the homecoming bet//a cardcaptor sakura fanfic

ʀᴇᴀʟʟʏ ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ ʏᴏᴜ

If a girl really loves you, she won't try to change your mind.

It was a soft sentiment of wisdom shared by his mother, before the conference calls and the work drama. She had to be right, of course, who better to share the workings of a woman than the most headstrong one Syaoran knew?

Sakura didn't even look at him-not once-for the whole day, absently drawing juicy stars with the ink of her gel pen. Mrs. Nakano had collected the make-up work that morning, a sour reminder of what could have been.

Meiling had enjoyed her time in his bed, insisting they shared regardless of whose house they were in. They didn't do, well, any of that stuff, but they almost got close one time when she had ambushed him when he got out of the shower Saturday morning. She had cried especially hard when they were to part for school.

It had barely worked, but just enough, when he had tried to give her a piece of his mind for his own peace of mind, explaining to her how she was being invasive and how he had never consented to a relationship. She simply stuck up he nose and harumphed away, checking behind her to see if it was just a lapse of judgment or a mild frustration through their -in her mind-perfectly charted course.

Was he even worth fixing? He wondered.

---------

School ended abruptly- too abruptly for Sakura, who was caught in a daydream at the time of the sharp sound of the bell that pierced through her eardrums. Perhaps doing some gymnastics on the field would help her blow off some steam.

And so she cartwheeled in the afternoon sunshine, letting her skirt splay out as she landed with deep thuds onto the grass. 

A tall figure appeared behind the glare; one that disappeared with a squint. "Sakura?"

"Syaoran?" She fell from the handstand she held.

"Sakura, I-"

"I'm sorry, you don't have to forgive me-" She sputtered. Her eyes were rueful as her gaze fell upon him. Devoid of a plan, Syaoran walked a step or five closer. His hands met her waist abruptly, his hazel eyes in contact with hers. Realizing that he has fully committed to this decision, he pressed his lips to hers gently before Sakura could even register.

"Thank you, Sakura." She swayed in his arms, trying not to cry right then and there. She leaned in, returning the experience as the sun began to fall in the distance. Syaoran embellished the moment with his heart, fully embracing her kiss.

So at last he found out;

Sakura's lip gloss really does taste like bubblegum.