Waiting

"Excuse me…"

Tamaki looked up in surprise to see a new face walking into the room.

"Oh my…it looks like we have a new guest, gentlemen." The girl approached Mori, and Tamaki added, "Are you a fan of Mori-senpai?"

Haruhi had looked up at Tamaki's words and was surprised at the fact that she recognized the face.

It's that girl…

There was a long pause, and then the young, long-haired brunette finally spoke up after taking a few more steps closer to Mori.

"Well, Mori…I understand now. I know who you feel so strongly about, and it's okay…"

However, as the girl began to speak, Mori already knew that she was drawing the wrong conclusions, as everyone else did. Because of his silence, no one knew that his feelings were focused on the female member of the Host Club.

The girl's gaze turned towards his blonde-haired cousin and he could see her thoughts twisting in her head, but he said nothing.

The silence stretched for a long moment, but she broke it.

"…I must say I find it a little surprising that it's Honey. To think he's so special to you…I don't know, it's just so…"

She then said something else, but he didn't hear a word of it, his thoughts too focused on Haruhi.

Such a wonderful and complex girl who baffled him in so many ways…and yet, he knew all of the smallest details about her. How she preferred large, men's shirts, and wouldn't touch pink lace. That she would take sweatpants over jeans any day of the week.

How she loved sushi and liked to go grocery shopping on Sunday mornings.

How she loved strawberries and whipped cream.

And how she, no matter how hard she tried, would always arrive a few minutes late to Host Club because she lost herself in her reading that much.

And how, whenever it stormed, she would bury herself into his shoulder, certain that he would protect her from the storm outside.

Of course, that last one had only happened three times, all of them when no one else was around. Every single time it had happened it had been after an event and the rest of the Host Club had left her to do the cleaning up on her own…and he had stayed behind to help.

The first time it had happened, she had ducked under a table at the first clap of thunder, and he'd had to gently pull her out and put her in his lap, where her head had eventually drifted onto his shoulder.

The second time, she'd looked toward him, and hesitantly reached for his hand, and he'd pulled her into his arms and let her press her face to his chest.

The third time, though, she had easily climbed into his lap where he had been sitting on the couch, and buried her head into his shoulder.

There was a connection there that he didn't quite have with anyone else in the Host Club, not even his ever-present tiny shadow, Honey. Haruhi had a calmness to her that didn't seem to exist in anyone else in their group…a serenity, a sense of peace with herself.

He understood it and respected it...respected her.

He cast a look in her direction, and their' eyes caught for a brief moment.

She gave him a slightly worried look, but he simply nodded. At that, her eyes lit up and she grinned, giving him a small nod in return.

Yes…the feelings were hidden for the time being, but that's how it should be.

He would continue to watch her, and make sure that she stayed safe. Until the very end, if he had to. He was aware that Tamaki and the twins all had feelings towards her, though they didn't know it yet, and that he would simply have to wait for his time to come.

He could live in the background until then…

…yes, he could wait.

THE END

A.N. - This was just a litte bit of inspiration coming from re-watching all of the episodes again...I hope you enjoyed it!