~ Restaurant ~

As the boys entered the restaurant they all filtered to separate tables and left Suho to deal with the staff. Once the leader had pointed to all the boys he’d be paying for he made a point to let all of them know he wasn’t made of money before taking his seat. Xiumin, Chen, Sehun and Suho ended up together on one table opposite D.O, Kai, Baekhyun and Chanyeol who were happily chatting away leaving Luhan and Lay a table to themselves.

Luhan was making a point of avoiding looking at Lay, picking up his menu, sulky expression in place. The younger boy tried not to draw the attention of the others as he leant forwards to take the menu out of Luhan’s hand, catching his eyes in the process. “You’re mad at me.” It wasn’t a question and there was sadness in Lay’s voice but Luhan simply took the menu back and used it as an excuse not to look at Lay as he spoke, tension obvious in his words, “I’m not mad” brushing some hair out of his eyes Lay looked at Luhan again, trying to ignore the fact the older boy was obviously making an effort to not so much as glance at him, “what is it then?” Luhan continued to skim over the menu as he spoke, again making no effort to hide the tension behind his words, “it’s nothing.” Getting a little irritated Lay leant forwards again, this time rather than taking the menu away he held Luhan’s chin to force the boy to face him. Luhan’s stare was void of emotion and Lay found it difficult to keep his eyes locked on Luhan’s when the boy was being so cold, “what did I do?” Brushing Lay’s hand away Luhan placed his menu on the table and looked at the younger boy, his expression still stern, “I don’t need protection Lay.” Realisation hitting him Lay leant back into his seat and sighed a mix of relief and irritation. Because he hadn’t wanted Luhan to fight the boy was annoyed at him. “Seriously? You’re annoyed because I didn’t want you to get hurt?”

“I’m annoyed because you obviously don’t think I’m capable of taking care of myself.” Surprised by his own outburst Luhan glanced to the other tables to check if anyone had overheard. Luckily his irritation was contained enough to still be hushed. Luhan knew he probably shouldn’t be annoyed at the younger boy but it was embarrassing having someone a year younger than him ‘protecting’ him.

“I know you can take care of yourself Luhan, that’s not why I tried to stop you fighting,” Luhan’s scoff ignited Lay’s irritation, standing up Lay gripped Luhan’s wrist and ignoring the other people in the restaurant he pulled the older boy outside and dragged him around the corner into a short alleyway. Lay’s voice was the one filled with tension now as he pushed Luhan against one of the alley walls and held the older boy’s arms by his sides to stop him moving.

“I fought for you Luhan, I worked so hard so that we could be together of course I’m going to protect you” Luhan glared at the younger boy and silently cursed himself for not having the strength to push him away, settling for glaring at him as he spoke Luhan practically spat his words at the boy. “You didn’t fight for me, you’re fought for bragging rights.”Grip on Luhan’s arms tightening Lay leant forwards to rest his head on the older boy’s shoulder as he tried to calm himself down, his words were muffled but Luhan could still make them out due to the lack of space between the pair, “I did it for you. I won Luhan and you have to accept that.”  Closing his eyes Luhan took a moment to calm himself again before shrugging to get Lay to look at him, forcing a small smile on his face Luhan nodded, “I know” Lay relaxed at the words and let go of Luhan’s arms, looping them around the older boy’s neck instead he tangled his fingers into Luhan’s hair and waited as Luhan slowly hugged him back. Smiling Lay placed a small kiss on Luhan’s cheek and whispered a delicate, if not slightly possessive, “you’re mine.” Before stepping out of the hug and offering his hand to the older boy.

Re-entering the restaurant the pair smiled and mouthed apologies to their friends who waved of the formality. Taking his seat again Luhan looked across at the other boys. He froze a little at catching Sehun looking back at him and quickly turned his attention back to Lay before he had the chance to get lost in that boy’s lustful gaze again. Lay won. I can't forget that.