Chapter 15: Smile For Me

"Hey Haruhi."

A sea of bodies surrounded her. She couldn't see Kyouya any more. As if brought out of a hypnotized state, Haruhi stumbled. She fell, lost in the crowd.

"s--- Haruhi. Be careful." A voice growled.

"I-" confused, Haruhi steadied herself against the arms supporting her. She felt sick. The gaping, screaming mouths, the wild excited eyes, the deafening sounds of the drum, the balloons streaming from the ceiling, the glittery stars…it was too much.

"Here, let's get out of this room." Someone started dragging her. Haruhi closed her eyes and moved her feet. "No, Haruhi is feeling sick. I'm getting her out of this room." Someone yelled. "Haruhi sick?" "Haruhi, Haruhi, you won! No come and celebrate!" "Look, there's a feast."

Haruhi covered her face with feverish hands. I feel aweful. Maybe I'm coming down with a flu. I haven't been sick for a while.

"Are you ok?" Gentle hands pried her hands away from her face. "Here." A glass of clear, warm water was thrust into her hands. She was sitting on a bench outside, underneath a huge oak tree. The hall was a few blocks away. Haruhi lifted the cup. Wavering in the water's reflection was a familiar face next to hers.

"Sorry, Hikaru." Haruhi said, embarrassed. "I'm not like this in a crowd most of time."

"Just drink it," he waved impatiently at the glass of water. "You look like you're going to faint." He glanced off into the distance. "Kaoru's getting the school nurse."

"I'm not that sick," Haruhi replied, annoyed. "Just…"

"What?" Hikaru stared at her closely. "You're Prom Queen. Aren't you happy?"

"Well no…what do you think? "Haruhi muttered. She sighed and brushed a lock of hair off her face. "I've never seen Kyouya so angry," she finally mumbled. She shivered and rubbed her hands over her body.

"What?" Hikaru spluttered. "Kyouya was angry?" He frowned. "What does he have to be angry about," he looked annoyed. "He got Prom King."

"I don't know," Haruhi smiled sadly. She gazed towards the row of rose bushes.

"You're turning blue," Hikaru growled. He took off his blazer.

"No-"

"Just wear it on top of your blazer. I'm not cold." He put his blazer clumsily around her.

"Thanks." There was a pause. "Hikaru, have I done anything wrong? I feel so confused-"

"Of course you haven't," Hikaru's gold eyes flashed. "I'll go and find out from Kyouya what he-"

Haruhi gasped. Her hands convulsed. "What?" Hikaru jumped up from his seat. "What's wrong?" Haruhi turned white. Then her mouth set in a determined line and a little colour flushed her cheeks. She stood up abruptly.

"Kyouya-sempai." She said. Hikaru spun around to face the perfectly poised second year student. Haruhi stepped in front of him. "What happened today?" she demanded.

"Nothing." He replied coolly. "Just letting you know, as Prom Queen, you must pay your fair share of the fees. It costs a great deal every year to set up the event. The decorations, prizes…" he waved his hands.

"…are you serious????" Haruhi fell back onto the bench in shock.

"Which means of course, your debt is increased." He turned to leave. "Oh, by the way. I bought you your dress. There were hidden cameras in the shop we went to last time. Based on the photographs, top designers created the perfect dress suited for you. Their services cost you some extra money. That increases your debt again."

"…" Haruhi was beyond speechless.

"Hikaru," Kyouya said quietly, without turning. Hikaru froze at his voice. "If you wish to speak to me, you can at a later arranged time." Then he vanished.

"That bastard. Those cameras…" Hikaru's "claws" twitched.

"What are you criticizing him for?" Haruhi muttered. Her eyes started to glow dangerously. Hikaru backed away. "You and Kaoru are just as worse."

"I don't know what's got into him. It's like he hardly knows you." Hikaru said quietly. "I'll pay for you."

"No," Haruhi snapped. "Then I owe you, and that's never a good thing."

"Dear, dear, dear…" A large hand clamped over her shoulders. "Darling, you look aweful." A thermometer was thrust expertly into her mouth, and Haruhi almost choked. It was whipped out before it broke in her mouth and the scale examined by a pair of sharp black eyes. "38…Tut tut." The woman, who was almost dangling Haruhi upside down was wearing a frilly white apron like outfit. Her arms were strong and robust and she had a Renge-like air around her. She shook her head and pointed dramatically at Haruhi. "You need two full nights in bed to recover."

"I don't think so…"Haruhi replied weakly. The Hitachiin twins grinned at her from behind the woman. "Thanks so much for bringing the school nurse, Kaoru…"Haruhi muttered.

"Are you feeling better then?" Kaoru answered.

"YES!"

"HARUHI!!!!" Tamaki panted and grasped her arm urgently. "Are you ok? I saw you falling and being…" He caught the sight of the devilish twins. "ARGH!!!" he cried. "Dragging Haruhi off, on your own! When clearly, she needs the loving care of her father!"

"NOOOO!!! She needs to be under my care!" screeched the nurse.

"Just let him." The twins backed off from the scene. Haruhi couldn't believe it. The nurse and Tamaki were now having a shouting match. Just when the nurse had uncovered a huge syringe and was about to knock Tamaki unconscious, Hunny went sailing through the air and kicked it out of her hands. Mori popped conveniently on the other side and caught Hunny as he fell. A sizzling purple bottle whizzed through the air. It's contents burned a hole in the nurse's outfit.

"GAHHH!!!!"

"What is with that guy and his potions at this time of the year?" yelled Hikaru. Nekozawa's hooded figure was laughing manically in the shadows of the science building. The nurse fled, pushing past Haruhi violently.

"ARE YOU OK HARUHI????!!!" five voice shouted.

"Yes, yes, yes…"the girl replied wearily. She looked up at the five honest, concerned faces surrounding her and felt like giggling. "I'm fine. Really," she stressed. Kaoru pushed a thermometer in her mouth and read the scale. "37-ish. Normal." He stated. The tension melted away and all five of her friends let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Hey, you over there!" an angry voice shouted. It was a science teacher who was finishing off his yard duty. "It's the end of lunch. Get into your classes."

"Damn!" Haruhi bolted. "I'm late for class."

"Isn't that a first?" They laughed. Haruhi's expression of crap-I've-done-something-wrong was adorably cute.

It was only when Haruhi had apologized to the teacher and slid into her seat, that she realized, she was feeling unsettled.

Five honest, concerned faces surrounding her. Five. Kyouya hadn't been there, waiting to see if she had been alright.

The Host Club is closed until after Prom Night

"Eh?" Haruhi was just on the verge of pushing the door of the third music room open when she saw the fancy sign. She sighed. "Damn, I thought we had host club." She rubbed her head. "I can't believe I forgot…might as well do some work now-" She pushed the door open wearily.

"Haruhi…?" Someone scrambled from the chair and almost fell over in the process.

"ARGHH!! Watch out sempai!" Haruhi screamed. She was only looking at one thing. The scene that would haunt her forever. It already had been haunting her. The scene of a precious 8 million yen vase falling in mid air. "N-O-O-O-O-O-O!!!!!!" Possessed by extra human strength, fuelled by her fear and desire to never to let this disaster happen ever again, Haruhi lunged 10 metres into the air, arms flailing widely, hands out stretched to their fullest, eyes desperate.

Her nails scratched the surface of the crystal vase with a horrible sound. Everything froze into slow motion. She saw the heavy object drop beneath her. And her heart exploded into a billion pieces. Well, that was how it felt like; experiencing extreme horror and panic – a second time.

CRASH

"Shit…" It was the end of the world, and Haruhi knew it. She could feel Hell's fire burning up her body –already. Haruhi reluctantly opened her eyes. "Sempai!!!" Mortified, Haruhi scrambled up to her feet. Her lips were on Fire.

"hAh…"Tamaki was spread out beneath her and looking completely winded. The glass vase was safely nestled in his left hand. He had caught it-whew- after he had knocked it over. "I-"

He stared at Haruhi.

"Did I-?"

"Did I-?"

"Ahhahahaha…"Tamaki laughed like a hyena. "Your vase is safe." He gulped. "I mean, my vase is safe."

--flashback—

Tamaki saw the vase tumble in the air. He completely did not see Haruhi leap 10 metres into the air. Remembering what had happened to Haruhi, he streaked after the vase, jumped and caught it. He was just about to yell yahoo, for catching the vase when a small body crashed into him. The next thing he knew, he was crushed to the floor. He thought his lips were bleeding because they were burning.

--flashback end--

"I just kissed you." Haruhi whispered.

"H-Haruhi-" Tamaki scrambled to his feet.

"I just…" the girl fled through the open door.

"I just…?"Tamaki ran his hands through his fair hair and sighed. He did not go after her.

Tamaki was watching the rain drops fall. He was staring through the window. He had decided after school to sit in the Third Music room even though there was no host club. The place bought back memories. It was special. It belonged to his "family" of friends. The raindrops reminded him of tears. They were brilliantly spherical to start off with, but then they became tear-shaped. But they still glowed a multitude of orange and blue colours. They were beautiful.

"Mama, what does it mean to love someone?" a five year old Tamaki hugged his brown teddy bear and gazed earnestly at his mother. It was a beautiful spring day. The boy's cheek's were a happy pink colour, because today his mother was sitting up and was no longer coughing.

"If you love someone, you feel it here," the fair woman said softly.

"Here…"Tamaki echoed and placed his hands on his heart.

"And the person you love is someone very special to you." Tamaki hugged his teddy bear closer to himself. "And-"she broke off suddenly and a series of hacking coughs consumed her.

"Mama!" the teddy was flung aside as the boy reached his mother's side.

"I'm alright," she smiled. The boy sniffed.

"It hurts here."

"It does…"she whispered. "I'm sorry Tamaki, but Mama will be okay. It won't have to hurt." The boy sat down on the ground, and single tear escaped his eyes. His mouth was set in an unhappy frown.

"And if you love someone," his mother continued, placing her hands around her son's tightly knit ones, "you want them to always smile." She placed a finger on the boy's cheek and took the tear off. "No matter what, because you want that person to be happy." She blew at the drop of tear. Tamaki watched in wonder, as the droplet flicked off his mother's finger and tumbled in the air. It was orangey and blue. It was beautiful. A smile split over his face. The woman laughed gently at the naive expression. She gathered her boy in her arms. "I love you Tamaki."

"Mama, you're crying too!"

"Crying doesn't always mean I'm sad," she smiled. It was that beautiful smile, amongst the beautiful tears, that would be forever in his heart.

"Mama, I'm going to make you smile always," he cried. "I'll do everything to make it ok. You're the only person I want, to smile forever."

The woman laughed and kissed him on the forehead. "You can love more than one person, silly. What about that girl who always wants to play with you in the afternoons?" she teased.

"I don't like them," the boy sulked. "I want to play with you."

"Tamaki, please it's a beautiful spring day. Go play outside." Tamaki didn't budge. "Make Mama happy. She wants you to enjoy the sunshine." Tamaki still didn't budge. "Then I'll be sad…"

"NO! I don't want you to be sad!!!!" screamed Tamaki. He fled through the open door, and within moments was outside playing with the other children.

His mother chuckled. "Ah, Tamaki. Always so naive."

Rain, rain, nothing but the gentle rain outside. "I don't want everyone to be sad." Tamaki murmured. "I don't want Haruhi, especially, to feel hurt. I want-"

"-arGHGHFA!!!!!!!!" the rain was heavier now. More like buckets of cascading water. The sky was dark and blotchy.

There was only one conclusion:

"THUNDERSTORMS…" Tamaki bolted. "Haruhi!" he screamed, like a headless chicken. "HARUHI!!!" He skidded on the floor and crashed down, headfirst into a puddle of muddy water. "GAH!! Ow, ow-" he stared at the wet floor. "The floor is wet…" he whispered. His eyes darted around and he saw a trail of puddles heading towards a classroom at the end of the hall. He glanced back, the trail of puddles originated from an open door. The dark storm howled outside. Tamaki wrenched himself up and clambered to the classroom. "Haruhi!"

In one swift moment, he had wrapped his arms protectively around the shivering girl.

"I-could-you-this-"Haruhi's teeth chattered. Her eyes were tightly shut.

"Shhh," Tamaki soothed. "Just stay here with me…"

"No-it's just-" Haruhi's face was white, and she flinched as a flash of light illuminated the room.

"It doesn't matter. I'm here with you. You don't have to face it alone."

"No, sempai!" Haruhi almost shouted. "Can we move out from under this desk?! It was cramped before, but with you now squashed under it, I feel like a freakin' sandwich!"

"aHa-" A bolt of lighting escaped from the sky and actually hit Tamaki square in the face. "Sorry…"

The walls trembled, as thunder boomed. Haruhi bit her lip and gasped.

"In here."

One tug and suddenly the noise dropped. It smelt slightly musky. "Where are we?" Haruhi found her voice.

"Broom cupboard," replied Tamaki.

"I can't see a thing. I can hear you really loud. Are you-"

"OW. You just poked me-don't-not there-"

"This broom cupboard is really small."

"You're not afraid anymore." He sounded grumpy. The storm raged in the distance. But all Haruhi could hear was her own beating heart, and Tamaki breathing down her neck.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

"I'm sorry Haruhi." Someone was breathing gently against her cheek and whispering into her ear.

"What?" Haruhi murmured confusedly, still half asleep. She shifted and the blankets rustled.

"Thank you for thinking about the Host Club," the voice was soft and sad. A finger touched her cheek and she felt it trailing downwards, stopping at her chin.

"Eh?"

"It was you."

You always fling yourself away to danger. You never really look out for yourself…you can't do that."

"What do you mean?" Haruhi was a little annoyed, "I look out for others, because that how I deal with things. And I do look out for myself. I handle things fine alone."

"This is just like thunderstorms isn't it?" he was suddenly quietly angry. "Everything"

"I'm perfectly capable," interrupted Haruhi.

"You don't remember the last time there was a thunderstorm…"Tamaki said coldly.

"I do remember," Haruhi murmured.

"What?" Tamaki was taken completely by surprise.

"I apologize."

"For what?" Tamaki was utterly confused.

"For saying that I don't need anyone's help all the time-"

"Haruhi!" Tamaki felt clumsily in the dark and hugged the girl tightly. "Don't cry," he murmured, "please, don't cry."

"I've always done things by myself. I thought I could manage everything but every time a thunderstorm comes, it gets worse. It's not just the sounds, but it brings back everything I'm afraid of. And I can't do anything anymore."

"I thought I told you," Tamaki's voice took on a determined edge, "No one has to face their greatest fear by themselves. I promised you, to be with you always whenever there's a thunderstorm."

"I didn't mean to hurt you," sobbed Haruhi. "The things I say."

"Haruhi," Tamaki said fiercely, "You-haven't. I understand."

"It's not," she whispered.

"It's not what?" It was the first time Tamaki had heard Haruhi speaking incoherently and he was frightened out of his wits. "Haruhi-"he murmured and held her closer. He wanted her to calm down, to be okay, to smile, to be happy…

"I'm scared of-"

"Of thunderstorms?" Tamaki leaned closer and placed his chin on her shoulder. "I don't make light promises Haruhi." He buried his face into her shoulder. "I love you. And whatever you go through, I'll go through too," he mumbled. "Don't-" Panicking slightly, Tamaki felt tears, wet and warm, dropping onto his hands. "Don't cry, please."

"My mum made the same promise," she said quietly. Tamaki froze.

"Your mother…?"he whispered.

"Whenever there was a thunderstorm, she would hold me and then everything would be okay. She promised me but-"

"But…"Tamaki felt his heart constrict. The body he was holding was shaking and trembling with pain.

"I understand. You're afraid of-of-" Tamaki hesitated. "You're afraid of allowing yourself to love."

"Isn't it selfish?"

"You're not selfish." Tamaki protested. "You're the last person I-"

"I just don't want to be dependent. Because then it'll hurt when that person is gone forever."

"Does it hurt here?" Tamaki placed his hands on top of Haruhi's heart. Haruhi nodded and bit back a sob. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…I know how it hurts…"

"I'm being selfish." Haruhi turned to face Tamaki in the dark. "because your mother is sick too. I'm sorry Tamaki."

His arms tightened. "Don't be. Even when they are gone, you keep on trying to make them happy. Cherishing the memories. Love isn't a curse."

"I try-"Haruhi whispered. "But it's hard."

"I'm sorry that it's like this…the host club…"

"Tamaki, Kyouya doesn't seem to-" Haruhi bit her lip again, "I thought he cared for me, but-"

"He does," Tamaki interrupted. "He's just finding it –hard too…"

"It hurt today." Haruhi said quietly. "Because he was one of my friends."

"He still is." Tamaki replied softly. "Trust me." He hesitantly reached to touch Haruhi's face. "Will you do one thing for me?"

"Fine. Don't understand. But I want you to do only one thing for me."

She stared. "Tama-"

"Of course."

"Smile for me."

"Okay," she laughed.

"Are you smiling? Are you smiling?"

"Yes! I am. God, it's dark, so of course you can't see it."

"I want to see you smiling, while you've just been crying!"

"Sempai! You can't see here. It's dark outside too. And I don't want to face the thunderstorm again. I'll smile for you afterwards"

"BAWAAAH! But then, there won't be beautiful tears on your face. I wanna-"

"Sempai! Stop being ridiculous! Here, here-"

Tamaki smiled slowly in the dark. Haruhi guided his hands until the tips of his fingers were touching her face. He felt the tears still wet on her face. But best of all, he traced out her wide smile.

I love you Haruhi.

A/N: There! At last some TamaHaru to fill in the gaps. I was meaning to do this a lot sooner but it just…got dragged on further (no wonder I had to use flashbacks). I hope you TamaHaru fans liked it! After the who-is-Haruhi's-partner, and who-is-prom-king arcs, there will be some who-does-Haruhi-really-love plots, as well as some prom-preparations/malicious plans plots. This story still has a while to go! Hope it's not boring you too much – but I just have to write it out to the full. XD Thanks for all my reviewers and all those interested in this story. OHSHC rocks! I love writing fanfics about it…even one yr after I finished the anime. Until next time,

lu.e3