Alright, here's chapter eighteen, dear readers.

I want to thank everyone who reviewed chapter seventeen and all those who have recently followed and, or favorited my story. Your support keeps me writing.

Now go on and read the chapter!

Light shone across my face as I blinked my eyes open. I brushed the hair off my face, sat up, and wiped the sleep out of my eyes. 'Morning already? I feel like I could sleep for another hour.'

I glanced at the clock on the end table, '8:30, huh? I thought it was later then that.' Still half asleep, I laid back down on my side and looked at Kyoya. He was sleeping peacefully with his face towards mine.

'He's really handsome without his glasses on. I wonder if he has contacts?' I thought as I gently brushed his bangs out of his eyes. Then my hand froze and a giant blush spread across my cheeks. 'Oh my gosh! I just slept with a guy when I'm not even married and now I'm touching him while he sleeps, I'm such a pervert!'

My face burned red with embarrassment as I yanked my hand away from Kyoya with so much force that I knocked myself off the bed. Luckily, I got a hand underneath myself to break the fall but I still landed with a loud "thump!"

I froze and looked fearfully at Kyoya, the twins had told me horror stories about Kyoya when he was woken up by others and, although I didn't believe the stories at the time, I sort of believed them now.

I sighed in relief when I saw that Kyoya was still sleeping; either he slept through it or he didn't care enough to move but to me that didn't matter, I was just glad he didn't wake up.

'I'm a wreck,' I thought hopelessly. 'Maybe if I shower I'll feel better and my head will clear.' Trying to calm my tumult of emotions, I went to the bathroom and locked the door. I had a nice long half hour shower and by the end I felt much better.

Unfortunately, once I got our of the shower I realized that I had forgotten something very important; my clothes. 'I have to get my clothes before Kyoya wakes up!'

I quickly dried myself off and wrapped a towel around me before slipping out of the bathroom and dashing to the closet. 'I made it!' I thought in relief. I bent over my suitcase and pulled out a burgundy tunic shirt and a pair of jeans.

"What are you doing?" I jumped as I felt Kyoya's hand on my back and heard his drowsy voice.

I stiffened with embarrassment and wished that the floor would open up and swallow me. Then, although this is ironic, my mind finally cleared and I knew that the panic attack I was about to have wouldn't help. So I took a deep breath and, despite my embarrassment, said, "I forgot to grab my clothes before showering."

I didn't turn my head to look at Kyoya but I heard him sigh exasperatedly before saying, "just... Just hurry up and get dressed." Then he walked out of the closet and closed the door.

I sighed in relief and got dressed in less than a minute. When I creaked open the closet door I saw to my relief that Kyoya was in the bathroom taking a shower.

'What a stressful morning,' I thought with a sigh as I sunk into an armchair by the windows.

I sat in silence for a minute when I heard a small knock on the door. I opened it to reveal a maid who had brought Kyoya's and my breakfast. As she set her tray down on the table the maid informed me that because of preparations for the gala, Kyoya and I were requested to relax in our room until it was time for the party to begin.

I told her that I understood, then I sat down and picked up my book to help pass the time until Kyoya finished his shower. I was in the middle of a chapter and totally engrossed by my book that I was jolted back into reality by Kyoya saying, "you waited for me?"

I put my book down and looked up at him with a smile, "of course, it would have been rude to eat without you."

Kyoya smirked at me and sat down, then we began to eat. As we ate I looked at Kyoya and noticed that he wasn't making eye contact with me. "Something wrong?" I asked confused.

Kyoya gave me a strange look, 'is that a slight blush... embarrassment perhaps?' Then he turned back to his food and said, "it's nothing. Just don't forget your clothes again, I'm still a guy after all."

"Oh, okay," I said quietly as my ears grew red. We ate the rest of the meal in silence. I was so embarrassed that the food stuck in my throat.

As soon as we were done eating and the maid had come and cleared away our dishes, I flopped down onto the bed while Kyoya went out onto the balcony.

After half an hour, Kyoya called from the balcony, "hey, Madoka. Would you come here for a minute?"

"Okay," I answered getting off the bed and joining Kyoya on the balcony. I leaned on the rail next to Kyoya, enjoying the feeling of the wind blowing in my hair before asking, "so, what is it?"

"I just wanted to give you this," Kyoya said causally. As he said this, Kyoya grabbed my left hand and slid a silver ring onto my ring finger.

I stared completely stunned at my left hand which now had a silver ring with two small diamonds and a slightly larger garnet stone in between them. 'So pretty.'

As I stood there speechless staring at the ring, Kyoya looked at me and said, "since this is our first public appearance as a couple, I thought it was about time I got you a ring to make our engagement official."

A soft smile formed on my lips as I whispered, "thank you, Kyoya. It's beautiful."

Kyoya gave me a small sly smile before putting his hand under my chin, tilting it up, before he leaned in and softly pressed his lips against mine.

At first my eyes flew open in shock and I grew stiff but as my initial shock subsided, I gently closed my eyes and kissed him back, wrapping my arms around him. I don't know how long I stood there kissing him, it felt like hours but at the same time it felt like no time had passed at all.

We drew apart and Kyoya walked back inside without saying another word. I leaned back onto the balcony and sighed. 'My first kiss. I never dreamed it could be so wonderful.'

XXXXXXX

Kyoya and I spent the rest of the day quietly in our room. We watched movies, read, and browsed the internet. Then, the time came to get ready for the ball.

I slipped into the custom made dress Kyoya had had the twins make, then I studied my reflection in the mirror.

The dress was a deep red with black accents. There was a sweet-heart neckline with two thin straps. The dress had an open back where black ribbon criss-crossed over my skin until it reached my hips where the dress closed back up. The front of the dress was simple; it was form fitting to my hips and then it flowed softly to my ankles. When I spun the skirt flared out revealing the black lining of the dress.

After admiring my reflection, I slipped into the heels I had used when I had practiced the Viennese Waltz with Kyoya. 'Simple yet dramatic, perfect.' I did a small spin before I let a maid in to do my hair.

I was pleased with her work; she had decided to do my hair like my dress, simple yet dramatic. The maid had kept my hair down and lightly curled it. Then she slid diamonds into my hair after pinning back the hair on the left side of my face.

"It's perfect," I breathed as I ran a finger through my hair. After I said this the maid left and I exited the bathroom.

"There you are," Kyoya said with a smirk. "That dress looks good on you but it's still missing something." As he said that, Kyoya got up from his seat, walked over to me, and brushed my hair to the side before attaching a black diamond necklace around my neck.

There was one large stone right in the middle of the necklace which was surrounded by tons of little dangling stones. "Thank you," I said as I tentatively touched it.

"You're welcome. Now let's go out to the party." When he said this, Kyoya offered me his arm which I blushingly accepted.

Kyoya led me though the halls until we reached the ballroom where I stared in amazement at the size of the room and the number of guests who were here. 'This is the biggest party I've ever been to.'

Kyoya chuckled at the look of awe. I blushed and looked away as Kyoya led me over to an empty table. (there were many tables scattered around the perimeter of the room) We sat there quietly, watching more people drift into the room.

This was the first time I had ever been to an event hosted by the Kazahara's so I didn't recognize anyone. Kyoya had been to many of these parties so he knew some of the other guests but he stayed by me which was very nice of him.

Finally, the Kazahara's announced the start of the gala and Kyoya led me onto the dance floor. We took our positions in the circle and waited for the music to begin. As the music started, everyone in the circle began doing the Viennese waltz.

Round and round, spinning faster and faster; Kyoya and I spun around the room as we flowed with the beat of the music. I smiled happily at Kyoya as we danced around the room. In the many hours I had poured into learning the Viennese Waltz with Kyoya I had grown to love it.

My dress swished around my legs as the song ended and we stopped dancing and I gave Kyoya a bright smile. Then, for the first time since I've met him, Kyoya gave me a real smile before he leaned down and kissed me on my forehead. I blush spread across my cheeks as he kissed me and Kyoya smirked at me as he led me off the dance floor.

I sat down and Kyoya left to get me a drink. That's when Mrs. Kazahara came over in her sleek black dress and sat down in the seat opposite of me. Mrs. Kazahara smiled as she gushed, " You and Kyoya looked stunning when you dance together, your dancing skills are amazing. I swear you and Kyoay had the best technique and grace out of everyone else.

"And you dress, it made you look absolutely stunning. Where'd you get it? Oh, is that your engagement ring? It's perfect for you though I don't remember seeing it yesterday. Anyways, thanks for coming, I have to go now. Tell Kyoya I said hi," and with that she got up and started talking somebody else's ear off.

'She's officially gone. Way too talkative, all I could do was smile and nod, I didn't get to say a single thing.'

After being gone for five minutes, Kyoya came back and gave me a drink which I gratefully accepted. Then I urged Kyoya to go talk to his other friends. When he left, I got up and went out into the hallway for some air, it was so crowded in the ballroom that it made me feel dizzy.

I leaned against the wall and panted while I whipped some sweat off my forehead. 'Made it just in time, I almost feinted there.'

I looked out of the corner of my eye and say a boy a bit older than Kyoya standing a little distance away from me. The boy had piercing green eyes and shaggy jet black hair. He was wearing a totally black suit with only a dark green tie for contrast.

The boy had been looking out the window with a dark look in his eyes when he noticed me. He gave me a sideways glance then he smiled, almost evilly, before turning back to the window.

I straightened up and looked at the boy, scrutinizing him before saying, "needed a break from the crowd, huh?"

The boy glanced lazily over his shoulder at me before saying, "yeah, crowds aren't my thing."

I smiled before walking over to him. I extended my hand out to him and said, "hi, I'm Madoka Yamada. You look like you don't come to these sort of thing that often."

The boys eyes held a look of surprise for a second before he turned to me and shook my hand with a sly smile. "Nice to meet you. I'm Nadare Nakamura, and you don't seem to be that used to events like these too."

I gave a small laugh before leaning with my back against the window while saying, "I'm actually used to these kind of things. It's just so crowded in there that I came in here to catch my breath."

Nadare gave me a small smile then, gesturing to my ring, he asked, "who's the lucky guy?"

I blushed but before I could say anything, I felt a strong hand on my shoulder and I looked up in surprise to see Kyoya. "I'm Kyoya Ohtori, Madoka's fiancee," he said this pleasantly but with a hint of an underlying threat in his voice. "I don't mean to be rude but Madoka must be going now."

"No, go ahead, I understand how things work," Nadare answered in a tone identical to Kyoya's.

After this, Kyoya led me back into the ballroom and into an isolated corner, then he let go of me and said, "who was that man?"

I was slightly shocked by the sharp tone in his voice but I answered, "Nadare Nakamura, why do you ask?"

Kyoya was silent for a moment, then he started to walk away and in a dark dangerous voice he said, "nothing. Just stay away from that guy, he's no good." I just stood there and stared in silent bewilderment at Kyoya as he disappeared into the crowd.

So how was this chapter? In my honest opinion the beginning is kind of weak but I like the ending.

I don't know why but teachers like to pile a lot of work into the last quarter of the school year, which has in turn resulted in my sporadic updates. Sorry about t but I update as soon as I can.

Next time: Tricked.

-Karolyn Grace.