It had been a week since that day. The first few days, Shana had refused to step out of Haruhi and Kaori's room, where she was staying on an extended sleepover since she didn't want to see Chantelle's gloating face. Haruhi and Kaori were worried about her, but they couldn't skip classes to keep her company, because they knew that she would be a wreck even when she managed to get back to classes and they needed to know what was going on so they could help her.

On the fourth day, Shana decided that no matter how sad she was, she couldn't let it get in the way of her life. She dragged herself out of bed, forced herself to take a shower and put on some nice clothes, and grabbed her books, which had been untouched for a few days. She sighed as she leaned into the mirror to apply concealer to the bags under her eyes. Makeups managed to somewhat obscure the puffiness of her eyes from constant crying, and a light layer of lip gloss coated her lips. She would have looked good if it wasn't for the look in her eyes, that sad, hopeless look that had been there since she'd found Kyoya and Chantelle together.

Pursing her lips to make sure that the lip gloss was evenly spread, she quickly made her way to the door of her dorm room before Chantelle came back from wherever she'd been the previous night. She'd almost made it out when the door swung open, almost hitting her. Chantelle stepped in and looked vaguely surprised to see her. Then she smiled, and it wasn't a nice smile. Shana tried to duck around her and leave the room – the wounds were still too fresh, she didn't think she could listen to Chantelle go on and on about how wonderful Kyoya was in bed, and how she'd won.

Of course, being Chantelle, she couldn't just let Shana walk out like that, without any form of confrontation or her making Shana feel like crap, although judging by the look in her eyes, she already did.

"Oh hello, Shana!" Chantelle said brightly, bestowing a warm smile on her. "I haven't seen you for a few days; how have you been? Oh, and if you see Kyoya, do help me pass a message to him. I want you to tell him that he was excellent," she said, stressing the last word especially, "And I hope he comes to see me again soon."

With that last parting shot, she pushed past Shana and into the room, leaving Shana to walk out, feeling almost as bad as she had the first day. Closing the door behind her, she leaned against the wall next to it, closing her eyes and trying to give herself a pep talk so she could face the rest of the day.

Pushing herself off the wall, she sighed again and walked to her first lecture of the day. She knew the day couldn't get any worse when everyone she passed by suddenly stopped whatever they were looking to stare at her, not even bothering to be subtle about it. She just knew Chantelle had to spread the news of her conquest, and had been prepared for it, but it still hurt to be stared at like some freak.

She slinked into the lecture theatre, trying to be inconspicuous since she knew she was slightly late. Tiptoeing to her seat, which was next to Kaori and Haruhi's, she cringed when the professor saw her. He immediately said sarcastically, "Good morning, Shana. How nice of you to grace us with your presence today," obviously referring to the few days when she hadn't come for class.

"Um…" she hedged, trying to figure out what she should say to get out of this situation. It just figured that although he had so many students, this guy would notice her absence from his lectures. "I wasn't feeling well, so I decided to rest at home and not risk passing it to everyone," she said, trying to act blasé about it so that he would buy her act.

He nodded in acceptance and turned away from her, pulling his Powerpoint slides out and beginning the lecture. The lecture was horribly boring, and Shana found herself totally incapable of paying full attention. While she jotted down notes and looked like she was paying attention, her mind started to wander, and she found herself thinking about Kyoya.

Honestly, she didn't know why she even did it, because she knew she would just get more depressed. After all, how could one get the warm fuzzies thinking about how their boyfriend had cheated on them with someone they disliked as much as she disliked Chantelle?

She had been twirling her pen in her hand, but at the thought of Chantelle and Kyoya together, her pen fell from her hand and onto the table. The noise it made upon impact stunned her out of her reverie, and she resumed paying attention to the lecture, pouring every single iota of energy into it so that she wouldn't be able to focus on horrible, terrible things such as Kyoya and Chantelle.

When the lecture ended, she walked out of the lecture theatre, flanked on either side by Kaori and Haruhi. She pondered on the irony of it somewhat bemusedly, that it was here that she had made friends, where her life had finally turned for the better, and now it was here that she was fighting the urge to glare back at all the people who were staring at her, knowing that it would just make things worse.

She was still thinking about it when Tamaki ran up to them. "Haruhi!" he exclaimed, seeming to be in a huge panic about something. She was used to it, because he often ran to her over things like his favourite bento not being sold that day.

"Oh, good morning, Shana," he said politely, his host instincts kicking in automatically. Whatever he had to say to Haruhi must have been very urgent and important because he didn't say anything else to her or Kaori, which he normally would have done.

He pulled Haruhi away and into a corner. "Haruhi, I'm worried about Kyoya," he told her. The fact that he didn't use one of his funny, over-the-top voices belied just how worried and upset he was. She bit her lip and snuck a look at Shana, who was sitting on a nearby bench with Kaori. She was talking to her, but she wasn't smiling, and it made Haruhi's heart squeeze a little. Despite everything that had happened to her, Shana was generally a rather happy person, always in a good mood.

"Well, I'm worried about Shana, but what Kyoya did to her isn't something that can easily be forgotten, and it's possible that it may be healthier for both of them to just move on," she told him, hoping he would see things from her perspective. She was friends with both Kyoya and Shana, and she knew that they truly cared about each other, but she had to choose between them now, and if she had to she supposed she would choose Shana.

"But… but… they're so cute together! And I won't allow it, Haruhi! As your father, I insist that you help me help them get back together!" he exclaimed loudly and passionately. She rolled her eyes at him. "Father? I thought we were over that. You do know that fathers can't be husbands right?" she asked, just to be sure. He seemed to know sometimes, but then he would call her his daughter or pronounce himself her father, and it was slightly worrisome.

"Anyway, I like both of them too, and I think they're good together, but no matter how much chemistry they have, it doesn't change the fact that he cheated on her, and no relationship can work without trust." She bit her lip and sighed again. "Plus, I don't think a relationship between the two of them will be healthy, all things considered." She wasn't sure how much he knew about Shana's past, but just in case, she didn't want to break her trust by telling Tamaki.

His eyes met hers, and she could see the intensity shining in the amethyst depths. He truly wanted to help Kyoya and Shana, and that was why she had fallen for him – because of his willingness, and even determination, to help others. But… she just couldn't be sure that it would work out, and she couldn't bear to think about how much worse it would be if they tried again and failed.

"Haruhi, he cried," Tamaki said, frowning. It had obviously been that which tipped the balance in Kyoya's favour for Tamaki. Kyoya was probably the most reserved of all the Host club members; he rarely displayed any emotion. For him to cry… he must have been so upset. She looked again at Shana. Her eyes seemed haunted, sad. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad for them to get back together after all.

Still, as frustrating as it was for her, it was more so for Tamaki. He wanted to help Kyoya, but he knew that the entire thing was Kyoya's fault, and if Shana didn't want him back, then it was just too damn bad. He just wished he could do more to help them.

Kyoya was tired. He was tired of crying. He was tired of feeling sad. He was tired of drinking. Yet he found himself sitting on the recliner in his room, holding an entire bottle of scotch and drinking straight from it. Well, at least he had made an improvement – today he'd actually left his bed. He rubbed his swollen eyes.

He wondered idly why he stayed in his room when it was so painful to do so. And yet it was soothing. Shana had left so many physical reminders of herself behind, and his memory supplied the rest. He remembered taking her in the chair, against that wall over there, and in the bed. He remembered them talking and laughing for hours, lying together in bed, just enjoying being in love.

His eyes wandered around the room. He hadn't put on his glasses so everything was blurry, but he could remember the exact spot where all of Shana's things were. Her hand moisturizer on the dresser. He could recall when she'd brought it here. When she'd placed it there, she'd said that since she spent so much time here anyway she might as well leave some of her stuff here so she didn't dry up like a prune. He'd just shrugged and accepted it, secretly being thrilled.

His eyes drifted towards the bedside table, where one of her water bottles still remained. She didn't like to use cups, claiming they held too little water, and she didn't think using plastic bottles was good for the environment or for her health, so she usually carried a bottle around his apartment, and she'd left it there the last time she was here.

He sighed as he crawled back into his bed, still holding the damn bottle of liquor. He popped the cap open and drank from it, before setting it down on the bedside table as he curled up in a foetal position. He buried his face in the pillow, wishing he could still catch a whiff of Shana's scent on the sheets. He'd had to wash everything to remove Chantelle's stench, and it had removed Shana's scent too. He remembered that on those nights when she wasn't here, he would hug a pillow with her scent and be able to fall asleep.

"I miss her so much," he whispered to no one, his voice cracking on a sob. Tears welled in his eyes, and he rubbed them away impatiently. More tears appeared, replacing the ones he'd swiped away with his hand, and he didn't notice, too absorbed in his thoughts. The tears slid onto his pillow, soaking the cover. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, knowing she couldn't hear him, knowing she wouldn't forgive him, knowing that everything was totally futile.

Then he heard the front door slam open. He sat up, the sudden wave of hope blindsiding him for a moment. Maybe it was Shana, come to duke things out with him. If he could just get her to listen to him, to understand that it was just a horrible mistake and he would take it back in a moment, in a heartbeat, if he could, that would make it all better, wouldn't it?

Then he slumped back onto his bed when he heard the footfalls, which were distinctly not Shana's, plus there were two sets. He pulled the bedcovers over his head, not wanting to face anyone. "Go away," he mumbled.

Tamaki stormed over to the bed and began pulling on the bedcovers, determined to make Kyoya relinquish control over the blankets. "You had better come out now, Kyoya," he fumed. How dare Kyoya wallow in self-pity like that and make everyone worry?

Haruhi sat down on the other side of the king-sized bed. "Kyoya, come out," she coaxed. When he felt the dip in the bed, he peeked out from under the covers, like a naughty child. "That's probably not all that clean," he croaked. "You probably don't want to sit there," he told her, before ducking back under the covers.

Haruhi abruptly lost patience with him. "Look, I'm here against my better judgement to try to help you, and the least you could do is appreciate it," she told him icily. "I know you feel like shit now, boo hoo, Kyoya has a big booboo on his heart," she told him sarcastically. "But Shana is just as upset as you, if not more," she continued, though she seriously doubted it as she looked at all the empty bottles of Scotch scattered around the room. "And if you truly love her, you'll pull yourself together and convince her of that."

Kyoya's heart squeezed a little at that statement. How could it be possible for anyone to hurt more than he was? The thought of Shana going through that pain because of him was terrible, and he felt horrible. "She's really that upset?" he said hoarsely. He couldn't let his Shana be sad. Even if it was because of him. Especially not because of him. But what could he do?

"I don't want her to be sad. But I saw her face, and she hates me now," he said miserably. Haruhi huffed impatiently, about one step away from punching him in the face. "She doesn't hate you. She's upset and betrayed and thinks you don't love her, but she doesn't hate you."

To be honest, she didn't know why she was even doing this, because Shana would kill her, and what if it didn't work out and Shana was crushed again? She didn't think she could live with the guilt, but still… she thought about how sad Shana was now, and knew that no matter what, Shana still cared very much for Kyoya, and she was absolutely heartbroken because she thought that Kyoya didn't care about her anymore.

"You really think I still have a chance?" Kyoya was almost giddy from hope. Haruhi wouldn't lie to him; if she thought he had a chance, he probably did. "I'll do anything to get her back, I promise."

He folded the blankets back and sat up, ready to go over and beg Shana to return to him.

Haruhi sighed and stopped him by placing a hand over his chest. "You can't just go over and beg," she said, sounding disgusted. "That would do nothing for you."

He sighed. "Then what am I supposed to do?"

Tamaki laughed. "Oh, my dear Kyoya, isn't it obvious? You need a big romantic plan to win her back!"

Hehe I hope you enjoyed this chapter. (: Please review, those are awesome. :D I'm sorry this is kinda late, school has been surprisingly busy. -.-

Love,

Peachy Hikaru