Kris typed in the code to open his door and a clicking sound echoed through the empty hallway. He opened the door and entered. The apartment was completely dark. He took off his shoes and without looking he tossed them to the floor. 'I'll have to return the jacket Suho gave me as soon as possible', he thought while taking said jacket off and moving towards the living room. 'He left...' His heart weighed heavy in his chest and he rubbed over the aching spot in his chest with his flat hand. A sigh escaped him and he threw the thick winter jacket over the armchair.

"You were gone for a long time... "

Kris' head shot around and his eyes widened as he saw the shadow of a figure standing in front of the big windows in the living room and the familiar voice softly whispering through the apartment.

"T-Tao!?"

The figure moved closer and Kris' eyes scanned over the dark shadow of the hybrid standing a few feet away from him. He quickly reached out and fumbled over the wall until his fingers found the light switch. His eyes didn't leave Tao for a second, wanting to make sure he was really there. As he pressed the button a bright light flooded through the room. He watched as Tao flinched and pressed his hands to his eyes, hissing and turning away from the bright light of the lamp next to Kris. The elder mentally slapped himself for not thinking about the fact that cats were sensitive to light earlier and quickly pushed against the button again. The whole room turned black and Kris' vision immediately went blurry and he felt uncomfortably panicky as he didn't see a thing for a few seconds.

"Sorry", he whispered and let the outstretched arm fall to his side again, clawing his fingers into the fabric of his pants. 'Well... this is kinda akward...'

"Thanks", Tao mumbled.

Kris nodded and his eyes slowly grew accustomed to the dark. He registered the shadow still standing in front of him but didn't see clearly. He couldn't see Tao's expression at all and it made him feel a bit uncomfortable, he couldn't read him at all. Tao on the other hand let his eyes roam over Kris' face, vision sharp and clear in the dark. The usually so energetic, handsome man looked tired and exhausted and Tao's heart twisted as he thought that it was the cause of a longterm problem and not just what happened today. Him. 'How did I not notice the big puffy, dark circles until now...?' He hesitantly lifted his hand and grazed over Kris' cheek with his fingers. He observed how the elder flinched back and his heart ached.

"Sorry, I-"

"No! No, I just- I can't see... I was surprised."

"Oh... of course! Sorry."

Tao was glad the other didn't see his red cheeks. 'Of course he flinched. He can't see you, you idiot! Seriously, get a grip.' He cleared his throat and pulled his hand back to grab the hem of his pullover. Although Kris couldn't see it, he averted his eyes and bit his lip, hesitant to ask.

"Can- can we leave the lights turned off?", he whispered, so quietly Kris could only just hear it.

He shot a glance at Kris' eyes and the man looked at him with squinted eyes and a concentrated expression.

"Uhmm... sure. But can we sit down?"

"Ah, yes! Of course!"

The hybrid quickly turned and hurried towards the sofa. He stopped halfway and turned just in time to see Kris taking a few careful steps with his arms stretched out in front of himself and eyes extremely squinted, a concentrated expression on his face. Tao quickly covered his mouth with his hands as a giggle escaped his lips. The elder froze as he heard the sound and turned his head towards it.

"I know, I must look so stupid. Give me a second..."

Tao observed how Kris took a careful step and stopped again, looking around himself and turning towards the corourful lights of the city, shimmering through the big windows.

"Wait I- I'll help you."

Tao stepped closer and gently took each a hand in his. The man didn't flinch as much as before but he was still surprised as two soft, warm hands engulfed his cold ones and gently pulled him to the sofa. All he could do was follow Tao's lead and after a few seconds the warmth left his hands again and Tao gently pushed him on the sofa. He sat down with a thud and quickly grabbed the armrest to get back his balance. His eyes had now grown fully accustomed to the darkness and near the windows he could see a bit better. He followed Tao with his eyes as the other sat down next to him. His heart leaped in a painful way as he noticed the big distance between the two of them and ignored the urge to shuffle closer to the hybrid.

"Why... did you wait for me?", he whispered, voice raspy and akward.

The hybrid's head shot towards Kris and in the faint light he could see his eyes widen before the younger bit his lip.

"I- we have to talk."

Kris immediately banned the coldness from creeping in his mind and heart at the heavy words. 'Of course.'

"I- yeah. Listen, I-", he sighed and straightened his back, "I'm sorry. I know I've said it so many times already and- I don't know if you still believe me but I'm really, truly sorry Tao. I overstepped the boundaries and I completely overreacted at that. It wasn't- isn't my place to ask you things you don't want to talk about and pressure you into telling me. I shouldn't have ran away and I definitely shouldn't have been so cruel and dramatic. I- Tao... I'm really sorry."

He held his breath and tried his best to register every movement on Tao's face as much as he could in the dark. He couldn't figure out what the other was thinking.

"Tao...", he whispered, feeling his heart slowly grow empty and cold. "Please, I-"

"No."

Kris held his breath and stood up abruptly.

"I see. I'm sorry."

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I'm so sorry guys!! ( ≧Д≦)

I'm sorry I ended the 21st and 22nd chapter so weirdly... I think a lot of you where a bit upset and frustrated with how the story continued and I didn't update for a while which made it worse I think... :'( Please don't hate me! I'll update as much as I can and please don't be too upset and annoyed...

I'll do my best to keep the story going and make it better!

Thanks for reading and remember I always appreciate your comments and honest opinions!

Lots of love

Lisa <3