The walk to Haruhi's house was and refreshing; the air was crisp and the leaves crunched under our feet. Autumn was always my favourite season; the colours were so beautiful and the leaves seemed to dance as they floated to the ground. This was the season I would take my most favourite pictures. Although the dozens of photographs I had were incredible, nothing could compare to the way everything looked in real life. As we walked, there was comforting silence between us, both busy enjoying the beauty of the nature around us.

We neared a complex building with many doors. I followed Haruhi up the steps and waited as he unlocked the door. Once it was open, he gestured for me to enter with a nervous smile on his face. I blushed slightly, my heart rate increasing, and entered, slipping of my shoes and wandering in.

I gasped lightly as I gazed around his house. I was amazed at the differences between our houses. It was very small and quaint compared to my castle of a house. The walls had paint chipping off them, dust was collecting on shelves that I doubted anyone could reach and the scent of laundry detergent filled my nose. The perfect word to describe Haruhi's house was homey.

I looked back at the doe-eyed brunette and smiled widely. He looked at me, an expression of relief on his features. "Let's get started." He said cheerfully and took the supplies we needed out from his bag.

We worked mostly silently. Haruhi would strike up conversation here and there much to my dismay, but we mainly worked quietly. And we both enjoyed it. In a way I felt bad for Haruhi; the host club was loud and crazy most of the time. This muted work must've been a rare occasion for him, unlike for myself. Silence was my sanctuary. It was relaxing and made me feel safe. Of course, it was nice to have people to talk to every once in a while. My brothers would tell me stories of their days at school, their work and how their studies in karate and kendo were going, while Mitsukuni would go on and on about every single little thing that occurs to him each day. I found it refreshing compared to my usual day of trying not to be seen or noticed by anyone. I was a ghost outside of home. Someone who could travel from place to place unseen and unnoticed. I enjoyed it; it was better than facing everyone in the outside world.

I smiled to myself and continued the task that Haruhi had given me contently, but we were both interrupted when a large 'bang' came from outside. We turned and looked at each other questioningly, both of us drawing a blank. Haruhi stood and offered me his hand. I smiled timidly and took it.

I followed the brunette to the door and peered out of the small window that required both of us to stand on the tips of our toes in order to see out.

When nothing out of the ordinary was seen, Haruhi pulled open the door with an angry expression plastered on his face. "I can see you guys!" He yelled with annoyance.

My brow creased. Who could he see? I saw nothing but the street in front of his house and a few cars parked along the road. Then, I realized that the cars were far to expensive looking to be owned by anyone who lived around here. I sighed deeply and brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of my nose. The Host Club was here.

Just as I had predicted, the boys sauntered out from their hiding spots and trudged over to us in the doorway. Each boy was wearing a ski mask that covered their entire head but exposed their eyes and mouths, along with their school uniforms. Had they decided to wear those just so they could spy on us?

"Were you guys spying on us?" Haruhi angrily took the words right out of my thoughts.

They all bowed their heads after being caught, except for Tamaki who's eyes had sadness swimming within their violet irises. I realized (with relief) that neither my brother nor my cousin were here. I was happy and thankful that they hadn't participated in this act of espionage.

"Don't be mad, Haruhi." Tamaki spoke in a small voice. His eyes went wide with frenzy. "It was those rotten twins' ideas!" He exclaimed.

"Hey!" The Hitachiin boys said, their amber eyes narrowing. Kyoya, the only boy not wearing the ridiculous ski mask, sighed loudly. He probably dealt with their silly shenanigans on a daily basis. I'd only met them a day ago and I was already fed up, how had Kyoya mastered being in their presence for so long? Maybe he had a way of tuning them out, or maybe he had just given up and realized there was no 'dealing' with them, just getting over the fact that their hair-brained schemes and actions were inevitable. When my gaze met his for a split second, I saw exhaustion in his dark eyes, and a flash of what seemed like apology.

A small blush formed on my cheeks when I noticed Hikaru and Kaoru fully for the first time in this encounter. I titled my head forwards slightly to let my hair fall in front of my face like a dark curtain and glanced at my feet.

"We just wanted to see what they were doing." Said one.

"Yeah, what if they ended up kissing or something." I looked up once the second twin spoke, anger and embarrassment bubbling inside of me. Kissing? Haruhi? He was far too feminine for me, and, if I was being honest, I kind of had a theory that Haruhi liked his own gender.

Beside me, Haruhi's face went pink. "Gah!" He exclaimed. "Kissing? W-we were just working on our science project!"

In the blink of any eye, Tamaki had picked up Haruhi into his arms and held him tightly against his chest, causing the brunette's face to squish together and his lips to pucker. "Of course, Haruhi, daddy knows you'd never be stupid enough to kiss Soymikou in a million years! Mori-senpai would kill you and Honey-senpai would beat you to a pulp." He spoke lightly, as if being beaten to a pulp sounded foolish and unlikely. An image of Mitsukuni smiling brightly while sitting next to a brown pile of Haruhi with his eyes formed in my mind.

"Let me go, Senpai!" The small host pushed himself out of Tamaki's embrace. "I can't believe you were spying on us."

Next to Haruhi, I nodded vigorously, my eyebrows creased angrily. They were spying on us? Unbelievable. How rude! How disrespectful.

The two twins and the princely host saw my nod and their mouths fell open. "B-but, Soymikou, we were just- It was the doppelgangers!" Tamaki accused.

I turned to Kaoru and Hikaru. I couldn't tell who was who still, but when I saw both of their eyes widen, I only saw hurt hidden within one pair of golden irises. "That was really low, Kaoru." I said to him, my voice quiet and angry. I felt utterly insulted by these boys. They were contemptuous to think spying wasn't rude, let alone something disgraceful. I was so furious, that even though I saw Kaoru's face fall and his eyes widen, whether it was with sadness or remorse, I did not care. I was too in-the-moment-angry.

I spun around, acting like a miniature hurricane as I gathered my belongings and avoided the gazes of the boys around me. Once I completed my gathering, I went to face Haruhi. "Thank you for having me." I muttered to him before brushing past the Host Club members in the doorway and down the stairs of Haruhi's complex and onto the sidewalk of the busy street. I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to our limo driver to come and bring me home.

As I lay in bed that night, my mind felt overwhelmed with all the thoughts buzzing around inside of my head. After talking with Mitsukuni about what had happened earlier this evening at Haruhi's house, I was no longer angry with the Host Club, just upset that they had invaded Haruhi and I's privacy. It wasn't like we would've done anything wrong anyways, we were just working on our project that was due next Friday, a week from today.

I huffed out a sigh and rolled over onto my side; the clock next to my bed read 2:14am. I really hurt Kaoru's feelings. I remembered the look on his face when I had told him how low his actions were. His face had fallen completely, eyes widening, mouth falling agape. Unlike his brother, hurt had been hidden underneath the amber and mischief in his eyes. They're so pretty, I had to admit; they shone like glittering gold in the sunlight. I shut my eyes tightly. When I said he was really low, the light went out. His eyes had widened yes, but they became duller than usual.

I rolled over onto my stomach and shoved my face in my pillow. He must hate me now. I groaned loudly and rolled back onto my back. I opened my eyes, facing the ceiling, but all I could see was the blackness of the room around me. Haruhi probably hates you now, too, since you left him even though he was nice enough to invite you over, a voice in the back of mind told me. He was your only chance at having a friend. Now who will be your friend? No one. Tears were beginning to form in my eyes. Go away! Stop it! I brought my hands up to my ears, trying to block out the other voice telling me the thoughts I had shoved into the back of my mind. Please, let me be.

I brought my knees up to my chest and hid my face against them. The voice laughed, but this time it sounded farther away. It must've decided to leave me alone. For now. I removed my hands from my ears and wrapped my arms around my legs, nestling into the pillows and bringing up my blanket until it was just under my chin. Although they hurt and felt very dry, my eyes eventually closed shut and I drifted off to a restless sleep.