I'm so sorry this took so long.

I just didn't know what I wanted to happen but then I started writing absolutely adorable ing and I got inspired. lol

Enjoy x

Chapter 30

Everyone was a little on edge the next day after news of Xiumin's past and his argument with Luhan had spread. The rumour had also gone around that their leaders had confronted Changmin and given him an ultimatum but no one was talking about it directly.

At break neither Luhan nor Xiumin turned up to meet the rest of the pack as usual and it was too much to hope they were away somewhere talking things through. Kris had the worst of it in the lessons they shared together where neither seemed able to look at the other.

When Sehun arrived at the cafeteria he was almost relieved to see that Lay was the only one there. At least they could have a little peace and quiet before the awkwardness started again. He changed his mind almost instantly when he saw a long haired boy sit down with him.

Sehun stopped where he was and watched as Jeonghan laughed and smiled with his boyfriend only moving again when he left. He sat down next to Lay but didn't return his smile very enthusiastically.

“Was that Jeonghan?” he asked even though it obviously had been.

“Yeah, he just came over to see if I was feeling better.”

“He knows you are. He healed you.” He gave a little pout.

“He was just being friendly.”

“Guess so.”

Lay looked at his boyfriend from the corner of his eye, a little smile creeping onto his face. “I invited him to Baekhyun's birthday party,” he said casually. “You should get to know him a little better.”

“What? You invited him? I mean, ith Baekhyun okay that that?”

“Of course he will be. The more the merrier, right?”

“Thouldn't you have athked him firtht.”

Lay's grin grew and his eyes lit up. Sehun stared at him, his cheeks turning pink because he knew that he had heard it. He bit his tongue a little as if to punish it.

“Did you just lisp?”

“What? No!”

“Are you jealous?”

Sehun turned away and focused on his untouched food, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “Of courth… of course not.”

“Oh, baby!” Lay sounded delighted. He threw his arms around Sehun's neck and pulled him roughly closer. “You always lisp when you get all worked up.”

“Shut up,” Sehun whined, focussing very hard on how the words came out. He felt Lay kiss his head and tried not to smile.

“I love you so much,” Lay mumbled against his hair before releasing him. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“Promise?”

“Of course. Say you'll play nicely at Baekhyun's party?”

“What about my party?” Baekhyun chose that moment to slide into a seat opposite them with Chen and Chanyeol either side of him.

“I just invited Jeonghan's pack, is that okay? I know there's a lot of them but he did help heal me.”

Baekhyun waved a dismissive hand. “The more the merrier.”

Lay nudged his boyfriend who rolled his eyes in acknowledgement.

“I'm just worried about whether Luhan and Xiumin will have mad up by then.”

“No news about that so far,” said Lay. “Kyungsoo said Luhan wants to apologise though.”

“Then why hasn't he?”

“Maybe Xiumin isn't ready to listen,” suggested Chanyeol. “He's pretty upset about what Luhan called him.”

“That was harsh but he shouldn't have been keeping secrets like that,” Chen said. “It's not like Luhan hasn't had boyfriends keep things from him before.”

“It's different to when his ex cheated on him though.”

Chen just shrugged at Chanyeol's words. He understood his point of view but Luhan had been the first member of Kris's pack to really make him feel at home. He didn't like to see his trust being affected like this.

Seeing as no one wanted to get involved in any more arguments they wisely changed the subject but no one failed to notice that neither Luhan nor Xiumin turned up to join them at lunch.

Avoiding the rest of his pack, Xiumin had found a quiet spot outside to eat his lunch. He was half way back to class when he realised after fishing around in his bag for a good long while that he had forgotten his bottle of water and headed back. It was too hot in his maths class to do without and the bell wasn't due for a while yet.

He rounded the corner just as Luhan appeared. He stopped, not sure what to do.

“I thought you might be here,” said Luhan.

“You did?”

He nodded. They had eaten together there a few times in the past when they had wanted some quiet alone time but Xiumin hadn't even thought about that until now.

“I've been looking for you. Look, Xiumin, I wanted to say I'm sorry.”

“You are?”

“I shouldn't have said what I did yesterday, I was just surprised, that's all.”

“Must have been pretty surprised,” Xiumin muttered. He didn't step away when Luhan came closer but he did eye him warily.

“I felt terrible about it as soon as I said it but you didn't answer my calls and the others said I should give you some space.”

That was fair. Xiumin had been in no state to talk to him or anyone at all yesterday. He had barely managed to stumble through today so far with Luhan being in half his classes with him.

“It really hurt,” he admitted quietly.

“I know it did but you have to know I don't think of you like that even if… you are his… pet.” He seemed to struggle to say the word.

“I'm not his pet,” Xiumin replied. “I told you it was over.”

“It's not that easy though, is it? You still belong to him and it hurts that you didn't trust me enough to tell me about it.”

“It's not that I didn't trust you, I was just scared of how you would react. Which, apparently, I was right to be worried about.”

“You're still mad at me about it.”

“Yes. You don't get to just apologise for calling me a and expect me to forgive you. What happened with me and Changmin was the biggest secret of my life and you made me feel like I did something wrong.”

Luhan snapped his mouth shut to stop himself from saying anything terrible again. His hands tightened into fists for a moment until he had himself under control.

“You should have told us sooner,” he said stiffly. “Now we have no idea how Changmin's going to react. What if he won't give you up.”

“Kris and Suho said they would fight for me.”

“So you'll drag the whole pack into a fight and risk them getting hurt for your bad decisions.”

Xiumin was starting to feel dizzy. The sun was suddenly too hot, his mouth too dry. This apology of Luhan's wasn't really working out too well for him.

“It's not my choice,” he said shakily. “I thought you were apologising.”

Luhan seemed to remember himself suddenly. He sighed. “I am, sorry. I didn't mean what I said to you yesterday. I love you, Xiumin”

He forced himself to step forward and took his lover's hand. His free hand cupped Xiumin's jaw and tipped his head back so that he couldn't avoid his gaze.

“I love you but you've kept so much from me. I need some space, I think.”

“M-maybe that's for the best.” Xiumin needed to sort his own feelings out. He knew that he was in the wrong but Luhan's words still cut him deeply. His apology helped but the wound was still too fresh.

Even though it was his idea Xiumin's reply hurt Luhan. Did he want to be away from him? He didn't know.

“Just please… whatever you decide, tell me first, okay? You owe me that much.”

Blinking rapidly to clear the tears from his eyes Xiumin nodded. “I need to go,” he barely breathed, finding it hard to form words. He slipped out of Luhan's grasp, grabbed his water bottle and hurried away to class.

Later the evening, Xiumin lay frustrated on Chanyeol and Baekhyun's bed. He had gone straight there after dinner feeling strange. It wasn't long before he realised that he was in heat. It had come on so suddenly and nothing he did could keep his mind from wandering to the idea of having . His skin itched with the need to be touched and his hips rolled back and forth gently even as he fought to lay still.

With a frustrated growl he pushed himself up off the bed. He needed help and his own hand just wasn't going to cut it. At least it shouldn't be too hard to find someone who would be willing, especially with him so deeply in heat.

Who do you think Xiumin's going to find? There are lots of options and I'm not 100% on any of them yet.

Also, looking forward to Baek's birthday? And how adorable are ing? Ahhh, they're so cute!