I am currently trying my hardest not to be in love with a guy. But I can't help it! And he got his hair cut today and it's no longer amazing! I mean, it will always be amazing, but now it's not….. runyourfingersthroughable.

Yeah.

That's my new word.

So, after being on a looooong hiatus, and currently working with a virus-infected computer wheezing its' last breath (Microsoft XP), I am back.

To try for my devoted fans.

Even the ones that hide in the shadows with me on their alerts/favorites list and don't review.

*cough cough* Review. *Cough cough*

~I love you. I loved you all along. And I forgive you. For being away for far too long. So keep breathing… Cause I'm not leaving you anymore. Believe it... Hold onto me… Never let me go. ~ Nickelback

The Only Exception

Awkward Yet Deeply Romantic First Dates

"Haruhi, do you trust me?"

Her response was automatic, unwavering in her decision.

"Yes."

He smiled kindly at her, silver eyes slightly mischievous.

"Good. Then close your eyes."

Haruhi did so, mind churning out a hundred thoughts per minute.

A blindfold settled over her head.

"Is this really necessary?"

Takashi chuckled lightly in her ear.

"You would try to peek."

Haruhi neither affirmed nor denied this. He knew her too well. She would have tried to peek. The idea was too tantalizing. For once, she had no idea what to expect.

Tamaki had always been so transparent with his date plans. She usually had them figured out a week before they actually happened. Haruhi found herself mentally thinking of her husband. The thought only made her depressed. Quietly cursing herself, she shoved it into a subconscious drawer labeled 'Deal with it later'.

Later meaning when Takashi wasn't around and she was finally alone.

A swooping sensation suddenly made her cry out in shock and alarm. Haruhi flung her arms out haphazardly, looking for something to grab. Her lover chuckled again, the sensation gentle and loving to her senses. "Such drama." She turned towards his voice with a sharp retort. "How would you like to get picked up without warning if you were blind?"

The only response she got was a hum.

"Don't 'hm' me."

"Hm."

Settling for quiet but amusing irritation, Haruhi set her head against his neck. They walked for what seemed forever to her. When she finally was set down, her small hands deftly moved to the back of her blindfold.

Two larger, warmer ones halted them.

"Not just yet, love. I wanna see this."

"See what?" There was no response, and Haruhi called out again. "Takashi?" Undetected by normal human ears, her voice rose slightly in fear. She put her hands out in front of her, groping around. Taking a step, Haruhi felt a strange sensation under her feet.

The world was literally rocking back and forth.

It was swaying under her blind feet.

"Woah!" Haruhi swayed, hands feeling for a railing. A warm body pressed against hers from behind. Two hands folded themselves over hers. A pair of lips met her neck.

"That was worth it…"

Haruhi gasped in fake shock. "You ass! You put me on a boat without warning?" Takashi nodded wordlessly against her skin. "Can I take it off now?" He shook his head. "Soon, though."

Haruhi felt her chin be tilted up.

It felt weird being kissed blind.

Haruhi guesstimated it had been about a half hour since their boat had departed. Her fingers itched to let her see where she was, but Takashi kept them gently in place. The whole trip he'd held her against him, body shielding hers from the cold wind. Needless to say, Haruhi was very warm and very happy. When the boat finally lurched to a stop, she was nearly thrown off balance. "My equilibrium is seriously off." Haruhi muttered crossly.

Takashi's voice sounded pained. "Don't use big words on romantic nights." He picked her up again without warning. For a moment the world was swinging, then all was still. Haruhi pestered him with questions as they walked. The ground seemed uneven and sloping upward. Takashi's breathing grew a little short. "Where are we going? I don't see why you can't just tell me, since we'll be there pretty soon." She tried to trick him.

"Haruhi."

A warm hand tilted up her blindfold.

Brown eyes looked around instantly for any hints to her location.

They saw nothing but silver eyes and an angular face.

"We're almost there."

His eyes were anxious and happy, giving them a strange shining quality.

"But-"

His finger went to her lips.

"Wait."

The dark swathed itself around her eyes again.

Several minutes past, Haruhi practically squirming with impatience. When at last Takashi set her down, her hands automatically flitted to the cloth around her head. "Two minutes, love." She dropped her hands, hearing his footsteps drift away. Trying to be patient, she counted to one hundred and twenty in her head. The woman felt a light breeze as Takashi moved past her. Finally, his hands sought hers, kissing them softly.

"Now?"

He chuckled.

"Always so impatient. I need to ask you something first."

She shivered slightly at his tone.

"What?"

There was a pregnant pause, one where both adults held their breath.

Haruhi shivered again.

She heard him intake.

"Are you happy?"

From behind her blindfold, Haruhi blinked in confusion.

"With…..?"

"All of this. The sneaking, the lying….everything." Takashi breathed quietly, as if to himself. "Are you really that happy to risk losing everything you've ever had to be with me? Haruhi…..You have everything you could possible ever want and ever need. And yet, you still are choosing me over it all. Me, an unstable, disowned, practically broke man with nothing to fall back on. Will you be content to live a commoner's life again, after everything you've experienced? After everything that's happened to bring us here?" He paused. "Haruhi…."

"Will you be happy with just me?"

Another pause ensued, this one longer than its previous.

Haruhi sucked in a quiet breath.

"Takashi, I don't know how you could think all this."

He tilted his head, silver eyes curious and a little frightened.

'Thank God for blindfolds.' He reflected.

"Of course I'm happy."

He straightened.

"This is the happiest I've been in seven years."

He pulled her to him; resting his head on hers as his fingers quickly removed her blindfold. Takashi smiled at her, tilting her head up as the moon shone in her brown eyes. "Whenever I hear you say something like that, I feel so relieved." He kissed her deeply. And for a moment, nothing else mattered. It was just them and absolutely no one else. And when her eyes opened and he saw her love, Takashi felt like nothing would ever matter anymore.

Nothing but Haruhi.

Then she said, "Can I look around now?"

And he laughed.

Because that was the way she was.

Impatient, stubborn, loving Haruhi.

And he could never, nor would he ever, change that.

"Sure, love."

Twining her hand in his, Haruhi finally looked at her surroundings. It was a small, grassy island. Looking over its left side, she felt queasy. The grass dropped off a large cliff, the sea and rocks churning against it. She leaned away self-consciously, ignoring Takashi's chuckle. Turning to face the other direction, Haruhi was greeted with a simple yet pleasant sight. Nothing was overly fancy here. No performers, no gaudy lights, nothing overzealous. Everything was simple. Pure and wonderful. She smiled at Takashi, watching him look thoughtfully out over the waters.

'Thank you.'

The hill gently sloped down a sandy path. Eventually, it met ocean and a tiny gulf of beach. Haruhi took in an awed breath. This seemed to jolt Takashi out of his daze. "Something wrong, love?" He cut her a sideways glance, silver eyes shimmering. She shook her head, unable to form a coherent sentence just yet.

The moon.

It was so bright, so huge.

Somehow, it made Haruhi think of one night.

The first night she and Takashi had almost kissed.

The overwhelming feelings of closeness.

Of vulnerability.

She blushed a little, heart full of bursting emotions.

"This is perfect."

He turned towards her, overjoyed in a serious manner.

"I'm glad."

She gave him a tiny confused look, brown eyes wondering. "I have a question for you." The only indication he was listening was silence, so she pressed on. "What exactly are we going to do here?" He looked at her with a small amount of mischief in his silver eyes. "We're just going to be together, listen to music, dance maybe, and whatever else you feel like doing afterwards…" His tone grew slightly seductive towards the end. 'It was kind of cute.' Haruhi thought, looking at him blush faintly.

"Huh."

Takashi's head snapped towards her again.

"What?"

Haruhi shrugged noncommittally, a teasing thought curling around her brain.

"Nothing…I just thought…."

She feigned sadness in her tone, casting her eyes downward.

"I just thought maybe you'd want to do something more romantic with me….."

He stiffened, senses spiking.

"I'm sorry! I'm just not good at this and I didn't know what you would possibly want to do and now we're here and it's awkward, I'm sorry Haruhi, I-" Haruhi opened her mouth, "Takashi, I was only teasing-" He seemed unable to hear her. His mind was someplace far away, supplying his usually quiet mouth with big, long sentences. It was just as he'd feared all those years ago. Foot In Mouth Syndrome, it seemed, had claimed him at last.

"God, why didn't I even try to do this? I should've known I could never outswoon the King of All Things Romantic! I mean, seriously? What was I thinking? Tamaki is so much better at this than I am! What am I supposed to d-" Haruhi watched him quietly rant, a thousand trickles of thoughts running through her brain.

Why would Takashi want to compete with Tamaki?

He had never been a particularly competitive guy.

But why now all of a sudden?

Haruhi felt a light bulb suddenly beam on in her head.

'Of course.'

"Takashi." She said in a calm tone. He had been still talking and paused for a moment. "Oh." He said quietly. His voice was like a child's. "I said all of that out loud, didn't I?" He looked away without answer, staring out over the ocean in embarrassment. Haruhi touched his arm, but he shrunk away. "God I am so stupid." He mumbled, almost to himself.

"Yes. You are."

He looked back at her, confused.

"You're stupid, because you think you're going to lose me to Tamaki. So you're trying to outdo him in every way possible, because you're insecure. Well…. That's stupid. Really stupid. So get over your silly competitiveness and just love me, dammit." Haruhi sent a red hot glare into his eyes. "This date so far, has been pretty damn awkward. But it's cute. And believe it or not, I'm enjoying myself. So just quit worrying, focus on us, and stop it." She raised her chin defiantly, daring him to question her logic.

Takashi quietly let out a breath, running his fingers through his hair. (A/N: His runyourfingersthroughable hair!) They both waited with bated breath. Yes, this date had been awkward. Yes, they were both awkward. But, it was love. An awkward sort of love still clinging to its' high school fragmentations. But still… It was love. It was their love. And they were going to share, no matter the awkwardness.

"Fine." Takashi conceded, turning away from the ocean. "I give. It's stupid." Haruhi gave him one of her serene smiles.

They were very rare.

Wordlessly, she took his hand, leading him away a safe distance from the cliff. They were now standing on the grassy embankment, hands entwined. Takashi quietly pulled out his phone, scrolling through its' music. "I want you to hear this." He rumbled. "It was one my favorites in high school. It seems like…" he shook his head. "Hm?" Haruhi looked inquiringly at him, squeezing his hand. She gestured for him to continue.

"It seems like the song was made for us. I swear, it's so strange. I just feel like it's our song." Takashi murmured, an almost nostalgic look coming over his face. "You got to listen to it and tell me what you think." She nodded, a little perturbed at his facial expression. It seemed eerie, haunted yet beautiful at the same time.

"Here." He handed her a pair of headphones and sat down in the moonlight. His long legs stretched out over the grass, folding it down with ease. Lacing his hands behind his head, he looked thoughtfully up at the moon. Haruhi stuck the device on her head, pressing play absently. Eventually she too lay down and rested her head on her lover's chest as she listened.

One arm wrapped around her waist, holding her lovingly.

'I love you.

I loved you all along.

And I miss you.

Been far away for far too long.'

Haruhi attempted to look up at Takashi, but he ignored her deliberately, eyes focused on the silver orb in the sky. She closed her brown eyes again, feeling something stir within the deep recesses of her soul. The lines in this song made her shiver. Soon her entire body grew goosebumps, and Takashi pulled her closer against him. But how could she explain that she wasn't cold, just….. what? She tried to focus more on the song. Somehow, she had a feeling it was nearing its' end.

She felt sad without it.

Like an old friend leaving and never coming back sad.

'I need to hear you say,

I love you…

I loved you all along.

And I forgive you…

For being away for far too long.

So keep breathing,

Cause I'm not leaving you anymore.

Believe it….

Hold onto me, never let me go…"

Under her closed lids, Haruhi felt minuscule tears welling up inside her. He was right. This song was about them, it had to be. Nothing else seemed to match them so perfectly, fit their love so beautifully. And it was in finding all this out, in seeing the beauty of their love that Haruhi shed a few tears. They rolled down her cheek and wet her lover's shirt, staining it a darker color.

The song soon ended afterwards and she sat up uncomfortably, wiping at stray tears. Takashi sat up as well and tilted her face back towards his with a warm hand.

'You are so beautiful. I hope you know how much I mean that.'

His thumb wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

'Never, ever, ever will I leave you again. I promise.'

And it was as if she could see everything he was trying to convey with his eyes. And she kissed him sweetly, he kissed her back.

And together, they had one of the most romantic nights of their lives.

Together.

How it always was meant to be.

And….. meanwhile.

A very pissed off Shadow King was trying to distract, er I mean entertain, two blondes who were actually a lot smarter than anyone took the time to realize.

How do you think he was doing, folks?

Well, you'll find out in the next chapter of 'The Only Exception'!

Coming soon to your computer, Mac, Iphone, whatever you read me on.

You guys don't get to know the results of the poll! *says in a singsong voice* You'll find out when the end approachs! DUN DUN DUN!

!Adios for now!