Time to dance!!! Who's excited!!!??? I am! (that's why there's so many punctuation marks! Lol!) This will be full of drama, and I can't wait to advance Kaede's and Hikaru's relationship. At the moment, the love hate thing suits them, and I'm not sure if I'm going to stray too far away from that for a while, although the fighting will be toned down for a while. ^_^

Disclaimer: I … Don't…… Own….. OURAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN *sob*

"Time to dance, time to dance, time to dance!" shouted Tamaki as he bounded through the room. It was beautiful, everything was decorated in exquisite decorations. Deep maroon clothe was hung from the ceilings, creating a sort of silk roof above everyone. The lights were glowing mysteriously and the dance floor was polished to perfection. The band was playing a lovely slow melody as everyone shuffled in.

It was like every ball the Host Club had thrown, with two exceptions. One: Boys were also invited, as to help Kaede find a future fiancé. Two: There wasn't a lot of pink, much to Tamaki's dismay. He had fought with her about wearing a pink dress, and that didn't work. He had sulked for hours.

Tamaki was greeting people as they walked in, Haruhi was munching fancy tuna by the food stand, Hikaru and Kaoru were chatting happily, and Hunny was on top of Mori's shoulders chattering happily to himself. Kaede wasn't there yet, she wasn't looking forward to the ball.

"Hm… Where is Kaede?" said Kyoya, scaring everyone as he appeared from thin air. (A/N: not really, he just surprised them by appearing so suddenly)

"Oh, she's getting ready…" Smiled Haruhi nervously, the last time she checked in on Kaede, she was pacing and muttering that she could do this. Haruhi felt bad for her, she was from a wealthy family but she hadn't been treated to the things the other kids here had been treated to.

They all heard the back door creak open a bit, only to see Kaede poking her head out. "Er… Haruhi? Could you come here for a moment… PLEASE????"

Haruhi walked over to her, noting the blush that was spread across Kaede's face. "How can I help?"

"I can't do this..." mumbled Kaede, "I just can't! They'll all laugh!" Her eyes nervously flickered to the rest of the club, who were watching curiously. Hunny waved, Kaede waved back weakly. "What do I do?"

"You can't run away, you have to go. This is a dance for you!"

"I didn't ask for this…" sighed Kaede, "But… I …."

"No buts, just have a good time. No sweat!" Haruhi smiled at Kaede who looked like she was debating in here head whether she could stomach the dance or not. She gulped and nodded. Her head quickly went back into the door, and then she pushed it open.

Her face was full of determination and embarrassment. Her eyes were closed tightly and her head down as she walked across the room. Her mouth was in a straight line, leaning more towards a frown than a smile.

Everyone's eyes followed her as she walked. She was wearing a black dress that went to her mid thigh, and hung off one shoulder. Her hair was down and brushed nicely to frame her face. Her burgundy hair made her creamy white skin look like paper.

"OOOOOOOH! MY BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER!" yelled Tamaki who proceeded to hug Kaede so hard she was worried she would be suffocated.

"I must say, you do clean up well." said Kyoya as he pushed up his glasses.

"Oh my, Kaede!! You look like a princess!" said Hunny.

"Yeah." replied Mori.

"It suits you well." Added Kaoru who was smiling, waiting to see what was going to come out of his brother's mouth.

Hikaru was silent and he wasn't even looking at her. He had walked off to talk to some of the girls that were entering. "My my, you look lovely tonight." said Hikaru to a brunette girl who was walking in.

Kaede noticed, but shook her head trying to rid the feeling it gave her. Why the hell does it bother me!? He hates me, remember???

Tamaki also noticed… He bounded over to Hikaru and promptly started to threaten him since he didn't compliment his daughter. "How dare you ignore this!? It is a rite of passage!"

"Pft, what do I care?" answered Hikaru coolly. "Oy, Kaoru, come over here!" called Hikaru, completely ignoring the rest of Tamaki's battery. Kaoru sent Kaede an apologetic smile but still walked over to Hikaru.

The rest of the guests had filed in and the dance had begun! The entire Host Club had managed to land dance partners in no time. Kaede stayed at the side of the dance floor, smiling and trying to look inconspicuous.

Half way through, she smiled that no one had even looked at her. She didn't know what she would do if someone had actually asked her dance. Faint probably… thought Kaede. Little did she know someone was keeping an eye on her.

Hikaru had been keeping tabs on her, he didn't want to admit it but he didn't want to see her dancing with someone else. He started to relax when he saw that, for the moment, he was safe. It helped that he also was spreading… er… rumors about her to the guys. He wanted to kick himself for it, but he just couldn't watch if she was dancing with some random guy!!!

Kaoru noticed exactly what he was doing. He rolled his eyes at his brother, he could be so useless at times. He had completely forgotten the goal they had for Kaede, to find her a boyfriend!!! He couldn't stop that. But… he also couldn't help but want to see what would happen between the two. He had a plan. "Oh… poor Kaede… she hasn't danced with anyone the entire night." He faked a sad look.

Hikaru's head snapped up when he heard that. "You think she's sad!?" He seemed pretty shocked at this information that Kaoru had to question just how much his brother really knew about girls.

"I would be…" sighed Kaoru dramatically. "I would ask her, but… I uh… promised that girl over there to dance… oh well." And with that, Kaoru sprinted across the room to a girl he didn't know. Hikaru attempted to chase after him, but got caught in a bunch of people crowded together.

"Damn…" muttered Hikaru when he couldn't find Kaoru anywhere. What now? He wasn't left alone often and he wasn't sure what to do. He wandered aimlessly until he came to Kaede. She was leaning against the wall and watching people dance. Is she really sad? Thought Hikaru she doesn't look it… maybe she's a good actor?

He sighed and looked around hopelessly, debating whether or not to ask her to dance. He swallowed his pride and walked closer to her, playing the conversation in his mind.

Hikaru's alternate reality:

Hikaru: Hey… what's up?

Kaede: *sigh* well… just sitting here… waiting for a boyfriend (A/N: Wow Hikaru… wonderful imagination.)

Hikaru: Well, while you're waiting, wanna dance with me?

Kaede: Sure, that'd be good.

Hikaru and Kaede go and dance the night away.

End of Hikaru's alternate reality:

He took in a deep breath and prepared to speak to Kaede, but someone beat him to it. A tall boy with brown hair stepped forward and said "Hi…" shyly to her. Hikaru nearly had a heart attack as he backed into the crowd. He hadn't faced rejection, but… was that rejection? Hikaru jumped to the conclusion that it was… he skipped the whole fact that he hadn't actually asked her to dance.

Kaede nearly did have a heart attack when the boy walked up to her. After taking a couple of deep breathes she was able to respond with "Uh… hello???"

"I… was just wondering if you… would… uh…. Wanna dance?" Hikaru scowled at the boy. (A/N: He is watching from the crowd.) He scowled at the way he ran his hand nervously through his brown hair, and how he had a blush that girls went crazy for, and that he was stuttering the way girls ALSO went crazy for. Hikaru rolled his eyes, he was banking on the fact that Kaede didn't fall for the whole… cute, shy schoolboy routine.

"I … uh… sure!" stuttered Kaede. She smiled nervously and followed the boy to the dance floor.

Damn it thought Hikaru as she went to dance. He stalked outside to cool off. He could see her dancing through the windows and he clenched his fists. He could see his breath outside, so he concentrated on that. It was weird without Kaoru…

The longer he sat there, the longer his anger boiled. She should be dancing with me! He squeezed his eyes shut and nearly fell off the balcony when he heard a voice.

"Whatcha doing alone out here?" asked Kaede, leaning on the side of the balcony looking at the stars. He didn't bother responding. He turned his head away from her to show that he wasn't listening. "Hikaru? What's wrong?"

"Forget it." muttered Hikaru as he started to walk inside.

"Hey!!!" yelled Kaede as she grabbed his hand to prevent him from leaving. He froze in place. "What's wrong!? Did I do something!? Talk to me!"

"It's none of your business!" said Hikaru, still not turning around.

"Then why won't you look at me?" asked Kaede.

"Because… you danced with him, I saw you!" He finally spun around, looking her dead in the eye.

"What!?"

"I saw you, you danced with that guy."

"Why would that matter!?" asked Kaede, struggling to understand Hikaru's mood swings.

"Because!"

"Because WHY!?"

"Because I wanted to dance with you!" yelled Hikaru loudly. He could feel the flame of anger in his stomach and couldn't stop his words.

"If you wanted to dance with me, why didn't you ask!? Why are you getting mad when it's YOUR fault. You completely ignored me the entire time, how would I know any of this?" She started crying, a single tear slid down her face. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"Hate you!?" asked Hikaru, startled with her accusation.

"Yes, hate me! You complain about me, ignore me, and get mad at me for no reason! What did I do?" more tears were coming now, and her voice cracked.

"Come on… don't cry…" Hikaru's voice softened and he felt bad about getting mad, though he wouldn't admit it.

"What do you want me to do? Laugh?" she was still clutching desperately to his hand without realizing it.

"No…" said Hikaru softly, "Hey… Kaede?"

"What!?" sobbed Kaede.

"Want to dance?"

Her head snapped up, surprised. And then she started to laugh. "You want to dance?"

"Uh… yeah?"

"Okay Hikaru. Sorry… for my little outbreak…" mumbled Kaede as she wiped her eyes.

"Naw, it's fine. I have a feeling that this conversation should be the other way around." Joked Hikaru.

"No, just dancing with me is enough." She smiled at him and they both went into the dance room again. It was getting late, and there weren't a lot of people left. They both danced, and Hikaru joked with her to make her smile. He never realized how much he liked her smile. Soon her tears were dry, and she was giggling as Hikaru made her spin while dancing.

Kaoru was watching from the sidelines, smiling. His plan went well. Although… he didn't know what had happened outside. He had heard yelling, but they seemed to have worked it out. Kaoru sighed and let his mind wander. What will I do when he realizes what's happened? Thought Kaoru. Oh well… I guess she needs him more than I do…

What'd you think? This chapter was looooong. My fingers hurt. I haven't really been writing much, I've been practicing my singing on the Wii. ^_^ Lemme know what you thought about this chapter!!!