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The teens stared at each other before bursting with laughter, it had a bittersweet undertone, the tension of the situation still in the air.
“Senpai… We didn’t know about her” Haruhi began nervously.
“It’s okay, I never meant to tell you” They walked along the river in an awkward silence, Tamaki being the first one to break it.
“Are you hungry?”
“A little” As soon as the words left her mouth, the boy stood before her and kneeled, holding her hand in his as he asked “Haruhi Fujioka, would you do me the honor of going on a date with me?”
“Yes, I will go on a date with you, just don’t… Ever do this again”
xoxo
“Yes, I would like a number two please” Tamaki smiled at the clerk turning to the windows as he waited, a few cars rolled down the street, their rear lights contrasting with the night sky. The girl behind the counter coughed, stretching her hand towards him with a receipt in hand.
Tamaki smiled apologetically as he took it from her hand. He turned towards Haruhi in the deserted Mc Donald’s, following the girl as she walked to a stool in the breakfast bar.
“This is the least fancy we could get, are you happy now?” Tamaki asked, trying not to let his affectionate gaze show.
“I couldn’t be happier Senpai, there’s nothing I would love more than a chicken nugget after walking in this soaked dress” She said as she swung on her stool.
“You can call me Tamaki, you know that, right?” He told her as he rested his hand on her shoulder to stop her fidgeting.
“I… all right, Tamaki”
He smiled warmly, realizing that he reserved his most genuine smiles for the girl in front of him, she smiled back as he took in her features.
“You know, I always pictured our first date in the fanciest place, I was going to wear a suit that had never been in a lake, you were gonna look amazing in whatever you wore, it was gonna be magical” Tamaki finished as he gestured to his water-ridden suit.
“You don’t think this is magical?” Haruhi gestured to the empty restaurant. The pair remained the only customers, the only sound coming from the speakers, an old school song played faintly as Tamaki took in the atmosphere.
The world seemed to stand still for a moment as his eyes drifted all over the establishment, his rapid heartbeat becoming apparent as he looked at Haruhi once again, big brown eyes stared back at him, her thin lips moved but no sound seemed to come out of them.
“333”
Haruhi stood up, fishing the recipt from Tamaki’s hand, a bewildered expression remained on the boy’s face. She returned with their tray placing it on the bar as she spoke.
“You’ve never been in a Mc Donald’s late at night?”
“I’ve never really… been here” He offered a sad smile, trying to escape the moment as he reached for a fry.
“I always pictured our first date here” Haruhi announced, ripping open two packs of nugget sauce.
Tamaki’s entire face flushed as soon as he understood what she’d meant; Haruhi had thought about dating him too, the girl spoke quickly before he could come out of his shock.
“Look, try this” She dipped a fry in ranch and buffalo sauce, she placed it in front of Tamaki’s mouth, the boy, still flustered, opened his mouth and closed it slowly.
Haruhi continued as normal as ever. “That’s my favorite combo, but I think you’ll like this one better” She mixed two sauces once again and offered to feed him once again.
The boy took the fry carefully. His thoughts running a mile per hour, deciding instead to stop being his silly self for a moment.
“Haruhi”
“Tamaki”
“Do you know when I started liking you?”
“Yeah, I think it was when…”
“Wait! I wanna tell the story!” Tamaki interrupted enthusiastically. A small noise of agreement coming from her as she dipped more nuggets in various sauces.
“The first time you walked in the classroom I thought you were the cuttest boy I’d ever seen, and I saw Honey every day. When I realized you were a girl… Oh boy” The air around them changed as he finished, his expression somehow turning lovesick and serious at the same time.
“I felt so embarrassed Haruhi, I was so embarrassed” The boy chuckled nervously “I didn’t even knew I liked you then, I just wanted to be with you, I wanted to protect you, I wanted you to be happy all the time” Silence hung in the air, he took this as a cue to continue.
“Then one day the twins asked me if I liked you “for real”, I said that I didn’t, but that night, I went home, and I couldn’t stop thinking of you”
“Tamaki”
“I’m almost done, the next day you arrived at the music room in your cute little blazer and your beautiful big eyes, and then you laughed, I knew I was screwed when I saw you”
Haruhi laughed nervously as she announced, “Would you like to hear my story?”
The boy nodded enthusiastically, agreeing with a short “Yes!” that came out louder than he expected. “I mean yes, if you want to”
Haruhi leaned into Tamaki’s personal bubble, gazing at him with loving eyes, and kissed him. His mind entered shut down mode as he realized what was happening, she was kissing him, but suddenly, she wasn’t anymore.
“I didn’t like you from the start…” She began.
“WAIT! WAIT! You… You just…! I had it all planned! I was gonna take you to the pond where we bonded and fill it with candles and they were gonna float and you were gonna look beautiful in the candlelight!” The girl laughed wholeheartedly, only now realizing how much Tamaki had thought about this.
“Sorry,” She said, dragging the last syllable, “We’ll get to your fancy dates eventually” The boy frowned as she continued. “I didn’t know I liked I you until we went to the beach, I really was pissed at you, but the guys helped me understand that was your weird way of caring, and then the thunder thing happened”. Her cheeks reddened at the memory. “That’s when I knew you were worth it”
Tamaki gazed at her and asked “Haruhi, would you like to go to the pond now?”
“You know you can just kiss me here right?”
“It’s not for kissing”
xoxo
A 10-piece of nuggets later, and a million calls from Tamaki’s cellphone, the teens went back to the school. Haruhi looked at herself in the mirror as she ditched her old puffy dress, opting instead for a shorter one Tamaki got for her, she walked out of the bathroom and into the courtyard to find her boy.
He stood next to the pond in a now dry black suit, a plethora of candles floating inside it just as he’d promised. The girl walked up to him, feigning surprise as she took in the scene.
“Tamaki, what’s all this?” She laughed as she mocked him.
“Well, Haruhi, it’s so nice of you to ask” He gestured to the candles with his hand. “These candles, represent every reason that made me fall in love with you” She turned to look at the water, easily more than a hundred candles floated in it.
He took her hand in his and positioned himself in a slow dance position, swaying them slowly to the beat of their own hearts.
“You know Haruhi, I never felt like anything was missing here until I met you, I had great friends, a great club, and then you arrived. It was like someone cut my heart into a shape that only you could complete.”
“So, I want to ask you, for the sake of my physical and metaphorical heart, would you like to be ma moitié?”
The girl chuckled softly at his choice of words, but still agreed as she leaned up to kiss him for the second time.