Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club.

I'm With You

~Chapter 11~

Tamaki pulled Haruhi into the huge maze located within the Academy's garden. As they walked through, Tamaki hoped that he wouldn't get lost. If he couldn't find their way out again… he didn't want to think about it. Right now, there were bigger matters to attend to. His relationship with Haruhi was on the line.

Tamaki led the way into the center of the maze, trying to memorize the path he'd just trod as he and Haruhi sat down on a bench precariously perched in the center of the surrounding rose bushes.

And they sat there. A weird, awkward silence enveloped them, and Haruhi found herself squirming uncomfortably in her seat.

She had no idea what Tamaki had pulled her out for. But, she didn't feel her heart give a slight skip as he took her hand and dragged her out into the wonders of the rose maze. She tried not to think about her hand in his. It wasn't the best thing to think about when he was sitting right beside her. She'd have her nervous heart pounding in her ears if she did.

"I-" Tamaki and Haruhi said at the same time. They both immediately stopped, embarrassed and surprised that they had spoken at the same time.

"Y-you go first," Haruhi stuttered, looking down at her hands and fiddling with her fingers.

"U-uh… okay," Tamaki said, getting nervous.

He knew exactly what he wanted to say. He just couldn't get the words out of his mouth. He felt awkward, nervous. He didn't know how to come out with it and… well, what if things went for the worst? What if… what if she rejected him?

Tamaki could feel the nervous sweat at the back of his neck dripping slowly down. Oh gosh, what will he do? He just did it as a spur of the moment thing and now…. Ugh, he didn't want to have his heart smushed by the first girl that he'd ever liked to such an extent.

He felt a hand on top of his, the fingers rubbing his knuckled in a comforting gesture.

"Tamaki-senpai, are you alright?" Haruhi asked, her voice showing all the concern she held for the upper classman.

"We haven't found Ayanokouji yet!" Tamaki said all of a dither. He fought the urge to smack himself on his forehead. That was random and off the real topic he wanted to bring up.

Haruhi raised an eyebrow in question. "Huh?"

"I-I…" Tamaki sighed. He might as well just go with it. "We haven't seen Ayanokouji for a while and… well, we all know that she was the reason for your disappearance and something should be done with her behavior."

"Actually," Haruhi started, "I have to feel sort of… thankful to her."

Tamaki gave Haruhi a weird-ed out stare.

"W-well, it was because of her that I actually started talking again, right?" Haruhi pointed out, pulling her hand away to play with her fingers again.

After a while of silence, Tamaki's mouth twisted up into an admiring smile. He watched Haruhi look down at the ground as if she were too shy to shift her gaze up to his.

To Haruhi's surprise, Tamaki wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling said girl into a warm hug. She blushed. Haruhi didn't see this coming. She never thought that those words would create such a reaction to her. And Haruhi never knew that she'd receive such a fond looking smile.

"You're right," Tamaki sighed. "But I'm still quite angry at her."

Haruhi smiled and returned the hug. "Yeah. Me too."

Haruhi couldn't help but notice the way Tamaki hugged her. It felt as if he had something to say. It felt as if he were holding something back. It felt as if what he just told her wasn't really what was on his mind.

"What do you really want to say, Tamaki-senpai?" Haruhi asked, surprising Tamaki to whit's end.

"W-what do you mean, Haruhi?" Tamaki stuttered, quite embarrassed at how easily he was caught holding back his thoughts.

"That wasn't what you really wanted to say. I know you, Senpai. Just tell me," Haruhi said, pulling back from their hug and looking Tamaki in the eyes.

"I…" Tamaki trailed off. How does he say this? How should he say this?

"Yes?" Haruhi said, nudging him to say what he needed to.

"I don't want you to talk to those boys anymore…" Tamaki said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Apparently, Haruhi was still able to hear exactly what he said because she raised a delicate eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"W-well," Tamaki said, a blush starting to coat his cheeks, "those guys… they're after one thing!"

"What?"

"You see, guys are big perverts!"

"But Tamaki-senpai, you're a guy too."

"B-but, not like them…"

"You're still a guy. Plus, what could they possibly do to me?"

Tamaki stared at her. "You're a girl."

Haruhi raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, and?"

"Guys like girls."

"True. So what?"

"They'd want something from you."

"Like what? A gift?"

Tamaki gaped at Haruhi's innocence.

"Seriously, Senpai, what are they going to do? They can't do anything to me and they couldn't want anything from me either. It's not like they're going to hurt me."

"They'd want-…" Tamaki had trouble finishing his sentence. But, he needed to get this out there so that she'd be more… aware. "They'd want… they'd want the 's' word..."

"What?" Haruhi gave him the cutest look of confusion that he'd ever seen.

"Ahh… you learn it in middle school and it's supposed to do with the re-"

"Senpai, just tell me."

"They want sex!"

They stared at each other. They both had a faint blush coating their cheeks. They were sitting in a highly awkward silence.

"Th-they're just my friends…" Haruhi said quietly.

"But they're still boys," Tamaki retorted.

"How would you know?" Haruhi asked, getting slightly irritated at Tamaki's accusations and overprotectiveness.

"Because I'm a guy!"

"You just said you weren't that kind of guy!"

"It doesn't matter; I should still know what guys think about!"

"Oh really?" Haruhi growled sarcastically.

"Yes! Don't question my gender!"

"Why do you even care!"

"I love you! That's why!"

Haruhi started at Tamaki wide eyed, mouth agape. Did… did he just say what she thought she did?

"I-I mean," Tamaki started awkwardly, "h-how would you feel if your friend got hurt…?"

It was quiet for a little bit longer. And when Haruhi got her bearings back, she asked, "Did you just say you love me?"

"N-no! I didn't…"

"Yes, I think you did. I… just heard it… sort of…"

Tamaki got curious. "S-sort of?"

Tamaki's cheeks were aflame as he tried to trick Haruhi out of thinking that he just confessed his undying love for her. But, obviously, it wasn't working.

"If that were just my ears playing tricks on me, I'd…kind of be disappointed," Haruhi stated in her own way of 'confessing'.

Tamaki at there, cheeks even redder than it was before. "H-huh?"

Haruhi rolled her eyes, feigning calmness and indifference. Really, her heart was beating crazily within her chest, threatening to explode. She really didn't know what was coming to her when she decided that he liked her the way she likes him. But, seeing and hearing his context, she couldn't think of his 'confession' as anything else but the way a lover confesses to his loved one.

"I mean I like you too, Senpai," Haruhi blushed , the redness in her cheek becoming a little more predominant.

"S-seriously?" Tamaki asked.

"Yeah," Haruhi nervously giggled.

"Well… me too," Tamaki said.

"I kind of noticed that, Senpai," Haruhi laughed.

Out of nowhere, and very noticeable glee on Tamaki's part, Tamaki leaned towards Haruhi and placed a sweet kiss on her cheek.

"So are we a couple?" Tamaki asked after a moments' silence.

Haruhi smiled. "Yeah, we are."

Kyoya, Hunny, Mori, Hikaru, and Kaoru watched the couple who had fallen asleep on their couch during their break in the club. Girls and guys, who were very much customers of the prestigious host club, crowded around Haruhi and Tamaki, commenting on how much of a cute couple the two make.

Kyoya snapped pictures as the other club members fawned over the two. He felt happy for his eccentric best friend. Tamaki had a really huge crush on the girl for a while before they got together not but a few weeks ago. Actually, today was their said 'one-month anniversary'. At least, that's what Tamaki said. As far as he knew, only Tamaki was freaking out about it. But, he wouldn't tell anyone that he was unsure of what Haruhi felt. After all, that would just ruin his image, wouldn't it?

Hikaru and Kaoru couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of Tamaki. Of course their senpai deserved it, but they had grown really close to Haruhi ever since she first arrived. She was the first person who was able to tell the difference between the two twins other than their parents. Their relationship had grown and, Kaoru had noticed, Hikaru had a slight crush on Haruhi. Kaoru knew his brother would get over her and find the one he was truly supposed to be with. And Kaoru also knew that he'd get over said girl too. All they could really do was feel happy for two people who were close to their hearts.

Hunny felt happy for the two love birds. And he knew that they were the perfect match from the beginning. Just because he looked and acted quite immature doesn't mean that he really was. In all actuality, he was much smarter than he appeared to be. And from the first time he saw the two walking into the 3rd Music Room, he knew that they would be a married couple in no time.

And Mori felt the same.

Haruhi felt herself waking up. She could hear a whole bunch of commotion happening all around her and she knew just what it was all about. She remembered falling asleep on Tamaki's shoulder and barely registered the fact that Tamaki, too, had fallen asleep, his head falling on top of hers. She knew that everyone would make a huge deal out of it.

But, no matter how much she thought of it, she couldn't make herself move. She felt way too comfortable with her head resting comfortably on Tamaki's shoulder. She could wait until Tamaki woke up as well.

Tamaki had been awake ever since the crowd had started to form around the couple. But, he felt so comfortable with Haruhi on his shoulder that he couldn't make himself wake her up. So, he pretended he was still sleeping, waiting for Haruhi to wake up. And when he felt her stir, he lifted his head from hers.

Tamaki smiled at those surrounding the two as the crowd awkwardly waved 'hi'.

Haruhi lifted up her head, drowsily blinking the sleep out of her eyes. She turned her head to Tamaki and smiled.

Tamaki leaned down and gave her a peck on the cheek, making the girl blush. "How'd you sleep?"

"G-good, thank you" Haruhi stuttered.

Squeals were heard all over the room from the ladies witnessing the affection Tamaki gave off and the cute embarrassment Haruhi showed. The boys just watched.

Haruhi smiled up at Tamaki. Meeting him was the best thing that ever happened to her.

~End~

It's finally finished! Wow, only 11 chapters…. Huh. My shortest story except for that one one-shot I made. Kewl. XD

I hope you all enjoyed this! And thank you all for taking them time to read my story! I really appreciate it! And now, since this is all done, I can't take my long awaited hiatus!

Ah, a break. Now that's gonna feel nice. I'll just focus on school until all things settle down.

But, before I go, I'd like to thank and respond to all the reviews I have gotten.

TheAmazingBlueFoxGirl- haha! That's absolutely fine! :D Well, this is the final chapter but I hope to write more stories during summer break or winter break or something… yeah. thank you.

AshWriter- I'm glad you liked it. And thank you so much for the compliment! You're making me blush! Haha! It's okay that you didn't. I don't mind as long as you review at least once. :D Thank you.

Zahchi- Thank you! I'm glad you like! And it's totally fine! I think I'll make a one-shot sequel about all that stuff… maybe… I guess I'll have to try, right? Sorry for the late update!

XxpuffpuffxX- I'm not busy now. Thank you for reading!

darkness34- Thank you! :D

KageNoNeko- Haha! …seriously? Wow. I'm glad you like this so much. And that's kewl! I can't wait to read it. :D

CardcaptorKatara- I'm glad you liked.

sweetwithobsessions- Haha! Thank you! I try my best. :P

OoO-Ashee-OoO- I'm glad you liked it! :D You're so nice! Good reader! XD

Captain Ea Rayos- yeah, it is kinda fast. I thought of it that way too. But I'm glad you liked it anyways. Haha! I guess I'll put that in a one-shot too. :D

kouga's older woman- Haha! Yeah, thanks for reviewing!

Akatsuki Utaou- haha! Yeah, I like special stuffs. :D I'm glad you enjoyed my story. It warms my heard. Thank you for reading and reviewing!

Thank you all soooooooo much! I feel the love! :D

Well, I have to be going now! But I'll make sure to keep writing and to get another story up sometime when I am not that busy and can update it accordingly instead of making you all wait so long. I feel bad for doing that.

I'm going to miss you all!

~xXPaintingRealityXx logging off for who knows how long! :D