"Love is more black and white than we like to tell ourselves. Don't allow anyone to keep you trapped in the "promise" of the gray area. The bottom line is: If they love you, truly love you, they'll do whatever it takes to be with you. There won't be excuses or doubts or fears or hesitation. Love is action. Everything else is just words." – Mandy Hale

Chapter 20

"Love is More than Words"

His dribbling skills were like no other. No one could go head to head with Syaoran. His speed and ability to dribble the ball between his feet confused the opponent players to the point they couldn't quite keep up with him. It was truly a spectacle to watch him play with such ferocity as he left behind one guy while passing the ball quickly between his left and right foot. He then kicked the ball forward leaving behind a second guy by increasing his speed to reach it before anyone else could touch it. Two defenders ran in front of him trying to prevent him from advancing anymore than what he had already achieved. He looked towards the side to watch his teammates had finally caught up with him as well. Immediately he kicked the ball to the right corner to open up the play.

Eriol caught the ball and ran inside to bring the ball closer to the net. He evaded one of the defenders but saw two more waiting for him and turned around to get the ball outside once more. First half of the game had been pretty intense. They were ahead two goals to one but it had been harder than usual to score against Japan. Being inspired by playing the semi-finals of the Cup against China, Japan had come fierier than ever. Eriol passed the ball back to one of the midfielders before looking at the clock once more. Right on time, the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of the first half. He started walking back to the locker room when he felt Syaoran pat his back.

"One more half." Syaoran said.

"At this pace, we'll need a lot more to hold them off." Eriol said.

"We just have to make sure to keep going. Stay focused." Syaoran said.

Xiun joined them trying to catch his breath as they walked together. "Well, they obviously did a good job scouting us. I can't seem to get inside at all."

"We'll talk about this inside." Syaoran said. "But we'll definitely have to change our game play for the second half. We're too close for comfort."

~ o ~

Sakura took a deep breath before getting up from her seat. This game had her nerves on overdrive leaving no doubt to anyone that the fact that these two teams had faced each other countless of times was not an obstacle to bring the audience a great intensive game. Being halftime, she walked towards the bar and poured herself a glass of water. It was early in the afternoon still and she needed something to refresh and calm her nerves before the second half of the game would start.

"This game has been very tight from both side, don't you think?"

She turned around to find Oliver smiling at her.

Following her gesture, he poured himself a glass of water as well and drank from it before refilling it. He looked at her once more and said, "I do hope there are no hard feelings between us. I've enjoyed our talks during these short periods I've known you."

She took a sip of her water before replying, "I can assure you there aren't any."

"Good." He smiled satisfied with her answer. "It'd be a shame to cut communications just because of one incident."

She stared at him. In all her career as Xian's assistant she had master the art of hiding her emotions but that didn't mean she couldn't voice her thoughts on the matter. One incident…? Denying her the development of a project she wanted so badly to do didn't count as just one incident for her. Then again, she had yet to see the day an owner didn't regret his decision of not working with her. "Forgive me for saying this but I'm not quite sure there's anything else we need to discuss. You picked another person for the job and as far as I'm aware of our talks consisted of only that."

He smiled at her. "By all means you're right. They only consisted on the project but we could still meet outside of the job and talk about other interests. That's, off course, if you allow me the pleasure of your company."

She drank from her glass. "Allow me to ask you a question."

"Go ahead." He smugly said before drinking once more from his cup.

"Is this the real reason why you didn't give me the project?"

He smiled at her once more. "It truly has been a great thing what you've done here."

Sakura raised a brow at his comment and said, "You've been praising my work since you got here and yet you decided to contract someone else for your project."

"Am I not allowed to do that?"

Sakura sternly stared at him and smiled to herself. When she first started working with Xian she had been known to be Xian's assistant, but to hide behind someone had never been her nature. With time she proved to everyone that in this business she was her own person. Things were done how she liked them to be. It was one of the reasons why her name grew pretty quickly in their line of work among business tycoons and what Oliver had just confessed to do was simply unacceptable to her. "Let me be perfectly clear with you Oliver. The answer I gave you on our last meeting was not a choice for you to decide. You've made a mistake choosing someone else to oversee your project. Unfortunately for you I've always been very decisive and your project is something I've already passed the page to. Therefore there's nothing else to discuss beyond the end of this tournament."

His smile slowly started to disappear after hearing her words. He cleared his throat before saying, "You shouldn't close new connections when you're able to make them. It's always good to leave the doors open."

"I merely passed the page. An open door depends on you though I do must warn you… I don't need to read a book twice. Enjoy the rest of the tournament." She said before turning around and walking away. She could still feel his piercing eyes looking at her back as she walked back towards her seat. The nerve of the man! To think he would decline her proposition after everything she had worked on it just for having a chance to date her. She tried to calm herself when she felt Feimei sit right next to her.

"Is that man bothering you?" she asked.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Nothing I haven't handled before."

Feimei chuckled. "Mother should be here any minute. She said father wanted to come watch the game from here."

Sakura looked at her. "Did the doctor release him already?"

Feimei nodded. "He can finally leave home though I'm not too sure mother likes it too much. Between us, I think she rather enjoyed a little too much having father at her mercy."

Sakura chuckled. "I think he hated it, if you ask me."

"Oh yeah… without a doubt!" Feimei agreed while joking a little about it. "I wanted to ask you for some pointers on Syaoran's little project, if you don't mind. I'm having a little difficulty with choosing the architecture for it."

Sakura looked at her. "Mmm… Syaoran has always liked the Brazilian soccer stadium. When we had coffee to discuss this he said it was one of the grandest stadiums he had ever played at. He described playing in there as an unforgettable experience and one he would definitely enjoy doing more than once in his soccer career."

Feimei nodded. "Then I will research this Brazilian stadium you speak off. Thanks!"

~ o ~

"Ahh!" he screamed as he fell in agony grabbing his ankle while going round and round through the ground till finally stopping. He heard a whistle being blown in the distance which signaled the referee calling the foul. Massaging his ankle he tried to put it on the ground once. Pain shot through his leg as he quickly leveled it up and tried massaging it a little again.

"Are you okay?" Eriol quickly came over and asked. Since he was the closest to him, he was the first one to reach him after watching him roll through the ground.

Syaoran grimaced as he slowly tried to put his foot down one more time. "Yeah." He was able to set his foot on the ground but he could still feel the pain.

Eriol watched his cousin's face with much concern on his eyes. Being the top scorer in most tournaments, Syaoran had been heavily guarded by three defenders every time he touched the ball. His ability to create plays also made him more prone to receive fouls by other teams. They were still winning two to one with only fifteen minutes left on the clock plus whatever the referee decided to add extra and both goals where orchestrated by Syaoran. In today's game he hadn't been able to score but assisted in one of them and started the play which led to their second goal.

Mark came running as well. "You okay?"

Syaoran heavily breathing said, "Give me a minute."

Instead of listening to Syaoran, Mark decided to call the medical team over. Eriol helped his cousin off the ground but the moment Syaoran tried to put weight on his leg he grimaced once more. He tried to walk a bit hoping the pain would go away only to find it still there pulsing through his ankle bandages with each step he gave. He limped a little but stopped after a few steps.

Kyu came walking along side the referee agitatedly protesting the call. "He won't get carded because of this ref? I mean it's a miracle we've all lasted so long with them fouling us this way, don't you think?" he sarcastically said.

"The referee of this game is me and I decide who gets carded Kyu." The referee answered as he walked towards Syaoran.

"Oh please ref! He's stalling the game. That's all he's doing! We both know this!" a player from Japan said walking at the other side of the ref.

"Mr. Liu, the same goes for you." The referee said ignoring the protest of both players before finally reaching Syaoran. He watched him limp his steps before asking, "Are you okay Mr. Li?"

"Do I look okay?" he asked narrowing his eyes.

"Syaoran!" Mark warned him. Having the referee against them was not something wise for them. So far the referee had allowed some calls to go by but he had done so for both teams. Knowing this game was an intensive one the referee let them play it out to avoid breaking the flow of the game.

"Oh please! What you're doing is stalling! We all know that!" the Japanese player kept protesting.

Pissed off by what the guy was saying, Syaoran quickly reacted to his complaint. "Screw you! The only thing you've done the entire game is play dirty!"

The Japanese player put his hand up in protest once more. "Oh! Stop whining already!"

"You should've been carded a long time ago! Why don't you start playing instead of hiding your bad game behind cheap shots…?" Syaoran replied.

"What did you say?" the player asked.

The moment the referee started to feel things going a little overboard he intervened. "Both of you calm down this instant if you don't want to get carded in this game."

Immediately after, a Japanese player grabbed his teammate to pull him out of the encounter. Eriol quickly stood in front of his cousin and tried to calm his mood. "Stop this man."

Syaoran looked at his cousin. "He started it!"

"Not now Syaoran!" Eriol said in a demanding tone. He watched as his cousin tried to walk again and limped a little before stopping.

The medical team reached them and started looking over ankle while Mark kept talking to the referee in regards to the Japanese player's attitude.

"We need you for the next game man. This is not time to lose your mind over some words." Eriol tried to make him see reason as calmly as possible. It wasn't an easy task but it was something he had been able to achieve before.

Syaoran looked at the medical staff as they sprayed his ankle with the "magic spray" to help numb the affected area so he could walk. Thankfully the pain started to subside in a couple of seconds after feeling the spray touching the affected area but as soon as he tried to walk once again he felt a little discomfort.

Kyu reached his friends and noticed the difficulty Syaoran was having trying to walk normal again. "Look man, you may not like what I'm about to say but perhaps it's better to ask coach for a substitution."

Syaoran quickly looked at Kyu. "You're kidding… right?"

Kyu defensively put his hands up and tried to explain. "Syaoran, we're up two to one. There's only a few minutes left on this game. We can fortify the defense instead."

"I agree with Kyu." Eriol added.

"You're both delusional. There's no way I'm agreeing to this. I just need a few minutes." Syaoran said.

The referee walked all the way towards them and said, "I'm afraid you must step out to the sidelines Mr. Li while the medical team helps you."

Not too pleased with what was happening, he nodded and limped his way to the sidelines. Eriol and Kyu walked at his side accompanying him to the sidelines. Since Mark started talking to the referee once again they still had a couple of seconds before the game would restart again.

"Kyu's idea is not a bad one Syaoran. We need you for the next game." Eriol said.

"A difference of one goal is not enough to secure a win Eriol. In fifteen minutes anything can happen especially with the way their playing." Syaoran said.

"Then I'm asking you to trust us. We practiced without you when you got hurt and played almost the entire first game without you."

"Don't remind me. If I remember correctly we almost lose that first game." Syaoran said.

"We just need to survive for fifteen minutes." Kyu insisted.

"Both of you…"

"I know what you're thinking Syaoran but we truly need you for the next game. There's only fifteen minutes left of this one and we both know they'll be gunning you for the rest of whatever's left of this game." Eriol watched as his cousin gave him a hard look before continuing. "Just for once listen… you're not worth much to us if you're playing hurt. We need you in the final."

"We're not in the final yet. Anything can happen in fifteen minutes." He tried to argue his way around it.

"Leave it to us." Kyu added. "We'll hold the marker."

Syaoran grunted. "If they tie the game I won't be able to participate in the penalty round. I didn't work this hard to stop here. I'll hold for the rest of the game."

"They won't tie the game. We'll make sure of it." Kyu confidently said. "Think of what's best for the team right now. We're winning. We don't need one more goal and less if it costs us having to play without you on the next game. Ask for a sub. We'll take care of the rest."

At the sound of the whistle, both Kyu and Eriol jogged back to their places. Currently they were playing with ten guys inside the field until Syaoran either recuperated or, as they had said, asked for a sub. He had reached the sidelines and sat on the ground while the medical team started undoing his laces. After taking his shoe off the physical therapist started touching his ankle. He moved it from side to side and luckily for him it didn't hurt. The therapist put some pressure on it and asked him if it hurt to which he gave his answer by shaking his head and saying no. He could see part of his ankle had swollen exactly where the Japanese guy had stepped on it with his spikes. The moment the therapist pushed a little on it he grimaced.

"It looks like just a wound, nothing serious but I'd suggest you ice it." The therapist said.

"Can I play with it?" Syaoran asked.

The therapist moved his gaze from his ankle to his face and sighed. Having witnessed the words his friends had given him before reaching the sidelines he wanted to tell him he agreed with them. Then again, giving Syaoran an answer that didn't exactly respond his question would probably anger him. "You can but you'll risk it. Like every wound it won't get better until you rest it and it can get worst if you don't take care of it."

Syaoran nodded before looking at the stadium clock. Only ten minutes left. Ten minutes that if he decided to play them would probably aggravate the situation. If he decided not to play them his team had to run with the risk of getting a tie and not have him for the penalty kicks.

"It's your call Syaoran." The therapist said.

Each passing second only put more pressure on his teammates since they were only playing with ten players inside the field till he decided what to do. He watched as Xiun ran towards the middle taking some defenders with him before he passed the ball to Kyu just like they had practiced before. The defenders on the other team read Kyu's play with ease and took the ball from him before he could reach the penalty box. He saw Eriol turning from the side and quickly running towards one of the players in a defensive stance. 'Then I'm asking you to trust us.' With his cousin's words in mind he looked at the therapist and made his call. "Ask coach for the sub."

Surprised by Syaoran's words, the therapist asked, "Are you sure?"

There was one thing that was for certain and it was that with ten players it would make it difficult for his teammates to keep the lead no matter if he went back into the game or not. With this in mind he quickly made his decision and decided to take heed to his cousin's words. He had to trust them. "Yes." Syaoran said without taking his eyes off the game.

The therapist nodded before making the signal.

~ o ~

As soon as the game was over, Sakura took care of the investors quickly and headed towards the hotel. Seeing Syaoran walking out of the game had worried her especially knowing how adamant he was about playing. His stubbornness usually convinced him to stay playing even if it meant playing injured. For him to had made the call must've meant it was something serious. She used the stairs to go up towards his room knowing the elevator doors were probably being watched by many reporters eagerly waiting for her arrival to start gossiping once more about their relationship. She knocked on his door and waited for him to open the door.

"Sakura!" it wasn't Syaoran the one that greeted her but Eriol. "Hey, what's up?"

"Hey! Not much. Is Syaoran on the room?"

He nodded as he stepped back a little to let her inside.

She walked inside and quickly looked for him but at the same time tried to hide her worried face when facing him. She didn't want to increase his already inflated ego by letting him know she had been dead worried for him after seeing him fall on the field. Then again, the moment she looked at his smirking face right next to his bed she knew she had miserably failed in her attempt.

"You know… I'm beginning to think that perhaps I should get injured more often."

She smiled a little. She could've mastered the art of hiding her emotions yet there was no man that could read her better than Syaoran. Looking away and rolling her eyes she admitted her defeat. "You're right… perhaps next time you can fall and hit your head on the way down."

He chuckled and walked towards her. "Well it all depends. Will you stay by me again and help me recuperate when it happens?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and flirtingly asked, "Aren't you an opportunist?"

He engulfed her in a deep embrace not minding his cousin at all. Her presence was all he needed to feel calmed again. "I'm fine. I just stayed out as a precaution. How was your day?"

A sound of a clearing throat was heard as she looked at Eriol looking at them with a raised brow. "Did you both forget I am standing here?"

Syaoran chuckled and let go of her. Instead, he walked towards their small fridge and took a bottle of water out.

"Interesting." She watched as he turned the cap around, opened the bottle and drank. "I visited my cousin last night." She casually commented.

Eriol opened his eyes widely. "And, well Sakura I'll be seeing you later." Immediately and without waiting for her answer he walked out of the room. Conversations involving Sayuri meant an imminent war zone.

Cautiously looking at her after hearing her words, he stopped drinking his water and swallowed. He put the water bottle down. "I saw her some weeks ago before you decided to kick her out of the hotel."

"You're well informed."

"It's hard not to be when you decide to make a public spectacle of it."

"You don't like my way of handling things?"

"Is it that obvious?"

She stared at him and smiled a little. Sayuri wasn't a topic to be discussed yet between the two of them. And yet, she wanted to know where he stood with this. He still didn't know she knew about his past with her cousin. It was an advantage she wanted to keep while she had it for now. It hadn't been the first time he hadn't agreed on the way she liked to handle things. In fact, he had already expressed his distaste for it a couple of days ago. She walked towards him and put her arms around his waist. "I've thought of where to go once your tournament is over."

He looked down and caressed her face. "Where?"

She smiled. "Spain."

"Spain?" He asked. "Spain is not either a romantic or a calm place to rest."

She smirked. "Were you honestly expecting me to spend vacations sleeping around a hotel? No… I think an adventurous vacation will better suit me though we could include one of the small islands just to rest for a day or two… There's nothing better than some wine and tapas to enjoy my vacation days. Besides… I've been craving them for a while now."

"You've been to Spain before?" he asked.

She nodded. "A couple of times actually."

"Better then… less places to visit and more time for me." He softly gave her a small kiss. "I'll get the tickets."

She sarcastically laughed at his suggestion. "You're getting the tickets? Don't you mean Choi?"

He smirked. "Actually, either I'm getting the tickets or you are." He untangled himself from her arms and walked towards his bag. He took out a small leather pocket book. "This is my passport. The less he knows the better."

She curiously looked at him. "Why? Isn't he you're manager?"

He sighed but nodded nonetheless rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. "Yeah… but if he knows he'll probably want to stop me or make me wait. And I'm not doing either of those." He walked back towards her and gave her his documents. "I'd like to think this is only us."

She wasn't too sure what he meant by that. As far as she could tell it was only them but nonetheless she took his papers as she felt his hands surrounding her lower back and moving her to be in his embrace once again. "Will this not get you into trouble?"

He chuckled. "Maybe in the past it would."

"What's different now? You're still playing. Choi is still your manager unless you decide otherwise." she asked not fully understanding why Syaoran wanted to change everything now.

He looked at her and caressed her face once more. Truly he was lucky to have found her again. People who usually made the kind of mistake he did didn't get the second chance he had been given. After finding her again he had felt confused but there was no mistake in anything. He still loved her perhaps even more now than he did before. "I did."

Something in his stare made her look away. The intensity behind his glare was so alluring yet it brought sentiments she had held at bay for years now. There was still so much they had to work on to make this relationship work. Things this tournament had made them put on hold considering they started dating or supposedly dating the same night this tournament was commencing. Things like his many women, or more precisely one in particular, held her back from letting go entirely when she was with him. "I have to go." She said untangling herself from his embrace. "The girls are probably waiting for me at the beauty parlor already."

He pouted as he curiously stared at her crossing his arms on his chest. "The girls?"

"Yes. We decided to have a girl's night out tonight." She casually said as she put his passport inside her purse. "I need to go to the bathroom to check up on my makeup."

He watched her go inside the bathroom. She searched around her purse till she finally found what she was looking for. Taking the lid out of her favorite light pink lipstick, she started applying it carefully. He had to admit her little plan had him dumbfounded. Since when did going out with the girls came before him? He walked inside the room and hugged her from behind. "Are you coming back tonight?"

She looked at him from the mirror and asked, "Tonight? What for?"

He let go of her and reclined himself in the wall behind him crossing his arms once more across his chest. There was obviously a misunderstanding of where her priorities should lie if you asked him. "Well, I thought that perhaps you could help massage my ankle again like you did before after all… the trainer did say the more I rest it the better."

That had to be one of the lamest excuses Sakura had ever heard. She knew her indifference would probably piss him off. She was actually counting on that since the moment his arrogant smirk met her when she walked inside his room minutes ago. She turned around and reclined herself from the bathroom counter so she could face him. "Isn't that what your trainer is for?"

"I can assure you I'd love your soft hands massaging my ankle any day better than his."

She smiled a little once more before looking away. His piercing amber eyes were definitely one of her weakness. She could try a thousand times to get him back for his arrogance and yet the hungriness behind his stare was enough to make her lose the game. "I wouldn't want to be a distraction either."

He smirked and closed the space between them. "Who says you're not one already."

Those were the only words she heard before feeling his lips against hers. His hands rested on her chin as he savored each second of the kiss. She was ninety nine point nine percent sure he knew his kisses were her downfall and one hundred percent sure she didn't care losing this game against him anytime they decided to play.

"Oh! You're still here Sakura. Sorry… I didn't know."

At the sound of Eriol's voice Sakura quickly ended the kiss as she looked away trying to hide her flushed face from him. Syaoran on the other hand decided to narrow his eyes at his cousin. This wasn't the first time Eriol had stopped him from enjoying a moment with Sakura. Though perhaps with a more menacing look he could ensure this would be the last.

Eriol sheepishly signaled to the side. "I'll… be in the… living room." He excused himself after seeing Syaoran's murderous gaze looking towards him.

Sakura took the chance to turn around once more to look at herself in the mirror. Once again she started to fix herself after Syaoran ministrations. "You ruined my lipstick."

He smirked and he hugged her once more from behind. "Enjoyed doing it too."

She chuckled and untangled his hands from her waist. "Well, don't want to be late." She turned around and gave him a short kiss before making a quick exit out of the bathroom knowing perfectly well what mere seconds inside his embrace could do to her.

He scoffed but didn't hold her back any longer. Following her footsteps, he watched a she said goodbye to his cousin and exited through the door. He put his hands in his pockets before turning towards his cousin. "Did you know they are having a girl's night out?"

Eriol looked at his cousin and chuckled. Shaking his head he went back to changing the channels on the TV. "Syaoran… just tell me what you want to watch."

"You know, we could…"

"Out of the question." Was Eriol's quick reply. "Not before the final game. I'm sure one night out is not worth the trouble."

"Oh come on… you can't tell me you're not a tad bit curious about what they do in a girl's night out."

Eriol sighed. His stubbornness was definitely not a good sign. "I'll ask Tomoyo tomorrow if you're so curious about it."

Syaoran shrugged. "Even if you ask Tomoyo I'm pretty sure she won't tell you everything."

"You know… there are various reasons why I asked Tomoyo to marry me and I'm pretty certain one of them was because I trust her." Eriol simply said trying to ignore Syaoran's plea to what he already knew was a very bad plan.

"Who says this is about trust? I'm just curious. They won't even have to know."

Eriol stopped changing the channels and looked up towards his cousin. "Syaoran, we are in finals. We have worked too hard to screw it up in the end. Can you please comeback and focus on resting instead of getting both of us in trouble like you're used to do?"

Syaoran scoffed. "We could go a couple of minutes before curfew if you're so worried about getting in trouble."

Eriol rolled his eyes, shook his head and looked at the TV once more. "Need I remind you curfew also means not getting out of this hotel even if you never acknowledged that was part of its meaning…?"

A knock was heard from the door. Syaoran, who was already standing up, opened the door.

"Hey guys! What's up?" came the greeting from Kyu.

"Not much. Searching for something to watch on TV," came the response from Eriol sitting on the couch.

"Did you know the girls are having a girl's night out?" Kyu asked casually as he entered their room.

Syaoran smirked.

~ o ~

It was quite refreshing to meet with old friends and talk the night out like they used to do in the past. It had been years since they had planned to have one night to themselves. Usually they all went out in pairs with their boyfriends but tonight was different. Sakura had talked to the rest of the girls and decided that after going to the beauty parlor to fix their hair and nails they would end the night having dinner in one of the best restaurants in China.

"The food was delicious. Now I know why you love coming here from time to time." Meiling said.

Sakura cleaned the sides of her lips with a napkin. "Isn't it? I told you this was the best restaurant there is here in China."

"It's such a shame when I lived here this restaurant wasn't opened yet. I'm sure auntie would've taken us almost every month if she knew."

Sakura smirked. "Actually, she was the one that found it. She suggested one of our many office meetings to be held here. Afterwards, I can without a doubt say it has become one of my favorites."

The waitress came to take their plates away and Sakura took the chance to order some of their house hot tea. After all, a meal without a hot tea afterwards, especially their house tea, wouldn't be complete without it. A couple of minutes later the waitress came back with three tea cups and set them in front of them before leaving them to enjoy it.

"Well, changing the subject a bit… I heard from Xiefa that Xian is suing the channel for defamation of your name." Tomoyo asked while putting two small cubes of sugar into her coffee. She took the small spoon at the side of the tea cup plate and carefully mixed in the contents of her cup before trying it. Ah… just a perfect fit.

Sakura took a sip of hers before answering her. "He is. My name is linked to the company therefore he wants to clean it all from any misleading news that can hurt the company any further."

They both nodded after hearing her. After all it made perfect sense that even on a bed recuperating Xian would make sure his company was well taken care off. "Well, I guess that Katherine met her match."

Tomoyo's comment caught Sakura's attention. She curiously looked at Tomoyo and asked, "What do you mean?"

Meiling put her spoon down as well after mixing her tea cup. "Exactly what she's saying. That woman has been following Syaoran since the moment he made the mistake of sleeping with her."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "I thought he didn't repeat women…"

"Can I ask you something Sakura?" Tomoyo asked not minding to interrupt her train of thoughts. "How come you know so much about Syaoran? In these past seven years you weren't in touch with any of us and yet you know he slept with Sayuri. Katherine is no different either. How come you know all this stuff?"

Sakura stared at Tomoyo surprised by her questions. She would've expected them to come from Meiling but never had she thought that Tomoyo would ask her something like this. She was usually very reserved when it came to prying on other people's lives. Taking her cup in her fingers she allowed herself to swallow a small sip of her tea before putting her cup back down. "Xiefa would make sure I knew whether I wanted to or not."

This time Meiling was the one who spoke. "So that day in your office, what Feimei said, it was true?"

Sakura sighed. She had known from the very beginning it was wrong but nonetheless she couldn't stop Xiefa from doing it. Back then, she had been weak. To her, it hadn't mattered if it was right or not, her mind wanted to know. Her mind begged her to keep hearing from him even if it was wrong. It took her many months to realize that what she was doing was not healthy. It wasn't correct either. Allowing Xiefa to continue spying on her brother just so that she could hear about him hadn't been right from the very beginning. Still, it took her months until she was finally able to put a stop on her but she didn't come unscarred. "I'm not going to talk about this any further of what I'm about to say. Xiefa did send a spy to keep her informed about Syaoran. It wasn't wrong intended, she was truly concerned for her brother's wellbeing. Unfortunately her concern made her make some decisions that weren't correct. They didn't last long but inside those decisions were letting me know of the fact that he slept with my cousin as well as with Katherine and a few more."

Tomoyo scoffed. She slowly put her tea down as she let the words slowly sink in. "Did she also mention to you how much he was hurting? How he was behaving?"

Sakura knew where her friend was going with her question. A couple of weeks ago Meiling had said something about Eriol getting into trouble because of him. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going through her friend's mind this instant. "She didn't say much but enough to know he wasn't himself."

"And you still couldn't make one single call?" She finished asking.

Sakura stared at Tomoyo. Back then, the six of them had the type of friendship that would last a lifetime. They would share secrets with each other and go out to have fun. Every weekend they found something to do as a group like visiting Yuki's place or go to the movies. They had been almost inseparable until the moment she had decided to leave. She had known back then that her decision would bring repercussions. Still, she had taken it. And, even if she could understand her friend, there were things that were better left unsaid. "Don't judge me Tomoyo. He wasn't the only one that went through a hard time."

Tomoyo stared at her friend. The moment Eriol told her Sakura had been here all along something stirred inside of her. She was surprised just like everyone else but she felt something more with the news. As she had talked to her fiancé that night she had promised him not to say anything that could offend anyone but she had to let this out. It had been eating her inside to know that she hadn't cared at all. "I hated every moment Eriol told me he was going to stay with Syaoran. The moment you left none of us were the same. So forgive me if I sound a little bitter hearing that you couldn't even glance back after knowing."

It pained Sakura to hear those words coming from her. They had been the best of friends in the past. "Like I said, he wasn't the only one that had a hard time when we split. But I'm not going back to that time. I'm sorry if my answer doesn't please you Tomoyo but there are things that only pertain to him and me."

Tomoyo sighed. She shook her head softly before going back to her tea in hopes of calming down. She wasn't even sure of what she was hoping to hear from her when confronted but nonetheless it was something she had to get out of her system.

"So, going back to Channel 2…" Meiling interrupted with means of switching the subject quickly. "Why is my uncle suing the entire channel? I mean, we all know it was Katherine the one that did it."

Feeling grateful for the change in subject, Sakura sighed. "That may be true but the channel allowed it. The equipment used is owned by the company. She is not someone that has a high position in there. She's just a mere reporter. Hence, she must have supervisors with supervisors and more supervisors who'll eventually report to the president who in the end is the one that makes the decision. So basically since Katherine is not her own boss your uncle is suing the entire channel."

"I see. Well, she had it coming for spreading all those false rumors about you." Meiling said.

Tomoyo looked at Meiling. "Did you talk to Kyu about the runway opportunity?"

Meiling's mood was instantly lifted with the question. "I did. Surprisingly enough he said yes."

"Really?" Tomoyo shockingly asked.

Meiling nodded. "So make sure you both separate that day. I already asked Carli to get five VIP tickets. I'm telling you, this will be one of the best events of the year."

"Aside from your friend's, and by friend I mean mua, runway you mean…" Tomoyo reminded her while enjoying her tea.

Meiling chuckled. "Why off course."

The three of them laugh as they kept enjoying their tea cup. Sakura still felt a little skeptical about the little interrogation Tomoyo had done on her but decided to let it go for the time being. She truly hoped Tomoyo didn't take her answer against her but in all reality she wasn't willing to share that part of her with them. Although in the past they all had been the best of friends and used to share many secrets, there were some things that she had only shared with Syaoran. Out of all of them, he had been her best friend even before they started dating. Her biggest failures, her worst mistakes, her biggest dreams, there were all things she would share with only him. It was the main reason why they both suffered greatly after their breakup.

Cutting ties with him had been one of the hardest things she had to do back then. Sticking all the way through with her decision had been another. Not giving in to the impulse of calling him, of wanting to see him, of wanting to feel his hugs, his kisses… everything had been hard back then. She remembered her mind would always go back to wonder how he was doing. Had he been able to move on? Would he be able to fulfill his dream once she was gone? As days went by, her curiosity grew and grew to the point where she doubted if she had made the right decision. The only thing that always stopped her from giving in was the fact that he had asked for it. He had needed it to be like that. He had needed her out of his life so he could focus on his career. And even though most of her friends thought her actions had been a little exaggerative, she knew deep down he would've never been able to let her go if she hadn't done what she did.

~ o ~

In a car, not too far from the restaurant, three figures sat down watching.

"You know, this is not what I had in mind when you suggested we find out what they did on these nights." Kyu said.

"Well, this wasn't exactly my entire suggestion. If it would've been for me we would've been inside the restaurant instead of sitting inside a car and watch from afar. This part was all Eriol's."

Eriol scoffed. "Is not enough that we ARE already breaking the rules but you both have delirious thoughts of getting caught."

"Chill out Eriol. I doubt anyone will know we're even here." Kyu said. "Syaoran is an expert in these things."

Syaoran chuckled.

"Mind telling me what's your master plan for getting us back inside our hotel without being seen?" Eriol asked not too fond of having been outnumbered when they decided to do this. It's entirely true the last decision came from him but there was no way he would permit the both of them to leave without him. Besides, he did have to admit he too was a bit curious as to what his fiancé and the rest of the girls called "girl's night out".

"I actually never have one. I improvise once I need to get it."

Eriol looked at his side surprised with Syaoran's answer. "What? You mean to tell me you don't know how we're getting back in?"

"Where's the fun in knowing Eriol?" Syaoran casually said. "Relax man. When it's time to get in then we'll get in."

Eriol sighed shaking his head while regretting his decision even more now after knowing there was actually no concrete plan to getting back to the hotel unseen.

"Look, they're coming out." Kyu pointed.

~ o ~

Sakura looked at her phone while waiting for the waitress to come back with her credit card. She looked at her emails and found work was already waiting for her once she reached her office tomorrow morning. Apparently a new deal caught Xian's attention and he wanted her to check it out. Closing the application she opened her texts to surprisingly find she had none waiting to be responded. The waitress came back and she put her phone away on her purse before signing her bill.

"Ah! I'm very satisfied with this outing. We should do this more often." Meiling contently said. "What's with the long face?"

Sakura looked at her and smiled a little while shaking her head. "I find it quite odd that Syaoran hasn't texted me at all tonight."

"You know, now that you mention it Kyu hasn't either." Meiling said while checking her phone once more. She curiously looked at Tomoyo. "Eriol?"

Tomoyo confidently smiled. "Eriol won't text me. I told him I was going to spend the rest of the day with you girls and he was fine with it. He trusts me and knows I'll call him when I get back to my room."

Sakura raised a brow. "So none of the three have texted or called…?" She kept thinking about the rarity of the situation. Syaoran had never been someone patient. In fact, by far he was one of the most impatient men she had ever known. Add to that the fact that he hadn't been too happy when she told him of her plans for the night and the wheels on her mind started turning and turning. The more she pondered about the situation the more she convinced herself something was up. She took a deep breath before saying, "This is what we're going to do girls, we're going to get in the car and drive up to my apartment."

"You're apartment? I thought we were going back to the hotel?" Tomoyo asked.

"I think we should go to my apartment and chill for a bit before going back to the hotel." Sakura simply said.

Meiling smirked. "You know Sakura…? I like that idea. We should. Who do they think they are? The nerve of them not even caring if we're alright! We should make them worry."

Sakura smirked. "It's settled then. Girls… tonight we'll teach them a lesson or two."

~ o ~

They could see the three girls entering Sakura's car after the valet brought it in front of the restaurant. Eriol turn on his car and slowly started following them making sure to keep a distance between Sakura's car and his. He looked at the time on his car and back to the road. "Hopefully they'll be going back to the hotel right now to drop my girlfriend and with that gentlemen this trip is over."

Kyu chuckled. "Hoping to get back before curfew? I think that doesn't matter right now." He stretched at the back sit. "What's done it's done. No point in regretting it right now."

"That's easy for you to say." Eriol said while looking at Kyu through the mirror. "I still don't get how you both like doing these things."

"Looks like they're not going back to the hotel. They just missed their turn." Syaoran said.

Eriol rolled his eyes and sighed thinking this night couldn't possibly be getting worse.

Syaoran looked at the car taking a right turn and then a left one having the sensation this road seemed quite familiar. He kept looking around till he saw a small coffee shop in a corner and the park in front. "There's heading for Sakura's apartment."

Eriol widened his eyes. "What?"

"Are you sure man?" Kyu asked from behind.

Syaoran looked at him with an obvious yes on his face.

"Isn't that place full of reporters?" Eriol asked.

"I think the reporters are not the only ones we'll probably find. She lives in a closed complex with control access."

Kyu scoffed. "Crap! That sucks! How can we get in then?"

Eriol chuckled smelling victory. "Well… I guess this is it. You guys are not planning on actually following them all the way inside her complex… are you? Time to go back."

"We've been following them all night. What's the point in stopping now? We should try to get inside somehow." Kyu said. "Maybe we can get close enough to enter with them."

Eriol sarcastically laughed. "And risk getting found? Not happening."

"Kyu's right. We can enter carefully behind them and simply turn in one of the streets inside to lose them. I know the way after getting inside her complex." Syaoran suggested.

Eriol shook his head sighing. Saying goodbye to his short victory on his mind he decided to follow their plan once more. They were already out of curfew, out of the hotel, what could one more thing possibly do? Right…?

~ o ~

"Maybe I should call Eriol. I thought that by now I would be back in the hotel." Tomoyo said.

"That would defeat the purpose of coming here." Sakura simply said as she turned once more until she reached the electric gate to her apartment complex. She pressed a small button in her car and waited for the gate to open.

"Well, but it's kind of late. I don't like for him not to know where I'm at."

"Oh please Tomoyo. I'm sure my cousin will not mind. It's not like you ever do anything inappropriate anyways." Meiling said. She was a little worried as she kept looking at her phone for any signs of her boyfriend but didn't say anything. "I mean we're going to Sakura's apartment. What wrong can we do?"

Sakura rubbed her eyes while waiting for the gate to completely open. As she waited, she looked through her mirror like she normally did. Something about the car and two badly hidden figures seemed familiar. Closing her eyes and opening them again, she looked at the mirror once more to see if her eyes were playing tricks on her. She narrowed her eyes. She couldn't believe it. "Oh! I'm sure they know exactly where we're at."

Tomoyo looked at her. "You think they imagine us going to your apartment?"

"Don't look, but I believe they're behind us."

"What?" Tomoyo loudly asked.

"Don't look!" Sakura quickly repeated.

"Syaoran?" Meiling asked.

"The three of them." Sakura answered as she drove inside her complex making sure they didn't noticed that they knew about their whereabouts already.

"What are we going to do then?" Meiling asked.

Sakura smirked. "Oh… we're going to surprised them. Both of you act normal walking inside my apartment. Once they park their car in front of it, we'll get out through the back door and catch them."

~ o ~

Their plan worked to perfection. They were able to enter the complex right behind Sakura. Just like Syaoran had suggested, they made a left turn quickly to avoid being too obvious and waited for Sakura's car to disappear before driving once more towards her apartment. A couple of minutes later, they parked their car outside in front of her apartment but on the sidewalk.

The first thing Eriol did was to look around several times. "I'm surprised there are no reporters around." He commented after the third time he looked around. There were a few cars parked but not one person was inside any of them. It was one of the things that had worried him after Syaoran mentioned they were coming here.

"Must have grown tired of waiting for Sakura. She was staying at Feimei's for the time being." Syaoran said while looking through one of her windows. They could clearly see the girls on, what Syaoran knew, was the living room.

"They look like they're having fun." Kyu commented after watching his girlfriend with a glass of wine in her hands.

"I'm pretty sure if I would've asked Tomoyo she would've told me everything they did. This is absolutely absurd."

"Oh, stop being such a party pooper Eriol." Syaoran said as he pressed a button on the side for the window to go down. They watched as the girls toasted and walked towards a side with no walls. "It's not like we have anything better to do in that hotel without them."

"I second that." Kyu said.

Eriol looked at Kyu but didn't say anything. He turned back to look at the window which curiously enough lacked any movements. Several minutes passed and still they couldn't see any movements inside. "What are they doing? Are they even there? I mean, I don't see anyone." The three of them watch intently at the window but saw no movement.

"I don't see anyone either. Are you sure they're there?" a womanly voice asked from Syaoran's window.

The three of them looked towards the owner of the voice and widened their eyes. It was Sakura. Eriol grimaced and closed his regretfully before saying, "I'm going to kill you Syaoran."

"Gentlemen," Sakura being a little too cheerful for herself said, "why don't we all go inside my apartment?"

Syaoran gulped.

~ o ~

The sight that greeted them was not a happy one. Three sides of woman could be seen as they nervously glanced from one to the other. Meiling looked quite happy with the situation while Tomoyo looked completely the opposite. Then there was Sakura… who just a couple of minutes ago looked too cheerful for anyone and now looked totally in control of her emotions. Even as Syaoran stared at her, he couldn't figure out what she was thinking. Was she happy, was she angry… they weren't emotions she was giving away with her menacing look.

"How could you?" Tomoyo angrily asked almost to the point of screaming.

Eriol raised his hands in an apologetic way. "Babe, it's not what you think."

Tomoyo furiously looked at him. "It's not what I think? Am I not seeing you here? Are you a figment of my imagination?"

"No! That's not what I mean." He tried to explain.

"Do you not trust me?" she angrily asked.

"No! I mean yes I do trust you but this is not what you think. I was totally against this from the very beginning."

"And yet you are here! Was this your idea of a surprise? Because I can tell you right now it's not a welcomed one." Then she turned towards Syaoran. "Was this your idea? I thought we were passed this." Once more she looked towards her fiancé. "Does this ring mean nothing to you?" she asked while pointing her engagement ring

Eriol quickly intervened knowing how quickly and badly this could escalate. Well… more than what it was already escalated anyways. "Babe! Babe, calm down."

"Calm down?" she angrily asked.

"No! No, you have every right to be angry at me."

"I can't believe this!" she said before furiously turning around and walking away.

Sakura watched as Eriol followed her fiancé still trying to explain from behind her until she locked herself in one of the rooms she found in the apartment. Then suddenly from her other side Meiling quickly jumped to hug and kiss Kyu.

"Aw babe, were you worried about me?" she sweetly asked him.

Kyu happily smiled. "You know my thoughts are always on you love." He simply said before giving her another kiss.

"Am I not being greeted that way?" Syaoran asked while pointing at the kissing couple.

Sakura simply raised a brow. "Actually you should feel lucky enough that I am greeting you at all." She watched as Syaoran, trying to be funny, switched directions from pointing towards the kissing couple to the one fighting in separate rooms. In all reality she wasn't furious of the fact that they had followed them all the way to her apartment. She wasn't naïve enough to think this was a trust issue. The problem didn't lie in trusting, it was more what he wanted. Syaoran had always been used to getting what he wanted. Sighing, she signaled for him to follow her to the kitchen where they could talk alone for a couple of minutes. Once they were inside, she turned towards him. "Really…?"

He rubbed the back of his head with his arm before looking at her. "I wanted to see you."

She stared at him feeling a little disappointed with his reason. "And for that you were willing to risk everything you've worked for? For just a glimpse of me?"

Her tone let him know she wasn't kidding at all. If Eriol was in trouble, he probably was completely screwed. "I'm sorry."

She sarcastically nodded before asking, "Do you mean that?"

He stared at her for a couple of seconds before honestly answering, "No."

She nodded. As she watched him take one step towards her she raised her hand stopping any more steps from him. "Not one more step. I'm not happy with this Xiaolang."

He stared at her. Her use of his Chinese name only indicated that she was indeed angry with him. It had been a habit of hers since they had met. Whenever she wasn't content or about to fight with him she would use his Chinese name. With time, he had learned to take it as a hint. Once used, he knew immediately not to joke around whatever she wanted to argue about. "I just… we had tonight off. I thought you would want to spend tonight with me instead of with the girls."

She stared at him in silence. The way he danced around the words let he know he wasn't finished. And, just like she had imagined, her patience rewarded her when she heard his last words…

"I wanted to spend tonight with you." He said.

Voila! Just like magic, his real reason came out. "And you couldn't ask? I didn't know you had tonight off. You never told me. And if you would've asked I would've cancel this and simply do it another night."

"I'm sorry." He said. "And this time I do mean it."

"To make it worst you decided to drag along two of your teammates to your little escapade." She sighed and shook her head. "You told me I wouldn't be an obstacle."

"I said I'm sorry." He quickly said.

"It's not just me you have to be sorry to. I've heard this is not the first time you've gotten your cousin in trouble. Meiling might be okay with it but Tomoyo is not."

He rolled his eyes. "Don't you think she's exaggerating a little bit?" he asked but immediately put his hands up in defeat after watching Sakura incredulous stare boring into his eyes. "Fine! I'll apologize."

She shook her head. His childish attitude almost made her laugh but she tried with all her might to stay serious. Syaoran had never been easy to handle. Probably one of the reasons he had so much trouble in staying inside a relationship after she left. She could see something had indeed been broken between Tomoyo and him in the past. Tomoyo had never had the attitude to handle Syaoran's little demeanors and Eriol had never been strong minded enough to be able to say no to his troublemaker cousin.

He took the courage to walk a couple of steps till he was in front of her. He embraced her in a hug and softly and more calmed than before he said, "I'm sorry."

She nodded inside him embrace before saying, "Go back to the hotel and make sure none of you are seen." She felt him search for her lips but she put her hand on his preventing him from reaching his objective. "Don't even."

He deviously smiled keeping his hungry stare on her and instead grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Fine."

She watched him turn around and walked away back to the living room. She took a deep breath. Truly it took all of her not to give in to his embrace. Inside, she was a little happy to know he would do this for her but at the same time she felt a little guilty for what he did. She could clearly understand why he did it but stood by her reason. What they did could cost them dearly.

~ o ~

Sakura took a shower and prepare herself to go to bed. She washed her teeth followed by her face and dried it with a towel. Since the guys had to go back to the hotel they had been kind enough to take Meiling and Tomoyo with them. Or it could also be said they weren't actually given a choice for their mischief in following them around. In her case, she had decided to stay home. It had been awhile since she had been able to stay peacefully in her apartment. Reporters had finally given up on finding her here though as a precaution she wouldn't push her luck. Tomorrow morning she would be back to staying with Feimei.

She lay on her bed and as a normal habit picked up one of the books on her night stand. Immersed in her book she enjoyed the first couple of pages before getting interrupted by her phone. Picking it up, she noticed she had received a text from Syaoran. When she opened it she found a picture of the three of them inside the hotel room. Syaoran and Kyu were both smiling sheepishly at the camera while Eriol was a little pissed off and looking away from it. A chuckled erupted from her mouth at how comical the three of them looked. She made a note to herself to speak with Tomoyo about tonight's incident. The night had ended in catastrophe for poor Eriol who was only following his cousin's childish plans. Of the three of them, he was probably the one that suffered the most because no matter how childish and irresponsible their little escapade was there was a part of her that actually liked it. Contrary to Tomoyo's way of thinking, Sakura liked that Syaoran thought of doing this just to see her. She didn't agree with his timing but his reason for doing it so had definitely melted her total angriness away when she spoke to him about it.

Then again, Syaoran's childish plan was the one that kept her awake tonight. She put her book down and stared at the roof. He had wanted to spend time with her. It was the reason why he had done it. She looked at their picture once more and a plan came to her mind. She wasn't sure if it was a good one but it was worth a try. She went to her contacts and dialed Tomoyo's phone number. A drowsy voice greeted her. "Hey, Tomoyo. I'm sorry to wake you up."

"Sakura? What time is it?"

"One. But I wanted to check on how you were doing?" she asked.

"I truly don't want to talk about this at one."

"I talked to Syaoran and I'm truly sorry. He shouldn't have done that."

Tomoyo grunted. "Sakura, no offense but I truly don't want to talk about this right now."

"I know, I know but… well, the reason I wanted to talk to you about this is because I was thinking of a way to help with this and I think I may have found one but I need your help." Sakura said. She heard some movement on the other end and waited for Tomoyo's answer.

"A way of helping?"

"I need you to let me borrow your room for tonight."

"Sakura… its one o'clock in the morning."

"Can you trust me on this? I can assure you it can help both of you."

~ o ~

Syaoran had gotten back to the room and the first thing he did was to text his girlfriend a picture to let her know they had indeed succeeded in making it back to the room unseen. It was true, not all of them were happy with the outcome of their little excursion but he knew it would pass. He placed his phone under his bed sheets and kept looking at it. So far, she hadn't texted back but he could clearly see she had seen the message. Perhaps she went to bed already. With that in mind, he closed his eyes to sleep.

He hadn't been long gone when suddenly a knock was heard at their door. Being the light sleeper he was, he opened his eyes and look towards his side to see if Eriol had woken up. His cousin hadn't moved an inch. Sighing, he took the bed sheets off and walked towards the door. When he opened it, he found Tomoyo standing outside their room. "Tomoyo…?" he asked still a little out of sorts from being woken up a little over the middle of the night.

Syaoran's voice made Eriol quickly wake up from his bed and walk towards their door. He needed to confirm for himself that his cousin was indeed not playing another prank on him. When he reached the door, he saw with his own eyes that indeed his girlfriend was standing right outside their room.

Tomoyo looked from Syaoran to Eriol before looking back at the culprit for all their problems. "Syaoran, can you please sleep in my room tonight? I have to speak with Eriol."

He rubbed his eyes. "We have curfew."

"Syaoran!" Eriol loudly said. "Can you please do this for me?"

He looked at his cousin and narrowed his eyes. He hated when Eriol yelled at him as if he was a little kid but then he remembered the conversation he had with Sakura earlier and sighed. He took his jacket and the key from Tomoyo's hand. If they asked him, he would still say she had been completely exaggerating with her little show back in Sakura's apartment but he wouldn't say much on the matter. What was done was done and because of him his cousin got in trouble. He was about to walk out but halted and looked at her, "It was my fault. He never wanted to go in the first place. I'm sorry."

Tomoyo narrowed her eyes at him. If it wasn't for his little stunt she would've never argued with Eriol in the first place. "Make sure you're not seen."

He nodded and walked out of his room.

Tomoyo closed the door once he was completely out. She stared at Eriol and took a deep breath. "You know I hate when you do this."

"I'm sorry." Eriol pleaded. "I truly didn't want to go. I even tried to make them change their mind."

"That doesn't mean you have to follow them Eriol. What would've happened if you've would've gotten caught? For following your cousin who you know has been rebelling against anyone that puts any restraints on him for quite too long. Would it have been worth it? Do you think he actually cares?"

Eriol looked away. It wasn't that Syaoran didn't care, knowing his cousin the way he did he was entirely sure that Syaoran was one of the guys that cared the most about this tournament including the well being of his teammates. Then again, there was something very true in Tomoyo's words… Syaoran had never liked abiding by rules. He found them somewhat dull and boring, a perspective Eriol had never shared with him. But truly, what could be done when it was family? And yet… coming back to his senses and understanding the predicament he was in right now he wouldn't dare defend his cousin. No… it was better if he simply didn't fuel his fiancé's anger anymore. "I thought that perhaps if I were to go with them I could stop them at some point in between from doing something regretful before it was too late." Then he looked at her once more. "I never meant to hurt your feelings babe."

"Every time you follow his stupid plans you end up hurting me Eriol. Even when you don't mean it."

He looked down trying to find the right words to say. "I apologize. I should've known better than to follow his stupid plan."

Tomoyo shook her head and sighed. She was still a little mad with the whole situation but she wasn't about to lose a night given to be with her fiancé. With that in mind, she walked towards him and hugged him. "I thought that perhaps with Sakura he would've stopped by now."

Eriol chuckled. "Got to say… he did stay months out of trouble."

Tomoyo looked at him and quickly asked, "Are you defending him?"

"Absolutely not love." He said as he smiled and kissed her.

~ o ~

It didn't take long to find her room. He put in the key, opened it, and walked inside. The door closed behind him. He turned on the lights and froze. In front of him was Sakura looking back at him. "Sak?" He softly smiled after recuperating from his shock.

"I thought that perhaps I could help Eriol after you deliberately put him in jeopardy." She calmly said.

He put his hands in his pockets and smirked. "Are you sure it wasn't because you already missed me?"

She chuckled. Apparently being half asleep didn't stop him from being irritably arrogant. "You know… now that you mention it, I may have taken pity on your face when you left my apartment."

He walked towards her till he was in front of her. He took his right hand out of his pocket and caressed her face before softly saying, "Pity or missed me already? Though I have to say I like my presumption much better than yours."

She smiled feeling his touch before feeling his lips against hers. He played with her lower lip before kissing her once more. She put her hand on top of his and finished the kiss. She looked down before taking a deep breath and looking at him. "Just one night Syaoran."

He ran his finger through her lips and nodded while smiling. He put his hands around her and tenderly hugged her. "Alright, one night."

She smiled in his embrace and hugged his waist. "I mean it."

He chuckled. "So do I… what makes you think I'm thinking otherwise?"

She sighed. "And stop getting your cousin into trouble too."

He nuzzled her neck as he breathed the smell of her hair and smiled before softly saying, "I must admit… that's the first time I ever got caught." He kissed her shoulder before saying to her ear, "Come on. Let's go to bed."

She felt his hands intertwined with hers as he took her towards the bed. "What time do you have to be up?"

"Three in the afternoon." He casually said.

She chuckled and smirked. "Liar." She said knowingly. "You're not to get into any more trouble than what you already are." She took the bed comforter and sheets out so that she could lie on her side.

He chuckled and got into bed right next to her. After she settled behind the bed sheets, he put his arm around her. "Breakfast is optional."

She laughed and turned her head to look at him. "Breakfast is never optional for an athlete."

He pouted before smiling. "If it means you're staying longer, I can easily be the first athlete who considers it optional."

She playfully rolled her eyes at him. "Go to sleep Syaoran."

He smiled and quickly gave her a small peck on her lips before softly saying, "I don't think I want to." He took a deep breath as he found her left hand and kissed it before entwining his fingers with hers. "I missed you a lot since last night."

She smiled at his words as she stared at him. Syaoran had always been very honest and outspoken when it came to his feelings. If he liked something he would say it. If he didn't, he would say it as well. There was no in betweens in him. His honesty was black or white, never gray. Suddenly a thought entered her head. She was cuddling with Syaoran on bed just like they had done many years ago. It's true that he had stayed at her apartment the night they had officially gotten back together but the feeling wasn't the same. Somehow tonight felt a little different. She felt more at ease than she did before. "I missed you too." She halted for a second considering where her thoughts were taking her before softly saying, "Since I left." She absentmindedly caressed his hand, a gesture she used to do to soothe her nervousness in the past. "I stopped watching movies after coming here." She said absentmindedly. "I couldn't watch them without you."

"We watched Jason Bourne." He said.

She chuckled. "You only watched the first fifteen minutes of the movie."

He stared at her. "You're right. The rest of the movie I thought about you."

His little confession made her stare at him. When she had noticed he wasn't truly watching the movie anymore she had thought he was actually thinking about his injury or how fast he could recover. Maybe even be worrying about how his teammates would do without them inside the field but she had never thought he was actually thinking about her.

He caressed her face. "I thought of a thousand ways to cuddle with you like this without you turning me down."

She kept looking at him. Suddenly something inside of her broke. Not knowing what to think about his little confession, she simply smiled and took her hand away from his before turning towards her side and away from him. "Let's just sleep."

As Syaoran watched her, he was completely sure he saw something familiar in her eyes. Something he knew she wouldn't let others see. He hugged her back and softly said to her ear, "I'm here now."

She nodded and quickly blinked away the first signs of a tear that started forming on her eyes.

He kissed her neck and tightened his embrace. "We can watch as many movies as you like after my tournament."

She rolled her eyes at his comment. Give it to him to try to make a joke out of a serious conversation they were having. But still she loved it. He made her smile as she turned to look at him. "Is that all you can think of when I tell you this?"

He smirked. "I can tell you I can kiss your pain away but then again-" He covered himself quickly as he felt her playful smack hitting his stomach. He flinched and laughed, "You probably won't like it."

She rolled her eyes once more and shook his head. "Go to sleep Syaoran."

He chuckled. After a couple of seconds he hugged her back once more before saying, "You may not like this but I'm a little glad to hear you say that."

"You're glad?" she asked.

He nodded. "I am. To be honest, I hated the thought of you being with another man, especially doing those things. Watching movies in the sofa, eating ice cream, walks in the park, trying new restaurants, running in the morning… they were our things. I hate that I hurt you but I'm relieved that you didn't shared our things."

"Mmm… I only said the movies…" she said hoping to get a little payback for saying he was glad.

"Mmm… don't spoil it." He said before kissing her once more.

She chuckled as she kissed him. Turning around so she could be facing him, she put her arm around him and laid her head against his chest.

He softly smiled as he put his arm around her. She had finally shared something from her past with him. He could feel her little by little opening up to him once more and that calmed him. It was a long road but before he didn't even know where to start. She had agreed to been with him but that had never meant she had opened up to him. And yet coming back to him tonight stirred something within his heart. She was slowly starting to feel comfortable to the idea of being with him once more. She was slowly letting go of those walls she had built within herself out of fear of getting hurt once more by him.

Author's note: Yeiiiii… Here's chapter twentieth! Hope you guys enjoyed it and please take a little of your time to review it and let me know what you think.