• Two months, three weeks, and four days passed since Syaoran talked to Sakura. Each time he saw her walk down the hall way he’d turn and head another direction . He just couldn’t face her. Not after what had happened.

    Flashback:

    It was the end of a long evening at one of Horitsuba Gakuen’s seasonal dances. Watanuki, Himawari, Domeki, Kobato, Syaoron, Eriol, Tomoyo, and many others had left already. Fai-sensei and Kurogane-sensei, the lovely chaperones, began cleaning up the mess the crazy teens had left for them. Yuuko-sama helped escort some kids back to their dorms. Few stayed behind so as to have more “quality time” with their dates.

    Sakura sat in one of the empty chairs, “ Did you have fun, Syaoran-kun?” She smiled at her date, causing his heart to beat many times faster than normal.

    Trying to swallow down the lump in his throat, he meekly replied, “H-hai.” His cheeks flushed bright red.

    Fai-sensei waved his hand at them, “Syaoran-kun. Sakura-chan. It‘s time to get back to your dorms! Hyuu…”

    They both nodded and headed towards the gym’s double-door exit. Sakura turned to Syaoran once they got outside.

    “Thanks for taking me, Syaoran-kun.” She leaned in towards Syaoran, her eyes slowly closing. Syaoran began panicking, so, not knowing what to do he… ran away.

    :End Flashback

    He banged his head on his locker. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.” He couldn’t have just kissed her? I mean that’s what she wanted right? No one leans in, with their lips puckered and eyes closed, without wanting a kiss. Ugh! He was such a moron.

    Even if it had almost been three months since he just couldn’t get over the fact that he messed up his chances with his dream girl.

    The summer seemed to drag on, not to mention today was his birthday. The stench of one of his twin’s crazy plans brewing filled the air. Although today was both his and Syaoron's brithday, his twin prefered to throw his own parties rather than get one from someone else. Syaoran grabbed some things from his locker and shut it, class had been done with for a month or so now, but the summer work seemed to pile and keep students that lived on campus busy.

    “Syaoran!” He turned at his name and saw Syaoron running towards him at full speed. Bracing for a forceful impact, Syaoran fell to the ground as Syaoron tackled him.

    “Happy Birthday to us, little brother!” Syaoron helped his sibling up then tugged his arm. “C‘mon, can‘t let the people wait too long.” He dragged a confused Syaoran out of the school building into the Horitsuba town.

    “Waiting? Who? What?” Tried as he might Syaoran knew he wouldn’t get any answer from his captor until it was too late.

    He took Syaoran into the Cat’s Eye Café, where they were bombarded with ‘Happy Birthdays’ , ‘Surprise!’ and confetti. Syaoran couldn’t help but smile. Watanuki came out holding a beautiful chocolate cake that read "Happy Birthday Twins!!". Just the sight of it made the Li twins drool with desiring hunger.

    Syaoran tore his eyes away from the cake for a moment when he felt someone’s gaze on him. He looked around and saw Sakura’s emerald eyes stare into his amber ones. She blushed and looked away, disappearing into the crowd. After he and Syaoron blew out the candles and cut the cake, people scattered away, enjoying themselves with the music or food.

    When he saw her again she was alone, sitting in a corner, looking dejected and miserable. A frown never suited her and he desperately wanted to cheer her up.

    But he just couldn’t face her. Humiliation still lingered in his mind. He turned and walked outside, when Syaoron asked where if was going he only replied, “To get some fresh air, that‘s all.”

    The sun shined brightly above his head, he sighed, closing his eyes. He heard the door swing open then close but didn’t bother to check who it was.

    Then a quiet tiny voice came from behind him. “Don‘t you…. like me, Syaoran-kun?…. Did I do something wrong?”

    He twisted around to face her but stayed silent.

    Tears stung her eyes, “I‘m sorry if I did.”

    “You didn‘t do anything wrong.”

    “So then why have you been avoiding me like the plague!?” Her voice cracked and tears flowed down her cheeks. She stared down at her feet. “Syaoran, I like you. So much. But if I did something wrong at the dance I‘m so sorry. I don‘t want you to hate me.”

    A warm feeling wrapped around her. She looked up, Syaoran stood in front of her, his arms embracing her. “I could never hate you.”

    He pulled away and looked into her eyes. Slowly they leaned in, their lips were centimeters away from connecting. Their eyes shutting closed.

    Smooch. CLICK!

    “Kawaii!!” shrieked Tomoyo as she continued to film Sakura and Syaoran’s moment together. Eriol stood beside her, holding a camera, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Then they noticed that they were being watched not only by that strange duo but by nearly everyone else that was at the party.

    The couple blushed bright red.

    “TOMOYO-CHAN!!!” cried Sakura as she ran in to give her cousin a piece of her mind for interrupting their moment. Tomoyo ran away from her cousin’s wrath. Some watched the cousins run around the café while others went back to what they were previously doing.

    Syaoran chuckled. His cheeks cooled down and the red tint faded to a faint pink, “I love you, Sakura-chan. And maybe.... I can actually tell you that one day.” And with that he slipped back into the café.