Day Two of the Ouran Fair commenced with all of the hosts completely out of their element after what Tamaki had said the day before.

Angelina was racking her brain to try and figure out how to fix this whole mess. She had never seen this one coming in a million years. She knew Éclair was going to stir up trouble, but not this much trouble!

There was no way Tamaki could run off and marry Éclair. For one thing, he was way too young to be thinking about marriage in the first place. Not to mention, he looked miserable around the woman. He would be unhappy forever, and Angelina couldn't bear it if the poor boy was depressed for the rest of his life.

"Haruhi," Kyoya called. "Someone to see you."

Haruhi sat down at the table across from Éclair. "How are you today?" she asked, not attempting to hide the disdain in her voice.

"I couldn't help but notice my Tamaki seemed to have a soft spot for you," Éclair said.

"Just what are you getting at? Are you saying you're jealous of me?"

"Oh, listen to you. Tamaki won't be coming today. I warned him that I would be upset if he ever showed his face at the Host Club again."

Angelina took a deep breath and rubbed her temples. Why did this woman have to make her job that much more difficult? It didn't help that she was rubbing it in everyone's face that she was stealing Tamaki away from them. She was already getting possessive of him by calling him 'her' Tamaki.

"Tell me," Éclair said with a smirk. "Are you Tamaki's lover?"

"No, Miss. Not at all."

"I see. That's good to hear. Then I guess you must mean nothing to him."

"While I may not be his lover, I know that I'm not nothing to him."

Angelina had to admire Haruhi for sticking up for herself. If only now she would just realize how much she and Tamaki cared for one another.

She wasn't sure she had ever seen a more stubborn girl before so in denial about her true feelings for someone.

"I wonder what happened to Tama-chan," Honey said sadly.

"I'm getting worried," Hikaru added. "Something's up with him after what he said yesterday."

Everyone's thoughts drifted back to Tamaki's surprise engagement announcement. Angelina could see the sorrow in all of their eyes. None of them wanted Tamaki to leave them, and no one wanted the Host Club to disband.

"All right, gentlemen," Kyoya said as he clapped his hands. "No more idle chatter. Our guests are waiting for us."

"Senpai, it's like you don't even care," Kaoru said angrily.

"It's our job to take care of our guests to the best of our abilities. Remember, they're looking to all of us to entertain them. Their happiness is the utmost importance."

Honey began pushing Kaoru away towards the guests. "He's right, Kao-chan!"

"Honey-senpai, what are you doing?!" Kaoru demanded.

Mori put his arm around Hikaru and began dragging him off as well. "Come on, Hikaru."

"Let go, Mori-senpai," Hikaru groaned under his grip.

Kyoya walked over to Haruhi's table as Lady Éclair got up and left. "Thank you for all of your hard work, Haruhi. After that request from Lady Éclair, your debt has been paid. You finally repaid us for that Renaissance vase you broke. So you are free to quit the Host Club, if you want."

Haruhi's eyes widened again as she registered what he was saying.

Angelina walked over and sat across from Haruhi. "Hi," she said with a smile. "We met yesterday?"

"Yeah," Haruhi answered, still a bit dazed from Kyoya's words. "We ran into each other in the hall."

"Yes."

"I'm afraid I never caught your name."

"You can call me Angelina. Haruhi, first of all, we can cut the formalities. I know you're a girl."

"What? How?"

"Let's just say it's hard to keep things from me. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. I can't help but notice how…comfortable you are here. With all of these boys. You've been with them for a year and half, yes?"

"Yeah. It's hard to believe it's been that long."

"Well, it's very clear that you've grown close with them. If that's the case, would you really want to leave the Host Club?"

Haruhi looked at the woman across from her. She had admitted to Tamaki earlier that she wasn't a good judge of beauty, but she could certainly say that this woman was gorgeous. Every inch of her was perfect. The white dress she was wearing made her look almost heavenly.

"I can see that you care for Tamaki. More than you're willing to admit." Haruhi started to protest, but Angelina just smiled. "Like I said, it's hard to keep things from me. If you care for him that much, you won't let him do this. You know that he won't be happy with Éclair. I can see it in your eyes. Ever since yesterday when Tamaki had to go off with her, there hasn't been any excitement or happiness in them. And the same can be said for Tamaki. I know how much he means to you. So now you just have let yourself realize it. Don't let your biggest fear come true."

Haruhi wanted to protest this woman's words but found that she just couldn't do it. As much as she denied it, she really was jealous of Éclair. Tamaki was a huge part of her life whether she liked it or not. And though she constantly made sarcastic remarks about him and gave him a hard time, Angelina was right. She did care about Tamaki.

He had helped her realize that she wasn't alone. Her mind constantly drifted to that night when he was there for her during the thunderstorm. She thought about his arms wrapping around her as her fingers dug into his back. Every time she thought about it, she could feel her stomach do a little flip, but she denied that as well. Hikaru had comforted her during a storm as well, but she did not feel the same way in that moment than she did when it was Tamaki comforting her.

In fact, that wasn't the only time he had been there for her during a thunderstorm. She remembered when an especially loud one happened a few months ago. There had been a knock on her door that she almost didn't hear as she cowered in a ball in her living room. When she answered it, Tamaki had burst in and enveloped her in his arms without two words to her. She was extremely surprised at his sudden appearance, but she greatly welcomed the comfort he had brought with him.

The more she thought back on that moment, the more she realized that something had clicked inside her the second he had hugged her. But with Haruhi being Haruhi, she had denied it completely.

Now that he was leaving…she didn't know what to do. She didn't know how she could go on at this school without him.

Kyoya's father passed by the table where Angelina, Haruhi, and Kyoya were gathered. One of his father's workers politely bowed to him, but his father didn't even look at him.

"When they're young, many assume they have all the time in the world," his father said harshly, "but, really, that is never the case. Don't waste your time with something that will ultimately have no value."

Angelina met Haruhi's eyes. She raised her eyebrows and looked at her as if to ask her what she was going to do about the man's statement.

Haruhi stood up from her chair. "You don't know anything about the Host Club," she said firmly. "Kyoya-senpai works around the clock to make sure that everyone here is enjoying themselves. And did you ever stop to think that entertaining others might give each of us some fulfillment? How can you possibly say that what we do here is just a waste of our time? I don't care what you say. I think Kyoya-senpai is amazing."

Kyoya's father stopped to listen to Haruhi, but once she was done, he just kept walking. Haruhi looked over at Angelina. Angelina gave her a smile and winked at her.


Tamaki was miserable. He couldn't have been more miserable. He was excited that he was going to able to finally see his mother again after all this time, but this was almost a bit too much for him to handle. Marrying at 17? To someone he didn't love at all? Someone who never wanted him to see his friends again?

Having to choose between a mother and best friends was a choice he would never wish on anyone.

As his fingers gently hit the black and white keys on the grand piano, he tried to think positively about everything. Perhaps he could learn to love Éclair.

No. His heart would always belong to Haruhi and he knew it.

"You play beautifully."

Tamaki stopped playing and turned around at the sound of someone's gorgeous voice. There was a woman standing there with a pretty white dress on. She kind of reminded him of his mother.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" he asked politely as he stood up from the piano bench. "Wait a second, didn't you burst in on me and Éclair yesterday?"

Angelina smiled bashfully. "Yes, and I deeply apologize for that."

"To be honest…it was a welcomed interruption. What did you say your name was?"

"You can call me Angelina."

"Do you work for Lady Éclair?"

"No. I work for someone else."

"Then how did you get in here?"

"I'm good at finding people. Tamaki…may I be frank with you?"

"I guess so."

Angelina walked over to him and joined him at the piano bench. "I know how much Haruhi means to you. She's a beautiful young woman."

Tamaki let out a small laugh, ignoring the fact that Angelina knew Haruhi was a girl. "Yeah, of course she means a lot to me. She's my daughter."

"No, Tamaki. She's more than that, and you know it. Deep inside you."

"What do you mean?"

Angelina smiled a little. The others were right. He was rather dense when it came to his feelings. "You care for Haruhi in a way that you didn't know you could care for someone. Just being around her is enough for you. Even just picturing her face is enough for you. The mere thought of her gives you butterflies. You want nothing more than to spend time with her."

Tamaki wondered why this woman whom he had never met before knew so accurately how it felt to be with Haruhi.

"I can see it in your eyes how much you love her. And I can see how much your personality changed when you realized that you weren't going to be with her. If you care for her that much, why aren't you telling her?"

"I'm engaged to Éclair."

"Why?"

"Because…then I'll get to see my mom again."

Angelina looked at him sadly, something she felt she had been doing too often. Someone his age shouldn't have to be making such a choice. "Tamaki, I can't imagine what it must've been like to have to leave your mother, never knowing if you were going to see her again. I know how wonderful it must be to have the chance to be reunited with her. But doesn't Haruhi deserve you too? She won't admit it, but she's torn apart about you leaving. She hasn't been acting the same way. And that spark I saw in your eyes yesterday? It's gone from hers just as much as it's gone from yours. You've made a mark on her life in a way she never expected. And that mark isn't something that's going to just go away in a few hours."

Tamaki wanted to see his mother again so badly. But he didn't want to leave Haruhi. He cared too much for her.

This just wasn't fair to him. If this woman was right and Haruhi really did care for him as more than a friend, how could he just up and leave her after trying for a year and a half to unknowingly win her over? All those times he got jealous when she was with another guy, seeing her have her first kiss and first date, and the constant teasing from the twins was all for nothing.

He remembered when they were shooting Renge's weird film when she had first arrived at Ouran and he had believed she was crying. He now knew it was just her contact, but the whole incident made him realize that he never wanted tears to come to Haruhi's eyes. They were too beautiful for that.

On the day they had gone to the beach, he wasn't sure he could ever remember a time he had been so terrified as he watched her get pushed off a cliff and into the water. He had dived into the water without a second thought. The only thing in his mind was getting to Haruhi. He could still remember how it felt to carry her in his arms back to the beach, his heart pounding from a mixture of adrenaline and being able to finally hold her close to him without any protests. Haruhi was a very tough person, but in that one moment as he felt her weak form in his embrace, he was reminded that even she could get herself into a lot of trouble. Despite the act they all put on, she was still a girl. A girl he cared for very deeply.

He could never forget that time during the thunderstorm that same night. The feeling of holding her in his arms like that was something that he thought about time and time again. He loved to be the one she clung to in her moment of weakness. He never wanted to let go of her.

He had told her that he would always be there for her.

He had lied to her.

He had lied to the girl he loved.

And now he would never get the chance to make amends. Because as much as he hated it, he had already made his decision. And not even this woman could make him change it now.