Disclaimer: I love YYH, but I don't own the characters or the show. Just my OCs and the soap opera

Kara woke up early, like before the sun even came up. She decided to make herself a snack; however, she stopped her trek to the kitchen and heard Kuronue's voice coming from the guest room. She knocked on the door, but received no answer so she went inside to make sure he was okay.

Kuronue was tossing and turning in his sleep, muttering pleas that Kara couldn't understand. Kara walked over to him and saw that not only had he broken out into a cold sweat, but that he also had tears in his eyes.

That must be one hell of a nightmare, Kara thought. What could he be dreaming about?

Without thinking, she rubbed her hand against his cheek and he instantly woke up gasping for air. He looked around taking in his surroundings. He couldn't remember where he was.

"K-Kara? W-w-where-?"

"You're at my apartment, remember?" Kara attempted to reassure him by rubbing his shoulder. "Are you alright? It looked like you were having a nightmare."

Kuronue closed his eyes and threw himself back onto the bed. He felt terrible, in part from the nightmare, but also for making Kara worry about him again. Why was she so worried about him?

"It was worse than a nightmare," Kuronue said after a few minutes of trying to recollect his thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Kara asked.

Before Kuronue could answer, there was a knock at the front door.

"Who in God's name could be knocking on the door at four in the morning?" Kara asked. Kuronue shrugged. They both went to go answer the door.

"Kurama?" Kuronue greeted in surprise. "Yusuke, Kuwabara? Hiei, you and Yukina too?"

"Don't forget me," Jen said.

"Oh my God, Jen," Kara whisper-shouted.

"Hey, Kara," she greeted. "Sorry for waking you."

"I was already awake," Kara explained. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to get inside now," Kurama said darkly.

"Why?" Kuronue asked.

Kurama mouthed, "We're being watched." Luckily Kuronue knew how to read lips. His eyes widened as he let everyone in.

"What the hell?" Kuronue questioned. "How?"

"What?" Kara asked.

"Kurama mouthed to me that we were being watched. What happened?"

"Your father happened," Hiei piped in. Kuronue looked over to him. "His stupid thugs were talking to him at the restaurant I was working at. Yusuke and Kuwabara were there with my sister and we were listening in on the conversation."

"What conversation?" Kuronue asked. "They had nothing to report back."

"You sure about that?" Yusuke retorted. He looked over to Kara. "Guess that's the girlfriend, huh?" he said motioning over to Kara with his head.

Kuronue paled. He hadn't pursued Kara romantically because of this reason. Now just because she was friends with him, she was automatically assumed to be his girlfriend.

"That's not all," Kurama stated brining Kuronue's attention back to him. "He sent those guys back right away and told them to watch you and remain unseen."

"No," Kuronue said. He wanted it to be a lie. That means his father knew of his friendship with Kara, Kurama, and even Jen. He knew of his other friends now, as well. He knew of the night he got drunk and probably the next day where he indirectly told Kara what happened to his mother. And if that wasn't enough, they had probably been followed here to Kara's home so now, not only were his friends in danger, but now Kara's mother and friends were in trouble too. "This can't be happening. He can't know," Kuronue said sinking down to the ground and hiding inside of himself. "I can't go through that again."

"Go through what?" Yukina asked. As naïve as she was, she had never figured it out.

"Yukina, I don't want you to hear this kind of stuff," Hiei stated.

"I'm eighteen, just like you," she retorted. "I want to know."

"I'm curious too," Jen said.

"I…he…" Kuronue tried to explain.

"Kuronue…" Kurama whispered. His friend was in so much pain and there was nothing he could do.

"My father is involved in organized crime, as some of you already know. He was always a lush and came home drunk one night. I had done something to piss him off and he was about to go nuts before my mother came into the room. She told me to go to my room; I didn't listen. They fought for a while and then he…he…I can't say it," he said sadly looking over to Kara. She took his hand in her own and rubbed in comfortingly. Her support gave him the strength he needed to continue. "He killed her…and I saw everything."

"W-what?" Yusuke asked. He knew that there was something up between Kuronue and his father but he never would have guessed this would be it.

"Yeah," Kuronue said. "And then he saw me…well, heard me. I was like, thirteen, and I had just witnessed my mother…well, you know; so I started crying and he heard me. It was then that he threatened me. I wanted to go to the cops, but he said if I ever did that, he would make me and any of my friends suffer. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but I had insinuated it to both Kurama and Kara…and I'm sure his thugs know that."

"God, Kuronue, I'm so sorry," Jen said. "I never would have expected that."

Kuronue looked down at the ground before he heard Kara speak. "Hey, but when you were thirteen, that's when we met."

"It happened after we met and I always made sure to keep your letters hidden," Kuronue explained. "When I moved to where these guys lived, it was because everyone in the town kept saying that they thought he murdered her and he thought I would crack down under the pressure, so he forced me to leave my home…to leave the town where my mother was buried…to leave her behind and to keep me away from her family and quiet."

"That's so sad," Yukina said starting to cry. She couldn't imagine not having her mother around. Hiei put his arm around his sister's shoulders and hugged her.

"And this is why I didn't want you in here," Hiei whispered to her. She nodded and wished she had listened to her brother.

"So what do we do?" Kara asked.

"We?" Kuronue said in confusion.

She looked him in the eyes and said, "Yes, we. I'm not letting you go through this alone, Kuronue. They already assume that I'm your girlfriend and, if they followed us here, then they have all the proof they need. I'm in this already whether you like it or not and I'm not leaving you to deal with this on your own."

"But I don't know if I could ever…" Kuronue stopped before he revealed his fear to her. He looked away and she gently forced him to look back at her again.

"It will all be okay," she said. "Your father said he would only do something if you reported him. Yes, you told us, but we won't say anything if that means giving you a peace of mind, right guys."

"Right," they all said.

"See? The only person I'm worried about is you," she said. "You've been carrying this for so long...too long."

"I know," he whispered. "I was afraid."

She hugged him. "You don't have to be afraid anymore."

"I hope you're right," he whispered.

"Well, we should probably get to a hotel or something," Yusuke said.

"Yeah, wouldn't want Kara's mom to wake up with a bunch of strangers sleeping in the living room," Kuwabara joked trying to lighten the mood.

"Great," Kara said. "Text me the hotel later and tomorrow you guys can meet my friends."

"Sounds like fun," Jen said. "Well, good night, you two."

Kuronue said goodbye to his friends. Now he was left to figure out his next move. He sat back down on the couch and put his hand to his head. It was too early to deal with all of this. He had to calm himself down before he went through a full-fledged panic attack.

With his eyes still closed he listened as Kara walked across the room to shut the lights. Then he felt her snuggle up against him on the couch and put a blanket over them. He opened his eyes to look at her and was surprised to see her smiling up at him. It was like she was expecting something, but Kuronue didn't know what.

"Goodnight, Kuro," she said sweetly. This took Kuronue by surprise and, before he could speak, Kara gently kissed his cheek and cuddled into him deeper.

Kuronue stared at her in astonishment. She had never really acted that way around him…that he knew of. Did she like him? Was she willing to be with him in spite of the danger his father posed to her? Is that what she meant by "not letting him go through this alone?" Did she like him like he liked her?

Maybe it was best to not ask questions at that moment and just be happy at the fact that Kara was snuggled against him. She took care of him the night he got drunk and now she was willing to stand by him no matter what. She even brought him to her hometown so that he wouldn't be left to mourn the loss of his mother alone.

"Thank you," he whispered to the now sleeping girl. He kissed her forehead before wrapping his arms around her and giving into sleep himself.

A/N: Yay, so I added a cute Kara X Kuronue moment. I figured they deserved it after all the hell I've been putting them through in this story XD Like it? Hate it? Let me know. It's also okay if you make fun of the soap opera as my friends make fun of my stories all the time for being too dramatic XD Oh well, se la vi...