Chapter 40 | Going back to the Beginning

~Arabella's POV~

I told her everything.

I told her about Robert.

I told her about what he did to my mother and me.

I told her about the incident--the incident where I tried to take my own life.

I told her about my family's slow recovery; we moved to Japan not just for my mom's promotion, but to heal.

I told her anything and everything about my past--I even told her about the several times Robert used to lock me in a cramped closet for hours on end, and that him doing that developed my claustrophobia.

I told her everything.

I told her she couldn't tell the others--not until I was ready. And, I wasn't quite ready yet.

When I was done telling Haruhi everything, she had cried.

She had told me she never knew. She had told me she was so sorry; I had told her it wasn't her fault and she really didn't know at all. I had kept it well hidden from her after all.

I also told her she had to keep it hidden--just until I was ready to tell the rest of the Host Club.

The next day after school, I had arrived at Music Room 3 for club hours. Sakura wasn't at school at all that day.

When I asked Kyoya where she was, he had said, "As of this morning, Sakura Yamaguchi is officially expelled from and is no longer a student at Ouran Academy. After what happened, Kaoru and Haruhi told me everything and I immediately went to the superintendent and had Sakura expelled--I told him everything she did to you all throughout the time you were attending Ouran. You probably won't ever see Sakura Yamaguchi again. And, before you get on my case about going to the superintendent, I did the right thing. It was for your own good, Arabella. She was threatening you and bullying you. And that's not good or acceptable."

Of course, I was certainly surprised. I mean, Sakura Yamaguchi expelled from Ouran? It almost seemed too good to be true!

No more being bullied, no more being teased, no more being insulted on how ugly my hair is, no more people who think they can control my relationships.

That meant I could hang out with the Host Club without being worried about someone coming along and trying to trash our friendship or get in the way.

Also, I get to date Kaoru in peace, which is also nice.

In fact, I'm on a date with him right now; Daniel's hanging out at one of his friends' house, and Mom is out at the store.

Kaoru and I were laying on the couch together, watching a movie. A horror movie.

Of course, it hadn't been my idea--it had been Kaoru's.

"Why did you bring over such a scary movie?" I mumbled as I watched, horrified, at all the blood and gore on the TV.

"I just... felt like it. That's all." Kaoru said.

I smiled. "I think I know why; you picked this movie because the odds are I would probably be scared enough to snuggle up to you and do the whole scared girl act and be like, 'Kaoru! Kaoru! Oh, hold me closer, Kaoru! It's so scary...!' Right?"

Kaoru smirked. "I'll admit, you are correct," he said. "Also, snuggling sounds like fun."

Then, he gave me a pleading look.

I sighed. "Fine. Let's get our snuggle on."

Kaoru smiled and immediately welcomed me into his open arms as I scooted closer to him. He wrapped his arms around me and we just laid there.

I had the popcorn bowl in my arms, so I took advantage and shoveled lots of popcorn into my mouth.

I kept shoveling and shoveling until suddenly I noticed Kaoru was just looking at me.

I gave him a look. "Don't judge the way I eat!" I laughed.

Kaoru chuckled. "I wasn't doing that. I was staring at you because I realize every time I look at you what a lucky guy I am. You're so beautiful, it's almost impossible to look away."

I blushed. "God, that's so cheesy! Kaoru Hitachiin, you are a hopeless romantic." I giggled.

"Only when you're involved," he replied with a smile. Then, he suddenly looked at me weird. "Hey, I think you have a little bit of popcorn stuck in your teeth."

I felt around my teeth with my tongue. "Yeah, I think you're right." I said.

"Well... I could try and help you get it out... with my lips." Kaoru said with a smirk.

I blushed again. "Hm... You know what? I could actually use some assistance."

Kaoru leaned forward. "Say no more." Then, I felt his perfect, soft lips against mine.

I smiled into the kiss and kissed back.

Suddenly, I felt his arms go around me and then I felt him climb up on top of me.

He had me trapped against the couch and himself. His hands traveled all around my body, and it felt comfortable. And I liked it. A lot.

It felt like our bodies fit perfectly together.

An involuntary moan escaped my lips before I suddenly said, "No fair. Why do you get to be on top?"

"Because." Kaoru said as he kept kissing me.

"Because what?"

"Just because," Kaoru said. "Now shut up and keep kissing me."

"Say no more." I said.

We eventually found ourselves kissing more than actually watching the movie. We kept coming up for air, but just found ourselves going back down for more.

Somewhere during our heated kiss, I rolled over, knocking the popcorn bowl on the floor and spilling all the popcorn.

"I'll... clean that up later..." I whispered as I felt his lips traveling up my neck.

"Mm hm." He wasn't really listening; his lips were too busy planting hot kisses up my neck, to my jawline, and back to my lips.

I ran my fingers through his hair and then trailed my hands down his back.

"What the hell???"

Kaoru and I immediately stopped and looked up to see Daniel right inside the front door.

"Ew! I come home from my friend's and find you two kanoodling on the couch! Yuck! If you're going to do it, do it in Arabella's room! No one else needs to see that!" Daniel said.

I grabbed one of the pillows off the couch and threw it at him. "You're so annoying, you know that? Don't you ever get tired of saying things like that to Kaoru and me?"

Daniel thought for a second. "Mm... nope."

"I hate you." I said.

"I love you too, sis!" Daniel said. "Oh, and by the way, Mom called me and said she's going to be home soon to tell us something surprising and great. So, you might wanna wrap up this little session you got going on here and send your boyfriend home before Mom gets here."

"Fine," I said. Then I turned back to Kaoru. "Sorry, but you gotta go now."

Kaoru shrugged. "It's okay. I'll see you at school," he said before he got up and have me a peck on the cheek. "See ya'."

I smiled. "See ya'."

Then, he was out the door. Daniel closed it behind him. "He's a keeper, and you two make out way too much."

I glared. "Shut up."

Daniel rolled his eyes at me before he made his way over to the couch and sat down beside me.

We waited about ten minutes before Mom arrived home. She entered the living room with an incredibly happy look on her face, she looked like we had just won the lottery.

... Hey! Maybe--

Daniel must have been thinking the same thing I was because he cut me off before I could even finish my thought. "Did we win the lottery???" he asked.

Mom shook her head, still smiling. "No!" she said excitedly.

Daniel's shoulders slumped.

"But, you'll never believe what happened!" Mom continued.

"What?" I asked.

"Well, remember when I told you something exciting might be happening but I said it wasn't for sure and I wasn't sure if it ever would be?" Mom asked.

I nodded. So did Daniel. "Yeah..."

Mom smiled even wider. "Well, my boss just confirmed it with me today!"

Her boss?

"Mom, what do you mean?" Daniel asked.

"Well, my boss told me that I was a really great worker and he really liked me! He also told me he wanted to and was considering giving me a promotion!"

My eyes widened as I smiled. "Mom, that's great!"

"That's not the great part! Today, he confirmed it and said I was officially getting promoted! And guess what I'm getting promoted to!" Mom said.

"What?" Daniel and I asked eagerly.

Mom smiled even wider. "Well, my boss wants me to be the new vice president of his new company he's opening up!"

"What??? Mom, that's amazing!" I said before I jumped up and hugged her.

Daniel jumped up and hugged her too. "Yeah! This is awesome! Does this mean we get to buy more things and go to the movies more often...?"

Mom stopped hugging us and looked down happily at us. "Yes! It does! This promotion pays more than my original job!" she said.

Daniel's smile grew.

"Don't get too excited for just this! There's more!" Mom said.

Daniel's eyes widened. "More? Awesome!"

"Okay. What's the more?" I said.

Mom pressed her arms to her sides and tapped her feet excitedly. "The more is this promotion isn't just a promotion, but a job offer (of course I accepted). And, this job offer isn't here in Japan...!"

My eyes widened. "Huh? What do you mean it isn't in Japan? Where else could it be? We live here in Japan...!" I said.

Daniel just looked at Mom. "Mom, what are you saying...?" he asked.

Mom beamed. "Don't you see? This promotion isn't here, but it's in America! Our old home! Since I took the offer, we get to go back home!" she said. "We get to leave Japan and move back to America!"

Dead silence.

Neither Daniel nor I spoke. I suppose we both felt we heard her wrong--we must have.

Several seconds of silence passed before I was able to speak. I simply blinked at Mom. "W-What...? Did I hear you right...? We're moving back to America?"

"Yes! We are! In fact, we leave in a month!" she chirped.

A month.

"What?" Daniel muttered. "We're moving back to America in a month...?"

Mom nodded.

"Doesn't all this seem a bit sudden...?" I mumbled.

"Well, yes, that's how all surprises go; they're sudden! Isn't this great, though? We get to go back home!"

Great? No! This wasn't great at all! This was terrible! If we're moving that means I have to leave everything; Ouran, my town, my neighborhood, my home, my room... my friends.

My friends... If we move I have to leave some of the people I care about the most in this world...

If I have to leave my friends, I have to leave Kaoru.

My boyfriend.

My amazing and wonderful boyfriend, the guy that got me to finally trust someone outside my tight-knit family, the guy that made me feel things, great things, the guy I fell in love with... the guy I wanted to spend more time with.

I would have to leave him.

I would have to leave everything I knew and loved.

One look at Daniel's expression on his face and I could tell he wasn't happy about this either, he was probably thinking the same thing I was--he would have to leave his friends too.

"Mom... this is great..." Daniel mumbled.

"Just awesome..." I mumbled.

Mom looked at us. "You don't seem very excited..."

"... How excited are you about your promotion?" Daniel asked.

Mom beamed again. "Very excited! I couldn't be more excited!" she said.

Well, obviously...

I gave Mom a smile. "That's awesome, Mom. Daniel and I are just as excited as you are."

"I knew you would be!" Mom said.

"Yeah..." Daniel said.

I can't believe this... We have to go back to America! I don't want to go back to America! I love it here!

But, I can't tell Mom that, she's obviously so excited and happy about her promotion--if Daniel and I told her we absolutely hated the idea of moving back to America, it would ruin the excitement for her about her promotion.

So, what we had to do next was simple--pretend we're just as excited as Mom is about all this. Because she deserves to be happy.

It was also simple what I had to do next--spend as much time with my friends as possible before a month ends, because it was probably the last time I would ever get to spend with them or see them.

They all have too much going on in their lives to just visit back and forth between Japan and American whenever they want--plus that would be asking them for too much.

And, it'd be too painful--seeing them, like, once a year and then them leaving again. It'd never be like it is now.

And, Mom would never let Daniel and I fly to Japan; it's way too far.

The Host Club members are my only friends... and just like that, they're being taken away from me.

This happens every time--whenever I get close to someone, I either lose them or they hurt me.

I pondered all this as I trudged up to my room.

I would have to tell them all. At some point. I couldn't just leave without telling them, even though I really didn't want to since it seemed too painful.

But, for now, there was just one person I needed to tell.

I took my cellphone and called.

It picked up on the third ring. "Hello?"

I swallowed. "H-Hey, Haruhi... I... I have to tell you something... And it isn't good..."