Ihaine07: Syaoran is the best :) and yes, keeping a secret like this one is hard... really hard

Chapter Thirty-six

Meiling's arrival

The two entered the bus station and Chiharu stared at the huge screen where all the information was displayed.

"Tomoeda's bus has already arrived. She should be here, somewhere. I told her to meet me by the entrance gates," she murmured, looking around.

Syaoran started looking for her as well. Being taller, it didn't take him long to find Meiling's unmistakable black pigtails in the distance.

"She's coming that way," he said, pointing to the left.

Chiharu followed his hand and saw her friend walking through the crowd. She smiled and ran to meet her. The two of them embraced so tightly that Meiling's suitcase fell to the ground.

Syaoran approached them at a slow pace. Both girls broke apart, smiling happily. Meiling saw Syaoran behind them and raised an eyebrow.

"You came too?" she asked, quizzical.

"Yes, I need to talk to you," he replied seriously.

She shrugged.

"Okay, let's go. I'm tired from the trip and I'm looking forward to getting to your flat," she replied, bending down to pick up her suitcase.

The three of them left the building and walked back to the bus stop, waiting for the bus they needed to get to the centre of Tokyo. After getting on, they sat back down at the end. Syaoran was at one side of Meiling and Chiharu at the other, holding the suitcase between her legs.

"What's going on?" Meiling asked, looking sideways at Syaoran.

He let out a long sigh before speaking.

"I have a girlfriend."

She rolled her eyes, wrinkling her nose.

"I haven't given a damn about your love life for a long time, Syaoran," she said, sneering at him.

"Really? Then you don't care who she is, do you?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

Meiling snorted, shaking her head.

"I couldn't care less."

Chiharu and Syaoran exchanged a knowing glance.

"Great. Then I hope you don't say a single bad word to Sakura," he added, watching for her reaction.

"And what does Sakura have to do with your new girlfriend?" Meiling questioned, frowning.

"She's my girlfriend."

Meiling was quiet for a few seconds, taking in his words.

"What?"

Chiharu grabbed her arm.

"Don't shout, Mei," she asked quietly.

Many of the people on the bus were glancing towards them with curious eyes. Meiling gave her friend a dirty look.

"You knew and you didn't tell me?" she asked angrily.

"They asked us not to say anything. It wasn't my secret to tell you, don't be like that."

She pursed her lips and clenched her fists, holding back her anger.

"You just said you didn't care, did you?" Syaoran asked in a mocking voice.

Meiling shot him a look of hatred.

"You... you're a liar, and she's even worse. How long have you two been together? You've made it official now, but I'm sure you were laughing at me and all the rest of us who believed your lies about being just friends in high school, too," she muttered under her breath.

Syaoran rolled his eyes and put a hand to his forehead, sighing wearily.

"We've been together since February. Nothing happened between us before that, believe it or not."

She grabbed his shirt, pulling his face close to hers.

"I don't believe a word that comes out of your mouth."

Syaoran jerked away and she let him go.

"Don't touch me, Meiling. And don't you dare say anything to Sakura or you'll have to deal with me."

Meiling giggled.

"Are you threatening me?"

"She's the most important thing to me and I'm not going to let you annoy her."

"You fucking liar," she grunted angrily.

"He's not lying, Meiling... what he's saying is true."

She turned to look at her friend.

"Do you believe them? Are you really that delusional?" she asked, incredulous.

"Of course I believe them, and so should you," Chiharu replied, nodding.

Meiling clicked her tongue, but didn't answer. She gave Syaoran a sidelong glare and he rolled his eyes again.

"You shouldn't care. You don't have feelings for me anymore, and you should be glad we're happy together."

She gripped the hem of her skirt with her fingers.

"I'll always have feelings for you," she whispered softly.

"What?" asked Syaoran, who hadn't heard her over the noise of the bus engine.

"Nothing. I'll try not to care," she grunted in reply, snorting.

"I hope so," he replied, standing up.

He touched the stop button and looked at Chiharu.

"I'm going to go change and drop my college stuff off at home, I'll see you in a bit."

She nodded with a smile.

"Okay, we'll wait for the three of you for dinner."

Syaoran smiled back at her and got off the bus, which had already stopped.

"Are you alright?" Chiharu asked, looking at Meiling with concern.

She softened her expression, nodding.

"It was a surprise, but I'm fine."

"Please... don't argue with Sakura about this."

Meiling glanced out the window out of the corner of her eye.

"I won't, don't worry. I want to have a fun weekend with all of you."

Sakura opened the door to her flat and felt a shudder as she met Meiling and Chiharu. She swallowed and stepped aside to let them in.

"Hi, Meiling. How are you?"

She stared at her with a serious expression.

"I know about you and Syaoran, you can relax."

Sakura opened her eyes wide in surprise.

"Who told you?"

"He did."

Sakura glanced at Chiharu with a confused expression.

"He went with me to pick her up to talk to her," Chiharu explained, looking at Meiling out of the corner of her eye.

She picked up her friend's suitcase and carried it to her room. Meiling moved closer to Sakura, taking advantage of the fact that they were alone for a moment.

"I'll just tell you one thing... enjoy it while you can. Syaoran won't take long to leave you like he did with me and the others."

"He's not going to leave me," Sakura replied, scowling.

Meiling chuckled.

"You'll see."

"Is that a threat?" Sakura asked, crossing her arms.

"Threat? No, I'm not going to do anything. You two are going to destroy this stupid relationship of yours all by yourselves."

"You're wrong," Sakura growled in annoyance.

She turned her back on her and walked into her room, slamming the door shut. Meiling watched where she had gone and clicked her tongue in contempt and her lips curved into a wicked grin.

"If he's not mine, I won't let him be yours either," she muttered under her breath.

Chiharu stepped back out into the hall.

"I've made up your bed. Do you want to rest until dinnertime?"

Meiling changed her face, giving her friend a big smile.

"Yes, thank you. Wake me up when everyone is here."

After dinner, Syaoran insisted that Sakura had to return with the three of them to his flat and sleep there with him, but she refused. Meiling was watching them argue with an amused smile.

"All right. If you don't want to come, I'll stay here with you," he said, snorting loudly.

"Why? I can be alone with Meiling, don't worry," she replied in a whisper, trying not to let the others hear.

"Can't I sleep over here?" Syaoran asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Of course you can."

"Then that's it. I'm staying."

He turned around to look at his two friends.

"I'll stay, see you tomorrow."

They both nodded. Eriol took one last look at Meiling and headed towards the lift, followed by Takashi.

"Are the lovebirds going to sleep together?" Meiling asked in a mocking voice.

"Exactly," Syaoran replied, glaring at her as he grabbed Sakura by the waist and walked with her to her room.

When the door closed, Meiling looked at Tomoyo, who was sitting next to her on the couch.

"I find it rather odd that Sakura's parents would allow this," she commented quietly.

Tomoyo sighed.

"They don't know yet," she replied, grimacing.

Meiling raised both eyebrows.

"Really? Well, they've been together for months now, they should tell them."

"And they will, as soon as Sakura finds a job to pay for her expenses," Tomoyo murmured, getting to her feet.

Chiharu was just coming out of the bathroom.

"I'm going to sleep too, girls. Good night," said Tomoyo with a smile.

Inside Sakura's room, she was by the wardrobe pulling out her pyjamas and Syaoran had plopped down on the bed face down, hugging the pillow. He glanced up and saw her standing there, blushing slightly and starting to take off the shirt she was wearing to change her clothes.

A mischievous smile curved his lips and he got up quietly, trying not to make a sound. Her back was almost turned and she didn't notice. As she stood in her bra and reached for her pyjama top, two arms wrapped around her waist.

"Don't put it on," she heard in her ear.

His breath sent a shiver down her spine and all her skin prickled as his hands began to run down her back gently.

"Why... why not?" she asked in a whisper.

"Because I like seeing you with your clothes off."

Sakura turned around, meeting Syaoran's mischievous gaze. His grin widened as he saw how blushing she was.

He continued to run his fingers down her body, moving down her neck and shoulders. Syaooran lightly brushed her bra and continued down to her hip, holding her there with both hands as he moved closer to her lips.

They kissed slowly but with passion. Sakura could hear her heartbeat thudding in her ears. She brought her hands up to his neck and stroked his cheeks with her thumbs. He nibbled on her lower lip and broke the kiss, pulling away to look at her.

"You don't feel any discomfort now, do you?"

She looked down at the floor, embarrassed.

"No, I'm fine now. I'm not sore anymore."

"Thank heaven, because I can't wait any more. I've been dreaming of being with you all week," he admitted in a low voice.