A/N: One thing I wanted to say before I continue… The basic idea of this story came after I listened to Begin Again by Taylor Swift. This is not like my December Regrets story where the story followed a lot of the song and it was a true inspiration, this time, it was just a basic idea but I needed to give Taylor her due. Ok, that being said, I want to say a huge thank you to stylewriter565 for helping me with the first chapter and to my reviewers. You are awesome! For the people who have read and have already favored/followed the story, much thanks. Now on with the next installment, please review if you get a chance.

Chapter 2 – Lunch

Mori continued to stand and stare at Haruhi. He hadn't seen her in almost two years and now she was sitting in their old coffee shop with Mitsukuni. He couldn't get his mind around it. A voice interrupted his thoughts, "Please sit down Mori-senpai. It is really good to see you." It was Haruhi. He sat down in the available chair between her and Hunny while he quickly scanned for her troublesome boyfriend.

"She isn't with Yasu any longer Takashi," Hunny said as he saw his cousin scan the café for the unwanted person.

Mori looked down at Hunny and nodded. He always did know what the silent man was thinking. He looked at Haruhi and she seemed to be on the verge of tears again. They were gathering at the corner of her eyes and it broke his heart. She was the little sister that he wanted and never got.

Mori was always so protective of her and when she walked away, he couldn't protect her any longer. There were so many nights in the beginning that he thought he would go crazy not knowing if she was alright. Those nights may have gotten fewer and far between, but he still worried about her. He tried to keep tabs on her and would follow her periodically, but it wasn't enough to know if she was truly alright or not. At one point, he had feelings for the young girl, but realized with time it wasn't the love of a boy for a girl, but for a brother and a sister. He thought she might have been grateful for that since the hormones with the other hosts were running rampant for a time.

Haruhi sat there staring at the two cousins and felt like she was in a dream and did not want to wake up. This was what she wanted, what she hoped for. She wanted her friends back. She felt after all this time it was a fruitless wish, but now it seemed as if she have gotten her wish. Tears started to gather again and slip out of her eyes, she saw Mori move his hand to her face and wipe some of them away which caused more to fall, "Sorry Mori-senpai, I don't know why I can't stop crying. I am just really happy to see you two."

The taller man nodded and handed her his handkerchief which she took with a smile. It was that smile that both men had been missing. She had been almost as close to them as they were to each other. Hunny and Mori looked at each other, silent communication passing between the two. Regardless of anything, Haruhi was back in their lives and they would keep her there.

She watched the two of them look at each other and then nod. It was like old times and nothing had changed, well things had changed. She only needed to look at Hunny-senpai to know that one. She turned her assessing look to Mori, he hadn't changed much. His looks might have vaguely matured a bit more, but he was still the same Mori-senpai as he had been almost two years ago, at least on the outside. She smiled as she watched them.

"What are you doing today Haru-Chan?" Hunny asked his friend.

"Nothing actually, I am off tonight at work and my internship gave me the day off. So I came here to I guess think about everything. I'm glad I did now," she offered with another smile. Her tears had finally stopped.

"Well, Takashi has some meetings this afternoon and I am free, but we were going to go to lunch together. Do you want to join us? I think we need to talk and catch up," Hunny said looking serious and yet hopeful at the same time.

She wasn't ready for her time with them to be over with. She wasn't ready to wake up from this dream, "Yes, I would love to join you for lunch. You don't mind do you Mori-senpai?" In true Mori fashion, he lifted his hand and placed it on her head and ruffled her hair. She giggled.

The trio left the café and jumped into a waiting car. She smiled to herself, some things never changed. "Hunny-senpai, if you are in the limo, what were the keys that you pulled out of your pocket for?"

"Oh, this is Takashi's car. I drove down here myself instead of being driven. I just got a new car and since I didn't have anywhere else to be today, decided I could take my time and drive myself," Hunny said with a big grin on his face. It was infectious; Haruhi found herself grinning bigger than she had before.

They arrived about fifteen minutes later at a restaurant that Haruhi wondered if she was underdressed for since she was wearing dark jeans with a light lavender sweater over a white button up shirt and flats. This was definitely an upscale restaurant. When the two men saw her hesitation, they both turned to her and saw her blush. "What is it Haru-Chan?" Hunny asked.

"It's just that this is a nice restaurant. I haven't been to one of these since, well anyway, I think I am a little bit underdressed for it," she said quietly and a little hesitantly.

"Haru-Chan, I think you look kawaii and you don't have to worry about it!" Hunny announced. He would make sure that it wasn't a problem. They needed to talk and since he owned the restaurant, he knew they would have a private room and they could hash it out, so to speak, "I own the restaurant, so I say you look fine."

"Wah, what?" Haruhi was surprised.

"Yah, I bought it so that I could have an outlet for my sweets and it has turned out very successful," he said as he seemed to stand a little taller and puff out his chest. She could tell he was proud of himself.

"Well if you are sure…" Haruhi said and started moving forward again.

Hunny led the way, followed by Haruhi and Mori was behind her. They had her surrounded and she wondered if they were afraid she was going to bolt again. Little did they know that if they let her, she was going to make sure that they stayed in her life forever. As insane as the club was, it turns out they are what kept her sane and if only these two would give her a chance, she would take it.

She noticed that as soon as they entered the restaurant, the employees tried impress their boss. This was new to Haruhi who had never seen this happen before. Yes, she had seen him go from being the cutest of the hosts to the most dangerous in less than a second and people wanted to make sure they stayed on his good side. She had also seen the girls trying to impress him when he hosted them, but this was different. This was because he was in charge and from the look on his face, he liked being in charge. He wasn't mean to anyone or expected them to grovel, but he did expect respect from his employees and to her, it seemed as if he got it. This was a new side of Hunny and it amazed her.

Haruhi noticed that Hunny stopped, so she stopped as well and she could feel Mori right behind her. It was a comforting presence to know that she was once again protected. She didn't need protection, but knowing that he was there always seemed to keep her at ease before and that feeling was back. She turned her head and offered him a smile. He placed his hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze with a smile of his own.

"Haru-Chan, I would like to introduce you to my head chef and creator of many of the dishes here, Bethany. She is from America and I hired her before anyone else could," Hunny said smiling.

Haruhi walked forward and bowed to the woman in front of her. She didn't seem old enough to run a kitchen, but she was sure Hunny knew what he was doing. The restaurant was packed. "It is good to meet you," Haruhi said politely.

"It is good to finally put a face with the name. Haninozuka-san has spoken of you often and always has very nice things to say," Bethany said.

"He has?" Haruhi was taken aback.

"Yes, did you not wonder why the restaurant was called H-Chan?" the chef asked looking at the woman curiously.

Haruhi looked from Bethany to Hunny, and she was sure if Mori was in front of her instead of behind, she would be looking at him also. "He named the restaurant after me?" She asked herself. Then she dismissed the thought completely, "I'm sorry, I have been out of the loop for a bit and this is my first time here. It is a little overwhelming." She tried to sound polite and sincere. She tried to sound like she hadn't been fazed by the chef's words, but she couldn't help it, she was moved.

Bethany offered her a smile, "I can understand that. I will let you enjoy your lunch, if you need anything, please let me know." The young chef turned and walked back to the kitchen.

"This way Haru-Chan," Hunny said as he grabbed her hand and led her to a private dining room towards the back.

When they were all seated at the table and the waiter took their orders, the door to the room was closed and they were alone. Haruhi was suddenly nervous and felt like two pairs of eyes were drilling holes into her and trying to see into her very depths. "When did you buy the restaurant Hunny-senpai?" Haruhi croaked. She was nervous and it came through in her voice.

"Haru-Chan, don't be nervous. We are all friends here, right Takashi?" Hunny said sweetly.

"Yes," was the simple reply from Mori.

"I bought the restaurant a year ago Haru-Chan. It was already here, I just changed a couple of things including the name. I didn't like the name. It was so harsh sounding to me. So I named it H-Chan after a good friend who brought to mind a lot of good memories, for the most part," Hunny explained as he watched his female friend turn several shades of red. "So what happened?"

She wanted to pretend that she didn't know what he was talking about, but she couldn't. She crossed her hands and placed them on the table and stared at them as she started to speak, "Right to the point Senpai? Have you been picking up pointers from Kyoya-senpai?" She tried to joke, but it came out strangled. "I have been counting the days since I last saw you. I can tell you that it has been exactly one year, seven months, two weeks, and six days since that night and I have regretted it since then; but took me almost another year to get rid of that pesky problem. He has been gone for almost nine months."

"Why didn't you call Haru-Chan?" Hunny asked.

"I didn't think you would want to see me or talk to me after what I did. He was my fiancé and I still wanted to pick you over him. I didn't think that was right, so I picked him. I thought I was making the right decision, I thought I was choosing love and that the six of you would understand and forgive me in time. I tried calling Hikaru and Kaoru once, but Yasu found out and was mad, so mad. The twins said they didn't want to talk to me anyway, so it was a waste," she said as the tears were starting to form again. This was hard. Going back and remembering the past was never easy, and trying to speak about it to people she thought hated her was even harder.

"Breathe," Mori said looking down at the girl he once thought nothing could break. Something happened in the time they had been apart, she looked almost broken now.

Haruhi took a deep breath and tried to calm herself a bit before she continued, "The day before the party where I walked out, Yasu proposed. I thought I was in love and said yes. He helped me to forget the hurt and pain I went through when Tamaki and I broke up. I knew he was jealous of you guys and didn't like me hanging around you so much. As I look back on it now, I see the control that he started to put over my life. Slowly he started to limit my time with my friends, he always checked up on me, and he tried to make sure I was not with the six of you without him. This all happened before we were engaged. I guess you knew that though since all of you tried to warn me about him."

"Yes, we knew and we could see it," Hunny said quietly. It hurt him when it had happened and he never quite understood why his friend could not be with them and why her boyfriend would treat her the way he did, why he didn't trust her with the hosts.

"You know he was jealous of all of you? He told me one night that I apparently didn't think he was good enough because I had to whore myself out to six rich men in order to be happy. He said that he was just as good as you were, but if I really wanted all of the riches and the money then I was free to leave, but I wasn't really free. I knew that, so I stayed. That was the night I tried calling the twins one last time," she was crying again.

Hunny's eyes started to get tears in them and his hands were in fists. He wanted to teach Yasu a lesson about hurting his friends, "It's ok now, you are rid of him." Mori agreed with his cousin and nodded.

"Finally, I am and am a lot happier since, but missed all of you. I figured after a year and what I did, what I said, I was the last person you would want to see. So I didn't even try to call. The phone call with the twins was still fresh in my mind and I didn't want to hear that again," she cried as she broke down.

Hunny got up from his seat and pulled her into an embrace, "Haru-Chan, no matter what, you are still our friend and we love you. What's done is done. Ok?" He felt her nod against his chest and he looked to his cousin. Mori looked torn. He wanted to punish Yasu and he wanted to comfort Haruhi, but Hunny knew that he wanted the rest of the story. Hunny was sure there was more, but right now was not the time. She was upset enough as it was. There would be more conversation later.