A split second, during which everything faded into the background, blurring away into insignificance. In that moment, everything that was Ootori Kyoya was completely focused on Shana, the pain that he could see in her eyes, in her stiff posture, resonating within him, shattering him, disintegrating him, and slowly putting him back together again. For a moment, it seemed like an invisible tether stretched from her soul to his, connecting them irrevocably.

And then she turned away and started moving towards the exit, and that moment ended. The tether holding them together snapped, the sound echoing through the hollow in his heart, the empty space where she was supposed to fit.

In all of Kyoya's life, he'd never done anything impulsive or impolite. It had been groomed into him since the day he was born – walk, don't run. Stand and smile at the person who's talking to you, even when you don't want to be there. Think before you act. There was no conscious thought involved in his next action, something which had happened only once before, the first time Tamaki had peered deep into his soul and seen all that he was.

Mumbling some inane excuse to the girl he was talking to – the daughter of an oil magnate or something of the sort – he dashed through the throngs of people in the ballroom, following the trail of the only girl who made him lose his mind. And, as he ran, the pounding of his heart was in tune with the mantra repeating itself in his head: please, please, please, please, please…

Waiting impatiently for the footman to fetch her coat, Shana turned back in the direction of the ballroom, half hoping that Kyoya would come after her. She grumbled under her breath as she shifted her weight from one foot to another, willing the footman to hurry up so she could get the hell out of here. What on earth had she been thinking before, coming here and lying to herself that all would be fine? All would not be fine, she knew that much now. She looked longingly at the magnificent front doors of the mansion, wondering if she could just make a break for it.

Then again, it was winter and given what she was wearing, she would probably freeze before she could get a cab. God damn it, she fumed silently. Was it really so hard to find her coat? Everything was organized and numbered anyway.

Just as she was about to seriously lose her temper, the footman emerged from the massive walk-in closet and handed her the cream knee-length coat she'd worn here. She smiled politely as she thanked him and slipped it on even as she was moving as quickly as she could towards the exit. Damn these shoes that made it impossible for her to run!

She was almost at the front door, her hand outstretched to push it open, when she heard it. The quick footsteps, accompanied by his unmistakable voice, shouting her name louder than she'd ever heard him say anything before. She turned for a split second to see Kyoya running towards her. In that instant, tearing her eyes away from him and walking into the freezing cold night was the hardest thing she could ever imagine doing.

The cold air of the night hit her like a frigid slap to the face, startling her, and she convinced herself that the tears welling up in her eyes was because of the ferocious wind – a blatant lie, other than the freezing air and a slight breeze the air was still. She walked as quickly as she could on the cobbled walkway, cursing her decision to wear these stupid shoes, contemplating whether or not she should take them off. Then again, if she did, her feet would freeze to the ground in an instant.

She was trying so hard to drown out the breaking of her heart – again! - with these inane thoughts that she didn't even hear Kyoya approaching, until he caught her arm. She whirled around with a gasp when she felt his strong grip, teetering off balance as she started to fall backwards.

Automatically, his arms came around her, catching her and halting her fall even as she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck to break her fall.

Once she got back her bearings and realized the intimate position they were in, she quickly withdrew her arms and tried to step away from his embrace, but his arms just tightened around her. She flushed as she looked away from his intense, burning gaze. "Let me go… please," she whispered, forcing the words out of her throat, which suddenly had a huge lump in it. "Please," she repeated, choking back a sob. He had to, because if he didn't, she was going to lose herself again… in her memories of him, of them.

Even now, just being pressed up next to him, breathing him in, she could feel her resolve weakening, and she had to resist the urge to wrap her arms around him again.

"Don't – don't leave," he forced himself to say. "I'm sorry – about everything that happened. I'm a terrible person, and you have every right to hate me." The words burned like acid as he forced them out. He'd never apologized to anyone about anything, but now he found himself groveling. And even as the words seared his pride and destroyed his dignity, he found that once he'd started he couldn't stop.

"I – I don't know how it could have happened but I promise you it was an accident, I don't even remember any of it I must have been piss drunk and I'm not even sure what happened that night I was so out of it it might not even have happened and I…"

He continued rambling on, his face half buried in her neck. Hot tears streamed from his eyes and dampened her skin. Moved by his pain, just wanting to help him somehow, she found herself wrapping her arms around him and stroking his back gently, soothingly. How out of character for him, she thought, how strange that the "cool" type, the shadow king, was crying in her arms and begging her to forgive him. Even as the law student in her analyzed the situation from all angles, the woman who was holding the man she loved more than anything could do nothing but try to offer him comfort as best she could.

Without thought, she blurted out, "It's okay, Kyoya. I'm done."

When he heard that, he clutched her even tighter towards him, sobbing even harder than before. "No it's not okay, Shana. Please, I – I'll do anything, just…"

She turned and dropped a light kiss on his temple, the only place she could reach while he held her so tightly against him. "No, I meant I'm done with being angry. You've worn down my defenses. I can't be angry at a shadow king who's come back into the light."

At that, he pulled back from her a little to stare earnestly into her eyes. "You're sure?" he asked, a little disbelievingly. "Even though I - "

She covered his mouth with her hands. "Actually, let's never speak of that again," she interrupted him, cringing.

He kissed her fingers, then reached up to grab her wrist, pulling her hand out of the way. With his other hand, he caressed the side of her face, his thumb gently brushing over her lips, before he bent to kiss her. "Thank you," he whispered against her lips. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," he whispered over and over again, the sound of his soft voice acting as the glue that stuck her broken heart back together again.

She twined her fingers in his hair, just like she used to do, and kissed him back. "I love you too," she told him, smiling, knowing exactly what he was trying to tell her even before it occurred to him. And just like that, the tether connecting her soul to his snapped back into place with an almost audible sound, and he was sure that nothing had ever felt so right in his life.

The two of them, completely immersed in their own little world, failed to notice the little audience that they had attracted, standing just behind the front doors of the mansion.

Tamaki, his arm around Haruhi's shoulders, smiled at the sight of his best friend finally letting his emotions be known. Hani and Mori stood next to Sakura and Kaori, all of them with small, satisfied smiles on their faces. The twins grinned mischievously, wondering if it was safe to tease Kyoya about this embarrassing lapse of decorum. Then they glanced at each other and simultaneously decided that although Kyoya was so different now, he was still the shadow king and to incur his wrath would still be a death wish.

Haruhi wrapped an arm around Tamaki's waist, turning her head and resting her chin on Tamaki to grin at her friends. This had worked out much better than expected – they had hoped that tonight would be the start of the road to mending their broken relationship, but none of them had expected it to happen so quickly. This was a testament to the strength of the bond that Kyoya and Shana shared. They shared a destiny, something that no one could break, no matter how hard anyone tried.

Thinking about it, Haruhi found it highly unlikely that Kyoya could ever have been so drunk that he would actually sleep with Chantelle. The night of Tamaki and Kyoya's graduation, they had all gone to Tamaki's house and gotten drunk on expensive alcohol (that was the last time they let the twins plan anything). If she recalled correctly, Kyoya had an amazing tolerance for liquor, and even after he was drunk, he still seemed to be completely in control of himself, if more giggly and forthcoming about his feelings than usual.

"Tamaki, come to think of it, Kyoya doesn't do the usual stupid drunk things even when he's absolutely trashed. He wouldn't have slept with that… uh… her," she mused, the last word spat out in complete disgust. At that, everyone stood rigidly, their minds all turning in complete synchrony as they processed what Haruhi was saying.

"That's actually true, come to think of it. Kyou-chan never really loses all his wits, even when he's drunk. In fact, he would pass out before… he consumed enough alcohol to… be that stupid…" Hani chimed in, his words drifting off as he frowned in concentration. All of them gasped simultaneously as they realized what must have happened. "That bitch!" the twins whisper-yelled. "Time to pay her a special visit, I think," Tamaki said thoughtfully. "Yeah," Mori grunted.

Completely oblivious to the epiphany that their friends had arrived at, Kyoya and Shana finally detangled themselves from each other and smiled as she caught his hand. Turning towards the mansion, they stopped short as they saw their excited friends. "Why are they all here?" Shana whispered with a perplexed frown.

Remembering the commotion that he had caused as he dashed out of the ballroom, Kyoya flushed. "Uh, how uncanny?" he offered weakly. Shana looked at him suspiciously and was about to inquire further when their friends all rushed at them. Tamaki was the first and he flung his arms exuberantly around Kyoya. "You did it! You are now promoted to prince status!" he proclaimed, all the while clinging on to Kyoya. "Kyou-chan, congratulations!" Hani added, smiling adorably. "Yeah, congrats," Mori said quietly and almost nonchalantly, though the small smile that quirked his lips told Kyoya that Mori was genuinely happy for his friend.

"Ah, how boring! Now we're the only members of the host club who aren't shackled down!" one of the twins – to this day, Haruhi was still the only one who could tell them apart – grumbled to the other. "Hikaru!" Haruhi exclaimed angrily as she untangled herself from the group hug, smacking him on the back of his head. "Just kidding," he said, grinning cheekily. "Congratulations, Kyoya-senpai!" the twins then said together.

Shana wasn't spared the usual treatment by their rambunctious group of friends. She had been rushed by the girls and was currently stuck in the middle of a group hug, while they all squealed in excitement over the renewed relationship. "Thank you guys," she said softly, overcome by emotion, as she hugged them all back.

As they were shepherded back towards the mansion by their friends, Kyoya and Shana linked hands again, and in that instant, everything was perfect.

Phew! It's been like two years since I've written a chapter of this, and I was honestly not intending to finish this at all, but I was rewatching Ouran High again the other day and just felt like writing again. I'll probably finish this soon – maybe another one or two chapters just to tie up some loose ends – but I'm not intending to continue the College series.

I love hearing from all of you guys so please review to tell me what you want to see! (Any requests, like Chantelle-bashing?) Or review to tell me if you want to see a continuation of this series with the twins (although I must warn you that even if I do continue updates will be very sporadic since I'm starting JC next year).

Wow it's been ages since I've done this! Hope to hear from you guys!

Love,

Peachy Hikaru