As it turns out, Haruhi and Tamaki wouldn't get to see one another every day. A few months after the breakup, Tamaki sold the house for almost double what he paid and transferred to a school in France, with Kyoya moving as well. He didn't trust Tamaki to take care of himself.

After all, the breakup had been the driving force to his move. He desperately missed his mother, and he was having trouble seeing Haruhi without wanting to die. He still sent her letters sporadically and promised to visit. And Kyoya sent biweekly updates between early college courses and preparing to buy out some business Haruhi never quite remembered the name of.

Haruhi had managed to get her grades back up, and without the host club, she was able to work part time. She'd gone back to basically only seeing her dad and occasionally spending time with Honey and Mori. Hikaru had tried to get her to join them often at first, but after about a month, had gotten angry and told her he didn't need her anymore. Kaoru still came by every week, but she always claimed to be busy. He still kept trying though.

Haruhi was sitting in the library for the fifth lunch straight when she was startled into knocking half her books into a pile on the floor by Kaoru plopping down next to her. Kaoru locked eyes with her before shoving the rest onto the ground and grabbing her hand. He pulled her up out of her seat and gave her a mischievous smile.

"HEY! What are you doing?! I'm trying to study. Let. Go." She huffed out, trying to shake him loose.

Kaoru grabbed her messenger bag and the shoved the floor books into them before leading her out the door and down the hallway. "We're going to lunch. You've been sitting in there every day instead of eating. You're isolating again. I miss you. Even Hikaru misses you, and I'm sure Ryoji's worried."

Haruhi opened her mouth to protest, but Kaoru just pressed a finger to her lips and tutted. "Don't bother trying to get out of it. You need the break. Besides, I already made reservations."

Haruhi begrudgingly followed Kaoru to a surprisingly cosy restaurant nearby. After all, he was right. She needed a break. And she was so fucking hungry. If she was being perfectly honest, she had missed him a little bit, too. Before Tamaki, She'd been out on a date with each of the twins.

Hikaru had been awful at first, but ever since that afternoon, he had actually begun considering others. Kaoru had actually made things fun, and she hadn't been pressured to take part in some extravagant outing like Tamaki used to do. They just walked through a local open-air market, and she had fun watching how amazed Kaoru was by the simplest things.

Even now, she could feel herself relaxing as they ate together and caught up. How is it, she wondered, that she hadn't realized how much she missed having a friend?

~~~

A/N: Well, that's the end of chapter 2. Let me know what you think. Don't forget to rate and follow the story. -Natty