Chapter 9

“What's wrong?”

“Did you and Kris have a fight?”

Chen dropped his head in embarrassment as his two friends rushed over to him. Chanyeol wrapped his arms around him and he leant his head against his shoulder.

“Can I stay with you tonight?”

“Of course.”

He slipped out of Chanyeol's grip and crawled onto the bed where he could lie down. His friends followed him in concern, Baekhyun lying in front of him while Chanyeol wrapped himself around him from behind.

“Tell us what's wrong,” he said in a soft voice. He felt a little pleasure at the way Chen's eyes fell shut at the low, intimate tone but immediately reprimanded himself for losing focus so easily.

“Kris is in heat.”

“Oh.” Baekhyun looked confused. “Then why are you in here with us?”

“He doesn't let me be with him when he's in heat,” Chen whispered. His cheeks flushed and Chanyeol couldn't help but lean over to kiss one of them. He didn't dare glance at Baekhyun.

“Why not?” he asked.

“He's worried that he'll lose control and hurt me.”

“What about when you're in heat?” asked Baekhyun.

Chanyeol's stomach tightened at the thought of it. Chen shifted against him and shook his head.

“He gets Lay to cool me down until it's passed.”

“And when he's in heat, too?”

Chen shrugged. “Or he finds someone else. I don't know.”

“I'm sure he doesn't,” Baekhyun reassured him. He reached over to squeeze Chen's hand and didn't let go. Chanyeol watched with a little smile. They were adorable together.

“It's not fair,” Chen whined in sudden frustration. “I'm his mate, I should help him with it. He never lets me and when I'm in heat I want to...” He broke off in embarrassment.

“We know, sweetie.” Chanyeol wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him closer. Chen pressed back against him, enjoying the comfort and the alpha's physical presence.

“He shouldn't worry about stuff like that,” Baekhyun said, sharing some of Chen's irritation. “Chanyeol's never hurt me when one of us has been in heat. I'm sure Kris wouldn't either.”

“I agree.” Chanyeol's voice was almost a growl. “He's being stupid.”

Chen pouted. “He thinks I can't handle it. Is it really that different in heat?”

He looked up when neither of his friends answered and found them exchanging a look. Baekhyun caught his eye and gave a little shrug.

“It's hard to say. We don't know what it's usually like for the two of you.” He gave a nervous laugh. “Sometimes things can get a little out of control but you love each other so I'm sure he would never hurt you.”

Chen shivered as Chanyeol's hand ran up and down his arm soothingly. He felt his breath flutter at the hair at the top of his neck.

“Don't worry about it,” he said in that low voice again. “We'll look after you tonight. I'm sure you'll have when you're in heat at some point, and it'll be amazing.”

Chen glanced back and him, blinking rapidly. He wasn't so sure that Chanyeol was talking about his boyfriend at that moment but before he could think about it any further he felt Baekhyun press up against him.

“Let's go to bed,” he said with a sweet smile. “You'll feel better in the morning. Kris is just a .”

Chen gave a tight smile and let Baekhyun pull him off the bed and out of Chanyeol's warm embrace.

Tension had hung in the air in Tao and Suho's newly shared room since Tao had finished unpacking earlier that day. Suho had told him to put his things wherever he wanted and then excused himself to go and make food because surely Tao would be hungry when he was done. Kai and Kyungsoo had helped since Kyungsoo was moving his things out too but as soon as they were gone the dorm fell quiet.

Suho had showered for longer than necessary and said nothing to Tao as they passed in the hallway outside the bathroom when he finally emerged. By the time he was lying down in bed, though, he was starting to feel a little bit silly.

Tao crept into the room like he was trying to make himself look smaller than he was. He padded quietly over to the far bed and get under the covers. Only the small lamp by Suho's bed still cast some light into the room but he didn't switch it off. Taking a deep breath, he slipped back out of his bed and crossed over to Tao, who had his back to him.

“Tao?”

He started and looked over his shoulder. Suho sat by him on the edge of the bed.

“Can we talk?”

“Okay.”

He cleared his throat and forced himself onwards. “About that night at the beach house...”

“It's okay,” Tao answered quickly. “We don't have to talk about it. I was in heat, that's all.”

“No, it's not that.” Suho laid a hand on Tao's hip and even though he saw the surprise in Tao's eyes he didn't move it. He wanted to be comfortable with him like this again.

“I just didn't plan for things to go like that.”

“I understand,” Tao whispered. “When you weren't there in the morning I figured it out pretty quick. We can just pretend it didn't happen.”

“No,” Suho answered so quickly that he even surprised himself. His cheeks flushed red. This conversation wasn't going how he had wanted it to.

“Tao, I don't want to forget it but I shouldn't have taken advantage of you. That's why I've been avoiding you, I'm sorry. I thought you would feel bad about it afterwards.”

Tao pulled himself up a little and leant back on his elbows. “W-why?”

“Because you were in heat and we hadn't talked about it. I should have controlled myself better.”

“But we're packmates. Aren't we supposed to… bond?”

“I don't want you to think you can't say no to me just because I'm your alpha, though.”

Tao actually smiled at that. “We're really bad at this, aren't we?”

Suho lowered his head and picked at his fingernails. “I just don't want to hurt you. You… you mean a lot to me, Tao.”

He saw Tao's throat bob from the corner of his eye as he swallowed. “You mean a lot to me, too,” he whispered. “But it hurt when I woke up and you weren't there.”

Suho looked up at him with a pained expression. That was the last thing he had wanted.

“So, maybe next time, if there is a next time, just don't leave?”

The alpha smiled softly. “Do you want there to be a next time?”

Tao bit his lip and shifted under the covers. His eyes flicked up and back down again shyly. He nodded, making Suho's heart flutter nervously for a second.

“Me too,” he admitted.

Tao's grin widened and he shuffled over in the bed to make space for his alpha. “Can you stay here tonight?” he asked. “I've missed being able to talk to you.”

With his stomach in an excited knot, Suho leant over and gave him a chaste, friendly kiss. “I've missed you, too,” he said, only realising then just how much he meant it.

readerwriter asked for  some SuTao so here you go, hope you liked it.

I think Chanyeol is going to have to make a move on ChenChen soon before I explode.