Summary: Sakura doesn't trust just anyone, especially people as damaged as her. She's managed to get a decent job, her own place and for the first time in years it seems like there is light at the end of the tunnel. But that all gets thrown on its head when she finds herself becoming friends with someone as messed up as she is. Syaoran is your classic bad boy with a rough background. Throw in that he looks like a model and the girls can't resist the temptation of being the one to tame him. But he's not so easily tied down to one person.
When the two of them meet sparks fly and tempers fray, but somehow against all odds they manage to forge a tenuous friendship that always ends up with them at each others throats. With tempers running hot, it's only inevitable that at some point they end up being more than just friends.
Can a pair of damaged goods ever end up fixing each other or will they irreparably destroy each other in the process?

AN:
Couple of pointers
1)Sakura and Tomoyo are both 22
2)Syaoran and Eriol are both 25
3) There are no clow cards or magic, its an AU fic. Sakura and Syaoran have never met before

Damaged Goods

Chapter One

Sakura

There are things in life I really miss, hot showers, a decent meal, loving parents. But I think out of everything, the thing I miss the most is sleep. I would kill for eight hours uninterrupted sleep, hell I would settle for 6 hours uninterrupted sleep. But that is a pipe dream. Sleep is not something that comes easy to those of us that are plagued by nightmarish visions of our past.

The first thing I'm aware of is that any part of my body not buried under the blankets is cold. Great, this means the boiler has packed in. Again. So the chances of me having a hot shower have now decreased to fuck all. Then I notice the persistent buzzing of my cell, which I know is buried somewhere in the bed. Groping around under the pillows, I eventually find and extract it, but of course, by now the person ringing me has given up and I'm not in the mood to call anyone back at this godforsaken hour. Thankful for small mercies I bury my head deeper into the pillows, intent on chasing my pipe dream for some sleep. I can feel myself starting to drop off into a slight doze when my phone vibrates to life in my hand. The sudden movement makes me jump and I force myself to open my eyes and peer blearily at the screen so I can figure out who it is I'll be shouting at for waking me so early on a rare weekend off.

"Eriol, I swear to god your head better be on fire or something for you to be calling me at 8am on my first Saturday off in 5 weeks," I rasp down the phone, fully aware that I sound like I've just swallowed a handful of broken glass.

"Wakey Wakey, eggs and bakey," he sings down the phone, laughing by way of a greeting. "This is your wakeup call that you made me promise to give you so you would have enough time to get up and make yourself look somewhat presentable."

I groan at his overly cheerful greeting, wondering why I had to choose such a cheerful morning person to be my friend. "That's today? Bugger I thought it was next weekend."

"You're not flaking out on me are you Sakura?" Eriol questions, starting to sound a little stressed out. "Please tell me you've not made any plans cause me and Tomoyo really need your help today."

My early morning bitch reels her claws in, Eriols worried tone thawing some of the frosty demeanour that I've woken up with. "Stop stressing, I'll be there just like I promised."

The relief in his sigh is almost palatable and I feel bad for making him doubt my commitment to the massive autumn picnic and music event he's planned to raise funds for the local children's home. "Thank you Sakura, you're a star. And on that note I'll leave you to drag your lazy ass out of bed. You do know where you're going don't you?"

I roll my eyes at him even though he can't see me. "I'm not a complete moron; I know where I'm going. Now get off the phone so I can go and pour the coffee jar down my throat." I snap light-heartedly as he laughs at my lack of morning skills.

"Ok baby girl, I'll leave you to it. See you in a bit."

He hangs up and I find myself fighting not to snuggle deeper into my bed and go back to dozing. Bracing myself for what I know is going to be breathtakingly cold; I whip the blankets off me, shivering as the cold air hits my bare legs. Rummaging around the bottom of the bed I unearth an old woolly jumper and a pair of sweats that I throw on over my shorts and tank top pyjamas.

I really need to invest in some better pyjamas, especially considering I live in what I consider to be an igloo, even in late September the place is like an ice box. But that's something I'll worry about later. Right now I need coffee, strong coffee, and lots of it.

I hoist myself out of bed and wander into the kitchen, wincing as my bare feet make contact with the cold linoleum. Lighting the gas under the kettle I heap three teaspoons of coffee in the only mug I own and hoist myself up on the worktop. I swing my legs through the frigid air, mentally running through what I need to do before I leave the house and wonder if I can stomach another cold shower. The kettle starts screaming at me, like a small child demanding attention and my wandering thoughts are broken by my overwhelming need for caffeine and sugar.

Slurping my coffee, and burning off the top couple of layers of my tongue, I drag myself into the bathroom, purposefully avoiding looking in the mirror until after I have showered. There is no way I can face looking at the birds nest planted on top of my head until after I've tamed it with half a bottle of conditioner. I hate my hair, it is thick, unruly and slightly wavy, not enough to be curly but enough to be a pain in my ass. Turning the shower on I offer up a prayer to every deity in existence that there is hot water and I'm rewarded with a lukewarm trickle, which is an improvement on the freezing cold spray that I've suffered with for the last four days. I add shouting at my landlord until he fixes the boiler to my rapidly growing list of things to do as I climb into the shower and attempt to wash the worst of yesterdays grease from my skin.

Twenty minutes later and as clean as I am going to get short of taking a Brillo pad to my skin I assess the damage in the mirror. It is official; I look like I have been hit by a bus and then dragged through a hedge backwards. There are dark shadows under my eyes that no amount of concealer is going to cover and my hair looks like a family of raccoons have bedded down for the winter. Squinting in the poky bathroom mirror, I take stock of what I can work with, my bright green eyes looking critically at the reflection staring back at me.

Tackling the shadows under my eyes with concealer in a lame attempt to cover up my lack of sleep I curse my pale skin. I'm so fair that my skin shade sits somewhere in the 'so fair it burns at the hint of sun' colouring. It makes my hiding the dark shadows difficult, especially when I want to avoid looking like a life a five year old attacked my face with crayola. Not an easy task especially when my make-up comes from the value range at the drug store. I give up after I stab myself in the eye several times in an attempt to apply both eyeliner and mascara - it will just have to do for today.

Now to tackle my biggest inconvenience in life - my hair. I make a half assed attempt to brush it and dry it, but my patience snaps after about 5 seconds of my hair doing what it wants and I just throw it up in a messy bun at the back of my head. Somehow, with a few escaping tendrils it somehow manages to look like I have spent hours artistically arranging it.

I fiddle with my necklace, an old locket that belonged to my grandmother as I review my appearance. I have to admit, with the exception of the thick, ridged scars cover my arms I don't look too bad. I run my fingers over the damaged skin, feeling the puckered texture that is now as familiar as any other part of my body. If there was one thing I could change, it would be the constant reminders that are etched into my skin.

I have to stop myself from over thinking this, I have too much to do, and wandering down memory lane this early on Saturday morning is a sure way to send my head west. One last look in the mirror and I'm confident that Eriol's girlfriend, Tomoyo, will appreciate the fact that I've made an effort. I leave the bathroom, the rest of the house seeming arctic in comparison to the steamy bathroom and I swear I can see my own breath vaporising in front of my eyes.

I manage to find a pair of denim shorts and team them with a long sleeved light-weight jumper, I'm pretty sure that all the soccer mom's don't want me terrifying their precious offspring with my gruesome scars and I'd rather take boiling to death over the pitiful stares and hushed whispers. Gathering all the things I think I might need to survive an afternoon of being nice I manage to get out the house on time. I throw my stuff in the car and crank the radio up. Muse are singing about a resistance and I let the music wash over me as I cruise down the road to the large open park behind the children's home. Sure I could have walked down, probably would have taken about 15 minutes, but there is no way I am walking back through my neck of the woods late at night when this is all over. That is just asking for trouble and I am making a conscious effort to keep my nose well out of any trouble.

I pull up, park next to Eriol's truck glancing up at the clean sky, grateful that we've got a nice day for the picnic even though I fear that by the end of it I'll probably be in need of some therapy.

A thump on the roof of the car causes me to jump, my heart racing at the sudden, unexpected noise. Looking out the window I can see Eriol, grinning at me insanely, his dark blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

"You're an ass." I shout, my voice bouncing off the interior of the car.

He shrugs at me as he opens the door. "Come on Sakura, when was the last time I managed to make you jump."

"Try never." I raise my eyebrow at me and try to look angry.

"You look like an angry kitten pulling that face at me." He grabs my outstretched hand and hauls me out of the car, pulling me into a massive bear hug. Eriol is one of the few people that I will let touch me and he takes a shameless amount of advantage over it. "Come on, Tomoyo looks like she's about to have a nervous breakdown, I've never seen her so ruffled."

"You're enjoying it a little aren't you?"

"You bet you, nothing quite like watching my princess getting angry at other people."

"You're sick in the head, you know that right?"

Sakura dragged her feet as she entered the park, a wave of memories washing over her from her past here at the home. Looking around she took in the hive of activity that surrounded her. People were setting up stalls to sell their wares, there were picnic blankets spread out haphazardly and children from the centre running around and getting under everyone else's feet. She spotted Tomoyo, unsurprisingly in the middle of a group of people, issuing orders and making sure everything was under control.

Tomoyo flashed Sakura a grin and shouted above the general hub-bub that surrounded her. "If you can grab all the raffle tickets and go set up near the main entrance. There should be a table and stuff over there already, I'll send Eriol and one of his friends over to give you a hand."

Sakura nodded in agreement, rolling her eyes as Eriol leant in for a kiss off his ridiculously busy girlfriend. Tomoyo was high-school cheerleader gorgeous, all long limbs and perfect skin, beautiful raven black hair that fell all the way down her back and piercing amethyst eyes that could see past everything. There were a hundred other things she could be doing on a Saturday, but instead she was here. Slumming it with two ex-care kids and taking control of a situation that would probably be on its ass if it were not for her involvement.

Sakura made her way over to the main gate to get set up, grateful that table was already standing and wouldn't require her non-existent DIY skills to construct it. Rolling her eyes at the mess of raffle prizes stacked haphazardly on another table she busied herself with getting everything out of it's plastic wrapping and set up behind her table where she would be selling raffle tickets for the day. Grinning she picked up an oversized stuffed toy, attempting to balance it at the back of the table, out of reach of small hands that would undoubtedly want to grab it an drag it away.

"Sakura," Tomoyo yelled, dragging some poor unsuspecting bloke behind her. "This is Syaoran, he's one of Eriol's mates that been conned into manning the raffle with you."

Tomoyo moved out of the way and when he came into view Sakura had to force herself not to gape at him like some brainless teenager.

Syaoran was the definition of tall, dark, handsome and probably a little dangerous. He was tall and well built, his muscles defined but not chunky. His hair was light brown and fell across his forehead in a messy style that looked like he's just dragged himself out of bed. He had a chiselled jaw and amber eyes and Sakura was convinced that he could burn her clothes off just looking at them. Offering a half hearted wave she turned around and busied herself with sorting out the prizes, chiding herself for letting him put her on edge.

Sakura turned round to face both Tomoyo and Syaoran, only to find that Tomoyo had already dragged him off, probably looking for Eriol. Sakura shook her head ruefully, there was a reason she stayed away from anyone that she may spawn any sort of intimate feeling. And given that a two second interaction with Syaoran had turned her into a gawping moron she was beginning to regret saying that she would help out.

She sat down, putting her converse clad feet up on the seat next to her and turned her face to the weak autumn sun that was streaming through the trees. God bless Tomoyo for putting her somewhere where she would be out of direct sunlight otherwise she would end up burnt to a crisp by the end of the day.

Her eyes were closed when a deep voice cut through her daydreaming. "You look like you're bored." Sakura didn't even have to turn round to know that the voice had to belong to Syaoran, it was deep and sinful, like hot toffee sauce on an ice cream sundae.

"That's because I am." Sakura stated, trying to be flippant with the intention of driving him away. She tried to make herself sound bored and uninterested, but it came out more like a squeak. 'Great, four words into the conversation and he probably thinks I am some kind of squeaky airhead.' She thought to herself.

He chuckles at her sarcastic response, his laugh low and gravelly. "You don't strike me as a morning person."

Sakura looked up him, her green eyes clashing with his firey amber ones. Wiggling her toes in her shoes she tried in vain to stop herself from blushing, wishing that the old wives tale actually worked. Given the heat she could feel spreading across her cheeks she knew that it hadn't, but she refused to break eye contact with him. She wouldn't be viewed as some simpering Barbie that was going to throw herself at his feet and beg him to let her worship him.

Pretty sure she was full out death-staring him she waited for him to back down and step back, and was a little shocked when he didn't budge. Normally her glare was enough to send grown men whimpering back to the mothers, their tails firmly between their legs, but then again he did strike her as a stubborn, pig-headed alpha male. Backing down because a girl half your size is staring you down would be ego bruising.

"Ah, Sakura, I see you've met Syaoran," Eriol inteupts, a worried look crossing his face as he caught her stormy glare. "He's going to be spending the day with you selling the raffle tickets, so you two will get the pleasure of each other company." He grimaced as he said that, catching the arctic expression that was still plastered on Sakura's face.

"I'm sure it will be akin to having my teeth pulled." Sakura sniped in my sweetest voice.

Eriol had the decency to look slightly ashamed at her obvious hostility. Syaoran on the other hand just smiled sweetly back at Sakura, "I'm sure I can make our time together slightly more enjoyable than a trip to the dentist."

"Long as you don't attempt to put anything in my mouth, I'm sure we'll get along just fine." She replied with a sickly sweet smile.

"Sakura!"Eriol admonished a warning tone in his voice. "Please play nice! I've known Syaoran a long time and he's a good friend so will your snarky inner bitch behave herself?"

Sakura pulled Eriol to one side, her expression conveying her issues with being left alone with someone she barely knew for an extended period of time. She was starting to feel tired and frustrated, and it was less than an hour into the day. Eriol looked at her critically, his eyes picking up the faint tells that she was uncomfortable.

"Are you OK Sakura?" He asks the concern evident on his face. "I know you don't know Syaoran, but I wouldn't have put him with you unless I knew you would be OK. It's a lot to ask but I need you to trust me on this, he won't hurt you."

Sakura cringed, feeling irrationally emotional. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I'm just really tired and some insensitive asshole woke me up early this morning."

Eriol cracked a grin at Sakura's version of an olive branch and gathered her into a tight hug. "I know baby girl, but we're both here to give our support to the foundation that probably saved our lives. That's why Syaoran is here too."

Sakura digested Eriol's words and suddenly realised why Syaoran hadn't backed down during their little stand-off. There were three types of children in foster care. The bullies. The children that refuse to look the bullies in the eyes for fear of reproach. And the ones that stare the bullies down and get into a full-blown brawl just because they can. Sakura knew fine well that she fell into the latter category and guessed that Syaoran probably fell in that category as well.

"Ok, snarky inner bitch will take a vacation for the day, but this is a one day only deal," She mumble into Eriol's jacket. "So don't come crying to me tomorrow when she's back with a vengeance!"

Eriol laughed, his chest rumbling against her cheek. "I know, and tomorrow I will spend all day appeasing her with chocolate biscuits and coffee to make up for today. Now I better go and help Tomoyo before she has a meltdown of nuclear proportions" He dropped a kiss on Sakura's forehead before dragging Syaoran to one side for a quick chat. Sakura strained her ears, trying to eavesdrop but couldn't pick anything up over the general buzz that was building in the park.

She perched on the edge of the chair and attempted to make herself comfortable, waiting for the first wave of people to arrive. The influx of people was steady, and between the two of them they managed to sell a lot of raffle tickets, as well as take a huge number of donations, the buckets quickly filling up with loose change and notes.

"Sakura, Eriol sent me down, said you look like you're ready to stab someone so suggested I come watch the desk for you so you can go stretch your legs." Tomoyo shouted as she made her way over from one of the other stalls.

Sakura managed a weak smile, grateful to move around and stretch her stiff legs. She moved over to the main gate, standing out of the main flow of people, watching them as they made their way in with picnic baskets laden with goodies. It had chilled a little and the sky was more overcast than earlier. Sakura frowned at it, praying that it wouldn't rain.

"You know frowning at the sky isn't going to make it any less likely to rain," came a deep, sexy, melted chocolate voice from behind her.

Sakura sighed, knowing that at some point she should at least attempt to make up for her earlier behaviour. "Yea, but frowning at it makes me feel better. Plus if I'm frowning at the sky it means I'm not frowning at the customers, and I'm pretty sure that Eriol will thank me for that."

Syaoran laughed, and Sakura swore that his laugh was probably sexier than his voice. "Seeing as we didn't get off to the best of starts earlier let's try again. Hi I'm Syaoran." He extended his hand and Sakura's good manners kicked in, forcing to shake his hand.

"I'm Sakura, also known as raging bitch when she's woken up early in the morning by an insensitive asshole of a best friend." Sakura smiled, hoping that it would be enough to gloss over her earlier interaction

Sakura forced herself not to squirm, normally she would be the one with a thousand witty sarcastic remarks, but they all seemed to flee her brain the second that Syaoran had taken her hand in his. His hands were large and warm, a soothing balm to her cold fingers.

"We better get back before Tomoyo thinks we've done a runner." Sakura managed to force out weakly, her eyes fixed on the ground as she cursed herself for her sudden lack of vocabulary.

Sakura

Time seems to slow down; as does the number of people coming in or wanting raffle ticket and I get more fidgety as my boredom grows. I start doodling on a pad of paper, creating swirls and patterns that interlock with each other. I'm so engrossed in my task that I don't hear Syaoran come up behind me, but the aroma of coffee soon gains my attention.

"Please tell me that coffee is for me?" I moan, wondering if I'm salivating like the mad caffeine addict I am.

He smiles, handing me a plastic pint glass full of hot strong coffee. I inhale the bittersweet aroma as I wrap my cold hands around the burning hot plastic. "You know this is probably the highlight of my day," I mumble over the rim of the glass as I take a tentative sip of the hot sweet coffee, trying not to moan aloud as I have the first mouthful.

"Then you clearly need to have a better day. I hope I'm not the reason behind it."

I manage a smile, "even if you were this would be enough to absolve you of any sins," I say, gesturing to the coffee.

"Eriol also told me to tell you that there's free food over at the cake stall and that he's amazed you haven't torn the place apart looking for food."

I think the expression on my face says it all as he hides a smirk "He could have said something earlier rather than leaving me here to starve to death!"

He holds his hands up in defence, "I didn't know it was there, Eriol mentioned it when I went up to make the drinks. He also said to tell you and these are his exact words so don't shoot the messenger, 'if the stubborn girl had just said something about being hungry then I would have said something earlier!'"

"Sounds like something he would say, but I'm amazed at the lack of swearing." I raise one eyebrow at him, waiting for him to confirm what I already know.

"Oh there was swearing, but I've just handed you a cup of hot coffee so I'm not going to repeat what he said in fear of you dumping it down my pants or something as equally sadistic." He smiles at me, the broad grin lighting up his face as I laugh with him.

"Good to know you seem to have a measure of me already. Look I should really apologise for my behaviour earlier. I have a serious allergy to anything early on in the day, especially when it involves meeting new people." I manage to force the words out, proud of myself for being the bigger person for once. If only Eriol could see me now, he'd probably be grinning like some kind of proud parent.

"Not a problem, I'm not much of a morning person either so I share your pain." He states. "So don't worry about it." He leaves me and my coffee to ponder why I would be worrying about it. I push the thought to one side, deciding that it is either something I should evaluate properly later or just ignore completely.

The next few hours pass in a blur of people and boredom, the park is packed and almost all the raffle tickets I had at the beginning of the day are gone, leaving me with a pile of ticket stubs and buckets full of cash for the children's home. Both Eriol and Tomoyo have popped in a couple of times, relieving me for a break and dropping off more coffee or food. I am wound up like a jitterbug on a lethal mix of sugar, caffeine and lack of sleep and I'm starting to get on my own nerves. Checking my watch for what feels like the 20th time in the last 5 minutes I am relieved to see that time is passing, slowly, but still passing. By my reckoning, I should get finished within the next hour. I start counting the bills in the till, bundling them up into stacks ready to hand over to Eriol. My back aches from sitting on the world's most uncomfortable stool for the majority of the day. As much as I would like to think I will be going home to a warm house and a hot shower I'm not going to kid myself.

The money is sorted and ready to bank when Eriol pokes his head in. "How are we doing baby girl?"

"Please tell me it's nearly over, I'm dying to place myself in a horizontal position and straighten my spine." I whine, aware that I sound like a petulant child, but way past caring.

"You are good to go. Tomoy wants to know if you're going to hang around for a couple of drinks with us and everyone else, but I'm guessing due to your previous statement that's a no?"

"Try a hell no," I quip, relieved that the day is officially over. "Tell her thanks, but my sofa and a TV marathon of Ghost in the Shell are calling me and I'm too weak to resist the call."

"You going to be ok getting back to your car or do you want me to walk you?" He asks as I hand him the takings, earning a well-deserved eye-roll from me.

"I'll be fine, I'm just parked across the street," I say, grabbing him in a quick hug. "Tell Tomoyo I'll come round during the week for dinner."

Eriol grins at me, "Ok, I'll see you later on this week. I owe you and your inner bitch cake so give us a text when you're going to come round."

Syaoran catches me leaving. "Heading off?" He asks as he walks me towards my car, his chivalry a throwback to days gone by. "You're not staying for the after-party?" He questions me, a slight grin twitching one corner of his mouth.

I shake my head. "Nah, to be honest I'm beat and the thought of spending any time anywhere else by my bed just isn't doing it for me. So my rock and roll Saturday consists of a date with my sofa and a Ghost in the Shell marathon."

"Well, it's was nice meeting you, maybe I'll see you around sometime?"

I smile, not trusting myself to respond in a nice fashion when my brain is screaming 'no you will not see me again because you're the kind of guy that could send me off the deep end and I promised myself that I would stay away from men like you!'

As I drive off with a wave, and when I flick my eyes to the rear-view mirror to glance back at him I am surprised that driving away from him feels a little bit like a loss.

AN: So ends chapter one – I shall get on with editing chapter 2.

Please R&R

dk