A/N: Well you asked and here it is… the sequel to Haruhi's Bitter Days. I really wasn't sure what to title it, so if you have a better suggestion, please let me know. XD There will be two sequels for the story and I am calling them the Bitter trilogy. This story will be her first year without Mori at school and flashbacks about how everything started for them. You will see different things that happened throughout the beginning of their relationship like what happened behind the scenes at the beach house, the first time Mori met Ranka, the first time he introduced Haruhi to his parents, etc. I hope you enjoy it as much as you like the original! Let me know if there is anything that you would like to see in particular. I will def include your suggestions if possible! Please review if you can. Thanks!

(fyi… I know school times in Japan are different than in the US, but I am using our school season here versus there. Sorry if that confuses anyone)

Chapter 1 – Summer is Over

Haruhi and Mori sat lounging next to the pool at the Morinozuka country estate. They had escaped for a few days of alone time before the new school term started. Five days without the other hosts bugging them and trying to kidnap Haruhi. Five days of peace and quiet. They had been there for three days and had two more days before they had to leave their little haven and deal with school, the other hosts (aka Tamaki), or real life.

Life had felt surreal since Mori had come back from his test of manhood, but the couple had never been happier. The morning he proposed was one of the best in their relationship when the love of his life had thrown herself in his arms and said yes. Thinking about that morning, he wasn't sure how long they had sat there on the kitchen floor embracing each other, but one minute it was quiet and the next minute Ranka's voice cut through their haze of giddiness.

Flashback…

"Do my eyes deceive me or is that the handsome devil Takashi Morinozuka buried under my daughter?" Ranka smiled looking that the man his daughter was clinging to. He immediately spotted the ring on her finger and went into fangirl (ahem fanboy) mode. "OH MY GOD! IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS?" He squealed in a high pitch voiced and ran up to grab his daughter hugging her to death (he and Tamaki really are too much alike for Haruhi health and wellbeing).

"Dad I thought you were sleeping!" Haruhi exclaimed in surprise as she tried to push her father away and increase her air intake. She couldn't exactly treat him the way she treated Tamaki, he was her father after all.

"I was, but I thought I heard the door open and then voices; and I was afraid that it was that awful blonde man come to kidnap you again! So I rushed to see what was going on!" Ranka gushed, but he wasn't releasing her.

Mori knew it was going to be up to him to rescue Haruhi. She wouldn't use her self-defense moves on her father and there was really no other way out of his embrace when he was excited like that. Pulling her out of the older man's arms and setting her down next to him with an arm around her shoulders anchoring her to his side, he spoke to the red head, "I hope you don't mind Ranka. I got home this morning and my brother said that he was going to send a car to pick her up. I decided to surprise her instead."

Shaking his head, Ranka smiled, "So I take it you passed the test. Congratulations you two! If I would have known you were going to propose this morning, I would have made sure we had champagne or something."

"That is ok. I couldn't wait to ask her," the tall man told him softly as he gazed down at his new fiancée.

Ranka shrieked and rushed to the two teens and embraced them together, "I am just so excited for you! My baby is getting married and to a hunk of a man no less!"

"Umm, thanks dad," Haruhi said hesitantly. She was feeling a bit awkward with how her father was carrying on and the things he was saying. She knew that Mori was already used to her father, but it was still embarrassing.

After another hour spent in Ranka's company drinking tea, eating breakfast, and listening to the older man expound upon the brilliance and beauty of his daughter, the couple left to go to his house as was the previous plan. His parents were just as excited and so was Satoshi. Sparring didn't happen that morning because at some point in time Mori and Haruhi sat down on the couch to talk and fell asleep in each other arms.

End flashback…

Chuckling at the memory, Mori turned and looked at Haruhi who was lying in a beach chair reading a book. She always took his breath away and he believed her to be the most beautiful woman in the world. He wasn't sure how he got to be so lucky, but he would hold onto her with both hands and be grateful for her in his life every day.

"What are you over there giggling about?" Haruhi asked without looking up from her book.

Mori scowled, "I don't giggle. I am not a girl, a child, or Mitsukuni." He loved his cousin and would do anything for him, but the small blonde did giggle… a lot.

"Ok, what are you chuckling for? Is that better?" She laughed as she rolled her eyes in her mind.

"I was just thinking about the morning I proposed and your father found us on the floor. Then instead of sparring with my brother, you and I fell asleep at my house."

"I would like to point out that it wasn't my fault. I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before because I knew you were going to come back that day. I really missed you! I had every intention of going over there to spar with your brother, I just felt really comfortable because you make the perfect pillow, and found myself dozing off."

Mori leaned over and kissed her shoulder, "I missed you too. I think being apart from you was worse than the test. I am never leaving you for that long again. That nap on the couch was the best sleep I had gotten since I left to go take the test and we were separated."

"I am just happy that you passed it. I was worried about you out there trying to do a survival test. I know you had Hunny, but still."

"I know," he ruffled her hair. When he had recounted the tales of his survival test in her presence he always left out a few facts because he knew she got a little worked up still when she thought about the fact that they were given a back pack with the barest essentials, a knife, and a compass. They had to survive off the land completely for two weeks. She didn't need to know that they ran into a bear, had to deal with bats, wild dogs, and anything else that popped up that were even remotely dangerous. She knew that some things happened, but she didn't want to know the details and he wasn't going to divulge. He was ok with the fact that she didn't want to know.

"When you blocked my door, I thought you were a dream and I was seeing things," she giggled finally putting her book down and looking at her fiancé.

"I am better than a dream."

Smirking, Haruhi got up from her chair and joined him on his lounger as she whispered against his lips, "Much better than a dream." She sealed her statement with a kiss.

The wind suddenly picked up and started to whip about. The couple broke apart and looked up at the sky hoping that they wouldn't see what they both feared the most. Their dream world was broken and an ambush had been set. Above them leaning out of a helicopter just like he did when Haruhi had gone to Karuizawa were Tamaki and the twins waving like fools and grinning like idiots.

Grinding her teeth, Haruhi growled a proclamation, "I am going to kill them all!"