"Hey, do you want to go out tomorrow?" She was interrupted by Hikaru. She shot him a questioning look and seemed totally surprised.

"N-not like a date or anything, but I just think I need to get to know you better." He stuttered, blushing. Kaoru smiled and raised his hand.

"The day after you can go out with me. We all need one on one time with each other." He said. Hikaru put an arm around him and smiled bigger.

"It's good for us to explore new things."

********

The next day, Haruhi woke up with an empty, guilty feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had decided she would go on dates with the twins, but then break the news about Tamaki right after. No more secrets.

A short dress was hanging on her closet doorknob. The dress was white with small red flowers covering every inch of it. There was a collar and a flouncy bow near the neckline, and it was complete with a thin brown belt. Pretty brown heels that matched the belt were right underneath it.

Haruhi stood up and walked over to it. Kaoru had probably put it there earlier for her to wear on the date. The full outfit screamed: HIKARU! In flashing colors. He would love it.

After she had tightened the belt and slipped on the heels, Haruhi looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair needed to be brushed. It was growing longer, and she had nice long side bangs that she could pull behind her ears.

"Haruhi!" She heard someone knocking on the door and went to unlock it. Kaoru was there, and he seemed really excited about something.

"Great! You look beautiful. Hikaru is going to love you in that dress!" He gushed, admiring her. Haruhi drew back self-consciously and pulled her arms over her chest.

"I'm anything but beautiful, but thank you. Where's Hikaru?" She asked. Kaoru yawned.

"He's getting ready. I just came to check on you." He said sweetly. Her heart fluttered a little. He was so kind.

"Thanks," She replied. "What will you do all day by yourself?"

"I'll watch Tv. Take a day to just lounge around or something." He shrugged and scratched the back of his head. He did look like he was planning on doing nothing the entire day. He was wearing a tight white V-neck and baggy black sweatpants. He had an adorable bed head, and a tired smile on his face.

"Cool..." She steped out of her room and led the way to the elevator. Kaoru stepped inside of it and pressed the "down" button.

"So what should I expect today?" Haruhi asked him. "Where are we going?"

She didn't expect much. After all, she had quit her job at Cafe a few days back because of school and lack of free time so she couldn't afford anything for herself. Hopefully he wasn't taking her anywhere expensive.

"I think you're just going out for food or something. Maybe you'll see a movie if anything good is playing. It'll be crowded there though, because it's raining." Kaoru explained. He was so laid back about everything, and Haruhi had to admire him for that.

"Okay, sounds good." She sighed deeply, stretching her arm over her head. "Remind me to take a coat."

Kaoru smirked slightly, but then nodded.

********

Hikaru was pacing in his room, wondering why he had even asked Haruhi out in the first place. What was he supposed to say or do? Where would they even go? He was a helpless romantic... Wait, it wasn't even a date! Why was he so stressed?!

He grabbed fistfuls of his own hair and pulled, trying to sort out the mess that he had created. Kaoru had laid out an outfit for him. It was a plain, long sleeved, blue and white collared shirt and black pants. He wondered what Haruhi would be wearing. It was supposed to be raining, so hopefully nothing too cold. She could always just wear a jacket. That reminded him that his own jacket was still in his closet. He plucked it off of the rack and slipped it on, feeling more comfortable in the heavy black material.

"Hikaru!" He heard Kaoru call through the door. He opened it and saw his brother leaning against the door frame.

"You're a mess," Kaoru teased, walking inside. Hikaru started pacing again.

"I just don't know what I'm supposed to do," He said. Kaoru sat down on his bed and gazed at Hikaru's sorry state.

"Nothing." He said. When he saw Hikaru's confused look, he decided to elaborate.

"Just do nothing. Be yourself. If anything gets awkward and you don't know what to say, do whatever you think I would do." He shrugged and swung his legs so that he was laying down. He rested his head on the pillow and put his hands behind his head.

"Please just make sure--" He stopped and yawned, "--that you don't bore her. She'll be worrying as much as you are. I promise. Have fun, okay?"

Hikaru nodded and then walked into his bathroom. After brushing his hair for the second time, he straightened his shirt and walked back out. He noticed that Kaoru was dead asleep on the bed. He walked over and sat next to him, admiring how cute he was.

Kaoru had always been the type of person who would care for others more than he cared for himself. Hikaru was guilty of taking that for granted his entire life. He brushed Kaoru's bangs out of his face and kissed his forehead.

"I'll be back soon." He promised. Then, he took three deep breaths and walked out of the room.

**********

Haruhi was waiting in the kitchen for Kaoru to come back. He said that he was going to check on Hikaru and be back in five minutes, but ten had gone by and there was no sign of him.

"H-hey,"

She heard a voice and snapped her head up. Hikaru was standing a few yards away, and looked as terrified as hell. But besides the look on his face, he looked like a model. His hair was perfectly pushed to the side, with the back spiked up. His clothes were somewhat baggy, but fit him perfectly. And Haruhi couldn't help but blush when she looked at him. She was doing a lot of blushing lately.

Hikaru didn't notice that she was staring at him, because he was still busy staring at her. Kaoru must have put her up to wearing that dress. It was perfect, and he loved it on her. Her hair was pin-straight, but still really short, and the small bit of make up she was wearing made her eyes stand out. She was very beautiful.

"So... Where are we going?" She asked, trying to find the right words. Hikaru struggled to come up with a good answer.

"Well... There's this restaurant down by the park, and it's really good. It's an American restaurant. We could go there and then catch a movie or something." He suggested. He knew he sounded terrified, but he honestly couldn't help it. This was the very first time he was leaving the house without Kaoru by his side. He was also going out with a girl. Like a date. Which it wasn't, or so he was telling himself.

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Haruhi's face flooded with relief. She was happy because there wouldn't be any extra time for awkwardness. They'd just eat, watch a movie, and then go home. Hikaru was thinking the same thing.

He smiled and held out a hand for her to take. She grabbed it and walked with him outside.

"Ah! My jacket... I forgot it inside. I'll be right back out!" She said, turning back around and running back into the house. Once she was inside, she went crazy trying to find it. She looked through every closet, but it was no where she could see. Finally she just gave up and waked back outside. If it was going to rain she would just have to deal with it.

"Are you oka--" Hikaru was cut off when Haruhi opened the door and marched back outside.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just can't find my jacket." She sighed. Hikaru shrugged and walked over to her.

"I'm sorry about that. It is going to rain, but I don't think there will be any major changes in temperature." He tried to make her feel better.

Once they were in the car, Hikaru felt a lot better. He was confident in himself, and was able to hold a conversation with Haruhi that didn't bore her. Before he knew it, they ended up in the parking lot of the restaurant. He stepped out of the car and waited for Haruhi.

"So this restaurant is pretty cool because you get to eat anywhere near the pond." Hikaru motioned to a fenced in area on the edge of a small pond. There were rocks and picnic tables scattered around, and it was all very beautiful.

"We can also eat inside if you want." He suggested. Haruhi shook her head.

"I'll eat outside. There's nobody out there right now, probably because it's going to rain."

Hikaru nodded and waked over to the fence. When nobody from the inside was looking, he positioned his arms in between the railing of the fence and then hoisted himself over it. Haruhi admired the way his muscles flexed and how gracefully he landed. He landed on one foot, but then balanced himself out. He took one big breath through his mouth and then straightened out his shirt and flipped his hair back, licking his chapped lips. Haruhi was literally breathless as she watched him.

"Are you coming? We don't have to pay if we don't go in through the door." He smirked.

"T-that's stealing!" Haruhi whispered/shrieked.

Hikaru shrugged.

"It's buffet style, so we won't get caught. Come on, please?" He begged. He pulled a pouty face that made her give in.

"Fine, but I am not going to jail. If anyone asks, you kidnapped me." She tried to climb over by herself, but her dress didn't allow her to get very far.

"Hurry up," Hikaru complained. She flushed and looked upset.

"I can't," she whispered frantically, "M-my dress..."

He finally managed to catch on, because he walked back over to the fence and jumped halfway over so that his torso was leaning down near her.

"Come here, I'll help." He said, stretching out his arms. Haruhi immediately felt embarrassed and blushed harder than ever, but Hikaru didn't seem to care. She reluctantly stepped over and shivered when his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Now... Now jump up and I'll pull you over. Put your arms around my neck so that you won't fall, okay?" He grunted, trying to remain balanced. She nodded and pushed off of the ground with her feet. Hikaru tightened his grip on her waist and pulled her up. Her knee scraped the metal bar on the top of it, but in the end she ended up on the other side.

"That wasn't so hard." Hikaru said, grinning like an idiot. Haruhi smiled, too.

"Now where is the food that we're stealing?" She put emphasis on the word 'stealing'. Hikaru shot her a dumb look and then sighed.

"It's inside. But since we're already here, we won't need to check in. Kaoru and I do it all the time." He said. Haruhi frowned.

"So you're criminals." She snapped, placing a hand on her hip. Hikaru flinched at the word.

"Look, I didn't want to tell you this, but the man who owns this restaurant is good friends with my family. We get the food for free even if we go through the front door."

Haruhi sighed guiltily, feeling horrible that she had accused him.

"I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want my parents money to make me look like a rich snob." He finished, turning away. She quickly started making excuses for her lack of consideration.

"I'm really sorry... I had no idea and that was my first time doing something like jumping a fence that I wasn't supposed to, and I--"

"It's okay. It's not like I'm not used to it or anything. Let's just go inside." He let out a loud sigh and then started walking to the food layout. Haruhi stood in place for a while, mentally yelling at herself.

They took their food trays and filled them with hamburgers, French fries, sodas, and many other snacks. When they were finished, Hikaru led Haruhi to a big rock that was right at the edge of the pond.

"So you eat these with your hands?" Haruhi asked him, holding up a fry. He nodded and smiled a little.

"Yes. If you want ketchup with it, dip it in the red sauce, and if you want mustard, dip it in the yellow sauce." He laughed inwardly at her lack of knowledge about food. Since she was so poor, she had never been able to afford anything but scraps at Cafe. It was sad, really... But Hikaru was rather amused.

"I know what ketchup is. Damn rich people." She snarled, curling her legs up so she could rest her tray on her knees. Hikaru quickly apologized.

"So what do you want to do now?" He asked. He didn't know why, but for the past few days he had wanted to spend as much time as possible with Haruhi. She was just so fun and nice to be around.

"Well isn't the movie theatre close to here?" She asked, her mouth full. Hikaru nodded.

"Yeah, it is. I don't know if there are any good movies showing, but we could go see something if you want." He offered. She nodded again.

"Catching Fire is supposed to be really good. I saw the first movie and kind of want to see how the series ends."

"You know that there's still one more movie that needs to come out, right?" Hikaru asked. She tried to hide her disappointment, but Hikaru could see through it. He hugged her dramatically.

"You poor baby! Didn't even know that there was another movie!" He gushed, still messing around. She shoved him off and pouted a little.

"Whatever. I still want to see it." She grumbled. He nodded enthusiastically and stood up.

"Well, let's go!"

********

[At the Movie Theatre]

********

Kaoru was right. The movies were packed. Especially their movie.

They had seats in the waaaay back of the room, but they were still able to see the screen. It was actually really cold in the room. For some reason the fans and vents were on; and unfortunately, they were positioned right above their seats.

"These seats are fricking horrible," They heard a teenage boy around their age snap to a girl that seemed to be his girlfriend.

"Yeah, I know...." She whined in a high pitched, annoying voice. Hikaru knew that he was not going to last long sitting next to these people. But he had to try for Haruhi.

Once the commercials finally ended and the movie itself started, Haruhi tried her hardest to hide how cold she was. A vent was directly above her, and she was only wearing her dress. Hikaru noticed that she was shivering.

"Are you cold?" He asked softly. She began to shake her head, but then gave in and nodded. She didn't notice Hikaru doing anything for a while, but then she felt the leathery material of his jacket over her shoulders.

"Take mine. It's okay, at least I have a long sleeved shirt..." He trailed off, blushing. He was glad that it was dark and nobody could see him. Haruhi smiled like an idiot and thanked him. She took his arm and draped it over her shoulder, leaning against him for comfort when something gross or scary happened on the screen. His heart was pounding a mile a minute, and he loved the feeling of her needing him there with her.

"Why don't you ever do something sweet for me like that?" The annoying girl complained loudly at her boyfriend, pointing at them. "They're, like, the cutest couple I've ever seen."

As if directed, both Hikaru and Haruhi snapped away from each other and turned to them.

"We're actually not together...!" Haruhi said at the same time as when Hikaru yelped,

"You've got it all wrong, she's not my girlfriend!"

The annoying couple looked at each other and then back at them.

"Well you sure do look like you are." The girl said. The guy nodded.

"Yeah, with all the gestures and stuff," He added. Hikaru blushed again and then decided to tune them out. Haruhi did the same thing.

"Do you want your jacket back after what they said?" Haruhi whispered. Hikaru then realized how stupid he was acting. There was a scared, freezing girl next to him. Who cares if other people thought they were together?

Oh right.

He did.

He didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable or awkward when she was with him. And he definitely didn't want her to feel hated on at school if the other students learned about it.

But still... She was sitting right next to him.

"No, it's okay. Whatever." He slung an arm around her again and pulled her so that her head was leaning against his shoulder.

Hikaru confused Haruhi again. If he was so obsessed with protecting her from getting hurt at school and by him, why was this okay with him? It was okay with her, but it just made her think a little harder. She smiled and placed a hand on one of his.

When the movie was over and they made it to the car again, Hikaru noticed that they were almost out of gas.

"We might not make it home," He sighed angrily. "But I'll try and drive fast."

Haruhi nodded, but had her doubts.

"What if we get stuck in the middle of the street?" She wondered. Hikaru shrugged.

"Well, I'll pull over. And it's ten at night. We took a while to get to the theatre anyway, so we had to take the later movie. Nobody will be driving on the main road this late." He said.

He jammed in the key and within seconds they were speeding down the road. They were about forty five minutes away from the house when they heard churning noises coming from the inside if the car.

"Dammit," He cursed, pulling over onto a grassy area on the side of the road. Haruhi face palmed.

"I knew it. How come we decided to go to the farthest theatre from where you live?" She asked.

"To make sure nobody from school would see us." He replied. For a few minutes they sat there in silence.

"Could you call someone?" Haruhi asked, pointing to his cell phone. He pulled it out and tried to turn it on.

"It's out of battery. I would try to call Kaoru, but he is probably still asleep. He was really tired today." Hikaru said. "What about you?"

"I left mine in my jacket. Which I can't find." She said. "So what do we do now?"

"We wait. We might have to wait through the night and sleep in the car."

Haruhi looked out of her closed window at the sky.

"B-but isn't it supposed to rain?" She asked Nervously.

"Yeah, but it will be okay. It's not really cold anymore."

"That's not the problem..." She tried to tell him how afraid of thunder she was, but the words just wouldn't come out.

"We'll what is--" Hikaru's question was interrupted by a sudden huge clash of thunder and a few drops of rain hitting the roof. Haruhi gasped and buried her face in her arms. The light rain soon turned into heavy rain, that was so thick nobody could see two feet out of the window. It all happened so fast that Haruhi didn't have time to prepare herself. Haruhi stayed curled up in a ball on her seat, her fists clenched and her eyes slammed shut. Hikaru noticed, but didn't know what was wrong.

"H-Haruhi?" He asked softly, "What's wrong?"

She just stayed still and didn't move except for the small winces whenever it thundered. Hikaru finally understood.

"Hey," He said, feeling awful for her, "Come here,"

When she didn't look up or respond, Hikaru frowned and basically pulled her to him using her arms as support. She just became more ridged. Once she was curled up on his lap, her head buried in his chest, Hikaru began stroking her hair and trying to calm her down.

"Haruhi I want you to look at me," He said calmly. She slowly raised her tear stained face up to his and let out a whimper.