Housekeeping!

Holy crap, I'm back... after.. uhm... 10 months or so... Gimme a break, I've been busy... Okay, okay, just let me be, I get it, I'm going to hell, etc. etc. Yeah, so here is installment #13. Not my best work, but I've got to get back into the swing of things... And I think my writing style may have changed a bit after an entire year of school. (I graduate in 5 days... class of '06, hollah!)... Meh. If I were a really gold star worthy person, I'd rewrite it all because looking back on this story, it kinda sucks... But w/e, I'll just try and make it better, and then maybe I'll think about rewrtiting it... I'm also thinking about starting a new story, as soon as a brilliant idea strikes me... Yes, good luck with that, I know... Anyway, enjoy, and please don't be toobrutal with the reviews, though Iknow I deserve it.(Please review, btw...) It's been a while, and thank you so much for continuing to read my story!

Luvs,

Da Mandolin!

Syaoran was leaning against the wall next to his bathroom door. He wanted more than anything to be away from the next to naked Sakura on the other side of the door, but Meiling had insisted that he wait in case she needed him.

"Hey Syaoran?" Meiling called from the bathroom.

Syaoran jumped, his thoughts had been… elsewhere. "Yeah?"

"Can you grab a shirt or something for her to wear? I'll run and get something from my room for her later, but I don't want you fishing through my drawers."

"What, afraid I'll find your giant-"

"Hey, I just had a great idea, why don't you shut up?"

Syaoran smiled slightly at that as he walked over to his dresser. He pulled open a drawer and stared. What should she wear? It would have to be comfortable, and soft… And he always liked how button ups looked on na…. Wait. He sighed. He didn't want that nasty wench in his nice clothes; he needed to find an older shirt. He was about to shut his drawer when Meiling called again from the bathroom.

"You mind hurrying up? I'm getting sick of holding her out of the water."

Syaoran grabbed a shirt off the top of the stack and headed into the bathroom. He hesitated before pushing the door open. "Is she…descent…?"

"Oh quit being such a prude… Jesus. Yes, she's still in her underwear, just hurry up."

Syaoran pushed though the door. Meiling was kneeling next to the tub supporting Sakura who was leaning against the tub, her eyes closed and her head lying back. She looked so helpless and sweet with her wet hair clinging to her face and…. Damnit. Syaoran needed to go out and find a girl. This was unacceptable, this, this… aw shit. He cleared his throat. "So… is she… uh… okay?"

Meiling raised her eyebrows. "I don't know; I'm not really an expert. I think she probably broke a couple of ribs, and she has a pretty deep cut from some metal or something on her left arm, but I really don't know. She also bruised the hell out of her entire left side. But other than that and a few cuts and scrapes, she should be okay. She might have a concussion, it looks like she hit her head pretty hard, but as long as I can wake her up within the next 10 minutes, I wouldn't worry too much about it."

"Okay… good… that means we can. Uh. Get her out of here. Faster…" Syaoran said as he set the shirt on the side of the bathtub.

"Don't act all indifferent about it, you're worried about her, don't pretend like you're not." Meiling eyed him suspiciously. "You like her, don't you. Don't even try and deny it. God, you really love picking just the right girls, don't you."

"Oh you can talk. You know, we have you to thank for Dave hating all us 'rich kids.' If you hadn't 'loved him soooo much' and then bolted, Sakura would be in her own damn bathtub right about now." Syaoran was already headed for the bathroom door.

"Oh, if I wasn't taking care of your little friend right now, I would so kick your ass. Speaking of ass, get yours back over here and help me get her up."

Syaoran paused. He wanted to leave. He was so mad; he would like nothing more than to go for a drive. But he wasn't mad at Meiling, he was mad at Dave. He would get his. Syaoran heaved another sigh and stomped back towards the bathtub, his hands buried deep in his pockets. "Alright, what do you want me to do?"

"Just lift her up and I'll try and dry her off…"

"I'm going to get all wet!"

"Quit your bitching, you're not going to melt. …Though you're such a witch I can see why you're worried…"

"Gah, I…" Syaoran didn't even know what he was going to say because the look in Meiling's eyes silenced him. "Fineeee" he groaned. He bent over and lifted Sakura as gently as he could out of the tub.

"Just sit her on the side of the tub and hold her up. I'll work on drying her off."

Syaoran sat on the tub and leaned Sakura against him, arm around her small waist so that she wouldn't slide off. Meiling was just finishing toweling off Sakura's hair when a cell phone went off. "Is that yours Syaoran?" He shook his head. "It's not me either… Shit! It must be Sakura's!"

"Who is it?"

Meiling fumbled the phone out of Sakura's jeans pocket that was lying on the floor. "It says house. That guy Charles said he would call me back. Shit, I should probably answer it. I'll be right back."

"What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, maybe you could start by putting a shirt on her. I know you like holding half naked girls, but she's unconscious… really Syaoran… I didn't know you were into that shit…" Meiling said, shutting the door as she walked out of the bathroom.

"Well… It looks like it's just you and me, baby." Syaoran said, looking down at Sakura. He sighed and lowered her to the floor. He grabbed the shirt and started wiggling it over her head. It was a dark blue button up. Damnit, it was his favorite shirt… Whyyyyyy? As he straightened the shirt out, he saw that it was already wet where her bra was. "Fuuuuuuuuck." Syaoran muttered. His hand hovered over her chest as he debated on whether or not he should remove it… I mean he wouldn't want her getting a cold just because he was afraid of taking off her bra… I mean, he wouldn't even have to look; he could take off a girl's bra in the dark… Hell, he could take it off in the dark with his teeth…. Shit. Why was he so nervous about it…?

Just then Sakura shifted. Syaoran's hands flew back as her eyes fluttered open. Confusion flitted across her face. "Where you just about to grope me?" she asked, not moving from his arms.

Syaoran managed a scoff. "You wish, whoo-ah." That was gansta for "whore"… fyi… uhm… yeah. Sakura snorted, attempting to push herself away from Syaoran who still had his arm around her waist. "Uhm, as much as I want your fat ass off of me, I wouldn't try moving just yet."

"Hey, fuck tard, if I wanted your opinion I would have asked for it…" Sakura said, moving slowly away from Syaoran. She eased herself slowly up, using the bathtub, wincing. Syaoran stayed holding loosely onto her.

"Hey, pervert, how 'bout you give me some space, eh?"

Syaoran shrugged and stepped away. Sakura almost fell from the abrupt movement and Syaoran stepped forward again to help her.

"Eh, no, away." Sakura steadied herself with her right arm, her left held awkwardly at her side. Sakura glanced around the bathroom. "Errr… where are we?"

"Uhm… Meiling's room…"

"Meiling's room?" Sakura said, with raised eyebrows. She was eyeing a collection of colognes and various other masculine products.

"Uh… Yeah…" Syaoran said, wanting to kick himself.

Sakura looked like she was about to say something when Meiling walked in.

"Oh thank God you're awake. We've got problem."

Sakura sat half leaning against the bathtub, wondering how in the hell she was going to manage to get out of this one. Meiling came further into the bathroom holding Sakura's phone.

"Sakura's father is out of the hospital and home." Meiling said, looking at Syaoran. She turned back to Sakura. "Charles called to say that your father has a press conference at 7 pm today that you are supposed to be attending…It's noon."

"What? What about her face, she can't go out like that!" Syaoran said from the other end of the bathtub.

"Oh, Syaoran, you're such a charmer. It's too bad you and Eriol are together, the ladies of Japan must be heartbroken…" Sakura said, glaring at him.

Syaoran stomped over to Sakura, grabbed her shoulder and turned her towards the large mirror that took up almost an entire wall of the bathroom.

"…Shit." Sakura said softly, lightly touching her face. There was a lump the size of a baseball on the right side of her forehead. Above it, high up along her hairline, there was a cut a couple of inches long that was still seeping a little blood. "I must have ducked away from the car when I saw it coming." She heard herself say. The voice didn't even sound like hers. Gah. Why was she being such a baby? Lately every little thing that happened was enough to make her cry. She cleared her throat, turning back to Syaoran and Meiling. They were staring at her like she was about to break. "Okay. So… I need clothes."

Meiling looked at her with wide eyes. "Yeah, sure. Let me just run to my room. I'll try and find something that will fit you, you're a bit smaller than I am." Meiling said, and turned, walking out of the room.

Sakura looked at Syaoran. "I need an excuse about where I was."

Syaoran let out a deep breath. "You almost died. I'm pretty sure your dad is going to notice that you damn near bashed your face in… Just a thought."

"You don't understand. He'll kill me if he finds out I was racing." Sakura wasn't exaggerating. Her father would shit a brick the size of a small skyscraper if he found out. He would yell and scream at her, and there was nothing worse to Sakura than having her father mad at her.

"Well… we don't really have much of a choice now, do we? Your car is up on a mountain completely smashed into a rock face, and you don't look much better. You look like you've been hit by a high speed train. What do you want to do, say you got mugged and someone stole your car?"

"If I wear long sleeves, style my hair in my face, and wear make up, he won't notice."

"Uhm, he'd have to be completely blind."

"It'll work. Trust me."

"What will?" Meiling asked as she hurried back into the bathroom, holding a bundle of clothes.

"Oh, Sakura is just going to cover this entire thing up. She'll use make up, and style her hair and nooooo one will notice, not her daddy, not the PRESS!…"

Sakura looked at the clothes, ignoring Syaoran's sarcasm. She looked up at Meiling, then at Syaoran. "So why did Meiling have to go to her room to get me clothes if we're standing in it?"

"Uhm… haha… She has more than one, see… it…"

"This is Syaoran's room. It's his house too. I'm just staying here for the summer."

Sakura glanced back at Meiling. "Hm. Interesting."

"Look now's not the time for this." Syaoran said. "Get your ass out of my shirt and then we'll talk about what we're going to do."

Sakura glared at him. She knew something was off about this entire night, and his reaction too. She looked closer at him. He looked familiar naggingly familiar. "You're up to something, you lieing, conniving, little..."

"Look, Sakura, I agree, but you really need to change so we can figure this out." Meiling said, walking forward and setting the pile of clothes next to Sakura on the bathtub.

Sakura started unbuttoning the shirt she was wearing. It smelled so good, like Syaoran did. It was… heavenly. "Are you planning on watching me change?" Sakura snapped, staring at Syaoran.

"Wha... What? Uhm… pffff, like I'd want to see that." Syaoran scoffed. He headed for the door. He did want to see that, but he wasn't going to admit it to anyone, not even himself.

Meiling was trying to help Sakura get dressed in the bathroom. "Damn, this is what I was afraid of. My clothes are huge on you. Way to make a girl feel fat." Meiling said, attempting to lighten the mood. She wasn't fat; she knew that. Sakura was too thin, if anything.

Sakura smiled. "I think it'll be alright."

"No, wait, I've got a dress that should work, it's my friend's that she left here. It's a sun dress, but I'll find you a coat or something." Meiling said, holding up a red silk sundress with spaghetti straps.

Sakura nodded and stepped into it, but she couldn't reach around and zip it. Meiling came to her rescue. "I hope you don't need stitches on your arm." Meiling said, motioning to the cut that was running the length of her forearm.

"I don't think I will, I usually heal pretty fast without them" Meiling gave her a look. "Oh, I mean I used to get into all sorts of little accidents when I was a kid. I'm a fast healer."

"Ah. Okay, well we'll bandage it when we're done. There." Meiling said, as the tied the white sash around her waist. "Now, I think if we blow dry your hair and poof your bangs a bit, we can cover that bump and cut. Poofy hair is coming back into vogue, you know. A little makeup should cover the bruising. Hm. Maybe we can go for some silver eye shadow and you'll look like an '80s rock star." Sakura just smiled. It hurt too much to laugh.

Meiling lead the way into Syaoran's bedroom with Sakura following a little slower behind her. Every breath she took made her feel like she was being stabbed. She had had broken ribs before, she knew how they felt. But, she had dealt before, she'd deal now.

Syaoran was sprawled on his bed. He glanced up when the bathroom door opened. His eyes hovered on Sakura. She looked gorgeous, if a little pale.

"It's not polite to stare." Sakura said, noticing Syaoran's gaze.

"I'm sorry, you're like a train wreck. I want to look away, but I can't."

"Why you little-- get your ass over here and I'll shove this-"

"Hey! Guys, we have a bigger problem than you two flirting." Meiling broke in.

"We are not!" Sakura and Syaoran said simultaneously.

"Whatever. So what's the plan?"

"Oh, you know, I was thinking I could just drop Sakura off. You know, 'Sorry, Mr. Kinomoto for keeping your daughter out all night. She was half naked in my bathtub, but it's okay, there was no hanky panky or anything. See, she almost died while street racing, and I was taking care of her."

Sakura frowned at him. "Sarcasm won't work. If one of you will just drop me by my house, I'll figure it out."

"What about your missing car?" Meiling asked.

"I'll say it was stolen, that's why I couldn't get home. I didn't want to call the police or bother my father because… Well, he won't care, he wouldn't want it interfering with his campaign for ambassador anyway." a/n: again, I'm making that ambassador stuff up, I just don't know, it sounded good at the time… There was a bitter note in Sakura's voice.

"He would have to be either really stupid or really oblivious to believe that." Syaoran said. Sakura strode forward, and took a deep breath to yell at him. Her deep breath was cut off abruptly. "What's wrong?" Syaoran said, standing up.

"Other than having to be in the same room as you, nothing." Sakura said, moving as minimally as possible.

"Oh bull. Meiling said she thought you broke some ribs, that'll be pretty tough to hide, won't it?"

"It. Will. Be. Fine." Sakura said through gritted teeth.

Syaoran would have pushed it more, but Sakura was looking pale and was leaning against the bed. "Fine. Get a jacket or something and I'll take you back to your house."

"Couldn't Meiling? You keep looking at me and it's creeping me out."

"No, I don't have my license. Riding with this kid has made me scared of cars." Meiling said, motioning towards Syaoran.

"Fine." Sakura said sighing. "Just don't try and put any moves on me on the way."

Syaoran was already headed out the door.

Syaoran pulled his black coupe in up in front of Sakura's huge mansion. He killed the expensive purr of the engine and Sakura unbuckled her seatbelt. Syaoran opened his door.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked. Syaoran didn't even pause. He slammed the door and walked around the hood before she could even think of anything to say. He opened her door and held out his hand to her. "I don't need your help." She said, ignoring his hand.

Syaoran shook his head. "When I was 15, I snuck out of my house and went riding. I cracked up my friend's motorcycle. I broke 3 ribs, so I know how it feels. You'll need the help."

Sakura looked at him and sighed. She took his hand.

They headed to the front doors. About halfway to the door, Syaoran took Sakura's arm again. "Look." Syaoran began before Sakura could protest. "It would look awfully bad if you fell over before you could even get your story out. Quit trying to be such a bad ass."

Sakura stopped, forcing Syaoran to stop with him. "Look. I don't mean to be such an ungrateful bitch. It's just that. Well, I can take care of myself." Syaoran snorted. "But I still appreciate all your help, and I haven't thanked you yet. So. Thank you."

Syaoran couldn't have been more surprised. This chick was bi polar or something. So sweet, but such a bad ass. He shrugged. "Don't worry about it." He said, pulling her towards the stairs to the front door.

Before Sakura could even open the door, it was wrenched open. There stood a short, obese man with graying hair and his arm in a sling. It was Fujitaka Kinomoto himself. He grabbed Sakura by her bad arm and pulled her inside, completely ignoring Syaoran.

Sakura gasped in pain. "Father! I'm so glad you're all right. I was so worried."

"Worried enough to go out racing the second I was shot, eh?" he yelled. Then he backhanded her. Syaoran stood in the doorway, utterly shocked. Sakura swayed but stayed standing. This only seemed to anger Fujitaka more. He slapped her again, and Sakura stumbled backwards. "You stupid. Slut. I regret. The day. I banged. Your whore. Of a mother." Sakura didn't make a sound. Each word was punctuated with a slap then a backhand. "I should—"

Whatever Fujitaka should have done, he would never know, because a hand grabbed the one he was slapping Sakura with. He whirled to find the owner of the hand.

"Stop. Hitting. Her. You. Jackass." Syaoran said through clenched teeth, He was so mad he was shaking and he was squeezing Fujitaka's arm.

"Oh look, one of Sakura's little street racer friends. Get out of my house you…. Filth." Fujitaka spat.

Syaoran abruptly let go of Fujitaka's arm and walked over to where Sakura had sunk to the floor. "Sakura, are you all right?" he asked, kneeling next to her. She looked at him, but her eyes were unfocused. As he watched, a tear trailed down her cheek. "Come on, you can come with me." He said, as he helped her up.

"I-I can't." Sakura stammered. "I'm sorry." She looked at her father. "I'm so sorry father, please forgive me."

"You're not sorry yet. But you will be. You, street rat. Get out of my house." Fujitaka said, stalking towards Syaoran.

"You're going to kill her." Syaoran said.

"Syaoran. Please leave. I-I'll be fine." Sakura said. She pushed him towards the door, stepping away from him.

Syaoran had no intention of leaving.

"Syaoran please, you'll only make it worse." Sakura said, shutting the door behind him. Syaoran stood on the steps, debating on what to do. As he stood there, a man in a butler uniform walked up to him.

"She'll be fine, Mr. Li. We will take care of her, as we have many times before."

Syaoran looked at him.

"Please, Mr. Li, it's for the best."

Syaoran nodded. He walked to his car and as he shut the door, he heard Sakura scream. Then silence.

As he drove off, he made an oath. This was far from over and Fujitaka Kinomoto would get exactly what he deserved.

Okay, so I want you guys to know I spent a lot of time on that chapter, and I am extremely NOT happy with it. But I really wanted to update, so I'm posting this, in the hopes that the next one will be better. Bearbare?with me. And btw, if ANYONE (though I'd prefer someone that's good at it) wants to edit my stuff/ critique it before I post it and make an ass out of myself, please let me know. I will love you in a strickly "never going to actually meet you, so don't get any wierd ideas" sort of way...Anywho. Yeah. Again, sorry, thanks, and please bare with me.

Oh yes, and about the abuse part: I was debating on whether or not to leave that in. I'd hinted at it throughout the story, but I decided to write it in because Syaoran now knows about it... etc... yeah. And if I'm not careful, I'm going to make my a/n longer than this chapter, so i'm out for now...

Note: After re-reading my story/ reading all my reviews, I've decided that I want to go out street racing. Er... Yeah. FYI, I do not street race, nor do I even have a car that is capable of speeds in excess of 100 mph. I just love cars with a passion. (not that I know a whole lot of the mechanics of them or anything) So just so you know, I'm pulling about 80 of that racing shit out of my ass... And the stuff I have done, you don't need to know about because it's illegal and the walls have ears... Oh yes, and it'salso extremely unsafe and stupid. So, point in case, DON'T GO STREET RACING, OR DRIVING FAST, OR REPEATING ANYTHING I SAY, BECAUSE I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! (and I may or may not have just gotten 6 points off my license for er... accidentlly... doing a... minor... peel out of a parking lot..) YOU'VE BEEN WARNED! AND IF YOU DO ANYTHING STUPID, DON'T BLAME ME!... peace... Oh yeah, and BUCKLE UP FOR SAFETY MUTHAH FCKAH!