A/N: This story might be a bit weird—well, maybe a lot weird, but I think it's OK. It's my English homework which I thought I should share with you guys. Just so you know; a review does wonders to an author's enthusiasm of writing.
He walked towards a bed at the end of the bedroom, containing a woman deeply asleep in her slumber, undisturbed. He watched her sleep for a few seconds before deciding to sit on the bed. He couldn't help himself, he had to caress a bit of her angelic face, to feel how soft her skin was against his.
Again.
He tried not to make any sound as he sat but the squeaking of the bed was inevitable. He waited with batted breath as her eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing bright green eyes.
"Syaoran," she said, albeit perplexed. She sat up on her bed, rubbing her eyes in order to dispel the drowsiness. "What are you doing here?"
He looked at her with an unreadable look on his face, as if battling with himself. She sent him an expectant look, waiting patiently.
"I can't be with her, Sakura," he finally said.
She wore a confused look before realization dawned. "Are you sure? I mean, you're about to be wed in like, a week from now. You're going to be a husband in just a week. Don't you think this is kind of, I don't know, sudden?"
"It's not like I asked for it either!" he said, frustration evident in his voice. "It's just that I've finally realized that she's not the woman that I wanted to spend my whole lifetime with."
Sakura narrowed her eyes. "You're not drunk, are you?"
"Of course not!" he cried indignantly.
"OK, OK. Just making sure."
"I'm talking about a seriously big issue and you're joking around."
"Hey!" Sakura bristled, her anger rising. "At least I'm not the one with the I-picked-the-wrong-bride problem!"
Syaoran sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry."
Sakura calmed down. "OK, now that we've got that settled…you were saying?"
Syaoran seemed to hesitate a bit. "Well…I was thinking of breaking of our engagement."
"You know you can't do that, Syao-chan. Her parents will hunt you down and bury you alive, after your parents kill you first."
He groaned. "I know."
Chiharu was silent for a while. Her eyes studied his own. "What is this, Syaoran, some kind of a joke? I don't think you're one to do this type of thing, backing out of your own wedding. I mean, you've never back down from any challenge before. Why do it now? Or maybe…hey, did one of your pals bet with you to see if you can April Fool me or something?"
"No," he shook his head. "This is entirely on my own. No one had anything to do with this. Besides, it's nearing September now, doofus." He managed a small grin.
Sakura ignored the remark. "So then, what happened?"
"Nothing. I just had a change of heart, that's all."
"Or, in this case, a cold feet. It's only natural, you know, to be anxious of one's wedding. I would too, except that I don't think I'd be married in anytime soon. Anyway, it's not every day you get married to the person you're desperately in love with. And also—"
"That's not it, OK!"
Sakura shut up immediately. "So what's it?"
"I…well…" he stuttered. He looked down, playing with his fingers and sighed tiredly. "It wasn't very easy for me…to come to this decision. I mean, with all the hard work you and others did to pull off a splendid wedding for me…that's why I didn't come to this decision any sooner."
Their eyes locked.
"But then…when I meet you…"
She snorted. "Meet me? Syaoran, in case you've forgotten, we've been best buddies since we're practically in diapers!"
"What I mean is," he stammered, "when…"
Seconds passed as he paused. Sakura waited, holding her breath without realizing it.
"When…what?" she prompted, unable to stand the tension building up inside the room.
"When I fell in love with you," he murmured.
Her eyes widen. Blood drained from her face and she was so sure that her face was as white was sheet. "Syaoran, this is not time for a joke like this," she croaked, laughing nervously. She winced at the hollowness of her laugh. "You've got to—"
"Sakura," he said with affection, taking hold of her shoulders, shaking her a bit. "I never joke about love."
"But—but—" she spluttered, loss for words. "I thought you said you loved her. You said so when I asked you a month ago, the night after you proposed to her!"
He heaved a heavy sigh and let go of her shoulders. Sakura instantly missed the warmth on her shoulders but smiled secretly when he took her hands into his. "I did. Love her, I mean. You see, I thought I was happy with her. Our relationship was great for the past one year, the chemistry was there. I was crazily in love with her. I was happy with her…but when you asked me about my feelings that night, and I mean, really, really asked me…I just—well, I realized that I was happier when I'm with you." He offered her a small smile. "A wise man once said, 'Don't marry the person you can live with. Marry the person you can't live without.' And…I've come to the conclusion that…you're the person I can't live without."
She bore her chocolate eyes into his misty grey ones, looking for truth in them. She only saw honesty. "But…why now?"
"Why now?" he repeated, a little smile gracing his lips. "God, Sakura! I guess you are naive, even though you don't look like it!" he chuckled at her, who was gawking at him as if he'd grown another head.
He studied her face, taking in those enticing brown eyes of hers and her chubby cheeks, although she'd stubbornly insisted that they were not chubby. He tucked a stranded brown hair behind her ear and let his fingers graze her soft, natural-pink cheeks. "I guess you never knew how much I longed for you during our teenage years, how much stolen glances I did. How I wished upon many stars that you were mine."
He smiled again. "I had the biggest crush ever on you ever since we first met on the sand box at Penguin Park. When you insisted that we're friends, just friends, when our friends started to question our status as the best of friends, I knew that I had to play along, even though I was hoping, praying that we'd be more than just friends. You never knew how much it killed me whenever you go into that 'We're just friends' mode."
"I'm sorry," she whispered, feeling a bit of his pain.
"It's OK." He shook his head and looked at her with such longing. "Five years have gone…well, I guess crushes do disappear…or evolve into love."
She averted her eyes shyly, unable to right that intense stare of his. Syaoran took it as a sign of rejection and heaved a deep and full regret sigh.
"If you feel that way, Sakura," he began, "Then I guess it's only time for me to bow out gracefully." He produced a tiny smile.
Their eyes locked once more.
"Then I guess you never knew how much I loved you too," Sakura murmured.
Takashi's eyes widen, a sparkle shone in his eyes. A happy, truly ecstatic smile crossed his face. "Do you mean it?"
She nodded; a contented smile on her face. Her tears, which she was holding back, made their way freely. "I do."
"God," he said, happy and in belief at the same time. "All the more reason why I can't be with Mei Ling."
"Why?"
"How can I?" he asked, smiling with affection. "When I loved you and you loved me?"
"WHAT??"
The figures on the bed turned and were shocked to see Syaoran's fiancée standing at the doorway. The tray she held in her hands dropped down at her feet, spilling the hot tea all over the floor but she didn't care.
"How could you do this to me, Sakura?" she shouted angrily. "I trusted you! You said you didn't have any feelings for him anymore and now you're in bed with my fiancé?"
"Mei Ling," she began. "It's not what it looks like—"
"It's exactly what it looks like!"
Syaoran tried calming her. "Xiao Mei, I can explain. Give us a chance—"
"I already did, Syaoran. I gave you a chance and you blew it. I trusted the two of you but you destroyed it," she said quietly, tears streaming down her cheeks. She walked away from the room and out from their lives.
X
"Please, please, tell me you're not watching that sappy movie again," a deep voice said.
"Eriol!" a female voice protested. "Broken Promises is not a sappy movie."
"Oh?" he raised a delicate eyebrow. "What is it, o great Tomoyo?"
"It's a bittersweet story about best buddies since childhood who fell in love with one another during their high school years but neither wanted to make a move back then. However, their love rekindled back when this guy is about a week before getting married to the girl's other best friend."
He gave his friend a look. "It's a sappy movie."
"Eriol!"
"What's going on here?" a new male voice asked.
"Yeah, are we missing something?" a female voice piped in.
"Hey, Chiharu, Yamazaki-kun. Come on in," Tomoyo greeted her friends. She had invited them to watch spend the night at her place and they agreed. "Eriol and I were just debating about this movie. He said that it's a sappy movie, which, it is not." She sent a playful glare at the said man, who merely grins.
"Let me guess," Takashi smirked. "Broken Promises, again?"
"I love that movie!" Chiharu squealed. "Let's watch!"
Tomoyo grinned triumphantly, glad to have someone on her side.
"It's a sappy movie," Eriol groaned. "It contains too much sugar and sap. I'd have to wash my teeth after this!"
The girls laughed, Syaoran chuckled. They climbed onto the white couch, Chiharu sitting next to Takashi with his arms wrapped protectively around his girlfriend's waist. Eriol felt a tinge bit of jealousy creeping inside him as he watched them snuggled closed to each other. He sneaked a glance at Tomoyo and nearly laughed at the sight of her tears. He couldn't believe that she could still shed tears even after watching the same movie for like, billions of times!
That was one of the things he loved about Tomoyo, though. Her innocence, her sweet and naïve personality and most importantly, her romantic amethyst eyes. He can never get enough of those eyes. She never knew that, of course, and he wasn't about to tell her anytime soon.
'I guess, in a way,' he thought to himself, 'Syaoran and I do differ. I'm not about to tell the woman I loved that I love her.'
"So, what part are we at now?" Eriol asked, taking his mind off his thoughts.
"Shh!" the girls shushed him. "We're trying to watch here!"
Written by,
saNyu