Fourteen hours on a plane is hell as Haruhi soon realizes and was more than happy when Ouran's private plane landed in John F. Kennedy International airport along with the rest of her classmates. 'Hard to believe it's after 1 in the morning in Tokyo.' She thinks as she follows the twins, Momoka, Renge, their class rep. Souga Kazukiyo, and another boy in her class Kaname into one of the cars which were going to take them to the Plaza Hotel, their home for the next two weeks.

Haruhi already agreed to share a room with Momoka and Renge, but she wasn't expecting to get one of the ten rose suites. Sure everybody got a suite; hell the twins were sharing one with Souga and Kaname, but she was never expecting the size of the room. It seemed to have a living area including a couch three chairs, a television, and a bathroom. The bedroom contained two beds a queen and a king, another bathroom, and another television. It could have easily fit three of her apartments and still have room for a bar, which the place seemed to have but under lock and key. "Wow, this place is fantastic." She breathes, as the other two walk out onto the balcony that overlooks the city.

"This is going to be such a fun trip" Momoka smiles. The other two couldn't help but agree with her, as they begin to unpack.

It was about two when the boys knocked on their door and asked if they wanted to go to a late lunch somewhere. "Sure, but not too far okay?" Haruhi asks "I think we're all still a bit exhausted from being in a plane for over a half a day."

"I'm sure there are places to eat in the park, why don't we go ask the staff downstairs?" Renge suggests receiving looks of shock from the others, after hearing her say something reasonable. "What?" she finally asks

"Nothing" the twins grin.

"All right I'll head down first and ask somebody for someplace to eat in the park." Haruhi tells them grabbing her purse and heading down the hall to the elevators.

She had just gotten into the elevator, when two twins jumped in beside her right as the door closed. "What already trying to get rid of us?" they ask grinning

"Not at all I'm just…really happy to be here" she smiles happily at them, as they stop on another floor two girls no older than nineteen join them and the twins gave the two their host smiles, causing them to, of course, immediately fall for them. "Some things won't ever change.' She laughs to herself.

"Excuse me sir?" she asks walking up to one of the staff in the lobby he looked to be in his mid-thirties, black hair that was covered mostly by the hat he was wearing, and brown eyes. He looks at her, as if he didn't know what to do. 'Oh right different country.' She mentally slaps herself and changes to English. "Excuse me sir, sorry about that I forgot I am in a different country."

"Oh good, you do speak English." He smiles kindly down at her. "A lot of us were afraid that we wouldn't be able to be any help to your large group."

"Oh not at all most of us speak at least a little English, but some of us speak it fluently, so there should not be too many problems." She smiles back at him.

"Good to know, so how can I be of service?" he asks

"Some friends of mine and I want to know if there are there are any good places to eat in the park? We are all hungry, but we do not want to go too far yet." She explains, as she hears Renge and Momoka behind her. She guessed the others were standing next to the twins waiting for her.

"Well the Dancing Crane Café isn't too far from here and it's not bad if you want a quick bite to eat" he tells her "If you cross the street into the park, when you reach a fork in the road just head down the path on your left and follow the signs from there."

"Thank you so much sir" she bows and smiles at him, before turning around and meeting with the twins and the others. She tells them the location and they all head out into the city for their first day.

It was almost four in the morning when Haruhi suddenly hears her phone go off loudly beside her. Opening her eyes slowly she groans and rolls over to pick it up, trying not to wake Momoka and Renge in the bed besides hers. "Hello?" she asks groggily expecting it to be the twins wanting to know if she wanted to go somewhere, or Tamaki calling to check up on her, so she was surprised to hear Kyoya's familiar voice.

"Hello Haruhi I just wanted to check up on you."

"Do you have any idea what time it is here?"

"It should be about eight in the morning right?" he asks

She manages to sit up in her bed from the shock of him being wrong for once. "You do know that we're fourteen hours behind and not ahead don't you? It's almost four in the morning here." She states, trying really hard not to laugh. "I don't think there's any country fourteen hours ahead of us, though I may be wrong."

"…Oh good lord I'm so sorry Haruhi."

"It's okay, but you really should be apologizing to my roommates for waking them up as well." She laughs turning to the other bed to see the two girls stirring.

"You're right, but to do that I would have to speak to them and they would both recognize my voice." He smirks

"Good point," she sighs lying back down and trying to warm herself up again. "You don't have to worry the flight went just fine and New York is already a lot of fun." She then proceeds to tell him about the café they found and how the rest of the day was spent mostly in their hotel room playing games and watching movies. "We were all still exhausted from the flight to really go anywhere too far, but we had a lot of fun."

"I'm glad you enjoyed your first day Haruhi."

"…What time is it there?" She asks too tired to figure out the difference.

"Almost six in the evening." He replies

'My dad should be back from his trip by now.' She thinks and as if reading her mind Kyoya tells her.

"I'll call Ranka and let him know how your first day went, so he doesn't call you at a bad time."

"Like you just did?" she asks jokingly "But thank you very much."

"Wouldn't want him worrying about his daughter," he says "I'll let you go Haruhi. I know you want to sleep some more, but please call."

"Don't worry I will, after all I don't want you calling me at almost four in the morning every other day." She yawns

"Go back to sleep Haruhi. I'll talk to you later. I love you." He states

"I love you too," she says, before hanging up and laughing to herself.

Who was that Haruhi?" a still very tired Momoka asks

"Sorry about that it was my-"she was about to say 'dad,' which she should have said, but she was getting tired of lying to everybody. "It was my boyfriend" she sighs "He forgot about the time difference and wanted to check up on me."

"Well everybody makes that mistake, but next time you should-"she cut off, as both girls suddenly jump up in their bed to face her.

"BOYFRIEND?" they cry out in unison, scaring Haruhi enough to almost fall out of her bed.

"Gah, yeah my boyfriend." She replies trying to get her ears to stop ringing. "So?"

"Who is he? What's he like? Does he know you're working as a hostess? How long have you been dating?" Renge asks. The questions just seem to pour out of her mouth. Momoka looks like she wants to know as well, but Haruhi could see her starting to nod off.

"Renge it's too early for this" she sighs lying back down. "Please just go back to sleep." She yawns

"She's right, besides we can just bother her in the morning." She hears Momoka tell her. Sighing inwardly Haruhi rolls back onto her side and falls quickly asleep.

When she wakes up she sees two pairs of eyes staring intently at her. Gah, what the hell-?" she almost screams jumping quickly from the bed, which turns out to be a bad idea as her head goes foggy for a moment and she has to sit back down.

"Haruhi, are you all right?" Momoka asks

"Yeah" she groans "You two just scared me a bit, no big deal."

"So Haruhi about last night-"Renge starts

"I have a boyfriend. I'm not telling you who he is. He's…charming in his own way. Yes he knows I'm working as a hostess and he finds it humorous. I'm not telling you how long we've been dating and as shown last night his timing isn't the best, despite being one of the top students at the school." She answers still remembering the questions.

"But Haruhi-"

"No way in hell am I telling you anything more." She growls as there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it" she yawns getting up again and going over to open the door, only to be met with- "Kaname, what are you doing here?" she asks curiously

"The twins wanted to come up here, order breakfast, and eat with you three, both Souga and I agreed it would be more fun." He smiles.

"That's fine, but where are the other three boys in your group?" she asks

"No idea" he sighs, causing Haruhi to laugh. "I got into the elevator expecting them to be right behind me and I realized I was alone with a young girl, who seemed to look terrified."

"Come on in, I'm sure they'll show up-"she was interrupted by Souga and the twins coming out of the elevator. "Now" she finishes, as they reach the door.

"Wow Haruhi, you look like hell rough night?" the twins ask walking into the room with the other two boys following right behind them.

"Yeah her boyfriend called her very early this morning and woke us all up." Renge replies still on Haruhi's bed, as the others sit in the chairs and on the couch.

"He called?" the twins ask her. She just closes the door and nods.

"Do you two know who he is?" Momoka asks innocently

"No" they groan in unison. "But we wish we did"

"If you all don't mind I'm going to go take a shower and change for the day, seeing as I'm still in my pajamas so Hikaru, Kaoru order whatever you want for me and I'll be back." Haruhi yawns heading into their room.

"Want some help changing?" Hikaru asks, earning a pillow in his face and the bedroom door slamming shut.

"Think she's mad?" Souga asks

"Naw we tease her like that all the time." Kaoru laughs grabbing one of the breakfast menu's on the table and skimming through it, as Hikaru turns on the television.

Five days later Haruhi was sitting on her bed eating a piece of candy she found that she rather liked from down in the gift shop downstairs and reading a book she found the day before.

"Haruhi, do you want to go for a swim in the pool, before the boys come and pick us up for dinner?" Momoka asks walking into the bedroom.

"They're not picking us up until eight right?" she asks looking at the clock beside her bed that read 6:15 pm.

"Nope and Renge and I are bored with just sitting here." She replies going over to her bed to find her bathing suit in her suitcase.

"Sure why don't I meet you two down there in a bit?" she suggests setting her book down and getting out of bed.

"Perfect we'll meet you down there then." She smiles, before grabbing two suits, one of which she assumed was Renge's and walked out of the room.

'A good swim will probably be perfect, before dinner.' She thinks grabbing her suitcase off the chest at the end of her bed and opening it up. She was about to enter the bathroom when she hears her phone go off. 'Kyoya' she thinks happily going over to the bed and picking it up. "Kyoya?"

"Hello Haruhi I assume this time I picked a good time to call?" he asks humor in his voice.

"Yep it's almost six thirty in the evening this time, but isn't it a little after eight in the morning there?" She asks "Since when are you awake that early?"

"It is a school day Haruhi." He points out

"Oh that's right…whoops." She laughs

"So what have you been doing today?"

"The twins and I went to explore Times Square earlier. The size of it's really not exaggerated either it's huge. The twins got me to try some sort of weird candy there, but as it turns out its really good and I ended up buying a box of it." She laughs walking into the other room and settling down on the couch.

"Sounds like something you would do" he laughs with her.

"Shut up" she pouts "We got back to the hotel around four and I've been in the room reading for the past two hours. Momoka and Renge invited me to go swimming and I was getting ready to go and then you called. I don't mind though I told them I would meet them down there, so how have things been at school with all of us gone?" she asks

"Schools been boring, but that's a given. Tamaki's been a pan in my ass, always asking me why he can't call you or the twins. I'll let him know I got a hold of you though and that you are doing all right."

"Sorry he's being a pain, but come on when is he not?" she asks laughing "Was there something else you wanted to tell me though your voice is too steady." She tells him

"You always could read me like a book Haruhi, but yes there was something else." He sighs "…My brother's engagement to Miss Alina was announced last night."

"Oh no, how's he taking it?" she asks

"Not well, we hope that he can find some way to get out of it."

"I thought they had blackmail over your family though? What happens if Yuuich-san does get out of the wedding?"

"They don't have anything over us anymore Haruhi my father's innocent."

"What, when did you find out?"

"Two, no three days ago your friend Akane came up to me during club, slipped me a disk, and told me that her father's assignment was finished."

"That must have caused a commotion from Tamaki-sempai."

"Well since Miss Akane designates you he was shocked when she came into the clubroom and walked over to me."

"Why didn't you just close the club for two weeks?"

"Do you honestly think Tamaki would want to disappoint the young ladies?

"…I suppose not" she sighs

Momoka had just gotten downstairs with Renge when she remembered she had forgotten her sunglasses and a room key. Telling Renge to go ahead she heads back up to the room hoping Haruhi was still in there. Reaching the door to their room she was about to knock when Haruhi's voice stopped her.

"So what was on the disk that proves your father is innocent in the murder?"

'Murder, is she talking to her boyfriend again?' she wonders lowering her hand 'I really shouldn't eavesdrop…but maybe I can at least learn the guy's name.' Sighing she lays her head on the door in order to hear inside.

"It took long enough to prove, but apparently the group of people who actually committed the murder forgot a few minor details about my father. The gun my 'fake' father in the video had is a type of gun my real father doesn't know how to use, that and the lock on the door was proved to be picked. My father has a key to every door in all of our hospitals he wouldn't need to pick the lock. The last thing I noticed, or rather Akane's father noticed was the person's hair was dyed recently. It's not easy to notice on a camera, but Akane's father is the best and was able to prove that my father isn't the murderer. The culprits even managed to drug my father that night so he wouldn't remember what had happened."

"I want to ask how it took them five years to figure that out, but at the same time the police would have had to find the real murderer first, which I assume they have?"

"Yes"

"Thank god I'm glad your father is proven to be innocent, but your brother's engagement how'd that come along?"

"When I got the video and was able to give it to my father to prove that he was innocent it was already too late. Yuuichi-niisan was already engaged to Alina, so unless she wants to pull out of the wedding there's nothing any of us can do."

"Damn it, that's not fair to your brother though."

"I know, which is again why the family is having her over for dinner tonight and get her to…well not like us."

"Just have Akito insult her like he did me."

"Yes, but you have to remember you stayed, so it didn't work on you."

"True"

"Still I wish you were going to be here tonight. If anybody can get a spoiled rich girl to run off it's you."

"Gee thanks"

"You know what I meant; you just have that way with people, besides I wouldn't have asked you to marry me if I didn't think you could take it in my society."

"What, so if I can't make it in your society you're going to cancel our engagement?" she asks jokingly

"I love you Haruhi and would never do that to you besides I asked you to marry me. It would be cruel for me to do that to you."

"Yes it would be and I love you too Kyoya. Good luck at dinner tonight, just try not to kill her."

"We'll see, have a good rest of your evening Haruhi."

"I'll try. Talk to you later." She smiles ending the call and walking back into the bedroom.

'Kyoya…as in Kyoya Ootori, that's just not…possible, is it?' Momoka wonders staring at the door in shock. It takes her a full minute to get enough courage to finally knock on the door.

"Hello-oh Momoka what's up? Did you forget something?" Haruhi asks opening the door.

"It seems Renge and I forgot to pick up one of the room keys before heading down and we were afraid you would as well." She fakes a smile.

"…Are you all right?" Haruhi asks her letting her into the room. "Your voice seems…fake."

"Does it? I'm sorry I'm fine Haruhi really." She tells her grabbing one of the three room keys out of the small candy dish on the table. "Anyways we're waiting for you at the pool, see you in a bit." She waves, before heading out the door.

"I thought you went to go get a key and your sunglasses?" Renge asks her from the water when she reached the pool.

"Decided I don't need them." She mutters laying in one of the chairs and trying to process all she overheard.

"Momoka are you all right?" Souga asks her during dinner at the hard rock café. She looked up to see the others staring at her and she realized she was sort of spacing out.

"What of course I'm all right." She smiles

"Are you sure you're putting an awful lot of salt on your salad." Renge points out. She looked down to see that she was still holding the salt shaker and pouring most of its contents into her appetizer.

"Damn, I'm sorry I guess my mind is somewhere else tonight." She sighs sending a look at Haruhi, who was looking at her with concern.

"What's on your mind?" Kaname asks curiously

"Why don't you ask Haruhi, after all it was her 'boyfriend' calling earlier that's distracted me tonight." She growls, causing Haruhi to choke on the piece of bread she took a bite of.

"How did you-?" she asks picking up her water and draining it quickly.

"I overheard you. I was at the door while you were talking to him." She replies and before she could asks her about what she overheard Haruhi had gotten out of her seat and grabbed her arm.

"We're going outside; if I catch any of you following us there will be hell to pay." She snaps dragging Momoka through the restaurant and leaving the other five to just stare off after them.

"What did you hear?" Haruhi growls, as they left the restaurant.

"Kyoya Ootori Haruhi?" she snaps, as Haruhi led her across the street to stand in front of another building.

'Damn it' she groans inwardly. "How much did you actually hear?"

"I showed up about the time you two were talking about his father being accused of a crime, which I won't ask about it's obviously a family matter." She says hearing Haruhi let out a sigh of relief, but for only a moment. "I also heard something about canceling something. Haruhi are you really dating Kyoya Ootori?"

"…I am, but I don't see why you're so mad about it." She states louder than she means to, earning stares from the people walking by. Haruhi was, for once happy that most people walking by couldn't understand them.

"Haruhi I care about you and…he just seems to treat you and the other club members like your only job is to give the club profit." She says "He just doesn't seem like the kind of person you would go for."

"And what kind of people do you think I'd go for?" she snaps

"Someone who isn't always thinking about becoming his father's heir, or always thinking about making a profit. Someone like…Tamaki-sempai." She states

'Why do people keep thinking that?' she wonders "Tamaki-sempai is like a brother to me, nothing more."

"Tamaki loves you, you know even before you announced that you're a girl everyone knew how he felt." She glares "And instead you go out with his best friend, who a lot of people believe to be a snake in the grass just waiting to bite."

Haruhi already had her hand raised and wanted to slap her for insulting him, but something Momoka said made her lower it slightly. 'Kyoya knew Tamaki loved me, yet he still asked me out. He was even planning on breaking it off after the fair for him, but after I confessed…if he cared about Tamaki-sempai why did he continue to go out with me?'

"If you're going to slap me better make up your mind before your arm gives out on you." She sighs breaking Haruhi of her deep thought. She looks up to see her hand was about an inch from Momoka's left cheek. "Not going to do it?" she asks, as Haruhi slowly lowers her arm and she manages to sigh. "Look I'm sorry about my comments, but I don't want you to end up hurt."

"I'm not just some quick fling to him Momoka." She states

"You will be until his father wants him to date some other girl."

"Does every family think Yoshio-san is like that, but I suppose that's how he runs his company so well.' She thinks "Momoka I've met his family and his father seems to like me."

"Of course he does you saved his youngest son, but how long do you think that'll last?"

She wanted to tell her that it was Akito she saved, but thought better of it. "That's not the only reason Momoka. His father is actually a very…interesting person to talk to."

"Fine, but Haruhi what made you choose Kyoya? All of the other hosts love you too." she asks

"There was nothing to choose Momoka. I'm in love with him." She states.

Haruhi said it with such determination in her eyes that Momoka could only believe that it was the truth. "But why him?" she finally asks.

"I don't expect you to understand, but he isn't like what you described him to be all the time." Haruhi sighs "Like I told you the morning after he woke us up he can be charming in his own way. He pisses me off a lot, but knows what to say to make up for it and he's always there when I need him." She says clutching her necklace without meaning to.

Momoka takes one look at Haruhi playing with her necklace and her far off gaze and it suddenly clicks. "…you're not just dating him are you?"

"No…we're engaged." She murmurs

"That's a little rushed isn't it?" she asks already having a gut feeling that that was what her answer was going to be.

"Momoka…we've been together for over eighteen months." She states "If anything we've waited a bit too long."

Her reaction was similar to…well everyone's. She looked at Haruhi in shock and managed to get out a weak "Eighteen…months? You've been able to keep something like this hidden for that long?"

"Yes"

"…I still don't trust him and think you could do better, but if he makes you happy I guess I really have no say." She sighs in defeat. "So both of your fathers' approve?"

"Yes"

"Then I'm happy for you" she smiles at her

"Thank you, so you're not mad at me?"

"Nope and I'll even keep your little secret from the others if we can sleep together tonight."

"I don't mind, it's time for Renge to have one of the beds to herself anyways, but why?"

"I want to talk to you some more, but we have to get back to the others, so I want to talk to you later after Renge falls asleep." She answers simply, before turning around and heading back to the restaurant.

"Fair enough" Haruhi sighs before following her

"Everything all right?" the twins ask, as they sat back down

"Yep, just a small misunderstanding on my part, right Haruhi?" Momoka asks

"Yep, no big deal." She states sitting down "So did we miss anything here?"

"Nothing much, but we were all thinking about going dancing after dinner." Kaname tells them

"Sounds fun" Haruhi smiles, before beginning to eat.

Three hours of dancing, laughing and some embarrassing karaoke later Haruhi found herself talking in whispers to Momoka in the king size bed she was sharing, while Renge was sleeping peacefully in the other bed. She was surprised at how easily the stories were pouring out of her mouth, as she talked about all the almost break-ups, the stupid fights, and of course all the things he did for her both the good and the bad. When asked how she felt about the stabbing she finally confessed that it was his brother that he had saved. Quite a while later Momoka finally fell asleep and Haruhi was staring at the ceiling in the dark. 'I haven't been able to talk to anyone like this about it since I told Alkane, getting all of this out is starting to feel really good. We need to find some way to tell the others soon.' She thinks yawning and rolling over in order to fall asleep.

"Oh come on Haruhi it was so cute and hilarious I couldn't help it." Renge was pouting, as the three of them were walking through the park in order to meet the boys the next day for brunch.

"I still can't believe you woke up, took the picture, and managed to get it developed before we even got up." Momoka was saying.

"I'm not" Haruhi growls waving to the boys, who, well the twins were flirting with a girl. "You know with all the girls you two have been flirting with this week it's a surprise you haven't asked any of them out yet." She laughs as the girl smiles at them and continues her jog.

"Is Haruhi jealous?" they ask

"You flirt with girls in the host club every day, how is this any different?"

"True, but to answer your question we would rather hang out with you."

"Only because you think I'll let it slip about who I'm dating."

They were about to respond when Renge shoved the picture she had been torturing Haruhi with earlier into the twins hands. "Look at what I got this morning." She grins as the other boys took a look at the photo.

"Give it a rest would you Renge." Haruhi groans. The photo was of Haruhi and Momoka fast asleep early that morning in the same bed, facing one another, their foreheads were touching, and both their hands were intertwined with one another's, so close to one another's chests it looked as though they were protecting one another.

"Wow Haruhi-san, Momoka-san you both look really…relaxed." Kaname said trying to figure out some way to describe the photo.

"Yeah it's so tranquil we can't think of any way to even make fun of this." Hikaru said

"I don't think I've ever seen you this calm Haruhi." Kaoru tells her handing Renge back the photo. "What on earth makes you sleep like that?"

"I don't know when someone else is sleeping next to me I just…gravitate towards them I guess." She sighs 'Actually Kyoya's been sleeping over a lot lately. That may have something to do with it too; we do always seem to wake up wrapped together.'

"Yeah, but how do you know it wasn't Momoka who moved over to Haruhi-san?" Souga asks

"It was my side of the bed." Momoka explains

"Can we drop this please; look I have some odd sleeping habits we get it." Haruhi sighs "I'm sorry again I startled you this morning Momoka."

"It's fine, besides it was very comfortable." She smiles at her.

"Well are we ready to get brunch?" The twins ask "We thought we'd try that restaurant we passed the other day."

"Sounds good to me." The others respond

They were about halfway to their destination when Haruhi's phone went off 'Kyoya' she thinks looking over to Momoka, who seemed to realize who was calling and the others, who only look at her curiously. "I need to take this, why don't I meet you guys at the restaurant in a little bit?" she asks pulling out her phone and beginning to walk in another direction. "I'll be there as soon as I take this." She promises, before disappearing around a corner.

"Geez you would think her boyfriend would have better timing." Hikaru snaps

"Do you two really not know who it is?" Kaname asks

"Well we have a good idea that's it's the boss, but we don't know." Kaoru sighs

"Should we go and eavesdrop?" Renge asks curiously "Who knows we may be able to get a name."

Knowing what kinds of things you hear when eavesdropping on someone Momoka slaps Renge in the back of the head. "No, we should just leave her alone." She snaps "She'll tell us who it is when she's ready."

"Geez Momo, you hit hard." Renge groans rubbing the back of her head.

"Then don't say stupid things" she laughs "C'mon Haruhi said she would meet us at the restaurant, so let's head over there." Taking Souga's hand and continuing their walk through the park.

"Kyoya is something wrong?" Haruhi asks after making sure that no one was following her. "It's just after midnight in Tokyo isn't it?"

"Yes, but it's just after ten in the morning in New York right, I assumed this was a decent time to call." He replies

"It is, but I just wanted to make sure you're all right." She laughs when there was no real reply she asks "…How did dinner with Yuuichi-san's Fiancée go?"

"That woman is a bigger pain in the ass then Tamaki on a day when he's thinking of future plans for the club." He growls

"What happened?"

"First she walked into the house like she owned it and criticized every little painting and, well anything on display, as if she had any idea what any of them even were. Dinner was worse; it was like nothing was good enough for her and she managed to criticize all of our cooks and waiters even before dinner was served and told them that they weren't doing their jobs well enough."

"Why didn't your father just kick her out? Her family has no control over yours anymore." She points out walking onto another path.

"They don't know that yet, it seems my father is waiting for something to happen before informing them." He sighs "And she is engaged to his oldest son, who invited her over for dinner it's not like he can just tell her to get out."

"What on earth is your father waiting for?" She asks stopping for a moment to throw a quarter into the fountain and make a wish.

"I'm afraid I don't know, but my guess is he's waiting for her to want out of the engagement."

"So are you having another dinner with her soon?

"Within the next two weeks I think. Next time I am definitely bringing you, only having Fuyumi-neechan trying to break the tension was a disaster. She ended up leaving early because Alina kept making snide comments about her being pregnant." He sighs

"That's horrible Fuyumi has been excited about having her baby since she found out. Just tell me when the next one is I'll straighten her out, besides I'm not technically part of the family so she can't really hold you responsible right?" She asks angrily

"I don't know when the next one will be, but I will make sure to inform you." He laughs "Besides she seems to hate you after meeting you at the ball."

"Oh? How did you figure that out?"

"All throughout dinner she was asking about you and wondering if I had given you up. I simply explained that you were on a class trip, but would probably be more than happy to see you next time.

"Of course I will be and I'll be sure to have a few choice words to say to her." She snaps

"I'm sure you will and I think my family will be expecting you to say something."

"Well I do seem to have a way with insults, so thinking of something shouldn't be too hard." she laughs and not noticing she was walking towards an intersection in the path.

"Thank you Haruhi, truly."

It's not a problem Kyoya, but there was actually something else I wanted to talk to you about-ack" She was cut off as a jogger runs into her and causes the two of them to fall hard on the ground, her phone ending up flying out of her hand.

"My god I'm so sorry are you all right?" the man asks getting quickly off of her and holding out his hand to help her up.

"Haruhi-sama" she hears Hotta's voice, as she took the man's hand and was lifted up.

"Haruhi, are you all right?" she vaguely hears Kyoya's voice somewhere

"Damn it, I'm fine." She groans "Hotta can you get my phone?" she asks still trying to regain her balance.

"Of course ma'am and I apologize for not making it to you in time." He bows slightly

"Don't worry about it. I'm to blame for this as well. Are you all right? She asks turning to the man, who was staring at her blankly. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, blue eyes, honey blonde hair, and was apparently listening to music before they ran into each other. 'Oh right English' she sighs realizing she had been talking Japanese for the past few minutes. "I am fine. Sorry about that. I was not paying attention."

"Oh good you speak English I was getting worried there for a second. I'm sorry, but what's with the big guy?" he asks nervously, as Hotta hands her back her phone.

"Bodyguard" she explains, before putting the phone back up to her ear. "I'm fine Kyoya really don't worry I just dropped my phone, but I'm going to have to call you back okay?"

"…Fine, but I'll be expecting you to call back soon."

"I will I promise. I love you Kyoya and sorry dinner went so badly."

"Thanks…love you too Haruhi." He says before hanging up

'He must be tired if he gave up that easily.' She smirks turning back to face the man. "Sorry I had to end my call. My name is Haruhi Fujioka by the way." She smiles her hostess smile and holds out her hand.

"Nice to meet you Haruhi, I'm Lyon Reynolds." He smiles back taking her hand. "I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances."

"Yeah, sorry about that I really should be paying attention where I'm walking when I'm on my phone." She sighs letting him go. "Hotta I'm fine really, but thank you for always being here for me."

"Of course Haruhi-sama protecting you is my job." He bows, before disappearing again

'It's scary how he does that.' She sighs "My boy-sorry, my Fiancé is very protective of me and always ends up sending someone to protect me when I travel." She explains

"Where are you from?"

"Tokyo"

"Wow, that's…a long way to travel, how old are you?

"Seventeen"

"And you're engaged to be married already?"

"…You are married aren't you?" she asks sighing and walking over to sit on a bench, as Lyon followed her curiously.

"How did you guess?" he asks sitting down neck to her

"The only people who ask me why I am getting married so young are people who are already engaged or married." She explains "Usually they want to try and talk me out of it, which by the way you will not be able to."

"Stubborn girl" he comments, but with humor in his voice. "You're right though I've been married for three years now and I just turned twenty-seven."

"Wow, how long did you two date before you finally asked her?"

"It was eight months before I finally proposed." He answers turning to look at her. Haruhi was staring off in the distance as if deep in thought about something. "What about you, who's the lucky man?"

"Oh I have a picture in my wallet" she remembers digging in her purse for a moment she pulls out a picture of her and the rest of the club at the ball last month and hands it to him. "He is the one with the dark hair and glasses, behind the tall blonde one." She tells him as he looks at it.

"He looks…familiar, what's his name?" he asks trying to get a better look at the photo.

"Kyoya Ootori" she answers, causing him to almost drop the photo.

"You've got to be kidding me" he starts laughing "You're telling me I'm meeting the fiancée of my new boss's youngest son?"

"New boss?"

"I began working as a doctor in the Ootori hospital down on 52nd street last week and have seen the pictures of the Mr. Ootori and his family." He explains handing her back the photo.

"Wow, I didn't even know they had a hospital in America." She blinks and wondering vaguely where else Kyoya's family had businesses.

"You really didn't know?"

"The Ootori's have so many…projects in different area's it's too hard to keep track of, though I am pretty sure Kyoya told me about a hospital in America at one point." She sighs

"I was wondering how you're boy- sorry, Fiancé managed to send a bodyguard with you across the country, so you're a little miss rich girl as well?" he asks with no malice just general curiosity.

"Not at all, Kyoya is the rich one I am not. I just happen to go to the same school as he does"

"So, you excited about marrying rich?"

"Personally I don't care that he is rich. I mean it will be nice to be able to go to college without worrying about the expenses, but that is probably it. I plan to marry him after high school, go to college, and still get a job, while taking classes. Rich or not I have a plan and am going to stick to it." She tells him with such determination it was hard for him to not believe her.

"You are a very…driven young woman Haruhi." He sighs, truly impressed "He is very lucky to have you."

"Better me, then a certain woman I know." She mutters her mind still on what Kyoya had told her about Alina.

"Pardon?" he asks missing her last comment.

"It was nothing," she smiles up at him "So you work for Kyoya's father…oh so that is one of the reasons Kyoya is coming here after he graduates." She realizes mentally slapping herself for not figuring it out sooner. Lyon looks at her eyebrows raised and she explains. "He graduates in June and is studying here in New York while I finish my final year of high school. His father must want him to manage the hospital here, while attending school."

"Mr. Ootori thinks all of the employees will listen to an eighteen year old boy?" he asks skeptically

"If you knew what Kyoya was capable of you would listen to him to." She snaps "He has been handling the finances in a club for three years now and it is one of the most popular clubs in the school, so he knows what he is doing."

"It's not that I don't believe he could run the hospital efficiently, but he is only eighteen and for the first few months people may not like it."

"Give him a week and you will see how he gets when in business mode. Trust me no one questions his methods after a while." She sighs leaning back against the bench.

"I'll have to take your word for it." He laughs

"There is one thing I should probably warn you about though" she sighs "unless the hospital will go bankrupt, or there is any kind of emergency that could cause employees injured, or could cause a lawsuit and unless you want to be thrown out of the country…do NOT call him before noon on any day, unless he is already there for work."

"Is he not much of a morning person?"

"Just trust me it is pretty bad, though I have never been on the receiving end of his anger, a friend of mine Tamaki once tried to wake him up and ended up having a lamp thrown at him. It missed his head by only a few feet."

"Okay so violent morning person." He laughs "Thanks for the warning I'll be sure to remember that when he shows up in the summer."

"Haruhi," she recognizes the twins' voice in the distance.

"Oh shoot looks like my group has found me I should get going." She says getting up "It was very nice meeting you Lyon, though I have to apologize again for well…being there for you to run into."

"Not a problem it was nice meeting you too Haruhi, besides now I'm kind of glad I ran into you." He tells her, also getting up and holding out her hand. "Guess I'll be seeing you around then?"

"I'm sure I'll visit Kyoya over here at least once, so maybe I'll see you then." She smiles and takes his hand quickly, before letting go, waving good bye, and running over to a group of, he assumed, her classmates.

"Haruhi Fujioka…no one would ever believe I just met the future wife of one of our boss's sons." He laughs to himself, before putting his headphones back on and continuing his jog.

It was almost nine that same evening and Haruhi was lying in her bed trying to call Kyoya for what seemed like the hundredth time, but he wasn't calling back. An empty room service tray lay on the table in the living room. She had eaten almost a half an hour ago, after sending Renge and Momoka out with the boys for dinner. It took a lot of doing, but she managed to convince the twins to go without her. She was about to give up and just go take a shower when her phone finally decided to go off. After checking the id she flipped it open. "Kyoya-?"

"Haruhi I'm sorry I forgot my phone at home and sent Tachibana to go and get it."

"You forgot your phone? You?"

"No one's perfect Haruhi, now what is it are you okay? Hotta already called Tachibana early this morning and explained what happened."

"I'm fine Lyon was actually very fun to talk to, you know he works as a doctor at your family's hospital here in New York?"

"Really? I guess I know who to look for when I'm there."

"Oh come on don't do anything to him. The bumping into one another was just as much my fault as it was his."

"…I'm not going to do anything to him."

"Promise?" she asks

"Promise" he confirms "Now what really is the problem Haruhi? You wanted to tell me something before you had to hang up the last time."

"Yeah I did, or rather I wanted to ask you something. "She murmurs, her voice going quiet.

"What is it Haruhi? You know it's not like you to pause when you are talking to someone, unless you're scared."

"Kyoya first, Momoka knows about us. She overheard me talking to you and I didn't have the heart to lie to her anymore." She confessed.

"…As long as she keeps quiet I don't particularly mind."

"She promised to keep quiet, but she doesn't think you are a good match for me."

"I'm sure a lot of people are going to be thinking the same thing Haruhi when we confess, but as long as you don't care it shouldn't matter."

"It doesn't bother me in the slightest I love you Kyoya, but…why did you decide to continue to date me after the fair if you knew how everyone felt?" She asks nervously.

"Is that what's been bothering you Haruhi?"

"I'm sorry, but after Momoka found out she actually got me to think. You had already loved, or rather liked, me at the beach house, but after the fair it was like-"

"Haruhi I pursued you because I was selfish and wanted you to myself, but as time went on I realized that even before the Ouran Fair that Tamaki had fallen in love with you."

"So the night of the fair when you had planned to break up with me…was more for Tamaki-sempai's sake?"

"Haruhi I loved you and still do, but I still didn't want to hurt my best friend and for the record I truly didn't expect you to confess to me that night. When you had done that I had two choices, accept that you felt the same way and continue to feel like I was betraying my best friend, or walk out of the clubroom and let Tamaki have you. Haruhi you already know what my choice was, I already decided to be selfish."

"…You feel bad don't you?"

"Don't misunderstand Haruhi I'm happy to still have you, but you have to understand that Tamaki was the one who encouraged me to break out of my shell and go after the things I want. I owe him a great deal and I know now that I've hurt him."

"Tamaki-sempai has talked to you about confessing to me hasn't he?" Haruhi asks, realizing just how important having Tamaki in his life was to Kyoya.

"Yes, it was after you had left for your trip. He was taking the rejection a lot better than I would have had and it pissed me off. I wanted him to be mad at the person who had taken you away from him. Frankly I want to tell him and let him take out his anger on me. I couldn't even do anything to him for kissing you because I was feeling to guilty." He sighs deeply "I want to tell them Haruhi I think it's actually hurting me to not."

"I want to tell them to Kyoya, when I get back we can think of a way to do it together. I'm not letting you tell them on your own. I don't want this to be like with telling your father."

"Haruhi I'm to blame for this I should just tell Tamaki before you and the twins even get back."

"Stop blaming yourself for this." She almost screams "I have as much to do with this as you do Kyoya, now promise me you won't tell Tamaki-sempai anything until I get back."

"…"

"Kyoya…please I don't want you to face this alone." She's almost crying now "You being selfish isn't a bad thing. Tamaki-sempai taught you that didn't he and since then you've always stood back in the shadows and let him have everything don't you deserve to get what you want for once. Please, don't face this alone." She begs still trying to stop her tears from falling and wishing she never asked him the question in the first place. "I love you Kyoya and always will nothing will change that, so…promise?"

She hears him sigh deeply again and finally answer. "I love you too Haruhi…I promise," before the line went dead.

She stares at her phone for a full minute, before finally allowing the tears to roll down her face. 'He need to stop blaming himself for this.' She thinks, before curling up in a ball on the bed, her phone still clutched in her hand. 'He cares more of Tamaki-sempai then he realizes…damn it I should have never questioned him in the first place. He's more upset about me rejecting Tamaki-sempai then either of us who were actually there.'

She was still lying on her bed crying when Momoka and Renge walked into the room laughing, but upon seeing Haruhi curled up on the bed, phone clutched in her hand, and crying both of them dropped what they were holding and rushed to her side encouraging her to tell them what happened. After an hour of trying to get some sort of information out of her and failing they gave up and told her to take a shower and go to bed.

For the rest of the trip Haruhi managed to convince her friends that she got over whatever it was that made her cry like that and enjoy the rest of the trip, on the day before their flight back home the class went to a Broadway show and had the time of their lives. Haruhi was finding it amusing that half of the class really didn't know what was going on and the chaperones were trying to translate during the actual performance. By ten the next day everyone was packed and heading to the airport the twins of course were trying to savor the last few hours in New York by messing around the terminals and dragging Haruhi along with them. She didn't want to admit it, but she was having a good time and would honestly miss being on this trip. By the time the plane landed it was almost two in the morning. The twins dropped her off at her apartment and she walked in to an empty apartment. She knew her father was working and simply changed into something comfortable and fell onto her bed extremely happy that she was excused from school tomorrow in order to rest.

When she opened her eyes, she immediately knew she wasn't in her own bed. Sitting up she recognized the simple layout of Kyoya's room. 'The hell-?' she wonders still trying to wake up as the door opened and she watched Kyoya walk into the room.

"Evening Haruhi" he smirks

"Kyoya, what the hell am I doing in your house, let alone your room?" she asks sitting up in the bed, as he wanders over and sits down on the edge.

"Your father asked me to bring you over here you had been asleep for over a day and he was getting worried."

"…you're lying" she smirks, crawling over to him and brushing her lips over his.

"Fine I'm lying, but you have been asleep for over a day." He states pulling her closer for another kiss. "It's almost six on Saturday night."

"So?"

"My family is having dinner together tonight and I assume you still want to attend, since Miss Alina will be present tonight."

"That's tonight?"

"Yes, but dinner is at eight since I wasn't sure when you would wake up."

"So you brought me over to your house?"

"Yes"

"…Thanks, but if you do this again I promise you'll regret it." She snaps playfully, before kissing him again and realizing how much she missed him the past two weeks.

"I'll keep that in mind" he smirks. "Fuyumi-neesan will be here in about a half an hour to help you get ready."

"Lovely" she sighs "She's actually coming, after what happened last time though?"

"She wasn't going to at first, but after hearing that your back and will be attending both Fuyumi-neesan and Chikao-san agreed to come tonight.

"Basically you're telling me they want me to run her out of the house, or at least insult her enough to break off the engagement?" she asks laughing and finally getting out of the bed in order to stretch her legs out a bit.

"I would assume so"

"I'll try not to be rude right at the gate, but if she starts to insult any of you I may snap." She warns

"Wouldn't expect anything else Haruhi. And don't worry no one will do anything if you do start saying things to her, just please try to keep the insults…humane."

"No promises" she growls

"Speaking of promises-I got a call from Tamaki, who got a call from the twins telling him that you were crying rather heavily on the night you called me. Haruhi…what did I say? I didn't mean to make you cry, you know that." He asks

"I wasn't crying for myself Kyoya." She mutters going over to his bookshelf and not able to look at him. "I was crying for you because you wouldn't. I realized that night how much you treasure your friendship with Tamaki-sempai and how much this relationship of ours is hurting that, so since I knew you weren't going to cry I cried for you."

"Haruhi-"

"I don't want to hear, whether you care that I cried for you or not. I did it because I wanted too." She states, as a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and his head was resting on her shoulder.

"Thank you" he murmurs

"You're welcome" she smiles and relaxes into his chest. They stood like that for a few moments, before a cd on the top shelf caught her eye. "Is that-?" she asks reaching up to grab it.

"Oh yeah, Tamaki gave it to me, as one of his 'best friends' gifts" he sighs looking at what she had grabbed. It was a cd with the music that Tamaki had composed last year for the club.

"So where's the disk?" she asks curiously opening the case up to show that there was nothing inside.

"It's a really good melody to listen too while doing homework." He explains pointing over to the stereo over in the corner of the room, behind the couch.

"Seriously? I assumed you would have thrown it out considering how many copies he threw at you." She laughs

"I had to keep at least one, or he would have never let me hear the end of it." He growls

"You mind if I-?" she asks walking over to the stereo

"Go ahead" he waves as she turns it on and Tamaki's sweet melody fills the room.

"Kyoya, I'm coming in." Fuyumi knocks after a while, before entering her brother's room, only to stop and stare at the scene in front of her. One of the couches was knocked over and Kyoya was lying flat on the ground with Haruhi hovering over him, successfully trapping him, and Tamaki's music was still playing in the background. "What on earth is going on in here?" she asks humor in her voice.

"Your brother was teasing me." Haruhi answers getting up

"So you decide to attack me?" Kyoya laughs

"I didn't think the couch would fall over" she protests and Fuyumi couldn't help but laugh at the two.

"You two are so cute, why haven't you asked her to marry you yet Kyoya?" she asks still laughing

"Fuyumi-"Kyoya growls managing to get up off the floor. Haruhi, she noticed was playing with a necklace around her neck. Something on the chain caught her eye, but she didn't question it.

"Well come on then Haruhi, got to get you ready for tonight." She smiles

"I'm coming, see you later Kyoya" she smiles leaning up to kiss him quickly, before following Fuyumi out of the room.

"Sorry we're…almost late father." Fuyumi smiles coming into the dining room where Kyoya, Yoshio, Akito, and Chikao were already sitting. "Haruhi had a small…accident, before we could come down."

"Yes, tripping and falling down a flight of stairs is considered a small accident Fuyumi." Haruhi growls walking in behind her and wearing a simple orange evening gown. "Really Fuyumi I told you I don't do well in heels."

"I said I was sorry" she pouts

"It's fine" she sighs, as Kyoya comes up to her

"Are you sure?" he asks letting her lean against him.

"I'm fine really. It was no big deal just a twisted ankle and that'll be fine after a while." She assures him "Where's Yuuichi-san?"

"He and Miss Alina will be here in a few minutes." Akito says clearly upset about having her over again. "How was your trip Haruhi-san?"

"A lot of fun thanks for asking" she smiles, as Kyoya helped her sit down and returns to his seat. "I never realized how…lively New York was 'the city that never sleeps' fits perfectly."

"Yes, did you manage to enjoy the night life, or were you too tired from the time difference?" Chikao asks

"For the first few days no, but we did manage to find a great club to go to about a week after we got there." She tells them "And I met one of your hospital's doctors while I was over there. I didn't know you had a hospital in America."

"Yes, for now it's just the one in New York, but we do plan on expanding." Yoshio explains

"I suppose that'll be your job while you're over there?" she asks turning to Kyoya

"Come now Haruhi, surely you already know the answer to that?" Kyoya smirks causing her to sigh, as the door opens up again to reveal Yuuichi, who was escorting Alina into the room. She was wearing a pale yellow dress that reminded Haruhi far too much of the Ouran girl's school uniform.

She walked into the room, saw Haruhi sitting at the table and stopped. She forced a smile and said "Oh, I didn't realize you were back. Did Kyoya ask you to accompany him tonight as a last minute thing again?"

"Not at all my class and I just got back on Thursday and he called me to invite me to dinner tonight." Haruhi lies smiling coldly at her and turning to Yuuichi. "It's good to see you again Yuuichi-san."

"You too Haruhi-san I hope your trip was fun."

"Very, thank you" she smiles again as the two of them sat down. Alina, much to Haruhi annoyance was sitting across from her.

Dinner for the most part was quiet except for the occasional small talk. Haruhi couldn't figure out why, after the last dinner Alina was being so quiet, until about the middle of dinner when she realized she kept looking her way, but only for about a half a second. 'She doesn't want to have an argument with me, but that's odd if she thinks of herself as already part of the family why is she worried? I wonder if it's because they all act so familiar with me that, or she doesn't want to look bad in front of Yoshio-san.'

By the time dessert came around Fuyumi excused herself to go to the restroom and Alina turned to Chikao. "So when is your baby due again?"

"In about two weeks" he answers curtly, still mad about how she treated Fuyumi at the last dinner.

"Yes and you two have been married for how long?" she asks

"Five years next month"

"And she's only carrying your heir now?"

Chikao was about to answer when Haruhi mutters "At least she's married"

"What was that dear?"

"You're the same age as Fuyumi right? At least she is married I assume you already went through a few engagements and they declined because they didn't like you, until this one came along is that about right sweetheart?" she asks adding the insult at the end simply because she hated to be called dear by someone only ten years older than herself.

"What about you?" she snaps "I don't see you engaged anytime soon."

"I'm-"Haruhi stops when she realizes what she was about to say. "…Only in my second year of high school" she saves vaguely seeing that Kyoya let out a sigh of relief. "And at least I know I'm not so insecure that I need changes done to my body, how much did those implants cost anyways?" she asks glancing for a second at her perfect breasts to show her what she meant, as Fuyumi walks back into the room.

"You couldn't afford them." She retorts

"So you admit they're fake then" Haruhi laughs "I was only taking a guess."

"Well I have to be perfect in order to please my husband."

"By what, sitting at home and doing nothing, while spending all of your husband's money and giving him heirs in order to keep the company going?" she asks

"Isn't that all Fuyumi-chan is doing?" Alina asks thinking that she finally got her.

"I have no respect for women, who are doing what you're doing and are simply trying to make themselves perfect, but I truly respect what Fuyumi's done and I don't understand why you feel the need to harass her every time you walk into this house." Haruhi snaps actually getting up and ignoring the pain in her foot. "Do you even realize that after her mother died she took over the role of the mother and practically raised Kyoya and I'm sure even Akito-san to some extent. When she does have her baby I'm sure instead of leaving a nanny to care for it that she will raise him the way she raised her brother's. I can't see you, after having kids, even paying attention to them. So in terms of respect I would put you somewhere between dirt and maggots."

"…Yuuichi, are you going to let her say these things to me?" she asks turning to Yuuichi, who to Haruhi's surprise actually starts to get up when Akito grabs his arm and mutters.

"Trust me never get in the middle of two women fighting, just don't."

"Don't bring them into this fight; this is just between you and me sweetheart." Haruhi smirks

"No, Yuuichi if you had to choose between me and this…commoner filth, which one of us would you choose?" she asks

"Considering Haruhi-san is still in high school I hardly find this question appropriate." Yuuichi responds, earning a small laugh from Haruhi.

"Well I never want to see her again, so I want you to choose right now. It's either me or her" she states.

She was met with silence for a few moments until Yuuichi finally got up and stood over her. "You've been pissing me off a lot lately with all of your disrespectful comments towards the rest of my family and even if you weren't…I would still choose Haruhi-san over you, as many times as I would need to for you to get the message." He states

She stared at him open mouthed until finally getting up and before Haruhi had the chance to stop her she slapped him across the face once. "I hate you Yuuichi. You're such a fool," she yells before running out of the room.

After the door shut behind her Haruhi groaned and leaned against the table. "I'm so sorry Yuuichi-san I didn't mean for that to happen. She was just pissing me off."

A few more minutes of silence greeted her, before Yuuichi, Akito, and Chikao all began to laugh. Confused she turned to Yoshio, who was toasting her with his wine glass and Fuyumi, who was smiling warmly at her. Still confused she turns to face Kyoya, who is already out of his seat and meets her with a kiss. "Thank you" he murmurs breaking it after a few moments.

"You're welcome I guess, but I never expected her to actually make you choose Yuuichi-san and I apologize." She sighs

"What on earth are you apologizing for Fujioka-san? That was hilarious to watch her not know what to do." Chikao tells her still laughing.

"Well I'm glad you all got a good laugh out of it." She pouts, as Fuyumi gets out of her chair and walks over to her.

"Thank you Haruhi, for everything you said." She smiles, before hugging her tightly.

"I defend the ones I love Fuyumi. That's all there is to it." She murmurs, as she let her go. "But what on earth was with her attitude? Is that how she always is?"

"She was actually pretty decent to hang out with, until the engagement was announced." Yuuichi answers, before asking one of the maids for a bag of ice for his face.

"Do all girls change and act differently after they get engaged to someone?" Haruhi sighs, before sitting back down in her chair.

"You haven't yet" Kyoya states sitting back down next to her. He had to look at Haruhi's shocked face, before he realized what it was he just said.

Longest and most stubborn chapter I've ever written I literally just re-wrote this chapter three times. I would finish the draft, not like it, and re-do the whole thing, so sorry about the bit of a long update. I hope the whole English/Japanese was clear enough. I know the whole thing was in English, but they're from Japan so I tried using a different font for the English conversations. It was a hard chapter to do, but I personally really like this one and am really glad I split the last two up. I hope you liked this one and the next one will hopefully be up sooner. The reviews I've been getting for this story are greatly appreciated and I want to thank all of you for reading and liking it. xD

P.S- If I got the time differences wrong I apologize, but really it was giving me a headache and I eventually just tried my best.