Warnings: Not much really for this chapter. Some swearing. Ummm…this story will contain shonen ai (m/m) content. If that offends you, then don't read.

A/N: I'm really sorry for not updating in so long, things have been kinda hectic lately. Thanks to everyone that's reviewed. More notes at end of story.

Chapter 4

Last Chapter…

Five minutes later Eriol pulled into the parking lot of Syaoran's apartment complex. He parked the car and got out, entered the building and walked up the stairs to Syaoran's apartment. Taking a deep breath Eriol rang the doorbell. The door opened and Syaoran stood in the doorway.

(A/N: Short recap from last chapter. Now on to the story!)

"Umm… C'mon in," Syaoran said nervously, turning away from the door and going back inside.

Eriol slowly followed Syaoran inside, pausing to take off his shoes. Reaching the doorway to the living room, Eriol stood nervously glancing around. "N-nice place."

"Hmm… oh, thanks," Syaoran said absently. "Uhh… you can sit down. Anywhere's fine," he added when Eriol hesitated. "Would you like something to drink?" Syaoran asked after Eriol had sat down on the couch.

"Water onegai," Eriol said softly.

"Okay, I'll go… umm… get that for you," Syaoran said, and disappeared into the kitchen. 'Get a hold of yourself Li!" Syaoran told himself angrily as he got a glass of water for Eriol and then one for himself. 'Stop acting like you're on you're first date together. He's here to talk! You're going to apologize, he's probably going to tell you to fuck off, and you'll both go off on you're own merry little way.' /Hey! You shouldn't be so pessimistic! / the annoying voice in his head said. 'You again?' Syaoran grumbled, mentally glaring at the little voice. /Yup! I'm baaaaacccccckkkkk! Ahem… anyways, back to what I was saying. You never know, Eriol might accept your apology and the two of you might become friends, and maybe more one day, / the voice said. Syaoran snorted. 'Yeah right, like that would ever happen. He probably hates me and I don't blame him. I mean, I've been a complete bastard to him. He has every right to hate me,' Syaoran thought glumly. The little voice sighed but said nothing more. Syaoran shook his head and walked back into the living room. Eriol was looking down at his hands, which were folded in his lap when Syaoran walked in. "Here's your water," Syaoran said, breaking Eriol out of his thoughts.

Eriol just stared at his hands as he waited for Syaoran to come back. 'It's taking him a long time to get a glass of water. He's probably stalling so he doesn't have to talk to me. Maybe I should leave. Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'll just go tell Syaoran and I'll go home, that way I won't waste anymore of Syaoran's time.' Eriol was so lost in thought that he didn't hear Syaoran walk in. "Here's your water." Eriol blinked and looked up at Syaoran, startled. "Oh… arigato Li-san," Eriol murmured, taking the glass from Syaoran.

"Douitashimashite," Syaoran replied, sitting in a chair across from Eriol. Syaoran took a drink of water and a deep breath before breaking the short silence that had fallen. "G-Gomen nasai, Hiiragizawa-san. I shouldn't have treated you the way I did; it was uncalled for. I wish I could tell you why I acted the way I did, but I can't because I don't know myself. I really am sorry though, but I don't expect you to forgive me. You probably hate me, not that I blame you. I was a bastard. If I were you I'd hate me too."

Eriol interrupted Syaoran before he could say more. "I don't hate you Syaoran, I could never hate you. I was hurt by what you said to me, upset and angry with you, but I've never hated you. All I've ever wanted was to be your friend Syaoran, but you were so mean to me. Why?" Eriol trailed off as he started to cry.

Syaoran looked at Eriol. 'He called me Syaoran and he doesn't hate me,' was all he could think. /Yeah that's nice. In case you haven't noticed, he's crying! / the little voice pointed out. 'I know, what should I do?' /Grrr… you're so dense! Go comfort him baka! / Syaoran sighed and walked over to the couch Eriol was sitting on. He sat down next to him, and tentatively put an arm around the sobbing teen. Eriol leaned into the half embrace and buried his face in Syaoran's chest as he cried. Syaoran awkwardly held Eriol until he stopped crying. "I'm really sorry about how I treated you Eriol," Syaoran said when Eriol had stopped crying and pulled away. "Do you think I could have another chance? We could be friends this time."

Eriol sniffled and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "I-I think I can give you another chance," he said uncertainly, afraid that it was all a ploy to hurt him again. "I'd like to be friends."

Syaoran smiled and stuck out his hand. Eriol tentatively put his slender hand into Syaoran's larger one. "Friends?" Syaoran asked.

"Friends," Eriol replied. "Can I call you Syaoran now?"

Syaoran stared at Eriol for a minute before smiling. "If I can call you Eriol," he replied.

Eriol nodded, "It's a deal."

They sat in silence for a moment before Eriol sniffled again. Syaoran got up and disappeared into one of the other rooms. He came back a few moments later with a couple of tissues.

Eriol took the tissues with a murmured thank you and then proceeded to dry his eyes and blow his nose. "Umm… where's the garbage can?"

"It's in the kitchen," Syaoran replied, "right by the doorway."

Eriol stood up and walked into the kitchen, threw away his tissues and went back to the living room, sitting down next to Syaoran. "So. What now?"

"Well, I can give you the grand tour of my apartment if you want." At Eriol's nod Syaoran stood and motioned for Eriol to do the same. When Eriol had stood up Syaoran said "Well this, as you can see, is the living room, and of course over there," Syaoran said, motioning to the doorway off to the right of him, "is the kitchen. Now, if you'll follow me, I'll show you the rest of my humble abode."

"You're starting to scare me," Eriol murmured cautiously, he was still afraid that Syaoran would start making jibes at him again.

"Am I? Sorry. I think jet lag, the time change, and lack of sleep are getting to me. Well anyways, in here," Syaoran said, opening one of the doors in the back of the room, "is the bathroom. And in here," he opened the other door, "is the disaster area known as my bedroom. And I really need to clean it. Well, that concludes the grand tour of my home," Syaoran finished as they sat back down on the couch.

They for a little bit longer before Eriol glanced at his watch. "I should go. I told Sakura I'd stop by," he explained and stood up, stretching slightly.

"Okay, well then I guess I'll see you later," Syaoran said as they walked to the door.

"Yeah, probably tomorrow. Sakura'll probably call to see if you want to come over. If she doesn't, you can still come over anyway. Me and Tomoyo do it all the time, so she shouldn't mind," Eriol replied as he put his shoes back on. "Ja ne Syaoran."

"Ja Eriol," Syaoran replied, watching Eriol walk down the stairs until he was out of sight. Syaoran closed the door and went back into the living room, collapsing on the couch with a sigh. 'He doesn't hate me! And he's actually willing to give me a second chance! And he wants to be friends with me! This is great!' /See, / the annoying voice said. /I was right. He does like you. / 'Yeah, yeah,' Syaoran grumbled, 'You were right.' Syaoran groaned and tried to tune out the annoying little voice as it began to gloat. It was going to be a long night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

'He apologized and he wants to be my friend! I'm so happy I could cry, but I won't seeing as I've been crying way too much lately,' Eriol thought happily as he walked to his car. 'Maybe there is a chance we can become more than friends.' Eriol got in his car, started it up and drove off to Sakura's house. It was a short drive and soon he was pulling into Sakura's driveway. He got out of the car, walked to the door and rang the doorbell. A few minutes later Yukito opened the door.

"Eriol! Hi! Come in. Sakura's in the living room," Yukito said with a smile as he let Eriol inside.

"Hello Yukito," Eriol said, entering the house. "How are you?"

"Fine thanks, how are you?" Yukito replied as he closed the door behind Eriol and headed to the living room, Eriol following him.

"I'm okay. Better than I have been," Eriol answered with a small smile.

"That's good," Yuki said. He was about to say more but they had reached the living room and Sakura spotted Eriol.

"Eriol! Are you okay? Did he hurt you? If he did I swear I'll kill him!" Sakura exclaimed as soon as she saw Eriol.

Eriol laughed, "Calm down Sakura. I'm fine. No he didn't hurt me, so you don't have to kill him."

"Good," Sakura said, "well, c'mon let's go upstairs." With that Sakura grabbed Eriol's hand and proceeded to drag him up to her room.

Toya blinked at Yuki. "What just happened here?"

"I have no idea," Yuki said, shaking his head.

They looked at each other before going back to work.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"All right! Tell me everything that happened," Sakura demanded as soon as they reached her room.

"Okay, okay! Just calm down and I will," Eriol said as he sat down on the bed. After Sakura sat down across from him, Eriol told her everything that had happened.

Sakura listened without interrupting Eriol, watching the emotions and expressions that flickered across his face. When Eriol was finished Sakura hugged her friend tightly. "Good! Now you guys are friends. And who knows, maybe he'll ask you out!"

Eriol blushed and ducked his head. "That'd be nice. But for now I'm happy being friends."

"As long as your happy," Sakura said with a smile. "But don't be afraid to take your relationship to the next step!"

"I'll keep that in mind, O Wise One," Eriol teased her, grinning slightly.

Sakura stuck her tongue out at her friend. "You know, I should start charging you if I'm going to keep playing therapist. Hmm… yes, that's a good idea."

"No!" Eriol exclaimed, horrified. "You can't charge me! I'm your friend!"

Sakura sighed. "Fine. You just have to go and ruin all my fun don't you?" she pouted.

They laughed and talked for a couple more hours before falling asleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next day found Sakura, Eriol, Tomoyo, Yue, and Cerberus outside in the back yard. The three teens were sprawled out in their swimsuits on lawn chairs, working on their tans and watching Yue and Kero argue.

"Someone should stop them before they wind up destroying the house," Eriol pointed out.

"Good idea," Tomoyo agreed, "Eriol, go break them up."

"Me!? No way am I moving! I'm comfy! Sakura, go break them up, they are your guardians."

"Don't worry, they won't destroy anything."

"You're just saying that so you don't have to move," Eriol said.

Sakura stuck her tongue out at him and Tomoyo laughed. They lapsed into silence afterwards. Not long after, Yue and Kero stopped arguing and Yue sat in the shade of a tree and Kero stretched out in the sun for a nap. The silence was soon broken by the sound of the back door opening and someone entering the yard.

Syaoran looked at the scene before him with a small smile. His eyes drifted over to Eriol and stayed locked on him. 'My God he looks good!' Syaoran thought, his eyes trailing over Eriol's body.

"Syaoran!" Sakura exclaimed when she saw her friend, causing Syaoran to look up guiltily. Sakura got up and walked over to Syaoran, pulling him over to the other two teens.

"Hey Sakura, Tomoyo, Eriol," Syaoran said with a slight grin.

"Hi Syaoran," Tomoyo said, pushing herself up on her elbows.

"Hello Syaoran," Eriol said, weakly waving his hand in Syaoran's direction, "I'd get up but I'm too comfortable and too damn lazy to move."

Syaoran shook his with a grin. "I see, I'm just not important enough for you to move huh?"

When Eriol didn't reply Sakura said, "Tomoyo, wake him up."

Tomoyo looked over at Eriol and hit him. "Wake up Eriol or you'll burn."

Eriol yawned and looked at her sleepily before pushing himself up. "I've gotta get or I'm gonna fall asleep," he said as he walked over to stand with Sakura and Syaoran. With another yawn Eriol reached up and unbound his hair, rubbing the back of his head where his ponytail had been too tight.

Syaoran stared at Eriol, unable to take his eyes off of him.

Sakura caught Syaoran looking and grinned at Tomoyo who had joined them. "C'mon, let's go sit back down," Sakura said. "There's another lawn chair over there," she added, pointing to where a lawn chair leaned up against the house.

After Syaoran got his chair, they rearranged the chairs so that they were facing each other. Sakura sat next to Eriol and Tomoyo sat next to Syaoran, with Sakura and Tomoyo across from each other and Syaoran and Eriol across from each other. They spent the rest of the afternoon lying in the sun or inside the house talking and being lazy. It was night by the time everyone left with promises of getting together the next day.

Sakura flopped down on the couch and nestled into Yue's arms. Within moments she was asleep, worn out from the day.

Yue smiled and carried Sakura to her room.

"She asleep?" Toya asked when Yue reached the upstairs hallway.

"Yes," Yue replied. "I'm going to put her to bed."

Toya nodded and headed downstairs and Yue continued on to Sakura's room. Once in Sakura's room, Yue pulled back the covers on Sakura's bed and laid her down, tucking her in before he brushed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss goodnight, before heading to his own room and going to bed.

A/N: Okay! This chapter's finally done! I am so sorry I haven't updated in so long. Please don't hurt me! I promise to get the next chapter out sooner! Also, next chapter should have some Toya+Yuki stuff in it if everything goes as planned. Next chapter should be up next week at the earliest, hopefully no later than the week after next, but I can't make any promises! Well I hoped you liked this chapter. Please R+R! Once again, thanks to everyone that's reviewed so far.