Kris turned his head, looking around. He’d never seen the school so empty before. Then again, he’d never been to school without Lay before. He was amazed at how long it took Lay to get ready. Without the other boy he’d been able to get a ride in with Umma on her way to work, explaining the emptiness of the building. He’d never been to school so early.

He couldn’t help but be amused at the fact that Lay had gotten sick. The boy always helping everyone else get better was a sniffly, achey mess through most of the weekend, and by the time Monday had come around he was too exhausted to even think about school.

Kris shook his head, absently wondering when everyone was going to get there. He paused, digging in his bag for his book. He’d almost finished all the ones Lay and Umma had gotten him, and he wasn’t sure what he was going to do when he did finish them. He’d already gone snooping through the house for books, but what they had were things that he had already read, or things that he had no interest in reading about, and he wasn’t sure he would be staying long enough to get a library card.

He was so lost in the thoughts of his dilemma he didn’t even open his book as he turned the corner, but when something - or rather, someone - slammed into his chest he decided maybe it was a good thing. Out of reflex, he caught the other person in his arms, but let go once they were stabilized, and he was getting ready to go off on the person when he caught the familiar puffy red eyes and shag of hair. Tao.

“What are you -” He started to ask, but Tao’s flair for hysterics came into play at that exact moment, and tears began cascading down his cheeks.

“I’m so sorry!” He said, an almost traumatized look on his face as he inspected Kris for injury. “I wasn’t looking where I was going - I didn’t even see you!”

“Tao. It's fine.” Kris said quickly, wanting the tears to stop. Instead, they increased.

“But what if I had hurt you?” Tao asked, and Kris sighed, reaching out to wipe the tears away without thinking.

“You didn’t, though.” Kris said, not missing the way the other’s lip was trembling.

“I'm sorry.” He choked out again, trembling from head to foot. Kris bit at his bottom lip, trying to figure out how to go about what he was about to attempt. He’d seen Xiumin and Luhan and even Lay, Baekhyun, Sehun, and Kai do it enough times.

“Come here.” He said, glad he had so much control over himself. He had never even tried to be this close to another person. Not in his memory, anyway.

“Huh?” Tao said, clearly surprised, and before he knew it he was encased in Kris’ strong arms. He continued to tremble and shake, clearly still upset even as he pressed his face into Kris’ shoulder.

“It’s going to be fine, Tao. Just calm down.” Kris said.

“I'm sorry.” Tao said again. “I-I'm sorry..”

“Stop apologizing.” Kris said, squeezing him slightly in an attempt to hide his own slight tremble. Tao’s arms wrapped around his waist. “What were you running from, anyway?”

“I...I heard some kids...” Tao said, ducking his head down. Kris clenched his jaw momentarily.

“What did you hear?” He asked.

“They were making fun of me.” Tao mumbled.

“Who was it?” Kris could hear the edge to his own voice, but he didn’t care. He was already angry.

“I don’t know. I was getting juice from the vending machine by the gym.” Tao said. “I just heard them.”

Kris released the younger male abruptly, startling the poor boy. He walked right past him and headed down the hall toward the gym. He couldn’t be sure those kids were still there, but somehow, he couldn’t allow himself not to try. Someone needed to stand up for the poor kid.

He could see Tao following him from the corner of his eye, and it was obvious that he was afraid of whatever Kris was about to do. When Kris finally reached the vending machine and caught the sound of a group of guys laughing, he paused long enough to hear Luhan’s name. Then he was moving again.

“Hey!” He shouted, seeing the group of boys jump about a foot in the air. “What are you doing?!”

“Who the hell are you?!” One of them snapped.

“You don’t know a damned thing about the people you’re talking about.” Kris said, stepping up to the speaker. He towered over the other male. “Don’t let me catch you doing this again, because when I do, you’re going to regret it.”

Silence reigned for a few long seconds, and then, slowly, the boy nodded. Kris spared a moment to glare around at the others, and he could see fear plain in their faces. They were all as far back from him as they could be, and Kris turned calmly, heading back down the hall toward the sniffly boy half hidden behind the wall.

“Are you alright?” Kris asked, and Tao nodded before jolting out of his hiding spot and clamping down on the other’s arm. Kris reached up, fluffing Tao’s hair quietly.

“Thank you.” Tao said, gratitude shining in his eyes. Kris nodded, not sure what else he should do. He had never been the type of person to get involved, but he just hated to see Tao crying like that.

“Where’s everyone else?” He finally asked, knowing it was unusual for Tao to be left alone.

“Sehun got sick, and since Luhan had a job interview Xiumin had to stay home with him.” Tao explained in his quiet voice. Again, Kris found himself nodding.

“Things will get better.” He promised, though he wasn’t sure where the declaration was stemming from. It seemed to comfort Tao, though.

“What about you? You usually come in with Lay.” Tao said. “Did you guys have a fight?”

“No, no.” Kris denied, shaking his head. “Lay was sick all weekend, and he was too tired to come to school today.”

“But Lay never gets sick.” Tao said, his eyes wide. Kris could only shrug in response.

“Maybe I brought over some Canadian bug and infected everyone.” Kris said, feebly attempting to make a joke. Tao’s eyes widened even more, though Kris wasn’t sure how that was possible.

“You shouldn’t blame yourself! You didn’t mean to do it!” He seemed very firm in his belief that he had to comfort Kris, which only threw the elder off his guard.

“I know, Tao. It was a joke.” Kris placated. Tao suddenly threw his arms around Kris, holding him tightly.

“I’ll keep you company today, so neither of us will be alone.” Tao said, pressing his face into Kris’ shoulder again.

“Ah...sure...” Kris mumbled in response, awkwardly patting Tao’s back. “Let’s go to class now.”

“Ok!” Tao said, smiling and pulling back from the embrace. Kris barely had time to blink before his hand was being tightly held and he was being dragged along to class.

I'm sorry I'm so awful and that this took so long to update. I'm just going to say life is hectic, and leave it at that.