All girls like to be held. . .

Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran Highschool Host Club or any of it's characters.

She was truly dead to the world, however, he liked seeing her in this light compared to many nights of watching her sleep while hooked up to various machines and tubes. She was in her pajamas and he smiled remembering how much she had complained about not being able to have them. She was very much rumpled and snuggled in her blankets, her hair sticking out at odd angles and one bare smooth leg exposed hanging off the bed.

She looked so comfortable that he found himself wanting to join her and before he realized it he'd kicked off his slippers and pulled off his jacket. He walked to her removing his watch, setting it on the table next to the bed before he settled in behind her, pulling her soft form close.

He would let her sleep another ten minutes or so, not wanting to disturb her, but also knowing that they did need to leave soon and Haruhi would want to change. He leaned over, nuzzling softly behind her ear before laying a soft kiss there. She leaned into him and soon enough she was turning to find out who was with her. She smiled and curled closer to his body.

"Just give me five more minutes, okay?" He smiled and curled his arms around her more comfortably. He was the only one who had seen this side of hers, the side that was so feminine. Who would have thought that Haruhi liked to be held? He took those five minutes to remember his awkward realization that all girls liked to be held.

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She'd been staring at him, all evening, was his hair sticking up funny or something? They sat there on the couch watching a movie, one of her favorites, and she was watching him. Of course she would turn away when he would look back at her, a bright red flaring across her face and she would turn back to the movie.

He knew she would never voice what she was thinking or wanting, in that way she was more like him. He was unsure of how to proceed; he had very little experience with women. He knew the basics, they had kissed, but it was limited to soft goodbye and greeting kisses and he'd held her hand. His father had told him that all men should act like gentlemen with all ladies, especially those that were special to them.

With his peripheral vision he could see she was looking almost hopefully at him. Had he forgotten something? He'd come over, she received him well, returned his kiss of hello, he'd held her hand as they walked to get dinner and rent her favorite movie, they'd sat down at their normal ends of the couch- he paused in his thinking as he noticed she'd turned back to the movie. The main couple had sat down on the couch, but they'd settled at one end and the man had pulled her close into his arms.

He felt like an idiot.

And in being that way, he'd made her feel insecure; he would have to remedy that immediately. He stood and went to get a glass of water, wanting to be as smooth as possible in his next move. Setting the glass down he went back to the couch and sat down directly next to Haruhi. She had little time to realize what he was doing as he pulled her into his lap, holding her closely, her head tucked under his chin. She took in a gasp of surprise and he found holding her warm form close was going to be a small challenge. On one hand he enjoyed this closeness, on the other he might enjoy it too much.

He could smell her and feel as she breathed. She felt cooler on her exposed skin so he pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around them. He smiled as she relaxed against him, happy that he'd done something right.

They'd ended up falling asleep there that night.

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Ranka had been livid finding them so intimately together on the couch, he hadn't been allowed in the house alone with Haruhi for nearly a month. He would have chuckled, if he'd been the type to do so. His stomach growled instead and that had sent his fiancé giggling. He tended to be hungry all the time, he spent so much energy on kendo and other things that it was a common thing that always made Haruhi laugh. Now that he thought about it, all the Morinozuka men had the same issue. His mother often kicked his father, himself, and even Satoshi lately out to get food so they wouldn't overwhelm the cooking staff.

Would Haruhi ever do that?

Probably. She and his mother had the same spirit.

Haruhi got up at started to laugh even more and he looked down to see his feet sticking several inches off her bed. He smiled and got up as well.

"I should have got you a larger bed." She blushed lightly. She looked up at him and then went to him, hugging him directly around the middle. "Haruhi?"

"It's not your fault Takashi." She said softly, he tensed, he'd forgotten his earlier guilt and now it embedded itself in his gut deeper than ever as her casted arm rubbed his side unnaturally. "It was never anyone's fault. Takashi, they were old classmates from school." He frowned, so she knew them. "They were planning it ever since I exposed myself as a girl my last year at Ouran." Slowly his arms came around her, his fingers stroking though her hair.

"I still should have been there. . ." She shook her head and he felt tears staining his shirt.

"Takashi you can't be with me everywhere, heck I don't want you to be everywhere with me. We both have things we want to do by ourselves. It's because you or someone else was with me that they didn't attack earlier. They are cowards Takashi, it's not fair, but it happens and I survived it because I knew you would be there for me later and that's all I thought about while it happened."

"Haruhi. . ." He hugged her close.

"Takashi the only thing that could hurt me is if you or anyone else I cared about were taken from me. I love you, no matter what and now I'm stronger than ever before. Do you understand?"

"Aa, I understand."

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When they had composed themselves Haruhi changed and fixed her hair, then they made their way to dinner. His mother received them warmly, hugging Haruhi tightly as mothers do, she often spent time with Haruhi and came to treat her like her own daughter. His father carefully hugged the girl and he admired his father for trying, not being the warmest person in the world. Haruhi joked that his hugs had greatly improved since last time which had his father smiling. He'd always approved of Haruhi and told Takashi secretly that he'd known that she would someday be a part of their family.

Dinner went very well, they kept topics away from Haruhi's attack and her time in the hospital, which Takashi was grateful for. It was when they moved into a separate room used specifically for drinking tea that he'd found a moment to excuse himself.

When he was out of sound range he pulled out his cell phone.

["This is Kasanoda, what is it?"]

["Kasanoda. . ."]

["OH! Morinozuka-senpai! How is Haruhi doing? Better than I saw her last?"]

["She is very well, she'll get her cast off next week."]

["That's great! Tell her I will come visit soon!"]

["I will, we will be looking forward to it. Listen, I have some names for you."]

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KuroBlack: Hey guys! Here's your latest chapter, please enjoy it. Remember I'm always up for some new ideas, so please review!