Chapter Twenty-four

Confessions

Yelan stared at her son with a puzzled expression.

"Something you have to tell me? Both of you?"

Syaoran nodded and Sakura looked down, totally embarrassed.

"We have fallen in love," he said, holding Sakura's hand.

Yelan opened her eyes wide. It had been a long time since she was so surprised. She remained silent for a few seconds, observing them, and smiled when she saw that Sakura was not able to look at her face.

"Are you two sure?"

Syaoran nodded again, Sakura too but avoiding her gaze.

"Well, I think that's great. There's no better girl for you, son."

Sakura looked up.

"You are not angry with us?" she asked Yelan.

"Why would I be angry?"

"I... feel that I have betrayed your trust," she answered, looking down again.

"Don't think that way. I've always liked you for Syaoran, but I didn't say anything because you both were very sure that you just wanted to be friends."

The girl glanced at Yelan again, astonished by her words, and she looked at her son.

"When did it happen?" she asked curiously.

Syaoran twisted his face as he remembered the bad month that had passed.

"Those weeks we were apart... it was because I had realised I was in love with her," he admitted, sighing.

"And, the day Sakura came to see you, she told you that she felt the same way, right?"

Syaoran nodded and Sakura blushed.

"Nothing happened that night, really," she said in a trembling voice.

Syaoran and Yelan laughed.

"I know, Sakura. But both of you will understand that, from now on, I can't let you sleep together again."

They both nodded.

"When Sakura stays, she will sleep on the sofa bed and I won't stay with her, mom. I promise."

Yelan smiled.

"Okay, I trust you. And, when something else happens between the two of you, I hope you will take precautions."

Sakura covered her face with her hands, dead of shame.

"Nothing is going to happen for now. We want to take things slow," Syaoran replied. He seemed to be unfazed by his mother's comments.

Yelan got up from the table and walked to where Sakura was, hugging her. She was very surprised, but reciprocated her hug.

"I'm so happy for both of you," Yelan whispered in her ear.

Sakura smiled.

"Thank you."

Yelan was about to leave the room when Syaoran stopped her.

"Mom! Sakura's parents don't know anything. Don't tell them when you talk to them... please. They won't take it as well as you do."

Yelan rolled her eyes.

"You're right... it's okay, I'll keep your secret until you decide to tell them," she said, leaving the room and going upstairs.

Syaoran approached Sakura and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her on the cheek.

"Did you see? It wasn't so terrible, was it?"

She looked at him with a frown.

"I almost died of embarrassment."

She heard Syaoran's laughter next to her ear.

"Consider yourself lucky you don't have to tell my father," he said softly.

Sakura broke away from the hug and looked at Syaoran, a little pale.

"Why do you say that?" she asked, a little scared.

He laughed again and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"I'm joking! My father will take it well too. I've told him a lot about you these years, and he likes you."

Sakura growled, hitting Syaoran in the chest with her fist.

"Stop trying to scare me! We have enough to deal with what my parents will say when they find out."

Syaoran sighed.

"That's true..." he muttered under his breath.

The two of them cleared the table and then they spent the afternoon in Syaoran's room, studying... though, from time to time, he would get closer and steal a kiss or two from her.

When it was almost dinner time, Syaoran drove her to Tomoeda on his motorcycle so she wouldn't have to wait for the bus.

They said goodbye a few streets away from Sakura's house, fearing that her parents could see them and discover what was going on.

Some months passed, everything was going according to plan and nobody in their school suspected that Sakura and Syaoran were dating.

Thus, the first of April arrived, Sakura's birthday. As they had promised, the two decided to celebrate it together at her house.

They invited all their friends and spent the evening setting up a table with food and drinks in the small garden of the yellow house, waiting for everyone to arrive.

Shortly before six o'clock, the time they had arranged to meet their friends, Sakura's parents left, informing that they would be back in two hours and asking them not to make too much noise so as not to disturb the neighbours.

Touya also stayed at home. He was already sixteen years old, Sakura got along quite well with him and Touya knew all her friends. He had a very good relationship with Syaoran, although Sakura suspected that was going to change when he knew the truth.

Eriol and Tomoyo arrived holding hands, as did Chiharu and Takashi. Naoko was the last to arrive, Meiling had not been invited because Sakura did not consider her a friend, even though they got along well in class and when they were all together.

They all ate and the two friends blew out the eighteen candles of the cake at the same time. Syaoran took the opportunity to stick his finger in the cake and fill Sakura's nose with cream, causing the others to laugh.

After chasing him around the garden to take revenge, Sakura cut the cake and left the piece where cream was missing for the fool of her best friend who was the one who had spoiled it.

She pursed her lips at the sight of Tomoyo and Eriol being affectionate with each other, they even kissed once. She wanted to do things like that too, but she only could do that on the sly and she hated it.

When they finished eating, Sakura went inside the house to leave the dishes in the kitchen and Syaoran accompanied her to help her. When she left everything by the sink, she felt his arms around her waist.

"They're going to see us," she whispered, even though the others were all outside laughing and chatting.

"I don't care. I want to give you your birthday kiss," he replied, making her turn around so he could look into her green eyes.

Sakura knew that she was blushing. Despite having been together for about two months, she was still nervous when they were together.

"Okay, but just a quick kiss," she accepted with a smile.

Syaoran smiled too and hugged her tighter, slowly moving closer until they brushed their lips. They kissed for a few seconds with too much passion, Sakura had to make an effort to separate from him because she didn't want to do it.

"That wasn't quick," she protested in a low voice, her breathing quite irregular.

Syaoran gave her a mischievous grin, leaning his forehead on hers.

"You know I love you," he said softly.

"Yes, and you know I do, too. Thank you for helping me with everything today," she whispered with a smile on her lips.

Syaoran nodded and, when they pulled apart to leave the kitchen, they both froze. Touya was staring at them wide-eyed from the top steps of the stairs.

"What are you doing?" he asked, descending the remaining steps.

Sakura was pale and she didn't know what to say.

"We are not doing anything," Syaoran answered with a serious gesture.

"Oh, no? Kissing my sister is nothing?" Touya asked, raising his voice.

Sakura ran towards him and Touya reacted by running too, towards the bathroom. He entered and tried to close the door, but she prevented it with her foot. Sakura pushed until she managed to open it a little, and they both went into the bathroom with Touya.

Syaoran closed the door and turned to face him.

"You two kissed! When I tell daddy he's going to kill Syaoran," Touya said. He was with his arms crossed over his chest, leaning on a corner and breathing very fast.

"You can't say anything, even our friends don't know," Sakura muttered in a low voice.

"Of course I'll tell them, you liars!" Touya shouted angrily.

Sakura approached him, covering his mouth with one hand so that he wouldn't shout again.

"You have to keep our secret, Touya. Mom and Dad can't know, or they won't let me be with Syaoran."

Touya growled, glaring at Syaoran with angry eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, what you saw is not just a kiss. I'm in love with your sister and I really love her," he said, frowning.

"What Syaoran says is true. We love each other very much, and we haven't said anything because you know that they would make everything more difficult for us," Sakura added, referring to her parents.

Touya pulled his sister's hand away to speak.

"You could have told me at least."

"I thought you weren't going to take it well either... and look how you reacted," she replied, sighing.

"How do you want me to react if I find you snogging him? That's the last thing I expected to see today."

Sakura sighed again and got closer to Syaoran, taking his hand in hers.

"I'm sorry, we should have told you. Will you keep it a secret? For us?" she asked, looking at her brother with pleading eyes.

Touya snorted.

"Okay, but only because our parents are crazy and I know they would make your life miserable if they found out."

Sakura smiled.

"Thank you, Touya," said Syaoran.

Sakura's brother approached him with a bad face. The two boys were practically the same height, and they were a head taller than Sakura.

"If you hurt her, I will hunt you down and kill you," he warned in a deep voice.

Syaoran grimaced.

"I would expect nothing less from you," he replied with a half smile.

Touya smiled back.

"I like you, Syaoran, but I'll be watching you from now on."

He opened the bathroom door and the two of them stepped aside to let Touya out. Sakura sighed in relief.

"You can't kiss me again in this house, or anywhere near here. We can't risk it again," she told Syaoran as the two of them walked back out into the garden.

He nodded, not saying a word.