Chapter 2

Winter came and went so fast

Kyoya sat by himself on a hill overlooking the beach.

He watched the girl burn herself numerous times, watched her revelations day by day. No one knew he left the beach house at night. No one knew she did either. No one knew a thing.

When he first saw her, he knew. It was his job, in his opinion, to know everything there was to know about everybody.

"She's pretty," he had thought. "But in her face you can see all the things she's given up on in life."

And when she snuck out that night to sit by the Pacific Ocean, he already had an idea of what she would do there.

*****

It was winter vacation for Ouran Academy, and much to everyone's dismay, Kyoya's family decided to visit the United States. California, to be exact.

Where they were, it was always warm, but the fake kind of warm. The movie set kind of warm. Like Kyoya at the Host Club: he appeared calm and welcoming but inside he was harsh and controlling and just wanted power. Or so he thought. He didn't know California could hold anything besides financial opportunity.

He had no idea he would be changed in any way this vacation.

He had no idea.

*****

The two families sat awkwardly at the table, munching on their breakfast quietly and politely. Katie's father refused to allow business at the table, for the sake of the children, he said. So they ate in silence, no one knowing what to say.

*****

The young girl was on medication. Every morning and every night she would go into her kitchen and her maids would give her tiny, pretty pills.

They made her hands shake as she pulled out her hidden cigarettes. They made her twitch as she gave Kyoya a fake, passing smile every morning. They made her frown when her assignments came out wrong, wrong, wrong, all because of the earlier mentioned shaking hands.

She was a creative writing student taking classes at the college down the street for the summer.

By the second week Kyoya found himself envying her. She had found a successful outlet for her pain. It might not have been the smartest, in fact, it was ridiculously stupid, but at least it worked. And he wanted to try it. But he was too weak, just as she had been too weak to let herself go.

Today, Kyoya wouldn't be weak. As she gave him her usual pensive smile in the hallway, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her near. So close that their lips almost touched.

"Take me with you," he pleaded, leading her to the door and out into the outside world.