Author's Note: Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews. As long as they keep up I'll definitely keep updating. I'm in university studying law, so it's crazy hectic for me since exams are coming. But if this is something you guys want to read, I'll give it to you. I just need to know consistently that this is what you want. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I listened to Paramore by Decode from the Twilight soundtrack while I was writing this. I'm pretty sure the song will give you a better ambiance if you read the chapter while listening to that song. Also, the filler chapters are almost done and the real stuff will be starting soon. Okay, on to the chapter!

This goes for all chapters: I do not own CCS or anything like it.

Simple Exchange
Chapter 2

She sat on her silken sheets, the small throw that came with her bed set wrapped around her shoulders. The room was warm, but something about the look on his face left her cold.

"I won't make any assumptions until I know all the facts. But did everything mean nothing to you?" Syaoran asked, his back facing her, but she could only imagine his facial expression by hearing the strain in his voice.

"If that's what you think, then you're more of a fool then I have ever thought," she answered bitterly, hurt that he would even say such a thing.

"How can you blame me Sakura?" He asked in a harsh tone, rounding on her.

"How can I blame you? You left me, Syaoran," she replied in an even tone.

"I didn't just leave you. I told you there were things I had to sort out on my own," Syaoran told her after a short pause so he could collect his thoughts.

"Apparently you don't really remember everything that happened. We met while were both in our freshman year, far away from home. You were used to it since you did the whole boarding school thing. I wasn't; so you comforted me. Then we found out we lived across the hall from one another.

"You had a girlfriend at the time, so I didn't want to overstep any boundaries, but we became friends quickly – we connected too quickly. When I started to like you, I knew it was wrong, so I accepted a few of the dates guys had asked me on," she reminded him quickly

"You knew I hated to see you with anyone else. You belonged to me; you still belong to me," he told her in a tender tone, taking a step forward.

"But you said nothing. You were still with Dina. Eventually we left for the summer and still you said and did nothing. I tried to e-mail you, I tried to call but you refused to speak to me. When we came back things were different. The roles were reversed. You had broken up with her, but I had a boyfriend then. Unlike you, I knew if I wanted to stay faithful to Kenji I had to stay away from you. But we both knew how well that went.

"We were together for two years and we were happy. You didn't want us to meet each other's family until you knew we were serious and taking steps to be together forever. I didn't have anything against it, I just found it weird. As soon as I knew I was serious about a guy he met my family; but you didn't do things the same way so I did my best to respect it," she reminded him of his conspicuous ways.

"I wanted to meet your family Sakura and I wanted you to meet mine. It's just that… things were complicated. I knew our families were friends and that you detested my brother, and he had some sick tendencies with you. I just didn't know what to make of it all," Syaoran tried to explain, taking another step towards her.

"You knew that our families were old friends? I went on and on about your family, but you said nothing the whole time?" Sakura asked, voice growing louder with each word.

"Like I said, it was complicated," Syaoran told her uneasily.

"You played me for a fool!" Sakura screamed st him. "Is that why when I said I thought it was about time for you meet my father and my brother with his family you ran like a coward?" Sakura asked angrily.

"I didn't run," Syaoran replied defensively.

"Saying that you couldn't do it and if this is what I really wanted then we shouldn't be together, and yet you still love me. To me, that sure as hell sounds like running," she spoke spitefully.

"Like I said, things were complicated with Ryu," Syaoran winced at the truth of her words. He really was a fool, he began to realize.

"Then why did I catch you sleeping with her?" Sakura asked; her voice breaking. "Did those years mean nothing to you?"

"What?" He asked quietly, eyes wide.

"I went to your apartment to try and work things out. But instead, I saw and heard you two," Sakura laughed bitterly.

"Me? What about you? I leave to see how my grandmother is doing; I come back to school to hear that you've been all over Kenji!" Syaoran shouted, causing Sakura to jump up and meet him nose to nose.

"I tried to explain everything to you. I saw Kenji at the bar where some of the girls and I went to try and unwind a little. I got separated from them and he raped me Syaoran," Sakura told him for the first time, eyes filling with unshed tears. "He raped me."

"What?" Syaoran whispered, falling back a few strides from shock.

"You never even gave me a chance to explain. So I didn't bother even trying. If you truly loved me then you would have at least heard me out and not gone off accusing me," Sakura whispered, turning her back on him this time.

Syaoran took a few steps forward and wrapped his arms around her lithe body. He pressed his face into the crook of her neck.

"I'm sorry. I was foolish. You do know that I'm going to kill him right?" He whispered in her ear. She knew it would be best if she shrugged him off, but found that deep down inside, a small part of her didn't want to.

"You don't have the right to do that anymore. Touya put him in a coma anyway," Sakura replied with a sardonic smile.

"I guess someone had to do it," Syaoran muttered, tightening his hold on her.

"And it wasn't you since you were busy fucking Dina," she replied coldly. That memory was enough to push him off of her and cause her to walk to her vanity to brush her hair that she knew was mostly likely in disarray.

"I was drunk," Syaoran tried to negotiate.

"That's not an excuse. I've shoved many guys away while I was drunk," Sakura replied quickly, knowing he was going to say something of the sort.

"But we… we weren't even together either," Syaoran told her slowly and painfully.

"And I suppose that's enough for you have someone else warm your bed," she voiced critically. "Besides, don't you dare use that condescending tone with me; whose fault is that? Surely, not mine; I just wanted you to be more apart of my life," Sakura told him as she continued to stroke her hair.

"I remember you used to brush your hair a million times before going to bed and I would always mess it up just to see you pout cutely like you always did when you were upset," Syaoran recalled fondly.

"I'm engaged to your brother. Those memories are just pieces of the past, they mean nothing now," she told him harshly. They were words that she repeated to herself whenever she thought of him longingly ever since they separated that winter.

"Ryu told me everything. I'm going to talk to father and try to make it so you're engaged to me instead," Syaoran told her boldly, causing her to drop her brush and whip around to face him.

"Don't you dare," she snapped angrily.

"What? Why?" Syaoran asked, shaking his head in confusion. Wouldn't this be something she wanted, or at least better than marry the scum he had for a brother.

"I heard you. When Dina was asking you why she should take you back, you told her I was nothing. You told her I meant nothing. You told her I was quick fix; that you needed to satisfy your carnal desires while you were away at school. But then, you realized there was no one like her. You took her to meet your family. You told her that you never loved me the way you loved her. You told her I was a toy. You told her you grew tired of me," she spoke every word carefully; words that ran through her head every night when she could be alone with her thoughts.

"Sakura…" Syaoran began, not knowing where to start, his face pale, never knowing she had heard those lies he told his ex-girlfriend.

"I gave you everything. But it was never enough. Now, you'll never have me. You'll watch me marry your brother, you'll watch me take over the Li Clan with your brother, and you'll watch me raise children with your brother. I'll be your sister, you'll never escape seeing me and him together," Sakura told him evenly, meeting him the eye so he knew she played no games; so he knew this was real.

"Who are you?" Syaoran asked, his face twisting up in a mixture of bewilderment, shock and rage.

"I am Sakura Kinomoto. And I will never be yours," she told him a deathly quiet tone.

"Mark my words," he sneered at her, grabbing her roughly by the upper arm. "I will die before I let him have you."

"I am not a prize to be won," she all but shouted at him and she snatched her arm back.

"Maybe not. But you will be mine. You and I talked of a family together. You may not want to have one with me any longer, but you sure as hell won't have one with him," were his last words before he stalked out of her room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"How did we get here? I thought I knew you so well," Sakura whispered to herself. "Who have you become?" She asked the reflection in the mirror.

End Notes:

Dina - Syaoran's ex
Kenji - Sakura's ex

Some people might ask how Touya didn't get into any legal trouble for putting Kenji into a coma. It was basically an eye for an eye situation. If Sakura won't press charges (it's not something she wanted to do), then Kenji's parents won't press charges on his behalf. Plus since Kenji would be an adult, it would be all mixed up since he didn't anticipate getting put into a coma and didn't leave any legal action notes.