“You want me to do what now?”

All week, you’d been looking forward to tonight. Not that you hadn’t also had casual lunch dates and a spare five minutes here and there to spend with Tao over the past few days when you weren’t in class or working. But you’d worked yourself up into this mindset that Tao was over the top with all his more official dates and you couldn’t wait to see what he had up his sleeve for you next. Would it be just as romantic and intimate? Or would it be something thrilling and adventurous? Or maybe something more simple, yet just as memorable. Whatever it was, you were getting to spend uninterrupted time with Tao and that was going to be the best element of your evening.

However, your assumption that the date would be happening after school seemed perfectly reasonable. Not during the time you were supposed to be in class. But there was Tao, standing in front of you in the courtyard, trying to convince you to skip your last few classes of the day.

He gave you a look that read as playfully contentious. “It’s not a big deal, (y/n). It’s just starting the weekend a little early.”

“But it’s class,” you argued. “You know, the thing you pay to attend.”

“You’ve really never skipped?” he laughed.

You clamped your jaw shut before mumbling, “No.” It didn’t seem very logical to you to not go to class unless you were sick. Even that had been a struggle to stay home.

“Then your first time will be with me.” A large grin spread across his lips, giving you an uneasy feeling in your stomach. What did he have planned for you?

Grabbing your hand, Tao pulled you away from the buildings you were supposed to be entering for class and headed straight for the parking lot. You weren’t really fighting his grip, a sense of thrill drowning out the anxiety.

As he zoomed out of the parking lot and into the street, you didn’t bother to ask where you were headed. He wouldn’t tell you anyway. you still clung your backpack that was resting in your lap as if you were being tracked by the dean, like Ferris Bueller. Granted, you were an adult and could choose not to attend class if you wanted to. It wasn’t like they took attendance or anything.

The upside, at least, was that you didn’t have any tests or major assignments due today. To be honest, though, you had a feeling Tao would still be able to talk you into not going if you did. With him, the tiny, shriveled up rebellious part of you started peeking out from the covers it usually hid under.

When Tao parked the car in one of the designated spots off the main street, you were more confused than ever. This was the shopping district, mixed with unique shops and high end stores. You went through different scenarios as to why you were here, but came up empty on a good explanation.

“What are we doing?” you asked as you got out of the car.

“I need a new jacket,” was his answer.

What?

Tao took your bag and threw it in his trunk for safekeeping before leading you into one of the expensive stores you usually avoided. The associates on duty greeted the two of you, giving the typical “let me know if you need anything” spiel before wandering off. You stood there awkwardly while Tao searched through the coats, occasionally pulling one out, inspecting it, and shaking his head as he put it back.

After ten minutes or so, he turned to you. “Aren’t you going to look?”

You raised an eyebrow at him. “Why would I?”

“I want you to like it, too,” he replied.

Seriously? “Why does it matter if I like your jacket or not?” From what you could tell of his past outfits, the two of you had different tastes in the way of clothing items. “It’s your clothes. My opinion isn’t that important.”

He went back to looking through the jackets. “Because I’ll get you one, too. Whatever I get, you’ll get one, too.”

You snorted. “Like… matching jackets?”

Glancing at you, Tao actually looked a little offended. He huffed, stepping away from the rack, and put his hands on his hips as as he stared at you. “Is there something wrong with that? Showing you off? Shouldn’t everyone know that you’re my girlfriend?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Girlfriend?” You were completely stunned. This felt… fast. Very fast. “When did we have that conversation?”

“I didn’t realize that was a conversation we had to have,” he replied a little arrogantly. “Do you not want to be in a relationship with me?”

“W-well, it-it’s not that,” you stammered. This was such an inappropriate place to have a conversation like this. “I thought… you know… that we’d go on a few more dates before labelling us like that. Shouldn’t you make sure that you actually want to be stuck with me?”

Tao apparently didn’t like your argument. Closing the gap between you, he took your hand, maintaining eye contact with you. It was amazing how quickly his sharp eyes could turn soft. “I already know that I want to be with you. But if you need more time, I understand. I’ll… try to be patient.”

Damn it. Why did he have to be so smooth? You were such a er for this boy. All it took were a few slick words, a soft touch of his hand, and suddenly you were puddy. Besides, you knew where you wanted to go with this. Was a label that big of a deal?

You sighed, staring at the racks of overpriced polyester before looking back up at him. “Does it have to be something as obvious as jackets?”

The smile that flashed on his face outshined the sun.

“Come on.” He nearly tore your arm out of it’s socket when he dragged you out of the store. Finally coming to a stop about a block away, he nodded towards a little knick knack store. “This better?”

You nodded happily as he led the way in.

Funny keychains and cellphone cases and other bobbles decorated the walls. The cashier behind the register looked up from his phone just long enough to wave at the two of you before going back to whatever was entertaining him before you showed up.

Immediately, you headed for the animal themed hats, taking one off the rack that looked like a koala and putting it on your head. You looked in the mirror as you pulled on the braided strings. Sure, it was a little childish, but this store was much more your speed. And everyone was allowed a little immaturity every now and again.

“Is that what you want instead?”

You laughed when you turned to answer Tao. He’d put on the panda-themed hat on, taking his look down from runway model to little kid. The giggles coming out of you were nonstop. “You look so cute.”

Playing the part to a “T”, Tao held up a peace sign and posed in a cute fashion that fit him all too well. That just made you laugh even harder until tears started to form.

Just then, his phone rang. Tao held up a finger asking you to wait for a second. “Hello?” For a minute, he didn’t say anything as he listened to whoever was on the other end of the phone. The cheerful features on his face slowly dissolved into shock and horror. “I’ll be right there.” In one swift motion, he pulled off the hat and tossed it back onto the rack before running out of the store.

“Tao! Wait!” You took off your own hat and followed out after him, barely catching him by the sleeve of his jacket before he could get in the car. “What’s going on? What happened?”

He ripped out of your grasp. “Nothing! I just have to go!”

Something bad happened, that much was obvious. “Can I help-”

“No! Just leave me alone!”

Shocked at his sudden change and harshness, you stepped back and watched with a hanging mouth as he sped away, tires squealing against the asphalt, leaving their mark as he disappeared down the street.

**

Tao could barely see as he broke several laws getting back to the farmhouse. It seemed like every few seconds he was wiping away tears with a swipe of his sleeve just so he wouldn’t accidentally run off the road. He slammed on the breaks just outside of the house, tearing up the grass in the process. He just left the keys after turning off the engine and ran the up the porch stairs. Shoving the door open, he tore through the house until he found a majority of the pack standing in the kitchen.

No one was talking. They were just scattered around the room, staring at nothing, arms folded across their chests. Junmyeon was sitting at the table, leafing through his old family book while Minseok groaned in pain. The injured wolf was lying on the dining table face down, Jongdae holding on his hand with an unstable stoic face. A deep gash ran diagonally across his back, the blood so dark, it was almost black.

“What happened?” Tao growled.

“The hunter,” Kris replied in an equally menacing voice. “They shot at Minseok while he was out running with Luhan, Kyungsoo, and Sehun. Something was on the arrowhead that’s infected the wound. We’re trying to figure out what it was.”

Scanning the room, Tao only counted eleven wolves, including himself. “Where is Luhan?”

“We’re not entirely sure,” Yixing sighed. He looked stressed, even more so than Junmyeon and Kris. He was always the one who’d patch them up, who took pride in his work. Not being able to help Minseok heal was obviously messing with his head. “He ran out of here before everyone else came back. We haven’t heard from him in a few hours.”

“Why hasn’t anyone gone to look for him?” If anything happened to Luhan… Tao needed to keep his cool before he started shaking. He wasn’t as good at keep his emotions in check and stopping himself from shifting when he got too upset.

“We don’t need anyone else disappearing,” Junmyeon sighed. “There didn’t seem to be any clothing scattered in the area, so we think he’s at least stayed in human form. If we don’t hear from him in another hour so, then we’ll go look for him.”

Tao hated that answer, but he figured the alpha was right. Looking for Luhan while they were all on edge wouldn’t do any good.

Evie and Ming were the only mates that were currently around. They were whispering amongst themselves, occasionally glancing at the table. Ji Yeon wasn’t around, which could only mean she didn’t know yet. There was going to be hell to pay once she did.

Unable to take the tension in the room anymore, Tao stormed out through the back door. He sat in the grass, arms folded on his knees as he tried to fight back the tears. Guilt was building inside him from leaving you behind with no explanation. It was a major fault of his, this one track mind. When Sehun called and told him that Minseok was injured and it wasn’t healing like it was supposed to, all he could think about was getting back here. And in the process, had abandoned you in downtown.

.

He still had your bag. You had to be pissed. Hopefully you’d understand, once Tao explained - in vague details since you didn’t know the whole truth yet. This was all too much at once and Tao felt like a giant foot was stamping down on him.

The grass next to him rustled. Tao barely glanced at Kyungsoo. The normally introverted member patted Tao’s back in an attempt to comfort him.

“He’ll be okay,” Kyungsoo said.

“I should have been there,” Tao declared through gritted teeth. Maybe he would have seen the arrow, pushed Minseok out of the way, and taken it himself.

“There’s nothing you could have done.”

Kyungsoo’s reply was straightforward and to the point. He wasn’t trying to sooth Tao’s pain or coddle him, simply telling him the truth. It didn’t really help Tao in the moment, but maybe he’d look back and appreciate it farther down the road.

“Tao? Kyungsoo?”

Both of them turned to see Jongdae standing just outside the door. “Junmyeon found the cure. But it’s going to take a while.”

“What do you mean it’ll take a while?” Tao asked.

“From what the book said, it looked like it’ll be a process to clean the poison out. Over a day or so.” He swallowed thickly. “Yixing thinks it won’t be pleasant, either.”

Minseok had to go through pain again? He had to be tortured again?

Jumping up to his feet, Tao hurried away. Away from the situation, away from the pain, away from reality.

“Tao!” Jongdae came jogging up just before he could hop back in his car. “Where are you going? We’re already missing Luhan.”

Tao shook his head. “I can’t stay here, Jongdae. I need her right now. I need her.”

More than understanding of what he meant, Jongdae nodded. “I’ll let the others know. Just keep us updated, please? And if you see Luhan, tell him to call. Okay?”

“I will. I promise.”

**

You were damn lucky that Tao had only put your school back in his trunk and not your purse as well. That at least left you with your keys and wallet. Still left with exactly zero answers as to why you were suddenly stranded outside a shop in the middle of the city, you checked the bus schedule and waited forty-five minutes for the bus to arrive so you could get back to the university. And you still had enough time to attend your last two classes for the day, even if you didn’t have any of your materials with you, it was still better than not attending at all.

Your sour mood didn’t relent even by an inch as you drove home. Walking into the empty house, you just went into automatica mode, heading straight into the kitchen to raid the fridge. After three rounds of going back and forth from fridge to and back to the fridge, you settled on just making yourself a sandwich and calling it good. Until a hankering for ice cream came over you. You figured given the events of the day, you’d earned a bowl. A large one, at that.

The sun was setting by the time you’d finished and cleaned up and you decided that maybe you should just go to bed for the night. Tomorrow, though, you’d be thinking of what to do the next time you saw Tao. Throwing something at him while demanded an explanation seemed like a good idea.

Now showered and in your sleepwear, you shuffled back to your bedroom, more than ready to crawl in between your covers. Before you could, however, a series of taps knocked against your window, jump starting your heart and pulling a yelp out of you.

Slowly, each step taking you ten seconds or so to take, you made your way over to the window and pushed the curtain out of the way just enough to see out of it.

“Tao?”

For a moment you just stood there, staring at the boy who had ditched you earlier and was now crouched down on the roof of your house just outside your bedroom window like this was some teen rom com. His eyes were rimmed red and there was no hint of his usual smile, cocky or otherwise. He motioned for you to open the window. You were tempted to just let the curtain fall back into place, but his eyes were what stopped you.

Throwing the window open, you stepped back and watched him climb into your room.

“Is the door broken?” you asked with a bite.

“I knocked,” he said simply. “I don’t think you heard me since you were in the shower.”

“How-” Oh, right. Your hair was wet. Crossing your arms, you went in the obvious direction for the conversation. “What are you doing here?”

“I-” Tao choked up, unable to give you the explanation you were wanting. Fresh tears spilled over his eyes and he fell to his knees, unable to hold back the sobs he must have been pushing back for a while.

You stepped up to him, unsure of what to do. You’d been there for Kendall plenty of times when she cried, but this was a new experience. As soon as you were within arms reach, Tao wrapped his arms around you, pressing his face into your stomach, soaking your shirt in seconds. Instinct told you to run your fingers through his hair. It was how you could let him know that - whatever it was that was going on - you were here for him.

A few seemed to help, to give him the comfort he was seeking. Tao straightened up enough for you to see his face. “I’m sorry. For leaving you.”

Your earlier anger was - not gone - but certain dissipated. “Just tell me what’s going on. Why did you leave so suddenly?”

“Minseok-” he sniffed. You knew that name. One of Tao’s “brothers” that he’d told you about. If you remembered correctly, he was one of the oldest ones. “He was hurt. Badly. They didn’t know if he would make it.”

“Oh, my god. I’m so sorry.” You pulled Tao back into a hug.

Pushing himself up to his feet, Tao sighed. “They said he’ll be okay. I hope they’re right. I just-” He stopped, shaking his head frantically as he squeezed his eyes shut. Something was tearing him apart. Was Minseok worse off than he was letting on? If the doctors said he was going to be okay, should he trust that?

You frowned. “You just what? You’re worried they’re wrong?”

Tao shook his head. “I just needed to see you.”

That line did you in. You buried your face in his chest, forgetting all the snarky lines you’d been coltimating all afternoon.

“Can I stay with you tonight?”

You nodded, the motion moving his shirt up and down. In a swift move, he picked you up and carried you over to the bed. He laid you down gently, kicked off his shoes, and held you close once he was settled on the bed as well.

Careful fingers brushed down your face as his breath tickled your nose. “Thank you,” he whispered. “And I’m sorry about earlier.”

“You were upset.” You gave him a slight smile. “Next time, though, instead of rushing off and yelling at me, maybe try and tell me what’s going on. I won’t be mad. I’ll understand.”

He nodded. “I promise.”

“Good.”

Humming in content, you shuffled in a little closer until there was basically no space between you. Tao was so warm that you were already drifting off. He was like a living heated blanket on a cold winter’s night. You hadn’t really been able to sleep with other people in the same bed in the past - is always made you anxious and hyper aware of their existence - but right now sleep was overtaking you easily.

You weren’t sure if it was your imagination, but just before you completely went under, you could have sworn you heard Tao softly singing to the tune of the song he’d played for you earlier in the week. Hopefully in the morning, you’d remember to ask him, because you wanted to hear the words he was trying to convey to you. Perhaps, something that he hadn’t been able to say directly to you yet. Whatever it was, it could wait. Right now, you were basking in being in his arms. It might not have been the Friday night you’d been imagining, but if you could be the one to comfort Tao in his time of need, it was worth it.