Untangled
By: Blossoming Rose (aka Sakura Asakura and Rikka K)
Chapter 9: Tears and Laughter
Sakura woke up to see her father peering at her through his glasses. It was nighttime and she apparently cried herself to sleep earlier that day. Her head felt like it was hit by a ton of bricks, and her throat was drier than a desert. "Dad?" she said in a whisper, since her throat was dry.
"Sakura!" Fujitaka blinked at her daughter who he hadn't seen for quite a while but was now sitting on her couch—well, sleeping, but that's beside the point, "What are you doing here? I-I mean, why are you here? Are you hurt? Sick?" Then the man's eyes widened. "Did Eriol break up with you?"
Nearby, Touya snorted as he poured a glass of water for Sakura. She glared at him and smiled a weak yet reassuring smile at her father, "No, I'm fine. Eriol didn't break up with me."
"Oh, thank God," Fujitaka let out a sigh of relief, then suddenly he looked at Sakura suspiciously, "If nothing's wrong, why are you here?"
Sakura laughed nervously, "Well, why not? Can't a good loving daughter come to visit her father?"
"Barely two weeks before her wedding, during which her father is going to come visit her anyway? I don't think so!" Fujitaka's arms were folded across his chest, and he had a stern expression on his face.
"Leave her alone, Dad," Touya came to Sakura's rescue and handed her the glass of water which she emptied with one gulp, "She's just tired from the entire wedding planner stuff and wants to take a break. What's so wrong with that?"
Fujitaka's narrowed eyes shifted to his son, then to her daughter, and back to his son, "If you say so, but if you're in trouble, Sakura, I want you to tell me, all right? You shouldn't handle your problems alone. Go have some dinner, I already ate out with a few of my colleagues. I'll just go to my study to get some work done."
Sakura gazed at her father's figure as he walked off to her room that had been transformed into a study when she moved away.
"I need some fresh air," she barely said to Touya before putting on a jacket and walking out of the house and into the streets of Tomoeda.
Okay, so maybe seducing Sakura into thinking she still loved him wasn't a good idea. Syaoran wasn't ready to give up. That evening, Touya had called Eriol to say that Sakura was staying in Tomoeda for a while "to be free from all the wedding business and get some rest". Eriol seemed to believe Touya, even after Syaoran had told him all about his past relationship with Sakura. Eriol didn't react like Syaoran thought he would. Well, actually, if Eriol acted like he thought he would, Syaoran wouldn't be alive and pondering about stuff here in his hotel room.
In fact, Eriol reacted quite calmly and understood the situation. He had even nodded in agreement when Syaoran told him that Sakura was probably more angry at Syaoran because of how he treated her than upset at his being best man at the wedding. After all, Syaoran had said, Sakura did love Eriol now, and that was all that mattered, wasn't it?
Instead of grinning and slapping Syaoran on the back, saying "No problem, man, I don't mind if you and my fiancé had something going on back then", however, Eriol had stood up and walked out of the room and minutes later, Syaoran could smell cigarettes coming from outside.
Eriol wasn't as calm as he was letting on, that was for sure, but he was still in some kind of transition period at the moment. He hadn't forgiven Syaoran or Sakura yet, but he wasn't homicidal, so that was a good thing.
"Room service," a male voice came from outside and Syaoran stood up to tell whoever it was that he didn't order any room service. But when the door opened and it was not room service, but actually Eriol carrying two big paper bags with unknown content, Syaoran was at a loss for words. Was Eriol appearing in his hotel room a good thing or not? Were there guns in those bags, ready for shoot Syaoran into oblivion for messing up Sakura's mind?
"Are you really that shocked to see me? You look like you're about to die from a heart attack." Eriol grinned at Syaoran easily.
"Eriol, you… you aren't upset or anything?" Syaoran gaped at Eriol who was trying very hard not to laugh.
"Well, I am, but that doesn't mean I can't stay with my best friend," Eriol put his paper bags on the desk and walked towards Syaoran. He clasped one hand on his shoulder in a friendly manner and smiled, "Syaoran, even if Sakura didn't love me and wanted to be with you forever, I won't hate you for it, all right? You're my friend, and our friendship is more important to me than anything. And I'm glad that you were honest. That you didn't try to keep it from me. That was the most important thing, and I thank you for it." Eriol smiled and took something out from one of the paper bags, "I know you're probably feeling as bad as I am, so who's up for some ice cream?"
Syaoran, who had been staring at Eriol with a blank expression on his face for the last few minutes, now blinked and looked at the innocent tub of chocolate ice cream in Eriol's hand, "Eriol, you DO know that ice cream is for girls, right?"
"So what? Who cares!? And besides, it's chocolate!"
At that, the two very mature men laughed and knew, that even with all these things happening, they were going to be friends for a very very long time. The End.
Aaaaaand that's it! Okay, duh, I'm kidding. It's just the end of the chapter. Another horrible chapter where everyone is OOC and nothing really happens, but then, hope you guys liked it!
Shout out to all the nice people who have been reviewing and reading the story till now! Thanks for sticking with us even with the super long hiatus:D
We promise better and more updates from now on, but then again, we can't improve without getting some reviews and constructive criticism from you guys so keep them coming! hugs
Rikka K