Chapter 3

When he returned to the door with the grocery shopping Chanyeol found Chen sitting wrapped up in a blanket on the couch. He had it tugged up to his chin and was looking sleepily at the TV. Damn, he could be so cute sometimes.

“What's wrong?” asked Chanyeol as he came to a stop.

Chen swallowed and then said softly, because his voice would allow nothing more, “Throat.”

“Do you want me to call Lay?”

He shook his head. “I'll be fine.”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes affectionately. He knew exactly what Chen was doing. “Sweetie, if you're feeling sick he'll help you. There's no need to suffer.”

He shook his head again. “He looked really tired today and he already did it earlier but it wore off.”

“Already? That's unusual.” He threw Chen a grin and headed towards the kitchen. “Sehun must be keeping him awake too much.”

Chen smiled and snuggled back down. “He can only ease the pain anyway. He can't actually kill off whatever I've caught that's causing the sore throat so I may as well just live with it.”

“I got some stuff to make honey tea. I'll make it for you, okay?”

“Thank you.” Chen wiggled happily. “You're my hero.”

Chanyeol entered the kitchen smiling widely. He returned a short while later having unpacked the groceries and with a cup in hand. He blew on it gently and passed it over to Chen as he sat down.

“Careful, it's hot.”

Chen sipped and sighed in pleasure as the warm liquid soothed his throat.

“Better?”

He nodded. When Chanyeol eased him closer he went without protest and snuggled up against him, both hands wrapped around the cup. He loved Chanyeol's hugs. They made him feel so safe.

“Where are the others?” Chanyeol's voice was rough and deep as he leant against him.

“Baek's playing video games with Kai and Sehun, Kris is at Tao's watching basketball.”

Chanyeol ran his long fingers through Chen's hair and watched as his eyes fell shut. “They left you all alone, poor puppy.”

A little smile appeared on his friend's face. “It's okay. I've got you now.”

Chanyeol swallowed. He just couldn't stop being cute, could he? Little bastard. He kissed the top of his head and then paused. Shifting slightly, he nuzzled down Chen's neck breathing in his scent. He heard him giggle and felt him squirm in a way that made him want to pin him down. Without even knowing it Chen managed to bring out the dominant side in him

“What are you doing?”

“You smell like Baekhyun,” he replied in a low voice.

“I do? Oh, this is his t-shirt.”

Chanyeol breathed in the familiar scent, mixed in with Chen's own. Why did they have to keep borrowing each other's clothes? It confused his senses. A soft growl rumbled up before he could stop it.

“Is that okay?” Chen looked up at him worriedly and Chanyeol immediately relaxed his expression into something more soft and caring.

“It's fine, sweetie. You just rest.”

He guided Chen's head back against his chest and wrapped his arms round him securely.

It hadn't taken Kris long to notice that Tao's focus wasn't really on the game but he waited until it was over to say anything. Stretching a long arm over the back of the couch he turned to face him. His other hand fell affectionately to his knee.

“Tao, sweetie, are you okay?”

“I'm fine.”

“You've been quiet since we came back from the beach house. Has something happened?”

Tao looked at him in alarm. “No,” he answered automatically. “Why would you think that?”

Kris shrugged. “You just seem out of sorts, that's all.”

He looked away as if Kris would be able to read in his eyes what he had done with the other alpha. How he had moaned his name and given himself so easily. He had barely seen Suho since then. It was so stupid, he reminded himself, to think that he had done the wrong thing but Suho was sure acting like it had been a mistake. Why else would he not talk to him? They hadn't cheated on anybody. They were packmates. Packmates were supposed to have .

“Honey, tell me what's wrong.” Kris his knee soothingly and he felt his mouth tug downwards.

“It's nothing,” he said more quietly. “I'm just feeling lonely, I guess.”

“Oh, baby.” He kissed Tao's cheek and pulled him into a hug. He felt more than heard it when his packmate sighed. “I know everything's difficult right now but it will get better.”

“You've been saying that for months,” Tao grumbled. “We don't act like a proper pack at all. We're just friends who live together. I miss our pack.”

Kris felt his chest ache. He had thought they were doing the right thing uniting the two packs but it had only pulled his own packmates further apart. It was alright for those members who had a mate but Tao was alone. He had no one to naturally turn to anymore when he was in heat or just feeling lonely. Kris wanted to comfort him but the thought of Chen feeling unwell at home and wondering where he was stopped him. He couldn't just do what he wanted anymore. He and Chen weren't up to that stage yet.

“I miss it, too,” he admitted, “But we will get closer to each other. I'll talk to Suho and we'll be more… proactive about it, okay?”

He missed how Tao's body tensed a little at the sound of Suho's name. What was he going to tell him? Would Suho realise that Tao was feeling down because of him? He doubted it would make any difference. Suho had made it pretty clear that what had happened between them had been normal, packmate stuff brought on by Tao's heat. Nothing more. It didnt mean he cared about Tao or felt a special bond with him like Tao had thought he did.

Sitting up Tao swallowed down the lump in his throat and pretended not to notice the way his heart ached horribly. “Okay,” he said quietly. “I'm sure you're right.”

Kris kissed his cheek again but the simple affection from his alpha didn't make him feel better like it used to. It was the other alpha he wanted to be there with him now. He breathed in deeply and straightened up.

“Don't worry about me. I'll be fine,” he said, not believing a word of it.

Thank you for all the lovely new subs and comments on the last chapter *blows kisses*

By the way, the new roommate situation it like this.

Dorm 1: Suho, Kyungsoo, Lay, Sehun (because Suho wanted to keep an eye on Lay and Sehun, obviously)

Dorm 2: Kris, Chen, Chanyeol, Baekhyun (Pretty much the same as last time but Kris joined them)

Dorm 3: Xiumin, Luhan, Kai, Tao (With XiuHan being trusted to look after the maknaes even though they spend most of their time in bed instead)

xxx