, cringing when she tasted a heavy dose of alcohol. "Holy shit, is there anything other than tequila in that?"

Kyoya gave her a tight lipped smile and took an unbothered sip. "Alex, why ask such stupid questions? And quiet down. I want to relax too."

And they really tried. They had both gotten tipsy enough to feel relaxed, believing that they could both keep themselves composed enough so that no one else could tell, but as soon as they stood up they could feel the alcohol hitting them. They were fucked as soon as Honey went missing in the tide pool and everyone else started hiking into the jungle to follow them.

"Wait, wait. Guys! There's alli-" Kyoya let the words stumble out. "There's alligators that way, go a different one."

"A different what?" Tamaki shouted.

"A different way!"

"Kyoya!" Alex whisper shouted. "What the fuck is going on here!"

Kyoya rubbed his forehead. "Uhh... We were supposed to be testing the park for its opening next week for my father. I think they got let out by the thing that took honey away."

"Dude! You can't do that! Do something!" Alex grabbed his arm and shook.

Kyoya called in his family's police force, but as soon as he hung up, the wide eyed expression on his face hunched Alex over in laughter.

"Your face!" She couldn't stop. "Your- Your, yo what the fucks wrong?"

A giggle ripped through his serious expression. "I forgot to tell them we're here."

"No!" Alex kept laughing. "No 'cause Haruhi and Mori are in there!"

"Yeah"

Alex lost it, completely falling to the ground in laughter. The twins looked back in curiosity.

"Hey what's wrong with Alex?" Kaoru bent to examine her face.

Hikaru stood back with his arms crossed. "She sounds like the birds around here. She's gonna scare Honey away."

"Shut up, Hikaru! You look like the birds around here!" Alex stuck her tongue out and held her open hands to the sides of her face.

"You got it right for once, huh?" Kaoru took Alex by the hand and pulled her up.

"O-of course not, Kaokaru! I don't know a damn thing, and I resent you for thinking I do!"

"Kyoya," Kaoru side-eyed Kyoya. "What did you do to Alex?"

Kyoya stared wide eyed and shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about. She's just as ridiculous as ever."

The twins rolled their eyes and took one of Alex's arms each. "Come on then, Alex."

"Where's Haruhi? I miss her. I really wanted to see her in a bathing suit!"

"Us too, Alex. Us too."

As soon as Haruhi, Mori and Honey were all found, the club headed back to the pool area. Haruhi and Alex, having been kidnapped to get to the themepark, had no items to collect, so while the rest of the club was busy collecting their things, the girls sat by each other on a cabana style love seat. Alex was hugging Haruhi from the side and rubbing her cheek on Haruhi's.

"Haruhi I missed you! I was worried when you went out in the jungle!"

Haruhi couldn't make any eye contact. Alex's wounds had mostly faded, so she was less insecure about what she wore. The bikini she was wearing today was particularly complementary to her chest, currently pressed against Haruhi and directly in her line of sight. "I missed you too, Alex. Are you feeling okay?" Haruhi pressed her hand against Alex's forehead, and Alex leaned into it, resting her head on Haruhi's shoulder.

"Yeah, but I wanted to surf. Didn't get to today. I really wanna go to a beach though. In Hawaii it was like beaches every day, even if I didn't go in I could see it... I love the beach." Alex's words got quieter with every sentence. Her eyes closed and she started dozing off. "...I miss the beach."

"Kyoya, this sucked!" The twins shouted. "You were just using us the whole time, we need another break!"

"We should go to the beach!" Hikaru insisted.

"You idiots, Haruhi can't swim! She wouldn't be interested in-" Haruhi cut Tamaki off.

"I think the beach would be fun. We should definitely go next time. I'm not into this silly waterpark," Haruhi finally looked at Alex's face. "but the beach would be so pretty."

Mmm..." Alex mumbled. "...pretty. You're pretty."

When the hosts said told Haruhi and Alex that they were going to the beach, Alex had promised that she would try to teach Haruhi how to surf. Alex had been surfing since she was young, Haruhi felt privileged that Alex was sharing such a personal thing with her, but the hosts had instead been forced to hang out with the customers the whole trip. Alex had a small swimsuit photoshoot and was now showing the girls some surfing tips as well as taking pictures with them. Kyoya was even charging for "professional ones", and Alex berated him later for scamming the girls. Alex managed to get to Haruhi after a group of girls finally left her alone.

"Haruhi! I wanted to see you in a swimsuit finally!"

"I'll be honest, I'm not all that comfortable in them anyways. But maybe just you and me could hang out in a plastic pool."

"Yeah, that'd be awesome! The guys are fun and all but it gets exhausting to be around all the time."

"It feels like they're always trying to keep us apart."

"Maybe they should be, huh?" Alex bumped shoulders with Haruhi. "I think they're jealous cos you're cuter than them all."

Haruhi blushed and looked down forcefully. "Hey, Alex?"

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Are you into girls?"

The question caught Alex off guard, but she answered without hesitation. "Yeah. I love girls. And boys. I'm into all types I guess."

"Oh."

"Who are you into?"

"I uhm..." Haruhi rolled her head trying to find the right thing to say. "I didn't really give it much thought before, but I think I'm into both too."

"Oh?" Alex was beaming. "Is there a girl you like?"

"I think so."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I mean I have to keep hosting until I pay off my debt, and I think it'd be pretty hard to date and host, but... I don't know."

"You never know 'til you ask, Haruhi."

They sat in comfortable silence, feeling the cool beach breeze flow under the umbrella, until Honey invited them both to go 'hellfish shunting'. Haruhi felt just a little more at ease. Of course there was more to say, but there was a degree of comfortableness now that their sexuality was in the open. Haruhi wondered if Alex would keep 'flirting' with her now that she knew.

Upon finding that a certain competition had Haruhi's middle school pictures as a prize, Alex entered with fervor. Already taken was ghosts, closed spaces, and sharp objects, Alex decided she would try Haruhi against heights. The sun was setting, a perfect excuse for a better view at the top of the rock. A few girls followed Haruhi up.

"I don't know about this Alex. It's dangerous."

"What are you, Haruhi? Afraid of heights?" Alex kept hold of Haruhi, not letting her back down.

"Of course not!" One of the girls from their class chimed in. "Haruhi is the manliest! You saw him earlier with that bug!"

"Haha." Haruhi laughed nervously. "Thanks girls but I-"

"Hey there's chicks up here." Up crawled two older men, both reeking of cigarettes and alcohol. "Aren't we lucky?"

"You ladies wanna hang out with a couple of locals?" One of them descended upon Alex.

"Ugh! Take a shower first!"

"No need to be such a bitch!" One of them grabbed Alex by the wrist and she tried pulling away harshly.

"Let her go!" Haruhi ripped Alex away from the man. "This is a private beach, you can't be here!"

"Fuck off, runt!" One pushed Haruhi backwards, towards the ledge. "No room for you here tonight."

Alex grabbed a hold of the back of the mans shirt, trying to pull him off of Haruhi, but the man continued pushing her towards the ledge. "Leave him alone!"

The man ignored Alex, holding Haruhi against the ledge by her shirt. "Hope you can swim, sissy boy."

And Haruhi was flying. Falling. Into the water. The last thing she remembered was seeing a flash of dark red flying towards her and feeling the crash of the ocean beneath her back. When she came back up for air, Alex was pressed against her, holding them both above the surface. Haruhi was panicked and trying to crawl on top of Alex, she couldn't swim. They settled on Haruhi holding onto Alex, chest to chest, with Haruhi's legs and arms wrapped around Alex while she swam to shore where the club stood in wait. Alex helped Haruhi stand up straight and catch her breath.

"One of you, get a doctor." Alex looked to Kyoya who pulled up his cell phone.

"I'm fine, guys. I don't need a doctor."

Tamaki crouched and placed his hands on Haruhi's shoulders. "What were you thinking? Why did you confront them? You're not like Honey-senpai, you can't stand a chance against two boys."

Alex opened her mouth in protest but Haruhi had already fired back. "It doesn't matter that they're boys and I'm a girl. I was there, I had to do something!"

"That's no excuse, you idiot! Don't forget that you're a girl!"

"Nuh-uh! Tamaki, what the hell are you doing blaming Haruhi for this?" Alex's nostrils flared.

"Why shouldn't I? If she hadn't provoked them they wouldn't have-"

"It doesn't work like that Tamaki! Those boys never should have been here in the first place! And you have no right to be angry at Haruhi for dealing with them!" Alex stood between Haruhi and Tamaki, shoving him back with a finger on his chest. "If you wanna blame anyone other than them blame yourself for not being there, but Haruhi didn't do anything wrong!"

"Both of you, you just don't get it!"

"Explain it to us then! Explain why Haruhi's a bad person for defending those girls when they all believed she was a boy!"

Tamaki flustered, backing away and spitting out random syllables. "Fine! But I'm not speaking to either of you until you can admit that you were wrong!" He turned on his feel towards a car for the club. Alex stepped after at him.

"Fine! Maybe we'll get a break from all the stupid things you say all the time then!"

Tamaki looked back for a second before running into the car. Fits of frustration could be heard from outside. The twins, Honey and Mori took up the task of caring for Haruhi while Alex hung back with Kyoya.

"Hey, what happened with those guys?"

"We took their ID's and asked them to leave. The girls are all back at their hotels. We're headed back to one of my family's estates-"

"Once again, you guys don't take any of these attacks seriously! They could have killed Haruhi!"

"Oh, so she was wrong?"

"No! Any lone guy could have been overpowered against two guys. Haruhi having a dick wouldn't have suddenly saved her if she hit a rock below or hit at the wrong angle and broke her fucking neck, alright?" Alex shoved Kyoya and he stumbled back a step. "I'm tired of you assholes pretending that it matters so much! And if she wasn't there? They could have assaulted those girls! They attacked Haruhi for standing in the way, what would they have done to the girls? They're dangerous and you need to act like it!"

Alex stormed away, refusing to look at Kyoya or Tamaki on the ride back. Honey, Mori and the twins were being boisterous as always, sharing ideas for what to do with all the shellfish. Alex tried to keep up with their conversation but couldn't, she knew dirt about food and cooking. In fact, Haruhi made her sit down and not touch anything in the kitchen as soon as the pot erupted into flames when Alex touched it. They made Alex set the table while Haruhi went to change. By the time everyone had sat down, the only seats available were directly across from Tamaki or on his side. She took the one across from him, leaned back with her arms crossed and kept her eyes down.

Wind knocked against the windows as the hosts waited for Haruhi's return, Honey-senpai having already set out the crab meat. "It's gloomy out, huh guys?"

"It's not just gloomy outside-" Hikaru twisted a fork on one of its prongs.

"It's gloomy in here too." Kaoru leaned over to Alex. The twins were on either side of her playing with her clothes. She looked up at Tamaki, making sure he returned eye contact, and laid her head on Kaoru's shoulder.

He crossed his arms and grumpily looked away.

"Oh come on, boss. You shouldn't have picked a fight in the first place- Haruhi! Where did you get that dress!"

Haruhi stepped into the room in a mess of pink frills and lace, forced to sit in the seat next to Tamaki. She also refused to look at him. "I think my dad re-packed my bag when I wasn't looking. He's always trying to get me to dress more girly."

The twins and Alex gave her a thumbs up and chimed. "Way to go, Dad!"

"Well alright, let's dig in!" Alex clapped once and everyone started piling crab onto their plates.

Alex waited back to watch the others eat, she had no idea how to eat crab. She kept her eye on Haruhi, who had gone through two plate-fulls already, slapping Tamaki with old crab shells the whole way. "These crabs are... In-crab-ible! Huh, Alex?"

Alex giggled and nodded, finally getting into a crab.

"Don't you think you've had enough?" Tamaki shot at Haruhi, dodging another shell. "Give it a rest."

"I though you weren't speaking to me, senpai." She threw an empty shell at him this time.

"You trying to be cute?" Haruhi pouted and turned away. Alex threw her own half-full shell at Tamaki, looking away quickly when Tamaki glared at her. "Fine, I get it. You both refuse to admit you were wrong. See if I care then!"

Alex threw another shell at him, keeping eye contact. Then the twins joined it. Someone shouted "Food fight", probably one or both of the twins, though by now Alex and Haruhi were also likely. Everyone but Kyoya was throwing shells at Tamaki, and he tried to throw a few back but was easily overwhelmed. He stood up in a huff and everyone halted their fire. "Enough! I'm going to bed! Kyoya, will you please show me to my room!"

"Sure," Kyoya stood up with him. "If you guys wouldn't mind cleaning up just a little, my staff isn't here as you all know. Alex, you don't want the cleaning bill for rotten shellfish smell."

Alex sighed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Haruhi pressed her lips into a line. "Maybe he's right. Maybe I do need to learn a way to defend myself."

Alex perked up. "Hold up, he isn't right! I mean of course that would have a bunch of benefits but you can't blame yourself for anything that happened."

"But that's not the real issue here," The twins spoke together.

Hikaru continued. "We were all a little worried about how reckless you both acted."

"Wait, what do you mean? I didn't cause you guys any trouble did I?"

"You didn't!" Alex shouted over everyone. "I swear to god if you all try to guilt her for what she did one more time, I'm gonna quit the goddamn club! Haruhi has nothing to apologize for!"

Alex shot up from the table and stormed out. The twins were the first to stand up too, walking around the table to surround Haruhi in a hug. "We were just worried, but we're glad you're okay."

"Us too!" Honey and Mori joined in.

"You guys were worried about me?"

"Of course we were!" Hikaru half shouted.

"Guys, I'm really sorry."

"Don't let Alex hear you!"

"You're so cute, Haru-chan! Of course we forgive you!"

Haruhi appreciated all of their hugging, but bolted when she felt her stomach becoming upset. She ran through the hallways and into the nearest open door, finally expelling the food into a toilet. Cleaning her mouth and flushing, she stepped out of the bathroom to examine the suite she was in. It was dark, even with the open windows since it had gotten so late. She could see a giant four poster bed draped in dark fabric. A dark haired man sat, shirtless and drying his hair.

"Are you okay?" The man asked.

"I'm sorry sir, I don't mean to intrude-"

"It's just me, Haruhi. Don't worry."

"Kyoya-senpai?" He started to approach and she finally recognized him without his glasses. "I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to make everyone worry."

"Thanks, but I wasn't especially worried about you. Hikaru and Kaoru would have killed those boys if I hadn't pried them off, not to mention I had to send bouquets to all the ladies. They were all looking forward to this trip, you know."

"I'll pay you back for the flowers, senpai."

Kyoya walked past her to the light switch, flipping it off. "600,000 yen is a lot of money, Haruhi."

"Why did you turn the lights off?"

"If you want to, you can pay me back with your body." Kyoya took Haruhi by the wrist and threw her onto the bed, pinning her down with his own body. "Surely you can't be so naive as to think a persons sex doesn't matter. I can just imagine what those boys would have done to you if they knew you were a girl."

Kyoya hunched over her, waiting for her to speak or show any fear, but she didn't. Haruhi smiled. "So that's it. You're just trying to be a good friend and prove Tamaki's point. I know you won't do anything, Kyoya-senpai. You wouldn't gain anything from it, I'm not the one you'd want to do anything to."

Kyoya huffed in amusement and pulled one hand away. "You called my bluff, Haruhi. You're an extraordinary-"

"What the hell is going on here?" Alex stood at the door way, hands in fists at her side. Kyoya in a rush got off of Haruhi and stood with his hands up in defense as she dashed to him and started shoving. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She started pounding her fists at him in a hammer motion. Haruhi finally managed to grab a hold of Alex's wrists.

"Alex he wasn't gonna do anything! He was just trying to prove Tamaki's point earlier-"

"He what?" She dove back at him, pinning him to the bed.

"Why is that worse for her?" Kyoya pleadingly eyed Haruhi who tried to pull Alex off to no avail. "Please, Alex. Let me explain-"

"Oh please explain to me why it's actually a good thing you were pretending to rape Haruhi! I'd love to hear what you come up with!"

Kyoya managed to grab hold of Alex's wrists, and strain against her just to stop her from attacking. "You both should learn how to defend yourselves-"

"We shouldn't have to learn! Boys should learn how not to attack women! It's not that fucking hard! And I am sick of you all pretending you have some wonderful reason for deserving an apology from us, you don't! You're all mad because we didn't give you the opportunity play the hero, and you keep coming up with all these shitty reasons for why we did something wrong, but we didn't! So shut up about it!"

Alex let Haruhi peel her off of Kyoya. He smoothed his hair away from his face and reached toward her. "Alex, I'm sorry-"

"Save it! I told you to leave it alone, and this is what you do!" She slapped his hand away. "I quit! I'm sick of all of you!"

Alex stomped out of the room, shoulder hitting Tamaki's on the way out. Haruhi put her hands up in retreat. "Kyoya-senpai please give us a sec, I promise she doesn't mean it." Haruhi ran past Tamaki as well, leaving Kyoya to deal with his aftermath. Kyoya sighed in defeat, just thinking about Alex and not absorbing anything Tamaki yelled at him. He eyed a mug on his side table. He had filled it with whiskey just before dinner and had already polished it off, maybe he really wasn't thinking clearly. He should probably apologize again to Alex, he wanted to go talk to Alex. He'd go find her later.

Haruhi didn't have to go far to find Alex. She stood in one place, fuming childishly with her arms crossed.

"Alex? Are you okay?"

"I'm lost. I got lost earlier trying to find your room and then I saw Kyoya on top of you and then I got lost again."

"It's okay. Come with me." Haruhi took Alex by the hand and lead her to her room. Alex blindly followed, falling into her bed as soon as they made it into the room. Haruhi pressed the door closed with her back and carefully watched Alex. "Hey,"

"Yeah, Haruhi?"

"Are you really gonna quit the club?" Haruhi slowly padded over to Alex's bed and laid down beside her.

"I don't know. I'm so angry and I'm sick of them blaming us for everything that happens to us, I'm just. I don't know."

Haruhi's hand explored the bed to find Alex's and she held on tight, staring intently into Alex's eyes. "Please don't leave."

Alex held eye contact for a long while, squeezing Haruhi's hand back. She sighed and closed her eyes, a tear breaking way and falling down her cheek. "I won't."

Haruhi flipped to her side and held Alex tightly, petting her hair. They sat wrapped in eachother until thunder shook the building and Haruhi pulled Alex's hair.

"Ow! What the hell Haruhi?"

"I'm so sorry! I just-" She yelped when more thunder sounded.

"Haruhi? What's wrong? Wait-" A smile broke across Alex's face. "Are you afraid of thunderstorms?"

"Of course I'm not-" The next one made Haruhi clasp her hands over her ears and shut her eyes tightly. "I'm afraid of thunderstorms."

Alex smiled, patted Haruhi's bed and threw the thickest blanket she could find over the two of them. "It's okay. We're gonna be fine."

Alex laid on the bed, face to face with Haruhi, arms draped around Haruhi's shoulders. She was blushing her face off but glad Alex couldn't see.

"W-what are we doing?"

"I'm distracting you. We're just gonna chill and wait out the storm. Talk to me."

"What about?"

"Oooh what about that girl you like, huh?"

"I don't wanna talk about her."

"Come on, Haruhi."

"No."

"Please!"

"No."

"Haruhi-"

The thunder cut Alex off and Haruhi just about shouted.

"It's you, okay? I'm... in love with you or something."

:p please tell me what yall think, I'm thirsty for reviews

Also sorry it got a little preachy i have a lot of opinions about how they treat haruhi here. but the episode is still a fave cos i really do want kyoya to pin me down, ya feel? Anyways see yall next update