Tamaki frowned. Kyoya had been weird the entire rehearsal dinner. Just a few days before the wedding he'd stopped returning Tamaki's calls as well. At first Tamaki had thought that Kyoya had finally realized everyone thought they'd been a couple, but now he was sure it was something else.

Yesterday, Tamaki had taken Kyoya shopping with him for his mother's wedding present and Kyoya's reaction had been even stranger. Kyoya hadn't been angry at Tamaki for not telling him about people's misconceptions, he hadn't been worried that Kyoya's father would find out, Kyoya had been nervous, but a weird sweaty nervous that Tamaki hadn't seen on him before.

When they had gone shopping, Kyoya had kept wiping his palms on his sleeves, crossing his arms or sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Are you okay?" Tamaki said. Kyoya nodded. He picked up a figurine and examined it minutely. Tamaki had wanted to get his mom some commoner art, something nice and bold. He was leaning towards a metal sculpture of a tree with birds roosting in it. The piece was as big as Tamaki and he wasn't sure how he was going to bring it anywhere, but he loved it. "Are you sure you'll be fine for the wedding?"

Tamaki watched Kyoya's gaze dart from the sales associate staring at them, back to the figurine. "I'm just feeling warm. I might have a fever but that should pass in a few days." Kyoya shrugged. Tamaki bit his lip and made his way through the store.

There were all kinds of things here, metal works mostly, some lopped wire that looks like bonsai trees or birds, or a full person in one case. There were many nature themed pieces.

The sales associate might have thought "the wedding" was Tamaki and Kyoya's wedding. They were old enough, though twenty was a young age to get married. Still, Kyoya hadn't reacted this way to his family's assumption that they had been together. Was this because Kyoya hadn't realized it? Surely, he had…

Tamaki stood next to Kyoya, linking there arms and leaning in. "That figurine emphasises the pubic triangle on that women too much to be an appropriate wedding gift I think. Especially for my mom." He lowered his voice. He contemplated blowing in Kyoya's ear, trying to get a reaction from him, but that felt wrong. He wasn't trying to host Kyoya. Kyoya didn't shake him off or lean into him, the two standard reactions. Instead, he stood frozen and Tamaki disengaged himself.

Tamaki wanted to get him mom something meaningful. When they had first started to loose money, the first things to go had been the artworks. Painting that had been in the family for generations (well not his family, but other families!) were sold. They had been so beautiful and he knew how much his mom had loved them. He remembered their trips to the Louvre or to art galleries all over the world. At first, he thought to write her a song, but having a song meant someone would have to be there to play it. And he wouldn't always be there to play it for her. Tamaki worried she wouldn't always be well enough to do it herself. A sculpture though, she could look at that anytime and remember he had picked it out.

He'd written her a song anyway though, something hand made and something permanent.

"You keep looking at the tree, are you thinking that's the one?" Kyoya asked. Tamaki looked at him, really looked. He was sweating, Tamaki could see it in the back of his neck, on the side of his face. Tamaki leaned in and placed a hand on Kyoya's forehead, watching Kyoya's eyes widen, and his posture stiffen.

Kyoya didn't feel warm.

Something wasn't right.

And then, the next day, Tamaki had gotten the call to meet Kyoya at botanical gardens. Tamaki frowned. He was going to get to the bottom of his.

His mother was talking on the phone to someone. Tamaki had gone to tell her he was leaving for the botanical gardens, but was now eavesdropping.

"Don't worry, relax, this is all taken care of. Everything will be fine by the wedding and I'll set everything straight." His mom said. She was speaking Japanese, so that limited who she could be talking to. "I said it would work out, didn't I? Don't you trust me?" his mom chuckled. "You'll have a date to the wedding, just confess I'm sure Tamaki will help it along, in his own way."

Tamaki furrowed his brows and knocked on the door. His mother stopped talking on the phone, kissed Tamaki on the head and told him to have a good time. But Tamaki couldn't stop thinking about her phone conversation.

When he arrived at the garden, forty minutes early, he contemplated waiting, or actually stopping to view some of the flowers.

The gardens were housed both inside and out, with a towering, brightly coloured conservatory in the front. Tamaki headed into that, marching to the top floor. Kyoya had said to meet him around the side, near the back.

When Tamaki got to the top, he found a window to look out of. He saw Kyoya pacing from the side of the gardens to the back. Kyoya was fidgeting and wringing his hands. Interesting. In the back of the garden, there was a carefully arranged table and some giant flower display Tamaki couldn't see from this angle. It was the perfect place to confess to someone. Was Kyoya confessing to someone and wanted Tamaki's help? Was that why he was nervous? He was getting himself a date?

Tamaki chewed his lip and shook his head. He watched Kyoya pace until he couldn't bear it anymore and ran to the back. Kyoya seemed to have heard the noise and came running too.

"Tamaki! You came the wrong wa—" Kyoya tripped and careened into the flower display. Tamaki looked up at the white ad purple plant wall, he had a moment to appreciate the multitude of flowers, and the beauty of the arrangement (though he didn't have much time to try and read the few characters spelled out in red roses) before the whole thing wobbled and fell, smashing the dinner table.

Petals flew into the air, drifting slowly downward. Tamaki was aware that a violin had stopped playing, though he wasn't sure how long it had started.

Kyoya sank to his knees, eying the carnage. White petals were clinging to his hair and the air smelt thick and cloying, like dying plants. Shredded blooms were still floating.

"So, who were you going to confess to?" Tamaki tried to avoid looking at the mass of crushed flowers, but it was hard. Even in their demise, they were still colourful. A delicate reminder of the fragility of man. Or something.

Kyoya lifted his gaze to stare at Tamaki, mouth hanging open.

"Well—well you arranged all these things. Music. Flowers. Some sort of food." Tamaki tried to smell it, but the fragrance of the flowers, especially the lilacs (his favourite), was overpowering. "I figured…well it seems like a date and you don't already have a…a thing…a person."

Kyoya got gingerly to his feet and tried to brush some plant matter from his suit. It looked like something the Hitachiin would design, something too flashy for a wedding. The suit was black and white, a gentle, dotted gradient that almost looked like the galaxy.

"If…if they're getting here soon I could help…" Tamaki started. Kyoya was staring at him. " I could help you…" Kyoya was still staring. "It was me. It was me and I was supposed to go around to the side so you could show me this yourself… whoops." Tamaki laughed. He ran a hand through his hair and climbed over the flower monstrosity to Kyoya. Kyoya didn't move.

"This isn't funny."

"It's a little funny." Tamaki got to Kyoya's side and linked their arms together. "It would have been really nice." Kyoya snorted. "Besides it could be worse. You could have asked me out and then I didn't realize it and thought we were going to the wedding as friends and then everyone else thought we were together except you—I mean me."

"So..." Kyoya adjusted his glassed. Tamaki brushed some lilacs from his hair. "You accept. You'll—you agree that we should date."

"I will be your boyfriend, yes." Tamaki leaned into Kyoya's side and kissed him on the cheek. "We can have dinner somewhere else. A commoner restaurant."

"I'll stand out." Kyoya said. He twisted in Tamaki's grip so they were facing face to face. Tamaki dropped his arms around Kyoya's neck and kissed his nose. "I'm in a suit." Kyoya continued. Tamaki kissed him on the mouth. He closed his eyes and imagined things had gone the way the Kyoya wanted. Lilacs and violin music in the background. Some thoughtful speech prepared.

Kyoya's lips were soft, but he wasn't a very good kisser. Tamaki didn't have much experience either, but it was quickly clear Kyoya was lost. Tamaki couldn't help, but chuckle.

"You know it's really not polite to laugh. I tried to have some big romantic gesture that you'd love but—"

"I love it. I do. I love it and I love you." Tamaki kissed him again, tilting his head and burying one hand in Kyoya's hair.

"Well. Good. Excellent." Kyoya said between kisses. Tamaki leaned his forehead against Kyoya's shoulder and tried not to laugh. He was so awkward and Tamaki loved it.

"I especially like the suit."

"Me too."

Tamaki smiled. "You usually dress so badly, so this is a nice surprise." Kyoya withdrew from their hug and hit Tamaki's shoulder. "Cargo shorts Kyoya, really? Hawaiian shirts and cargo shorts? And what do you have against sleeves? Sleeves are you friend." Tamaki bit his lip to stop himself from laughing and Kyoya rolled his eyes.

"You know, you're not starting your tenure as my boyfriend very well by being rude to me." Kyoya pressed his lips into a firm line, but Tamaki knew he was trying not to smile.

"I have tenure?"

Kyoya snorted and Tamaki knew everything was going to be fine.

"We should get going," Tamaki said. "We have things to do, find a place to eat, clean up this mess. It's not like we have all day. We have a date after all."