Out of respect for your mother, Chanyeol slept out in the living room on the couch while you and Lon took your old rooms for the night. Part of you had hoped that Chanyeol would give into his instincts and come join you, but when you woke up in the morning, the extra space on your bed was still empty. You had to admire that boy’s self control.

Suddenly getting a craving for some good, old fashioned pancakes, you hopped out of bed and made your way to the kitchen.

Fast asleep and snoring away in dream land, Chanyeol was spread out on the couch that was several inches too short. One foot was dangling off the side and planted on the ground while his other knee was bent up at an uncomfortable angle. The blanket was tossed down on the floor like it’d been thrown off sometime in the night.

Smiling to yourself, you picked up the blanket and started to lay it back over Chanyeol. Apparently, he wasn’t as asleep as you thought he was. Or maybe he was just that sensitive to your presence. Either way, his arms lifted up and encased you in his embrace, causing you to lie on top of him until he flipped over to his side, squishing you between his body and the back cushions of the couch.

“Chanyeol,” you grumbled, trying to wiggle out of his ironclad vise. As nice as his warmth was, your stomach was roaring at you to feed it.

At your attempt to get away, Chanyeol growled, pulling you in closer to him.

Fine.

Angling your arm as best as you could, your cold fingers found a little patch of skin under his shirt near his hip bone. Then you pinched down hard. When that didn’t work, you – albeit a little guiltily – added in your nail.

At the sharp pain, Chanyeol yelped, letting you go as he flung himself off the couch. He landed on the floor with a hard crash, vibrating the floor. He looked up at you with pouty lips.

“Sorry,” you giggled. “But I’m hungry and you wouldn’t let me go.”

He perked up at the mention of food.

Shaking your head, you slid off the couch and headed into the kitchen. Everything you needed to make breakfast was stored exactly where it had been when you left all those years ago. Your mother was a creature of habit, meaning you didn’t have to waste time in finding all the ingredients and could get straight to work.

Chanyeol kept his distance, standing a good ways away as he leaned on the counter and watching you work your magic. His manners and over awareness that he was a guest in your mother’s house was a little frustrating. A few times you caught him closing his eyes and sniffing the air. He even hummed in satisfaction. Your own mouth was watering in anticipation.

Lon came shuffling into the kitchen when you were close to being done with the first batch of pancakes and bacon.

“How come you never make this at our place?” he whined.

You rolled your eyes. “Why would I make them just for you?”

Lon grumbled unintelligibly under his breath as he helped himself to a plate of the now semi-warm pancakes. He slicked on the butter and poured more syrup than any one person needed before sitting down at the table. Chanyeol hadn’t moved to make his own plate, still keeping his eyes on you.

“Go ahead,” you pointed towards the food. “Eat it before Lon gobbles it all down.”

Chanyeol shook his head. “No, I’m okay. I can wait for you.”

You glared at him. “Chanyeol, just eat.”

“He’s not going to until you’ve eaten, remember?” Lon butted in through a mouthful of pancake.

Glancing over at your wolf, he stood there sheepishly, keeping his own eyes down at the hardwood floor.

As the assistant chef to your mother and then the head cook once you got older, you were used to being the last one to actually sit down and partake in the meal. It made you feel a little… giddy to finally not be the one scramble for the scraps. When there are wolves in the family, whatever was on the table would only last five minutes or so. Why they needed to eat so damn much was well beyond your scope of knowledge.

Feeling generous, you slipped the last batch of freshly cooked pancakes onto a separate plate before picking up some for yourself. You held the fresher plate out for Chanyeol. “Here.”

To your surprise, he shook his head, instead swiping the colder plate from your hand, leaving you with the hot ones.

“Um, you’re supposed to take these,” you wiggled the plate at him.

“No,” Chanyeol said stubbornly. “You eat those. You made breakfast, you should get the hot ones.”

“Just take them,” you growled, gritting your teeth.

“No.”

“Chanyeol.”

“No.”

“Just do it.”

“No.”

The plate disappeared from your hand, but it was neither Lon nor Chanyeol who stole it away.

You mother, still in her PJs and a shawl wrapped around her shoulders, sat next to Lon at the table, acting as if there was nothing strange about the fact that she just took the plate meant for your mate and started eating.

Chanyeol was the one who laughed first. He tried to hold it back, but soon it bubbled up and boiled over. You stared in fascination as he clapped along with his laughter before leaning onto the counter and slappin the surface. His actions were as if the funniness of the situation had taken over his limbs and were just flailing them everywhere to get rid of the extra energy.

It was infectious, his laughter, and soon you, too, were bent over with tears forming in your eyes.

When you finally were able to breath again, you found yourself in Chanyeol’s arms. His chest was still vibrating on a small volume from his laughter. Looking up at him, Chanyeol took the opportunity to kiss you, keeping it PG since you were still in the presence of your family.

“It wasn’t that funny,” Lon mumbled.

Your mother just smiled as she continued to eat.

Making up a plate of the last of the pancakes, you and Chanyeol sat down to join your family.

Out of the corner of your eye, you watch how Chanyeol didn’t even pick up his fork until you’d had at least three bites and even then, you had to take two before he would take his next one. It was silly, but mates eating before the wolves was an old tradition reinforced by instincts to protect and take care of their mate. There would be times where your father wouldn’t eat until your mother had had two plates cleaned off. You thought it was a little much, but you would take it in stride as long as you were able to use your own fork and feed yourself.

“So,” your mom sighed, putting her fork down on her empty plate. It made you feel better that she was able to finish what was in front of her. “How did you two meet?”

You choked on the food in your mouth. That was not the conversation you expected her to start.

“At a fair,” Chanyeol answered.

The look you gave him was one of confusion. “No, we didn’t. We met at Kris’ shop.”

Chanyeol shook his head, turning his face to you fully. “No, that’s when we first spoke. I first saw you at the art festival. And you saw me, too. After Tao got scolded for flirting with you.”

“Yeah, I remember.” You’d taken one look at him and ran the other way, knowing exactly what that feeling in your chest was indicating. “I wouldn’t count that as meeting, though.”

He just shrugged. “I do.”

At the gushy way he said it, you rolled your eyes.

“You two are in for an interesting future,” your mom mused. “Opposites are always an unpredictable mix. There’ll be hard times ahead, but you’ll get through them. Just trust each other.”

“Okay, Mom,” you giggled. “When did you become Grandmother Willow?”

She simply shook her head. “Just make sure not to fight in front of the children.”

“Mom!”

You were absolutely horrified. Chanyeol’s entire face had turned red, all the way to his ears. Even Lon looked a little ill at your mom’s sudden comment.

To your mom, though, it was a natural thought process.  “Of course, that won’t be for a while.”

“A very long while,” you insisted. Chanyeol’s mouth was struggling not to split into a large smile. You nudged him hard with your elbow, digging the bone into his arm.

He whined, pouting out his bottom lip. “Ow! What was that for?”

“Stop thinking about it,” you demanded through gritted teeth. “That won’t happen for an extremely long time.”

Shoulders slumped, Chanyeol nodded. You scoffed, mostly to keep yourself from laughing.

“It’s only natural,” your mom reminded you.

Huffing, Lon pushed his plate away from him. “There goes my appetite for a second helping.”

You kicked him under the table, making him hiss.

With a frail hand, your mom patted his shoulder before standing up out of her chair.

“Do you need help with anything, Mom?” you offered.

She smiled at you over her shoulder. “No, I’m fi-”

Before she could convince you with her small, two worded lie, she collapsed to the floor on her knees, clutching her chest where her heart was.

“Mom!”

You ran to her side, pushing the hair away from her face and keeping her steady. Sweat beaded  all over her forehead and her breathing was shallow, raggedy, and uneven.

Lon rushed over and scooped her up into his arms. “Call Markus. I’ll take her to the hospital.”

You couldn’t say anything, just nodding as you watched the two of them disappear out the front door. Moving was impossible. Chanyeol came up behind you and helped you back up to your feet.

“I’ll call Markus,” he volunteered. “What’s his number?”

Your hand was shaking as you pointed to the list of emergency numbers your mom still had on the fridge. Using his own cell, Chanyeol got ahold of Markus and explained to him what had happened. Not even five minutes later, Markus was at the house. It took both of the wolves to coax you out to Markus’ car you were so rigid and disoriented.

In the back seat, Chanyeol held onto you quietly, rubbing your arms up and down and kissing your forehead, anything he could think of that would help comfort you. It didn’t truly work, but you accepted it. Without it, you might have fallen apart completely.

By the time you reached the hospital, Lon was in the waiting room with head hung low. He explained to Markus that they took your mom in for some tests. There was no word on how how long the tests would take or many there would be. Only time would tell.

You settled into a haze sort of state, sitting that chair in the hallway, staring at nothing. There was no reaction when Chanyeol took your hand. Every sound was just a monotone hum in the background.

It was several hours before you were allowed to actually see your mom in her room. After all the tests and every avenue explored, the doctors had no hope. This was it.

You were terrified to walk through that door. Lon and Markus entered with no hesitation. The latter kept his distance, letting your brother take his rightful place by your mom’s beside. Taking that step to cross the threshold from the hallway to the foreboding room was nearly impossible. That would be accepting the truth.

Tubes and wires monitored your mom’s vitals and helped keep her alive. This was not how you wanted to remember her. This was not the imagine you wanted to hold on to. You wanted to remember the woman who had been smiling at the table just this morning, making the typical, inappropriate mother-type comments. That was the truth of her, the real her.

Turning around, you tried to run, but Chanyeol blocked your path.

“You’ll always regret it,” he whispered, even though your refused to look at him. “If you leave now, you’ll never forgive yourself.”

He was right. You wished that he wasn’t, but he was.

With his help, you managed to walk into the room. Markus brought over one of the spare chairs so you could sit next to the bed. Your mom’s hand was cold when you picked it up and pressed it against your cheek. She didn’t move or open her eyes. At least, she seemed at peace.

No one spoke. The only sound was the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor in the background. The solemn atmosphere never let up. And you knew… that this was where it would end….

**

It was a perfect day for a funeral.

Yes, it was a very morbid thing to think while you stood there under the umbrella the Chanyeol clutched to as the sky cried along with you. Pit-pat, pit-pat, pit-pat, pit-pat.

The tears that fell from your eyes weren’t the loud kind. They fell silently, almost invisible thanks to raindrops that hit your face with the slight wind.

Every member from Markus’ pack was there to pay their respects to your mother. She was well loved among them all. Everyone would miss her kind and generous heart. A giant hole would be left in the world, now that your mother was gone.

It still didn’t seem real. Like at any moment, she’d come walking along the grass in between the tombstones, wiping away your tears as she cooed at you that everything would be alright. But she wouldn’t magically appear that way. Even with the lid closed, it couldn’t be denied that she was resting inside the casket as the priest spoke over her, offering the final goodbye.

When he finished, he motioned to Lon and you. Stepping forward and out from under the protection of the umbrella, you laid down the yellow dahlia that you’d been holding onto the whole time as the rain soaked your hair, shoulders, and back. Dahlias were your mother’s favorite flowers and it felt right to lay them down with her instead of the traditional roses.

The procession of mourners started, giving you their condolences before they were allowed to leave the depressing area. Chanyeol was by your side the whole time, making sure you knew that he was there for you to lean on the whole time. Even though he’d only met your mother the one time, you found that he, too, had tears to shed for her absence.

Once almost everyone was gone, Lon turned to you with a heavy sigh.

“I’m going to stay for the next few days and help Markus pack up some things in the house. Just some stuff that can be donated. Mom would want that. And then… then I’ll come back to my things from the apartment before settling in the house. I’ve already told Markus that I want to join the pack and the others have agreed.”

You nodded. It was only right. You were just happy that Lon was going to keep the house. Not that you would agree to selling it anyway, but it was better that it didn’t stay empty.

“You can keep the apartment, if you want,” he continued. “I’ll pay the rent. I know you won’t move back up here with me, but that’s okay. Mom wouldn’t want you to leave anyway.”

All you think to answer with was a shrug. You didn’t want to go back to that apartment where you’d be all alone. What was the point of staying there? Your brother was the only reason for that place. But where else could you go?

Markus called Lon over to speak with him about something that you didn’t catch, leaving you alone with Chanyeol.

“Do you want to stay in the apartment?” he asked out of the blue.

You looked up at him, confused. “I don’t really have anywhere else to go. I mean, besides my parent’s house. But I don’t want to move back here.”

“You could always move into the farmhouse,” he suggested so quietly at first you weren’t sure if that’s what he’d actually said.

“What?”

With his hand that wasn’t holding onto the umbrella, he scratched the back of his head. “We’ve got plenty of room. I mean, there are twelve of us, so it may be too crowded for you, but at least then you wouldn’t be by yourself. I’d get it, though, if you didn’t want to. It won’t hurt my feelings.”

Throwing yourself at Chanyeol, you buried your face into his chest. It was silver lining on this dark, dark day. “Thank you.”

He rubbed your back, resting his cheek on your head. “I’ll take that as a yes?”

You nodded, face still pressed up against him.

Chanyeol pushed you back gently, cupping your jaw with his hands. He pressed his lips against your forehead. You knew that he was elated that you’d be moving in with him, staying in his home and sleeping next to him every night, but he was keeping his own happiness inside, knowing that this was just a side note on today.

In too short of a time, your life had been completely up ended, distorted, and insanely rearranged. Not having your brother right by your side was going to be difficult.  You’d leaned on him as your support your whole life. But now it was time for the two of you to go your separate ways. As siblings, you would always have each other, even with distance in between you. If something major were to happen, you knew that you could run to him and he’d be there.

For now, you had to let him go and head down your own path. Your hand wouldn’t be empty, though. Chanyeol would walk beside you, helping you along when you needed it and stepping back when you needed him to as well.

As you said goodbye to your mother one last time, you reminded yourself to only remember the amazing childhood she gave you. Life was unfair and had it’s up and downs. That’s all your story consisted of. But your mother helped you write your story, guiding your pen and steering you back when you got off track, and for that, you would always be grateful.