Tao glanced at the clock on the nightstand as it blinked that it was just after midnight. The pounding on the door got a little louder, the knocks closer together and rushed. "." Maybe if he kept his eyes shut a little bit longer it would stop. Maybe if he pretended he wasn't home the offender would give up already so he can sleep.

He glanced back at the clock and barely three minutes had passed and it was silent again. Or at least it was until the pounding moved from the front door to his window. His hand shot out from under the blanket and flipped the lamp on; blinking rapidly to adjust to the sudden light intrusion. "Sehun?" He could easily recognize the figure pressed against the glass even if it was dark outside.

He turned the latch and pushed the window open, "What the are you doing here?" But he didn't have to wait for an answer to notice the bruises in the dim light leaking out of the room. "C-can I come i-in?" Sehun's hand extended and Tao grabbed it. No answer. He just pulled him over the frame and into the warmth of the room.

Tao had countless questions for him but before he could Sehun's arms wrapped around his shoulders. Many days in high school when things got rough Tao picked up on the way Sehun silently cries. He doesn't make any noises and doesn't move around a lot. Tao's picked up on the way Sehun's fists the back of his shirts and steps on Tao's toes. Like you see in old romance movies when one of the partners can't dance and the other has to help them.

Tao just steps back until his legs hit the bed and he sat down, pulling Sehun down with him. "Sehun, what's wrong?" Tao finally broke the silence but all he got was silence. Silence until his hands moved from Sehun's arms to the sides of his head. Sehun made a groaning noise when his head was forced out of the crook of Tao's neck. Tao kind of wished he didn't look.

Sehun's cheek was purple and the color extended around his eye. There was a cut under the discolored eye that didn't appear to be bleeding too badly. Blood was smeared around his nose and Tao was pretty sure it was all over his shirt now too. "Who did this?" Tao asked as he stood up, sitting Sehun on the bed, and headed for the bathroom. "M-my dad." 

Tao grabbed the first aid basket from under the sink and walked back into the room. Sehun was curled against the wall with a pillow between him and his knees. Tao sat in front of him and went to pull Sehun closer by the hand. But when Sehun flinched away, retracting his hand, Tao just let him. "Is only your face hurt?" Tao asked and started dabbing at the drying blood around Sehun's nose with an alcohol wipe. "No."

Tao focused on his facial wounds for the time being. Running alcohol wipes over the cut by his eye and listening to Sehun whimper. Tao glanced back at the clock and only twenty minutes had passed from the time Sehun stepped into the room. "Where else are you hurt?" Tao asked and threw the soiled wipes into the trashcan by his desk. 

Sehun unfolded himself and put the pillow back in it's rightful place against the wall. He moved to the edge of the bed and slipped his fingers under the hem of his shirt, slowly pulling it off. But only got about half way before his arms gave out and the shirt stayed bunched by Sehun's chin.

Tao saw the spanse of bruising across his chest and down his sides. If Sehun was lucky no ribs were broken. Worse case scenario Tao ends up driving to the hospital at almost one in the morning. Tao crouched in front of Sehun and helped pull the shirt completely off. "Why?" There didn't seem to be too much damage despite the coloring. Years of wushu had taught Tao what broken ribs looked like. And Tao sighed in relief.

"I don't know." Sehun started crying again and tried to wipe them away himself but ended up rubbing at the eye cut. Which just caused him to cry harder. Tao sat next to him on the bed and pulled Sehun into another hug, this time avoiding his sides and going for resting his arms around his waist.

Sehun's dad was no stranger to hitting his son. Tao had learned this their 7th grade year, when Sehun came to school with a fractured ankle and couldn't play soccer for awhile. "You can stay the night." Whether Sehun liked it or not Tao wasn't going to send him back there tonight. But just like expected Sehun didn't protest.

"I-I'm so tired of this, Tao." Sehun reached over and grabbed tissues off the nightstand. "Me too." Tao was tired of having to pick up the pieces after Sehun's dad decides to be a jackass. Not to mention how bad things got when he had been drinking all night. Sehun sat up and away from Tao to continue dabbing the tears off the facial cuts.

Ten minutes later Sehun was shoulder deep in Tao's mom's bubble bath that smelled like flowers. Tao's mom wouldn't be home until late morning so Tao figured they could take their time in cleaning Sehun up. "Sehun," Tao started and poured a cup of the warm water down Sehun's back. His head rolled on the edge of the tub and he grimaced. Tao wanted to kiss the grimace away.

So he did. He reached over and ran his fingers through soapy hair and pulled Sehun over. Tao didn't taste like cigarettes this time and Sehun liked that, a little more then he'd admit. Because Tao looks so hot with his lips around a cigarette.

The kiss doesn't last half as long as Tao wishes it would. But he can't really complain when Sehun's in pain. "I swear to you that he won't lay another hand on you or your mom." Tao's been trained his whole life for violence but Tao was the most un-violent kid in this town. But Tao was tired from taking care of Sehun's injuries. Oh MinRi was a nice woman who loved Tao, so he would protect her too if he had to.

"How? How can you be sure?" But Tao doesn't have a proper answer. "Because I love you, Sehun. And you protect what you love." He pulled their foreheads together and reached in to drain the tub. Sehun wasn't quite ready for I love you yet so Tao didn't expect much. All he got was, "Thank you."

After Sehun was cleaned off and dried they laid on Tao's bed. Sehun's hands were playing with the pillowcases and Tao's hand rubbed circles through Sehun's hair. It still felt fried from the hair dye and the constant straightening. But it smelled like flowers so Tao didn't dare complain. "I love you, Oh Sehun. You don't have to love me but I'd like you too."

Like any other night when Sehun fled to Tao's house, Sehun passed out first somewhere around 4am. Tomorrow morning his mom would walk in to get him up for school and see Sehun once again had gotten in. Not that Tao's mom didn't like Sehun, she absolutely adored him, but Sehun is shirtless and there are bruises all over his skin. They stick out so Tao's certain there's no way she wouldn't see them.

But Sehun's bare skin is warm around the bruises. And he's snoring and Tao can't sleep. He never sleeps on nights like this because Sehun kicks himself awake with night terrors or nightmares or just bad dreams.

But that night Sehun dreams of Tao and a world where there is no school and no father. And that night he doesn't kick as badly.