It was still rather tense in the club though none of the customers noticed. I however did. I saw how Tamaki glared at Kyoya and the sad smile the glasses wearing boy would give me afterwards. It was hard on all of us. The club seemed to be falling apart around us and it sucked. I couldn't help but feel responsible. I had to act before things got any worse. I had to do something alone, even it meant not telling Kyoya.

That was how I found myself sitting in the same cafe I had that fateful day with Kyoya on a lonely Sunday morning. It seemed like ages ago now that we had first sat in this cafe because of Tamakis weird ideas. This time I was not waiting for Kyoya, I was waiting for Tamaki. The blonde had been somewhat confused and ecstatic when I asked him to meet me here, by phone, yesterday afternoon after I got home. Only now he was late by about fifteen minutes. Memories of kissing Kyoya and our hot chocolate date filled my head as I waited, hopefully after today we would be free to return here with the clubs blessing.

About ten minutes later, making him late by nearly half an hour, the blonde finally did show up. I was beyond annoyed by now but forced the feeling down as he sat down, reminding myself that I was here for a reason. He remained oblivious to my anger as he began rambling about nonsense. At least Kyoya, the perceptive one, would have noticed my anger. Another thing I liked about my boyfriend was that even if he wouldn't admit to it he did take notice of the emotions of others.

"Tamaki!" I snapped annoyance evident in my voice. This seemed to cause him to pause and stare at me.

"Yes love? Why would you interrupt my talking on our date? Don't you love the sound of my voice?"

"This is why! This is not a date and I am not your love. I invited you here because I wanted to talk to you and ask you to back off. Please understand that I do not love you! I never will. I am with Kyoya and he makes me happy, why can't you respect that?"

"But I care about you so much..."

"You don't care!" I interrupted, "you were half an hour late and you couldn't even be bothered to listen to me or ask about me when you got here. You did not even have an excuse as you why you were so late. All you did was go off about yourself again. If you cared about me then you wouldn't be so self centered Tamaki. Love means wanting to know about the other person and listening to their thoughts and desires. All I am to you, all I will ever be, is the first girl you saw in a somewhat romantic way besides your mother, hence why you place me on a pedestal that I do not wish to be put on. I am not an item or a prize to be won or lost."

Tamaki and I both fell silent when I finished speaking. I hadn't been planning that outburst; in my mind those words were said but much classier. Taking a breath I fell silent and looked out the window, across to the park I had been kissed by Kyoya in. Tamaki needed to let me go and let me happy with whom I chose.

"You and Kyoya fighting is tearing apart the club and it's my fault. I will not be the girl to break up the club or your friendship. If it comes to it I will break my own heart and break up with Kyoya. All of you mean too much to lose any of you." I whispered, just loud enough for him to hear it.

I did not want to end my first real relationship but I also did not want to lose any of my friends. If it meant losing Kyoya but having him keep his friend then I would do it. I survived without a boyfriend before, I was sure that if needed I could do it again, although I found myself not wanting to.

"I...I don't want to break your heart Haruhi. I do love you but I see now that you don't love me. Perhaps you do but it isn't the same kind of love. I just...I don't want to lose you and if you are...with someone else then I won't see you as much. If you date Kyoya then I do lose" Tamakis words shocked me. His violet eyes were firmly fixed on my face. I could see the sadness and fear in his brilliant eyes.

"You won't lose me. You'll lose a romantic interest but you will always, always have a friend" I told him firmly. Neither of us had to lose, not totally, because of this. He would never lose me as a friend and especially not with something as silly as me dating. I was allowed to have a life that didn't directly involve him.

Having cleared most of this up he agreed to back off and speak to Kyoya. Well "issue a formal declaration of my retreat" were his exact words. We spent the morning having hot chocolate and talking like friends. A little after noon we both headed outside. He stood by me at the bus stop for a moment, waiting for his limo driver.

"Haruhi...could I have a kiss on the cheek? Before I totally give you up" he asked his voice soft. I was surprised by the request. How would physical contact help him to give up? Would it not just give him something more to cling to? I wanted to deny it but something in the way he was looking at me, so pleading, made me feel like I couldn't.

"It makes me uncomfortable but I suppose it is justified so yes" she agreed after a long minute of hesitation. I wasn't entirely certain about this; it gave me a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. He smiled none the less and leaned down slightly to give me, the shorter one, an easier time. Taking a deep breath I leaned up, placing a short kiss to his cheek. My lips rested against his cheek for a fraction of a second before I pulled away. I wasn't aware that it looked like a much more intimate kiss if you were not close by.

Neither of us heard the sound of a phone falling from the hand of a raven haired boy whose grey eyes were locked on us from across the street.